Archive for August, 2009

Fun Weekend

August 30, 2009
We had the most beautiful weather this weekend….can you believe we had a high in the 60’s today??  LOVE IT!  Gary would argue it was a bit cold, but I just love the Fall preview weather.  Friday night we went to our town’s "Downtown Friday Night".  It is a fun gathering of the community with lots of vendors, food, and kids activities.  We had a great time especially since the theme for the night was "Dog Days" and there were tons of doggies out!  We got rained out, but enjoyed it while we were there.
 
We had dinner first at our favorite hog dog joint….Noah’s favorite place!
 
Then Noah mingled with some doggies….and was thrilled to get a bag of popcorn (or "pacorn" as he calls it) to munch on the rest of the night!  He also met "PC" the police car that talks!  He wasn’t too sure about it at first but seemed to be okay with it by the time we left.  He also "drove" a firetruck.  Then we saw a big storm on it’s way so we headed home.
 
Saturday we went to the "Park of Roses".  I got to take some beautiful flower pictures and Noah enjoyed climbing up and down the viewing tower!  Here are some views from the tower of the park.  The scent of roses iis fantastic!!
 
We had fun playing at the park.  Daddy and Noah had fun on the tire swing…..I was too dizzy from spinning on some kid toy so daddy had the task of swinging on the tire swing!
 
Meet the newest member of our family….Our new laptop.  It was time for a new computer so we bit the bullet this weekend and got one.  I have named our new computer "RC". Open-mouthed  Look how old our old computer looks compared to the new one!
 
Family movie night was on the agenda for Saturday night.  We got Toy Story 2 from the library.  Noah was most excited about popcorn!  Unfortunatley the movie stopped halfway through and we couldn’t get it to start up again. Disappointed
 

Colonoscopy Journal- HILARIOUS!

August 28, 2009
My mom sent me this hilarious article about one gentleman’s colonoscopy adventure.  If you’ve gone through the prep work and the actual colonoscopy you will laugh so hard you might fall out of your chair, so prepare yourself.  I had a colonoscopy about 4 years ago or so and this article made me laugh so hard (and brought back those terrible "prep" memories") that Noah and the dogs were looking at me as if I was an alien. I am still wiping the laughter tears from my eyes.  Serioulsy, this is the funniest thing I have read in a long time!!  Enjoy!  Thanks mom for the great laugh!!
 
Colonoscopy Journal: (Written by Dave Berry, a Pulitzer Prize winning humor colomnist for the Miami Herald)
>
 
> I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.

>  

> A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through
 Minneapolis.
> Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.
>

> I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn’t really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, ‘HE’S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!’

>

> I left Andy’s office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called ‘MoviPrep,’ which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven.  I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America’s enemies.

>

> I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous.

>

> Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my
preparation.  In accordance with my instructions, I didn’t eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.
>

> Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep.  You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter
plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug.  This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes – and here I am being kind – like a mixture of brussel sprouts and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.
>

> The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, ‘a loose, watery bowel movement may result.’

>

> This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

>

> MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don’t want to be too graphic, here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch?  This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt.  You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently.  You eliminate everything.  And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

>

> After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.

>

> The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous.  Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage.  I was thinking, ‘What if I spurt on Andy?’  How do you apologize to a friend for something like that?  Flowers would not be enough.

>

> At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked..

>

> Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand.  Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down.  Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep..
 
> At first I was ticked off that I hadn’t thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode.  You would have no choice but to burn your house.

>

> When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist.  I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere.  I was seriously nervous at this point.

>

> Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.

>

> There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was ‘Dancing Queen‘ by ABBA.  I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, ‘Dancing Queen’ had to be the least appropriate.

>

> ‘You want me to turn it up?’ said Andy, from somewhere behind me.

>

> ‘Ha ha,’ I said.  And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade.  If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

>

> I have no idea.  Really.  I slept through it.  One moment, ABBA was yelling ‘Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,’ and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.

>

> Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt.  I felt excellent.  I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

>

> On the subject of Colonoscopies…

> Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous…. A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:

>

> 1. ‘Take it easy, Doc. You’re boldly going where no man has gone before!’

>

> 2.. ‘Find Amelia Earhart yet?’

>

> 3. ‘Can you hear me NOW?’

