Birthday girl and other stuff

In the interest of fairness, I figured I better post a birthday picture of Bryn...better late than never, right?


So the toilet ate my iPod...well, kind of. I have an iPod nano that my in-laws gave me a year and a half ago (they got it with their computer and thought I might appreciate the hot pink little gadget!) that I finally broke out of the box since I have a 6 mile walk ahead of me tomorrow. Of course after spending 2+ hours yesterday fooling with it, it still wouldn't work. It would sync but wouldn't operate in any way once disconnected from the computer. Oh well (I think), I will just replace it for a newer and improved model. Or not! Who knew the damn things cost over $150!?!?! So maybe I will just upgrade my cell phone to an iPhone and use that as my iPod. Or not! They cost $399 (only $199) if I were eligible for an upgrade which I am not until October. Geez! Who knew I would have to sell a child to get some entertainment for myself while walking? So I sent Aaron to the Apple store to see if they could fix my poor wounded iPod and they don't have a battery in stock to see if that will solve the problem. Guess I'll listen to a lot of birdsong tomorrow!

And how is the toilet responsible, you ask? I wrote a check to the plumber today for $191 to replace some dumb leaking valve. Could have been a new iPod.

A Star is Born!

Bryn had her writing/directing/starring role debut today. She wrote a skit that her class performed at share chapel today. We videotaped it so we can play it back when she wins her Academy Award (since she has now decided to make movies AND write books). But for the grandparents who are out of town, here is the script (and a little bit of explanation from me):

Dog Going to Tennessee

(The dog is by a river looking at a raft)

Dog - Hey!

Dog - Well, they have a raft.

Dog - How did I get in the river if the raft didn't move?

(At the pound)

Cats - Meow, Meow, Meow! We want to get out.

Dogs - Woof, Woof, Woof! We want to get out!

Pound Keeper - Stop it!

(Back at the river. The dog has encountered another raft with a funny girl on it)

Dog - Half way there.

Funny Girl - Next stop the waterfall.

Dog - What waterfall?

Funny Girl - It's easy to cook eggs here.

Dog - Where?

(The rafts go over a waterfall)

Funny Girl - Wee!!!!

Dog - Get the pan.

(back a the pound)

Dogs and Cats - Woof, Meow, Woof.

Pound Keeper - Stop it!

Dog - Well we're at the bottom of the waterfall.

Dog - Where did that girl go?

(pound keeper finds Dog)

Pound Keeper - This one will do well.

Dogs - Woof?

Cats - Meow?

Dog - Well I'm in Tennessee.

Nice Boy - Can we have all the dogs and cats?

Pound Keeper - Yes.

Dog - Yeah.

Everyone - The end.

Smile, bow and take your seat.




So there you have it. Our budding movie makers first script.

Just as I was...

all ready to get back into the groove of blogging, walking and getting my life generally organized I have been hit with a nasty bug. Fortunately I have a great hubby who has let me crawl into the tub to soak and then head to bed early every night. Hopefully I'll have this bug whipped soon - or at least have enough cough syrup with codeine to not care!

Sad times and good memories

We just got back from a trip to Memphis to attend Mema's funeral. It was a nice service and it was good to see the family but it was an understandably sad time.

I am hoping to get all caught up on everything this week and catch up on reading blogs and updating my own!

Slumber party update

We are all still in one piece and there were no tears and no fights. Everyone was asleep by midnight and slept until 8:30 this morning. All in all, a roaring success!

Definitely a little crazy

I must be to have 6 first grade girls in sleeping bags down in my basement for Bryn's 7th birthday party! Actually they all look about ready to totally pass out and I am thinking they may all be asleep by the time I get back down there. We had 10girls over for dinner, ice cream sundaes and crafts (decorating pillowcases and flip flops) until about 9 this evening and we already survived that so I am hoping the hard part is over! Actually, they were great and I think they all had a lot of fun. We'll see if that holds until the morning!

Bryn had her ballet "Magic Tree House" performance today. she was a bird, an army ant, a jellyfish and a baby dolphin. Grandma came and Bryn's friend, Riley, from school and his mom came so she had a whole little cheering section.

I have an appointment to meet with the principal of the public elementary school and with the administrator of Bryn's current private Christian school to discuss options for school next year. Aaron and I are really struggling with what to do at this point. Fortunately, Bryn does not currently struggle with her schoolwork, but it is also unfortunate in a way as she really is perfectly content knowing the material and not having to work very hard. After witnessing many of our current college students and their dislike of having to do any work that involves thinking of any kind, we don't want to set Bryn up to be the kind of kid who shies away from a challenge. I feel strongly that she needs to be challenged now and not just be able to cruise through her schoolwork but I can't come up with a way to deal with the problem since neither school offers much in the way of extra curriculum. And I am pretty sure we can't afford the $1500 a month it would cost to send her to a private school in Kansas City. So here we are...

I am off to check on the girls...I am hoping for 6 little sleeping beauties...

Good and bad

We had a busy weekend - it was Bryn's birthday weekend and we did lots of celebrating! On Friday, I took pizza and cupcakes to her class for lunch and she had her class celebration there. Aaron, Bryn Grant and I all went to T Rex Cafe for dinner (where Bryn lost another tooth which she literally did lose somewhere under the table!) and then Bryn and I went to see Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy. It was interesting to see the contorting acrobats and it was right up Bryn's alley with all of the animal characters. I was most impressed with the hair spinner - who knew there was a nearly lost art form of hair spinning in Bulgaria? Aaron pointed out that it is probably almost lost for a reason...spinning from one's hair seems a little painful.

Saturday was Bryn's actual birthday so we celebrated with a pancake breakfast, playing in the snow and a nice nap. The nap was not necessarily Bryn's idea of birthday fun, but it worked for Aaron and I! The school silent auction was that night and Bryn and her friend Lauren got into a bidding war for a movie night at their teachers house...it wasn't pretty but it worked out in the end as their teacher said they could both go. There were plenty of tears (from her friend) when Bryn outbid her to win and then plenty of tears from Bryn when she found out her bid didn't count because she didn't put her bidder number beside it. Girl drama...gotta love it. And I won two rounds of golf and tickets to the pool - yeah me!

Aaron's parents came over to celebrate Bryn's birthday on Sunday and we ate more cake. Just what I needed.

And more presents and cards came in the mail yesterday...I think this 7th birthday may last a while!

Some sad news in our family...Memas cancer has spread rapidly and the doctor has discontinued chemo and called hospice in. This is obviously a very sad and hard time for the whole family. She has been fighting so hard for a long time and her attitude has been great - it just seems so unfair that she can't beat it.