Transformers ROCK!!

October 25, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tyler and Jonathan!! Tyler is so excited he turned 11 today! We started off the celebration last night watching Transformers 2:Revenge of the Fallen and it TOTALLY rocked!! Tyler is my big movie buddy and we LOVED that movie. We have to watch it again this week because I just know we missed stuff- it was so jam packed full of action. We will have the actual birthday party on Saturday as a huge Halloween/Birthday bash. Should be fun. All are invited.

Well, we our week was full of all 4 kids being sick! I called the dr but they wouldn’t even let us come in. They said the kids had all the symptoms of H1N1 so just keep them at home and call if we couldn’t get their fevers down. Our school district had 10% of the kids absent this week, one school had 25%! We had over 13 teachers out sick this week. Its crazy.

We finally got Marisa to start feeling better, although she still has that rotten cough. She started a new quarter this week so it was really good she was feeling better. She had such a busy week. On Wednesday, the youth had a huge bonfire evening (poor Kayla was sick and missed it) Then Marisa had an all day clinic up at UNI (University of Northern Iowa) with her symphony orchestra. They had a huge concert that was webcast (hoping some of you were able to see it). She would love to hear any comments you had about it. Her conductor wrote an incredible piece. It was a fantastic concert and it brought tears to my eyes to see the progress she has made from 5th grade only 5 years ago to being in the top symphony orchestra. We are so proud! Then she left at 6:30 AM Saturday morning for All state which took all day. She was devastated she didn’t make it, but I just KNOW she will make it next year. She missed out on a whole week of rehearsals because she was so sick. She has another concert this Tuesday night. Very busy girl.

Kayla missed the ENTIRE week of school. She was so sick but it was much more a very severe cold than the flu. She missed out on the bonfire and stuff at school, so she was pretty bummed. But it came in handy for me because she was able to stay home with Alayna when she got sick so I could still go to work. Kayla spent lots of time making up homework. For science she had to create an animal and its habitat and she made a Wammoth and it rocks! If you wanna know more about it, you have to ask her! She even has a picture. She went on the ward temple trip yesterday to Nauvoo. She said they had a great trip and she even got a caramel apple at the Fudge shop. She made an awesome pillow in FCS. I will try and post a picture. She is really talented at sewing- wonder where she got that from? Not me!

Tyler turned 11- whoohoo! He is no longer the only 10 year old in the middle school! He missed 4 days of school from being sick. He was knocked out flat. I cant tell you how many hours of TV he must have watched! He had his last pack meeting for cub scouts this week. Unfortunately the cub master forgot so they didn’t have the bridge or any eagle scouts to welcome him. I am so sad that they made it a sad experience for Tyler. Oh well, 11 year old scouts, here he comes! Tyler starts intramural basketball at school next week and his regular basketball with the city. He will be another busy body. He loves to cook. For his birthday dinner he asked for crepes, bacon, and scrambled eggs and he can make them all. You’d be proud gma- he can actually cook the crepes too! We stuff them with nutella, strawberries, and bananas!

Alayna is finally feeling well too. She missed 3 days of school including Snazzy Snack day and gymnastics which REALLY made her sad. She is really looking forward to trick or treating. She is going to be an angel this year and we promise to take lots of pictures. We are going to make homemade root beer with dry ice for witches brew. Haven’t figured out the rest of the décor yet, but working on it.

Bob and I haven’t gotten sick yet, but we could very well be circling the drain. We have been downing the vitamins and airborne and keeping our fingers crossed we will survive. I am VERY much looking forward to New Moon coming out! I already have my “Team Jacob” t-shirt (yes, I am a HUGE werewolf fan!) and I am an “awesomely cool teacher” because I have a poster posted in my classroom (I still need to get the werewolf poster though). Some days I just rock! We go November 27!!

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!

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…

Funny Pics of Alayna

Blanket Kayla made