Finally

I'm sure it's not a big deal to you, but I've lost this thing 4 times. I've spent HOURS on a project that shouldn't have taken near that long. I thought I was going to throw this computer out of the window last night, but am now thankful that I didn't.

Anyway, here are my pictures from the concert. Enjoy!
PS: There is still more to come. :)

Video blog

....and believe it or not - there is more to come!

Today will be filled with laughter.

It will be spent with friends.

I've waited a log time for this day.

A day that felt like would never Be Here - is finally here.

We'll put our Jeans On and listen to some great music.

I know what you're saying.

What about me?

Well, You Won too.

I plan to take A LOT of video's and lots of pictures.

Because - It's a love thing.

(The first one to post the underlying meaning of this post wins a prize.)

So I'm excited

This is an older picture of my boyfriend.

I love it though.

I'm very excited to see him in concert.

He puts on a great show.

The look on his face is saying:
"Yeah, so what. I'm her boyfriend."

That's my delusion - which I'm entitled to.

Some people really like cheese. I really like Keith Urban.

Some people act as if it's abnormal - well get to know Kerrie Meyer.

I super duper love his music - and his accent.

I met him, remember? He's a very kind man.

He's my boyfriend. :)

PT eval

Yesterday the PT person came to evaluate Jack. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't really expecting what she told me. She said the muscle tone in his legs is extremely low. One would have thought I knew that, right? For some reason I didn't. Quite frankly I was shocked. She said that the muscle tone in his arms wasn't great, but his legs are much worse. Yeah, I was shocked. She showed us some things that we need to do to Jack's legs to help him get stronger.

I don't remember what she wanted him to do, roll over or something, and she said "He's very limber". She's right, he's very limber. I guess I thought that was normal. She said "He's almost doing the Chinese splits." Yep, right again. That's when she looked at me and must have realized that I thought this was very normal for a 8 month old. She said "That's not normal for a baby of this age." Oh - gottcha. I totally wasn't following her. Anyway, we need to try to strengthen his legs and hips.

I'm not sure if the speech person is coming or not. I haven't heard from them. OT called yesterday and said they have their eval done and are going to send it in the mail. We'll have a group meeting on Aug. 8th. That's where I'll find out if Jack qualifies for the Birth to 3 services.
(Update: Justin just called and said that he got the OT's report. Jack does qualify for their services which we'll talk about on Aug. 8th.)

Peach's nose is much better than I thought it was going to be. I'm afraid she's sure had her share of bad luck. Last night after supper she was sitting in her chair having a cupcake. I was on the phone when I heard a loud crash - and then Claire screaming. She fell over backwards in her chair. For crying out loud! Thankfully I think most of the blow was absorbed on the carpet and not the wood floor the chair was originally sitting on. A run for my money people - a run for my money. I wouldn't trade her in for anything, but she's going to be the one I have to worry about the most I think.

Yesterday when Peach got up from her nap, I took Nathan and Jack up to her room to greet her. She LOVED it. They all did. What's up with that kid's mohawk in the middle? :) It was WAY out of control yesterday. He needs some baby hair gel. I'm sure he'd sit still long enough for me to spike it. Yeah, I could spike it and then color the tips purple or something. FUN! He's tryin' to bring freaky back. :)

Making Cupcakes

Getting better

Just a quick post today. Claire's nose is better. I don't think it's broken. It looks like the point of impact was just under the bridge. Thank goodness for that! Only one eye is slightly black so I felt like we were pretty lucky. It doesn't seem to bother her - so all is well.

Today I gave Jack some fruit puffs. He picked it up and put it in his mouth. THAT'S RIGHT!!! I was so excited! Tomorrow the person from PT comes for their portion of the evaluation. I believe our group meeting is going to be on the 8th. At that time we'll figure out if Jack qualifies for the help of Birth to 3 or not.

Today I got to take Nathan to swimming lessons. I was excited to see how he would do. He put his face in the water yesterday, but wouldn't put his ears in. While I was getting ready, I said "Today you should put your ears in the water. You might like it." He said "They might not want us to do that today." "I think they probably will", I replied. Sure enough - he did!! I was so excited. I think he likes swimming lessons. Yea!

I'm off to make cupcakes. TTFN!

I know - I know!

So, I haven't quite figured out my new camera. I love it, but it's much more advanced than my other point and shoot. Right away when I got to work this morning I did my video blog. I was so proud of myself - until - I went to upload it to youtube and it was too large of a file. Stink! So I read through the manual - tried MANY things - until.....my batteries died. I know - I know!

