FairHealth? EastView? FairEast? HealthView?

Earlier this year HealthEast announced that we were combining with Fairview. 

As of June 1st we will officially be Fairview employees.

It's hard to know what this means.

On one hand it's super exciting.  Our company has been struggling for years and we just haven't been able to make the moves that we need to make to stay on the positive side of the business.  With the payment models in healthcare changing, it's becoming more and more difficult to run a healthcare organization.  Each year we are expected to do more with less reimbursement and when you are already not performing at your best, it gets harder and harder to catch up.  This will save us.  The partnership with Fairview will also include the U and the M Health Clinics.  The network of providers and services available to our patients will be worldclass.  The growth opportunity for employees will be endless.

On the other hand, it's scary.  The future is unknown.  Fairview currently has 32,000 employees and HealthEast has 7,000.  Soon work with start to combine staff, consolidate leaders, reorg departments. We will more than likely be seeing a company name change. I am not concerned that I will have a job but I am concerned about what that job looks like.   It will be different for sure.  We won't know until later this year how we are affected and the message right now is 'business as usual'. 

Seemed fitting that on my last official day as a HealthEast employee I received an interoffice envelope from Dr Bye (one of the Pediatricians I worked with at Peds 4 Health).

In the envelope was this picture of Jewel and I. 

Such fond memories of those days.  My most favorite job and coworkers ever!

Two Peas

These two :-)

These two are constantly together.

They are in the same class, same softball team, same basketball team, same soccer team.

It's crazy they don't get sick of each other.

If they aren't physically together they are Facetiming or on the phone talking about how they are going to get together next.

Dust Storm

Nothing like being forced to spend the day inside because of a dust storm :-(

The farmland across of Winnetka is being developed and they have cleared out hundreds of trees.  Ever since there has been a constant stream of dust and dirt rolling through the neighborhood.

It's so dirty everywhere.

Never too old for a SnapChat selfie!

Today Davis got his first ride on the 4 wheeler.  He was a huge fan :-)

Grandma also had her first selfie with a SnapChat filter- isn't she adorable!

It's so nice that my dad brings Grandma and Bob up each weekend.  It's also so nice that my mom and dad are able to spend time together and that they never make things awkward for us.  We really have been so lucky to have the situation we do.  It's been our normal and I am so thankful for the respect that my parents show to each other.  I am sure it couldn't have been easy for my mom and my dad probably didn't deserve to get off the hook so easy but I personally wouldn't have wanted it any other way.  Most people think it's crazy that they are able to spend time together and surprised when they hear that my dad spends holidays and weekends at the lake with us.  Frankly, it is kind of crazy but I wouldn't want it any other way.  We are lucky.

Pizza Pub 2017

First trip of the year is always the best trip of the year.

The kick off to summer.  The familiar scene and the start of the summer family time!

It's going to be so fun this summer now that Davis is old enough to enjoy himself.

We went up a little earlier in the day this year so that we could get the water on and check everything out.  There was definitely a different feeling tonight sitting around talking and not sitting on the couch watching Brian try to make sure everything is working.

My Cabinets!

Brian finished the cabinets and new mantel.  I am so happy with our design and choices!

It all fits so nicely in the space and makes the house feel like a home. 

I can't wait to get some additional decorations to complete this area.

Megan came home with us today and will be going with us to softball tonight. 

The girls even helped us make dinner.

Track and Field Day 2017

Today is Track and Field Day!

I always love this day.  It's fun to watch the girls have fun with their friends.  It's typically the first nice day of the season that I get to spend the full day outside.  There are so many parents, grandparents, siblings, middle school and high school volunteers.  I love how the whole community seems to come together to support these kids.

They cheer each other on and encourage each other all day.

 

Hailey's class ate lunch first, in their classroom, so I took a break from the sun and joined them on the carpet.   After this we will head back outside for more events.

This year the 3rd grade classes took part in the tug of war event.  That was so fun to watch.  It was class against class.  They were all so into it and seemed to have so much fun.  It got real loud as each class would cheer for each other and once it was down to the last two classrooms, you could hardly hear yourself think because they were all cheering and yelling so loud.

 



One thing I have loved is that both Hannah and Hailey have friends from Kindergarten that they are still friends with.  Most of these girls they haven't had again in their class but that hasn't mattered at all.  They still all hang out at recess and I can always find them together on days like today.

