The Nutcracker - Minnesota Ballet

Saturday, November 21, 2009 -

Today I went with Oliver and Eden to see "The Nutcracker" performed by the Minnesota Ballet with the rest of the cub scouts. It was performed at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the UNI campus. It was FANTASTIC!!! Not only were the dancers great, but the talent that went into the stage decorations and costumes were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I loved the dance of the snowflakes in the woods and where it started to snow. Gorgeous! It was funny because Oliver and Eden both asked, "Where are the words???" I laughed and told them that they were telling the story through music and dance. I think they enjoyed it although they were laughing at some of the dances and the tight leotards that the men were sporting... go figure! HA!


This was on the Gallagher-Bluedorn's website...

"Over the course of the Gallagher-Bluedorn’s 10 years, this performance has become a family tradition. Join us again for the Minnesota Ballet’s perennial favorite, “The Nutcracker.” Joined by many local dancers, the Minnesota Ballet will bring the holiday spirit to life once again with the story of Little Clara, the young girl who received the Nutcracker as a gift, and her enchanted dream of princes and princesses, sugarplums and toy soldiers. Tchaikovsky's romantic score, the colorful scenery, lush period costumes, and skillful ballet performances make “The Nutcracker” a must-see for the holiday season."

"NEW MOON"

Since Ed has been working 2nd shift, we went out on a date during the day and saw the most recent installment of the Twilight Saga, "New Moon". I've been waiting so long to see this movie as I read all four books in less than two weeks last April and loved the storyline! I was surprised to see so many older couples there! My favorite part was when the character, Jacob Black took his shirt off to help Bella mop up some blood on her forehead and there were several gasps and ohs and ahs erupting from the crowd. The funniest thing we heard was from an old lady near the front of the theater saying, "Now what was THAT for?!?" Ed and I were dying laughing! It was definitely well worth seeing! I was glad to get to go with MY FAVORITE Edward... Thanks, Babe!!!

It's Official... I'm Getting Old...

November 18, 2009 - Today I found my very FIRST gray hair. Yeah... AWESOME. It was about 3/4 gray with about an inch of brown left on the tip. It wasn't goin' down THAT EASY!!! Time to dye my hair out of necessity and not just for fun... UGH!!!

Also, today was my friend, Meghan's birthday and I got to spend several hours with her tonight! Thanks for dinner and I hope you had a Happy Birthday!!!

36 Week OB Appointment

Well... we got another ultrasound to see how this baby was growing. They say he's about 6 to 6 1/2 lbs. so far. They could even see that he has hair! She also said that it's 'still a boy'... well that's good!!! HA!!! Everything looked normal and I'm dialated to a 2 and 50% thinned. She said everything is looking good! We are set to be induced on the 8th of December at 8 in the morning. YAY!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

November 12, 2009 - Today Ed and I took my mom out to eat lunch at the Olive Garden for her birthday. We had a fun time!!! Happy Birthday, Mom!!! Hope you had a great day!

Cute boy!

Ed and Jaren
Me and my Bear!!!

Famous Dave's BBQ

I just love Jaren's toothy grin!!

"DOH!!!"

Jaren took this doozie of a pic!!

Papa and Bear

Jaren smacking the bear goodbye!

Painting Pumpkins... Better Late Than Never...

For our Family Home Evening activity we finally painted our pumpkins... post Halloween as I was in the E.R. the day we were going to originally paint them. The kids had a ball... and so did we! I'm glad I have a husband that enjoys doing these fun little things with our kids!!! :O)

Jaren painting his pumpkin AND he still manages to have his hand down his pants... er... diaper in this case. Our little Al Bundy!!! :O)

Eden choosing some paint colors. Sweet smile!

My two lovable dorks... Ollie and Ed!!!

Me, Jare and Edes. Jaren wanted to help me paint MY pumpkin...

LOVE this proud face!!!

Oliver and his ghost pumpkin!

Eden posing with her pumpkin masterpiece!

I don't think Ed was thrilled with his finished product...

My ghost squash and Jack the Pumpkin King!

Crazy kiddos!!!

Couldn't resist posting this sweet picture!

Jaren doing a little table dancing during our judging of the pumpkins...

The lineup...

Recap of 2009- Pains, Pains and More Pains

Soooo... a quick recap of the last year and maybe then people will understand why I've been in such a bad mood this year...

