Easter Weekend

Ten o'clock Saturday morning we were outside for our neighborhood's annual Easter Egg Hunt.  The storm had settled before this hour, but there was a breeze and it was cold, but no rain or high winds like the day prior, so we considered it a good weather day.

By lunchtime the kids had found their way upstairs to play and build this fort.  If you look close enough, you can see the purple sweater of my girl; who is laying down on the her wooden dance floor taking a two hour nap.  I had come home from the grocery store and heard the house quiet.  I asked my husband what the kids had been doing and he said they were building a fort with chairs, blankets, and some duct tape to hold it all in place.  I figured they must have fallen asleep because it was so quiet.  And they certainly had.

Easter Egg Dying is a tradition for us on Easter Eve; the kids always going to Easter Service the next morning with left over stain on their fingers.  The eggs turned out well with vibrant colors.

Easter morning was very pretty with sunshine, but no warm temps like the rest of the country had been reporting.  After church we gathered at my parent's house for a lovely lunch celebration with my brother and his family. The kids are not too old to have an Egg Hunt together, so the Uncles hid the eggs and off the kids went. My parents had added coins to all the eggs, and left four eggs with dollar billed money inside ... in the end all the kids got the same dollar amount.

However, my son found all the dollar billed eggs sitting aside.  My brother was going to give the kids their big egg after the hunt.  His thought was that he didn't want the big egg to be counted among the normal eggs, so that one child didn't end up getting all the bills.  Guess that didn't work, as my son found them all and added it to his basket.

My son thought he had found all fifteen of his eggs and came to me saying how he found four really big ones and that they had a couple dollar bills a piece inside.  My brother, over hearing the conversation, had to take back the four eggs and my son was left to find his remaining three smaller eggs.  But it was all in good fun as my son was laughing thinking that he was so close to being right ~ his luck streak continuing (as he did find the most money from the Easter Bunny that morning at our house).

The amazing part is that my son does fall into money with out even trying.  I pray that he does not get into gambling; because between me and you, he really does have a lucky streak when it comes to money.  It always has been this way on so many different areas in his life.  So the Easter Egg goof was just an "of course" moment.

After our family celebration, we came home to relax and put together my son's new K'nex motorized robot (which is really cool!!).  My son also received a Balloon Animal Art kit from the Easter Bunny and he went to town creating balloon animals all day long.  He entertained us the rest of the evening, while my daughter and I cuddled on the couch, my husband building K'nex, our dog cruising all about.

A happy and restful Easter Weekend.

I Did It!

The winds were really whipping yesterday and the lights flickered a few times before I sent my son off to school.  A few things went through my mind; A: was the concern that my daughter was on her way home from camp and had to cross waters on a boat to reach mainland from the island they had been placed on, praying the boat would not be cancelled and that she would arrive safely and on time, and B: was the concern that the power was going to go out and my plans for the day would have to be shifted to another week. 


A: My daughter arrived safely home and one of her first shared moments was stating how fun the rocky boat was; gripping onto seats in order to stay in place and all.  She loved it. And for those reading daily (thank you), my daughter's April Fools Letter from Camp was created by the teacher with "fill in the blank" spots to make each student's personable.  Yes, her teacher is creative and what fun!  Did I miss her?  YEP, but I held it together and I would send her back.  


B: The power did not officially go out so I was able to proceed with confidence on my plans.  Dressed in my chocolate brown suit, black goggles attached to my face, I eagerly (really) went into the water of our public pool to take my first private swim class.  And this is not a belated April Fool's Joke.  To say that I am proud of my accomplishment would be an understatement. 


My instructor was Missy and while she looked intimidating with her triathlon-style body, she was so warm hearted which quickly put my worries at rest.  By the end of my thirty minute intro session, I had learned the basics of the crawl stroke and left wanting more (so I signed up for another session in a few more weeks).  


She had tested me on floating skills, I passed ... on my solo breathing skills (standing), I passed ... on my kicking skills, not so bad but I am encouraged to go faster ... on my arms, she was surprised I had not swam in thirty-years ... on my breathing while putting it all together, it was a good attempt and a great start.  Yes, that is where it all fell apart.  But in fairness to myself, she just wanted to see how I would do, and we only had one minute left in my session before the next adult got his turn in the water.  


The class was just enough to get me started and motivated to hit the pool to practice before my next session.  As I was dripping wet in the locker room, so excited for breaking my fears and going for it, I typed a quick message to my friend.  It applies to all of my blog-encourager's and my mom too and it read: 


Swim Goggles ... $12
Swimsuit ... $60
Swim Lessons ... $27.50
Having a friend who cares that you don't drown ... Priceless!!!


Yea!  I DID IT!!

She's Back!

No photo op today to show the arrival of my daughter home from camp. We are experiencing high winds and heavy rain, it was all I could do to just give her a big squeeze before we ran to the car.  You'll have to trust me that she looked adorable with her ruby red cheeks from the long and warm bus ride that matched her red baseball cap and navy blue camp sweatshirt. Adorable!!