>

> 4. ‘Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?’

>

> 5. ‘You know, in Arkansas , we’re now legally married.’

>

> 6. ‘Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?’

>

> 7. ‘You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out…’

>

> 8. ‘Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!’

>

> 9. ‘If your hand doesn’t fit, you must quit!’

>

> 10. ‘Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.’

>

> 11. ‘You used to be an executive at Enron, didn’t you?’

>

>           And the best one of all:

> 12. ‘Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?’

Our Creative Life – Visit this Blog!

August 26, 2009
I found this woman’s blog many months ago and just have to share!  She has the most wonderful and creative ideas!  If your crafty and thrifty this is the blog for you!  Let me know how you like it!
 

Operation: Save Baby Bunnies

August 26, 2009
Gary found a nest of baby bunnies tonight in the middle of our backyard!  Fortunately we found them before the dogs did.  We didn’t know what to do with them, but knew that if we left them they would be killed by the dogs.  I read online that you shouldn’t move them from their nest or their mommy won’t be able to find them.  Gary came up with a great idea to keep them safe from the dogs but still leave them in the backyard.  There are about 5 or so of them, and they appear to be 7-10 days old.  So cute!
 
Gary wrapped fencing around a chair (if you look close you can see the nest under the chair) and then cut a couple holes for mommy to fit through.  Noah helped….of course!

While daddy built the bunny fort, Noah hid from mommy!

What’s that on his tummy (you might be asking)?  Well, a tattoo of course!  It’s from the movie "Cars" and he wanted it on his tummy!  Here he is showing his tattoo to his favorite car "Lightening".

Today we had our neighbor’s doggy, Punkin, over for the day to play with Eb and Daisy.  Noah loves Punky and they spent some time together today!  Take a look at who is using the doggy door…..hint….it’s not the DOGGY!

 

 

 

Freight Train Boogie

August 25, 2009
Marge gave Noah a copy of a John Denver CD that he just LOVES.  It is all about trains so of course he loves it!  He has listened to the CD over and over and always dances to this particular song called Freight Train Boogie.  I got a little video of him dancing today…and a little singing too!  Thanks Marge, we love this CD!
 
Noah doing the Freight Train Boogie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htJ6W-_sz9w
 
 
Today we went to Inniswood for a little walk and Noah made friend named Alex.  He had a fun time showing Alex all around Inniswood and playing in the water with him.  Alex is 2.5 years old…..and Noah looks so much bigger!

Crafty mommy strikes again!

August 25, 2009
I was laying in bed with Noah putting him down for a nap and on a spur of the moment decided…I want curtains above my front door.  I have a huge window above the front door that just needed "something".  I didn’t want to spend a lot of money so I headed to the fabric store to make my own!  I had the rod already….so I found some sale fabric for $1.99 per yard!!  For $5 I made some good looking curtains….the hard part was getting waaayyy up there to install them! 
 
Before
 
After- I used chocolate brown fabric to tie into my new brown walls!
 
In the mail yesterday I received the glass flower I helped make while we were at Greenfield Village!  I think it turned out beautiful.  I decided to display it in our back window.

Grandma and Grandpa’s – Day 6

August 22, 2009
Today is our last full day here at Grandma and Grandp’s house.  We spent the morning and afternoon at the Toledo Zoo.  It is a great zoo with a fantastic new kid’s area.  We enjoyed the cool temp’s and Noah loved seeing this different zoo (he is so used to our zoo at home). 
 
 
First we visited the polar bear!  He was having a great time swimming around and showing off for us.
 
We rode the train around "Africa" and got to see lots of neat animals.
 
These pictures are from the new kid’s area.  They had a great stream kids could wade in, a "beach", and a bunch of indoor activities including petting a guinea pig.
 
Noah had a nice nap while we ate some lunch.
 
White lions, hippos, and lunch for Noah!
 
Noah’s favorite part of the zoo….watching the tractors and other equipment doing construction on the new exhibit!

