Hello?

Is anyone here?

Happy Birthday Tracy Renae Hirsch Ferber!

Dear Friend,
I hope you don't mind, but I irrigated your lawn this morning. You might want to let TruGreen know I found a few mushrooms. Nothing serious though. Also, your neighbors sure get up early....and say "35?" loudly. I also think I heard someone cough in your house and that made me pee my pants a little. If someone asks you to a pic-nic, offer to bring forks - all 300 of them.

Love you! Happy Birthday!!

"You're supposed to laugh a lot...."

Shake it! (until it hurts....)

Claire gets her ears pierced!!!

Here is the video of Claire getting her ears pierced. Notice the cough before they do it? I totally thought she was going to throw up. :) You see her cry, but it didn't last long. I brought some chocolate with - and once she got the chocolate she was golden. She's VERY proud of her new earrings and CAN NOT wait to show them off!

Because Aisha did it and I thought it was fun.....

Here are the instructions:
1. Put your iPod on shuffle. (In my case, BlackBerry)
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the questions even if it doesn't make sense.

How do you feel today? "Me and Charlie Talking," Miranda Lambert

What your outlook on life? "Time of your life." Green Day

What does your family think of you? "Already gone," Sugarland

What do your friends think of you? "You're in love," Wilson Phillips

What do your exes think of you? "Party for two," Shania Twain & Billy Currington

How's your love live? "Everyday is a winding road," Sheryl Crow

How will your love life be in the future? "International Harvester," Craig Morgan

Will you get married? "Kiss a Girl," Keith Urban :....ummmm, pass

Are you good at school? "Lover, Lover" Jerrod Niemann

Will you be successful? "Don't forget to remember me," Carrie Underwood

What song should they play on your birthday? "Shari Ann," Bryan White (Close...Kerrie Anne)

The soundtrack of your life? "How Bout You," Eric Church

You and your best friends are? "Better Life," Keith Urban

Happy times: "Who's your Daddy?," Toby Keith (I don't know why I have this on here. I don't even like that song.....Next)

Sad times: "Prayin' for Daylight," Rascal Flatts

Every day: "Light On," David Cook

For tomorrow: "Do you believe me now," Jimmy Wayne

For you: "Days Go By," Keith Urban

What does next year have in store for me? "Up on the Ridge," Dierks Bentley

What do I say when life gets too hard? "Must be doing something right," Billy Currington (What the hell?)

What song will I dance to at my wedding? "Awful, Beautiful Life," Darryl Worley

What do you want as your career? "Faster Car," Keith Urban

Your favorite saying? "Hell Yeah," Montgomery Gentry (That works)

How will I die? "Need you now," Lady Antebellum

Perfect Timing

On Saturday evening we went for a drive around Lake Madison. We'd gone for supper and then decided that we'd take a drive before settling in for the night. I asked Justin to run by the house quick so I could get my camera. I'm not sure the timing could have been any better for these pictures. The lake was like glass - well - until the kids threw rock after rock after rock in there. It was beautiful. Check it out. The colors were fantastic! I thought they only had sunsets like this in West Texas. I stand corrected.

Purple bangs

See! I had them. Had. HAD. They lasted one wash. Boo! But they were pretty - while they lasted.

Easter

We had a great Easter at the Meyer house. The bunny was able to hide the eggs outside this year because it was so nice! When the kids woke up, they were shocked to find bunny prints outside their doors.

They followed them down the stairs......Through the dining room....Through the kitchen.....And out the back door.The big kids were so cute. They would find an egg and put it in their basket. Then they'd find another and put it in Jack's basket. I thought Claire was going to end up with zero with as many as she gave Jack. Jack was sure happy with himself when he found one on his own!

I got the kids each a dozen eggs to color. I know - what on earth do you do with 3 dozen eggs once they are colored? I'm not sure, but they sure were pretty. Here were some of Claire's.

Natey's

And Jack's

They had so much fun coloring them!

After lunch, Justin took the kids for a drive while I worked on my taxes. I KNOW! I'm getting them done - trying, at least.

There you have it - Easter!

ABCs of Me

I'm doing this because it was on Sarah's blog....and I liked it. You can call me a copy cat. I've been called worse. Let's go!

A - Age: 35. I'm staying at 35. I refuse to add any more numbers.

B - Bed size: Queen. I'd super, duper love a King though.

C - Chore you hate: All of them. Come check out my house and see for yourself. (Actually, please don't.)

D - Dog's name: Drake. He's not my dog, he's Justin's.

E - Essential start your day item: Dt. Caffeine Free Mt. Dew

F - Favorite color: I like pink, but I'm growing closer to green.

G - Gold or Silver or Platinum: Platinum I guess.

