Weekend and another baby

We had a nice weekend. My great friend Wendy who was my roommate through college and maid of honor in our wedding came and stayed this weekend. We had a great time of catching up. It had been close to a year and a half since we've seen each other-usually we see each other at least once a year but life gets busy!

Saturday we had a leisurely breakfast and coffee and then Wendy watched a movie with the kids while I did some things to get ready for my party that night. We dropped Samantha off at a birthday party and went to lunch at Olive Garden around one. After lunch we went to the movie "When In Rome." We picked the movie mostly because of the start time but also because it starred Josh Duhamel. He was in college at MSU the same time we were there. It was actually a pretty good movie-clean enough that I would let the kids watch it.

When we got home Bruce had made scotcheroos for the party (what a guy) and Wendy helped me get some other things ready. The party guests arrived at seven and Wendy enjoyed visiting our book club. We had a full house and newborns twins here too-thanks for bringing the girls, Pam! After everyone left, Wendy and I tried to think of friends from college to look up on Facebook and we did find some. Wendy left around ten this morning.

Another of last night's attendees at the party was my friend Heidi. She was due to have a baby yesterday. She had said when I told her the date of the party that she probably wouldn't be there because since that was her due date and she'd be pretty disappointed if she hadn't had her baby by then. It was nice she could come and some of us gave her a bad time about still being pregnant. I did mention to her that maybe she'd been in the hospital the same time as my cousin Raylene who was due February 10th and that would save me a visit. Well it turns out Raylene had her baby girl last night at 10:17 p.m. I went and saw them today. Averie Elizabeth weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. She's a cutie. Guess I'll be going to see Heidi at some other time-hopefully for her it's very soon!

Super Stock Hemi

One for the motorsports enthusiasts:



Super Stock AA/AH 68 Hemi Cuda test session.

Samantha's recovery and more baby news

It's been two days since Samantha's surgery. Friday she did okay. I got her to take sips of anything she wanted and she ate three bites of a pancake, a popsicle, and a few bites of macaroni and cheese. When she woke up this morning she didn't feel good. She threw up about three times and we were starting to get concerned. Luckily it dawned on us that it was probably the codeine making her sick. She had her last dose this morning and after that wore off she was so much better. She drank a lot of Sprite today and she had a quarter of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (Aleah made Samantha and I both one since I was rocking Samantha for about four hours straight) for lunch. She also ate a few chicken nuggets and ice cream for supper and she ate some fruit snacks. We all had popcorn tonight and I think she really wanted some but we advised her to wait a few more days. She had some regular Tylenol before bed. She sounds a little different when she talks now.

Samantha is enjoying the extra attention. She got to pick out the movies and decided what TV to watch and the others are being extra nice to her. I managed to get her band-aids off both her hands and she's bruised where they stuck her for the IV. Samantha and I will be staying home from church tomorrow. It's Bruce's Sunday to shovel so he has to be there. So far the expected storm hasn't been too bad here. It snowed some yesterday and tomorrow it's suppose to be very windy. I think Donovan played outside for about three hours today-over half the time he was out there by himself building snow chairs and snow tables.

My good friend Sonja from college had a baby girl on Thursday. I'm not sure of the spelling but she and her husband named the baby Kinnlee Annmarie and she weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. Congratulations Sonja, Andrew, and Lukus! I look forward to seeing your new addition.

No more tonsils

Samantha had her tonsils and adenoids removed today. Luckily she did not require tubes-I have a great dislike for tubes after Gerrit's experience with them. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. and she was taken to the OR at about 10:20. I was able to stay with her in the OR while they started the IV. Normally they would do that after a child is completely out but there is a history of malignant hyperthermia (my brother) so they have to take precautions. The nurse gave her nitrous oxide so she was awake but wasn't bothered when they put the IV in-it took them twice to get her-all the kids and I have veins that are hard to find. I left Samantha at 10:45 and met Bruce in the waiting room.