So I'll just type what I had to say.
First of all - look ----------------------------------->
only 5 more days until "The Reunion". I was talking to my sister the other day and she asked me about the reunion. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. I thought I was being shunned by the family - not getting an invite to the reunion and all. Not at all - she was talking about the Kerrie/Keith reunion. HA!(I totally cut my sister out of the picture - sorry Shan...well, I'm sorta sorry - Ok, I'm not really. Amen. See - all better!) (giggle) Even though I don't get to talk to him this time - I'm still jacked to the moon! I still haven't told Nathan. I'm not sure when is the best time to do that. Maybe when I get back? Eeek!

I'm so excited for the concert. I have Keith blaring right now. I went to his website and watched some footage from some of his concerts. Oh the joy that brings me! CAN - NOT - WAIT!

So, we were given a swing set by some friends of ours. The kids couldn't have been more excited. I'm sure Nathan would have slept on it had we let him. They love it! However, in less than 24 hours, we had our first tragedy. Nathan and Claire were outside playing on it while I was inside making supper and Justin was feeding Jack. All of a sudden I heard some commotion and Claire was flat on her back screaming. I RAN outside and picked her up. When I picked her up, I noticed what I thought might have been dirt on her mouth. She put her head on my shoulder, still screaming, and Nathan said "Mom! She's bleeding!" I figured it wasn't dirt that I'd seen but blood. She must have bitten her tongue - so I thought. "MOM - it's coming from her nose. She's bleeding all over your shirt!" Nathan said with urgency. I looked at her and sure as heck blood was gushing from her nose. I about died. I took her inside and Justin let out a "WOAH!!" as we passed him. I sat her on the table and held tissues to her nose. She was still crying and screaming. She had this dent in her nose and I was sure she broke it. Neither of us knew if we should take her in, so I called ask-a-nurse. You'd think that I thought it was my private number because I use it so much, but that's what it's there for, right?

They told me that she didn't need to be seen right away because the doctor wouldn't be able to see through the swelling - even on an x-ray. She said that if her nose is crooked and the swelling is gone by Friday then to take her in. I had to hand her off to Justin so that I could go finish what I was doing in the kitchen. I didn't want us to have to end up eating at McDonald's. Anyway, Justin held her and put ice on her nose while I gave her some Motrin for the pain. Poor girl! Nathan wanted to know if she was ready to go back outside. I told him that I thought she was probably done for the day. ;) So we'll keep an eye on her through the week.

Natey starts swimming lessons tomorrow. He told me again last night that he was a little nervous about it. I assured him that it will be ok. I'm sure he'll be fine once he gets there.

School starts one month from today! I'm just not ready for it. It wouldn't matter if it were 5 months from now - I still wouldn't be ready for it. I guess I don't have any other choice though. :(

I put together a slide show since you didn't get a video blog. I know - I know. ;)

Cool Slideshows!

A Public Service Announcement of sorts

When you get something in your mind, do you easily let go of it? I don't. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing - both I would assume. For instance, one day I was talking to my sister and she was ordering some chicken nachos at Taco John's. That sounded really good to me at the time. Every meal that I consumed I thought, "I really wish this were chicken nachos from Taco John's". Finally came the day when the chicken nachos fit into my schedule. I ate them, I enjoyed them, I was finally over them. Are you like this too? I do this all the stinkin' time and it drives me crazy.

Amber posted the other day about 'her norm'. Her post was pointing out the things that were normal to her, but abnormal to others. It was a great post and fun to read. I like learning things about my new friends. ;) Anyway, since that day I haven't been able to get this topic out of my head. Please allow me to do so now so I can move on. Thank you.

Amber said that she doesn't have a land line and has never had one as long as she and her husband have been together. My sister is in the same boat. She has a cell phone, but not a land line. While, economically I think this is the great idea, when it comes to safety it scares me to death.

When was the last time you bought a cellular phone? Was it in the last few years? If you have, then the sales person quite possibly told you about the feature on your cell phone that will 'tell emergency personnel where you are if you are stranded or unable to speak'. That's not a very accurate statement. My guess is that the person that sold you your phone, on commission no less, really could care less if you're found when you call 911 after turning your vehicle upside down in the ditch. They've long profited from your purchase and your now just a part of that big pay check last July.

Let me show you a part of my job that you'd normally never see. This information was generated with my cell phone. This first picture is what I, as the dispatcher, see when you call here on a non emergency number. (I blacked out some of the things. I don't need everyone on the web to have my cell number. We obviously get the full information.)

