The Loss of a Close Friend

There are very few who could say they've been with me through as much as a friend that I lost on Tuesday of this week. For the last almost exactly 17 years we have been what you might call inseperable. This friend has held on tight through thick and thin, stuck to me in rough times and helped to keep me on the straight, if not so much narrow, path. But on Tuesday, I had to say goodbye forever. You'd think this would be a very sad time, but really it was mostly just odd. You see, the dental hygenist managed to pop off my permanent wire retainer that had been behind my front bottom teeth since Dr. Stier cemented it there 17 years and three weeks ago, just before I graduated from high school. My tongue hasn't felt the back of the front of my teeth in over half of my life and frankly it has just felt terribly odd.

Not to fear--- I'll be getting a new friend next week to help keep me in line. Or my teeth in line, that is. A new fangled thing known as a clear plastic retainer that I can wear every few nights to make sure those painfully straightened teeth stay that way. Nothing can ever replace my old friend, but this will have to do. The other good news? The dentist office is paying for the new retainer since they popped off the old one and now I can floss my front teeth without having to thread the flosser through my gums! I realize that I was in such shock (not to mention late to pick up the kids because of the whole fiasco) that I didn't even say goodbye to my old friend. To make up for my lack I thought I'd write this little eulogy in loving-- no, rather thankul memory of my faithful retainer who managed to make it through thick, thin and rough foods and kept my teeth lined up like good little soldiers. May you have a pleasant and easy retirement... farewell!

California Adventure

We went on Toy Story Mania at California Adventure when we were there for Jack's birthday. It is a '4-D' ride where you see a screen in 3-D and you have a little shooter that allows you to play various midway style games on the interactive screens and it keeps your score.

These are the kids getting ready for the ride.


What can I say?

Again, I feel like I could add nothing.

Ready to go!

Anna is missing from the pictures because the moment she spotted the 3-D glasses, she was sure she wouldn't like the ride and was very sure we could do nothing to get her on it (thanks to a bad 3-D experience in AZ). We managed to coax her on and she did have fun, but sans glasses. Derek, on the other hand, would go again and again and again. Can you say 'competitive'?

Birthday Boy

Jack turned 6 last week and we had a fun day of celebrating. We give the kids a choice of either going out for breakfast with Mom or Dad on their birthday. This year Jack wanted to have breakfast in bed instead. He absolutely loved it!


Here he is ready to enjoy his little feast.

Mickey Mouse shaped cinnamon rolls. We were going to Disneyland later that day to celebrate.

Here we are closing Disneyland down. We had milk and cookies and sang Happy Birthday to him in the French Quarter. He had a great day and is such a joy to us!

Sling-On

Anna came up with a good one shortly after Luke fractured his collar bone a few weeks ago. She said something like, "Mom! Now instead of Clingon, now we can call Luke 'Sling-On'!" The piece he has his arm in is a 'sling' for those of you who don't get it. If you still don't get it, you should probably scroll back in our blog to March and find the post titled 'Clingon'.

Here's our little Sling-On. It is mostly better now and he just wears the sling and not the wrap, but I need to wait for the all-clear from the doctor in a couple of weeks before we can finally wrap the latest fracture up and call it healed.

The Thinker

The Yard

The grass is slowly coming in a spreading. This picture makes it look a lot better than it is because I'm on the first floor. From the second floor you can more clearly see all the patches, but it is so much better than it was and we can take care of those patches over time. Yippee for grass!

The Bruiser

Some pictures of Luke since his fall out of bed that managed to fracture his collar bone. He has to keep it in a sling and then we need to put the ace bandage around it to make sure he keeps it still/close. Initially the doctor said she thinks we'll have to keep it this way for three weeks. He's been so happy and quick to adjust with his arm stuck to his side except at rest/night time when he really wants to suck is finger-- which of course is on the left hand. We'll be back at the doctor this week for a follow-up.

It had been less than two months since we were in for the fracture to his nose; in fact you can still see the bruise/swelling on his nose but it is very slight now. I hope he doesn't do anything else like this for a few months or we'll probably have to deal with Child Protective Services, too!


One handed warrior.

Still smiling.

He can do almost everything one-handed. Here he is emptying the stuffed animal basket by digging his head into it and pulling them out one by one. He used to just tip it over.