I'm just about to put the kids in the car for the seventh and eighth time today (soccer practice) and it's getting old! You might be surprised but this job was easier when the twins were smaller. Courtney wants to do everything "by myself!" If I in any way touch her while she's climbing into the car, getting into her car seat, putting her arms in the seat belt straps or if I help her to buckle (she really can't do it and has to have help), she has a tantrum. Hence, I'm about to experience the seventh tantrum of the day. Hooray! I can't wait!
The excitement continues when I ask Rachel to help Spencer buckle up. She whines, "Why can't he do it himself?"--which he can--but I'm in a hurry because by this time, Courtney's been trying to climb into her seat for ten minutes, dang it! Then Spencer and Rachel proceed to fight about how "he's not pulling the seat belt over far enough" and "she's not doing it right." Meanwhile, Caitlin is rifling through my purse, pulling out my lipstick and rubbing it all over the driver's seat while I'm trying "not to help" kicking and screaming Courtney--yes, I accidentally touched her arm while leaning over the seat to put my arm between the older two kids. Finally, at wit's end, I threaten the two "big" kids with serious punishment if they don't get along immediately, hold Courtney down and strap her in, buckle up a lipstick laden Caitlin, wipe my seat off with a crumpled fast food napkin I find on the floor and zoom off. The crying continues throughout the car ride but we do manage to get where we're going. . . eventually. Wish me luck!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
She won!
Yes, you heard me right! Not only did Mom advance in the Orem City Council primary election but she actually won by almost 800 votes! That's quite a feat when there are twelve candidates to divide the vote. I'm so excited for her! Just two more months to go until the general election. I was so thrilled when she called in the middle of the night to share the good news that I couldn't sleep for several hours because of all the happy adrenaline running through me so I worked on my preparedness website.
What website you ask? I have been busy the last several days putting together a preparedness website for my calling as Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in our ward. I'm pretty pleased with it. If you're interested in it, please check it out. If you have any stuff you think I can add to it, send it on!http://preparednessmatters.blogspot.com/
I'm too tired to write any more tonight. I'll catch up with my chronicles of normal life tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
My mother, my inspiration
Mom and Rachel playing the piano togetherToday's my Mom's primary election for Orem City Council. We're waiting to hear if she goes on to the general election in November. So I'm thinking about her tonight. She's one of the most inspiring examples ever. I wrote an article about my Mom recently and thought I'd share it in my blog:
When Margaret Black, looks in the mirror today, she sees a svelte, lean body but she didn’t always look this way. Margaret began her married life as one of those lucky young women who never have to diet and can eat anything they want without gaining a pound. But after giving birth to her sixth child, the weight didn’t drop off as it had in the past. Margaret loved eating, or overeating, as she will tell you. As she got older and her metabolism slowed, the pounds began piling on. Giving in to her cravings was literally destroying her health. Finally, Black decided enough was enough and joined Weight Watchers at age 56. The exercise requirement was not a problem as Margaret already walked with a group of friends early each morning but she needed to curb her appetite. Weight watchers taught her portion control and helped her select food that made her feel full and gave her the energy she needed. Over the course of fifteen months, Black, with the help of popcorn and prayer, lost 103 pounds and has kept it off for more than two years. When she completed her weight loss goal, she decided her next goal was to hike Mount Timpanogos and has reached the summit twice since then. Many people told her she probably couldn’t lose weight at her age, but when Margaret Black tackles a project, she goes at it with gusto and doesn’t take no for an answer!
Losing weight is only one of many challenges Margaret Black has taken on in her quest to improve herself, her family and her community. Black’s life illustrates that one person truly can make a difference in her home, community and in the world. When her six children were at home, they were Margaret’s first priority. Margaret had earned a BS Degree in Elementary Education from BYU, but she committed herself to be a “stay-at-home mom” despite the financial challenges her family experienced. Although her husband, Dennis, worked as a university administrator, the family still struggled to make ends meet, so Margaret began teaching piano lessons which allowed her to be with her children while supplementing their income. She sacrificed her own material needs, going years with few new clothes, so the children could have what they needed. As parents, Margaret and Dennis emphasized the importance of hard work and education to their children and all six have completed college and several have graduate degrees.
Since moving to Orem twenty-nine years ago, Margaret has made volunteering in her church and community a major part of her life. When her children were young, she joined the PTA, becoming Windsor Elementary School’s PTA president, and serving as Legislative Vice President on the local, council and region levels. She has also served in many demanding church leadership positions.