*December 22 - Heel Spur Surgery (after a year of horrible pain I FINALLY got surgery.)*January 3 - Found out I had parathyroid problems (extreme fatigue, wretching, diarrhea, bone pain, etc.)... at Covenant hospital for a week (MANY tests). Transferred to Iowa City for a week (MANY tests). Had two ambulance rides to the hospital this month! Rode to Iowa City twice in an ambulance. All this while recovering from recent foot surgery... on crutches... yeah... awesome.
*January 22 - Parathyroidectomy (aka: surgery on my neck) still in Iowa City... Had the most painful I.V. meds that felt like my veins were on fire... HORRIBLE PAIN!
*January/February - Healing from both surgeries and using a walker because of short term osteoporosis which is actually really painful!
*March/April - Still healing after two surgeries and being sick for 3 years without knowing what was wrong.
*April 10 - Found out I'm pregnant and NO we weren't trying for anyone who really wants to know.
*April - Now: Pregnancy issues... Emotional issues (deal with on a daily basis - Mental Illness and with crazy hormones my regular meds aren't cuttin' the mustard. Anemic = very tired.
*August - Now: Hurt my back (see Chiropractor, Physical Therapist, massage therapist) worse than my regular back pain from the last 10 years. Some days can't walk. Hurts to breathe. No meds take the pain away. Think it's sciatica.
*September - Strep and other nasty seasonal craptasticness... gestational diabetes scare.
*October - After an Endocrine appointment, found out my parathyroid hormone is back up again. Which means I may have to have another surgery... this time with a newborn... what timing!
*October - During an OB appointment... found out I have H1N1. Wouldn't be so bad, but I'm pregnant... not good... and I have two children with chronic asthma... not good.
*October 31st - Horrible vomiting episode in the morning. My face was swollen, glands were HUGE, throat felt like it was closing and extremely painful, felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head. Went to the E.R. found out I had pharyngitis which is an inflammation of the pharynx and extremely contagious. Had I.V. meds and was there for several hours.
*November 1st - Horrible headache and bloody eyeballs resulting from nasty vomiting episode. The eye doctor said what most likely happened was from retching so forcefully causing a spike in my blood pressure thus causing my blood vessels to rupture in my eyes. Sooooo nasty. It took over a month to fully heal.
*November - Pregnancy pains... extreme ligament pain, feeling like the baby will fall out at any moment. Lots of insomnia and back pain.
*December 2nd - Pulled over by cops on my way home from a friend's house resulting in two tickets adding up to $227.00. Just in time for Christmas... BOO! Then... several hours later... having contractions TWO WEEKS EARLY, heading to the hospital, being dialated to an 8 resulting in all natural child birth... OUCH!!! I'm wondering if it was related to stress.
*December 3rd - Recovering from child birth... LOTS of horrible cramping in my abdomen. Woke up with a sore throat, congestion and fever of 100. Great.
*December - Still recovering. I have forgotten how painful recovery from child birth is. I'm happy that this is the last time I will feel this way, but I'm sad that this is my last baby...

Maxine Moments

Everyday People

Eye Dr. & OB Visits

So... last night I noticed that I popped some blood vessels in my eyes, which FREAKED ME OUT! I don't like the sight of blood... ESPECIALLY in my eyes! So... I went to bed kind of scared and hoped to be able to get in to see a doctor the next day.

EYE DOCTOR VISIT

9 am - We went to see Dr. Boeke, my optomatrist to rule out anything serious. He checked my eyeballs and my vision and found that things seemed to be okay. I asked him if it was normal to feel that my left eye felt different than my right eye... like there was more pressure in that one. He said that there was more pressure in that one, but not to worry. He told me that the blood vessels probably broke when I was wretching on Saturday morning and my blood pressure most likely spiked, causing them to rupture. He said not to freak out if I see more blood on the white part of my eye as gravity will pull the blood down and then it will turn yellowish as it's healing. I'm so glad to know what to expect so I won't be so freaked out! I seriously was in such a silly mood today! He walked us up to the front desk and said to call him if anything happens. I told him I'd let him know if my eyeballs explode in the meantime!!! He's like... "Let's not go there!" HAHAHA!!! (As Ed and I were laying down for a nap later, Ed was like... "You hardly have any white left on your eye! Don't look in the mirror or you might freak out! It might be how you are laying though." Yeah... I will try not to look in the mirror any time soon! BLECH!!!