I get the phone number, the time of call, date, and the name of the person the phone is listed to. That's what I get when you call the non emergency number. Now, let me show you what I get when you call 911 using your cell phone.Ok, it's obviously a little more complex than the first picture. Most of this won't make sense to you, but it does to me and my fellow co-workers. If you look through all the numbers here, you'll see CALLBK=(605)480-52**. That's the number that is listed to the phone that called. That's my cell phone number. Now, my cell phone is capable and set to show my location when I call 911. Here is where the misconception comes in. Just because your cell phone is capable of giving the satellite the information does not mean that the satellite is capable of receiving the information. I used my cell phone from my office which happens to be in the basement. The satellite isn't able to make a connection to get my correct location. Look hard - there is no address. You might notice that there is Longitude and Latitude, but if you mapped it out, you would find yourself at a cell phone tower. Maybe you're thinking 'well that's ok that it didn't map in a basement, as long as I'm in my house I should be ok'. Well, you might be, however, I got a call a couple of winters ago and the guy had no idea where he was. Lucky for him, so he thought, he had a hand held GPS system with him. You know what I'm talking about, right?Yeah, one of these. Ok, so I was on the phone with this guy and he had to stick his hand out the window to get a reading because it wouldn't work from inside his vehicle. Crazy, right? Just because you're using your cell from your house doesn't mean that we'll get the information that we need to come and help you. We might not even be able to get a reading from your phone if your under your favorite shade tree in your front yard. Get what I'm saying?

Now, if you're able to speak and give me your address or the location that you're at then everything will go much more smoothly. However, that isn't always the case. I once had someone who had to know CPR for their job call for an ambulance. The person they were calling for was unresponsive and needed CPR. When I asked the caller if she was able to start CPR, she told me that she didn't know CPR. I knew that wasn't the case, but also realized that she was in shock and I needed to get help there immediately.

Your brain does silly things when you're in shock. Have you ever been part of an emergency? Have you ever seen an accident or maybe been a part of it? Your brain quickly takes over to take care of you, not always letting the bad things in (ie: trauma of the situation). Maybe you were present when a bank was robbed, Aisha, and you had no idea this was happening. Or maybe you did and you told the police it was a very thin man, wearing a red shirt, holding a gun when in reality it was a very thin man, wearing a black coat, holding a knife. Your brain does some crazy things when you have adrenalin rushing through your body.

Lets take a look at what information comes to our 911 center when you call from a land line.We get the phone number, address - everything that we'd need to send help. If someone called 911 and hung up, we'd still know where to send an officer if we suspected something was wrong. If you call 911 and we don't make contact with you, we send an officer to make sure everything is ok. If you call 911 from your cell phone, not so much. We call your number back, usually get your voice mail, leave a message and hope you're ok.

I'm not saying that it's wrong to only have a cell phone. I just wanted to open your eyes to my world and the way I see it.

Whew - done with that one. Next!

The phone call

The kids daycare provider is out of town which means my kids are at Tracy's today. This is a huge treat for them. Nathan was beside himself with joy and Claire was ready to go last night.

I received a text from Tracy asking me to call her. I was nervous, as any mother would be. I called Tracy and this was the conversation.

Me: Hi. What's up?
Tracy: (obviously trying to be discrete) I just caught Natey peeing outside.
Me: What????
Tracy: Yeah, I caught him peeing outside and now he has to sit inside on the couch (for a time out).
Me: Bwahhahahahahahahaha

The best part is that he went by her retaining wall, but stood facing the busy road to the south of her. That's some funny stuff.

I called Justin to see if he lets Natey pee outside. I needed to find out what kind of punishment to enforce. I can't really punish him if his dad is letting him pee outside. Well, that's not the case. I told Justin about it and he busted out laughing. Here's the back story.

Once, we were driving to see Justin's parents when Nathan announced that he had to pee. We pulled over and let him pee outside. He's been hooked ever since. Any time we go anywhere, he has to pee - be it inside or out.

Anyway, I thought this story was funny and I've been telling everyone at work. I'm going to have to be serious when we get home so I need to get the school girl giggles out of my system before hand.

Have a good weekend!

No more Shawn?

What the heck happened? My favorite weather man is no longer on KELO. I want to know the back story. I sure hope it was his decision and that he wasn't canned. I know Shawn is a bit of a corn flake, but I'd much rather get my weather from him than someone who's doing weather because there was nothing open in sports. I enjoy him and I'm sad to know that he's no longer around.