The doctor came out shortly before noon and said everything went great and that her tonsils were very large but her adenoids were even larger-no wonder why the girl has been a poor sleeper and was always tired. Bruce and I went to the recovery room to be with Samantha when she woke up from anesthesia. We were there about a half hour and they brought her back to her room. She pretty much slept until three.

We encouraged her to take little sips of water, then apple juice, and she had about a half a popsicle. She also take some pain meds by mouth and used the bathroom. The nurse ordered her some macaroni and cheese and she did eat about five bites. The doctor came in around five and said she looked great and there was no bleeding in her throat. The nurse took her IV out and she got dressed. We got home shortly after six tonight.

She's very tired since she's getting Tylenol with codeine but she ate a little pizza and is drinking. I hope this keeps up over the next few days. Gerrit and Aleah did okay the first day (well Aleah did-Gerrit had more problems) and for the next 10 days they hardly ate and were not themselves. I have to wake her up tonight to give her pain meds.

I figured out that although this is Samantha's first surgery this is the ninth surgery our four kids have had. That's quite a lot since the oldest child isn't quite 13. I do hope there will not be any surgeries for a very long time. Bruce and Donovan are now the only ones in the household that have their tonsils-I hope they can keep theirs.

Tomorrow is Samantha's big day

Samantha is having a big day tomorrow-not a fun day but it is a big day. She's having her tonsils and adenoids removed in the morning. She has such large tonsils that it causes sleep disturbances and trouble swallowing. I hope this is it for surgeries for the kids for a long time-this is the third surgery in six months-Gerrit had one in July and November. I am an expert at waiting!

I've been so busy this week too-tomorrow will seem relaxing just sitting around the hospital and easy since it's just one child having tonsils removed. Gerrit and Aleah had them removed the same day in August 2005 and that was crazy running back and forth to their rooms all day.

Bruce got a really good picture of how big Sam's tonsils are-hopefully he'll post that soon. I hope this surgery will help Samantha not to be so tired since she doesn't usually sleep well.

A Birthday Boy and a Sledding Excursion

Happy Birthday to our now eight year old boy! Donovan had a friend over after school yesterday and he stayed overnight at our house. It was that boy's first sleepover and all went off without a hitch. This morning I got up early to make caramel rolls and to fry bacon for breakfast. The photo above is Donovan posing with his birthday gifts.

This is new in Lego world - Toy Story sets. Lego just came out with these a couple of weeks ago.

Late this afternoon we ventured out in the beautiful weather for a sledding excursion. Our first stop was a hill by Jaycee Centennial Park - the park near the intersection of Century Avenue and 4th Street. It is a mild hill and gives a pretty easy trek back to the top. We spent most of our time here.

It was very busy today and my quick count came up with about 75 people out here. Donovan ran into a lady at the bottom and she fell on him. He got a little bit of a swollen lip from the encounter. When he got back to the top I told him he could have used his hands or feet to try to slow down or he could have bailed out of the sled if needed.

Donovan and Aleah really enjoyed heading down this bumpy route to get some air time.

The singing lady behind Nancy eventually became very annoying.

Soon after this group photo we ran into (not literally) my cousin John, his wife Stephanie, and their kids.

After we left the hill by Jaycee Centennial Park, we decided to head over take a look at the Tom O'Leary sledding hill. Donovan and Aleah decided to take a couple of trips down the hill. It is a bit steeper and a lot longer than the Jaycee hill. Most sledders end up by the ring of vegetation past that group of three pine trees. I think it took them about five minutes to walk back up to the top. They really enjoyed this hill.

We had another beautiful sunset tonight. The structure on the left is the warming house at the Tom O'Leary hill.

Gerrit was home sick with strep throat. I took him to the walk in clinic earlier in the afternoon and he is now on antibiotics.

Happy 8th Birthday Donovan!

