Our first date......

Tanner asked me out on a date - I said I would love to go - but I always got flowers - so he went out and picked my ONLY Lilly :( :) So off we went - his choice, DQ. We held hands in the parking lot to cross the street - he helped open my doors, I slipped him a $20 for dinner - he paid. We sat at our table listening to FABULOUS music - Kelly Clarkson came on and he decided to dance in the middle of the aisle :) so cute. We ate - he loved to talk about -- "Mom what should we talk about on our date?" Then as we were just about done - he stood up in the middle of the aisle again, looked at me and with that panicked look screamed " MOM - I need to Poop!" I said "Here, or should we rush home?" He thought for about 10 seconds and then his hands moved to the back of him - "HERE" we ran and he stopped, MOM this is the girls room - No Tanner it is the Family Bathroom ( Yes I know a little lie, but it would have been worse to go in the Mens room) I can say YES it was fun, but I have never had to wipe my dates behind :) AlWAYS a first - Thanks Tanner for the FABULOUS date!!!!

Mother's Day

Tom has always done nice things with the kids for me for Mother's Day - this year was no exception - in fact this year I received this fabulous gift for over two weeks.

It all started 2 days before Mother's Day and Tom started this huge project "claiming" this would all be done before the big day :)

THEN I hear this "uh-oh"  Then I saw him taking pictures in the closet ????  What is it?  Well it is wiring ---IN THE CLOSET.  Yeah, did not think that was going to happen.  So Tom learned how to re-wire - the good thing is, now I get to have auto lights when I open the door :)


So you are probably thinking - did it get done.  Well - one shelf did get done at 4am Mother's Day - BUT we did get to put cookbooks on it for that day. 

For the following week, Tom and the Boys worked really hard to complete the shelves.  They needed to be done before I went into surgery.  So Tom put the finishing touches the following Sunday - so we could put all of our pantry items back into our pantry and go grocery shopping to prepare for the following 4 weeks :)  In the end I LOVE THEM!!!!!  He did a FABULOUS job.

Valentine's Day Bouquets

Every Year we try to come up with something to make Valentine's Day FUN, whether we hide their note on the ceiling, or hide their special treat in their lunch bags, so that when  my kids get older I know that I have done my job and my sons/daughter will always remember their special Valentine and their they will NOT feel left out!  So with that said - This year I decided to put together candy bouquets for each child with their favorite candy.  I took a regular quart jar and filled the bottom of each jar with a similar mini version of their favorite candy (ie. mini Reece's - large Reece's, large skittles to Laffy Taffys)   I taped each large candy bar to a wooden Bar-B-Que Skewer, placed them into the jar and used tissue paper as the filler.    What do you think?  My kids loved them!

Well I turned the BIG 40!!!! And it was FABULOUS!!!!

So this is my big year of turning 40.  I thought that it would be worse - I have to admit it was kind of hard rolling off my tongue...F_O_U_R_T_Y!!!!!!  But Tom and my kids made it all worth waking up for.  My first gift was granted a week earlier - when they announced:  Due to the weather and power outages - our Pinewood Derby ( scheduled on my b-day)  will be postponed to the following week YEEHAW!!!  My second gift granted when after 10 days of being home with our children and 14 inches of snow and ice storms to boot,  and NO POWER for 29 hours with only smelly Salt City Candles for light, a refrigerator of spoiled food and school delays - Awe!!!!!! They all went back to school :)  Third gift  - Tanner asked me if he could take a nap???  Really can 40 be all that?????   Tom and the kids really out did themselves this year.  As I found out later, while I was teaching piano, Tom and the kids were decorating the bonus room - that I would not get to see until after dinner.  Our family then went to Dupont to dinner and had a great time.  When we got home the kids raced upstairs to take their place.  The door way was wrapped with wrapping paper so I could not see in.  When the time finally came, I broke through the paper, to a room filled with homemade coconut trees, a cake that had palm trees and flip flops on it, and the entire room smelled Tropical.  Then the GIFT  - a beautiful book all wrapped up and inside...................................A trip on HOLLAND AMERICA CRUISE LINE TO THE CARIBBEAN!!!!!!  My Dream for atleast the last 20 years.  We will start from Frt. Lauderdale Florida, and cruise to Grand Turk Turks and Caicos,San Juan Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, and end with Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.  My parents have agreed to watch our children for the 8 days we will be gone.  I am so excited - BUT I need to quit watching horror stories on You tube of cruising adventures.    Thanks for the great Birthday - hmmmm what should I do for Toms b-day in less than a month????? 

