Spring Break begins with a whirlwind trip to Minneapolis...

At 8:30, Friday morning we were up and at 'em and headed out the door to Minneapolis to visit Jason's grandma, aunt and uncle and his brother, Jesse, who flew in from Virginia. Earlier in the week grandma had fallen in her apartment and was placed in the hospital. She wasn't injured from her fall, but after doing some tests the doctors discovered she had a touch of pneumonia, an UTI and neuropathy (dizzy spells). She has now been placed temporarily in assisted living for physical therapy, etc. This will allow Jason's aunt and grandma to make some decisions as to whether she will return to her apartment or find a new apartment in a permanent assisted living complex.

Anyway, we arrived in Minneapolis at 11:30 a.m. We picked Jesse up at his friends', Jeremy and Jen, house; grabbed some lunch; found a Fantastic Sams for a much needed haircut for Kyle; and, then went and visited with grandma. We spent a couple hours with her, listening to stories of her childhood through the birth of Jason's mom. She is such a wonderful woman and still has quite a bit of wit and spunk at 90. It truly was a wonderful time. The boys did amazingly well being cooped up in a car for 3 hours, and a "nursing home" for another 2. Good thing the place had a cage of birds that kept them entertained off and on for an hour. Uncle Jesse was also very kind to take them to a park for awhile. The other residents also enjoyed the boys. Of course, while Kory is along, a trip can never go without incident. Upon entering the assisted living complex, in true Kory form, he announced...."Hey, this place is filled with just old people!"

It was also good to spend time with Jesse. We haven't seen him since last summer and it's always fun to catch up on things. It was just too bad that his wife, Sarah and their son, Davin, weren't able to make the trip too. We'll get to see them this summer!

We had dinner with Ron and Bonnie (Jason's uncle and aunt). We are grateful for their hospitality after the crazy week they have had with grandma. We headed home to Wausau at around 7:30 p.m. We were all tuckered out, but God is good and brought us home safe and sound. The boys slept, Jason drove the first half and I drove the second half. My bed was a wonderful thing to crawl into at 10:45!

I think we all crawled out of our beds this morning between 8 & 9 (myself being the one who stayed in bed until 9 - that doesn't happen very often!). Jason had a meeting this morning at 10 and then has to give a tour of the power plant from noon to 3 this afternoon.

Our friends, Josh and Emily, are coming over later this afternoon. I believe dinner and a few competitions on the DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution) are in order for this evening. I just purchased the DDR this week. I know, I am behind the times on this one, but it's better late than never, right?! I don't believe I will ever pass the beginner's level, but I figure it's fine, I get a good workout! Kyle does pretty well. Kory, however, has a little keeping up and gets a little frustrated. I think he'll get it in no time though. Jason has yet to even try it.

Anyway, we are looking forward to this week off. We don't have any plans other than to just relax and do whatever we want. The good news is that the weather is suppose to be amazing...in the 60's for sure, maybe even reach the 70's!

Oh, by the way, Jason and I still have not conquered stage 12 in ZUMA.

Have a great week.

A week in the life of Kyle

FRIDAY - Mom is off to the store for paint (yellow) and decals (a cobra head) for the pinewood derby car. After 45 minutes and two stores later, I can claim victory! Thank goodness, now I do not have to try and paint a cobra head free-hand...yippee!

SATURDAY/SUNDAY - Jason and Kyle spent these days sanding and painting his pinewood derby car. The cycle begins...sand, paint, let it dry, sand, paint, let it dry. Finally, the paint meets dad's approval and the car is now ready for it's finishing touches.

MONDAY - Mom completes the finishing touches...

COBRA 95

Monday...6:00 p.m. ... The count down to the race begins. We arrive at the school check in Kyle's car and wait....and wait...and wait. So after an hour of waiting, we begin the evening with the beloved "Pinewood Derby Song" (sung to the tune of Camp Down Races), lead by the 65-year old Scout leader and the official pinewood derby guy. This was followed by 15 minutes of rules of the pinewood derby race...ahh...can we start already?!

7:15 p.m. ... The first round of races finally begin...

waiting in the pit

On your mark, get set....go

Waiting for the victor

After four rounds of races, the champs were determined and they get to go onto the finals in April. Kyle did not come out as one of those champs...he would always win the first round, but then lost by a hair on the second race. There's always next year.