OB VISIT

10 am - Next stop, my OB's office. I wasn't scheduled this week, but we really needed to find out about what was going on with my glucose levels! Dr. Wing was so great as she explained soooo much to Ed and I. I seriously felt such a weight lifted off of my shoulders after we left! She said that when they check for glucose levels in the urine it's MUCH different than when they test the blood, so it didn't even really compare. Which means that I WAS NOT on the verge of a diabetic coma! *SIGH* She said that the sugar levels can spike when someone is sick, which I am and in pregnant patients because the kidneys often leak causing a spike as well. She's also not concerned because I did pass the second gestational diabetes test within the last month. I failed one of the tests, which you have to fail two in order to be considered to have gestational diabetes. She said that we just need to work on getting me feeling better, eating more protein and whole grains. So glad I went today. I just wanted to come home and sleep. She also prescribed me some anti-nausea meds since I've been feeling so bad for the last couple of days. Also... I'm not sure if I could find a Norman Rockwell painting of an OB office visit... who knows... ;o) hehehe

Sunday, November 1 - The Day After

Like I said in my last post, I woke up at around 1 pm when Ed said that his dad wanted to check my blood glucose level since it was at 500 yesterday in the E.R., verging on diabetic coma... NICE. They tested it today, although I had nothing to eat all day since I was sleeping and it was 89. That's what I'd like to hear. My throat was feeling better, my tooth was feeling better, but my headache was killing me and my eyes were still very sore from vomiting yesterday. Ed and his dad went back to eat lunch with Ed's mom and the kids. I went back to sleep until about 4 o'clock. Ed came back home without the kids, since I'm contagious once more... with something different. UGH! So... another week without the kids.

Tonight after we went to bed, I was missing the kids terribly and I started crying. I couldn't breathe because my nose was congested again so I went into the bathroom, blew my nose, cried some more, blew my nose again and washed my hands. As I was washing my hands, I noticed that my eyes were really bloodshot... I mean like... the white part in the corner of my eye was red. I lifted my eyelid a bit and there was tons of blood. SCARY!!! I told Ed that I think I broke a blood vessel in both my eyes. I was a bit worried. He got out of bed and looked up broken blood vessels in the eye and said that it could just be from rubbing them, crying, coughing hard, pressure, etc. I thought back to how hard I puked yesterday and the feelings I felt in my eyeballs and thought that the crying just made it worse. It may take up to two weeks to go away. Then he read about broken blood vessels due to being diabetic and I had to stop him from reading because it was making me queasy and scared. UGH... I don't know what more I can take. Now I can't cry from stress of being sick and missing my kids for fear of busting up my eyeballs... GREEEAAAT! :O(

Please... be better tomorrow... please.

Saturday, October 31 - Emergency Room Halloween

I had only about two hours of sleep, due to my pregnancy insomnia and other ailments as of late, when I woke up at six am to extreme pain in my tooth! I've had pain in that tooth on and off for the last couple of months and so I figured I'd deal with it AFTER the baby is born. This pain was HORRIBLE! I've never experienced tooth pain this bad in my life! It's the bottom right molar, the last one which is hurting so badly. It was hurting even when my mouth was open, but the pain was severe when I closed my mouth and my teeth met. Holy cow!


I got out of bed and looked up tooth pain and pregnancy to see what it could possibly be and if I could even do anything while I'm 8 months pregnant! From what I saw online, it seems to me that I'll either have to have a root canal or an extraction if it's a fractured tooth. I called my friend a few hours later who happens to be a dental assistant to ask her what it could be and she said the same thing. I called my dentist on the emergency number, but hadn't heard from him today at all. Anyways... I took my hydrocodone (for my back pain), and tried to do anything I could to ease the throbbing pain! Ed got up with me and called around to various dentists offices to see if I could get in anywhere, but since it's Saturday... no one is open. ARGH... why couldn't this happen YESTERDAY?!


