"Winds"day

Today is "Winds"day here in North Dakota! Actually, nearly every day is "Winds"day here! We're hoping for some much needed rain here. We have a burn ban in effect here, which means technically we can't even use our charcoal grill! (However, we're not going out to buy a gas one!)

Last night I attended a Parent's meeting for the Bismarck Youth Baseball program. I think our baseball experience is going to be greatly improved over last years' fiasco! They seem to be really organized and know what's going on. They are desperately needing umpires, and apparently some of the umpires they've had for many years quit last year because of the rude behavior of parents. (This is a completely volunteer program by the way) They have adopted a "No tolerance" rule this year. If anyone is riding the umpires for any reason, they will get 1 warning. The next time they are escorted out of the game along with the child playing ball AND every family member or friend that might be there watching this child play! Then, if the family won't leave, they will make them forfeit the game and everyone will have to leave the diamond! I think that is a great idea. I remember back when I was playing high school basketball and some of the parents that knew way more than the referees did. I would have LOVED to seen some of them get kicked out of the game, along with everyone else that was there for that particular player! We probably would have had a fairly empty gym? Anyway, hopefully this will prevent ANYONE from treating the umpires badly. Gage will be playing on the Angels team and Scott is coaching and there are 4 or 5 other parents that will be helping as well as a bench coach (to make sure no one gets whacked in the head with a bat, and keep the kids lined up and ready to bat), 2 parents will be in the outfield teaching the kids on what they are supposed to be doing, there will be a 1st and 3rd base coach and someone pitching when necessary and someone behind the plate. Gage is excited about playing again this year, and so are we. I wouldn't mind helping the kids in the outfield. I played left field my 8th grade summer going into high school, then pretty much played shortstop the rest of my playing days. The past few years I have played on a slow pitch softball team and I have moved back into left field and I love it out there! (Mostly I think because I'm halfway scared of the ball and taking a bad hop in the infield) Anyway, you get alot of action in the outfield and I love catching fly balls. I won't be playing this year because I thought I was going to be having my 2nd mouth surgery this spring, which isn't happening now until late summer/fall, and it's too late to play since the season has already started. Maybe next year? We are signed up to play on our church's volleyball team in the church league this summer, so that should keep me busy, along with all of Gage's baseball games.

Not too much going on here today, so nothing too exciting to blog about.

The Simple Things

Of those of you who know me, and those of you who didn't really know me very well before reading my blog, you probably know that it's the simple things in life that excite me.

Last night before getting the kids to bed we got a phone call from Lee's Hallmark. They asked if they could speak to Emma. I quickly got Emma on the phone and we learned that she won a prize for the coloring contest at Hallmark's Webkinz Extravaganza this past weekend! She was thrilled to death, and I was too. Gage, however, was not. He was mad. "Why did she win a prize and I didn't?" I was quite disappointed in his attitude about the whole thing and told him that he should be happy for her, not mad. I reminded him of how much time she took coloring this picture. And, let me tell you, she took her own SWEET TIME and did her very best job. I feel a little guilty about hounding her to "hurry up!" Gage had colored his pretty quickly and handed it in and won a Webkinz bookmark, so I assumed you just received the prize for coloring the picture. So, I must admit I was a little impatient that it was taking her so long, and I colored a few things on the picture myself to make it go a little quicker. I think I just colored the character's shoes, and his name "Goober" at the top of the picture though. If you would like a little idea of how long it took her to color this picture, I can tell you that Scott grew impatient (that's nothing unusual; however) and said he was going to run down to Eddie Bauer and look around. The Eddie Bauer store is at the other end of the mall, so he was gone quite awhile. (He also came back with a Starbucks coffee for me!) Anyway, I'm guessing it took her at least 30 to 45 minutes to color this picture, even with me helping a little. This morning I didn't even have to wake Emma up! In fact, she woke me up telling me she was ready to go to Hallmark to get her prize. I told her the store didn't open until 10am, so she had a few hours of waiting to do. On our walk to school, Gage and I had a talk about being happy for her and not being envious. I told him that even in the Bible it says we shouldn't envy. He says, "Is that one of the Ten Commandments?" I told him that yes I thought it was, and explained to him what being envious means. Anyway, he agreed that whatever it was that she won, whether it be a Webkinz or something else, he wouldn't be mad. He also said, "Besides, she said if it was something boyish, she would share it with me."

We had a few errands to run, as we learned this morning that our friends Heidi and Dave Afton had their baby early this morning, Aubree Bernadette Afton (she's not listed on the website quite yet, but I linked the web page just in case you want to check back later) and I needed to pick up a gift (we were waiting to find out if it was a girl or boy). I figured since we were already going to Hallmark to get Emma's prize, that that would be a good place to look for a gift, which leads me to another "simple thing that has me excited".

Awhile back, when I was browsing through Hallmark (yes, I admit, it was because I was probably looking to see what Webkinz they had) I noticed a display on the end of an aisle of wrapping paper. I have a thing for wrapping paper. This was not your ordinary wrapping paper, however. This was adhesive wrapping paper. I was admiring the sample packages that they had on display and thought to myself as I was noticing the crisply folded edges, "yeah right, I'm sure it really works like that!" Well, a week or so ago I got a coupon in the mail from Hallmark for a "Buy a roll of new adhesive wrapping paper and get a roll free". I figured this would be a great time to buy it, since I needed to wrap a baby gift. Let me tell you, this is one of the neatest inventions since, hmmm, let me think................since we discovered Webkinz! :-) It was amazingly easy to make those nice, clean, crisply folded edges at the end of the package. AND, the BEST part to me is, that you can actually just cut out the size of paper you need, rather than cutting all the way up the roll, because I just can't stand having a strip of the wrapping paper left wrapped around the roll, only to have it unroll again and get all wrinkled in the storage bin. (Okay, some of you may not know what I'm talking about, but I know all of my other neat-freak, label-making friends know what I mean!) You can leave that unneeded strip on the roll because you can roll it right back onto itself and since it's adhesive, it stays put!! The adhesive is like a sticky note, so you can remove it pretty easily and restick it without a problem. Anyway, those nicely wrapped packages they had on display can really be re-created by you! (I love wrapping presents!) I do want to point something out, however. It would be a wise idea to make sure that your adhesive paper doesn't fall to the floor if you own pets, because it comes up covered in pet hair, and it is impossible to remove. (I've learned this firsthand!) So, go out and buy a roll and tell me what you think!

