Easter Weekend

We kicked off our Easter celebrations with an Egg Hunt with lots and lots of good friends.  We gathered for homemade "Cafe Rio" burritos and tacos that were delicious! Then the kids were off to hunt!  

Ginger and Gillian decided they were much too old to find eggs this year so they volunteered to do the hiding... and then enjoyed visiting with friends.  

Back at home we did our traditional egg coloring as a family.  

The Easter Bunny did his thing and spoiled the children with eggs and candy and small toys.  (How sad that Ginger and Gillian are getting older and don't want their pictures taken first thing in the morning!) 

We devoured deviled egg on toast for breakfast.  Mmmm.  

Church was wonderful as always.  I love the Easter season and the hope of Spring that comes with it.  But, more importantly I love the promise that we will all be Resurrected and can be eternal families.  It was a nice day to spend as a family.  I got a little creative and had fun setting the table for dinner.

Then I went all out and made a ham with potatoes, green beans w/slivered almonds and hot, crusty bread with butter.  It was quite delicious (if I do say so myself).  

Spring Recital 2011

As a kid, as soon as my piano teacher started talking about the recital I would get a pit in my stomach that did not go away until my piece was played.  I hated recitals.  But, as a mom, I love them!  Ryan and Gillian played their songs beautifully and although they said they were nervous, they were flawless.  Gillian has been taking lessons for about 2 years now and Ryan just started in January.  

Ryan played Minuet in G Minor

Gillian played Jesu, Joy of Men's Desiring

They also played an Old McDonald duet that stole the show (at least I thought it did)  :)

Here is their darling piano teacher and good friend of mine.  The girls love her!

And true to tradition that started when I was a kid, the girls each got a 6-pack of their favorite ice cream bar to celebrate.  Totally worth the nerves and stress.  Ok, not for me.  

Here's hoping that they stick with it and can play in church someday!

Warrior Dash!

Yes, I got sucked into this.  No, I did not do it by choice.  My husband basically signed me up and forced me into doing it.  I had no idea what it was going to be like, except for what the website said... 

3.24 miles 

*venture into unknown murky waters

*scale through terror town

*climb over old car wreckage

*crawl under barbed wire

*conquer the wooden barricade

*thread through tangling ropes

*dive through blackout trenches

*crawl across tangle nets

*trudge through waist deep water

*army crawl through mucky mud

*leap over warrior fires

Does that sound fun to you?? 

Here we are at the start with a few of Don's co-workers... 

           And also with another couple who are close friends of ours.  Don and I decided to dress-up in costume to add to the craziness of it all.  We all look nice and clean, don't we?
 

Here we are at the finish.  Completely covered in muck and mud!  The "dash" was actually a lot of fun.  Don and I stayed together the whole time and were with our group of friends for the most part.  It was not a major challenge at all and I was glad.  It was more of an adventure and we really enjoyed it.  

At the very end when you have to army crawl through the mud, I was very careful to not let it get in my face.  But as you can see, Don dove in face first!

To my surprise my favorite part of the day was at the very end when the race was all over.  Everybody walked over to the "clean-up" area where dozens of people all mobbed together to get blasted with water by these guys holding very powerful hoses!  It was like one huge shower but you had no control of when or where the water would hit you... and it hit hard!  It was absolutely hilarious.  My friend, Emily, and I were laughing so hard the entire time and we could not stop.   But the sad part was that no matter how long you stood there getting blasted by the hose you just couldn't get clean in all of your layers of clothes.  So, yeah, I take it back.  My favorite part of the day was definitely my shower at home.  :)

                                            Anyone wanna join us for next year's Warrior Dash?!

Dallas World Aquarium Kindergarten Field Trip

Ethan's Kindergarten class took a trip to the Aquarium and I was one of the lucky volunteers!  I say "lucky" because I was one of the very few who got to be on the 30 minute bus ride with about 80 kindergarteners.  Super fun! :)  Ethan was in heaven sitting next to his mom on the bus, so it was all worth it.   The picture above shows my group that I was in charge of that day.  They were all darling, but yes, it was tricky trying to watch these 6 children when there so many in orange t-shirts running from exhibit to exhibit!  It was fun, but I did take a much needed nap when I got home that afternoon.  

Ethan loved every minute of his field trip.  But I am pretty sure his favorite part was the underwater shark tunnel.  So cool.  

It makes me sad to think that this was my LAST kindergarten field trip.  Ever!  I didn't get to go on very many with the older kids because I always had 2 or 3 other kids in tow.  But I have definitely soaked up every minute with my last one.  :)

The Curse Strikes Again!

