SHS National Convention 09

After the ordeal & spending the night at the hospital. My plans got changed a little. I was not able to leave at 4:45 am on Thursday. So I called Amanda who was riding with me & she was able to ride with somebody else. Since all was going well with the kids I was able to get on the road around Noon, which got me to the convention center outside of Chicago a little after 5 pm.

Since I had already paid for this trip, I had already made arrangements for the kids with my mom & Matt was going to be with them too. So I off I went, National Convention is full of Fun, Friends & a lot of workshops & other informational meetings. This is also where we get a peak at the upcoming catalog. Lots of great new items I can't wait until I get some of the products myself. I forgot my camera so I only have a few pictures until I get copies from the other gals that went.

We also have a party/dance on Friday night. I got a lot of ideas to help with my business &

I also was able to hang out with

Frank (from Trading Spaces) & get many wonderful ideas on how to use our products & how to think outside the box when showing them. I did end up with some product packages & some supplies. I will get the new catalog out to you when I see you. I was able to get an early start headed for home on Saturday. Since that was all that had been on my mind most of the weekend. Matt & the kids had a great weekend & all went well. GOD had blessed us in many ways.

Surgery was a success...

Last Wednesday the kids had their Tonsils & Adenoids removed.
We were at the Hospital at 7 am. The out patient surgery area was great & the kids weren't nervous at all. Once we were in the back the kids changed in to Jammie's & booties (with grippers), they also picked out a new stuffed friend to keep with them & to take home. Then their (kids & stuffed) vitals were taken & the questions were answered. The kids were then asked how the wanted to ride back to surgery; wheel chair or wagon. Emmersyn said wheel chair & Bryceton chose the wagon. Since both of their surgeries were preformed by the same surgeon. Bryceton went back first. They put him to sleep then put in the IV. The Dr came in & let us know he was in recovery & everything went great. within the next 1/2 hour Emmersyn was being wheeled back to start the process. Bryceton was carried back to up about 40 minutes after he got wheeled away, he didn't waste anytime on starting on a Popsicle. He was a little out of it & sore but he was a trooper. Next came Emmersyn she was a little more groggy but still doing great. We hung out in out patient until almost 1 pm. Both kids were eating Popsicles, drinking & doing great. Once we were home I had to get their prescriptions filled so I took off to do that. When I got home Bryceton was just waking up from a nap. He woke up having trouble breathing, coughing up blood & just plan freaking out. We called the ENT's office & he told us to take him to Blank Children's ER. Thankfully Matt's dad had stopped by to check on the kids & he was willing to watch Emmersyn (who was having her second bowl of ice cream & watching a movie) while we headed to the ER. Once at the ER Bryceton was given another IV (this time he was awake), he was given a breathing treatment & ended up getting sick all over me (the joys of being a mom). Bryceton of course was very upset & scared of all the commotion. Once everything was in place & the medications were in he settled down, with that said our reg pediatrician, the ENT & the ER Dr had all spoken & decided that the medication for the swelling needs to be given & that can only be done at the hospital. So admitted he was. This also was a way to make sure he wasn't going to get dehydrated with the IV. Matt, Bryceton & I all hung out in his room at Blank, then Matt headed to my Parents house to spend some time with Emmersyn since they picked her up after work. She was still doing great she just wasted mommy or daddy. Matt was back to the hospital for the morning visit from our pediatrician (at 8 am). Bryceton was doing much better, he had gotten his color back & was eating more of the pudding & yogurt. Bryceton was able to be taken off the IV around 8:30 am, but then we had to sit around until 10:30 am for observation, making sure he would eat & drink plenty on his own. We were discharged at 11:00 am on Thursday & were home around 11:20 am.
Man it was good to get Bryceton home. Emmersyn was glad we all were home too.

In your Prayers

Please place into your prayers......

Emmersyn & Bryceton: They both are getting their Tonsils & possibly their Adenoids taken out. We have to be there at 7 am on Wednesday June 24th. I will let you all know how things go.

The Doctors: That their handy work is steady & their minds full of the knowledge that they need. That all goes well & as planned. The operation itself is about 15 minutes, then recovery is about 2 hours

Matt: For allowing me to carry on with my plans & leave 1st thing Thursday morning. For the patience & kindness that will be needed during the 1st couple of recuperation

My Mom & Dad: For taking off work so that Matt can work, For taking care of the kids when they are down recouping. Knowing that they will be in good hand while I am away helps so much. We Love you & are thankful to have you. Thanks again.

My Self: For Safe travel, peace of mind, patience & understanding that when I am away things will be fine. I will be calling home often, just to check of course.