Another new product I've been introduced to, and have fallen in love with is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge that you use for cleaning your bathroom and kitchen. (Okay, I know this isn't THAT new on the market, but you must remember, I'm Behind The Times!) My sister-in-law, Christy, told me about it probably close to a year ago (probably the last time I really tried scrubbing the bathtub clean) and was frustrated that nothing I had REALLY worked (probably because when you have a years' worth of soap scum buildup in your tub, nothing really works THAT great). But let me tell you, this sponge really is magic!!! I was able to completely scrub my tub to the point of sparkling clean, without even building up a sweat! No kidding! Here's another important note, however. Awhile back I received a very important email regarding the use of the Mr. Clean Magic Sponge, with a picture attached. You should not use this to clean your children (okay, why anyone would do this to begin with is beyond me!) because it will burn their skin. Apparently some brilliant mother thought, since it works so well to clean the bathtub, maybe it will work to remove permanent marker or temporary tattoo from my children's skin? DUH! It does have some cleaning solution impregnated into it which can burn your child's skin if used on them!! If it wasn't on the label before, it is now.

I just wanted to share a few of the simple things that got me excited today. Oh, and as I re-read back through my posting, I must tell you that Emma won a pack of Webkinz trading cards at Hallmark!! She had the choice between a Webkinz mouse pad (which Gage already won), Webkinz body spritz, Webkinz gift bag and Webkinz trading cards. She made a great choice since we are already collecting them so we can play the game, and it is also something she can share with her brother! Whew, I lucked out there!)

Books

Not a lot going on today. I did volunteer to help set up the Book Fair at Gage's school today at 3:15, so I'm looking forward to that. Anytime I can look at, organize and admire books is a good time. And, after the last book fair, when I volunteered to help take it down and pack it all up to send back, Mrs. Schmidt gave both Emma and I a free book for helping! (That was all she had to do to keep me volunteering to help with the book fairs!) I haven't been a huge fan of books all of my life. I do remember when I was younger, loving the Little House on the Prairie books, and there was a series called Sweet Dreams that I enjoyed reading, and also Judy Blume. After graduating high school, when I entered nursing school, there was no time to read anything except the nursing textbooks. After that came work, and still I didn't take time to read books until I was introduced to the John Grisham books. Those I loved. I discovered it had to be a really good book to grab my attention and keep me reading. Before having kids, I remember learning about how important books were to kids and how much smarter they can be when you read to them. I started collecting Disney books at that time for my future children. When Gage came along, I had those books, and some books we received from my oldest sister, Kim. She sent me a whole series of books she had for her children, Ryan and Sara, in the mail. I remember getting that package and it being so heavy. We were thrilled to death when we opened it to find all of these wonderful books. The best part was that Ryan and Sara both had written their names in the covers of these books where it stated, "This book belongs to". I couldn't wait for Gage to get old enough to write his name so I could have him write it right alongside Ryan and Sara's signatures inside the covers of these books. Now, Emma will get to do the same thing. When we have outgrown the books, my plan is to box them up and keep them until Ryan and/or Sara have children and I will send them back to them. I can't wait. I also have a bunch of books from my sister Jari Jo, and I plan to do the same thing with them. We now have so many books in this house, it's almost embarrassing. I know Gage's and Emma's teachers love me when they send home book orders because they get all kinds of free things for every dollar I spend, and I know that a wonderful hardcovered children's dictionary has made its way into Gage's classroom because of me and my purchase of the entire Harry Potter series in hardcover edition! (His teacher told me so!) I can always rationalize why I should buy them. You can never go wrong spending money on a book because it's going to make your children smarter, right? May is a sad time for me, because that means 3 whole months of no book orders coming home. I remember taking those same book orders home from school when I was young. My Mom would get so mad when we would bring them home. I remember begging and begging to buy books. I do remember always getting to pick out a 95 cent poster! (I'm sure I got occasional books too, but I remember the posters). I always think of that when the kids bring home their book orders. Emma brought 2 of them home today, in fact! :-) I've been stocking up for summer reading! Our good friend, Juanita, brought us over several books that were being eliminated from the middle school library where she works and there are several good titles that I can't wait to start reading. I don't know what I'm going to do when the kids are reading to themselves and don't want Mom reading to them anymore? I hope that time doesn't come.

On a completely different note, I wanted to share this link with you. This link will take you to the blog of a friend, of the woman who had Audrey Caroline. This is a 3-part video series that has been posted on You Tube of them being interviewed by this friend's pastor, and it is such a wonderful story. I hope you can take about 25 or so minutes to watch the 3 videos posted on Jessica's blog.

Confession

Hi, my name is Stacy, and I am a Webkinz-aholic. It has been 32 hours since my last purchase. HA HA!

Today we spent a lot of time in the basement organizing. It seriously looked like a toy store/clothing store exploded in our basement! I didn't get it completed, but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day! As I was piling more and more Beanie Babies into a tub, Scott says, "Just wait, only a few years from now and we'll be doing this with Webkinz!" I hate to admit that he is probably right. Which is why I'm admitting I have a problem (because you can't fix it if you don't own it, according to Dr. Phil), and I am hoping that you all will be my sponsors. :-)

WA Group needed

I decided today that I needed to get some pictures of these crazy Webkinz to make a scrapbook page in Gage and Emma's albums. I want them to remember what their Mom does for them years down the road when they start thinking I'm a terrible mother.

It took me quite awhile to be able to get these pictures because there were tons of people in the store and I kept waiting until there was no one there so I could get a picture of just Gage and Emma in front of the wall of Webkinz.

Tell me this isn't the craziest thing you've ever seen!?! I've never seen so many stuffed animals in one place at one time before.

I'm looking to join a WA group. For those of you who don't know what that means, it's Webkinz Anonymous. If I can't find a group that's already formed, I'm going to start up my own. We went back to Hallmark today so Gage and Emma could play some of the games they had going on to win prizes. We went to 3 different Hallmark stores to play each of their games. They got to play Gem Mining, Wheel of Wow and Wishing Well 2. They won Webkinz bookmarks and Gage won a Webkinz mouse pad! That was our grand prize of the day. Emma also won a Webkinz gift bag full of candy (just what we needed!). I definitely want the kids to remember all of the things we do for them in the years to come, so I took several pictures so I can do a Webkinz scrapbook page.

Here's Gage with his big win for the day, a mouse pad, and all of his Webkinz. (See, this is why I need to join a WA group......................months ago I swore I would NEVER buy another stuffed animal as long as I lived!)


Here's Emma and her bag of candy and all of her Webkinz. (I definitely need psychological help!) Maybe I can get myself onto the Dr. Phil show and see what he thinks. He'd probably have me committed to a room with a white padded wall.

