4th of July Traditions

New thing I found on the web that I decided to do.

What are you doing this July 4th?

This 4th of July we are going to Mt. Rushmore. We plan on tenting at a campsite close to the monument of course we haven't booked anything yet. We need to get our butts in gear.

What is your favorite dish to pass when attending a 4th of July party or summer barbecue?

I usually make a grape salad. All it is is 1 box of cream cheese, a little vanilla, about a tbsp of sour cream and powdered sugar (as sweet as you want) I just dump it in. Blend well and add in grapes, mix well and sprinkle top with brown sugar.


Do you have any July 4th traditions?


Actually we try to watch the town's fireworks but some years we are at our lake. We ALWAYS, however, buy fireworks on the 5th (half price) and have our own little display.

Boo Hoo

I can't believe how hard it was to see my brother go. I so hate good-byes and I hate (and I rarely use that word) that we live so far apart. I feel torn. If we were to move closer to him then we would move away from our family here and that

would be horrible too. UGH.

Golfing- Mini that is.

We took Uncle Bobby mini golfing up in Fargo. We were having beautiful weather and we thought we would take advantage of it. Especially since the first day Bob was here we had tornado warnings, really scary looking clouds, heavy rain and super strong winds. Plus, we thought mini golf might be something N would be able to do with his arm.

D was a little difficult but, not too bad. We didn't even try to keep score though because D kept hitting every ones balls. N got a little tired of this. Oh well, you can't expect a 3 year old to understand the intricacies of mini golf.

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We also took Bob to Scheels All Sports and we all rode the ferris wheel. See we have fun things to do here. Oooooo a ferris wheel and it is inside too. D was going to ride with his Uncle Bobby and N but after he got buckled in he started to cry for Mom and Dad. Our ferris wheel date, which Ryan had previously pointed out to me, was now going to be a date for three. I guess the more the merrier. I personally would have preferred to keep my feet on the floor because it seems the older I get the more scared of heights I am becoming. Notice the big signs posted behind each seat Ryan! Danger! Do Not Rock Seat. He obviously needs to get his eyes checked.

Uncle Bobby's Visit

Uncle Bobby came back to MN/ND for his 20th high school reunion. He hasn't been back here for 15 years. That's way too long Bob! He chuckled as I drove him around the twin towns because mostly everything still looks the same. Yes, it is true that Midwesterners are slow to change.

There have been some changes however. After it flooded here in '97 the town put in a huge dike system and one of the areas most highly affected by this was the park and zoo. So, of course we had to go show Uncle Bobby the changes. Plus, we go down to the zoo at least once a week because D loves to go and see the animals. D says he loves the zebras the best but he sure seems to enjoy feeding the ducks and watching the otters.

I think Ryan and Bob talked more about hockey and work than they did about the animals that surrounded them. Men.

A has been so busy with Trollwood this summer that she hasn't been able to do anything with us. Teenageers are always extremely busy aren't they? Hopefully she will be able to spend some time with her uncle.

Chickie's Birthday

My baby is 17. I know it is a cliche to say, "time flies," or "they grow so fast." But it really does fly by and they do grow up at incredible speeds. People tell you this and warn you to make sure you make every moment count but, nothing really prepares you for it. One day you are holding a baby girl in your arms and it seems like the next day you are sitting at her 17th birthday supper and you are on one side of her and her boyfriend is on the other. No matter what people tell you and how much they warn you nothing helps you to feel less sad. It's so crazy, one part of me is so happy that she is turning into an incredible young woman and the other part misses the little girl. I think I am also partly jealous too that I am losing my status as one of the most important people in her life. I know she loves me and I am important to her but she just needs me less and that is hard for me. Is it hard for all parents? Am I feeling this way because she is my first born? My only girl? Will I feel like this as my boys get older? Enough of the pity party and the woe is me.

I am not sure where I got the idea from, probably some show, but when N was a baby I wrote him a letter about my dreams and hopes for him. Some day, when he is older we will read it. I feel bad that I never wrote a letter for A. But I got to thinking, better late then never. So, I shall write her a letter. I better get one done for D sometime in the near future too.

---D wrapped up his robot, to give his sissy, so that they could share it. Sweet boy.----

---My first time making a cake using fondant.---

Anyway, Happy Birthday Baby Girl. Even when you are old and grey you will still be my baby girl. I love you truly. Happy 17th.