Speaking of weather, yesterday I got caught in one heck of a thunderstorm. I decided to run to Brookings to get some groceries. Jack only had a half a can of formula left. It's $18 something in Brookings and $23 something in Sioux Falls. Of coarse you can get it here - for the lucky price of $26. We needed a few other things, so I loaded up the kids and headed to Brookings.

It was sprinkling when I left town, but nothing major. You could see that it was very dark to the North. I filled up with gas and we were on our way. I don't think that Nathan has ever ridden through a thunderstorm before. I myself forgot how loud it was. Claire was scared. She HATES the car wash and I think the storm reminded her of the car wash.

The storm was pretty strong. I had to slow down to about 25 to 30 mph a few times. I even decided to pull over for a couple of minutes. I know the corn needed a drink, but the wind was blowing so hard the corn was almost laying down. Eeek!

After getting back on the road, it wasn't long before my windshield wipers collided with each other. DOH! I pulled over quickly, got out in the pouring rain and tried to pry my wipers from each other. I got them apart, got back in the van, turned on the switch and BAM - they were tangled again. Crap! I got out again and got them unstuck. I was drenched! I called Justin and he came to help me. Good thing I put my hair in a ponytail before we left the house. I would have been a complete mess.

Justin got my wipers fixed and I was on my way. I love weather, but you guys, that just wasn't fun!

Birth to 3 update

Two of the four ladies came over today. I believe it was the person from OT and Early Childhood. The only thing they really said was that he seems to be quite delayed on his left side along with the weakness of his trunk. He won't bare weight on his left side. That means that when he's laying on the floor, he'll push up with his right arm, but not his left. He HAS been saying DA - which is WONDERFUL!!! I hadn't heard it until they were evaluating him. The Early Childhood lady was just as excited about it as I was which I thought was nice.

Now I have to schedule something with the PT and Speech person. Hopefully they'll be calling soon. The ladies today said that our meeting is going to be in the middle of August. It's at that time that we'll get the reports from everyone. I really wanted it done sooner, but what do ya do?

Anyway, I just wanted to pass that along to you. Thanks for checking in.

New Camera!!!

I got it! I got it! I'm a little excited about my new camera. Ok, that's a total lie. I'm so stinkin' jacked about my camera I might not be able to sleep tonight! Look at the clarity of that picture. I'm in camera heaven!

I came very close to kissing the UPS man today. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but I did tell him that he was my favorite person today.

I came in the house and ripped into the box. I called Justin to tell him that my camera had arrived. Unfortunately, he didn't share my enthusiasm. I hung up and called Tracy. THAT'S what I was looking for! She was very excited for me.

This camera does everything but brush my teeth. Holy cat smokes! I'm not sure how I'll learn how to use it before I go to the concert, but I'm going to try. That's what those pesky midnight to 8's are for, right?

Here are a few comparison shots.

New camera

Old camera

New camera

Old camera

I can't wait to play around with my camera more. I saved to get this bad boy and I can't believe it's finally here - and mine! Are you wondering what kind it is? No? Awww, that's too bad. You know I'm going to tell you anyway. It's a Canon PowerShot S2 IS. FUN - STUFF!

I've gotta go now. I have a manual to read.

Video blog

The 12 car

Yesterday, one of the officers told me that a NEXTEL race car was down at the Alltel store. I was so excited. I really enjoy NASCAR more than I feel like I should. It's one of the fastest growing sports and it's ok to enjoy. (I was just talking to myself.) Somehow I still feel that I have too many teeth to enjoy the sport as much as I do.

When I got off work at 4, I drove by to see if the car was still there. I was giddy. Now, for those of you who don't know, the diver of the Alltel car is Ryan Newman (pictured above). Nathan knows many of the drivers - at least their car number and names. When I saw that the car was still in town, I called the house. Nathan answered. I said "Natey, get my camera and come outside. You don't need your shoes. Tell Daddy that you're coming with me." Of coarse he wanted to know what was going on, but I wanted him to hurry up so we didn't miss the car. I asked him to hang up the phone and come out with my camera.

I turned the corner and saw Nathan coming out of the house. He was taking his sweet time getting in the van. Poor kid - I was acting as if the world was going to fall off it's axis if he didn't hurry. He got buckled up and I told him what was up. He was super excited. It wasn't until we got out of the van that I noticed his shirt. Go ahead, look.

