Monday, March 31, 2008

The Weekend

Miss me? :)
This past weekend we travelled up to visit my family and to have the annual birthday party for Kelton, Kaylen and their cousin, Mikayla. Kaylen has a February birthday, Mikayla has a March birthday and Kelton has an April birthday so it has always just made sense to have a birthday bash for all the kids at the same time - and the kids seem to really love it!

So ummm...spring began, didn't it? You seriously could have fooled us. When we were packing Thursday night Kaylen grabbed her mittens and said "We take 'des too incase it snows." I said "Oh honey - it isn't going to snow. It's spring time and the snow won't be back until next year."

HA!

When we woke the next morning we were surprised to find white flakes falling from the sky. Not a lot and it was too warm for it to stick around (38 degrees) but still - there was a fine white dusting covering things. A quick call to my sister revealed the same thing was happening up there. Hmmm, I thought to myself, better throw in those gloves after all.

The four hour drive saw many snow showers as well as rain, sun and wind. Still, nothing too much to worry about.

Saturday morning we woke up at my brother's house and got ready for our day. We noticed snow flurries here and there but nothing note worthy. We loaded the kids into the car and started to drive to the meeting place for the start of the days activities. I swear to you, we went no more than a mile down the road and ran into THIS!





Catching snow flakes on their tongues.



I'm telling you, not much makes me happier when I am driving in the snow than knowing I have paid my car insurance premiums. I do not like driving in snow. Not at all. I will usually avoid it at all costs but since I was already in it, there was just one thing to do - keep pushing on. My sister, who Dakota called on the cell, assured us there was no snow in the city we were driving too and sure enough, a few exits down on the freeway it all changed to rain and we were fine. (The main road on the island where my brother lives was closed though so we had to wind ourselves around the island so a normally 15 minute drive took more like 40. Ugh!)

We finally arrived at our destination and the fun began! We all had lunch together and then drove over to the miniature golf place in town. Oh my goodness! The kids had a great time and I dare say so did the adults!












After golf, we headed over to my dad's for the opening of the gifts, cake and ice cream and together time. The kids all made out like bandits - wow!








After a long fun-filled day we headed back to my brother's house. The snow had all but melted by then and the roads were in good shape. The phone rang around 7pm though - it was my sister calling to say the snow had started to fall there and was sticking (she is about 30 minutes away from my brother). Eeeek! What did this mean for our return trip home in the morning?

Snow flurries in the morning came and went but nothing substantial so we packed up and headed out. Four hours of driving saw almost every conceivable weather from this area; snow, blue skies, rain, wind, hail....oh yes, we saw it all.

So much for March going out like a lamb around here. :)

It was a good weekend - long in some ways and far too short in others. (The drive was one of the long parts. Ugh!) We arrived home late afternoon and after the bulk of the unpacking was done, Dakota took the kids outside to play while I finished up inside. They had received baseball gear as gifts from my sister and they have already put them to good use! So darn cute!




Thursday, March 27, 2008

Blog Quiet

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be out of pocket for the next few days for some good old fashioned "family time". Have a great weekend and I will catch you early next week.

Be well.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Keeping Band Aid in Business

I've made no secret about my children's love of all things Band Aid (and to be fair, Curad) related. Kelton first discovered band aids when he was about 1.5 years old. Kaylen was probably around the same age. Both are still more than delighted when they receive a box.

Here is a photo of one of Kaylen's dolls. This poor thing appears to have been the victim of a terrible accident. Many other of Kaylen's favorite dolls and stuffed friends sport band aids as well and it's a rare, rare day when Kaylen herself is not sporting several band aids.

I should buy stock...and maybe so should you. :)



Speaking of injuries....I gave away my treadmill this week. I haven't used it since...ummm....late last summer when my health started seeing changes. Well no - I used it one time since then and discovered that whatever I was doing on it made things hurt worse and increased the dizziness I was having. I assumed it was from a pinched nerve maybe from watching TV at a weird angle while I used the treadmill.