H - Height: 5'1 ....and W sure as hell better not be weight.......

I - Instruments you play: Spoons. Ok, I just made that up.

J - Juice: Grape juice

K - Kid(s): 3

L - Living arrangements: Husband and 3 kids

M - Mom's name: Sue

N - Nicknames: Ker by most of my family and friends. Woody by friends made from about 1992 until 1997. KA by my Grandmother.

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: 3 times after I had kids.

P - Pet Peeve: There are so many.

Q - Quote: Life is a balance of holding on and letting go. -Keith Urban

R - Right handed or left handed: Severely Right

S - Siblings: Sister Shannon and (step) Brother Matthew

T - Time you wake up: 7....and I hate it.

U - Underwear: Uh.....isn't it the law at my age.....of 35?

V - Vegetable you dislike: Pea's. Yuck!

W - Ways you run late: Poor time management. (Thank you for not being Weight)

X - X-rays you've had: Teeth and an elbow when I was a kid.

Y - Yummy food you make: Hmmm, I'm not sure. I'm an ok cook though.

Z - Zoo favorite: Zebras and Giraffes.

Globetro*bb*ers

That's how my kids say it - Globetrobbers. No how many times I correct them - Globetrobbers.

Justin and I got Nathan a ticket to see the Globetrotters for Christmas. We'd watched them on Amazing Race, so he was pretty jacked to get to see them in person. I also got Justin and Nathan tickets to what was called a "Magic Pass". This allowed them to play some games, hang out with the players and get some autographs. Nathan was THRILLED! He had such a great time! Here are some pictures that I stole borrowed.

They had so much fun! When Nathan came home, he was talking a mile a minute - telling me every.single.thing that happened. ;)

Next time.....I'm going. =)

Shhhhhhh.......

This morning when I went to get Natey up for school, I couldn't resist taking Jack's picture. He sleeps like this all the time and I thought today would be the perfect day to capture it.

Awwww - sweet slumber......

State A Champs - Twice IS nice!

What a game! It was horrible to sit though. I mean, I would have loved it had it been any other team than the Bulldogs. :) Natey, Claire and I went to Sioux Falls after I got off work on Saturday to watch the championship game of the State A's. We met Linda and her family there. I hadn't seen them in a while, so it was great to get caught up.

I was so nervous! I wasn't sure if the Bulldogs could beat Rapid City's St. Thomas More. I've never seen them play, so not knowing what they were like was killing me. Our boys played their hearts out. We were behind the whole first and second periods. I really wanted the boys to win this one.

On Thursday, I had a few people in my chair at work that were cheering against the Bulldogs. For whatever reason, this seemed to be a theme. We lost one game this season, one. Yet, everyone seemed to count us out. Why? I just don't get it.

Anyway, here is a video of the boys as they won. I love it!

Here is a picture of the fans rushing the court. Fun!

Nathan's favorite player this year is #14, Michael Sullivan. A couple weeks ago, the Bulldogs had an autograph signing session. Nathan drew Michael a picture. Last Wednesday the Elementary kids had a pep rally. The receptionist told Nathan that Micheal wanted him to hang out with him at the pep rally and that he had something for him. Well, at the pep rally someone else chose Michael, so Nathan didn't get to talk to him. He did, however, choose Michael's brother to hang out with. I mean, if you can't have the real deal then a brother will do. ;)

After the championship game, Nathan wanted to go to the floor to look for "Sully". We saw him cut the net and then being interviewed by one of the local news stations. Afterwards, we asked if Michael would mind taking a picture with Nathan.

It makes me so happy when the high school boys are so kind to their small fans.

As we were getting ready to leave, Sully's Aunt stopped Nathan and asked if he was the one that drew the picture for Michael. When he said yes, she offered him her button with Michael's picture on it. For reals yall - he was so, so excited. Before we knew it, Michael was tapping Natey on the shoulder asking if he'd take one more picture with him for Sully's mom. A really great moment for Nathan.

Here he is with his team button, Sully's button, and one heck of a smile.

Congratulations Madison Bulldogs.

What a wonderful repeat!

SO! FUNNY! (and look for my boyfriend)

Natey's favorite Winter Olympic athlete

Shaun White

Surgery

Nathan had his tonsils taken out Monday. To say that I was uneasy about it really is an understatement. I'm not sure why, but I really felt that I was getting signs that it wasn't a good idea. First he had a low grade temp of 99.8 on Friday night. He wasn't feeling all that great that night. I figured we'd just play it by ear. Then Saturday night I looked at his throat. Sure enough he was getting white spots - again

Ok, so here's the back story since I haven't blogged in a while. On December 15th, I took Nathan to the doctor and he had strep. He had it again near New Year's Eve(ish). Then in late January or early February, he got croup. Full out croup. The barky cough, can't breathe, croup. I didn't realize a child his age would get it. I mean, I knew he could get croup, but struggling to breathe? You could hear every gasp he took. Not fun! I thought it came in a form of a bad cold for kids age. Guess not. Justin took him to the doctor, and Dr. Henry said he'd call a ENT and see if he'd like to take a look at Nathan to see if maybe he should have his tonsils removed. A week or so later I got the call. I took him to see Dr. Jensen in Sioux Falls and he decided that removing his tonsils would be the best thing for him. We were very happy to hear that.