For those of you who do not know this, I am slightly vain about teeth.  I am an orthodontist's daughter and I look at teeth and care about teeth.  That is why, I think, my children have all been cursed with issues.  Gillian fell out of a shopping cart as a 1 year old and was missing a tooth until her permanent teeth came in at 8 years of age.  Ginger cracked her front permanent tooth flipping on her bed, but thankfully it was just a small part of her tooth.  Then just a few days after Ethan turned 3, Davis knocked out Ethan's entire front tooth with a golf club.  Ethan walked behind him and SMACK!   My 2nd hillbilly toothless child!   And now, Ryan Jane is the worst of all because these were her brand-new, big, beautiful permanent teeth that are supposed to last her forever!    

Here's what happened...  It was early evening.  Don was out of town.  The big girls were at a Youth Mutual activity at the church.  Davis, Ryan and Ethan asked me if they could ride their bikes over to the park to play for a while.  I am always hesitant, but they are getting older and I am trying to give them a little more freedom.  I let them go.  Not five minutes later I get a call from our good friend who lives right next to the park and he says, "Ryan just fell and knocked out her front teeth!".  I jumped in the car and drove right over, preparing myself to see blood and tears and a messed up face.  To my surprise, Ryan was all smiles and there wasn't a hint of blood or injury.  She came running up to me, showed me her broken tooth smile, then handed me the pieces of her teeth.  She thought it was hilarious.  Poor girl had no idea how sad this really was!!  She explained that when she got to the park she jumped off her bike to walk it up the curb, then her front wheel hit the curb and the handle bars hit her teeth.  That was it.  So random!  She said to me, "Mom, do you know what the one good thing about this is?"  I said, "what could possibly be good about this?"  She said, "now Clayton won't like me anymore because I look like this!!"  (Apparently there is a boy at school who really likes her and she does NOT like him.)  Yes, that is a good thing.  

I immediately called one of our very good friends who is a dentist.  He had just sat down at a Maverick's game in Dallas, but told me that he could help me out when he got home that night.  So nice!!!  At around 11:00 that night I took Ryan over and met him at his office.  Ryan was quite nervous, so he gave her some laughing gas to relax her a bit.  Worked like a charm.  I brought the broken pieces of her teeth knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything with them, but I thought he might want to look at them.  Come to find out, he was super excited that I still had the two solid pieces for her teeth.  He glued them right back on and viola!  Look how good they looked when he was finished...

There is a chance that the teeth can still die and she will have to have root canals, but for now, we feel very grateful that they look as good as they do.  Answer to many prayers!   Here she is just a few days later (goofing off with my Supergirl glasses) and good as new!

Spring Break

Spring Break at our house means GET TO WORK!  Well, not really, but the girls did get to work on their Personal Progress goals.  As young women in our church Ginger and Gillian are involved in a wonderful program that helps them to set goals to improve and learn and grow in faith.  One of those goals was to be involved in planning, shopping, preparing and making meals for the family.  One night they made Ritz cracker chicken with rice pilaf and caesar salad and it was delicious!  

Another goal they chose was to learn a homemaking skill and spend 10 hours working on it.  So, the girls decided to make patchwork quilts during Spring Break and we really had so much fun working on them!   We shopped for the fabric.... and everything else we needed, including a new rotary cutter and mat for me. :)  Then the girls got right to work cutting out their squares...

They sewed each square together...

They added the batting and then tied the quilts...

Then came the time consuming part... hand sewing the edge with a blind stitch.  

The girls did a beautiful job!  I was very proud of how hard they worked and how well they turned out.  These girls are going to be incredible homemakers some day.  

Ryan was feeling a little left out, so I whipped one out for her baby doll.  

I love my girls!!

The latest with me...

I have been meaning to update on the latest happenings with me, but haven't had a chance to sit down and write!  Many of you know that my sister, Ginger, passed away a few years ago from something called Long QT syndrome (you can click to read about it).  My sister, Brandi, was tested a while back to see if she had the genetic mutation that can cause LQT because it is very hereditary.  She tested positive and so did her son, Dane (2).  We have all (my parents and siblings) been in the process of getting tested over the past several months.  I finally got my results and found out that I am positive as well.  So far, three of us sisters are positive, two siblings are negative and the rest are still waiting to hear.  Because I tested positive I now need to have my children tested as well.    

I have been prescribed beta blockers which I will now take for the rest of my life.   Beta blockers slow the heart rate and make the dangerous rhythm associated with Long QT less likely.  And they also make me tired!  But, that is supposed to get better after a week or so.   I have been restricted from using alarm clocks now as well. There is something with being awakened by a loud noise from a deep sleep that can cause the heart to beat so fast that it can cause death.  (We think this possibly could have happened to Ginger since it was around 6am on a Sunday morning.  She would have been getting up to get ready for her morning of getting herself and 4 kids ready for church.)   