Grandma and Grandpa’s- Day 4-5

August 22, 2009
CAMPING!!!  We used our "new" camper for the first time and loved it…especially since it rained all night the first night!  We drove about 3 hours to Warren Dunes State Park.  It was a very nice campground.  We didn’t do much the first night since it rained almost the entire evening.  We were able to get our hot dogs grilled and eat dinner outside before the rain came, but after dinner we spent a lot of time in the camper reading books to Noah.  Right after we had all settled in for bed the ranger came by on the loud speaker and said there was a tornado warning and that we needed to take cover in the bathhouse right away.  So, off we went to join a bunch of other nervous campers in the bathhouse until the warning ended.  The tornado that actually hit wasn’t too far from the campground….that was WAY too close for comfort! 
 
The next day we visited the huge sand dunes and climbed to the very top!  Noah almos climbed the entire dune himself!  We spent several hours at the beach (Lake Michigan) playing in the sand and water.  We were able to have a nice campfire in the evening and roasted some marshmellows.  It was a wonderful trip….even with the rain!
 
Noah couldn’t wait to crank up the camper!!

Yum!  Dinner…Noah ate THREE hot dogs!  He seemed to like napping in the camper!

Visiting the beach and the huge sand dune!

The first night was a bit soggy, so we spent lots of time reading books!

The next day we set out to summit the big sand dune.  It’s hard to get pictures to show how steep and tall it is…but if you look in the first picture, that little blue dot is our car!

After our big climb we headed back for lunch.  I made some yummy quesadillas!

Look at that marshmellow face!

Noah worked hard around camp.  He put all his toys in this bucket and carried it around.  In and out of the camper, around the campfire, and all around the campsite!

Campfire stories.  Breakfast with daddy!

Our last morning we went for one more climb up the big sand dune. 

I didn’t make it to the very top this time.  Here is a picture from where I stopped….and the STEEP climb to the top! 

Daddy carried Noah up this steep final push to the top!

Another view from the dune….if you look close you can see our blue car with the camper waaaaayyyy down at the bottom

Grandma and Grandpa’s – Day 3

August 22, 2009
Today we took a ferry ride to Put-in-Bay Island.  We just love visiting this place, it makes you feel far away from everything.  We took our bikes along and had a nice bike ride around the island.  I love looking at all the old houses!  Noah enjoyed the bike ride and playing at the playground.  It rained a little bit so we hid out under the park gazebo until it passed.  I thought Noah would enjoy the ferry ride more than he did…..he was more interested in snacks during the ride!
 
 
Away we go!!!

Some pictures of the island and the beautiful old houses.  Look at all those golf carts!

Noah fell asleep in his bike seat so we stopped so he could nap at the park!

We stopped at the nature center.  This is as close as I ever want to get to a bear, wolf, and mountain lion!

Noah’s favorite part of the day! (Grandpa’s too!)

 

Grandma and Grandpa’s – Day 2

August 17, 2009
Today was "date day" for mommy and daddy.  I have been excited about this day for a long time…a visit to Greenfield Villiage.  Grandma and Grandpa watched Noah and we left early for the hour and half drive to Greenfield Villiage in Michigan.  Basically the villiage was built by Mr. Ford (yes, that Ford) and is an 80 plus acre town complete with REAL and replica buildings, houses, businesses, schools, churches, etc. from the 1800’s and early 1900’s.  It is a HUGE villiage and we spent about 7-8 hours walking around and seeing everything!  There are model T-Fords driving around the streets that you can ride in, horse drawn carriages, and lots of people dressed in period costumes wandering the streets.  I absolutely love history, especially walking through old houses and we spent an entire day doing just that!  It was WONDERFUL!!!  I have so many pictures from our big day that I am going to create an album with the pics I don’t put in this post.  I hope you enjoy them!
 
The entry to the villiage and some of the things you see once you enter the gates!  It was like entering a different world!
 
I love walking through Mr. Ford’s boyhood home.  It was the ACTUAL home he grew up in!
 
I made my own glass flower at the glass shop in the villiage.  I got to make the flower myself…pulling the hot (2500 degree) glass and making the pedals and stem!  Boy it was HOT!  I didn’t see the finished product since it had to be put into a warming oven right away, but it will be mailed to us in a couple weeks!  I can’t wait to see it!
 
We went to watch on old time baseball game between the La-De-Da’s and the Nationals!  No gloves were used back then!  OUCH!
 
This is one of the homemade pies I saw one of the women making.  I learned that pie was served back then with every meal and that women got up at the crack of dawn to start the pie preparation for the day!