Ready to slow down...

The Potter Family has been on the GO- it has become a bit insane...
It is 4:40 a.m. and this is really the first time in about 2 weeks that I have had a chance to catch you all up. I really should be sleeping, but sleep is not coming to me tonight/this morning. I finally gave up and came down stairs!
The picture above is Lilly's first day of school. She loves it and has reunited with her friends from last year and made new one's as well. She is a "firecracker" and keeps things around here very interesting. She talks non-stop and plays hard all day-

Mac is doing great in school so far this year. He has a fun teacher and a great group of kids in his class. The class sizes at his school are huge this year. He has 33 kids in his class. I just found out on Friday that they will be having a new teacher come in that will be teaching a 3/4 split class and that he may get moved into that class. I am kind of upset because we love his teacher, love the kids in his class and the school year just got started and Mac has adjusted well. Now, it may all change and he will have to adjust again...I understand it will cut down class sizes, but they had all summer to work on classes, etc. It's really not fair to switch it all around after the school year has begun. I am FRUSTRATED, but know the best thing to do is teach Mac to "roll with the punches" instead of allowing them to knock him down. Life is full of them!! He is playing flag football again this year and has really stepped up his game from last year. He is standing to the right of Molly (gal in pink shorts) in the pix above. He will also be starting his piano lessons up again soon. We got off track this summer, so now it's catch-up time, plus we have a piano at home now that he can play.
Both of the kids must be having growth spurts at the moment. Lately, I have consistently been catching them sneaking food/snacks from the pantry. They eat ALL THE TIME- I have been trying to not get upset with them as long as they eat their meals and not fill up on snacks. Grocery shopping seems to be an enemy for me- I hate it, so keeping the pantry stocked has been a chore!
We have all had our flu shots, except Pat. I have been trying my hardest to keep everyone healthy. With the 3 of us being at school all the time, it takes some work. Lots of hand washing, trying to keep some space between ourselves and others that are hacking away, hand sanitizer and disinfecting the house....I am exhausted. We have had a very "social schedule" with school events, b-day parties, sports, etc...I am amazed that we have stayed healthy so far.
I have to admit that I may have taken on too many duties at school this year, but I am keeping up for the most part. Things will slow down a bit soon...I hope. I am really looking forward to baby time because I will be STAYING HOME, not spending hours at school-

I am doing pretty well for being 7 months pregnant. I had my GTT test and some blood work done about 2 weeks ago. This past Tuesday, the nurse called to say that I was anemic and to take a "bumper" dose of iron. I hesitated because I already take PLENTY of iron and did not feel like I had any real symptoms of anemia, but I took it anyway. I woke up at about 3 a.m. on Wed morning with a bloody nose...like a waterfall. Not kidding, it was bad. I could not get it to stop. I called the OB office as soon as it opened (at 9) to tell them that I thought it was from the iron. They agreed and said to come back in for lab work. My nose bled until 2:30 that afternoon and I was sick from it! I should have listened to my instincts and not taken that "bumper" dose. To end it all, I went back in on Friday, had another blood draw and am NOW anemic...ha- go figure. I can feel it too, but good thing it was just an iron level mix-up and not something more serious. I should start feeling a lot better in a few days.
Pat is doing good. I think he is just as tired as I am. He has to keep up at work and keep up with our crazy schedule around here. We are both ready for things to mellow out. We have some projects around the house that we need/want to get done before the baby arrives. We started on a few of them this weekend. One of them is the baby's room. Destiny was over on Saturday and we got a large part of the painting done. It is looking pretty cute. I will post some pictures when I get a bit more done. Pat has to paint the ceiling...ugh, that's a fun project.
Well , I have lots more I could blog about but, I am getting nauseous and it it is now 5:30 a.m.
I am going to regret not sleeping... have to be at school in about 3 hours! I will blog again soon.
-I have some updates on Catie Lynn and on my Dad's treatments-
Hope you are all doing well and keeping up with your crazy schedules too!

Langston Family Update

Hi everyone,

Catie Lynn had chemo last Thursday; she also had an ultrasound and an x-ray.
She's doing very, very well. In fact, on Friday afternoon, Sherry said that it
almost seemed like Catie Lynn had been given a placebo because she didn't seem
to be having any problems. Also, both her ultrasound and her x-ray were clear -
so great news all around. Perhaps the best news of all is that she only has one
chemo infusion left - in a couple of weeks. She has gorgeous hair - getting
longer all the time. In fact, Sherry cut her bangs for the first time; she
looks a bit older now. (So, the chemo has never taken her hair - that's cool.)

The rest of the family is doing well; Tarver's having fun; Brewer is filling out
- looks great and sleeps a bit better and a bit better at night. Jimmy's Dad is
in town; last week from Sunday through Friday Jimmy and his Dad were on a
hunting trip. Sherry's doing great; looks great.
That's it for now. Thanks to all of you who are keeping them in your thoughts and prayers.

Prepping for "Back to School"

We have been scrambling to get ready for school, but I think we have it all together...
School supplies and new clothes have been purchased, football has started, Lilly had her open house and met her teacher and my meetings/tasks for the Parent Club and Volunteer Coordinator position have begun. Thank goodness for Destiny- she has just as many things going on as I do, but kindly let me "sucker" her into helping me with Volunteer Coordinator stuff this year. We are both new to it, so we can learn together. I will also begin all the art lessons/tasks on the first week of school as well. I am trying not to think about it all too much because I panic a little bit. Our first big school event is the Ice Cream Social and it is only 2 days after school starts!
Getting the kids and myself back into "school mode" is going to be a bit tough. They have been going to bed late all summer. During the school year they go to bed at 8 p.m.
Mac's school starts at 7:30 a.m. That is earlier than most schools, so the day is long for him. He is looking forward to being a 3rd grader and has a great teacher this year. They are going to start out studying Mammoths, so we went to the library and checked out a few books about them. It's kind of cool to watch him mature a bit and watch him learn things.
Lilly will start her 2nd year of preschool. She will be in an all 4's class. She made such tremendous progress last year with her speech, that this year she does not need or qualify for it! YEAH! She has many of the same kids in her class this year from last year, so she is excited to see them again.
Pat is doing good and work has been busy for him. He did another bike race on Monday night at PIR (Portland International Raceway). The kids and I went a long to cheer him and all his buddies a long. Here are a few pics of them-

Pat is in the yellow/green jersey. This was at the start line. He did an awesome job!
Go Babe!
That's it for now...