Yeah - not really what it was though, was it? Though being on the treadmill did indeed increase the problems of the Syringomyelia. I know this is out there somewhere but just looking at the treadmill in my room every time I went in there was driving me crazy. I began to hate it and just wanted it gone. It was a vivid reminder of everything that has changed in the year since I brought it into the house - ironically planning to use it to get healthier. Sure, sure - there is no way to know for certain if the treadmill was a contributing factor but there is no way to know for sure that it wasn't either. Yes, I was probably a walking time bomb in regards to the syringomyelia and maybe it was just time it acted up. But maybe, just maybe, I would have postponed it all by *not* working out.

Ironic, no?

So instead of seething every time I saw the treadmill I thought it best to just get rid of it. I wanted it gone, gone, gone. And now it is. And yes, I actually do feel a sense of calmness.

I'm sure the treadmill didn't deserve my probably misplaced anger but it got it. I figure being a machine and all it could handle me being pissed off at it.


*****************************

Tidbits of info which can be found at the linked site (above):

Syringomyelia (sear-IN-go-my-EEL-ya) is a disorder in which a cyst forms within the spinal cord. This cyst, called a syrinx, expands and elongates over time, destroying the center of the spinal cord. Since the spinal cord connects the brain to nerves in the extremities, this damage results in pain, weakness, and stiffness in the back, shoulders, arms, or legs. Other symptoms may include headaches and a loss of the ability to feel extremes of hot or cold, especially in the hands. Each patient experiences a different combination of symptoms.

Other, more common disorders share the early symptoms of syringomyelia. In the past, this has made diagnosis difficult. The advent of one outpatient test, however, called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has significantly increased the number of syringomyelia cases diagnosed in the beginning stages of the disorder.

About 21,000 American men and women have syringomyelia, with symptoms usually beginning in young adulthood. Signs of the disorder tend to develop slowly, although sudden onset may occur with coughing or straining. If not treated surgically, syringomyelia often leads to progressive weakness in the arms and legs, loss of hand sensation, and chronic, severe pain.


**and**

The second major form of syringomyelia occurs as a complication of trauma, meningitis, hemorrhage, a tumor, or arachnoiditis. Here, the syrinx or cyst develops in a segment of the spinal cord damaged by one of these conditions. The syrinx then starts to expand. This is sometimes referred to as noncommunicating syringomyelia. Symptoms may appear months or even years after the initial injury, starting with pain, weakness, and sensory impairment originating at the site of trauma.

The primary symptom of post-traumatic syringomyelia is pain, which may spread upward from the site of injury. Symptoms, such as pain, numbness, weakness, and disruption in temperature sensation, may be limited to one side of the body. Syringomyelia can also adversely affect sweating, sexual function, and, later, bladder and bowel control.


Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Bubbles, Bubble Everywhere!

Yesterday I took the kids to the Dollar Tree to pick up a few things and we found bubbles and big bubble wands. I have to tell you, if you have a Dollar Tree near you run, don't walk, there and get some of the bubbles they have this year. The brand name is Bubble Fun and it is 32oz of fun in every bottle. I kid you not!

This is probably the best bubble solution we have had in years. It's thick and makes amazingly - and big - bubbles. Coupled with a big bubble wand it's a ton of fun for $2.00. I even went back this afternoon to pick up two more wands (one for me and one for Dakota) and five more bottles of bubble solution (we blew through the bottle I bought yesterday in no time flat).

Seriously. So much fun!

Well sure - I'm pretty sure staying in one of Branson condos would be more fun but still - for backyard entertainment, good bubble fun can't be beat. Just check out these photos.





Horton Hears a Who

It's spring break for Dakota (though not for Kelton...which kind of sucks (his is next week). It would be more fun to have the same time frame off of school. Not that it really matters since Dakota still works all day but still...) so she took the afternoon off of work and well went to the movies and saw "Horton Hears a Who".

It was cute though not as cute as I had hoped and about midway through I was ready to call it good (though a good bottle of wine from my friendly wine club would have made it much better!). The kids seemed to like it but both got fidgety at different points along the way (unlike Enchanted which kept their attention almost the entire time). At the end of the movie Kelton could be heard saying "That was good! We have to buy it when it comes out!"

