Proud Moments

Sarah was so proud of herself for doing these activities on her own yesterday...

Climbing:


and Sliding:


Of course, I was there for the climbing one just to make sure I was able to catch her if she fell, but I kept getting too close and she kept trying to push me away with her hand. I did have to help her get down from the climbing one since she got stuck once she got up there.

First Dentist Appointment

Today was my first dentist appointment...yep, that's right MY first dentist appointment. I am 31 years old and have never been to the dentist. I had braces from 8th grade to 10th grade, but since that was an orthodontist, I don't really count that as actually going to the dentist.

I went today because my wisdom teeth are trying to come in and are causing some problems. The good news is that I don't have any cavities!! The bad news is that I have to get all four wisdom teeth taken out...even the one that hasn't come in yet.

I have heard lots of bad stories about the surgery that is involved with getting the wisdom teeth taken out and the amount of pain you are in afterwards. I am getting scared. My worst fear at the moment is that I won't wake up after they put me to sleep for the surgery. I have also been told that I will have to take off at least 3 days of work because I will probably spend at least the first 2 days in bed.

I am calling the surgeon on Monday to set up a consultation. I need to get them out before Thanksgiving so that I can enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner!

Muffins With Mom

This morning, I got to go to Eliana's school for Muffins With Mom. We got to eat blueberry and chocolate chip muffins. The class performed a song and the teacher read, "If You Give a Moose a Muffin".

Each kid in the class had filled out a questionaire about their mom. Eliana got everything right on except for my weight. I told her that the answer she gave at 120 pounds was the amount that I was supposed to weigh. :)

She even knew my favorite food (quiche), favorite color (purple), and favorite song (well one of my favorites, The Christmas Shoes). I didn't know that she knew that much about me! A lot of the other kids were cracking us up with their answers. One girl said her mother was 200 years old and weighed 42 pounds! :)

She also drew a great picture of me on the back. I was really proud of her!

Marvin Update

This morning started out the same as yesterday. He just laid there and looked at me while I tried to get him to go outside. Usually if I mention the word "outside", he will run over to the door. Finally, around 9:30 a.m., he got up and went out. He then stayed over by the fence all day. I called the vet and made an appointment for this afternoon.

Andy got home and Marvin was still lying by the fence, but Andy was able to get him to walk over to him even though he was still cautious. Since that happened, we decided to wait and see what would happen today. If he was still acting strange tomorrow morning, we'd take him in.

I am happy to report that Marvin started getting much better around 6:00 or so. He came in and gobbled up his food. Last night, he had eaten all of his food, but very slowly. When Andy asked him if he wanted to go outside, he ran over to the door. I just heard him barking out there. I haven't heard him bark since Tuesday evening.

We are thinking that maybe he just had a 24-hour stomach bug or something? We are just really thankful that he seems to be back to his old self for now. We hope he will be around for a while longer. Thank you to everyone for your prayers!

Worried About Marvin

I've been wondering all day if our dog, Marvin, is dying. He is almost 10 years old. I let him out before I went to the bank this morning and he didn't want to come back in before I left. So I figured I wouldn't be gone very long and left him outside to enjoy the outdoors. It was fairly cool this morning.

Once I got home, I tried to bring him in, but he hasn't wanted to come inside all day which is very odd for him. He will lay right by the door, but when I open the door to let him in, he gets up and walks back over to the fence and lies down. If I try to approach him, he won't make eye contact and moves away. I haven't heard him barking out there all day.

Right now, he is sitting in the shade of the fence corner on the side of the house where we can't see him. I left his water out for him and I'm not sure if he's gotten any. The girls brought the bowl over to him. He wouldn't drink, but he did eat a dog treat from Eliana. Emily tried to give him his favorite ball and he just turned his head toward the fence and wouldn't look at her.

I'm hoping that he will want to come inside to eat supper once it gets dark out there. Maybe it's just such a nice day that he wants to enjoy the fresh air? I'm not sure what to do otherwise besides wait, hope, and pray.

Fall Fun

Since we have lived here, we have made a few traditions. One of those traditions is attending our city's Fall Festival. It is small, but we always have a good time. The girls look forward to going and spending their own $5 on the various activities and crafts. We usually look at all of the booths first and then the girls decide what to spend their money on.

-- We all did the Cake Walk this year. Normally, it is just Andy and Emily (who won the first year we went). Today, we decided to increase our odds of winning by all being in the circle. Eliana got picked to draw the number out of the bucket. Andy was on the winning number when the music stopped, but decided to move to the number next to it. So Eliana drew another number that wasn't any of ours.

-- Emily and Eliana used their own money to get their faces painted.



-- Eliana decided to spend the rest of her money on making her own sand bottle even though she already has two other ones at home from past festivals.

-- Emily used the rest of her money to buy a mini horse calendar, play a round of miniature golf (which she got a ball into the hole), and buy a snow cone.

-- Eliana pouted the rest of the time because she wanted to buy a snow cone, but couldn't because she had spent the rest of her money already on the sand bottle.

-- Sarah just had fun being outside.



-- I had the worst burger I have ever had in my life. It didn't taste like beef at all. Andy had some pretty good bbq nachos.

-- We met up with some friends and let the girls play on the playground for a while. We went on a hike through the woods near the playground.

By the time we got home, we were so worn out that we all took naps. It was a great day!

Hide and Seek

Sarah has learned a new skill. Opening doors. This has turned out to be a nightmare. It used to be so simple. I would close all of the doors of the rooms that I didn't want her to get into. When I went looking for her, I knew that she could only be in a couple of places...the rooms that had open doors.

Now I find myself playing a game of hide and seek a couple of times a day. I can no longer exclude the doors that are closed. She just opens them, goes in, and then shuts them again. I've had a couple of panic attacks while trying to find her. Racing to each room, flinging the door open, looking around briefly, closing the door, and moving to the next room.

I am calling her name over and over and she never says anything, of course. There is a chance she might not hear me since the last couple of times I have found her upstairs in the girls' room. I think that she does hear me most of the time though and just thinks it is a game because she thinks it is hilarious when she sees me bursting into a room frantically. I'm going to have to resort to locking doors instead of just closing them.