Some Highlights of December

We had a great December.  Ofcourse we had to (me) had to get the biggest tree our house could possibly fit

into our house...and yes it was so beautiful, loved turning on the lights, loved just looking at it even though every day I had to vacuum the spiders that were living in it, loved having other people see our tree UNTIL on December 13ish our FABULOUS tree fell over, spilling all the water on the floor and all I could hear was the crashing and breaking of the ornaments.  From that day on Tom had to put a piece of tape on the ceiling so I knew if the tree was going to fall again.  Luckily it did not, BUT I have decided to scale back next year and get a much MUCH smaller tree.

Another highlight was my piano studio Tchaikovsky Christmas recital:

 This year for our Ward Christmas Party, we had a night in Bethlehem, so I got this great idea to have our entire family in matching outfits, I do say they turned out well, even if I had to threaten Tyson with an inch of his life to smile for this picture:And ofcourse the most exciting is that we finished our 1000 piece puzzle we started Christmas afternoon, and finished at 11pm Christmas night - AND I even helped this year!!!!!

Pear Pie - IT IS THE BEST!!!!!!

I do not like alot of fruity pies - BUT I had left over pears from Bounitful Baskets, and Melissa said to make this pie - I am the biggest fan of Pear Pie ---enjoy!

Pear Pie -

Crust:
1 c flour
1/2 c powder sugar
1/2 c butter, at room temperature
Filling:
5 c peeled, cored, sliced pears
3 T lemon juice
1/2 c sugar
2 T flour
Topping:
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
1/4 c butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375. To make the crust, in a medium bowl combine flour and powder sugar. Add butter and cut with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Spray a 9" pie pan with cooking spray and place crust mixture in it. Pat down crust carefully with your hands making sure it covers the bottom and comes up the sides of the pie pan. Set aside.

To make filling, put the peeled,core, sliced pears in a medium bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice. In small bowl, combine sugar and flour. Add to pear mixture and toss gently to combine. Put filling in prepared crust. Set aside.

To make the topping, mix sugar, cinnamon, and ginger in small bowl and cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the filling.

Place foil around the edges of pie and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil from edges and bake 25 minutes more. Remove pie from oven and cool completely. Store in fridge, covered until ready to serve. Can be stored up to 3 days.

I know it has been a while....UPDATE on Tanner

So we were lucky enough to have my parents come down to help with the kids so Tom and I were able to go to the Hospital.  The night before surgery Tanner was doing so well, running, jumping and in such a great mood, it sure did test our faith on our decision to get this surgery.  Tanner did really well with no food and no complaining when we first got there.  We went back into the back and they wanted to get him into hospital clothes - he would have nothing of that....and there it begins!  When one of the docs came in he said that Tanner looked stressed and that we should give him medicine that would help him not remember what was going on.  OK, I said, BUT he does not take medicine well.  His reply, "Oh we are trained for this, and we know what we are doing"  OK, I said.  So they said this " Tanner, do you like rockets ships?, Tanner - nothing, Tanner can we put rocket medicine in your mouth?  Tanner shaking his head, so then they try to put it into his mouth, it comes out the side. ME - You can't give him the choice, just put his head back, when he starts to cry, put the medicine in his mouth, MOMMY 101!  WHEW! When that was over Tom got dressed to walk him back to surgery.  The minute he started to walk back Tanner screamed MOMMY!  My heart broke.  But he screamed so bad they decided to give him sleeping gas right away, and Tom was back in 2 minutes.  COUNTDOWN.  So at Children's they give you a beeper so they can inform you of things happening.  We felt lost!  Sad knowing what Tanner was going to have to go through, and what a shock when he comes out of sleeping. The surgery went well.  3 hours!  it was quiet the talk - we had many surgeons come and just look at Tanner with such amazement.  One surgeon even drew us this picture to show what they did:

When he came out of surgery, they beeped us so we could meet with our surgeon.  He was very excited - all went well. So they escorted us to our room and said that Tanner will be out in an hour. 2 hours later - the nurse comes running into our room telling us that they need us fast in recovery room with Tanner and that he was not responding well.  Good thing we did not have to make our way back through the hospital - we were going so fast and so many turns I got lost even going forward!  So we get into the recovery where Tanner had 3 nurses around him, and he was screaming ( which is normal) but his oxygen levels kept dropping.  The nurses said that he keeps calling out for his blanket, they put it on and he throws it off.  I listened to what he was saying --AW HAA - he was calling for his BINKY!  We had it the whole time - he calmed down pretty quick after that - and we were able to go to our room with in 30 minutes.

He was pretty well drugged - but when it wore off - we all knew it.  he did not want anything to do with the Nurses.  Every time they would come in he would close his eyes, as though he was telling them he could not see them, therefor he would not take medicine and he kept pulling off all his monitors, which had all the nurses running back in. He would not cooperate with them.  Tom and I took turns holding him. Tanner did not know what he wanted - Mom, Dad, Mom, Dad etc.

Sorry I don't know how to turn it!

SO the GOAL #!  We need to get him off Morphine - BUT to get him off morphine and get him on Oxycodone, he needs to eat. HAHAHA!  We tried.  The nurses ordered him anything from chips, to candy to pop, but he wanted chocolate milk.  GUESS WHAT Who knew, Milk is considered FOOD!  Yeah Tanner.  So off comes the morphine, but here comes the oxycodone, By mouth - it does not taste well!!!  SO TIP of the day - when medicine does not taste well, don't pay for the flavoring when you have all you need at home. Koolaid.  She made a simple syrup with just sugar and water and koolaid extra strength.  His flavor was grape, and we mixed a little bit of syrup with his medicine, and he had no problems most of the time.  So about 12 hours after surgery, they decided, since Tom and I are doing all the nurses work - they were going to send us home as soon as they casted him:

He picked green!  They wrapped him, gave us all the things to look for so if we needed to get him back to the hospital.  This kind of scared me a little ( alot)  But we took all of our belongings to the car and then took Tanner to the car.  He was very stiff and you could tell he was in a lot of pain.  He decided on his own to take a bubble gum medicine - that put him a sleep for the entire ride home ( alot of traffic) in fact with all the traffic and ride home we got home just in time for his next dose of medicine, which for the next couple of days WE WOULD NOT SKIP!!!

So 3 weeks he was in his green cast and we needed to get another one to get a clean cast.  So we go to Children's and he recognized the hospital and he started to cry - I guess that rocket medicine just did work well enough!  We told him that we were not staying ( note to self - when you are having a procedure - don't be embarrassed that your 3 year old has a binky still - take it with you - he will want it - and so will you) So we go into the casting room and he started to scream when he saw the saw. They said it would not hurt him - but this is not our first rodeo - he just does not like it.  WE tried to tell them and warn them a head of time - do they listen to the underpaid parent who knows their child better - or do they choose to to listen to their education on what a model child should be?  Any guess? You got it they just said:

ok, this does not hurt him, DAH!  I know that - but he does not!  So as they were removing the cast - a big UCLA tour was going on - they were quickly escorted out of the casting room, and all doors shut behind them to keep Tanners scream to a minimum - and doctors were dancing for Tanner and giving him all toys.  After the cast came off.  They escorted us off  to a "QUIET ROOM"  Oh please,  Well to make a long story short - we got on a new cast PURPLE!  But his leg looks great - When the cast was removed it was alarming to see such a straight leg.  It was beautiful.  I did get to see all the dried on blood, and tape that was keeping his leg closed where they cut into his leg 3 times.  They did a great job!  We now have 3 more weeks before Tanner gets his cast off and starts to walk again.  We can't wait - and I know Tanner can't wait either.  He has been crawling and trying to walk ( they casted it at a bent 90 degrees ) so he can't walk even if he tried really hard.  We are grateful for Tanner and that he is handling this well. I know Tom and I are getting a real upper body work out carrying him all around.  But we will take that any day!

Update On Tanner

Next Thursday, Tanner will be going in for surgery on his left leg.  No matter how hard we try to prepare, I don't think, in fact I know,  we could do it with out our Father in Heaven on our side. Tanner will be in surgery for about 5-6 hours total.  His 2 lower leg bones will be purposely cut below the knee and above the ankle.  The goal is for the leg to straighten out, for now and so he won't break his leg as often.  He will be in a cast for 8 weeks total, with one cast change at 4 weeks.  During his 8 weeks, he CAN NOT put any pressure on this leg.  At 8 weeks the cast will come off, and he will have about 2 months to learn how to walk again.  Then we go back into surgery to remove the wires holding his legs together.  This will be a definite faith builder.  We will be praying for him always. 

This is an awesome rendition of the Lords Prayer. Amazing and Beautiful.

Thanks Janoa for sharing!

It happened AGAIN!

You guessed it - Tanner broke his leg again.  Only this time we did not know about it for 3 weeks, and we did not go to the doctor for the broken leg( we did not know he had it) we went for an ear infection and a high fever.  I asked the doc if this fever could affect his leg, because he was complaining that it hurt, BUT he was walking and running and hopping - so who would have known?  We were sent over to his orthopedic doc and he said he could have diagnosed it over the phone, but he wanted x-rays.  When he walked into the room, he asked us if Tanner falls down alot.  I said "Yes, but he gets right back up and is on his way"  Well, he has a broken leg. 

Since Tom and I are not recognizing alot of symptoms of Ollier disease, we will be going into Seattle Children's Hospital August 15th to talk surgery.  We will be given 2 options and then Tom and I will have to choose which one is better for Tanner?  This will take alot of praying and fasting since this disease is very rare, (1 in every 100,000) So now if we can just not break any bones until then. Good Luck!

Mother's Day

Let me start off by saying I think my husband is the greatest.  He is teaching my children that it is important to celebrate holidays, and it is not just a time to give gifts, but to give of yourself and talents. 

A couple of weeks ago, Tom and I were talking about Mother's day.  I asked him if he had anything in mind, or if he wanted ideas.  He said that he had an idea, but wanted to hear what my idea was.  With much thought, I said I wanted him and the kids to make my picture shelves.  Very inexpensive and I wanted to display all of our family pictures.  Tom went above and beyond what I had thought.  It started Friday night at 11pm, he stayed up and painted my stair - wall.  When I woke up on Saturday, I was very surprised.  He took the boys to get wood, and in about an hour made the shelves, they put finish on them and they hung them Saturday.  BEAUTIFUL! The kids picked out pictures from our files, had them printed, and Tom and the kids went and found frames ( best frames are at Goodwill).  We filled the frames with the pictures on Mother's Day.  I love it.  We also had fun finding our wedding picture, that was with other pictures from when I was younger.  The kids had fun laughing at the hair styles that my mother had, and ofcourse the hair that Tom once had :) 

Tom and the kids made dinner and dessert.  They did such a wonderful job.  Everything was YUMMY!  Here is the picture of the dessert that Tom did, they look as good as they tasted!

How to Make money...at 8 years old

We are planning a family vacation and the kids would like some spending money.  Tom and I have said there is plenty of extra jobs to do around the house, they just need to ask. 