Webkinz Extravaganza

For about 3-4 weeks now, we have been hearing and reading all kinds of stuff about the Webkinz Extravaganza on the website and in the Hallmark stores. The big 3 year anniversary of Webkinz is on Apr 29. The Hallmark stores have been advertising that if you spend $10 on anything in the store (excluding sale items of course) you get a free Webkinz. That's a pretty good deal. The kids have been looking forward to this weekend for at least 3 weeks now. My neighbor Bonnie invited us to go to Hallmark with them after school today. I had been thinking of how was the best and cheapest way to do this. I knew Gage and Emma were wanting a Webkinz. They are ALWAYS wanting a webkinz. I had been looking around the store prior to this weekend and had decided I wanted to get myself the Willow Tree Angel of Prayer to go with my Nativity set. I got the angel pedestal for Christmas and it has been displayed with my set with nothing on it. I figured since it was $12.99, that that would be one free webkinz. Gage had some money in his wallet and some more coming today for getting 100's on his spelling and dictation tests yesterday and today. Emma also deserved a couple of dollars for cleaning her room, and by the way, she did a pretty darned good job! So, my plan (my Dad says you always need to have a plan) was to go in, buy my Willow Tree angel, get a free webkinz, then use Gage and Emma's money to buy a webkinz which would get us another free webkinz. I'm thinking I can get out of the store having spent around $20. When we were approaching the store, I was trying to look ahead to see what they had going on and how many webkinz they had. Well, when we walked into the store, I looked at their original display and saw a few, and as I looked over to my left, I nearly crapped. They had the ENTIRE WALL filled with Webkinz. I'm betting they had every one that is available. The kids went nuts. Gage had 2 in his hands and Emma had 2 or 3. I tried telling them that they were only getting one webkinz and they were using their money together to buy one and get one. I had picked up my Willow Tree angel as well. Shortly after that, we discovered that their normal display was full of the free webkinz. Well, the free webkinz were some that we already had. I believe there was a little misleading advertising going on, as I just assumed that you could buy any webkinz and pick any webkinz for free. Not the case. (I should have known there was going to be some catch to the whole operation). My plan went out the door and the kids were causing me stress. There were a bunch of other kids in there and adults and I just started getting frazzled and wanted to get out of there. The kids weren't listening to me and of course the ones they wanted weren't the free ones, etc. etc. I ended up throwing my hands up in the air to the whole operation and we ended up leaving their with 5 webkinz and my Willow Tree Angel, and spent about $40. UGH! We needed 5 more webkinz like we need more holes in our heads! The kids left there thrilled to death and I left there mad at myself for not sticking to the plan (that's exactly the reason you need to have a plan, right Dad?). UGH!

On a happier note, our friends Kara, Guy and their 2 girls, Jadyn and Kya stopped by this evening for a visit and to pick up the Daisy Scout information I had for her. It was nice visiting with them. The kids had a blast playing and I believe it helped to get some of their energy expended and were pretty easy to get to bed tonight.

Scott got home last night around 2 or 2:30 am I think? I was sound asleep when he came in and didn't even hear him. We have a fairly quiet weekend ahead (I think?). Emma has dance and Gage has some pitch, hit and run clinic for baseball after lunch. We finally got information about Gage being on a team, and Scott is coaching again this year. Our team will be the Angels. Gage was hoping for the Cubs. He says that's Grandpa Alan's favorite team and his favorite team too. :-)

New activity to obsess about

It's been a pretty quiet day here, believe it or not! Well, that's not true if you count the wind! It is very windy here today and quite cold! It's been in the 30's here and it was a chilly walk to and from school today! I have not yet seen a meltdown in Gage from 3 nights in a row of going to bed later than usual. I'm knocking on wood since the day isn't over yet.

Emma and I ran down to the Girl Scout office here in town before lunch so I could pick up some information about her joining in the fall. She would be a Daisy Scout. I think that is pretty neat, mostly because my Grandma's name was Daisy. Anyway, I can sign Emma up for a Daisy Day Camp in June as it is for incoming and outgoing Daisies. Daisies have always been 5-6 year olds or in Kindergarten; however, the lady told me they were changing that and Daisies would be for Kindergarteners and First grade girls in the near future. One thing you will be happy to know about, is that there is no fundraising in the Daisy Scouts! So, you'll have to wait for us to start peddling Girl Scout cookies! I'm sure you're all bummed about that! I also picked up a Daisy Scout Leader book. I'm not sure if Emma would like it too much if I didn't since Gage has Scott as his Cub Scout Leader. In Daisy Scouts they earn petals for their uniform instead of patches (actually the petals are patches). There are about 10 different colored petals that they can earn by learning different things about being a Scout. I've nearly read the entire book, and am trying to talk my friend Kara into being a co-leader with me since her daughter Jadyn will be in Kindergarten next year as well. (Now, the pressure is on Kara!) :-) Just another thing to add to my list of things to think about and do. I do think the scout programs are good for kids. I never had the opportunity to be a girl scout, and even if I had, I'm sure I would have wanted to be a boy scout instead. I was a major Tomboy and the girl scout thing would have probably been too girly for me.

Leapin' Lizards!

Broadway came to Bismarck last night in the form of the musical Annie. We all enjoyed it. I have a few issues, however. (not a big surprise there, huh?!) First of all, Annie does NOT have straight hair!!! I had a hard time getting past the fact that their Annie had flaming red hair that was as straight as a board! Later in the performance they did "gussie her up" and she came out with a red wig on and the red dress. I could really "enjoy" the performance then. And, she really did look like Annie with the wig on! Another thing that bothered me a little bit, is that the script was different than the movie. I guess that was probably a good thing, as I'm sure everyone around me would have been throwing popcorn at me as I recited the show word for word. At one point during the show, both Gage and Emma tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Mom, she's supposed to be singing that in the bathtub!" So, they obviously have watched the movie a few times as well. Oh, and nobody can play the part of Miss Hannigan the way Carol Burnett did. Aside from the fact that not once during the show did Annie say, "Leapin' Lizards!", we really enjoyed it. My final beef is that they should have started the show much earlier than 7:30pm. Gage and Emma did not get to bed last night until 10:30pm!!! YIKES! I don't know if they've ever stayed up that late, unless we were traveling and not in their own beds? Emma was a bear to wake up this morning, begging me to let her stay home and sleep. Of course I wasn't going to let her do that, as I knew we would end up in a big argument over some trivial thing. So far, Gage has not had a meltdown, but the day isn't over yet, AND he has rehearsal at church tonight for the spring program in May, so I'm sure we'll see one before the day is over, and that will be 3 late nights in a row, so if I don't see a meltdown today, there will definitely be one tomorrow!

They didn't allow cameras to be used during the show, therefore I did not take any pictures. We were far enough away they wouldn't have turned out anyway. Kara was thinking when she brought 2 pairs of binoculars. (Thanks Kara!) I smuggled snacks into the Civic Center in a purse, not really thinking the kids would want anything since we had already had supper, and if we had been at home, they would have been in bed. They were upset by the fact that we couldn't get any of the popcorn or cotton candy they saw others eating, so having the snacks definitely helped. They certainly could not have gone to bed hungry last night because between the 2 of them they ate a package of graham crackers, 2 blueberry cereal bars and a ziploc bag filled up with grapes. Emma ate most of it and was ticked that she had to brush her teeth before getting in bed because she was "too full". I told her we aren't supposed to be eating the toothpaste and to get them brushed!

