Random stuff

It's been a while so here's a quick update:

• Spencer and Rachel both had excellent grades this quarter. I went to Spencer's parent teacher conference and his teacher had only good things to say about him, both academically and behaviorally. Rachel made the honor roll with her highest grades so far this year. I'm pleased that both of them work hard in school and do their best.
• During the last week and a half, the kids managed to have 12 doctor and dentist appointments. They were mostly routine check-ups but the kids are tired of going to doctor's offices and so am I. Unfortunately, Rachel's getting braces so we'll be going quite a bit over the next couple of years.
• Spencer loves soccer and is playing very well so I'm glad I registered him this season. His team is undefeated at the moment which may have something to do with why he likes it so much.
• Rachel has the sniffles this week. I told her maybe she has allergies like her Dad because EVERYTHING is in bloom right now (beautiful!) She insisted she doesn't have allergies and it's just a cold. Then she said, "Can you catch allergies from people? Because the boy that I sit next to at school has allergies and he's always sneezing on me." I had to laugh! However, if he has the swine flu, it won't be a laughing matter.
• Speaking of swine flu, I have a slight cold and I have nearly all the symptoms but because I don't have a fever, I think it's just a cold, thank goodness. I told Rachel I caught her "allergies" from her. We had to laugh again. I wish they would rename the swine flu something different. . . it irritates me that I think of snorting, muddy pigs every time I read or hear a story about it.
• Rachel got upset with me last week because the PTA sponsored a 5th and 6th grade dance and I didn't let her go (it was a PTA fundraiser of all things!) Am I crazy or is 5th grade a bit young for dances? I took her to "Pirates of Penzance" instead. Surprisingly, her life didn't end because she didn't go to the dance and she ended up having a great time and I got to support a couple of our young women who starred in the play.
• Spring has finally arrived and my lilacs are in bloom--they are my favorite flower because they smell sooooo good. Our whole yard smells delicious!

What do I look like and how old am I?

During church, I was holding Caitlin on my lap and she made me laugh when she said:

"Mommy, your hair looks like spiders." I have no idea what she's talking about except maybe some of it was sticking up funny or something because it was just straight yesterday.

She also said, "Mommy, your neck looks like a chip," another strange reference. . .

So in case you're wondering what I really look like, now you know my neck looks tasty enough to bite but watch out for the spider hair!

I asked Caitlin yesterday how old I was and she said, "Um, maybe twelve."

Courtney said, "500 years."

So there you have it. . . I think I prefer Caitlin's answer.

Madsen Family Update

Quick update:

• Spencer started soccer this week. He had his first game on Saturday and they won. Spencer is getting the hang of it. My goal this year is to keep him on the field when he's supposed to be there. When he was younger, he ran off any time he was bored, tired or someone kicked the ball away from him (it "wasn't fair.") So far, he's staying on the field. He did have someone accidentally hit his nose during practice and he came out crying. I gave him a quick kiss and immediately directed him right back to the field and said, "Be tough, get back out there." I just don't want him to think he can come out anymore but some parents might have though I was being mean, not knowing our last soccer experience. My constant reminder is for him to work hard and be persistent. Hopefully, it will work.
• Paul bought himself a snuggie the other day. I have to laugh at him when he uses it. . . he looks like a royal blue donned monk.
• Last night, when I was putting the leftover food away after dinner, I asked the kids, "Where's the huge chunk of roast that I didn't carve? No one knew. So we looked around and found it in our family room behind the chair. Sugar must have climbed onto the table sometime when we weren't looking and taken it out of the crock pot. That bad dog!!!! We just can't figure out when she did it because we were in the kitchen the entire time.
• We had three days of fabulous weather this week. Friday, in celebration of the weekend and the beautiful day, I took the kids to the park. We played tennis, soccer, monkeyed around on the jungle gym and swings. Tennis worked out pretty well because Caitlin and Courtney like chasing balls so I assigned them to be ball girls. At four, Caitlin continues to amaze me with her coordination. So far this year, she's started jumproping, she's very close to mastering the monkey bars, can catch any ball thrown at her and taught herself how to pump on the swings.
• I'm sad that Rachel's exhibiting some teenage behavior lately (at age 11.) During Spencer's soccer practice, she repeatedly complained that she was bored. I brought a football and we were throwing it around but that was not adequate. I think part of the problem is that she really wishes it was her playing soccer (all soccer games for her age group is on Sunday so she's not playing this season.) I reminded her of the MANY, MANY hours her sisters and brother have waited for her at piano lessons, swim meets, dance class, soccer practice, basketball practice, gymnastics, etc. but she still complained. . . argh! It sounds like this may be the beginning of my entry into the anti-family years. . . oh dear!
• Rachel went on a hike Saturday morning and also had an end of the season party with her basketball team that afternoon. Afterwards, I took her out to dinner (she actually ate dessert only because she ate so much at the party) and to see the new Hannah Montana movie. Surprisingly, I really liked the movie. There were some parts when I was trying hard not to laugh too loudly and I have to admit, I shed a few tears. Afterwards, Rachel and I were talking in Southern accents for the rest of the night. It was a fun Mommy-daughter date.
• I still love teaching young women! It's such a fun calling. I feel so lucky.
• Spencer has several days off this week because of parent-teacher conference. It seems like he hardly ever has school! Today is his parent-teacher conference. Wish me luck! I hope it's as good as the last one.