For I know GOD has a plan & things all are they way the are for a reason. All I ask is that you think of us, when saying you prayers, because Prayer is one of the strongest, most powerful things around.

Last Saturday...

After Emmersyn's softball game, the kids and I drove up to Clear Lake, IA which is a 1 hour & 45 min trip from our house. We made it up there by 1 pm. We helped my nephews (Matthias & Isaac) celebrate both their birthdays. Matthias will be 10 on July 10th & Isaac turned 6 on May 30th.


After the party my sister Danielle & her husband Chris, my brother Derik & his wife Jamie, Matthias & Isaac, the kids & myself all decided that since we were 1/2 up the Mall of America we should make the trek the rest of the way.


We arrived at the mall around 5 pm so we had dinner & started walking. I was very good only buying an outfit for Bryceton (he had an accident). We visited many of the stores, including The American Girl doll store, which Emmersyn enjoyed. Lego Land where the kids made Lego race cars to race. The kids also stopped by Bubba Gump Shrimp Company to have their picture take on the

"Forrest Gump" bench. We ended up closing the mall (9:30 pm) then we made our way back to Derik's. I decided that traveling while the kids were sleeping would be the better way, so the kids & I continued on to Altoona. We arrived home around 1:15 am.

What a day.

"Go Fish"

Last night our church hosted a "Go Fish" concert to help kick off our Vacation Bible School. This year our churches VBS is "Backstage with the Bible" putting the Bible back into Vacation Bible School. Which was written & designed by "Go Fish".If you have kids & don't know who this group is I highly recommend you look them up or call me to borrow a CD or a DVD (we have them all). You can visit their website at http://www.gofishguys.com/, this is a Christian kids group, they sing song & have music that doesn't drive parents crazy.

We picked up our t-shirts & other info for VBS at 4:30 pm then lined up at the door for the concert. The doors opened at 5:30 pm the concert started at 6 pm. The kids & I had so much fun along with my mom, close friends & around 300 or so other people ready to celebrate God with the Go Fish Guys (Andy, Jamie & Jason)

The concert went until 8 pm then we stood in line to get autographs of course. The kid thought it was so cool getting to meet the band & get their pictures taken with them. The kids can't wait until the next time they are in town for another fun filled concert.

What is awesome about this group other than the fact they are a Christian group is that in some of their songs they teach the books of the Bible, stories from the Bible & the 10 Commandments in a way that is easy for the kids to remember.

What a fun & memorable night we had.

Night fall on the River

Last night my friend Heather called me up & asked "I know the concert starts in a hour, but would you want to come with me to the Eric Hutchinson Concert" I responded with "Who" Then she told me again & stated that she was going to go with our friend Jess, but Jess had to cancel at the last minute, so she had two tickets & very little time to fill the spot. After talking with Matt (since the family looking at the an was coming any minute), he said since Heather & I don't get to hang out as much as we used to that I should go. So I went. The evening was beautiful, the temperature was wonder & the concert was awesome. I got some pictures on my phone & I will update them today sometime (still jumping between two computers), I was also able to get a CD from the concert that way the kids & I can enjoy the great music.

Thanks Heather for thinking of me when you needed someone. I am glad I was able to go.

It Sold!

Last night a family drove in from Omaha, NE to look at 3 or 4 vans in the Des Moines area. Ours was one of them. The arrived at our house around 5:30 pm looked it over, asked questions & test drove it. Then they left to think things over & have dinner. They then came back interested in buying the van around 8:30 pm. So now we have extra room in our garage for a little while.

It's nice to see that our van was bought & will be used for the same reason we bought it 5 years ago. The couple has a 2 year old son & is expecting their second child late this summer. So they were wanting something to drive that will also leave room for all the "stuff" that comes along with two children.

God works in mysterious ways, things do happen for a reason.

Bam Bam Ball 2009

This spring season Bryceton was to young yet again for T-Ball so he was able to enjoy another (3rd) season of Bam Bam Ball. Since this was his last season I decided to coach his team.

After talking with the Bam Bam director, they had 100 more kids signed up this season than any other season, which meant that we had 32 teams & 8 of those team had on one coach. I was on of the single coach teams, which made me nervous at first 11 kids & 1 of me. After meeting my team (the kids & parents were great) I knew things would be okay.

Our team was the "Flintstones" & our shirts were red. Here is Bryceton's picture & I hope to get more from the games, but since I was coaching I was unable to take pictures. Thankfully I had a parent on the team that ended up becoming our team photographer & she put them on snapfish for us. I should be getting the pictures next week.

Jammin' for Jesus 2009

Our church's Annual Jammin' for Jesus celebration was held last evening from 4:30 pm-7:30 pm. This celebration is open to the public it has food, music & a lot of fun.