In our program was an advertisement for upcoming shows which were Hairspray (Emma is pretty excited about that one), Chicago and Footloose. I'm sure I would enjoy seeing Footloose, and I don't have that movie memorized word for word, so I wouldn't know if it was completely following the movie or not! :-)

Finally I could upload the Scout pictures!

Gage helped bring the flags in during the opening ceremonies and now stands at attention to say The Pledge of Allegiance during his pack meeting last night.

Gage is awarded a new patch for his day spent at the Scout Show. He was the only participant from our pack.

We're very proud of you Gage!

Gage is awarded his patch, and as I'm snapping the picture, little Emma walks right in front of the camera so she can get back to the table with that brownie that's going to keep her awake all night! Thanks alot! (She rode her bike to school if you're wondering why she's decked out in elbow pads).

Here is Gage's new patch. I am taking pictures of his patches for his Scouting scrapbook that I hope to get started on sometime in the near future. I finally sat down last night and got all 6 of his patches sewn on his vest.

Bubba's back!

Last night we attended Gage's pack meeting where he received his patch for attending the Scout Show last Saturday. There are a lot of exciting events coming up with Cub Scouts. Scott volunteered to be in charge of the 18th Annual Tree Planting Program which is Saturday, May 10. The problem with that is when Scott volunteers to do those things, he's also volunteering ME! I think this one will be fun to do though, so I'm not complaining. I'm attempting to upload the pictures I took last night at the Pack meeting, but for whatever reason, it's not working? I'll keep trying.

On a good note, Bubba has been fixed. This morning when I was brushing my teeth before taking Gage to school, I looked in the mirror and thought, "Oh my gosh! I forgot about Bubba!" I told myself to get some gum and put him in before we left. Apparently I was too distracted trying to get Emma dressed and ready to go and I forgot him. I didn't realize it until we were halfway home when my friend Sherry stopped us to talk. After I said a few things, I nearly died when I remembered, so I put my hand up to cover my mouth and told her Bubba fell out. She didn't care, so I continued to talk. She knows the whole story, so it's not that bad when I don't have to explain why I have a huge gap between my front teeth!

Tonight Gage, Emma and I (Scott can't go because he'll be leaving town today) are going to the Civic Center to see the Broadway show, Annie! I can't wait! (I think I might be more excited than the kids?) When I was younger, I could recite the entire movie, word for word. I've learned, since Emma got the DVD, that I can still do a lot of it! I'll try to get some pictures of that and post those tomorrow. I'll be regretting the whole adventure tomorrow when the kids are tired and cranky from 2 nights in a row of going to bed late! My friend, Kara, and her daughter Jadyn are going too and will be coming over this evening so we can all ride together. That will be much easier than trying to find each other in the crowd of people. Emma is very excited and I think Gage is too, he just doesn't want to admit it because Annie is a "girl movie". He will also get to count this as an elective for Cub Scouts to help him earn Tiger Track beads since going to a live performance is listed in his book! So, maybe that will make him feel better when I tell him that?

HELP!

I set my alarm a little earlier this morning so I could get up and call the orthodontist's office just before 7 am, when they open. I got the answering machine and on Mondays they open at 8am. UGH! I went back to bed for a few minutes. I tried calling again at 8, and the receptionist said there was no one in the office today. OH NO!!! Now what?? She said she could call the gal on call, but the one on-call isn't the one I typically see, and figured she might not really know what to do, plus the last time I was in, the doctor thought he might need to do something different because Bubba has been shaved down as small as he can go.

Unfortunately I had several things going on today. I volunteered to chaperone on Gage's class field trip to the Science Center, Emma had her follow-up appointment with the ENT and Gage has a pack meeting tonight and he will be awarded a patch for this past weekend's event. Scott left for work just before 8 and then my mind started racing. How the heck am I going to get through today without Bubba?? I went to the bathroom to try and figure something out. I have never really thought of myself really caring about how I look. I rarely fix my hair because baseball caps and stocking caps cover up bad hair days and I don't wear make-up. However, I am very dependant upon my "Bubba tooth". I couldn't find anything in the bathroom drawers that I thought might work. Then I had an idea. I went to get one of Emma's clear rubber bands to see if I might be able to wrap it around the tooth and then wrap it around the bracket that the tooth broke off of. Didn't work. Another idea popped into my head. I suppose because I have been reading different blogs lately of people I don't know, and one of them is a big scrapbooker and she raved about glue dots. I have glue dots! I went into my scrapbooking room and pulled out my box of glue dots. The package clearly states, "Endless Creativity?" "Endless Uses!" "Bonds Instantly" "Clear" "Super-strength". Well, why not give it a shot? I tried drying my mouth out as much as possible with a clean, dry washcloth (they have a little air gun at the office to do that!). I stuck a glue dot on Bubba, then put him in my mouth and tried to get it to stick to the bracket. It kind of worked, but I thought maybe 2 would work better than 1. So, I added another one. Bubba was in place! I went downstairs and told the kids we needed to get to school or we would be late. I dropped Gage off and then took Emma to the Y. I was so happy this was working! I took Emma into her classroom and one of the other Moms asked how I was doing. When I started to talk, it fell out of place. CRAP!!! I quickly got Emma situated and slipped out trying not to make eye contact with anyone, as I didn't want to talk to anyone without my tried and true friend.

When I got home, I again tried coming up with something that I could use. Gum! Who hasn't, at least one time in their life, used a big wad of bubblegum and shaped it around their teeth when they were little, pretending to have braces? I got out a piece of Trident bubblegum and started chewing away. Once I got it wet and sticky, I put Bubba in place and then pushed the gum up against the back of my front teeth. Hey, I think this might work? At least Trident is sugarless and shouldn't rot my real teeth as I have it plastered to the backs of them. The only problem was, it was pink and you could see it. Of course I have no white gum in the house. I ran over to the gas station a block and a half behind our house to get some peppermint Trident. Do you think I could find a normal pack of Trident gum? Of course not! They only had the chicklet-style "Trident White" gum. I picked up the package and decided that was my only choice. The package says "Proven to Strengthen and Whiten Teeth!" "Whitens teeth and helps prevent stains". I should be good to go. I got a new piece of gum and had Bubba "stuck" in place. I wore it around the house awhile to make sure it wasn't going to be faulty, like the glue dots, and figured I would be strengthening and whitening the backs of my teeth at the same time. I called my Mom and Dad to see if they had any good ideas. Dad didn't think denture glue would work.

When I went to pick Emma up from school, I sat in the car and waited until the last minute so as not to cause myself to get engaged in any conversations. Do you think that worked? Of course not! I did my best to keep Bubba from falling out. After we left there, I went to see Scott at work and ask him if he could tell and to see if he could go with Gage's class to the Science Center (after all, he IS the scientist in the family!) His secretary said she couldn't tell. Scott said he couldn't either, but then it suddenly fell out of place as I was talking and Scott said he would do the field trip for me. THANKS SCOTT! LOVE YA!