Public safety and recreation have been at the forefront of Black’s volunteer efforts. Over the years, Margaret successfully lobbied to obtain needed sidewalks, a crossing guard, a street light and a traffic signal near neighborhood schools. Wishing there was a park in her neighborhood, Margaret decided to take action. There wasn’t any available property where a park could be built so she got her creative juices flowing and worked with school and city officials to envision a park which utilized the school grounds and recreational facilities of Orchard Elementary and Canyon View Junior High and added benches, picnic areas and a walking trail. As chair of the Orchard Park Committee, she spearheaded efforts with the city, neighbors and schools to develop Orchard Park which is now enjoyed by those who live in the surrounding neighborhood.
Bettering and beautifying the community has always been important to Black. When she discovered that Orem planned to install street lights around the city, she served on the city’s street lighting committee and advocated for decorative and functional lighting that would improve the beauty and safety of Orem. She’s particularly pleased that one of the streetlights she worked so hard to promote is sitting in front of her house today.
When Margaret Black, looks in the mirror today, she sees a svelte, lean body but she didn’t always look this way. Margaret began her married life as one of those lucky young women who never have to diet and can eat anything they want without gaining a pound. But after giving birth to her sixth child, the weight didn’t drop off as it had in the past. Margaret loved eating, or overeating, as she will tell you. As she got older and her metabolism slowed, the pounds began piling on. Giving in to her cravings was literally destroying her health. Finally, Black decided enough was enough and joined Weight Watchers at age 56. The exercise requirement was not a problem as Margaret already walked with a group of friends early each morning but she needed to curb her appetite. Weight watchers taught her portion control and helped her select food that made her feel full and gave her the energy she needed. Over the course of fifteen months, Black, with the help of popcorn and prayer, lost 103 pounds and has kept it off for more than two years. When she completed her weight loss goal, she decided her next goal was to hike Mount Timpanogos and has reached the summit twice since then. Many people told her she probably couldn’t lose weight at her age, but when Margaret Black tackles a project, she goes at it with gusto and doesn’t take no for an answer!
Losing weight is only one of many challenges Margaret Black has taken on in her quest to improve herself, her family and her community. Black’s life illustrates that one person truly can make a difference in her home, community and in the world. When her six children were at home, they were Margaret’s first priority. Margaret had earned a BS Degree in Elementary Education from BYU, but she committed herself to be a “stay-at-home mom” despite the financial challenges her family experienced. Although her husband, Dennis, worked as a university administrator, the family still struggled to make ends meet, so Margaret began teaching piano lessons which allowed her to be with her children while supplementing their income. She sacrificed her own material needs, going years with few new clothes, so the children could have what they needed. As parents, Margaret and Dennis emphasized the importance of hard work and education to their children and all six have completed college and several have graduate degrees.
Since moving to Orem twenty-nine years ago, Margaret has made volunteering in her church and community a major part of her life. When her children were young, she joined the PTA, becoming Windsor Elementary School’s PTA president, and serving as Legislative Vice President on the local, council and region levels. She has also served in many demanding church leadership positions.
Public safety and recreation have been at the forefront of Black’s volunteer efforts. Over the years, Margaret successfully lobbied to obtain needed sidewalks, a crossing guard, a street light and a traffic signal near neighborhood schools. Wishing there was a park in her neighborhood, Margaret decided to take action. There wasn’t any available property where a park could be built so she got her creative juices flowing and worked with school and city officials to envision a park which utilized the school grounds and recreational facilities of Orchard Elementary and Canyon View Junior High and added benches, picnic areas and a walking trail. As chair of the Orchard Park Committee, she spearheaded efforts with the city, neighbors and schools to develop Orchard Park which is now enjoyed by those who live in the surrounding neighborhood.
Bettering and beautifying the community has always been important to Black. When she discovered that Orem planned to install street lights around the city, she served on the city’s street lighting committee and advocated for decorative and functional lighting that would improve the beauty and safety of Orem. She’s particularly pleased that one of the streetlights she worked so hard to promote is sitting in front of her house today.
The citizens of her own community are not the only ones to benefit from Margaret’s hard work. In July 2004, she and her daughter, Emily, traveled to the Village of San Miguel, Ecuador to participate in humanitarian service. Projects she helped with included installing drip irrigation systems, constructing a community/daycare center and conducting a medical clinic. Margaret also utilized her barbering skills learned while cutting her own children’s hair to give villagers needed haircuts.
