The Lion

Natalie won 1st place in an art contest for the whole county. Her painting then went on to state to win 2nd place! We are so proud of our little artist. Natalie used black marker and watercolor pencil. The art contest was sponsered by the California Federation of Women's Club. Her painting is titled "The Lion." Way to go Natalie!!!

Neonatal Nursing Class

I went to another class this week on Neonatal Nursing. It was really good. I loved the instructor, Margaret Crockett. She had a great way of explaining things. Learned about Hyperbilirubinemia in newborns and how/why it happens. Critical levels can cause life long severe brain damage but can be totally prevented. Also learned about sepsis in newborns and how to calculate the ANC and I/T ratio in a newborn CBC. This basically teaches us when to call the Doc and ask for blood cultures and antibiotics on a septic baby. Also learned about RH incompatibility and ABO incompatibility. It was a super awesome class. I stayed awake and was eager to soak in all this new knowledge. The smaller hospital that I work at requires some baby knowledge in addition to Labor & Delivery. I really enjoyed this class.

I'll be flying to Dallas in the morning to see my Dad. So far the Chemo is working. He is much more sick with the #4 dose that he had a few weeks ago. He has dose #5 scheduled for Monday. Dad says that he has missed several days of work and has really slowed down over the last few weeks. But his repeat PET scanned showed all tumors were shrinking. (There was one tumor in his abdomen that was the same size or slightly larger, but all others were looking good).

Ben's been interviewing for jobs and keeping up the girls' busy schedule.

The Bones

I found this video of Natalie from last year, March of 2008. Ben interviewed her on the ski lift. Ben had told her she had to hold on tight or she would fall off and break all her bones. :)

We will be going skiing together on Saturday! This time I won't get left behind. I love skiing. Hopefully the weather will be good.

Twitter

I am learning to tweet. :) We'll see how it works.

Update on Dad and Ben & Girls Ditch School

Dad is doing well. He has had 3 doses of Chemo so far and 3 more to go, they are given every 3 weeks. Today he will be going in for a PET scan. This will tell him if the tumors are shrinking. He will get the results back in about a week. Eventhough dad gets tired easily, he is still going to work at EDS and does what he can around the house. While I was visiting, he cleaned the pool and worked in the yard. We also went grocery shopping, I had to help him pick out a new freezer for the garage since the old one in the garage died. I enjoyed my visit with my whole family. We played our favorite game, Monopoly. (I won!)

I also got to visit with my good friend, Ms. Erica. We had fun reminiscing old times at the Abbey waiting tables. Alas, the Abbey has since closed and we had to settle for Cheesecake Factory. It was very good. Church was good too. I enjoyed seeing old friends and catching up. Great talks too.

While I was in Texas, Ben took the girls out of school this past Friday to go snow skiing. He informed Natalie that it is only OK to ditch school if it is for something important (like skiing). He took some great video clips of the girls skiing. I am always amazed at how well Ben skis, he is a born natural! The girls take after Ben when it comes to skiing. They are improving tremendously every time they go up. Last season they used a devise called an "edgy-wedgie" which hooks to the tips of each ski and connected them with a rubber band. This prevents the skis from getting a mind of there own and going in different directions. Halfway through the day Natalie wanted to try to ski without the edgy-wedgie. After only a half of a run and about 3 crashes Natalie begged Ben to reattach the edgy-wedgie. Julia, being the independent girl she is, instantly decided that she wanted to try skiing without her edgy-wedgie. Julia skied perfectly. Ben congratulated her and informed her that skiing without the edgy-wedgie was equal to riding a bike and getting rid of the training wheels. Upon hearing this and not ready to be one upped by her younger sister, Natalie instantly needed the edgy-wedgie removed also. She some times needs to be one upped by her younger sister. This keeps her out of her comfort zone. Ben decided to leave the ski resort a little early do to the fact Julia woke up that morning with a small case of pink eye. Ben said that Julia insisted that she didn't want to miss skiing in order to go and sit in a stinky stale doctors office just to be told she something she already knows. That she has pink eye. She said she would much rather be up skiing in fresh powder on a bright blue 50 degree day breathing high altitude fresh Sierra air. So on the way down the mountain, Ben called in to the Pediatrician Julia's symptoms and they called in a prescription.

Quote of the Day: Upon leaving the resort Natalie told Ben,"dad I love ditching school!" Like father like daughter....

Natalie & Julia Skipped School Today!

Ben sent me this pic today. He's trying to make me jealous. The girls can ski without the edgy-wedgy. It was the perfect ski day according to Ben. Sunny, blue skies, and great snow. Ben took the girls to Donner Ski Ranch. We solved a mini crisis here at the Nichols' house. The large freezer in my parent's garage broke. It had all of the wedding cakes in it that my mom has been making for Jen's wedding. So dad & I rushed out to Lowe's and bought a new freezer that will be delivered tomorrow. We also bought a few blocks of dry ice to keep in the old freezer to keep the cakes frozen. Fun times. :)

Home for a visit

I'm coming home for a visit this weekend. It has been a very busy week at the new job. I am exhausted. I'll sleep on the plane. :) See ya soon Dad!