Later, we went to the doctor's office for Emma's follow-up appt and I'm not sure if he could tell or not. I thought maybe he was looking at me kind of weird, but then when we got in the car to go home, I looked in the mirror and discovered that it could have been the brown skin from a chili bean stuck in my braces on my bottom front tooth that was causing him to look at my mouth kind of funny? AARGH! That might have been worse than just leaving Bubba out?

I have an appointment at 10:10 am tomorrow to get Bubba reinserted, or to see if they can try something different? I suppose the gum will have to work for tonight's pack meeting. I'll just make sure I get supper brushed out of my braces before we leave!

Go Emma, Go!

We decided today was the day Emma needed to learn how to ride her bike. She got a new bicycle for Christmas and she hasn't been able to ride it because her mean parents have refused to put training wheels on it! I have practiced with Emma 2 times on our sidewalk outside of our house and decided that was about too much for my back AND I can't let go because I'm afraid she's going to wreck and get hurt. That's a good job for Dad. He's better at that than I am! We took Emma to the capitol grounds to get the job done as it has a slow incline that is just suited for riding a bike down, fast enough to keep your balance, but yet slow enough you don't get out of control. Plus, the added benefit of a softer landing on grass! This video I took is Emma's first time down the hill!!!!!!!!! I also discovered I am going to need some serious drugs to get me through future graduations and weddings because I nearly started crying during the video!!!!

Dad gets Emma up on her bike and pushes her out to the middle to get started!

Emma was like an old pro! I think she was just as shocked as I was that she did it the first time down the hill!

Dad giving Emma a little push before letting go.

"GO EMMA, GO!"

Here she comes, all by herself!

WAY TO GO EMMA!

Dad and Emma take a little break for a few hugs and pats on the back.

Look at her go!

This was good exercise for Dad too!

This is my favorite photo with Gage running behind and if you look closely, you'll see he has books under his arm. He is never far away from books!

Oops! First crash caught on camera!

Let's try the sidewalk where it's faster!

On the way back up the hill!

Ooops! One more crash before we head home.

She certainly needs to get some more practice, but this was definitely enough to gain her the confidence she needs to start working on it at home. I truly was amazed at how quickly she did it. Gage laughed at one point and I said, "Hey buddy, she's getting it quicker than you did!" Gage says, "She is?" HA HA! How quickly they forget.

On a more serious note, I have some bad news to share. We had to take a trip to Walmart around lunchtime for Scott to buy the rest of the energy efficient light bulbs to get the rest of our bulbs switched over in our house. $90 later, we should be saving some major $$! HA! Anyway, back to my bad news. We decided to use some Subway coupons we had and have lunch at the Subway at Walmart. On my first bite, I heard it pop. I had to get a napkin to spit all of the food out of my mouth to dig through it and find Bubba. UGH! Please pray with me that Warford's can fit me in first thing in the morning! It's amazing how good one little tooth can make me feel, and how bad I can feel when I don't have it! Sorry, but I'm not going to take pictures of that to share!

Long day

Before I get into the days' events I wanted you to know that I didn't forget about the video but I am still not able to view the video clip on the website from our trip to the news station last night. I'm not sure that it will be available to watch, now that it's a weather cast that's over 24 hours old?

Today we attended the Scout Show at Buckstop Junction.

Opening ceremonies of the Scout Show. Scott took this picture before Emma and I arrived after her dance class, so I'm not sure where Gage is in this picture? I'm thinking it might be him behind the American flag right in the center of the picture?

Gage in the farthest row in the blue baseball cap and Cub Scout uniform during the opening ceremonies.

Another shot of Opening Ceremonies and Color Guard (whatever that is!?)

Gage getting ready to take his first ride down the zip line. This was the biggest hit with Gage and Emma.

The zip line proved to be the biggest attraction with Gage and Emma. Not even sure if I could guess at how many times they went down the line!?

Gage getting ready for the Pinewood Derby race.

Gage on the climbing wall.

This was a difficult wall that went over the top of the display. I'm pretty sure no one could have made it across that?

Gage crosses the rope bridge.

This could be a scary station with the wind we had today!

Hang on tight Gage!

Heading down the last leg of the rope bridge.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Emma's first trip up to the zip line. She was a bit nervous at first.

Emma takes her first trip down the zip line. She loved it and got right back in the line again.

Gage and Emma getting ready to watch the Pinewood Derby race.

Gage's car takes it's first trip down the track for 4th place in the heat.

Emma crosses the rope bridge.

Slow and steady, steady and slow, that's the only way to go.

Do we have a future tightrope walker on our hands?

We definitely had some wind outdoors today!

Emma's turn to try the climbing wall. She didn't get far and had a piece of dirt or something fly into her eye and she was done. By this time she had had enough!

Closing ceremonies. Gage will receive a patch for attending the show today on Monday at our next Pack meeting

We had a very long day today. We attended a Scout Show at Buckstop Junction. It went from 11a-3:30p and the kids were shot (especially Emma) by the time we left. Actually, she was shot long before we left! This was an activity for all Cub Scout packs to attend and Gage was the only one from our pack that was there. They had another Pinewood Derby race. Gage's car didn't quite meet the challenge this time! There were 61 cars entered and each car had to race 6 races (so if you do the math, you would know that this took FOREVER!) and Gage's car placed somewhere beyond 32nd place! I guess he beat about half of the cars, but I don't think he ever took anything higher than 3rd or 4th place in any heat. Emma's car was entered in the Outlaw group and there were 13 cars in it and hers finished 5th. She finished 1st in one heat and 2nd in 2 heats and I'm not sure all of the other heats. So, they both ended up about right in the middle of their groups. There were some very cool cars there, however. We certainly got some ideas for next year anyway. There was one car that looked like a hotdog in a bun with mustard on it. Another car was shaped and painted like a pencil. Another one looked like a hamster. There were some very neat designs. Gage and Emma's were unique as well.

I believe Emma is nearing normal, but I know she had a long tiring day and had a meltdown at bedtime. We don't see as many with Emma as we do with Gage, but she sure had a nice one tonight! I'm praying that her voice isn't always going to sound so whiney! I'm not sure if whining is the norm now or what? I know one thing for sure, I can't stand listening to it! We go back to the ENT for a followup visit on Monday, and I'll be sure to ask him about that!

I'm hoping for a quiet, whine-free Sunday!

Video clip

I'm sorry that I'm unable to post the video clip tonight. I checked again and it still has the noon weather posted. I will try again tomorrow. Good night!

TGIF?

No school today for Bismarck Public Schools. I always used to LOVE days off when I was a kid, but now, I'm not as fond of them. I might be if my kids weren't always fighting...........stop laughing Mom and Dad! We had a few rounds today, but nothing major. The kids went on a picnic at the park at lunch time with Scott while I went to Biolife to add to the vacation fund. They had a good time.