Eli came to me and asked if he could do a job.  "Sure, how about earning $2"  Eli was excited, $2 was alot.  The job was to wash out and dry all of my Bountiful Baskets - not hard RIGHT?

It started out at 2$ - when we started to put out all 180 baskets Eli looks at me and says "Boy this deserves more than $2"  Thinking I was smart, said "Ok Eli, how about a penny per basket"  It took about 10 seconds for the response I did not think I would get, I wanted to hear Ok, but I heard this instead " Mom that is only $1.80" (darn, he is good at math)  He then played the bargaining game, how about .10 cents per basket?   I don't think so!  5 cents?  I finally looked at him knowing that the $2 that I offered was off the table, I finally said, "Eli, how about do a good job, and when you are done, I will decide by the job that you have done, I will pay you accordingly"   He actually said, "Ok Mom"  It took him 1 hour to wash, and he was also very wet, and then he turned them all over to dry for 1 hour. He then had to stack them and put them away! 

What did he earn, you ask? Well with much thought and so excited I did not have to do it, We decided that his job earned him $5.  He was THRILLED! 

What did we learn?  Never put a price on a extra job, (at least don't tell them what you want to pay, let it be a surprise)  Pay them on how well of a job they did. In the end I think Eli enjoyed himself, and I think he will be ready to do it again this summer.

Diamond in the Ruff

So this 1975 830 Bernina Record Sewing Machine, that has been sitting in my garage for about 3 years, (I thought this machine was really hard to use) became our families activity for the last 4 days.

Let me explain.  Every year our neighborhood puts on a garage sale.  We decided that it was time to get rid of some things in our home.  This was not fun.  We went through Tanner's bedroom and decided he was a big boy, so out with the crib in with a bed.  Everything Tanner used as a baby up to 2 years old went into this garage sale.  Also, in this sale was this Bernina.  Even though I knew the neighbor hood would indeed advertise, I thought since we had so much baby items, it would not hurt to put it on Craig's list.  It read as follows:   "Garage sale, lots of baby items, a crib, exersaucer, Little Tikes slide, and table and chairs.  Also, a Bernina 830 Sewing Machine"  With in 10 minutes of posting on Craig's list, 2 emails, by morning 6, by afternoon 10. REALLY?  What is up with this machine?  I can't run it, in fact it has just been collecting dust in my garage.  So we emailed everyone back with pictures, telling them that it was old and needed a good shop check over.  EVERYONE emailed back and wanted the machine.  So we had the first lady come over and check it out.  FYI we had not set a price because we were not prepared.  She looked at the machine, took the pedal and turned it, and then said that it was broken.  I broke out into automatic hives!  SERIOUSLY!  She said she would offer 40$ We said we would get back to her because there was so much interest.  I called a machine shop, and he asked for us to bring it down.  We did because we needed to know what we were selling.  He checked it out and said that it runs, it might need a new pedal down the road, BUT to not sell it for less than - hold on-----braces yourselves--$200.  This is an old machine Really?  So we let the cards fall and where they land, we will play.  We had to set up our garage sale at 7:30 so I could go to BB.  I left at 8:30 and the garage sale was suppose to start at 9 am.  This person came 10 minutes after I left, well what do you know, it was a Bernina Rep/tech.  He wanted to look at this machine.  He took it apart, analyzed it, and turned to Tom and said he would take it for $180.  I think Tom was shocked, and he agreed.  After money was exchanged, he turned to Tom and explained that the Bernina factory flooded, and that this machine was a sought after machine!   GREAT!  We are happy it went to a happy home and it will be fixed and used - or better yet he will sell it for the $850 they are going for???  We had a very busy garage sale.  Tom thinks more than a 100 people came through - alot of them would come in and look for that Diamond in the Ruff....and when that red box could not be found they would ask where it was and how much we sold it for - always with their response saying "Oh, they got a good deal, I would have paid more"    So what about the first lady who came to our house, and offered 40$ - well as she was leaving our home she said that if we were unable to sell it, call her back and she will TAKE it off our hands.  The last word of advice from the man at the machine shop was - "Don't ever double guess your selves, sell it and be happy, not ever say, Could I have gotten more."   What a fun weekend.  FYI - I stayed up Friday night to make cinnamon rolls and rice crispies for my kids to sell at a bake sale to raise money for their vacation this summer.  WOW they made 30$.  A big hit!  I did get one rice crispie for all my hard labor the night before.  HOW generous!