Anyways... after a bit, I felt like I was going to puke, and finally at around 11 am, it came. Let me tell you that this was the WORST vomiting experience I've ever had! I've had a sore throat and congestion anyways... but bring on the vomit and holy cow... I thought my head was going to explode. I was seriously scared because I couldn't breathe! I was laying on the couch just heaving into the garbage can while the whole family is looking on! I hadn't had anything to eat yet today, but I just kept heaving and heaving sooooooo forcefully! I couldn't breathe because I got sooooo congested and I couldn't breathe out of my mouth since I was vomiting so I seriously thought I was going to pass out. VERY scary. I felt sooooo much pressure in my eyes and they felt like they were bulging out of my head!!! Afterwards my head was seriously swollen, my glands under my neck were HUGE, my eyes were swollen into slits which felt like they were popping out of my head and they were really itchy! My throat was on fire and felt like it was closing. I still felt like there was a pukeball lodged in my throat, but I couldn't puke anymore. No matter how much water I drank, I couldn't get that feeling to go away. Ed was just staring at me because of how weird my swollen head looked! He said that my eyes looked chinese because they were sooooo swollen. I have to admit that I was really scared because I've never felt this way during or after puking. It lasted for over an hour afterwards!!! I had a horrid headache, my eyes were killing me and my glands were still pretty large and my throat was killing me.


I called my doctor's office and spoke to the triage nurse who didn't seem to be bothered by it. Ed had taken the kids over to his parents to get them out of the house. I was bummed because I had a fun day planned before we went trick-or-treating. My other symptoms felt like they were going away and so I was planning on going out tonight with them since I'd be outside anyways. We were going to paint pumpkins and make caramel apples as a family since we hadn't done anything this year since I've been so sick. Anyways... I posted my symptoms on FACEBOOK and a doctor friend said that I should go to the E.R. I was going to try and go to sleep and see if I felt better afterwards, but after I read that I decided to call Ed and have him take me to the E.R.


We got there and they took some blood and urine. They had to get it by catheter because there would be less bacteria in the urine... OUCH. Come to find out later... they put the wrong label on it, but luckily I could just pee in a cup that time. UGH. So... the doctor came in, we told her the brief version of my medical history and what happened that morning. She looked in my mouth and said that my throat looked horrible and that I most likely had Pharyngitis. I'd never heard of it. Anyways... she hooked me up to an IV, so I wouldn't get dehydrated because that is one of the biggest risks for fetal complications. The IV had antibiotics in it as well. We got there at around 1:30 or 2:00 and didn't get home 'til around 7:30 that night.


Anyways... I laid on the bed for awhile and Ed and I watched the Game Show Network while we were there. I tried to sleep a bit since I only had two hours sleep, but to no avail. I had to get up an pee several times while the IV fluids went through me. The nurse came in again with the results of my blood and urine test and said that my hemoglobin was low (I already figured that) and that my glucose level was a little high. She said that it was 500 and I asked her what was normal and she didn't know. So she left and came back and said around 100 is normal. I'm like... okay... what do I do for that? She just said to lay off the sugar. Okay... whatever. So... she gave me another bag of fluids and left again. She really didn't seem to know what was going on. I should have listened to my friend and gone to Allen hospital's E.R. instead, but I went to Covenant because IF anything were to happen, that is where my OB will deliver the baby. I had to ask if I was contagious, what to do for the symptoms, what I could eat and drink, etc. They weren't good about giving me any information. So, we got the paperwork and prescription for antibiotics and left.


Right after we left, my lips started tingling and I was like, "Oh, great! Why couldn't this have started before we left?!" Any little change has been freaking me out lately! We went to Walgreens and got my meds and some throat friendly foods and drinks and came home. Thankfully, my friends took the kiddos out trick-or-treating for me so they wouldn't have to miss out on that, too. THANK YOU!!! Then Ollie and Eden spent the night with Grandma Young and Jaren was still with G&G Palmer. Also... Ed was supposed to work his last overnight, but luckily Dan said he'd take his shift so I wasn't alone... just in case Ed needed to take me to the hospital again. THANKS, DAN!