Tonight our Cub Scout group met at the KXMB newstation to watch a newscast for one of the requirements to advance to the Tiger Cub level in Cub Scouts. It was very interesting. I was amazed at how SMALL their office is. Their office is a small room with a bunch of cubicles set up for each person. Then, in the news room, it too was very small. All of the different areas where they do the newscast are right in the same room. We were able to sit and watch the 6 o'clock news live and in person! I was a bit worried about one of the scouts as he pretty much had diarrhea of the mouth. Thankfully his Mom made him sit down next to her so she could put a lid on it! :-) I am going to try to post the video clip of when they put the cameras on our Cub Scout group. Apparently there was another Northridge Cub Scout group there for the 5 0'clock news and they actually got to take part in the weather forecast. They appeared like wild cubs jumping all over the set (you will get to see that in the video clip too. They were a little wild and were jumping all over the weather set............I was thankful that wasn't our group!) I keep checking the website and it's still the noon news, so I will try later to get the video clip on my blog for you. As soon as they turned the camera in our direction, I hopped right up and stood behind a taller Dad who was out of camera shot. A few others did the same thing. You should be able to see Scott, Gage and the rest of our group, along with a couple of brothers and sisters (Emma did the same thing as I did, hopped up and got off the set! Like mother, like daughter!)

We've got a few things on our "Honey-do" list for the weekend. The only major thing is to get the gutters cleaned out. Not that we've had much rain, or have any predicted in the near future! However, the seams are leaking when we do get a little moisture because the gutters and downspouts are full of sticks and leaves. Apparently we (namely Scott!) didn't get that job done at the end of fall. Now that I type that, I'm thinking the reason is because we didn't put our Christmas lights up on the house this year, which is usually when the gutters get cleaned out. I guess we need to stop slacking in the Christmas light department!

I'll try later to post the video. Have a great weekend!

Day 10

I'm done numbering Emma's postoperative days. She's doing a lot better, although still not eating normally and whiney on occasion. This morning when my alarm went off I jumped up and hit the snooze button and fell back to sleep when Emma lets out a blood-curdling scream, "MOMMY, MOMMY" (She doesn't call me Mommy very often, but apparently she does when she's panicked!) I sat straight up in bed and had visions of blood spurting from her mouth as she comes into the bedroom and I'm like, "What? What? Emma, what's wrong?" "MOMMY, THERE'S A SPIDER CRAWLING DOWN THE WALL COMING AT ME TOWARDS THE COUCH!" You've got to be kidding me? Crap, she scared me to death over a stupid spider! Emma is deathly afraid of all insects. She hopped up in the bed and quickly got under the covers and was seriously traumatized by this spider. I made Scott get up and go kill it. As we are laying there in the bed Emma says, "Silas would have just picked it up and held it." That is true. Silas has no fear of any insects, even cockroaches. I guess the fear of spiders Emma has is hereditary? I remember back in Jr. High when my science teacher (who happens to be my father-in-law) told a story of his fear of spiders and how he takes a blow torch to them when he sees them in his shop. :-) So, she comes by it naturally. What a way to wake up!

We had a pretty quiet day. We went to the neighbors' house after school and Gage and Emma played in the backyard with their friends Hallie and Erik. Emma loves playing in the dirt, and I knew she must be feeling better as she was sitting in the garden playing in the dirt in her skirt and tights. Deathly afraid of insects, but loves the dirt. She wore out a little quicker than usual and was "starving to death" so we went home so I could save her life. She had troubles eating supper tonight as she said it hurt too much. She doesn't want any more pain medicine and I'm not going to make her take it.

No school tomorrow. Yippee! Apparently this is a comp day for the teachers for the parent-teacher conferences the past couple of weeks. We don't have too many plans. Gage said he wants to read books all day. He's currently obsessed with The Magic Tree House books. It's a pretty good obsession to have, so I just let him be. We have a Cub Scout "Go See It" den meeting tomorrow evening and we're going to the KXMB news station to watch them do the 6 o'clock news. I've never seen one of these live and in person, so I plan to go and take Emma as well. It should be quite interesting.

Day 9

This morning I wasn't sure whether or not I should send Emma to school. She had a rough evening yesterday and I didn't know if she was ready to go back today. I asked her what she wanted to do and she said, "Go to school!" I'm sure she's so tired of spending so much time with me that she's ready to get away for a few hours!

This morning I was trying to remember everything I needed to do. I wanted to take something for Emma for snack time at school because I didn't know if she would be able to eat what they served. I also had an appointment at Biolife after dropping her off, and I wanted to make sure the teachers could get ahold of me if they needed me to come and get her. I wrote down my cell phone number, home number, Scott's work number, his cell number and his secretary's number just in case they couldn't get ahold of him. I was so proud of myself for being so prepared. We even left the house a little earlier than normal because I wanted to have time to give all of the instructions to the teachers before I hurried off for my appointment.

On the way to school, I had a sudden moment of panic as I realized I left the list of phone numbers at home. I knew all of them by heart, except my cell phone. I have never called it, so I don't know the number. I didn't know if there was a way to find it on the phone or not, and I wouldn't have been able to figure it out if there was! As my mind raced trying to decide if I should go back home to get it. If I did, then I would risk being a little late and forgetting all of the things I needed to tell the teacher before I had to run off for my appointment. Then, I had a brilliant idea! I called Emily to see if she could tell me my cell phone number. She didn't answer. Then I called Scott's office. No answer. I called my sister's work number. No answer at her extension. I called her cell phone. No answer. I need to tell you that I only had about 12 minutes left on my phone when I started calling, and apparently it removes minutes even if no one answers!? So, I'm now down to about 9 minutes left on my phone. I'm trying to remember the few people I gave my cell number to. I saw Kara walking into the YMCA as we drove into the parking lot, but I figured she probably didn't have her phone on her where she had it stored, and since I just gave her the number the other day, I knew she wouldn't have it memorized. There aren't many more people that have my number. I took Emma into the school and got her settled and then rattled off all of the things I wanted her teachers to know.............please don't send her to gym class......................I don't want her to attend swimming lessons......................here's a Jello Smoothie for snack in case she can't eat what is provided (donuts were brought in special by a little girl's mom in celebration of her birthday)......................I'm not sure if she will make it the entire 3 hours, so can I write some phone numbers down for you? The teacher gave me a sheet of paper and I wrote down all of the numbers, then told her I didn't know my cell number. I told her I had an appointment and that I wouldn't be at home if they needed to get in touch with me. Then it occurred to me that I thought I had given my cell number to my Mom, and I knew my Dad should be around to answer the phone since it was fairly early in the morning, and he's newly retired. I called and Dad answered. I asked him if Mom had the number written down on the bulletin board. He then figured out it was me. Ooops, sorry Dad! I should identify myself since there are 5 of us! Then, I started to hear a beeping in my ear warning me that I am about to run out of minutes. Dad couldn't find the number anywhere so I quickly told him I would try and find it on the phone and hung up. Now I'm down to about 6 minutes. I decided if I did find someone who could tell me the number, I wouldn't have any minutes left for them to call me if they needed to anyway! UGH! The teacher said, "Well, can't we call you at Biolife if we need to?" I reply "Oh, yeah, I never thought of that!" I told them to call Scott if they needed to, and that he would be in meetings and they may need to get his secretary to get him on the phone. Whew! What a morning! I went along my merry way to Biolife. For those of you who don't know, Biolife is a place you can go to sell your plasma which they to use to process into life-saving plasma-based therapies. (I'm working on a vacation fund!) Anyway, I get there on time. They have a finger scanner that you sign in with. They have a particular finger scanned for your fingerprint to identify you. When I put my finger on it, the little computerized screen said it was unrecognized and to ask for assistance. I tried again, same thing. I tried several more times with the same thing. I looked around to see if any of the employees noticed I was having troubles signing in. There was a little container of stuff there, which I saw some other lady using once, which I assumed was to clean your finger of any smudges, etc. I used it and still had no luck. One of the ladies told me to come around to another scanner and try it. I did, and still, it would not recognize me. I knew it was my right middle finger that I was supposed to scan. I said, as I looked at the lady, I don't know what's wrong? I'm scanning my right middle finger as I hold up my hands and indicating which finger I was using. She said, "You're supposed to use your right hand." "I held up my hand and said, "Well, I am!?" She said, "That is your left hand, you are supposed to scan your right middle finger." Boy did I feel stupid!! I held up my magazine and told her to please disregard any of that and pretend it didn't happen! Apparently I was having a blonde moment! I thought you all might get a much needed smile/laugh out of that, and thought I should share.