Chewing Gum in School?

Tyson's class was asked to try to persuade  their Teacher to see if they could chew gum in class.  This is his letter

Pretty Good!  I don't know if I were a teacher if I would let them chew gum.  But I say A+ for effort!

AWE...The Innocence of a child...ELI

Today was parent teacher conference and for the most part we know how are children are doing in school.  Kylie is doing good in all her subjects infact all teachers said that she is above 100% in all classes. WOW who knew there was such a thing.  She also performed at Solo and Ensemble, a flute, flute piano trio and receives SUPERIOR Score!  YEAH Kylie.  It was fun to go and be her pianist.  Tyson's teachers also said he is doing great, and Tyson's band teacher gave him highest ratings for the year.  He is a GREAT trumpet player.  Tyson took the pre-test for MSP ( the Washington test) he did not miss one - hopefully when he takes the real test he will do the same.  Tyson has chosen not to attend the Challenge Program or the Performing Arts school, which he was asked to attend, but he gracefully declined.  He is enjoying being a good student in just a normal Public school. Way to go Tyson!   Then we have Eli, oh Eli what can we say.  Eli loves to do Math - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, Eli loves to read (when there is something in it for him....hmmm like a competition with his class, which he is blowing them out of the water, and next week he earned a movie and treats with his teacher)  So what makes Eli happy you ask?  Well Tom and I thought we had that one nailed.  But as we attended his teacher conference we heard a different story:

So if you can not read it...

Dear Mom and Dad,

You know how it's always raining?  And I 'm getting soaking wet because I don't have a hood.  Here's your chance to make me happy.

  I know what your thinking what on earth would make ME happy?  An umbrela.

  If you got me a huge umbrela I could share it with Tyson (bro) If he forgot his. 

 But I could also share with you.  But a plain one will do I guess.

  I will be responsible and only share with the people you tell me to share with. 

 If you feel uncoftebl with the person I will not share with him. 

 If you get me an umbrela your days of mopping the floor will be over because I m always wet when i come home from school.. Your son who really needs an umbrela,

ELI

What do you think?  Should he get an UMBRELLA.

All in all our children are doing very well in school, and we could not be happier with their dedication and hard work.

FABULOUS FIND.....

I love to find new recipes every month for dinner.  This one is one of our family favorites. So I thought I would pass it on.  It looks like alot of ingredients, but well worth the time!  Just a side note for those looking for a healthier way, we used ground turkey for the ground meat, added more onions and peppers to the sauce, and for the hoagie bun we use Sara Lees whole wheat sandwich rounds.  YUM

Crock Pot Meatball Grinders

1 lb ground beef

1 pkg hot Italian sausages, casing removed

pinch of salt 3 dashes of pepper

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1-2 garlic, pressed

1 egg

¾ c breadcrumbs

2 tsp olive oil

1 small onion minced

½ green pepper, minced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 26 oz jar spaghetti sauce

Hoagie buns

Olive Oil

Garlic Powder

Provolone cheese sliced

Parmesan cheese

In a medium mixing bowl, combine ground beef with the meat from the three hot sausage link (remove casings) Mix until combined, add salt, pepper 2 tsp Italian seasoning, garlic and egg.  Mix well.  Slowly add breadcrumbs until you can form balls about the size of a golf ball. In a skillet, brown meatballs on all sides.  Place in a crock-pot.  Brown the remaining sausage in the skillet, add olive oil, green pepper, garlic and 2 tsp Italian seasoning, Sauté lightly.  Add spaghetti sauce.  Mix well.  Pour sauce over meatballs in crock-pot.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Top serve, slice hoagie buns and brush with olive oil.  Sprinkle with garlic powder.  Toast in oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes until just golden.  Put 2 slices of provolone cheese on bread.  Add 4 meatballs down center of each bun.  Top with Parmesan cheese, and return to oven until cheese melts.