Today was Donovan's eighth birthday. Of course, as usual, I cannot believe he is already eight years old. It seems like he was just a little three year old that couldn't talk and was always hiding things from everyone. Now he's in the second grade, loves school and is doing so well. His teacher told me the other day that she was so proud of him. They were doing Dibel testing recently and he read 141 words a minute and that was a record for any of her students reaching in second grade-she's been teaching for 35 years. I asked what an average second grader mid year reads and I was told 60. I guess Donovan is doing well.

Donovan had a friend stay over last night and Bruce made homemade caramel rolls this morning. We also took the kids sledding this afternoon-it was so nice. I saw a kid sledding in shorts and some without coats. Donovan is having a combined birthday party this summer with the other kids so we can rent an inflatable. That's not exactly something you can do during the wintertime. He did get presents from the grandparents and us so he was happy about that.

Happy Birthday Donovan! We love you!

The end of speech therapy, twin news, and a late surprise birthday lunch

Yesterday Donovan finished up speech therapy with his therapist Cindy. He had been going there for almost four years. He started at the Scottish Rites Speech Therapy Center since he needed extra speech help outside of preschool and insurance wouldn 't cover it. It's quite the end of an era. Once or twice a week year round for the last four years I would drive Donovan and Samantha, and sometimes Gerrit and Aleah during the summers when they were younger, to the center. Sometimes Donovan and I would be so tired of going there but it was necessary.

We'll miss Cindy. Donovan and Cindy really clicked and worked well together. He really learned a lot from her. The Scottish Rite Speech Therapy Center helps kids ages three to eight and since he'll be eight tomorrow and he's not severely speech delayed anymore he no longer needs to be seen. They would have continued helping him if the need was still there. He still will have speech at school once a week.

Now to the twin news. My friend Pam and her husband Matt welcomed their twin girls into the world yesterday. Elizabeth Ida was born at 4:04 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. Emily Susan was born at 4:09 p.m and weighed 5 lbs. 10 oz. Emily had some issues with breathing for awhile until the doctor tried to intubate her but then she broke a membrane and she started breathing just fine-that was the problem. She's being kept in the NICU for observation but is doing just fine. I went and saw Pam today and I got to hold Elizabeth-she's so precious.

After I picked Samantha up from preschool we went to my friend Tricia's for lunch and some other friends were there to surprise me for my birthday-a little later. We had a nice time and Tricia made an awesome meal. Sam and I stopped at Wal-Mart to get a few things for the weekend. Donovan is having a friend sleepover to celebrate his birthday which is tomorrow!

Ouch!

Today I took Samantha to her pre-op checkup before she has her tonsils and adenoids removed on the 21st. Being the multi-tasker that I am I also scheduled her Kindergarten immunizations as well. I didn't warn her ahead of time. I have not warned any of the kids ahead of time. It wouldn't help them deal with it any better, and they would just get overly anxious. The Kindergarten vaccinations have always been the hardest for me to watch (with the exception of the first time Gerrit got shots when he was two months old) since the kids are old enough to know what it's all about.

Samantha did very well. As soon as the doctor had finished the checkup and left the room I told her she had to have some shots today. She got very sad looking and asked if she could do it another time. I told her she had to do it today. She cried a little. Three nurses came in and she had to lie on the exam table. She had a shot in each arm and one in her leg. She hardly cried at all and I was very proud of her. I think they've combined the shots more since I remember Gerrit and Aleah having four shots.

Now my "baby" is fully vaccinated and is up to date to start Kindergarten in August. I feel sad that Samantha is growing up so fast and starting school soon but it feels kind of good too. I won't have to take anymore preschoolers in for so many shots anymore-I know they still need a booster shot once and awhile but it's generally only one and they're older and do better with it.

After the appointment we went up to the hospital and Samantha got to see where she would go before surgery and after and what the pajamas looked like that she will wear. The nurse asked if she had any questions and Samantha didn't say anything but she sure looked like she might have some questions. I wonder what was going through her mind. She wouldn't tell me either. I'll be glad when her surgery is over and one with and hopefully no one has to have any more surgeries for a very long time.