Every year you can order tee-shirts thru church which this year I ended up order in both Matt & I one. The kids also wanted their own Jammin' shirt I on the other hand didn't want to spend the money on a shirt they will only be able to wear for a short time (every time I buy clothes they seem to grow). So I picked up some plain white shirts & I let the kids decorate them & this will now become a annual tradition since they enjoyed decorating them & the comments they got when they were wearing just made them so proud.

Jammin' started out wonderful. The kids enjoyed the blow-up bounce items along with the kids craft tent. While we all enjoyed the live music & watching many friends make a splash in the dunk tank. That is until a little after 6pm when the rains came down, as people scrambled to gather their lawn chairs & what ever else they had. The rains let up a little & then the tornado sirens started going off & the winds picked up. Matt had to load our bikes into the vans since the kids & I rode them to the celebration. Many people joined in the efforts to make sure everything was either secured down or inside the building. They did move the live music into the Church & continued the show once the storm was safely past.

This was another great year for Jammin', we didn't let a little rain spoil our fun.

Mark your calendars for the 1st Sunday in June next month & join us in the fun.

Fun with friends

This past Saturday night... Emmersyn was having a few girls spend the night for a belated birthday sleepover. Since the parents had to drop off the girls anyway we decided to have a Bar-B-Que. Bring your own meat to grill & beverage to drink. This started around 5 ish & ended around 3:30 am ish on Sunday morning. What a great time was had by all. 5 girls all crashed on the living room floor while Bryceton & Nate fell asleep watching a movie in Bryceton's room.
Some of our friends Heather & Wayne, Melissa & Eddie


Heidi & Burt. Not pictured Kelly, Amy & Burt

Good Friends, Good Drinks, Good Food & Good Fellowship what more could you ask for.

We had fun sitting out in the driveway shooting the breeze. What a beautiful evening we had. The favorite saying of the night was "One more then I really got to go" which was said a few times by the same person.

Sunday morning I was a little tired at church so I came home & took a nap until around 2:30 pm I had a lot more energy after that.

"Spark of Insanity"

Last night, Matt & I along with Jess, Shane, Heather & her friend Jim. We went to Wells Fargo Arena to watch the Jeff Dunham show "Spark of Insanity". After finding our seats (which they were great seats...Thanks Jess). I am so glad I had my blackberry with me for pictures.

The show began & I have never laughed for 4 hours straight before. The show started of the "Guitar Guy" which he is a very funny guy & sang many great songs.

Jeff Dunham came out & the show keep getting better. I you don't know who Jeff is I highly recommend you go rent one of his DVDs or even look him up on u-tube.

I wouldn't recommend this show for anyone under the age of 14.

WALTER

Auchmead-the dead terrorist

Peanut

Jalapeno (.. on a steeek)

Bubba J.

They are all so funny that even Jeff would break out hysterically laughing & he would need to calm himself down to continue with the show. I was laughing so hard I was crying.

What a great show, well worth the money spent!

As it rains

I sit here trying to get a little house work done & I am listening to it rain while the kids are playing Wii.

Last weekend was a great at home weekend. Friday night I had a Bam Bam Ball game (another blog) Saturday Matt worked until 11:30 am, Bryceton & I had our last Bam Bam ball game.

That was all the stuff that was scheduled until Sunday when we had a baptism at church & a lunch to follow.

Since we had some free time after the game on Friday night to just hang out we decided to do some fishing in the pond behind our house. It was such a fun, relaxing time the kids really enjoy fishing. We ended up catching a total of 6 bullheads ranging from 6-10 inches long. Bryceton was the pro of the evening catching 4 of the 6. Emmersyn got to reel some of them in for him.

It's great how some of the simplest things are the things you remember.

Saturday evening I decided that I was going to clean out the van & I mean really clean. so Matt & I pulled everything out, scrubbed & vacuumed the carpets, deep cleaned all the surfaces, then drove it up the car was & scrubbed the exterior, & floor mats. The van looked great after 3 hours of cleaning. Since we have been debating on selling it we figured since we have it cleaned, we took pictures & it is now posted on Craig's List. http://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/1198457738.html so if you or any one you know wants a mini van it runs great & is in great condition.

Sunday we went to the 11 am service at church so we could be a wittiness to a good friend of mine's daughter Audrey getting baptised. After the service we headed over to their house for a luncheon. The food was wonderful & & the fellowship was great. It's nice how our entire families have become one big family & I wouldn't have it any other way.

God gave us another very beautiful weekend so I really can't complain about him wanting to water his plants today!