As her children have grown and married, Margaret has dedicated more and more time to the community as Chair of Orchard North Neighborhood in Action Committee for three years and now as a member of Orem’s City Council. In the neighborhood chair role, she held annual town meetings, established a popular neighborhood service day and picnic and organized a committee of eight district chairs and 75 street captains to address neighborhood needs with the city and promote cooperation between neighborhood schools, businesses, churches, residents and the city. When a position on the city council became vacant, Margaret thoughtfully decided to apply for appointment. When her husband Dennis asked her why she wanted to serve, she replied, “Because I like to make things better.” She didn’t know how she would fare when she discovered that she was vying against nine other candidates. But based on her long-standing record of service and commitment to Orem’s positive progress, she was unanimously approved by the council as their newest member in January 2007. At the time of Margaret’s appointment, Mayor Jerry Washburn said, “She has just been outstanding on every assignment.” Since her appointment, Black has loved working with citizens and city employees to make decisions which positively affect the community. She is now running for election for a four year term.
Margaret Black’s tireless efforts to “make things better” for herself, her family, her community and the world will not end with her weight loss and her job on the City Council. She will continue to serve her family as mother of six and grandmother of twelve. “She’s such an inspiration to me and to my children. Her entire adult life has been one of service and selflessness and she continually finds more she can do to make a difference,” says her daughter Kerri. The future of our community will continue to get brighter as Margaret finds more creative ways to change the world, one act of service at a time.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Weekend Warriors
Why is it when you have people coming over, suddenly all the flaws in your house appear out of nowhere? Dirty spots you've been walking by for months stand out and mock you as you try desperately to find and destroy each and every one of them.
Despite having the house clean and ready to go on Friday, the kids destroyed it by Saturday night. So after they finally fell sleep, I started cleaning in preparation for an open house we were having on Sunday for our friends, the Liggetts. Sure enough, everytime I thought I had a room ship-shape, I would notice something else that needed to be done. The smudge marks all over the fridge which had previously blended in with all the other kitchen clutter and grime suddenly stood out to as if to say, "don't I look disgusting," the dirt under the sink where the garbage can resides cries out, "ooh, you'd be embarrased if anyone saw messy me when they throw something away." And so you clean, and clean, and clean, and it still isn't good enough because you keep noticing something else. What should have been a half-hour job turns into three hours and if you weren't so exhausted because it's 3:00 a.m. and your eyes won't focus anymore, it might have been even longer. The really sad part about the whole ridiculous process is that when your guests arrive, there's such a crush of people in the kitchen they wouldn't have even noticed the messes you lost sleep to clean.
I enjoyed the open house so much, though, and I think everyone had a good time so it was absolutely worth it! And this morning I'm thrilled that I worked so hard because the house is so much cleaner than normal even after having an entire houseful of people here last night. Usually Monday's what I call "Recovery Day" because I have to clean an entire weekend's worth of messes after spending Sunday not doing any housework. It is a day of rest, right?
There was one mess that I'm glad I noticed, however. While folding blankets which we throw behind the recliner (also the dog's favorite hiding spot for chewing toys, shoes and pacifiers), I found what can only be called a petrified diaper. The dog has been known to take off with diapers while I'm changing them but I thought I'd always managed to get them away from her--Wrong! Who knows how long it's been there? The really disturbing part is that I didn't even smell it! Of course, being the lady of a house littered with daily dog doo and two girls in diapers, I shouldn't be surprised that I've gotten immune to the smell.
All in all, it was a super Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning, I went to a church leadership meeting (with the twins) while Paul juggled two overlapping soccer games. Rachel scored a goal and Spencer's team won. Yeah! On Sunday, my choir practice was wonderful. I am so happy with the choir. They are awesome singers and I love having the power in my hands to make them sing things just the way I want them to sound! At least I have control in one area of my life! Now Monday is officially underway (with us running with the stroller and dog in tow to R's bus stop so she didn't miss the bus) and I can report that the Madsen weekend warriors won their battles and today we can get back to our normal routine once again.
