Tooth Loose

(sorry for some reason I have Foot loose in my head....now it's your turn!!!)

Corey has been battling the dreaded loose tooth for the past couple of days. He HATES loosing teeth...it's not like we're pulling out his finger nails or something! Anyway, here's a few pictures of the festivities:

Grandpa help me!!!!

Grandpa chickened out, Corey obviously miffed that he still has this tooth!

Finally I was able to coax it out of him! (now he wants his $$)

(ignore the mountain of laundry needing to be folded in the background...I know I've been trying my hardest to do the same!!!!)

Road trip!

....well, maybe 10 hours is a bit of a stretch for a road trip! This picture is us just before we left, everyone is all set up with lots of colored pencils and paper. We almost didn't go because Jim decided to try and cut off his finger with a table saw on Monday....not my most favorite phone call. On Thursday morning he went to see an orthopod, who told him at least one more week off of work (in a half cast....hot and sweaty!!!) so we decided it would be easier to spend it away from home and all of its temptations to do things that he really shouldn't!

We traveled down to Springfield, MO to see our little Eddie get married off to a great girl! On the way down we made a pit stop at Jim's brother's house near St. Louis...Corey wanted us to leave him there..I think that they had every Nerf gun ever made!!!! We finally made it to Springfield Friday night, were able to eat out and the kids got some pool time in before bed. Saturday we swam them hard so that they could sit through the ceremony. The wedding was beautiful and we got to hang out with some of our Northern Il friends (Bethany it was so fun to see you !!!!)
We also made a stop at the Bass Pro Shop. I thought it was just ok, but the boys (jim included) liked to look at the boats and atvs...bonus was that there was a Starbucks inside!!!! Other then that we just kind of hung out at the hotel pool for the rest of our stay, since Jim was one handed.

The best part of the trip was being able to see my Great Grandma J. We haven't seen here in at least 2 years. The boys were so excited! How often can kids say that they have a great-great Grandma! She will turn 91 this year. She is suffering from some dementia, but we were lucky enough to see her on a good day so it was a lot like old times.
Needless to say, we've made it back alive and well. We decided to make the entire trip back up in one day..thank you God for the video player in the Yukon!!! After a ton of laundry and a lot of unpacking, I think we are finally back to normal (hahaha..until the next crisis that is!!!!)

Stented, Plugged and Ready To GO!

Just a quickie post:

My dad had his stent put in yesterday in Madison. Everything went pretty good. Dr said that his leg was clogged so much that the catheter almost didn't fit! (figure it's about the size of a wire...now his artery is 8mm!!!!)

Before, you would have to lay flat for 6 hours after having an angiogram. They did some new plug type thing that basically anchors into the artery and then plugs the hole made by the angio cath....you're pretty much ready to sit up and almost be normal right after!
(well, as normal as dad can be that is!!!!)

He made sure to give his nurses a hard time from the moment they took him back! It was soooo cold in the angio room. The nurse came in and dad asked if this was a new thing to almost cryogenically freeze you before the procedure so that then if they messed up they would just finish the job and keep you on ice until they figured out how to fix you! (ha ha ha smarty pants)

Shoot Out At The Munchkin Watering Hole

Water fights are a common occurrence during summer in Munchkin Land....Grandpa is usually the instigator!

Ready, Aim, Fire!

And he's hit.....down for the count!
Inflatables are fair game for protection (notice the sneaky hat floating in the blue inner tube or the beach ball with a mohawk!)
Stay cool and enjoy the day!

Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of you Dads out there!



We spent the first part of the day at church. After the service they had a big car show with free hamburgers, brats, hot dogs and chips and....RootBeer Floats...mmmm! It was a very cool idea! I think everyone had a great time~ wish I had pictures, but forgot the camera at home...had a really cool corvette...oooohh my favorite!



Tonight we are having a birthday party for me/father's day get together so this post will be a short one! Here's a few pics of the day:

This is my dad~first picture had a tongue sticking out..haha..always making things difficult!Jim got off from working a 32 hour shift so this is how he spent the rest of the day!

