{What a Sweetheart}

Yesterday I took lunch to Katie and ate with her. I had a coupon for Mr Goodcents, buy a whole sub get another half for free. Good thing I used that because when I sat down to eat with her, one of her friends didn't have anything to eat. I asked her why wasn't she eating lunch, and Katie whispered to me "Mom, she doesn't have any money and she forgot her lunch". I felt so horrible, so I gave her some of our lunch for her to eat (not that Katie and I could eat a whole sub plus half of a sub... wait a minute, Katie probably could eat a whole one by herself, she's growing... that stinker). After school I asked Katie about this friend, and she basically said "well, she never buys lunch, and she's always starving to death before lunch, so whatever she does bring, she usually ends up eating part of it", then she went on to say "and by lunch all she has is a sandwich and a drink, and I feel so bad for her when I have so much food to eat, that I share my lunch with her". Sniff Sniff

So proud of my little girl being aware of other people and their needs, even if they don't say anything about their needs. I think learning about the homeless people in her previous school touched a nerve as she is ALWAYS aware of people's needs now.

And on a happy note....

Welcome to the world Emily Lauren!!

This is grandchild #6 for Mom & Dad Nelson, and the 4th little girl to enter in the cousin world. Congrats Tiff & Dan! She was born yesterday, weighing 6 lbs 15 oz. :) Can't wait to see her and smooch her to death!

{yummmmm}

Does it count as a fruit serving, if you eat chocolate covered cranberries??? If so, I ate a lot of fruit today. If not, I think I have a lot of exercising to do.

{A Potpourri of pictures & Mother's Day}

A few weeks ago Mom Nelson treated Marcie, Madison, Presley & I to a trip to Missouri Town! Missouri Town is basically a piece of ground, with houses and buildings from the 1800's placed around this ground to look like a little town, so we can get a feel for what the 1800's might have been like. We truly thought this was actually the real houses left over, but it wasn't. These buildings have been disassembled & moved to Lake Jacomo and one can walk through. It is quite a neat thing to see, and definitely a picturesque place to go for great pictures! I've been here several times growing up, and it was a treat to be there with Madison. Here are some pictures of our day there.

Mother's Day was a great day ~ it was the most perfect day, in my opinion. The girls and I didn't fight that morning before church (we fight ALL the time before church, hmm... wonder why?), we got CHOCOLATES for our little Mother's Day gift at church (how perfect is that?!), I got roses the night before from Mike, little cards from the girls, and Katie's Activity Girls group chose pendants and the backgrounds of the pendants for our Mother's Day gift (a lady in our ward makes them for a living/hobby). I've always wanted a pendant like this, and it has my initials in it. You can see the pendant on me when I'm holding my nephew Joshua. LOVE IT!

For Mother's Day, we went to my brother's home. Dad made steaks for everyone, and I made homemade ice cream for dessert. Kasey (my cousin) brought her boyfriend, Tyler, whom Katie has outspoken and said "man, he's cute!". I have a picture of me with my nephew Joshua, who is the cutest little spud. I put my sunglasses on him, and for 5 minutes he didn't do a thing. Then he started grabbing them to pull them off. I have a picture of Dad sitting at the table... patiently waiting for everyone to come and eat. Ha ha... too funny Dad! Mom and Dad gave me a beautiful cutting board that matches my kitchen. Rachel & Mike gave me a picture of Joshua in a CUTE frame!

Mike & Joshua

Dad is patiently waiting for everyone to come to the table...

Kasey's boyfriend... Tyler

The picture of the family is at Fiana T.'s baptism. We love this family to death... great friends of ours. Course, I was sad I didn't get my own lei of candy. :( Bummer....











Then, onto the gifts I made for Mother's Day... I made appliques for aprons! I can finally post the pictures now that everyone has received their gifts!! It was remarkably easy, once I figured out what I was doing.

There are three designs of material I used, I can't find my third design. Oh well...

And just a cute picture of Katie...

{Katie made dinner}

Katie made dinner for us Wednesday night, as part of her Faith in God program. She planned it all out: sloppy joes, onion rings, green beans, kool aid and then no bake cookies for dessert. ha ha The onion rings were just something I had in the freezer, but she did a great job. Course, she made a mess, but I was right behind her telling her secrets to doing it better or faster, and of course cleaning up her messes. She was very proud of her accomplishments.