We got home, popped in a movie, heated up some tomato soup and laid down. I was sooooo dang tired and feeling crappy that I went to bed at about 8:30ish. I didn't finish my soup because I was feeling urpy again and reeeeaaaallly didn't want to puke again. So... off to bed I went with my puke bucket right next to the bed. I slept most of the night (minus two hours) and slept until about 1 pm Sunday afternoon when Ed and his dad woke me up to check my blood sugar level since in reality I was verging on diabetic coma with a level of 500 at the ER the day before. It was 89. They gave me a blessing and I slept until about four. The kids are off to G&G's house for the week since I'm contagious until my symptoms go away. Another long sick week is ahead of me... *SIGH* :O(

Friday, October 30 - Trunk or Treat / Ward Halloween Party

Let me start off by saying that I LOVE HALLOWEEN! It is my favorite holiday! I love all of the food and activities associated with the holiday and this time of year in general! So... you will understand why I'm mad that I have to miss out on all of the fun things going on! I love seeing the kids in their costumes and their excitement for all of the activities they get to participate in! This is the first year that I've missed their school halloween party and parade. It makes me so sad! :O(


Anyways... since I didn't want to freak anyone out by going to the church Halloween party and trunk or treat, I asked Ed to take them! I know he's not as into these things as me, but he understands that I would do it if I could. I miss doing things together as a family... whatever it may be. So, he brought the kids home for a bit to get their costumes and see me for like an hour and a half (they had gotten their flu shots a few days before). The kids got into their costumes and I helped Eden put on some make-up, which she LOVED!!! I drew on some chin whiskers for Oliver and some whiskers and a black nose for Jaren. I had to get some photos of them in their costumes, of course! Then, I got some hugs and good-byes and then they were gone. :O( I miss them soooooo much it hurts.

Hannah Montana (6), Dalmation (2), Shaggy from Scooby-doo (8).

Here's a better view of their costumes!

Ed called me from the party and said that the kids were having fun, but Jaren was ready to leave! He's my only kid that never wants to stay anywhere for very long. At friend's houses, the park, anywhere... it's crazy! Ollie and Eden would stay anywhere all day long!! :O) They had hot dogs, played games, did the trunk or treat, had an ugly tie contest and a best costume contest!

I saw some photos on FACEBOOK of the fun that my friends posted! It looked like they had a ball! :O) I'm sad I missed it, but I'm glad that the kids still got to go and have fun with their friends! (Thanks, Meg and Krista for the photos!)

Oliver during the Trunk or Treat at the Youngblut's.

Jaren staying by Papa's side. True to form as 'man's best friend'...

Haylie and Eden. Such cute girlies!

Tuesday, October 27 - OB Appointment and H1N1

So, today started like any other day. I got up for my now weekly OB appointment at 9:20. Outside of the waiting room there was a table set up with some hand sanitizer, some face masks and a paper saying that if you have any of the following symptoms to put a face mask on. I had a headache, sore throat, congestion and slight cough, so I thought that I would go ahead and put one on. I entered the waiting area and talked to the receptionist only to find that my appointment was scheduled for yesterday morning. UGH. Luckily, she got me in to see someone anyways since I was 32 weeks along and obviously looking like I had just gotten hit by a MACK truck.

As I sat in the lobby, I could see everyone just staring at me like I had the freakin' plague! I'm thinking to myself, "I'm wearing this for YOUR benefit! I already feel like crap so stop freakin' starin' at me or I'll take it off and cough on ya!!!" I was annoyed because I missed my appointment and felt like an idiot, annoyed because everyone was staring at me, and annoyed because it was hotter than hell wearing it and every breath I took fogged up my glasses. I didn't want to touch any magazines because if I did people would freak out, but I had to grab one and start fanning myself as I felt like I was going to pass out any minute! A man came by and told me to follow him to a room. I don't know if it was from a sincere desire to help because he could tell I was miserable or if it was to get me to a room to quarantine me!! Either way, I was happy to get to a room and away from the penetrating stares.

I waited for a few minutes only to be greeted by a nurse wearing something that resembled a HAZMAT suit! She had on rubber gloves, a face mask and a robe of some sort. I had to laugh to myself!!! Later, the doctor came in looking similar to the nurse. I was thinking they were going to strip me down, shave me, shower me and put me into a plastic bubble! (I envisioned a scene from Monster's INC.) I told her my symptoms and she said that I probably had H1N1 (swine flu). I was like, don't you have to test me for it? She said that it's so rampant now that they just assume people have it and treat it as such. I'm like... GREEEAAAATTT... now I REALLY feel like I have the plague! Since it had been several days I couldn't have Tamiflu to help it. I just had to let it run it's craptastic course.

So... last week it was my parathyroid hormone level that was back up and now I supposedly have the freakin' swine flu. Anything else to worry about? CRIPES!!! Soooo... back home, kids are going to G&G Palmer's for the week while I deal with this crap. Even though they've been exposed to me already it's just safer for them, especially Oliver and Jaren because of their asthma problems. Even more to worry about. I just want to scream.

