We Are Alive

We are alive and well (except for James, who is currently in QuickCare with a tummyache).  But we all survived the move to SE Idaho, and are absolutely THRILLED to be living together again.  The girls have been doing so much better, especially Tooty, although she has decided that the best thing to do it to completely ignore my voice unless she needs something.  Which is not my favorite.  I have some pictures of some stuff we've been up to, but they are still on the camera. 

I wish that some things could just be decided for us.  We have had an amazing opportunity fall into our laps, but are currently living in a pretty great opportunity.  So how do we decide which one we should pursue?  Would you mind making up my mind for me and I will pass that along during the discussion later?  That'd be great.

Best of Moscow

I have done it! 

I have solved one of the worst problems that plague the citizens of Moscow, Idaho.

Is there anyone in town who enjoys drinking from the tap?  Not endure - enjoy.

I don't think so.

Throughout the years, I have tried a variety of ways to 'fix' the gross taste of the water.  And some work.  My freshman year of college, we filled and refilled and refilled small water bottles.  And if the water was cold enough, it was fine.  At the end of that year, I was given a large Brita filtration - and that worked great!  But it is a little on the expensive side to continue buying filters, and sometimes we weren't too good at refilling it.  So then you had to refill it and drink from the tap.

Totally gross.

And turning water into juice/crystal light/kool aid is really tasty.

But I still want to drink water, and that's tough when

my one and only pitcher is already filled.

The other day, as I was putting my pitcher of water back into the fridge,

I decided to try an experiment.

I squirted a little bit of lime juice (from the 39 cent container from WinCo)

into the water.

The result?

DE-LICIOUS!!

And it doesn't take very much.  And you can't really taste the lime.

It seems to neutralize the grossness and make it

taste like regular tap water.

Thank you, thank you.

You don't need to pay for this genius idea - I am allowing you

to try it and share it freely.

But I wouldn't say no to a parade...

Mispronounced

There have always been some words that puzzle Tooty.

For instance, today she was asking my sister for the 'nap' in the car.

Thinking it was very strange that Tooty wanted a nap,

she asked if she really wanted a nap.

No - the nap!

As soon as I got back in, Tooty asked me for the 'nap' and I handed

her the atlas.  I have worked with her

several times on pronouncing it right, but it's still nap.

But my favorite mispronunciation was last night.

I made her pancakes and she has always called them 'cancakes'. 

So last night while we were talking about them, I said,

"Puh-puh-pancakes."

To which she replied,

"Puh-puh-CANcakes!"

Elated

I mentioned in my last post that we stayed at my parent's house

for Easter.  When Tooty goes to bed, she has a

routine.  And I'm not talking about

her bath, book, and prayer routine - I'm talking about the routine

words that MUST be said.

If we put her in bed and don't say, "Sweet dreams," or

"I love you, too," she will be out of bed

in seconds, demanding help to get back in.

Last night, after the usual words, she wanted an extra hug.

Of course, I obliged - it's often like pulling teeth to get her to hug us back.

And as I kissed her and turned to leave, she said,
"You're my best girl."

Oh yeah!  My heart soared!

Especially since we were at my mom's house, who is Tooty's

absolutely, no-question-about-it, favorite favorite

person in the world.

But I'm her best girl.

Bliss.

Appendectomy

My sister is staying with us, and early yesterday morning (just after 2am), she woke me up because she was in a TON of pain.  Her stomach was hurting her a lot.  I asked her how I could help and what she wanted.  We called our parents, who suggested that we call the nurse hotline with their insurance company.  After talking to a nurse, we were told to head to the emergency room.  I called my sister-in-law, who came over (bless her heart, after driving 15 miles) to sleep on the couch while we were going so I didn't have to wake the girls up.

After being examined and having a few tests run, the doctor thought she was having appendicitis, but needed another test to be sure.  Since he wasn't definite on the idea (he had 2 other possibilities), he said they could do a CT scan or just wait and see how the pain went.  She didn't want to do the test right then, so she was discharged and we went back home and back to bed at 5 with instructions to call or head back when the pain got worse.  That lasted until 6 when Tooty woke us up.  So I started our morning by turning on a movie for the kids so I could sleep a little longer.  After a few hours, we thought I might try to get the house straightened up so that we could go to our parent's house in a nearby city.  When we were ready to leave, we said a prayer and asked that if she would need to be in the hospital before we could get to our destination, that we would know before we left town.  We both felt good about going, and the trip was uneventful.  The girls were quiet and slept for most of it, so really it was great.

We spent a couple hours at the house here until Dad got home from work, and he took her to the emergency room.  A few hours later, she was in surgery and had her appendix removed.  Things went great, and she is expected to come home today.  We will stay here for a few days longer than our original plan for Easter weekend, so that will be nice.  We are so grateful that everythiing went well and are hopeful that her recovery will be quick.

We are also grateful for the doctor who supported our family's desire to avoid a CT scan if possible.  Considering her age, we didn't think it was a good idea to have such a large concentration of radiation, especially when it would be focused in the reproductive area.  She was getting an ultrasound, and the nurses were telling our parents that the scan would probably be necessary, but then the surgeon came in and since the ultrasound said 90% chance that her appendix was the problem, they would just go with that.  Thanks Doc!

We're Trying It...

A garden!

We found these cutie little greenhouses at WallyWorld for only $1!

Since we were already planning to try

our hand at container gardening, we thought it was

worth a shot!

In the green boxes, we are trying to grow cucumbers, eggplant, and sweet bell peppers.
The blue has zinnias.
The seeds were included in the pack.

March & Early April

Surprise, surprise - I let myself get WAY behind...

I thought I'd do a quick update on how things have been going since my last post.

We are doing great.

We've had several big changes, and a lot of different stuff.

First of all, our big news is that Daddy got a job!

He's no longer making pizzas - his patience

and hard work have paid off, and he is loving his new position.

He is now a Jr QFD Expert - don't ask me what that is, because I don't know.

I know that he is using the Six Sigma Certificate that he

earned while in school. 

And that he loves the job.

So all is well.

Although the job is in another city, and our lease here is not up yet,

so we have stayed behind for the time being.

If you want more detail than that, you have to contact me.

We have added to our family - my little sister is with us for a short stay,

and you can tell how excited Tooty is about it!

 Sometimes I am brave and let the girls bathe together - but that only happens when there is another adult available to help me out. 

As you can see, they get along great and love being together,

but Tooty isn't always as gentle as necessary.

 Cupcake's first birthday is coming right up, but with Daddy out of town,

we decided to have a party early so he could be there. 

We had a turtle party - it was a

Shell-a-bration

Cupcake had a great time.

 She went back for the crumbs after the presents:

 A few weeks ago, we woke Tooty up early from her nap.  When I walked in

her room, this is what I found:

I don't know what made her decide to use the dolly bed, but she was SOUND asleep!

Last but not lease, Cupcake's new favorite thing

(for the moment)

is Peek-a-Boo.

And I have to say, she is stinkin' cute!

Even with food on her face.