Thanks to my new friend Jenni... I've really been able to get up every morning early and jog (OK, attempt to jog). She was jogging already when we moved here, so it was pretty easy to have some help to get started. I love my walks in the morning. Albeit, I take the same route, but it's so peaceful and quiet, and the houses are incredibly beautiful to look at. I see tons of bunny rabbits every morning. Oh, and tons of worms too. It's been raining so much lately, that every morning after a big rain, it's "welcome to Wormapolooza!". I am always cringing when I walk b/c if I step on a worm, it's gonna be a slippery slide! (ick!). So, I'm careful to watch where I step. (hope none of you are PETA supporters for worms *giggling*).

But, I have managed to run nonstop over a half a mile so far, but it has to be on a straight run... no hills, no nothing. Ha ha! I just can't seem to run, and it bugs me to death. I quit so easily! The minute something hurts in my body, I seem to protect myself and stop and just walk. There's no such thing in my mind as "breathe through the pain". That only applies to childbirth for me. One good thing to come out of all of this... I am dropping inches, but only a few pounds. Still doing my Jazzy Jazzercise, which I LOVE!! I have a favorite instructor: Candy. She's so fun and so hip hoppity cool.

Katie's foot finally healed up. She's on a field trip today to see the Arabia Steamboat. Maddie also has a field trip... to the lunchroom today. *snort* I get to eat lunch with her as she learns what it is like to eat lunch at school. Poor kid has more experience that her friends when it comes to all day school.

Oh, and for my sister in law who is reading this (Marcie!!)... finished all three Twilight books. Have you seen the trailer?? OH MY!! Can't wait to see this movie! Started rereading the series again. *giggling* Can't get enough of Edward & Bella.

I finished my mother's day projects... I'll post a picture after this weekend, so no one knows what they're getting yet, thus why I have to delay the pictures. :)

PoOr KaTiE!!!

Poor Katie... and I mean POOR KATIE! Yesterday Madison took a small container of toothpicks to their bedroom. I told her to put it back. Did I follow up to make SURE she put it back? Nah, I trusted her because I'm so gullible in thinking my children actually listen to me! Well, last night, Katie gets into bed. I'm watching the end of American Idol, and here comes Katie hopping on one foot, crying her head off and in sheer agony. She has a TOOTHPICK in her foot! I don't know the "how, where, and why" aspect. All she could tell me was that when she pulled the covers up, it jammed right into her foot... a full INCH inside her foot. So, had to get Mike out of bed, while I held her down and he yanked. Poor kid, she has a puncture wound and can barely walk. I did make sure all the rest of the toothpicks were out of the bed (only found one), and had to retalk w/ Maddie how toothpicks are NOT for doing anything other than picking food out of a person's teeth!

But in all honesty, let's recap all of Katie's accidents/wounds. Let's see... broke her arm while 4 wheeling in the backyard, flipping the Barbie car and trapping both her and Madison underneath. Lacerated her liver last spring while turning and falling ON her handlebars... spent a few days in the hospital because of that. Kidney stones galore, sprained fingers (thanks Papa Rod for yanking her finger, she's able to finally move it now pretty freely). I know she has more battle wounds than any person I know that's her age.

And the doctor said....

That Katie's kidney stones are the same as it was last year... hasn't grown in size and haven't moved. Whew! On the screen, it just appeared to me to have tripled in number (the stones). Then again, I can't read an ultrasound, so what am I doing giving my opinion?

Katie has a little cold (or an asthmatic cough)... Maddie decided to jump on the bed yesterday while I kept her home, and bent Katie's finger all the way back. Now Katie can't bend it much at all, so we had to splint it up for her. I can't tell if it's swollen or not.

Oh, and a bright note, Maddie learned how to make STARS!! She was so proud of herself. She can make them if she writes FAST, and S-L-O-W... so next time you see Maddie, ask her to draw you a star. It'll make her day. :)

More stones for Katie

Katie had her annual ultrasound this afternoon for her kidneys. The radiologist tech was very close-lipped, but she did confirm there were more stones in BOTH of Katie's kidneys, vs just the one kidney at her last ultrasound. I could see the stones, they were so clear on the ultrasound. We don't have a doctor's appointment, but the doctor is going to call us after he reviews the ultrasounds and let us know what's going on. I was a little irritated at the tech b/c I kept asking "OK, just tell me what you see!", and her reply was "the doctor will have to tell you, I can't tell you because I'm not a doctor!". That made me nervous.

