Irish For the Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The other day, we received a box of sunshine from Florida! THANKS, mom and dad, for the delicious honeybell oranges! Elisabeth gave them 2 thumbs-up (her highest rating), and even Allison really likes them. Allison ate a whole orange by herself and then cried when it was gone!
On Friday night, our daycare sponsored a Parents Night Out fundraiser. One of Appletree's pre-K teachers, Stephanie, has a 26-year old sister with terminal cancer. Stephanie took a leave of absence to be with her family, and the center decided to raise money to help Stephanie while she's out of work. The teachers donated 3 hours of their time on Friday night, and the parents got to drop the kids off with a donation. Together we all raised $1,300 for Stephanie! It was a win-win for everyone -- we got to help the center support Stephanie AND we got a night out without the kids. Fred and I had dinner at Wild Bull Saloon in downtown Kalamazoo, and I actually rode the mechanical bull!

Sadly, Stephanie's sister lost her battle with leukemia last week. Our daycare is sponsoring another Parents Night Out fundraiser for Stephanie's family next month, so hopefully we can raise even more money for them.

We spent Saturday in the Detroit area with some of my good friends from MSU. THANKS, Sue and Steve, for organizing such a fun get-together! We (8 adults and 6 kids) had dinner at Buca di Beppo in downtown Birmingham, and then we went to the Cupcake Station for dessert. What a fun night! And THANKS to Nora and John for letting us stay over at your house. We had so much fun!
On Sunday, we went to Aunt Nadine's house for the annual Palm Sunday dinner. There were 11 little girls there! We obviously have 2 girls, and Fred's sister Sheri also has 2 daughters. Fred has 2 cousins on his dad's side, and they each have 2 daughters. One of his cousins just (re)married someone who has 3 daughters. 2+2+2+2+3 = 11 girls!

I'll end this post with a quick update on Allison. She had an appointment with the ENT today. She still has fluid in her ears; the ENT is recommending tubes for her ears. We're going to go forward with that, and I am really hoping that this will be the answer to all the problems she has had. We're waiting to hear when her (outpatient) surgery will be scheduled.