Spring Break Days 8 and 9

We drove a little further into Maryland and Paul dropped me off at the Washington D.C. Temple. It was a wonderful Friday night for me as I enjoyed being in the Lord's house. The temple is my favorite place on earth.

The next morning we woke to pouring rain. Our plans to go to the National Zoo were not going to work out. Instead we drove around DC, saw the monuments, the White House and the Capitol.
Here it is from a different rainy angle.

We stopped so I could buy each kid their own umbrella which they all enjoyed immensely!

The liked them so much, they insisted that I take a picture of them.

Then we took them to the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian. It was packed. Even the line getting into the museum was out the doors and way down the street.

We saw some awesome things like the lunar landing module

The kids loved the hands-on things at the museum.

We also got to see the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindberg's plane that he flew around the world.

Our favorite part of the museum was watching the IMAX movie about fighter pilots. It was fascinating.

As we were heading out of town so Paul could go to the temple, the sun came out and we enjoyed seeing things a little less soggy.

We said goodbye to Washington as we passed the stunning Washington Monument and headed back to Maryland

The drive along the Potomac was beautiful

Our trip ended on Easter as the kids woke up to find that the Easter Bunny did find them even though we were in a hotel in Gaithersburg, Maryland. We ate breakfast, went to church and headed home. We stopped at The Cracker Barrell for our Easter dinner (which was as homecooked as you can get while on the road) and arrived home after a fun and eventful Spring Break.

Spring Break Days 6 & 7

Here are two of the stars of our show ready to have more fun on our mini Spring Break vacay!

For our next adventure, we headed to Baltimore where we enjoyed visiting the Inner Harbor. For some reason, I couldn't get a decent picture of all the kids for the entire trip. Here's one failed attempt.

And here's the next one. I guess the sun was a bit bright.

A third attempt! The pansies, tulips and daffodils were in full bloom in Baltimore--a very welcome sight considering the lackluster spring at home.

Because we had already visited the aquarium the last time we were there, we decided to tour the USS Constellation, a ship used in the Civil War. Spencer particularly enjoyed this part of our visit.

Rachel insisted on taking one picture of us for the blog. She told me I never put myself on the blog but that's because I take all the pictures.

You can see how happy Spencer is to go on a warship. Just before we boarded, they shot the cannon--he loved it!

He definitely had to take his turn captaining the ship.

We also took the Duck tour. It's a bus that drives right into the harbor and becomes a boat. It was a vehicle designed to carry supplies from boats to the land during WWII and was a unique way to take a tour. We saw the sites in Baltimore and floated around the harbor while blowing our little duck whistles in time to the peppy music and waving at people on the street and on the shore. We all loved it!

Caitlin also took a turn steering the ship

As did Courtney

The smile on Spencer's face is priceless!

Isn't the view gorgeous?

Here is a picture of the USS Constellation

These were all taken from the Duck while we were chugging around the harbor.

The afternoon forecast was for rain but instead we had a gorgeous, sunny day.

It was a fun ride with scenic views everywhere

Caitlin blows her whistle at the passers by. We tried to get every one on the street to wave at us or give us the thumbs up--and we were about 90% successful. It helped having two cute teenage girls on the bus right in front of us waving and whistling at every one.

Our bus is now a boat and we think it's awesome!

Traveling the streets of Baltimore

Cute Courtney enjoys the ride in her star sunglasses

A view of the lighthouse ship, Chesapeake and a submarine that are docked at the aquarium from the harbor.

Spring Break Vacation

After two days of water sliding fun, we head home.


My very exhausted girls after sliding and swimming

The older kids who loved the big waterslides

Caitlin floating on her back

Smiling Rachel and Courtney

Caitlin sits on the bear's lap

Courtney's face illustrates the fun the kids had at Great Wolf Lodge

Sitting in front of the massive fireplace at the lodge

I told Paul I absolutely had to get out of the house over Spring Break. . . eleven days with no routine would kill me in this non-spring weather. . . so we thought Florida. But with the announcement of Merck's merger with Schering Plough Paul ended up having a meeting scheduled right in the middle of the week so we really couldn't go to Florida. So we revamped our plans and decided to take some small trips.