My doctor said I could keep exercising the same as I have been... basketball, running, etc....for now.  That might change as they learn more.  Now to the tricky part.  Many doctors suggest that patients with Long QT get an ICD or implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which is surgically inserted into your chest under the skin.   I went to see an Electrophysiologist on Friday to get his opinion.  He said that... considering my age of 35 (the dangerous years are teenage to 30 in females), that I have had no symptoms, and my QT interval on the EKG is on the border.... my risk is low, and that whether or not to get an ICD is entirely up to me.  He said that if I wanted to get one, no one in the professional world would bat an eye at that because of what happened to Ginger and the fact that I tested positive for this mutation.  He also said that if I decided not to get one, that everyone would understand that as well, because my risk is on the low side.  Then he said that HIS professional opinion...since I have 5 children and he would always err on the side of caution...is that I should get one, just because you never know what can happen.  My first symptom could be death.  Harsh, but true.     But, he said that Don and I need to discuss it, pray about it (I told him that is what we would be doing) and do what we feel is right for me.  I haven't made a decision yet, as this is such a huge decision, so we are taking our time.  Thinking about it (constantly) and praying about it.  So glad that Don is doing this with me.   The ICD would be surgically implanted and then every 7 yrs they have to surgically open your chest to change the battery as well.  After surgery you can't lift anything over 10 lbs. or raise your arm for 6 weeks.  Doesn't sound too fun, huh?  BUT, if something happened and I had the defibrillator, I would be fine.  We will eventually have to decide if our kids will need it as well (those who are positive).  

This is all very new to me and hard to explain so I hope you understood all of that.  It is a learning process.  I am just so glad I have a couple of sisters to take this road with me!  And so grateful for priesthood blessings, the temple, and the Holy Ghost that have brought so much peace.  Don and I really do feel so much peace.  

Our 15th in CHICAGO!

So... in January, Don and I were hanging out with our close friends, Jeff and Abby, and somehow we got on the discussion of Les Miserables.  Jeff and Abby were absolutely shocked to hear that Don and I had never seen this particular musical.  Almost immediately they jumped on the internet and found out where it was playing and decided that we ALL needed to go to Chicago to see it.  I, the cheapskate, laughed it off and announced that we would not be flying somewhere to go see a 3 hour musical.  Well, Don had other ideas.    When Don noticed that it was playing right during our 15th Anniversary he was not going to let me dismiss this idea for a fun getaway!  He and Jeff started looking seriously into it and began making plans.  He pulled me aside a few days later and told me that we were going and I didn't have any say in the matter.  Of course we got in a big fight...  totally kidding.  I was so excited!  We really never do anything spontaneous like this and after all, it was our FIFTEENTH!  See how I still have to rationalize spending money?  Well, Don booked the nicest hotel I have ever seen (without me knowing, because I would have insisted that we stay some place cheaper).  But, then again, it was only for 2 nights so we indulged!  It was so beautiful and we could not get over the exceptional service.  We felt like royalty.   

You can't tell in the picture below, but the mirror in the bathroom is also a TV screen.  (It wouldn't show up in the camera.)  Super nice bathroom, jetted tub, huge shower.  

We had the best time with our friends!  Yes, it was our anniversary and we could have chosen to be alone for it, but we seriously had a blast with Jeff and Abby.   We hit a few of the Chicago hot spots that people insisted we go to...Giordano's for their famous stuffed pizza, and Anne Sather's for breakfast, including brownie and cinnamon rolls that were to die for!  Here's Don getting ready to eat...

Before our big night seeing Les Mis, we went to dinner at Ben Pao and it was probably the best chinese food we had ever had.  It was amazing.    

So...Les Mis.  I LOVED it!  I seriously cannot believe I have made it to the ripe old age of 35 without seeing this musical.  It was so incredibly moving and beautiful.  Now I am addicted to the music and watch the DVD of the 25th anniversary of Les Mis almost every day.  I love it so much.    

We seriously had the best 3 days!  Part of our adventure included hopping in and out of cabs in the freezing cold and devouring the incredible Garret's caramel/cheese popcorn mix.  One night we went up to the tip top of the John Hancock Building for drinks (lemonade, of course!) and dessert and the most incredible view of Chicago.  We hit the famous Field Museum and saw A TRex movie in 3D.  

Below is the actual T Rex skeleton that was found!  Crazy.  

Our trip was short, but we packed it in and will never forget our time in Chicago.  A HUGE thank you to our good friends who so willingly watched our children for us.  We couldn't have gone without you!!