Maddie's New Friend

Last week Madison came home from school and told me she has a new best friend. She had been telling me she was so lonely at school because she only had one friend. I gave her a challenge to meet someone new that day at school, and ask her/him to play at recess! So, we did this for a week, and everyday she informed me she had a new friend! Well, last week she told me she made another new friend, and in her words: "Someone like you Mommy!" I asked her what she meant by that, and she said "well, she wears those things like you in your ear". At first I thought she meant earrings... but it was my hearing aids she meant! She said they didn't talk much, but they were great friends! I guess the little girl didn't hear much, but I wasn't for sure.

Today I picked the girls up from school, and Madison's new friend followed us past the car. Pru (or Prul or Purel... it's an Indian girl) and her mother said hello, and introduced themselves. I saw she had the hearing aids, but it turns out she actually had a cochlear implant in both ears done four years ago! She was born deaf, so what an amazing miracle involving technology for this girl! She goes half day to the Kansas School for the Deaf, and half day with Maddie's class. The school wanted her to get used to going to a school for the hearing, so she's a new student as well!

This family also lives at the complex as well, so they should probably play at the playground....whenever this rainy season passes!

Milkshakes with Grandma

A few weeks ago the girls and I went to visit my parents for the day. We had a great time helping them clean their garage out (OK, as great a time as one can have breathing in dirt and dust) ~ Maddie has proven herself to be a junkaholic... she loves to collect anything and everything. (thanks Dad for all the stuff Madison brought home!) Anyways, to reward ourselves, we headed out to Burr Oaks to walk in the woods for awhile. We heard some mighty bullfrogs just ribbit away by the pond. Very cool to hear (I've never heard a frog before).

Anyways, afterwards we headed to Winsteads for a Skyscraper Soda. I had many wonderful memories going there when I was in the Singles Branch, and a bunch of us would get one of these and share! They now have it in milkshakes as well, so we got a chocolate milkshake. We definitely had a great time trying to get the shake to come up out of our straw (OK, it was a hard thing to do, and our cheeks got a workout in the process).

"Momma... Y'know

What I want to be when I grow up?? A maid!"

gulp

Yes, Madison wants to be a maid when she grows up. How in the world do I answer this? "oh, honey, you can do SOOO much better than that!" or "OK, if that's what you want to do for the rest of your life, go for it and be the best maid you can be!". What do you think I said? Yes, I said the second one! But still... a MAID?!

Been busy learning new crafts... can't really such much now about the crafts b/c it's a gift for some people in my family. :) But, after a certain amount of time has passed, I'll share pictures. But, I'll just say I am having a blast making this and it's turning out SO cute!

Still doing jazzercise, and now taking up running (OK, trying to take up running). I think it's more of a jog a few feet, gasp for air, walk a LOT more feet, then run a few more feet, gasp for air... well, you get the idea. Ha ha! I did manage to job a full quarter of a mile this morning, so I'm stoked.


Katie's been working on a poem project she has for school. She has to create an "I AM" poem. I had to do this too, but in 8th grade. She's been collecting poem from Papa Bill and Papa Rod (b/c they've written poems), and she has to recite a poem, either what she has written, or one she has found. She told me she is wanting to recite Papa Bill's poem "Mother Goose Said That?". I recited that when I was in 5th or 6th grade too!


We had a family day at my grandma's on Sunday afternoon. Aunt Nay came into town, so it was wonderful to see this bronze lady (she moved to Florida and is now very tan... NOT FAIR!). Monday night we went to Mom & Dad Nelson's for a yummy dinner & a visit w/ Mike's grandma. She is here for a short while, and we enjoyed a wonderful visit w/ her. I have pictures of both events, but I left my camera at my in laws house, so pics will have to wait again!

Oh, and I think Maddie is scarred for life. Monday night on our way home from dinner, we're just driving along, minding our business. A police officer pulls Mike over. We both were thinking "huh?" Immediately I asked Mike 'what did you do?' to which he replies 'I dunno'. Apparently you CAN get a ticket for turning right on a road, if you don't stay in the farthest right lane. Mike went into the farthest LEFT lane first ... but he didn't get a ticket. Just a warning. *giggling* Maddie is so worried that Daddy was breaking the rules, that she has informed several people so far that Daddy got in trouble. She has asked me over and over "what happened to Daddy that the police came?"... to which I had to explain when we don't follow rules, we get in trouble. So... for any of you who will in the future take my child in their car, don't get stopped by the police. You will ruin her for life, I'll tell ya. *giggling*