Sunday I called the hospital because I didn't want to take Natey to Sioux Falls at 6:30am to have to turn around and come back home. I ended up speaking to Dr. Jensen. I told him that Nathan had white spots on his tonsils again. He said we'd go ahead with the surgery as long as Natey didn't take a turn for the worst. When he woke up Monday morning, his tonsils were speckled with white, but he didn't have a fever, so we went to Sioux falls.

The poor thing was nervous. I guess he felt sick in the van on the way down, but he never told us until much later. We walked in the doors at the Surgical Tower and were greeted by the woman at the desk. All of a sudden Nathan was gagging hard core. Poor little guy. He'd worked himself up so much internally that he almost threw up. Justin rushed him to the bathroom where Nathan finally calmed himself down. When they came out of the bathroom, they took us right to his room.

A nurse came in to asses him to make sure he was well enough to have surgery. He didn't have a fever and was calming down. They gave him a few gifts which seemed to make things better for him. They asked him to change in to some special pajamas and then someone would be back in the room shortly. Natey - LOVED - the pj's and really wanted to bring them home.

After he changed, Sarah came in the room. She gave him some toys to play with and showed him some pictures of what would happen to him. She was really great with him. During her schpiel the anesthesiologist came in. He was super nice too and very calming. He felt that Nathan was good to go for surgery but wanted to give him some medicine to help his nerves. As a result, it would probably take a little longer for him to wake up in recovery, but it would be helpful in the long run. Dr. Jensen also made an appearance.

(Natey, Grandma Sharelle and I made this blanket for him the day before surgery. He loves it!)

It didn't take long for him to get loopy after taking the medicine. He was watching Monsters Vs. Aliens and blurted out "HA!!! THAT'S A BOY!" For reals - I was crying laughing. It was so funny - and so random. He was totally looped. Not long after, they came and wheeled him away for surgery.Tom came and showed us to some snacks. We took them back to the room and waited. It wasn't long before the doctor came in to tell us that the surgery went well and that Natey was in recovery. We knew it would be an hour(ish) long wait, so waited we did. Justin read and I would read, almost fall asleep, text, check facebook, stand up, sit down, go to the bathroom, text, facebook, and read.

An hour passed. An hour and 15 minutes passed. I was done with everything that was keeping me occupied. I stood at the window feeling the sunshine of my face. Finally someone came from the recovery room to say that Nathan was ok, but having a hard time waking up. "He's asking for you Mom, so we'd like for you to come with us. Dad, you stay here and we'll call you with an update."

We walked quickly to where we needed to be. It felt like it took forever. The man, naturally, was much taller than I, so I had to take three steps to his one....and he was bookin' it. Seeing your child after surgery is by far the worst part. Nathan was hooked up to machines and was somewhat combative. He wanted to rub his eyes, and for whatever reason, the nurses didn't want him to. He tried to get out of the bed a couple of times. After he saw me he really wanted his dad. They needed him to eat a popsicle, and the poor thing tried. He kept dropping it everywhere. He was so, so tired. He would put it in his mouth and let go of the stick. It would fall out of his mouth onto his blankets and he wouldn't be able to find it.

Finally, after spending over 2 hours in recovery, we got to go back to the room. He was so, so happy to see Justin - and Justin was happy to see him. Natey slept again for over an hour. When he woke up enough, they gave him some medication. Half an hour later he was ready to rock and roll. He decided that that day was top 3 of him being funny. (Listen, anyone could be funny with the medication he was on!)

Poor guy threw up in the van before we even left Sioux Falls. Then he slept - again.

When he got home, he was beyond happy to find cards and balloons waiting for him. Two of his babysitters (who happen to be twin sisters) brought him over a balloon tied to M&M's. Later in the evening, Dawson and Tracy came by with some balloons, a card Dawson made in school, and a gift for him. To say that he felt special is a complete understatement. Yesterday he got a few more cards in the mail and even a $5 dollar bill from our friend Lucy. Thanks Luce!

So, thank you to all of you that facebooked me. I was calmed by every ones well wishes and wishes of encouragement. I really do have the best friends and family.

A chip off the old block