Yum! Catfish.

I have never actually eaten a catfish but, I do have to say that they honestly don't sound to appealing to me. So, needless to say I am happy that the only one we saw was way to big to fry up. D has seen, The Whopper, from the road but, we have never taken him down to see it and lucky for us N really wanted to fish. Fishing seems to be one of the few things he can still do with his bum arm. Of course, D had to fish some too, until he noticed the big pile of dirt right behind us. N's friend M joined us for our fishing excursion. The big boys eventually had to start digging and playing in the mud too. No fish were caught but the day was deemed a success anyway. And it did keep N from saying, "I'm so bored," for a few hours.

Picnic

I am soo excited that we finally got a picnic table. I have wanted one for awhile now. So, of course the boys and I decided we needed to have a good old picnic. I plan on having as many lunches and some suppers out here as possible. That is until the mosquitoes drive us away. At the moment the table is on the grass but as soon as the deck is fixed it will be put in its permanent spot on the deck.

N's arm update

N is doing well. Today was day four of having the cast on and he seems to be mending fine. He actually only took 1 Tylenol with codeine today. He said he didn't really need any because it wasn't hurting too bad. The Doc must have really got his arm secure in that thing because with a break like that I don't know how he isn't in a lot of pain.

Poor D was in a lot of pain though when N accidentally bumped his cast into Drew's forehead. Poor kid got a goose egg from it and N was just walking down the hall. That cast is a hard sucker.

With N's arm craziness I was never able to write about my Lasik surgery. All went well. It has been 5 1/2 days now and life is good. The oddest thing about it is that at night my eyes still feel tired and dry like they did from wearing my contacts all day. So, I still have this urge to go take them out. My contacts that is, not my eyes. When I get this feeling it is like so, totally, cool beans because I don't have contacts anymore. So, I pop some wetting drops into my eyes and off I go. I do have to say that the coolest thing is being able to see the alarm clock. Especially when it isn't time to wake up yet.



Miss A drew these on her brother's cast. It is supposed to be the Japanese symbols for battle and scar. But she said we are not supposed to show Aunt Yoko, who is Japanese, because she may have messed up a little and it may say something like Wimpy Nerd. And let's just say that N wouldn't be too happy about that.

N's Poor Arm

My poor guy. He was playing in a scrimmage hockey game in Moorhead and was checked from behind. All was well. No big deal. Since the check was illegal, N was given a penalty shot. Now, normally if you are given a penalty shot it is just you and the goalie. Free shot and nobody is around to bug you. Well, for some dumb reason during this game as soon as N touched the puck it was considered live and 9 kids came charging at him. His teammates were coming to assist him and the opposing team was coming to get the puck. So in other words, N had 9 kids bearing down on him and since he had his back to them, he had no idea. A kid from the opposing team checked N from behind and smashed him into the boards where he broke both his radius and ulna clear through on his right arm.

The first two pictures are x-rays of his broken arm and the third is once his arm was set and the cast on.

He said he knew instantly that it was broken. Ryan, and the ref helped him off the ice and Ryan said he was instantly surrounded by parents of whom he knew none. One went and got our car for Ryan, others helped him to make a makeshift splint out of cardboard for N's arm. One of parents volunteered to drive ahead of Ryan leading him to the closest hospital and one awesome parent even hopped in our back seat and held N's arm all the way. Hockey parents are AWESOME.

Ryan said N had a wonderful attitude the whole time, thanking everyone that was helping him. Once the morphine kicked in Ryan said N was feeling great and was talking like crazy. Ryan said it was pretty funny. Since the break was so bad they decided they couldn't just set his arm and they would have to do surgery. However, N had had something to drink before the game so they were not able to perform the surgery last night and the poor guy had to wait till this morning. He, of course, was all doped up so, I am not sure he felt much last night. The surgery went well and there was no need for pins or a plate which is good. In 10 days we need to go back to the orthopedic surgeon in Fargo, so he can check him out.

Right now he is asleep and is taking Tylenol with codeine. He is upset that he won't be able to play hockey, baseball and golf for awhile. But hopefully we can go to the lake and even though it might be a little challenge, I bet he can fish. That will make him happy. Which of course makes me happy.