Friday, October 23 - Surprise GNO

Today was a normal day. I felt like I was getting a cold. Tired as always from not being able to sleep the night before. Ed's at work, kids are at school and Jaren is at G&G Palmer's house. Another lonely day to sit and think about my crappy luck lately. My good friend, Meg calls and wanted to bring me lunch, but I was asleep. She called back later and said she had something to drop off. She came about 5:30 or 6ish with a basket of goodies for me. She said it was the 2nd Shift Survival Kit... since Ed was about to switch from 1st to 2nd shift at work. She knows that I've been worried because of my health, but also because I don't like to be alone at night in our horrible neighborhood. A friend who works for the sheriff's department here in town said that our neighborhood is the worst one in the city now... YAY, US! ARGH!!! Anyways... she began pulling various items out and explaining their significance to me! I got a kick out of the Sweet and Sour gummy bears as I would have some sweet days and some sour days and also the eye patch because I will now have to sleep with one eye open!!! I was DYING LAUGHING!!! I soooo needed a good laugh! Thanks again, Meg... H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!!

By that time the kids were all home, but Ed wasn't scheduled to get home until around 8:30. We chatted for a while and then someone else knocks on the door and it's my friend, Jenelle! I'm like... "Okay... what is going on!?" :O) She comes in with some bags of stuff and then puts a casserole in my freezer and some other food and then plops down to give me a foot massage. I opted out of the foot massage as I'm weird about my feet, but she gave me a hand massage instead! They said that they had called Ed and were kidnapping me for a girl's night! Ed was coming home a little early from work so we could go out and eat and chat! A MUCH NEEDED NIGHT OUT!!! :O) We sat and chatted for a while, I got ready and then Ed got home and we went out to eat at Las Margaritas. I could have eaten chips and salsa all night long!!! :O) After dinner, we went back to Jenelle's house and talked for several hours... laughing all the while!!! THANK YOU, LADIES!!! I sooooooo needed a night out to forget about my problems and just LAUGH!!! And THANK YOU, HONEY for coming home early so I could go out! *LOVES*

Wednesday, October 21 - Endocrinologist Appointment

I've been seeing my Endocrinologist every four to six weeks to check my vitamin D level, calcium level, and parathyroid hormone level (PHT). Everything was going well up to this appointment. I had my blood drawn the day before so that it would be read for my appointment. She said that my vitamin D and calcium levels were okay, but my PHT level was high again. That was quite a shock to me! I asked what it was and she said 86.3. Since I didn't know how high that was I asked what the normal range was and she then told me it was anywhere from 17 to 70. I figured okay... it's a little on the high side, but I can deal with this. Then I asked what it was when I was there four weeks ago and she said 23. Okay... I was thinking that it was crazy to have jumped sooooooo high in only a month's time! She said that it may have been a mistake at the lab, but I really wasn't going to get my hopes up. I was fighting back tears as I thought to myself, "What freakin' timing... If my calcium and vitamin D levels go haywire then I will have to have ANOTHER parathyroidectomy WITH A FREAKIN' NEWBORN!" I held it together as long as I could. We talked for a minute and she said that I needed to come back in two weeks to have my blood work done again. I made it out the front door and just burst into tears. One more thing to have on my plate. As if I'm not dealing with enough physical problems right now. We'll just have to wait and see what happens I guess. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm........

Wednesday, October 21 - Student of the Week - Oliver

Oliver was Student of the Week this week at school and so today, my mom, Ed and I went to eat lunch with him at school. He wanted McDonalds, but the last couple of times we've eaten there, he went to the ER once and almost had to go back there the second time for his asthma problems. I suggested Granny Annie's because he LOVES their soup. He was all over that!!! HA! He was in luck because they were serving his FAVORITE soup that week which I rarely see there... Chicken with Dumplings! So... we all got some good soup and sandwiches and had a nice lunch with Oliver! We love you, Buddy!!!

Oliver enjoying his Chicken and Dumpling soup!