Days 1 & 2: General Conference. We decided to stay at home and watch conference. It was a nice, very relaxing weekend although I missed most of what was said because the kids were wild and crazy and bored but that's why I love the DVR--I can watch them some night when the kids are in bed.

Days 3 & 4: We headed to Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. It is a hotel completely geared to kids with an indoor water park. They have tons of water slides for all ages, two huge pools and a wave pool. The weather outside was freezing and rainy but inside it was balmy and comfortable. The kids loved every minute of it. It was rather stressful for Paul and me because we had to keep track of all the kids who all wanted to do different things. The worst moment was when I had all the kids together and we were all headed to find their Dad when Courtney ran off so I had everyone follow me, but on the way, Caitlin jumped into a pool so I pulled her out of the pool and thought I saw Courtney head up some stairs to a waterslide so I picked up Caitlin and ran up the stairs but I couldn't see her. I kept running up stairs but I still couldn't find her anywhere. I was absolutely panicked but suddenly, there she was. I picked her up, held Caitlin firmly by the hand and then found the other two kids and took them to their Dad. We tried to divide and conquer but a lot of times, I somehow ended up with three or four kids. Paul and I loved the waterslides just as much as the kids. All in all, it was an action-packed fun time for everyone.

Day 5: Paul had to go to work for a special meeting related to the merger. We hung out at home and I caught up on laundry and packed our bags for our next trip.

First Surgery for Spencer

Today, Spencer had tubes placed in his ears. For the last three years, he has experienced hearing problems due to frequent ear infections and fluid in his ears. It has been so bad that I can be right next to him speaking in my normal voice and he does not hear me. This year, I became particularly concerned that it was affecting his school work. FINALLY, my doctor referred me to an ear nose and throat specialist and within a couple of weeks, Spencer was scheduled for surgery.

When we arrived at the hospital, Spencer began getting nervous the moment he was told he had to wear a hospital gown. When the nurse took his blood pressure and listened to his heart, his concern increased. By the time they wheeled him into the room right next to the O.R., I could tell he was terrified. His eyes were wide with fear and full of tears. It broke my heart to see him so anxious. Luckily, the anaesthesiologist also noticed Spencer's anxiety and immediately gave him "giggle juice," a.k.a. Valium. Pretty soon, I could tell he was feeling a little better. After meeting with the surgeon, I headed to the waiting room and before I knew it, Spencer was done and they asked me to go to the recovery room to reassure him as he began awakening. In the recovery room, he was disoriented, moving around confusedly, crying, moaning and complained of ear pain. But after we got him to his room, and got him some Tylenol, he perked up, ate some food, got dressed and was completely fine.

The nurse from the recovery room ran into us in the elevator and she was shocked it was the same kid she had in the recovery room because Spencer was happy and talkative as we left the hospital. He even felt well enough to go to school for his Easter egg hunt. I am so grateful that he will be able to hear again.

For me, it was a bit traumatic. It was hard sending him into surgery, knowing how worried he was. When Paul asked him about it, Spencer said, "I don't want to talk about it. It was too scary." I am thankful it was just a simple elective surgery for his first time and not something serious. As we were leaving the hospital, Spencer suggested that I buy him something because he was so brave. I usually balk at these types of requests, but for once, I felt he deserved something so we stopped at Walmart and got him a little Star Wars kit (the cheapest one they had.) That made him happy and proud of himself. . . so all's well that ends well!

Happy 4th Birthday, Caitlin and Courtney!

We came home from our birthday dinner to find a big chunk of the cake was eaten by our dog, Sugar! I left it sitting in the middle of the kitchen table while were gone. She must have climbed from a chair to the top of the table. Oops!

Paul, Rachel, Spencer and I all did some of the decorative writing on the cake. It was truly a group effort. Courtney and Caitlin blew out the candles--no help needed!

They loved their birthday!

We went to Perkins for dinner (kids eat free on Tuesday) and just by chance, Dora the Explorer was there! Talk about a perfect birthday present for the girls! Caitlin was a little afraid of her and hid her head during most of the dinner unless Dora wasn't nearby.

Spencer was not excited about the twins' restaurant choice as you can see from the picture. But once he got his food, he enjoyed his meal as much as anyone else.

Caitlin and Courtney are the birthday princesses at their pre-school class!

The whole class pretends to make a cake, sings Happy Birthday and then they form a circle, holding hands and the girls got to go under their arms while everyone sang, "Go in and out the window, etc. . . It was cute! The girls loved being the center of attention.