Emma made it through the entire 3 hours and ate 3/4 of her donut (the other 1/4 she ate in the car as soon as I got her buckled up! She didn't need the Jello Smoothie afterall! She said it did hurt a little, but a donut apparently is worth the pain!? She's doing pretty well. I couldn't get her to eat any lunch, which I'm sure had more to do with the donut than anything else? I believe we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We can only go up from here (I hope!).

Before I sign off, I wanted to share the link to a blog that my friend Kara told me about. Please have a box of Kleenex with you as you read. After reading her first entry, I had to go back to the beginning and I have read the entire blog and have cried many tears. You will also find in her blog a link to the photographer's web-page and blog. This story has changed many, many lives. It has certainly impacted mine. I hope you can take some time to learn more about this amazing family, and if I ever get to Nashville, I am definitely looking up this photographer. It is amazing what he can do with a camera! I wish I had been blessed with such talent!

Day 8 - Do we see an end in sight?

The answer to that question is YES!!! Yesterday afternoon/evening around 4:00 was Emma's last dose of pain medicine, but only because she hasn't seemed to really need it, which is a good thing! She didn't really eat much lunch or supper yesterday because she said it hurt too much, and soon after supper she fell asleep on the couch. She sort of woke up around 8:30 and was whimpering and acting like she was having some pain, so I got some medicine ready, only to have her refuse. I attempted a few times, and then she fell back asleep, so I figured I would wait until I went to bed to give it to her, unless she needed it sooner. Come bedtime, she was still sleeping peacefully on the couch, so I decided I would just let her sleep and figured I would pay for that later. I even left her on the couch, so as not to disturb her. This morning Gage came in to my room a few minutes before my alarm went off wanting me to finish reading the Magic Tree House book we started last night and I was surprised that I hadn't heard a thing out of Emma! When I went downstairs to let Brie out, I noticed she was no longer on the couch. I found her fast asleep in her bed!!! I couldn't believe it! She woke up and said she was feeling okay! After getting Gage to school, I decided we needed to take a little trip to Barnes and Noble to get the next book in Gage's Magic Tree House series, and figured a book would make a good surprise for Emma's 10,000 stars she's accumulated in this whole medicine-taking fiasco. When we got there I offered her a Strawberries 'n Creme from the Starbucks inside the store which she happily accepted. She also wanted a cookie, and I figured that was a good sign. We went back to get the books and discovered that they were going to have story time in a few minutes, so we stayed to listen to a few stories before we headed back home. It was a nice little outing. Emma seems to be doing MUCH better today, although she is still having enough discomfort that she's not too interested in eating much for lunch. Now, our next problem..............with all of the pain medication, which slows down motility in the digestive tract, and not enough water, she's having some troubles with constipation! UGH! I am a nurse, and I know all about that, why I didn't think of it is beyond me. So, needless to say, there have been a few tears shed in the bathroom today and hopefully we can get that problem fixed soon! As my Grandma Larsen always used to say, "If it's not one thing, it's another!" :-) So true.

The weather is beautiful! I went outside to make Brie run around the yard a few times to shake all of the dead grass she had all over her from rolling in the yard, and discovered it was almost hot??? outside! My little weather bug on the computer says it is 82 degrees out!! My friend Kara called and we scheduled a play date at a park just up the street a ways after school lets out. Emma is very excited about it (which was a great tool to bribe her into taking her antibiotic today). I'm sure she won't last too long, but the fresh air will do us both some good! I'll have to be sure to grab Gage's bat and ball for him to mess around with at the park and let him burn some of his obsession he's had lately with playing baseball. He's been throwing a tennis ball up in the air and hitting it with the baseball bat (by himself!) in the backyard and I know we're going to end up needing to replace some broken glass in the windows before the summer is up! Hopefully they will be our own windows, and not the neighbors!!!!!!!! I am amazed at how hard he's starting to hit the ball! And also amazed with the fact that he can throw the ball up and hit it himself! That's a hard skill to master! Maybe we have the next Babe Ruth in training?

Day 7

Man, I am ready for Emma to be back to normal! We woke her up last night at 11:30 p.m. to give her some pain medicine to help her through the night, then Scott gave her some early this morning, around 5:30 a.m. before he left on a business trip today. She woke up around 8:30 this morning and I thought she seemed great for having just woke up. Well, not too long after that she turned into a major crank box and she's driving me crazy. We went to sign her up for Safety Village this summer at the Parks and Rec office and she was mad the entire time because she didn't like how I did her hair. I guess she's slowly getting back to normal, but I certainly can't take the rude behavior! She had some pain medicine around 9 this morning and hasn't had any since. She did have a hard time with lunch and didn't want to eat her macaroni and cheese, so I know she's still having some pain. The literature said she should be back to normal in 7-10 days, so I'm anxiously awaiting the old Emma to return!

Gage was a bit cranky this morning too, so I can't wait for him to get home from school in about 1/2 an hour. He was mad before he left for school because he never has enough time to play in the morning. I told him to get up earlier and I would be sure to get him an alarm clock to help him out. He had a terrible cough last night and didn't get to sleep until after 8:30. My kids just can't tolerate getting off a strict bedtime routine. Or maybe I should say that I can't tolerate them after they get off of a strict bedtime routine?

