Smile!

Lots of cute pictures from the past couple of weeks. The ones of Abi in the red fleece are from when we visited the NY State Fair. One of her in the army vehicle makes her look like such a big girl! But then I see her on the Dairy-Go-Round and see my little girl. Amazing how it can change in a moment.

Doesn't Mikayla's crabby face still look cute?!? :)

Life Lesson

I try not to talk about work on the blog, but here's a story from the other day... It's kind of a life lesson that I'm sure all those reading this know... "Don't annoy the person trying to help you." Pretty crazy concept right?

Okay, so Patient A comes in to pick up Rx for Patient A and Patient B. Patient B is a new patient for us... The Rx was filled on a different day (not my day) and I was unaware of it being there. Anyway, Patient A has a minor freak out when we don't have Patient B's insurance information... He gives our lead tech the cards. Great! That is generally a really big help in being able to bill insurance, but... it does help to give us the PRESCRIPTION card rather than the medical insurance card or Medicare part A card. . Patient A _insists_ that the cards he gave us are the correct ones and his tone of voice seems to imply we are idiots. Lead tech calls the customer care number on the back of the card... yep, we are right. No Rx coverage on there. I try to talk to Patient A again... he says "well how the -bleep- has he been getting it for the past 20 years at a different pharmacy?" I say (very calmly), "Sir, I didn't say he doesn't have coverage, I'm saying the cards we have don't show the correct information. Do you know the name of the other pharmacy so that I may call them?"

"Well, yeah, it's Such-and-So Pharmacy in Nowhere, NY".

"Okay, thank you. I'll try them." I step back to the phone... call good ol' 411. . . hmmm... interesting... no pharmacy with that name in that town... I ask for a nearby one instead... I get the phone number and they have never heard of Patient B. Time to go back to Patient A. "Sir, when I called information, they don't show a listing for this pharmacy in that town. Is it possible that it is actually in a different town?" (for example, maybe he said Fargo and it was West Fargo... very close in geography, but technically different places.)

He looks at me as though I have sprouted horns. Then says "Give me the cards. We got to go! I don't have time for this!" then stomps away leaving the Rx with us...

I have the look of 'what-in-the-world-more-could-we-have-done-to-help'... and then shake my head to answer the phone calls that have been on hold while the lead tech and I tried our best... I guess sometimes our best isn't good enough.

Crazy, huh?

Cool thing...

So, it's a beautiful Saturday night in Upstate New York... I am sitting at the kitchen table holding Mikayla with Abi next to me and Greg in the kitchen...

I look out the large picture window to see a deer walking by our stone fireplace and decides to stop at the bird feeder for a snack! :) The deer was kind enough of to stop and eat for a bit (actually, managed to clear the bird feeder of 1/2 its food)... It was very neat to have the deer so close and it may explain what has been happening to the bird food as of late. We were thinking that it was just a couple of really aggressive and hungry squirrels, but neither of us had really noticed the squirrels at the feeder... but each day the feeder was empty or near so. Hmmm.... :)

Potty Time...

Abi is getting there! Abi is getting there!

On Monday, I put Abi in underwear... sink or swim, we were going to potty-train. For the most part, we swam! :) She had a couple of accidents, but nothing major and was asking to go potty... was actually going potty...

Tuesday, Grandpa Jaros babysat the girls... I didn't even ask him to do the potty thing. He was doing us a favor, no need to push our luck. :)

Wednesday and today... more underwear and pull-ups. She has done great today and has even done more than just tinkling! Tonight, she chose to wear real underwear rather than a pull-up... we'll see how that works out. Wish her luck!

At this rate, Abi should be completely trained by the time school starts in September. Sigh... my little girl is going to pre-school. It's only a couple of mornings a week for a couple of hours a day, but still! :)

G'night!

Stacy's bachelorette party

Here are some pictures from the winery tour that we went on for Stacy's bachelorette party in June. It was a really fun time and for those that have never been on a wine tour, I suggest it. It is alot of fun with a group of people. I even found some wine that I liked... It was called at "Isabella" from the GooseWatch winery. (In case you are interested to know.) :)

Sarah, Stacy, Tara, Erin, Mo, Candace
Erin, Stacy, Tara (Stacy's then future sisters-in-law)
Stacy... looking heavenly
A view from one of the wineries
Erin and Tara

Summer pictures...

Abi watching 'videos'... she loves watching her and Mikayla on the camcorder... still working on getting them uploaded to the computer :)
Abi and Kailen
The artist Abi
On the way home from Illinois... cute, isn't she?
Grandma D. and Mikayla
My own Cinderella... Notice her cell phone on the floor too? Washin' her 'wheels'.
Checking out PlayhouseDisney.com (most likely)
Wow, hard to believe that she once fit in a sink!

Ahhh..
Ryne and Abi
A memory board made for my grandma's funeral... the picture in the middle is SO her. She had a smile and a giggle that was infectious. For all that didn't know her, believe me when I say she had a big heart... she loved so many and many loved her.
Mikayla isn't so sure about this...

ENJOY!

Holmes' Reunion

As most of you know, the last weekend of July is family reunion weekend. We camp every year up at FairHaven Beach State Park along Lake Ontario. This year we moved to the 'overflow'...

i.e. has a pretty view of the Lake that can be seen from the camp site.

We had a nice time as always although the group seemed smaller this year.

Here are some pictures:

The dog getting a bikini put on... and not liking it so much... can you blame her?
Grandpa's sister and brother-in-law's dog... wearing a bikini
Sasha, thankful we didn't put her in a bikini.
Aunt Dorie, Grandpa (quite relaxed), and PeteJen... doing bunny ears with glow sticks. Not sure why, but... :)

Cousin Justin... You can't tell from this picture, but he's quite the girl magnet!
Great Abi shot, huh? I'm thinking she won't think so in a few years...
The family.
Our view...
Cousin Duncan and Greg

By the way...

I was just reviewing my last few posts... One about Mikayla sleeping thru the night... Apparently it was more of a fluke rather than a habit. :)

Oh well, she is only 4 months old (not quite!). I cannot expect everything! :)

We'll let you know when it's for real though.

Going to the Chapel...

Happy mid-August!

Mid-August? Can you believe it? We certainly cannot...

Since I last posted, we have had our laptop returned to us. Yippie... What that means for all of you is: PICTURES. :)

I will try not to go too crazy with posting of the pictures, but there have been lots and lots of cute ones as of late. :)

Last weekend, Stacy and Jimmy were married. It was an absolutely beautiful day, beautiful ceremony, and great time. Abi did an awesome job as flower girl. She was a trooper all day with getting ready before the ceremony, taking pictures, walking down the aisle. . . Let me interrupt for a cute Abi story... Just about when Stacy and Jimmy had taken their positions at the front of the church for the ceremony, Abi leaned over and said to me, "Mommy. It's time to dance." She was very excited to be dancing in her pretty Princess dress (as she calls it). Anyway, back to her being a trooper... She really enjoyed riding around in the limousine too. After all, how many 3 year olds do you know that have had the chance to ride in a 26 person limo? I am over 30 and that was my first time in a limo. . . :)

Abi danced the night away... so much so that she fell asleep dancing! Greg and her were dancing the last dance and Abi had the glassy eyed look... before long, she was asleep. Someone has taken a picture of it... and when I get it, I'll post it into the blog.

The dress... still in the sewing stage.
Toasting the Bride and Groom... no worries, just "the rocks". Look at that smile!
The Bride and Groom... again. Look at those smiles!

That's all for tonight...

More to come, I promise!