Sunday, October 18, 2009

PIctures of the week


Marisa, UNI concert, will be webcast

If you are not able to attend the concert, the performance will be webcast live! This is an exciting opportunity for any friends and relatives who may be out of town to listen and watch you via the web! If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to either e-mail or call me (447-3096). I will be happy to help in any way I can.

This concert will take place on Friday, October 23rd 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the
Galleger-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center
University of Northern Iowa8392 University Ave.Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0801

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtaxed.

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtaxed.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Well, its been so “insane” that I wasn’t able to get an actual newsletter out the past two weeks. So, this one may be a little long.

Marisa: Holy Cow! This is one very busy girl!
· She started getting sick Wednesday and got progressively worse. She had a high fever, cough, aches, chills, running nose, sore throat, and no appetite. She missed 5 tests (including a final), the French club outing, the All-state dinner today, and the stake Halloween dance that she had been looking forward to for months! She is on the mend and the fever finally broke today. I REALLY hope I don’t get this thing!
· She is busy in several clubs. She has VOICE every week, which is a club with all the foreign exchange students and she loves it. She is also in T.R.Y (teens reaching youth) and they will be traveling to the elementary schools and middle schools to talk to the kids about staying off drugs and talk about anti-bullying stuff.
· We found out Monday that Marisa will need to get glasses. They should be in next week and we will take a picture. The ones she picked are so cool!
· Marisa is starting AP World History this week. Her book is HUGE and has to read and take notes on the first several chapters before class even starts.
· She has a VERY busy week ahead of her. She has an orchestra concert on Tuesday at Coe College. She has a symphony orchestra concert at UNI on Friday. Then she has All State auditions all day on Saturday. Our fingers are crossed for her. She is a little worried that she has lost practice time since she has been so sick, but I know she will do great. Then she has ANOTHER concert the next Tuesday. Keep her in your prayers so she can survive the next couple of weeks.

Kayla: I think we have found what Kayla loves to do!
· She has found a love of sewing and cake decorating. In her FCS class she made a pillow for her bed. She loved it so much, she came home and rummaged through my material to find stuff to make another one. She had Bob take her to Hancock this weekend to get even more material and stuffing. She is excited about making dresses too.
· She is also extremely excited about learning how to decorate cakes. I may need to look into classes for her. Maybe I can talk her into doing Tyler’s
· She was in a volleyball tournament with a friend of hers. They decorated their t-shirts for it. It was a huge competition that lasted several hours. Kayla and her team played 12 games and they got 1st place!! We were so proud of her!

Tyler: Guess who woke up with a high fever today? I hope he doesn’t end up as sick as Marisa has been and misses all week of school.
· Tyler has been involved in a lot of extra-curricular activities at school: chess club, intramural golf (was a 3 weeks session), fantasy book club, quiz bowl, and he starts basketball this month with the parks and rec.
· Tyler had his first vocal concert this week and it went really well. They have a big group this year.
· Tyler’s eye prescription changed so he had to go to school without his glasses which did NOT work well. He couldn’t see and got a huge headache.

Alayna:
· Alayna has been enjoying gymnastics. She won a backbend contest on who could stay up the longest. I should get a picture, because she is really good.
· She got a GLOWING report at her parent conference. She is one of the top readers in her class, is well behaved, and just had some wonderful things said about her.

Other Stuff and Happenin’s:
· I finished up Parent Conferences this week. We do two nights at 5 hours each. It made for one very long week.
· We LOVE the new series “FlashForward”. Its like the new Lost. Are any of you watching it?
· I got a clear bill of health from my doctor. I have healed really well and am back to my normal routine.
· The lettuce and cilantro are still doing well in our garden despite the frost. We have it covered with a pink sheet. Yesterday, Bob and I made 3 lasagnas (using the tomatoes we canned this summer), 2 pans of enchiladas, and 2 tortilla soups (again using the stuff from our garden) We are trying to get a jump on the week.
· HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA CUNNINGHAM!

Friday, October 09, 2009

Top 10 things I learned from getting my gallbladder out

Top 10 things I learned from getting my gallbladder out

10. You don’t really NEED your gallbladder. Whew! What a relief! Apparently the liver will take on any task that the gallbladder was assigned.

9. Don’t EVER, and mean EVER, have Tyler around if you have GB surgery. That boy fell down a flight of stairs, bonked his head, stubbed his toe, BUT saved the ICE CREAM!! He was so proud. I laughed so hard that it literally hurt and made me cry.

8. Hospital food has REALLY improved since I gave birth to Marisa. No, I mean REALLY improved. They had a menu, I could call and order ANYTHING on that menu and they would bring it to me any time of day 24/7. Makes me sad I wasn’t in the hospital longer!

7. Bikini’s are definitely out for me. Not that I was actually considering a bikini photo shoot, but, well…you know.

6. Having a private room in the hospital is the best! TV, remote control bed, huge tiled bathroom with shower, wireless internet, peace and quiet…

5. Guess how many things you use your stomach for? Coughing, breathing (trust me),, laughing, sneezing, getting out of bed, getting into and out of a tub, walking sitting in a chair, lifting your legs, lifting a milk jug, etc.

4. Joke: What’s the gallbladder’s favorite band? The Rolling Stones.

3. There is nothing better than the excuse to only wear pajamas, no makeup, and very scary hair for 2 weeks!

2. Whoever said “laughter is the best medicine” never had GB surgery. Trust me, the VERY last thing you want to do is laugh!

1. Pain medication makes me very happy…

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Utah- Part 4