J wanted to make me a yarn cake for my birthday...he helped grandma make the cake, but was bored by the time she got to the frosting...I ended up rolling out my own fondant yarn balls, but it was a nice thought!

Words of wisdom a la Grey's Anatomy

Ok, so it's out...I am a Grey's fan. The basis of the story is kind of annoying, but every week they seem to make me cry! Tonight was their season finale....pretty good, but one thing seemed to stick out for me. At the end the chief resident said that we can't do everything and still have everything.

Did you get it?

We can't do everything and still have everything!!!!!

For as long as I can remember I have been the do-er. Last year everything seemed to just fall apart. I likened it to juggling while running down a mountain with a giant snowball chasing after you. One mistake and you either drop all your balls or you are crushed by the mammoth, ever accumulating pile of crap. Last January both things happened. Guess what...I survived! I am no longer the juggler of all things. I can enjoy my life!

I may not be doing everything (sometimes it feels like I am doing nothing), but I now realize that I have everything that matters!

For those of you who know me I can't be sugary and flowery for very long..so, grab a dose of insulin...back to reality!

While writing all this touchy feely stuff, I am watching Monty Python! Can't help it...it's a classic!...and really if you listen there are some real jewels of wisdom (yes I know, I'm the optimist of our family!) The more I watch it, the more that I realize that our life is kind of like the search for the Holy Grail....without the searching for the Holy Grail part that is!

Most of the time I am a lot like the old man in the village...I'm not dead yet...really, I'm getting better! I'd be willing to bet that Jim would love it if I took on the same attitude as the girls in castle anthrax..ha ha..nice try hun! Jim's the King Aurthur of our bunch....keeping up the search, never quitting no matter how difficult the task. Jamie would be our Brave Sir Robin....wanting to be so brave, but always ever so cautious. When it comes to Corey, he'd be one of the French Soldiers...farting in everyone's general direction....taunting his brothers...and when all else fails the thrower of large farm animals! The black knight would fit my tough little Riley....tis just a flesh wound....come on ya pansy!

The only difference would be that we really don't eat Spam a lot (I know, ha....ha....ha)

Enough of the silliness, remember don't try to do everything....look at the big picture, breath...enjoy the show!

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Grandpa and Grandma were in Minneapolis this week. They came bearing gifts...really you shouldn't have! (at least you could have added in some advil or mellow mommy in a bottle!) The title is a favorite of ours! Jim is an absolute Monty Python nut! At any moment one of us could break into "I don't want to talk to you no more, you animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction (that is even more true now that the boys are obsessed with bodily functions!). Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Dad was getting fitted for a new prosthetic leg....a C-leg. He will now officially be the bionic man. There could be a new reality tv show on it called pimp my prosthesis! It comes with a battery pack, lots of bells and whistles..only problem is figuring out how to walk in it! They said the trick is not to think about it, easier said then done when you're about to fall on your face! No, but really this will be a total blessing for dad. His prosthetician (?) Amy did an awesome job getting through all of the red tape. She has been with dad from the begining, always fitting him in for adjustments, questions..you name it and I'm sure she's gotten answers for dad! Thanks Amy. You're the best!

These were J's birthday cupcakes (chocolate cupcakes filled with strawberry chocolate ganache and frosted with chocolate glaze and butter cream). Sounds difficult, but if I could figure them out there is no reason to ever buy a box mix again! The recipe came from an awesome sight....Kathy: you can try the lavender cupcakes and let me know what there like...boys probably wouldn't go for that! Anyway here's the link
http://cupcakeblog.com/

Yesterday we ended up going to see Speed Racer. If you have boys they will love it...a couple areas of questionable language, but it was done kind of on the sly so the boys didn't ever get it. I still have a headache from watching all of the crazy racing scenes from the very top row of the theater!

On a knitting note, I just ordered 3 pounds of merino to hand paint and then spin!~carpal tunnel anyone?!?! I hope to have pictures soon.

Have a great holiday weekend!