Missing in Action

It's been so long since I've blogged. I just got so busy before Christmas and then got a bit lazy during Christmas since we had the big blizzard then got busy to get ready for my family to come visit. Now it's all done and I've been trying to get back into the swing of things.

I subbed yesterday at Centennial School-this school is one of the furthest from our house and yesterday we had a winter storm. Bruce was also out of town which made things interesting. I got up very early and there didn't seem to be much snow at the time so I didn't shovel then. I made it out of the driveway-it was fluffy snow but there was quite a bit. Driving was slow going. I dropped Gerrit off at school and that's always fun dropping a child off at middle school-it takes forever. I'm glad he usually rides the bus. I then drove to Barb's (which thankfully isn't out of the way from where I was going) and dropped off Samantha there so she could bring her to preschool. I got to the school 45 minutes later so didn't get there until 8:15-they were almost ready to call to see if I was coming. The roads were awful and there were quite a few accidents.

The day went well-I had sixth grade and the morning was easy but the afternoon did drag. After school, I met Barb at the clinic, where her boys were getting allergy shots, to pick up Samantha and was happy to get home. I couldn't get into the garage though because of the big snowdrift. Wednesday is normally our busy day-Samantha has dance, Aleah has piano, and then we go to church-not last night! The temperature was dropping and the roads were awful so we stayed home. The boys and I shoveled so we could get the van in the garage. The patio door also got frozen shut and we had to let Sadie out the front door but I wasn't concerned she'd run away because she doesn't like cold weather.

Bruce made it home tonight from the Fargo area and he finished the shoveling and got the door fixed! I was originally going to sub this afternoon (at Centennial again in first grade) but the teacher's meeting got cancelled because of the weather so I didn't have to go outside at all today. That was great-the high for today was -11. It's suppose to get down to -35 tonight-that's COLD! Samantha and I hung out at home today and did things around the house. She's starting to pick up words in books when I read to her-today's word was CAT. She actually took a nap today too-she fell asleep about 4:30 for an hour but still went to bed by 8:15. I think she's still tired out from Christmas.

Wednesday Evening Musical Interlude

A nice little pop/rock song from Kim Mitchell, a Canadian. "Go For Soda" was released in 1985.

Christmas 2009, Part 2

The last part of this past week was the second part of our Christmas - the celebration with Nancy's family. We exchanged gifts Thursday afternoon and took it easy the rest of the day. Only Nancy and I were up yet for the midnight toll of the new year although Loren and family were awake at the hotel and went to the lounge area for some free goodies.

Friday, the first day of 2010, we got together at a local restaurant to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Nancy's parents. The anniversary was actually earlier in December but this was the first time all of us could get together. Loren and Kelly picked up a cake and we had cake and ice cream back at the house.

Saturday we had sort of our official Christmas meal. On the menu was a 22 lb. turkey! We had to bake it over seven hours. I'll tell you what -we definitely had more than enough meat. We sent some home with everyone and still have plenty left here.

Apples to Apples was a popular game this time and I think it was played at least once every day.

Before cutting the cake we got a photo of Karen and Laurence with said cake.

Grandpa and Grandma with all of their grandchildren.

Just the grandchildren.

Loren and Kelly with Luke.

Mijn familie. When posing, I hadn't even noticed that Donovan had grabbed our little wiener dog, Sadie.

All Tired Out

Five or six months ago Nancy's mom, Karen, bought a used car after Nancy's dad drove hers through the back of their garage. This car is a Buick LaCrosse and right now it has about 28,000 miles on the odometer. She had been telling Nancy the car drives funny and especially so on slippery surfaces such as ice or compacted snow.

Nancy drove the car and confirmed that to be true. Last night after supper I drove it back from the restaurant and also noticed a problem. On a slippery surface the back sort of swings back and forth - sways from side to side - and when I would hit a bit of compacted snow it would kind of give a strange little jump.

Back at the house I looked at the rear wheels and noticed they appear to be way out of alignment. The left rear appeared to have a camber problem with the top of the wheel too far in toward the car and the right rear seemed to have a toe out problem with the front of the wheel sticking out too far. Karen made an appointment for an alignment check for Saturday morning here in Bismarck.