Despite having the house clean and ready to go on Friday, the kids destroyed it by Saturday night. So after they finally fell sleep, I started cleaning in preparation for an open house we were having on Sunday for our friends, the Liggetts. Sure enough, everytime I thought I had a room ship-shape, I would notice something else that needed to be done. The smudge marks all over the fridge which had previously blended in with all the other kitchen clutter and grime suddenly stood out to as if to say, "don't I look disgusting," the dirt under the sink where the garbage can resides cries out, "ooh, you'd be embarrased if anyone saw messy me when they throw something away." And so you clean, and clean, and clean, and it still isn't good enough because you keep noticing something else. What should have been a half-hour job turns into three hours and if you weren't so exhausted because it's 3:00 a.m. and your eyes won't focus anymore, it might have been even longer. The really sad part about the whole ridiculous process is that when your guests arrive, there's such a crush of people in the kitchen they wouldn't have even noticed the messes you lost sleep to clean.
I enjoyed the open house so much, though, and I think everyone had a good time so it was absolutely worth it! And this morning I'm thrilled that I worked so hard because the house is so much cleaner than normal even after having an entire houseful of people here last night. Usually Monday's what I call "Recovery Day" because I have to clean an entire weekend's worth of messes after spending Sunday not doing any housework. It is a day of rest, right?
There was one mess that I'm glad I noticed, however. While folding blankets which we throw behind the recliner (also the dog's favorite hiding spot for chewing toys, shoes and pacifiers), I found what can only be called a petrified diaper. The dog has been known to take off with diapers while I'm changing them but I thought I'd always managed to get them away from her--Wrong! Who knows how long it's been there? The really disturbing part is that I didn't even smell it! Of course, being the lady of a house littered with daily dog doo and two girls in diapers, I shouldn't be surprised that I've gotten immune to the smell.
All in all, it was a super Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning, I went to a church leadership meeting (with the twins) while Paul juggled two overlapping soccer games. Rachel scored a goal and Spencer's team won. Yeah! On Sunday, my choir practice was wonderful. I am so happy with the choir. They are awesome singers and I love having the power in my hands to make them sing things just the way I want them to sound! At least I have control in one area of my life! Now Monday is officially underway (with us running with the stroller and dog in tow to R's bus stop so she didn't miss the bus) and I can report that the Madsen weekend warriors won their battles and today we can get back to our normal routine once again.
Friday, September 7, 2007
"But Mom, it's the way you play the game."
Yesterday was a new experience as I took both Rachel and Spencer to their first soccer practices of the season. I sent Rachel to her practice across the field and parked myself and the stroller on the sidelines to watch Spencer's first practice ever. As I pulled out the snacks to keep Caitlin and Courtney busy, I was amused and concerned as I watched Spencer interact and kick balls with 14 other little kids. During the warm up, the children did jumping jacks and I couldn't help chuckling as Spencer and several other teammates tried their best to jump and clap like the coach. They couldn't get their arms and legs to work together quite right but it sure was cute.
The team is a mix of boys and girls ranging from pre-k (Spencer) all the way through 2nd grade. That's a huge age and maturity gap! At the beginning, the coach had the team playing red light/green light while dribbling soccer balls. Despite instructions not to touch the ball with his hands, Spencer kept picking up and re-positioning the ball. However, as he listened more and continued playing, he stopped doing that and began figuring out what to do. I'm sure by the end of the season, he'll get it! Watching the entire team running together packed like sardines around the ball, all trying to kick it at the same time, I smiled as the coach said, "spread out" as if it made an ounce of difference. After the final scrimmage, where Spencer and another boy shoved each other in order to kick the ball (exactly what I was afraid of), I instructed Spencer never to push someone again, he replied, "but Mom, it's the way you play the game." I think he's been watching way too much football with Paul!
The nice thing about soccer practice this year is that Spencer's on the playing field now, not running away from me while I'm trying to take care of the twins. Last year, he kept running onto other fields while games were in play and I'd have to furiously push the stroller over the rough turf and chase him like a mad woman to catch him. So things are getting better! And, overall, he had a great practice and made vast improvements over the course of a single hour.
Well, I have to end today's blog because the twins have just climbed inside the grand piano. Yes, you heard me right--they're under the piano lid sitting on the strings!
