School Report

So we all survived Lauren's first day of "school." It's like a Mother's Day Out program at a church here. They call it L.I.F.T. It stands for something educational but I forgot! These pictures were taken when we got home. Little L would not cooperate this morning for pictures. Her class starts at 9:30 and we have to leave by 8:50 to make it on time. She usually doesn't wake up until 8:30 so we were rushed and she was not happy that we had to wake her up. I would normally have dressed her in a cute little dress or something to that nature but I was warned that they do art projects, play outside, and can get messy so I opted for a play outfit instead. She was mighty cute in her watermelon duds!

(Home from school and so happy to pose with her hip out. She looks so old in this picture).

(Being so silly for the camera).

(Taking a break from drawing on her new Elmo sketch pad. We took her to Target after school to get some goodies for being a good girl).

(Practicing so she'll get an A plus in art class).

(So so sweet in her play outfit).

(It's very clear that she missed her daddy. I think it's safe to say that her daddy missed her as he almost bawled dropping her off).

The verdict: She did okay. Her program is on Tuesdays/Thursdays from 9:30-2. We are only doing a half day from 9:30-12 to start with. When we got there, her sweet friend, Lauren, was there so I said to Lauren "look who's here" She ran over to play so I thought we were golden. After we walked out, Todd & I stood by the door and immediately heard her screaming. We went to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel and the whole time I was just waiting for the church to call for us to come pick her up. They never did and at 11am the director called. I just knew it. I knew my child was still melting down. She actually called to say that Lauren was great and she was back in her room playing. One of the teachers took her around the church and got her calmed down. We're VERY lucky that we found such a great program. They truly care about our peanut.

Some people have asked me why we are even putting her in a program at all. Multiple Reasons: we live in no mans land and Lauren doesn't have neighbor friends to play with, we have to drive 30 minutes at the minimum to get places so we don't have play dates often because I frankly hate driving that far because of her sleep schedule, and Todd is gone all the time so she is at my feet all day long. I love it, don't get me wrong, but my sweet girl needs to play and learn to be around other people. It's only 2.5 hours so it's not all day. It's a perfect balance.

On a random note: Please keep my mom's neighbor in your thoughts and prayers. She is dying of cancer as I type this and hospice is at her house. Her name is Kelly and she is only in her early 40s (I think) and she has a beautiful teenage daughter, Stephanie. Kelly's story is unique. I'll make it short and sweet if you're interested in reading....

My parent's other neighbors a few years ago, Barton and Jennifer Corbin. Let's back up about them. Bart killed Jennifer. Yes, he did. He shot her in their own home and set it up like a suicide. He also killed his girlfriend, Dolly Hearn, in dental school about 10 years prior. Exact same thing. He made it look like a suicide. Back then, he was never charged for her murder and it was ruled that Dolly killed herself. After he killed his wife, 2 and 2 was put together and he was charged with both murders. He left behind his 2 precious boys, Dalton and Dillon. What does this have to do with Kelly? They were best friends. They lived across the street from each other, neighbors of my parents in their quaint little neighborhood. If you recognize this story, it's because its now a Lifetime movie and Ann Rule wrote a book about it.

Kelly was married to Steve. WAS married is the key word. The 2 couples did everything together. After Bart killed his wife, Steve and Kelly were distraught. Can you imagine finding out that your best friend killed his wife and having no clue that your best friend is mentally crazy? They had to endure countless interviews by police, a trial, seeing their best friend go to jail, testify against him, but most of all lose a beloved best friend, Jennifer.

Steve killed himself. Yes, Kelly's husband took his own life. He was so depressed and upset about finding out that his wife has cancer and that his best friend killed his wife. He was obviously so far depressed that he didn't think about his sweet daughter, Stephanie, that will now life her life without both her parents.

So Kelly is dying. The same Kelly that found her best friend murdered across the street. The same Kelly who found her husband dead from a self inflicted gun shot wound in the garage. The same Kelly that has lived across the street from my parents and who mowed her own grass, cut hair in her garage, and was so active. 

Please remember her and think of all she's been through. Such a sad time.

Note: Links are in red. Feel free to go read about the case of Bart and Jennifer and about the lifetime movie. I watched it but couldn't watch the whole thing.