About two weeks ago Karen went to a Farmer's Union shop in Williston for new tires. One guy there told her she should have four new tires but the other said the rear tires were all right and she would be good with just two new front tires. She went with the latter option. The shop put on a pair of the higher priced Hankook tires.

Anyway, when I got home from work today the snow had melted off the tires and as I drove up to the house I took a look and thought to myself how much it looked like the left rear tire had no tread! Upon closer inspection I discovered the situation as shown in the pictures below.

Not only is the tire almost completely worn out all the way across but the cords or steel belts are showing along the inside edge of the tread! Dang.

This is the right rear tire. It has a different wear pattern with the tread gone from the inside and outside edges but with normal wear in the middle. This one is also showing cords along the inside tread.

Just think - she drove from Williston to Rapid City and back and then here to Bismarck with tires in such poor condition. Right now they probably aren't too far from coming apart.

I think it is pretty unusual both for tires to be worn out like this at only 28,000 miles and for the alignment to be so out of whack on such a new car. I just hope there isn't a more serious problem. Hopefully we'll find out on Saturday!

Christmas Lights and Family Arrivals

Nancy's parents arrived from Williston late yesterday afternoon. While here, Nancy's mom has spent quite a bit of time finishing up her Christmas shopping. (Wait - wasn't Christmas last week?) Loren, Kelly, and Luke drove here from Minnesota and came to our door at about 10:00 this evening. We plan to open gifts tomorrow afternoon.

A few nights ago Nancy was watching the news on KFYR-TV and caught this story about a house and yard with a great display of lights. Today Nancy's mom took us all out to eat supper at North American Steak Buffet - where kids are free Monday through Friday with the purchase of an adult meal. After supper we took a drive to look at that light display. The web link above has a map, but in case the link goes away in the future the house is located at 1713 Woodvale Drive south of Bismarck near Prairie Rose Elementary. You have to take Estate Avenue to get to Woodvale.

The pictures do not really do it justice because I was just standing on the road and using a slower shutter speed. I know I shook a couple of them. It is a pretty cool display, though.

Luke had a good time when he got here. Grandma got to hold him for the first time. Here Kelly had put him on Samantha's horsey and he was having a great time.

Christmas 2009, Part 1

Because of the weather and road conditions on Christmas and the day after, we did not head down to Strasburg for Christmas day as planned. Instead we stayed in the house. I ventured out to take our little wiener dog with her short legs on her bathroom breaks - mainly to keep her from going on the deck. She usually does not do that but didn't like to head out in the yard in the cold winds. As far as the family, we had a couple of lazy days of sleeping in, watching movies, and taking naps. A couple of us even took naps during movies!

My brother Harvey had driven back home from Wyoming on Tuesday and my brother Doug came from South Dakota on Wednesday morning. My sister Lisa and her family from South Dakota had planned to drive home on Christmas morning but of course could not because of the weather. My brother Duane and his wife Betty live out on the farm and I think their boys drove back from Bismarck on Thursday during the day or late evening. Those that were there had the Christmas get-together as planned at Duane and Betty's house that evening.

On Sunday after the weather moved out, our family did drive down to Strasburg after I had our snow cleared out at the house. Harvey had left for Wyoming but Doug was still there. Nancy and I and the kids opened our gifts from Mom and Dad.

Four of us kids had gone together on a gift to move Mom and Dad into the digital age with a point and shoot digital camera. Unfortunately, I had purchased the camera and then was not able to get it to them until Sunday. Duane and Betty came over for supper and were also there when Mom and Dad opened the gift. The folks were very happy and appreciative.

After supper my Dad broke out the slide projector and we took a look at five or six reels of slides. That was fun - my kids sure seemed to enjoy seeing the slides of their much younger (and slimmer) Dad. We did drive back to Bismarck yet that night and pulled up to the house at about 10:45. Our "house" neighbor was outside and super thankful that I had also cleared out the snow from in front of his garage.