The team is a mix of boys and girls ranging from pre-k (Spencer) all the way through 2nd grade. That's a huge age and maturity gap! At the beginning, the coach had the team playing red light/green light while dribbling soccer balls. Despite instructions not to touch the ball with his hands, Spencer kept picking up and re-positioning the ball. However, as he listened more and continued playing, he stopped doing that and began figuring out what to do. I'm sure by the end of the season, he'll get it! Watching the entire team running together packed like sardines around the ball, all trying to kick it at the same time, I smiled as the coach said, "spread out" as if it made an ounce of difference. After the final scrimmage, where Spencer and another boy shoved each other in order to kick the ball (exactly what I was afraid of), I instructed Spencer never to push someone again, he replied, "but Mom, it's the way you play the game." I think he's been watching way too much football with Paul!
The nice thing about soccer practice this year is that Spencer's on the playing field now, not running away from me while I'm trying to take care of the twins. Last year, he kept running onto other fields while games were in play and I'd have to furiously push the stroller over the rough turf and chase him like a mad woman to catch him. So things are getting better! And, overall, he had a great practice and made vast improvements over the course of a single hour.
Well, I have to end today's blog because the twins have just climbed inside the grand piano. Yes, you heard me right--they're under the piano lid sitting on the strings!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Messy incidents
Backpack on & ready for his first day of preschool
Courtney and Caitlin want to be in a picture, too!
He's so excited!Oh no! I hear tons of ice falling on the floor, just the latest in a series of messy incidents in the last two days. I just finished cleaning yellow modeling clay off the kitchen floor. It was everywhere! In case you're wondering, cleaning modeling clay is not as easy to clean as play dough. Thus, the rest of the modeling clay is in the garbage. Lesson learned: leaving it overnight does not help matters. I thought it would dry up and be easier to sweep. But this morning it was still stuck to floor (unsweepable) and I had to scrape it up. Other incidents from yesterday included lovely drawing all over four of my kitchen cabinets and I just noticed I missed a drawing on top of the dishwasher. At least we have magic eraser for such events. Courtney also decided take big swigs of her water bottle and spit them out in multiple places until I discovered what she was doing. Spencer took a pen to my keyboard bench and stabbed a few holes in it and Caitlin dumped a bag of easy mac (uncooked) all over the couch. Also, someone took all the clean laundry off the dryer and knocked it all over the floor where it mixed with some dirty laundry so I'm going to have to wash the entire load again! Good times, good times!
Okay, enough ranting! Spencer started preschool yesterday and, according to his teacher, had a wonderful day! Yeah! We made cookies as a reward. I think this was a reward (or punishment--see scale) for me as well. Mmmm! I also took a very long walk last night with the dog (trying to justify cookie binging) and loved it. I told Paul if he will get home by around 8 p.m. I will do it every night. We'll see if it happens. I get too tired if it gets much later than that.
I'm looking forward to today. . .no preschool. We don't have anywhere to go until after Rachel's school. She starts piano lessons again tonight and the two older kids start soccer tomorrow night. I am so lucky. With a little begging, I was able to get both Spencer and Rachel's practice at the same time on Thursday nights.
Well, I'd better go clean up the latest messy incidents. Have a great day!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Sailing away the final days of summer
Courtney and Caitlin love making and mashing sand castles
Captain Spencer loves driving the boat with Captain Brad
Rachel and her friend Madison holding on for dear life!We had a wonderful weekend! We planned to leave Friday morning by 9 a.m. but managed to leave town around 2:30 p.m. despite having everyone's bags packed in the car and ready to go the night before. As most of you know, that's just the way we operate around here. We pulled into Baltimore's Inner Harbor about 6:20 p.m. thinking the National Aquarium closed at 8 p.m. and were concerned that we wouldn't have enough time to see everything. But surprise, surprise, they closed at 9:30 because of the holiday weekend. What a relief! I did have a moment of panic when I was required to check the stroller and let the twins roam but aside from a little escalator incident (a.k.a. running up the down escalator to save Spencer,) all was well and we loved the aquarium, especially the sharks.
Spencer was much more interested in the ships and boats that are docked along the water than anything else, so after a typically insane dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (thank goodness the music was blaring so loud even I couldn't hear the kids crying), Paul rented a boat and took Rachel and Spencer into the harbor. Originally, the kids wanted to go in paddle boats but we absolutely refused even after the kids assured us, "We'll pedal the whole time, we promise." Every parent who has ever paddle boated with kids knows that's a big joke! Just as the whining was getting to be too much, Paul breathed a sigh of relief when he saw an "electric boat" so out they went.