It was all of 85 degrees out and he has on a long sleeve shirt. I asked him why he was wearing that shirt and he said 'because I want to'. Good enough. Natey wanted me to get a picture of the hauler. It was pretty cool.
I enjoyed the truck myself. It was a big awesome looking dodge.
We even got to watch them start it up and drive it. Believe me when I say it was a big deal.

I'm coming Keith

He's so easy to stalk love!

The biggest compliment

I'm not good at accepting compliments. Are you? I'm really not. I've been this way my whole life. It's a shame really. I should be thankful, but compliments kind of embarrass me. I'd much rather blend in - which I do most of the time (until I color my hair;) - HA!).

I mean, I think it's nice that someone took the time to tell me that they like my ________, but I find myself self conscious for the rest of the day. It's retarded and I know it.

The other day, a woman knocked on our door at the house. She said that she was with the Census Bureau and needed us to take part in her questionnaire. I'm not a fan of this either. When I told her I didn't want to do it, she looked at me like 'Uh, that's not a good idea'. The next day I was talking it over with someone and that person said 'I knew someone that did that. They said if you refused, then you were flagged by the government.' Ok - I don't want that, so I kept my appointment. (It seemed that was the vibe I was getting from the lady anyway.)

Last night the woman came to our home and asked us a gazillion questions. I would answer some then Justin would take over where I left off. Now, Nathan LOVES a visitor. He can't get enough of them. He couldn't be more excited about the fact that Jack is being evaluated because that means visitors. The lady last night was no exception. Nathan could have cared less what she was asking about, just having her in our home made him happy.

The lady was asking questions about our home, the price, the taxes, the stuff I could care less about. That's when Justin started answering the questions. After Justin answered about 10 of them, Nathan said "Wow Daddy - you sure are smart!" How cute is that? It made me giggle. Anyway, this lady was going on and on with her questions when she stopped what she was doing and said "I really have to tell you something. You guys are obviously great parents. You have amazing kids. I was a school teacher and you can tell when someone is a good parent. I can tell you guys are good parents."

Now that's the kind of compliment I could hear over and over. My kids are a HUGE deal to me. I don't care if you think I'm bragging, really I don't. I have great kids - and Justin and I have worked our butts off at making them that way. They didn't come out of the womb saying please, thank you and excuse me. They learned it. When I told people I was going to teach Nathan sign language, people acted as if I'd just took a hit off of a crack pipe. They looked at me as though I had something hanging out of my nose. It was at that time that I realized that if he could ask for more, he could also be polite about getting it.

Don't get me wrong here, I don't think I'm a great parent. There are many things that I'm sure in the long run I'll find that I did wrong. However, for now, my kids are polite and well behaved. Being a parent is my #1 priority - hands down. I think if everyone put all they had into raising children who were respectful and not entitled, this world would be a better place.

When I went to bed last night, a good 3 hours after the lady left our house, I was still soaring high on the highest compliment a person can give me. It's one I'm proud to accept and one I take seriously.

Evaluation

Yesterday was the starting process in having Jack evaluated. All that happened yesterday was that the lady came over and asked some questions. He's behind - according to their evaluation, so now they'll send in someone that does speech and physical therapy to take a look at him. After they meet with us and evaluate Jack, we'll have a group meeting and figure out where to go from there. They'll tell me that he either does or does not meet the criteria to be in the program. I find it hard to believe that he won't meet the criteria though.

When Claire was evaluated by the program, she was just on the edge of not needing their services. We decided that we'd wait for a couple weeks to see how she progressed and then we'd go from there. I'm glad we waited. She took off and hasn't looked back. Jack, on the other hand, is making progress, but I'm not sure by leaps and bounds. I don't know - we'll see. Maybe it will be like Claire. Maybe he'll be on the edge of needing services. Who knows I guess? I'll keep you informed though.

Did you see the new picture of Jack that I posted on my sidebar? I thought it was adorable! He's such a happy baby (most of the time). I cut the back part of his mohawk the other day. I'm not sure which looks crazier. I've cut the back of it twice now. It sticks straight up and looks nuts. I sure hope it doesn't do that when the rest of his hair finally comes in. Goodness!

Anyway - that's all for today. Thanks for checking in and asking about him.

Look at me!

Last night Jack sat up a little longer by himself. I was beside myself with joy. I'm not sure if he would have sat so long on the floor, but he did very well sitting in our chase lounger. He probably sat by himself for 2 minutes. That's a big deal!!! We've been working with him each day trying to encourage him to strengthen his lower back. I hope he's getting better. He sure seems proud of himself, that's for sure.