Part 2 of Christmas 2009 is planned for later this week . . .

Pictures of Snow

There was a blizzard? We ended up with about 12" of snowfall and had a lot of wind, but overall it seemed to be relatively mild as far as blizzards go. It certainly could have been very much worse, anyway. Below are some photos of the snow around and about our house.

I spent two hours this morning shoveling and blowing. That old snowblower sure is wonderful to have. Without it I am positive it would have taken at least double the time. As it was I had to shovel quite a bit from the top of the snowbanks before I could use the blower - most were at least one foot taller than the throat of the blower. I think in future storms I should try to go out periodically to keep the banks from getting too tall.

Church was canceled this morning because snow was blocking access to the parking lot. I would guess the streets in that area had not been cleared and would have been pretty snotty to navigate as well.

Saturday evening I went out and cleared some snow from against the garage and from in front of my car. Donovan and Samantha came out to play in the snow for a while.

On this above photo you can see the imprint of part of the front of my car in the snowbank.

All better now!

Sadie loves to be outside, too. I think it is funny she had to jump up on the little snowbank to look around.

This cool snowbank is in front of the fence of our neighbor to the west.

Singing House of Sioux Falls

Happy Birthday, Sadie!

So this is what our little blog has become - a mechanism to wish people or pets happy birthday/anniversary/holiday? I know I've been pretty much absent from here lately and hope to change that soon. I have a lot of photos to catch up on posting - even going back to Halloween.

Well, today was Sadie's first birthday. She was born on this day . . . well, I don't know exactly where she was born or in what conditions, but the breeder had a Linton, ND address. Anyway, we purchased her shortly after Valentine's Day. She is turning out to be a pretty good dog. She loves to fetch but we are still working on the release when she comes back with the item.

I didn't get her anything basically because she is a dog, but the kids got her this fluffy pink bone. She seems to like it. I joked with Nancy and asked her where Sadie's birthday cake was - we could have had her blow out a candle. Now, that would have been a picture!

Happy 40th Anniversary!

Happy 40th Anniversary to my mom and dad. They were married 40 years ago today in Tioga, North Dakota on December 13, 1969. Although I would never have had a December wedding (numerous reasons) I do love them-the churches are so beautifully decorated for Christmas. I've seen their wedding album and it looks like it was a very nice wedding. It was a Saturday and they actually had discussed getting married on Friday, December 12th since that had been my dad's parent's anniversary-they were married 12-12-1912 but it didn't work out so they married the day after that.

I was thinking today when I was looking at the picture of their wedding party that everyone in the picture in still alive today-40 years later. They each had three attendants and there were two flowergirls and a ringbearer. It really is a miracle considering some of the health issues some of them have had-my mom's cancer being the most serious of all. Praise God.

We will celebrate shortly after Christmas when we all get together. We had a party for their 25th anniversary which was already 15 years ago! The family has really grown in numbers since then-it was just mom, dad, Loren and me-now we have Bruce, Kelly, Gerrit, Aleah, Donovan, Samantha, and Luke. I definitely think that calls for a celebration and a nice family portrait to mark the occasion.

Happy Birthday Bruce!

Happy Birthday to my dear husband Bruce!! Hope you had a great birthday today. We did our annual Paradiso lunch (he was free) and this is the last year Samantha will join us since next year she will be in Kindergarten.

I also made one of Bruce's favorite meals for supper tonight as I try to do every year on his birthday-beef pinwheels and scalloped corn. We also had angel food cake with cream frosting. I don't think we need to eat tomorrow.

We got him two things for his birthday. Aleah had decorated a super-size coffee mug when we went to Creative Clay after Thanksgiving and she gave it to him-it's bigger than his Dunn Brothers coffee mug and that's huge-he does love coffee! We also got him a digital photo frame. I'm not sure if he'll have it at home or his office. He's always hinted he'd like one at work since he has too many pictures on his desk.

Hope you had a great day Bruce! We love you!