It was just really good to be out as a family and enjoying being together. We don't get a lot of time together so any and all is definitely time well spent!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter!!

What time did Easter morning start at your house? It came waaaay too early here - Kaylen jumped out of bed at 5:30, Kelton was awake around 5. Thankfully, Dakota kept them entertained for a good 40 minutes to allow me to get a little more sleep. By 6:10 we were all up and headed out to see what the big bunny had left for the kids.

Here are a few photos from this morning.




Happy Easter to everyone!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Princess Tea Party

Today Kaylen and I went to the Mommy and Me Princess Tea Party which is run through our city's Parks and Recreation Department. We were joined by my friend Brenda and her four year old daughter, Katie and the girls had such a great time!

There was a little lunch, a girls choir sang and then all the little girls got to go up on the stage and dance to princess songs. Talk about being in heaven! Kaylen was so excited about that part that she could hardly sit still through the choir singing. She kept asking "Now mommy? Now can I go dance?"

Finally it was time and oh my goodness! She was so incredibly sweet that I could barely stand it. Talk about having "happy tears". :)

I just love having special time with my girl. :)











Thursday, March 20, 2008

Happy Spring


As I write this the rain is coming down in sheets and the wind is blowing so hard I can hear it from inside the house. So this is spring. Yeah - it really doesn't conjure up thoughts of green grass, warm days and flowers in full bloom. At least, not yet.

The thing I love about spring is that it holds the promise of days when I no longer need to wear my wool coat (or should wear it - like my kids, I am not a fan of the coat). Spring - warm days and cool nights and before the blazing hot days and way too hot nights set in. Yep - it is definitely one of my favorite times of the year (autumn being the other).

Spring. Even the name sounds fun...light and bouncy.

I'm tired, can you tell? Since I started this post I remembered I needed to return a call to my sister (who is buying a house and is pretty stressed out over getting all the pieces to line up) so now it's 45 minutes later and all thoughts of what I was going to write about have vacated my mind. I'm sure it was something profound and deep though because, you know - I'm profound and deep like that.

Stop laughing. I can be. Really. But I digress......

Anyway - the bottom line of this post is this:

Happy Spring!

Simple. Clear. Concise. :) And now I'm going to bed. Good night. :)

Diva




Thanks to Sheri for taking this photo. I love it!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Pictures to Share

I am not feeling all that inspired to write anything tonight. I'm tired and in a fair amount of non-comfort from stuff so instead of struggling to come up with something interesting I thought I would just post some recent pictures.

Let's start off with a couple of Kelton and the dogs:


Awwww! Could this be any sweeter? See that blanket? It's the BEST blanket in the world. I found it at Target a couple months ago and it has become the all time favorite cuddle blanket. They all like it but it's MINE MINE MINE!! :)

So much for "no other dogs on the couch!"

Kelton dressed Jordan up in his pajamas. No worries - Jordan didn't complain one little bit. :)


When we learned for certain that Kaylen was a girl, Dakota began to fret about "having to play tea party" and how she really didn't want to have to do that. Ummm...fast forward to this past weekend when I walked into the room to find this scene. I think it's fair to say Dakota has adjusted quite well to all things girly girl. :) And don't you just love that Kelton is drinking directly from the tea pot???


Saturday afternoon brought rain so the kids raced to get out to splash in the mud. As you will see, Kaylen was dressed up in her party dress. She flat out refused to change so I let her go. I'm happy to report that I was able to get out every drop of mud and the dress is picture perfect again....which is good because I want to take her in for pictures and this dress is what I want her to wear. :)





I still haven't finished up Kelton's invitation (it's on tonight or tomorrow's To Do list) but I did get a couple of decent photos. It's hard to do these days because every time I try he acts all goofy and makes silly faces (case in point, check out a photo in the slideshow below). I like these two for different reasons - once because it really lets his personality shine through and the other because he looks so gosh darn innocent. :) I'm not sure which one I will use yet.


And finally......today Kaylen attended her very first non-family birthday party. Her friend, Katie, turned 4 years old and had a princess party. Since it was in the afternoon, all the kindergarten older brothers were invited as well. Everyone had a really good time and Kaylen cannot stop talking about it!