Enjoy!  I am cooking it right now and my house smell spectacular!

What a LAZY Presidents Day

Awe what a day to be lazy.  With Tom having so many new responsibilities with his new calling ( Bishopric) it was a good day to stay in bed.  When I say stay in bed, we did, in fact we even bed hopped, seeing whose bed was the softest and whose bed was the firmest. Laying there, at least for 15 minutes from side to side, back to front, then off to the next one.  By the end of the day I think I am more tired than I started out.

So Tom and I finally made the big STEP to a King size bed.  Of course what better day to buy a bed than President's Day, like something monumental happened oh so many years ago that triggered a sale for beds on that particular holiday.  I have never layed in so many beds in one day, but I definitely found out that my current bed at home is not as soft as it should be.  Awe.....what a lazy day.

We have been busy.....

The Tolman's have been busy this past month.  After gaging down the Brussels sprouts---Things have been busy.  First of all I had my follow up on my eyes--20/20 after surgery and no glasses or contacts required.  What a weird thing it is to see the alarm clock in the morning.  I do however suffer from loss of good vision at night, but we are hoping that it will keep improving.  Tyson won a contest he entered for the school district, he drew a Lacey Loves to Read Bookmark Contest.  He was recognized at the Lacey City Council and the North Thurston School Board meeting.  His bookmark has been printed and is in area schools and Libraries.  WAY TO GO TYSON!  Kylie has entered the area Solo Ensemble and has decided to play Love is Spoken Here.  It is beautiful and I know she will do a GREAT job!  Eli and Tyson had their Pine Wood Derby and did a great job.  Tyson and Eli worked very hard on their cars ( so did Dad)  and in the nail biting end Tyson, did take 1st place.  What a great ending to his years in Cub scouts.  He also received his Weblos badge and pin and and compass badge, along with his religious square not pin.  (on a side note both Boys received an extra pin, the Electronic game badge, sorry to say this was way too easy for them to earn, but they did it)  Tyson will be getting his Arrow of Light at the Blue and Gold next month.  Lets see what else has happened?   HMMMMM.. Oh yes, I received an additional calling,  drum roll........Girls Camp Director.  I thought they were playing a joke when they asked me since I LOVE TO CAMP!  I can handle a night or two, but this will be for a whole week.  I think I will have fun, I just need to get my mind set just a little bit more.  HMMMMM what else, oh yes, Tom is getting ordained a High Priest this coming Sunday.  My parents are coming up, and my Dad will be ordaining him.  We were a little shocked, but I don't think it has totally set in yet.  I was asked at Stake Conference, that since we are now in the High Priests if I would organize some High Priest Socials LOL!  I wonder.......if something else.......is in our future.......? 

I have tried many new vegetables.......

and I have liked most of them, BUT there is one that I tried and I have to say HONESTLY  I will not eat them again.  I don't care if you pickle them, or curry them, I don't even care if you put Carmel on them and try to pass them off as Carmel corn.  Don't dip them in chocolate, don't try to hide them in a soup, don't offer them to me and say "Come on you will like them"  I will not eat them again. PLUS they made my house stink to high heaven.  ANY GUESSES what we made?

Lasik Eye Surgery ------COMPLETE!

Just an update, I had lasik eye surgery on Friday, things went well.  Let me give you a play by play. (read at your own risk!)  So on Thursday, I had to go in and re check my eyes just to make sure that wearing my glasses for the PAST MONTH was enough, and that I could proceed to the next step.  Yeah I passed, but I was nervous.  As I was getting an exam I was so anxious I could not read the letters on the wall.  I told the doctor this is a very big step and what I say is on the wall goes, and that is what my eyes were going to read for the rest of my life.......I  must take my time and breathe!