8:30 p.m. ... The den races begin....

2nd place in the den!

8:55 p.m. ... finally at home and in bed!

TUESDAY, 8 A.M. - Kyle and I are off to the dentist to get his braces. This is the first step in the process of straightening his teeth. And so this cycle begins, once a month trips to the dentist for the next 16 months. Somewhere along the way in these 16 months, Kyle will receive head gear to push his upper front teeth back to eliminate his overbite. We are excited to see what he will look like in 16 months. I can only imagine, he already looks so much older :(

KYLE AND HIS NEW "BLING"

9:30 a.m. - Arrived at school, only to be late for a district writing test. Good thing he had a couple of days to complete it! All the kids thinking he's pretty cool.

12:00 p.m. - LUNCH! Apparently eating a hamburger for the first time with braces didn't go so well. He did his best and ate what he could.

3:30 p.m. - Home from school and not feeling the greatest. His teeth are hurting and his cheeks keep getting stuck on the wires on his back teeth.

6:00 p.m. - Dinner time. I made chicken for myself, Jason and Kory. Because of Kyle's chicken allergy, I made him turkey. Unfortunately, his turkey wasn't done at the same time as our chicken so he had to wait. However, I had bought organic (no antibodies or hormone injected) chicken so I thought we would give it a try...Jason gave Kyle a bite the size of a dime...10 minutes later his throat hurt and felt swollen and he was in the bathroom throwing up. As if getting braces wasn't enough for one day!

7:00 p.m. - I was making Kyle a smoothie, which he drank camped out on the couch with dad watching American Idol.

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY - Finshed up the week of school, had a few tests and is learning how eat, talk, etc. with his braces and coping with the canker sores.

FRIDAY - SPRING BREAK BEGINS!

Tea Time at the Spa

Thursday I enjoyed an evening out with the girls at the spa. My friend, Alison, is pregnant and due in 4 weeks so we decided she needed some pampering and an evening to relax. So we treated her to a maternity massage. Each of us also enjoyed a couple of the spa's mini services. I am all about the scalp massage, especially after driving there in a winter storm! In between our pampering we enjoyed tea and the most amazing mini-sandwiches and squash soup. It was a wonderful evening spent with the girls. And, Alison loved the massage. Maybe we'll have to treat her to another massage after the little one gets here :)

Kory's flu bug mutated into something else and attached itself to me this week. I have been battling the worst cold I think I may have ever had. I pretty much just existed last week, shuffling through my crazy, busy days in delirium. Not a good spot to be in when you have to do a word study on "fruit" on all the New Testament passages. Because I was not able to stop and rest until yesterday (Sunday), my cold has taken on it's own identity within my body. Due to body-wrenching coughing spells, my stomach feels like I have done the equivilant of 2000 sit-ups (I guess the ab workout can wait a week). My nose went from running endlessly one minute to being completely plugged the next. How frustrating! I did get a good night's rest last night and felt much better this morning. As the day goes on, I can feel the energy depleting from my body so I think a nap is in order this afternoon :)

Anyway, Saturday my friend Jessica and I hosted a baby shower (remember the diaper cakes?)for Alison. I think there were around 65 ladies that attended. Alison was very grateful and enjoyed the day. She also made a haul in gifts. The theme was "The A,B,C's of Godly Parenting". The room was decorated with blocks and diaper cakes. The devotion was given by a number of ladies who were given specific letters of the alphabet and asked to come up with a word beginning with that letter and some wisdom or bible verse to go along with it. Any guesses what letters I received?! W & X! It took a little creativity on the letter "X", but upon searching Greek, a word was found.

Because so much work went into the diaper cakes and they no longer have to be a surprise, I must show you a few pictures of them.

Maybe we should start a business?!

When I picked Kory up today he was in the office with an injury...

sliding hills and our family don't get along, I guess. Apparently, while body sliding down a hill today, his face met the ice. Hmmmm...shall I say "like father, like son"?

On my "to do" list for today, one item is to update my March calendar. By the looks of it, March is already full. I think we only have one weekend that is not scheduled with something. Thank goodness March ends with spring break, I think we'll need it.

I hope you all are staying healthy...have a great week!