The luggage had arrived and had been stacked on the sidewalk by the time the parents started rolling in.  I grabbed that before my girl's bus arrived, taking advantage to load during the one moment of dry spell for the day. But her pink duffel was soaked.  Apparently it had sat on the grass field at camp before the truck pickup, and my girl knew it was getting water-logged, but could do nothing about it.  Everything was going to get washed anyway, but the rain-wet-smell mixed with old-camp-barrack-smell was unpleasant.  My washer and dryer could not work fast enough for me.

It took awhile for my girl to open up - she looked dazed for a good while as she was wiped out.  But a long, warm shower seemed to do the trick while I was back at school picking up her brother.

Braving the storm, we enjoyed a nice Chinese Restaurant for dinner, and heard many great stories about her adventure.  For a girl that has many comfort zones - she really impressed us with how many she broke with great success.

We are so proud of her and are happy to have our family of four together again under one roof.
She ... is ... back!

Letter from Camp

A REAL letter received in the mail from my daughter; I have typed it as written: 


Dear Mom & Dad, 


Camp is great fun!  Our teacher told us to write to you in case you saw the flood on T.V. and worried.  We are all ok. Only one of our cabins and 2 of our sleeping bags washed away.  Luckily, none of us drowned, because we were all up on the Mountain looking for Makenna.  Please call Aunt Michelle and tell her she's ok.  She can't write because of the cast.  I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps.  It was cool!!


We never would have found her in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightening.  Ms. Cragar got mad at Makenna for taking a hike alone without telling anyone.  Makenna said she did tell her, but it was during the fire so she probably didn't hear her. 


Did you know that if you put gas on fire, it will blow up?  The wet wood still didn't burn, but one of our cabins did, and so did our clothes. 


Alondra is going to look weird until her hair grows back.  We will be back Fri. about 2:00pm if Ms. Cragar gets the bus fixed.  It wasn't her fault about the wreck.  The brakes worked fine when we left.  Ms. Cuddie said that a bus that old, you have to expect something to break down!  We think it's a cool bus. 


Ms. Cuddie is a great teacher too.  Don't worry, she's a great driver.  In fact, she's teaching Erica to drive. But she only lets Erica drive on the Mountain road where there is no traffic.  All we ever see up there are logging trucks.  This morning all of the kids were diving off the rocks and swimming in the ocean. Ms. Cragar wouldn't let me swim because I can't swim a mile, and Makenna was afraid she would sink because of her cast.  So she let us canoe across the bay.  It was great.  You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood.  Ms. Cragar isn't crabby like other teachers.  She and Ms. Cuddie have to spend a lot of time worrying about the bus so we are trying not to cause them any trouble. 


Guess what else?  We all got a bead for first aid!  When Avery dove into the lake and cut her arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works!  Also Kyle and I threw up.  Ms. Cragar said it was probably food poisoning from the left over chicken.  


I have to go now.  We are going into town now to mail our letters and by more arrows so that we can hunt for more food.  We are fine!


Love, 
Your Daughter


P.S. How long has it been since I had a tetanus shot? 
P.P.S. April Fools!  We are having a great time! See you soon!


***We received this letter in the mail yesterday, but my son told me that because she just left that morning, there was no sense reading it just yet.  It would be best to wait until tomorrow (today).  I knew something was up and followed his suggestion, and I was right, he was in on the joke too.  Very cute and I will have to wait to hear the story behind the story; if Ms. Cragar wrote this and the kids copied, or if the assignment was to write a good April Fools letter and this was created by my girl. I'll let you know....Happy April Fool's Day!!

She Waved!!!

One of the biggest challenges that I have faced leading up to my daughter's camp adventure was not showing the teary-eyed emotional momma in front of her.  I know that if I broke down, even the tiniest bit, it would cause doubt and frustration on her part, and I wanted nothing to do with that!

I am honest when I share that I did not break down today when I hugged her goodbye, waved at her through the bus window, and saw the bus driving away.  Thank you, God, for leading and directing this entire adventure.  I am confident and she is too.

And because I was able to keep my cool and laugh and enjoy the experience, I not only got sweet giggles and laughter and genuine goodbye hug and kiss from my girl ... but she waved!!  She waved from the bus with her friend as it was pulling away and to me, that was huge and just what we both needed.   

Her adventure begins ~ confident, secure, grown up in her 11 year old way.  Praise God!

Packing and learning how to secure a tight sleeping bag roll:

Carrying her luggage to school yesterday ... "I can do this all by myself": 

The hallway buzzing with students and parents stacking luggage, waiting for the Camp Truck to arrive: 

Dressed and ready to go at 7am this morning (Mom, she chose the double braids - Ah!).

Buses left promptly at 7:45am and SHE's WAVING (last two windows a view of my girl's friend, my girl, and a high school counselor sitting by himself wondering what he's gotten himself into: hahaha).  

One of those nights

The rain poured in buckets yesterday with the wind knocking the new growth of leaves and flower buds from trees and wisping limbs to the ground.  Cozy in my piano chair in the warmth of my living room, the students blew in for lessons water logged from their day at school.  Turning off the living room lights at the end of my day was the start of craziness for the next thirty minutes. My husband kissed me goodbye to hit the gym, the kids were headed to bed.