The weather is beautiful here today so hopefully I can get Gage outside to play and wear himself out before bedtime. An easy bedtime would be nice since Scott is gone.

Day 6 - Short and sweet

I forgot to blog earlier, but wanted to get a post in for the day, so this will be short and sweet.

Emma had another rough day. She was doing okay this morning and said she wanted to go to Sunday school. We went with the intentions of just going to Sunday school and not the church service. I told her teacher about her surgery and if she needed me, I would be in the adult class room. She ended up bringing Emma the last few minutes of class, so she did pretty good. I asked her on the way up the stairs if she wanted to go to church, and she did. We didn't make it though the entire service and she said she wanted to go home, so Emma and I left, while Scott and Gage hitched a ride home with Steve and Alan Adair. We then had to go to Scott's office later in the afternoon to move his office from downstairs to upstairs. I certainly got my exercise in as I'm not sure how many times I went up and down the stairs. The kids watched Alvin and the Chipmunks on the big screen in the conference room. They were ready to go home by the time we finished.

Emma is still needing pain medicine fairly regularly. The doctor warned us about her having terrible smelling breath, and she definitely has that symptom. I feel so bad for her when she has to take the medicine when she's in such pain as she holds it in her mouth trying to get the courage up to swallow as it burns going down, and then she yells out in pain and starts crying. It's horrible to watch and to make her do this every few hours. The end has got to be in sight. I asked her if she wanted to go to school in the morning and she said no. I knew she wouldn't be feeling well enough to go, but just wanted to see what she would say. She had a rough evening. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Day 5

Emma is still feeling a bit rough. I am amazed at how long this is taking for her to recover, even though they told us it would probably be 7-10 days. The doctor said they'll be feeling like crap every day, then one day, she will wake up and be totally back to normal. I hope that's tomorrow!

The cleaning bug hit Scott a little today. He decided to clean out the garage. It desperately needed it. It's amazing all the leaves that accumulate in there throughout the fall and winter. It looks nice. I should take a picture! HA! I don't think I'll be taking a picture of our garage, because even at it's cleanest, it is still a mess.

This morning Emma wanted to spend her 4,000 stars she's accumulated from taking her medicine. We went to the mall as the kids wanted to go to Hallmark. Funny, huh? Whoever heard of a kid wanting to go to Hallmark? Well, that's where the Webkinz are, so that's where they wanted to go. Emma picked out a Husky dog and a pack of trading cards. Gage wanted to spend his money that Grandma Pipi and Grandpa Alan sent. He bought a mouse and a pack of trading cards. (We had to pitch in a little to go along with his money, of course.) This Webkinz trading card thing is such a gimmick. The instructions say you have to have at least 50 cards to play the game. Well, when only 4 or 5 come in a pack, it takes a lot of packs to play the dumb game. We finally have collected over 50 trading cards. I went to read the directions on how to play, and then I noticed it says you need to have at least 50 trading cards and 7 challenge cards. Well, wouldn't you know it, we only have 2 challenge cards! UGH! Apparently those don't come in every deck. I wish I knew someone else who was collecting the trading cards so that Gage and Emma could trade some of our doubles. I have never collected any kind of cards in my life, like baseball cards, football cards, Yu-Gi-Oh cards or anything else. Now these stupid Webkinz cards come out and look at me! UGH! Gage does have some Yu-Gi-Oh cards and I think the Webkinz trading card game is similar to that? I guess we'll have to keep buying the packs to get the 5 more challenge cards we need to play the game. I wish I had gone to college to major in marketing! If only I had come up with these stupid Webkinz!

My sister Kysa called me on Friday and her boys, Dustin and Colton, are for sure coming to stay with us this summer, the duration of the stay is still a bit up in the air. The kids are excited! (I am too!) I know that if I have her kids, I can hold them ransom until she comes to visit me. Kysa has barely been out of the state of Iowa, so I would like for her to get out and see what the world is like! HA HA! I'm going to have to start planning some exciting things to do while they are here. I know all of you fellow Bismarckians (and bigger city dwellers) are probably laughing, like "whooppeee, they are going to Bismarck, North Dakota!" Well, if you have ever been to Sharpsburg, Iowa, coming to Bismarck is like going to New York City! (Well, maybe not quite like that, but close!) Nonetheless, we are excited.

We'll have to see how Emma is feeling in the morning and then decide if she is well enough to go to church. There is an adult Sunday school class that I have been attending that is quite interesting and would like to go, and Gage needs to be there to get signed up for the spring music/drama show. I guess if she's not feeling well, Scott and Emma will get to sleep in a little in the morning.

Day 4

Here's a picture I took of Emma the day after her surgery with her balloons from Kara and Grandpa and Grandma Stephens.

Today Kara, Jadyn and Kya stopped by to visit. Emma was happy to see them, as was I. I have only left the house once to go to the orthodontist yesterday and I believe I need to get out and get some fresh air! Day 4 of recovering from a tonsillectomy leaves a lot to be desired! Emma just wasn't herself today. She pretty much whined all day long and had a little more throat pain today than she has been having. Getting her to take the pain medicine every 3-4 hours around the clock is a nightmare! I think she has about 300 stars now. We were going to award a prize after 10 stars, and now it's to the point where we tell her she can have 100 stars if she will just take the medicine. It works, for the most part. I will be glad when she is completely recovered! I'm not sure I will be looking forward to doing this again with Gage!?!

Speaking of Gage, I took some photos of his newly redone bedroom that I would like to share with you.

Gage's new captain's bed that we bought from a friend who was redoing her son's bedroom. The blue-fronted drawers worked out perfectly with the blue walls!

Gage's little reading nook behind his door. He was so thrilled with it that he promptly took his spelling homework down to his room after school today to try it out! :-)

Yes, as you can see there are MORE books! I think we're going to have to get a new bookshelf in the future (or do some downsizing) as the shelves are nearly full!

Another shot of Gage's bed. The piece that is holding his Webkinz slides out and becomes a desk. It also allows the kids to crawl back in behind the dresser (the dresser is a separate unit that can be placed under the bed as shown, or somewhere else in the room if desired) and use it as their "secret hiding place". That has been a big hit. They had the portable DVD player under there watching movies today after school. This is certainly something I would have loved as a kid. I just love little nooks and hiding places. You can also see the new carpet here, which previously was a dark brown shag-type carpet that was desperately needing to be replaced!

Gage's collection of drawings from the Little Mr. and Little Mrs. book series that he brings home every week from the school library.

Another shot of Gage's reading nook. I would like to eventually get a comfy bean bag chair or something similar to have in there for reading.

I'm thrilled to death with his room. I organized all of his toys and put them in the dresser drawers as his closet contains a built-in dresser that has his clothes in it. I told Gage I hoped that he would try really hard to keep his room organized. It should be much easier to do now!

Now I will continue to tear wallpaper off the walls in Emma's room and get her space to be just as inviting as Gage's.