Justin got Nathan and Claire a little pool. Nathan wanted a big one, and they really aren't all that expensive, but I don't know what I'd do with Jack while I was watching Claire in the pool. Maybe next year. For this year, this will have to do. As you can see, they had a lot of fun filling it. Surprisingly enough, they filled it without getting anyone wet. You couldn't tell it by this picture.

Video blog

The kids had so much fun on the 4th meeting our friends grandchildren. I think Nathan felt like he already knew them as much as we hear about them. Bailey and Claire hit it off right away. Bailey took Claire from place to place making sure she was having a good time. She even took her in the house to see the cat. Here is Bailey on the rope swing. I know it looks scary as all get out, but when you are standing by it watching the kids, it's not near as bad.

As I said before, Natey wasn't sure of this contraption when we got there. It took him about 2 1/2 hours to decide that he wanted to try it. Once he tried it he was hooked. Here is a video of him on the rope swing.

I should have brought the kids swimming suits, but decided that with the castle they'd probably not want to swim. Wrong! Nathan ended up getting in the pool with his regular shorts on. It took some coaxing, but he did it. Then, of coarse, when Nathan took off his shirt, Claire wanted her shirt off too. However, Claire didn't have a 'shirt' on, she was wearing a dress. She HAD to have it off. It wasn't worth a fight, so I took off her dress. She was running around like she owned the place - in her diaper. I told our friend Joe that I decreased the property value by letting her do that. Ha! Yeah - getting her dress back on was a HUGE fight.

When it was time to go, Bailey and her brother, Hunter, decided they wanted to hold Jack. Look at Jack in this picture. He thinks Hunter is some kind of funny!You would too if Hunter looked at you like this! It was cute watching them interact.
We couldn't leave without Bailey taking a turn holding Jack. It's a serious job as you can tell by the look on her face.

As you can see, the kids were having a great time.

This is Carri holding Jack. She's Hunter and Bailey's mom. I love this picture. Carri is such a sweet, kind, gentle person. Can't you just tell by the picture? It oozes from her. We had such a fun time!

MUCH better!

Today when I went to get the kids, Peach looked much better. Thank goodness! I was on the phone all morning with Pam (daycare) and the doctors office. Dr. Henry called in the steroid which I decided that I would fill after I saw and picked up Claire around 4. It turns out that we won't need it after all. Here are a few pictures:

As you can see, it's much better. I was trying to get different angles of her eye and for some reason she was getting tired of me shoving my camera in her face. So, I took this video.

Peachy Pie's eye

Ok - here is what poor Peachy Pie looks like today. These first ones were taken yesterday. This 1st one is right after we got home from Pam's. This is with one dose of meds.

Here she is in her bath. This is with 2 doses.

This was before she went to bed.

This is this morning. Justin gave her some more meds at midnight so this is 3 doses. Not long after this photo she started rubbing her eye. It was just as red when she left as it was in the last picture. Sorry these are blurry. :(

Supersized fun!

The kids and I had so much fun yesterday! Justin had to work, so that's not great, but I think we might have had fun for him. We started our outing with our friends Joe and Judy. They had a super fun castle to play in. They also had a small pool that the kids enjoyed. There was also this rope swing thing that was terrifying to watch. Nathan wasn't sure about it for the first few hours. Then about an hour before it was time to go he tried it out. He LOVED it!

After we played with Joe and Judy, we went over to Tracy's to play there. Nathan and Claire had fun swimming and taking turns riding on the go-cart. After eating it was time to try out some fireworks. Natey and Claire had a good time. After Justin got off work he came over, but didn't stay long. It was getting to be WAY past Jack's bed time, so Justin took him home and put him to bed.

We had SUCH a fun day. My kids are going to have such a huge expectation of the 4th of July from now on. Actually, my kids are quite easy to please so it's not really an issue. We did have a wonderful day though!

Cool Slideshows!

Claire

Justin is at the doctor with Claire as we speak. This is what she looked like this morning when she woke up. I plan to post our 4th of July pictures today, so maybe I can update you on her at that time as well.
We hope that it's only a bug bite, but since she was around so much food yesterday, they wanted to make sure some kind of bacteria didn't make it's way to her eye. I'll post it when I hear back from Justin.
**UPDATE**
Justin just called. It is some sort of bug bite. Dr. Henry said to give her some Benadryl and if it isn't better by tomorrow afternoon then he'll need to give her a steroid.

I just wanted to say:

Don't forget to salute the land of the free.

Get out and get some sun.



Play in the pool.....

or maybe this is more your speed.

Whatever it is you decide to do - ENJOY!!!!!