Friday morning, we got to Bellevue for our surgery and after signing the check (ugh) they asked me if I would like a Valium?  Would I ever!!!  In this office you can watch many surgeries if you would like, all surgeries in this place is in a glass room.  I chose not to watch the procedure but to watch what each person looked like before and after.  First person was happy and she did not even have a Valium ( hmmm, it must be cake??) The second person ( a man) did have a Valium and looked very nervous going in, but going out he was LOOPY ( hmm was it as easy for him as the first?)  OH CRAP!  It is my turn next, I don't have enough Valium I am still anxious, I am NOT ready, but it is my turn. So I get these cute shoe covers and hair cover and off I go, why not they did promise me the best light show in town:) So the first chair I sit in they put 2 numbing drops in and then they say hold your eye open for 5 seconds while we put these contact looking things in one eye ( DON'T MOVE, just so you know my heart is beating real fast as I am writing this, I might need a Valium) So as they put this contact in my eye, EVERYTHING went dark it stung just a little but I  must hold still for another 15 seconds which for some reason just did not go by very fast.  I hear the laser and then the doctors said "Great job it is done"  they removed the contact WITH MY CORNEAL FLAP--WHOA, now I had to do the other eye, there was no backing out.  So once the other eye was done, get this, I had to sit up and WALK to the other operating chair-Dude I have no covers on my eyes.  So, as I lay in the chair they proceed to tape my eyes back so I can't blink, they check double check, ask me my name and birthday ( boy shouldn't you be asking me if I am farsighted or nearsighted, come on my birthday what does that have to do with the surgery?)  So as they get the machine ready they say " Here goes"  Awwww, the promised light show, green, red, yellow,  oh my gosh what is that smell (My mind races back to the release paper I signed saying if the machine malfunctions during surgery, I COULD GO BLIND) Then the show is gone, and I must hold still for 90 seconds, then my corneal flap returns and I see the doctor smoothing it out like spreading frosting on a cake.  Then the next eye was done, the smell returned ---I felt a little better, ( boy I wished I had taken them up on taking 2 Valiums, because that light show would have been lots better).  So once both eyes were done, the part of my face not numb ( my eyebrows) just had a free eyebrow wax, but with no wax, just the sticky part of the tape, as they ripped the tape off, I think half the hair in my eyebrow went with it, ( check, one thing I don't have to get done later :) ya right I don't wax) Now it is time to meet up with Tom.  I can see better, but still cloudy. I looked at Tom, he had a strange look, I went in with a Valium and I came out with 2 hickeys????? I got these cool black shades and they sent me home. My eyes were very heavy and I could hardly open them, and once the numbing solution wore off it was very painful.  I slept and kept my eyes closed for most of the rest of the day.  So for the next week I was given the best looking goggles for when I sleep--they are white with rubber blockers all around the eye and I get a strap to go all around my head.  WATCH OUT TOM HERE I COME!!! Everyone in my family got  a good laugh. When I got up I could see the alarm clock, those of you who are blind with out glasses know how significant that is. I thought I could see pretty well, then I went out side and it was blurry and not crisp, I started to think that this was all I was going to get---As we get back to the doctors for the follow up she asked me to read the letters on the wall ( those darn letters, I can't seem to get away from them)  I can read 20/25.  She was happy, but I was not I want to read 20/20.  She looked at me and said " so you are saying if you went in for knee surgery, you will be running the next day?"  I had pretty bad eyes site, so it will take a while to heal.  I felt much better.  Things will get better. If not YEAH ME I got the life time enhancements, which means I can do that procedure all over again--but next time I need 5 Valiums ---I want loopiness!!   If you were wondering the entire procedure only took 10 minutes maybe 15 minutes.  WOW modern technology ( Also, I do not have pictures, still a little self conscience, maybe one for old time sake at the end of the week?)