When we arrived at our car about 10:30 p.m., we got stuck in a parking garage traffic jam with a bunch of Woodstock types in their fifties wearing tie died shirts and birkenstocks, many of them inebriated or impaired in some way. We're not sure where they had been but we had some interesting sights (apparently they didn't know where the bathroom was--and not just guys!) and sounds (no joke--a honking & car alarm concert!) It was bizarre! With our heads pounding and our eyes bugging out, we finally escaped and headed towards the temple.
The next morning, as I entered the session room at the temple, I wondered where all the Scandinavian-looking people wearing translation headphones were from. I looked at them intently, thinking maybe they were from Denmark. When the session began in Spanish, I realized that I was one of those Scandinavian-looking English speaking people who needed a headset. DUH!
Sunday morning we picked a ward to attend out of approximately 50 wards in the D.C. area. What a contrast to Pennsylvania! We did love church. It's really amazing that we can go anywhere in the world and find everything at church the same except the people. We were a little jealous of the number of church members in the area and were particularly amused at the comment that "it's really hard for the youth in our stake because they attend three different high schools." I was trying to count how many high schools are in our ward boundaries and there are at least six. After church, we headed north, hearing the familiar question, "are we there yet?" a million times but eventually arrived home with a dirty car and even dirtier kids on Sunday night.
Paul woke on Monday in severe pain with an enormous colorful lump on his shin. He hit it on the trailer hitch a couple of days earlier but it had gotten so much worse that he drove himself to the E.R. After an x-ray, the doctor told him he had a hematoma and sent him home with instructions to elevate and ice it and said it would take at least 3 - 4 weeks to heal. The poor guy! Of course, being the sympathetic and loving wife that I am, I made Paul get right in the van and drive us to Beltzville Lake where we met friends for boating, beach time and lake swimming. We all had a relaxing time (particularly because of the teenagers who helped with our little ones) and it was a great ending to a great weekend.
Spencer was much more interested in the ships and boats that are docked along the water than anything else, so after a typically insane dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (thank goodness the music was blaring so loud even I couldn't hear the kids crying), Paul rented a boat and took Rachel and Spencer into the harbor. Originally, the kids wanted to go in paddle boats but we absolutely refused even after the kids assured us, "We'll pedal the whole time, we promise." Every parent who has ever paddle boated with kids knows that's a big joke! Just as the whining was getting to be too much, Paul breathed a sigh of relief when he saw an "electric boat" so out they went.
When we arrived at our car about 10:30 p.m., we got stuck in a parking garage traffic jam with a bunch of Woodstock types in their fifties wearing tie died shirts and birkenstocks, many of them inebriated or impaired in some way. We're not sure where they had been but we had some interesting sights (apparently they didn't know where the bathroom was--and not just guys!) and sounds (no joke--a honking & car alarm concert!) It was bizarre! With our heads pounding and our eyes bugging out, we finally escaped and headed towards the temple.
The next morning, as I entered the session room at the temple, I wondered where all the Scandinavian-looking people wearing translation headphones were from. I looked at them intently, thinking maybe they were from Denmark. When the session began in Spanish, I realized that I was one of those Scandinavian-looking English speaking people who needed a headset. DUH!
Sunday morning we picked a ward to attend out of approximately 50 wards in the D.C. area. What a contrast to Pennsylvania! We did love church. It's really amazing that we can go anywhere in the world and find everything at church the same except the people. We were a little jealous of the number of church members in the area and were particularly amused at the comment that "it's really hard for the youth in our stake because they attend three different high schools." I was trying to count how many high schools are in our ward boundaries and there are at least six. After church, we headed north, hearing the familiar question, "are we there yet?" a million times but eventually arrived home with a dirty car and even dirtier kids on Sunday night.
Paul woke on Monday in severe pain with an enormous colorful lump on his shin. He hit it on the trailer hitch a couple of days earlier but it had gotten so much worse that he drove himself to the E.R. After an x-ray, the doctor told him he had a hematoma and sent him home with instructions to elevate and ice it and said it would take at least 3 - 4 weeks to heal. The poor guy! Of course, being the sympathetic and loving wife that I am, I made Paul get right in the van and drive us to Beltzville Lake where we met friends for boating, beach time and lake swimming. We all had a relaxing time (particularly because of the teenagers who helped with our little ones) and it was a great ending to a great weekend.
Music Corner