Tuesday, October 20 - Kid's Fun Fair at School

Tonight I mustered up some energy and took the kiddos to their Annual School Fun Fair. Since I was by myself (Ed was working), Jaren stayed back with G&G Palmer, aka... his 'other' set of parents! :O) I also invited my friends to join us but two of her kiddos were sick so I offered to take her oldest, who is four! I knew he'd LOVE to play the games, but I forgot how much energy four-year-olds have as well!!! Oliver was GREAT and helped me out with keeping an extra eye on Cullan. It was like he was an adoptive big brother for the night! It was seriously so sweet to see how they interacted with one another!

Ollie and Cullan waiting in line to play some games in the gym.

My friend, Brenda, is the PTO president this year and her two boys were sick at home and her husband was out of town so she brought her little girl, McKenzie, who I used to babysit, along with her. She asked if she could hang out with us for the night while she made sure the fun fair ran without a hitch! She even gave us an extra punch card for games for each of the kiddos! How sweet was that?! I didn't mind since McKenzie and Eden are good friends, so they had a ball together!

First, we went to the cake walk and Cullan WON the very first cake!!! We all cheered for him but then he got very shy and didn't want to choose one. I chose one for him which was a green cake with a large spider on top and ran it out to the car so I didn't have to carry it all night long! We walked through the school playing the games, getting tattoos and jumping on the inflatables. They all were having so much fun!

The hockey game. The boys loved this one!

Eden playing a game.

Cullan playing the ring toss game.

We took a break to have pizza or hot dogs for dinner in the cafeteria. It was nice to get off of my feet for a bit! We did the cake walk again and this time... I WON! I've never won a cake at a cake walk! Oliver was the one that drew my number, too!!! HA! This time, Cullan wanted to choose the cake so I let him choose and we swapped cakes later! He chose a green one with spiders all over it! It was funny because Oliver's teacher, Mr. Galloway, made both of the cakes that we chose! ;o)

McKenzie and Eden during dinner. Goofy girls!

I still can't believe that I won a cake! I was like, "I'm cravin' me some cake tonight!!"

In one of the rooms they had a "Musical Petting Zoo" which the kids LOVED! They had an array of instruments laid out for the kids to try. They all loved trying the violins!!!

Oliver getting a mini violin lesson.

Eden trying it as well!

"Hey Mr. Tambourine Man... Play a song for me..."

Ollie trying to play... hehehe...

I'm glad that I was able to feel well enough to take them so they could have fun. I feel like they've been missing out on alot with me feeling crappy all of the time. I'm glad we went! It was a really fun night!

Ramblings and Rants - Trials

I just got done reading someone's recent blog post and all I can say is... WOW. I feel as if I could have been the one sitting at the computer typing it. Although we haven't gone through the same experiences in life, the outcomes and feelings of helplessness are still the same. I hate trials. I really do. I know that we are 'supposed' to love them, but in all honesty... nope, I don't. Maybe it's because I'm right smack dab in the middle of many... MANY trials in my life and I can't see what the point of my going through them is. I know that my heart has hardened toward people because of it. I know I'm supposed to be going through this period in my life gracefully, but I'm not. I'm fighting it tooth and nail. I just feel like I'm in a rut and no one 'gets it'. This has honestly been the worst year of my life and I hope... that 2010 will be better. Hope is all I've got people... that is all.

Ramblings and Rants - Urine

Wow... I really have to pee... like... A LOT. Which brings me to the following picture of Harry piggybacking Lloyd on his sweet, sweet scooter in the movie "Dumb and Dumber".

They are driving through the mountains in the crisp winter air and Harry has to pee so Lloyd says, "Just go man...". This is what I've been feeling like lately. I hate having to interrupt my TV watching or my Facebooking to head to the privy and do my business. Why can't I just pee my pants... and be done with it??? :O)

Jaren Quote

So... a few nights ago Ed and I were watching "The Biggest Loser" and they had a temptation challenge. It was a "Wheel of Fortune" type wheel with covered platters in each divider. Under only ONE of the covers was a 'golden ticket' of sorts to be able to pick the new teams. A highly saught after piece of paper! The hitch was that whatever you uncovered you had to take... mainly high calorie goodies. The first guy was up, spun the wheel and landed on a 1,000 calorie piece of chocolate cake. All of the other players were saying things like, "Oh, no..." and such. About 4 players later... another player uncovered a large frosted cupcake and Jaren, our 2-year-old mournfully laments, "Ooooooooooh noooooooo........ chocolate cake!!!" I was DYING laughing!!! It's so dang funny hearing some of the stuff that comes out of my kids' mouths! HA!!!