With lights flickering I told my girl to hurry in the shower and maybe we could beat the power outage and get her hair dried with the dryer.  While she's singing her shower tunes and forgetting about the hurry part, my son and I were chatting and getting backpacks unloaded with our dog running crazily under our feet; excited that we were all home.  Meeting up in my bathroom with jammies on and teeth brushed, I started drying my girl's hair.  When all of a sudden my son came screaming at the top of his lungs into my room; shutting off the dryer I hear our house alarm going off.

Sigh.  Knowing it is not a real intruder, I rush down the stairs to turn it off.  My dog is barking, my kids are arguing because they both were set off guard at the panic, and neither enjoy the ear piercing sound of our alarm, nor the computer-lady talking through the speaker, but they are trying to be brave, and the result is both getting mad at the other for being mad.  Make sense?  Not really, but it happens among siblings.

Coming back up the stairs I try to get us back to the happy place, but first have to help orchestrate the lesson learned and apologies from both children to each other; all while carrying on this heavy speech impediment due to my lovely new retainer. As a result of my lack of being able to form words correctly and be understood clearly, respect for my teacher role is just so-not-being-taken-seriously by the children, but at least some laughter ensues, and a few minutes later we seem to be under control.

As I am tucking in my son, I hear what sounds like the outside garage door being opened.  Trying to stay calm and hoping they didn't hear what I hear, I tell the kids that I am going to check the laundry downstairs.  The dog follows and starts barking.  The kids pick up that something isn't right, as the wind is knocking and rain is pelting sideways on their bedroom windows.  I listen to the inside garage door and hear someone in the garage.  Now it was my turn to freak.

I quickly locked the door and set the house alarm.  The noise continues.  My husband could not be home already, he left just 15 minutes ago.  Or was it him?  I knock on the door.  No answer.  The garage is quiet.  I call my husband's cell phone.  No answer.  I hear noise on the side of our house.  Great, did this person exit to my backyard?  Calling my husband again, keeping calm and telling my children every things fine, I begin to doubt ... until ...

My husband is trying to get into the house.  I yell his name to be sure it was him, the kids are panicking, and he answers from the other side of the door.  I unlock the door and he comes in surprised at the look on my face; one of not being too happy.  Trying to describe my last fifteen minutes produces a laugh from him too ... you got it ... I take out my retainer, and then reexplain my last fifteen minutes (I begin to wonder if I've been punk'd by my orthodontist).

My husband didn't have much of an evening either; he doesn't remember even setting the alarm (let alone setting it incorrectly so that any wrong motion inside the house would set it off), while he was driving in the darkened storm he had to swerve in the street for a guy walking on the side, get stopped in energy crew traffic because lights were out, and then get to the gym to find they have closed because of power failure due to the storm.  Coming home with out a work out, a stressed client chatting on his cell phone, while taking out the garbage cans in the pouring rain, to being locked out of his own house, to finding his kids panicked, and his wife speech impaired ... just one of those nights.

We all called it a day and went to bed.

Not my style

I feel trapped between the orthodontist chair and the orthodontist.  I am at the complete mercy of his wisdom and it drives me crazy because when it comes to tooth knowledge I know nothing and he knows everything, I guess, or I hope.

I am having a final procedure completed this Thursday. Let me see if I can explain this with my understanding, and I am probably off a whole bit, but once again my tooth knowledge does not match any person whose been through orthodontic training.  The top of each person's tooth has a grid and for the last 30-something years my grid has fit together a certain way.  Now that my bite has been transferred to a new form, my grid no long fits in the same puzzle formation.  I have high points that are causing the teeth not to sit correctly.  This is not uncommon and it makes sense why the puzzle no longer fits.

But now in order to fix the puzzle for life, I have to have the tops of certain teeth ground down to fit and lock in place with each other.  Apparently this is very intense work for the doctor, one that takes skill and mastery, because if he grinds too much in one area, whammooo, a crown will need to be put in place because I can't grow back enamel to fix the error of too much being filed away.

In order to reach the ortho chair for appointment day on Thursday, I had to go in bright and early this morning to get new molds taken so he can do a "run through" before I show up at Noon.  Well, that is a good thing.  But also, apparently, my jaw needs a new alignment too.  This is where I have gone blank in understanding, but the assistant put some additional silicone on my upper retainer so that only my front teeth touch.  Only my front teeth touching means my bite does not close at all between now and Thursday.

See (with out lipstick, but the extra color wouldn't add beauty, unfortunately):

Looks like bubble gum between my teeth.  This is so not my style.  I will be cheating.  I have to, I can barely talk with that lump of hard pink between my back teeth and my tongue.  It doesn't show much in the camera phone photo, but it is very apparent in real life and not speaking well is my biggest issue.

A small little plastic knob was also added to my bottom retainer to push a tooth back in place (it slightly moved).  Apparently my retainer has been too loose, even though I honestly wear the bottom piece 24/7.  If it doesn't pop back, then he'll do a permanent fix to the retainer soon.

Orthodontics is NOT MY STYLE!!!