Spring/Summer Box

 I love the way this Spring/Summer box turned out.  Succulents are in right now and they seem to be everywhere.  I really like how I will be able to keep this all summer.  It brings life to our table.

I Knew This Day Would Come- Hope It Doesn't Last

I don't really want to remember this day but I knew it was coming and eventually I was going to have to admit that it is true.

Tonight I called Hannah over to sit on my lap.  You can see in her face how excited she is about it.

She squirmed and fought to get down until I finally had no choice and put her out of her misery.

I hope this isn't the last time.

Candyland 2017

Today was Hailey's Spring Show for gymnastics.

She had fun this session and wants to sign up again.

She did great at her show.

It was so fun to see her have her own 'thing'. 

May Days

I love this sight.  We all arrived to practice at the same time and the girls ran ahead to beat me to the field.  I love these gorgeous days with blue skies on the field.

Crazy Hair Day

 

Today was crazy hair day at school.  Hannah did not disappoint!  I love that she is so confident that she has no problem showing up like this.  She did some research on Pinterest and found a way to use a water bottle to keep her hair to stand straight up. 

 It turned out so good and everyone at school loved it! 

Finishing Up

I have always felt like our living room is missing something.

When we were building the house making decisions, I was very clear about wanting things as clean and open as possible.  Then after time passed I realized how empty and 'unfinished' this space seemed.  I have been thinking of a way to have Brian build something for this area and we finally landed on a design.

First up a new mantel.  Time for something more chunky!

There are also cabinets going on each side. 

As always, it makes me nervous but I know that Brian will do such good work that I will fall in love with what we have come up with.

 

Momma's Day

Mother's Day started great with breakfast in bed.

Hailey had to answer some questions for her All About Mom paper.

I was feeling down about her answer and then when I asked her about it I was actually pretty happy she gave the answer she did- LOL

We spent the afternoon at Grandma's and also celebrated Kim and Kristin's Birthday.

In the afternoon I received a text from Lindsay that made me cry.

It meant so much to me to get this message from her. I love those girls and miss them so much.

Then this came across Facebook.

I really needed this today.  There are so many days that I spend worrying about all of the things I am not doing.  I constantly feel like I am not good enough or that I am not doing enough.

This gave me a mom-pass today. 

Oopie

I am making cupcakes for Kim and Kristin's Birthday celebration which will also be Mother's Day.

These Poop Emoji cupcakes turned out super cute.

Hannah's Guitar

Hannah's homemade instrument project is due today.
She was super proud of how it turned out and couldn't wait to bring it to school.
It turned out super cute!

This Might Be It

Today might have been the girls last dance recital.

Hannah got her 5 year trophy which she was very proud of.

They have both been talking that maybe after this year they would quit dance for a few years.  Hailey really wants to try gymnastics and Hannah has wanted to try Volleyball and keep her options open for other sports or clubs that may come up.

They haven't completely made their minds up yet but as of now they are informing me that I should not be buying their costumes for next year yet.

Not gonna lie, it's going to make me real sad if they choose not to dance.

I won't really miss watching everyone else's kids dance but I will miss the other dance moms, the friends that you make that you look forward to visiting with once per week while sitting on the cold floor in the hallway at the school.  I won't miss early class nights and hurrying up to eat dinner so that

we can leave the house.  I won't miss working around the dance, basketball, softball and now gymnastics practices.  And I won't miss watching the Vikings games from a cellphone while sitting on the school bleachers waiting to watch my own girls dance for 3 minutes.

But I will actually miss those 3 minutes of watching them.  They were both good.

They both were always smiling and knew what they should be doing.

I will miss watching their dances through the tears in my eyes.

Whatever they decide to do, it should be their decision.

I certainly don't want them to keep doing something just because I want them to do it.

 

Dude! Get out of here!

Tonight Hailey and I were hanging out on the front porch when she heard the Ice Cream man drive by.  Of course it was near dinner time so as soon as we heard the music I had to let her know it wasn't going to happen.  She was fine with it and we went back to hanging out.

Not sure if the Ice Cream man saw us sitting out there or if he just thought if he stayed on the street playing the music long enough that someone would finally cave in but Hailey had had enough.

Out of nowhere she turned and yelled at him "Dude!  Get out of here!"

A few minutes later a bunch of kids came running down the street with dollar bills in hand.  Not sure if his plan worked or someone informed him they'd be right out.  Either way, he got his customer.