Sweethearts Dance

Tyler doubled with a friend on Saturday for the school's Sweethearts Dance. I didn't get any photos because I had left my camera at work. I got a little on video before Tyler made me turn it off. Tyler cannot drive anyone until I think April so his friend's mom drove them. They had decided to play laser tag earlier in the day and get ice-cream. They were going to go to the Olive Garden for dinner but learned the Oliver Garden does not accept reservations on the weekends and if you have ever been there is always a long wait. I told him to just come over and I would make dinner. I took Friday off work so I could go to the temple and then went shopping. I had seen earlier in the week Rachel Ray make a bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed chicken. Our internet was down so I wasn't able to pull the recipe but called Michael and my mom to come over and let me test it on them. It turned out really good. I had actually called Michael over to help me hang some curtains I had purchased. We ended up needed an additional curtain rod so headed down to Penny's where I got a new tablecloth and runner, napkins and napkin rings, new blinds and a curtain rod. It was @ 10 p.m. by the time we got home and I was exhausted. Michael came over the next day to finish hanging the curtains. I finished cleaning and we made a few trips to Home Depot. The curtains turned out great as did the bathroom fixtures that Michael got me 2-3 years ago but we never got around to putting them up. I then began setting the table and preparing the meal. I got out all my silver and I think everything turned out nice especially the food. I was nervous but it all went well. I made a salad (You have to try it. Everyone always raves about it when I serve it), stuffed chicken with gravy, roasted red potatoes and roasted asparagus. I purchased a cheesecake for dessert and they had sparkling cider. I had the meal ready and the kitchen cleaned by the time they came over and turned on Vilvadi's Four Seasons. They seemed to have a good time although they loaded the dishwasher. I kept trying to get them to stop but oh well. I would have done the same thing. After they left I unloaded the dishwasher and washed and put everything away. I never use the dishwasher. Don't like it. It was a long day but Tyler had fun. I will have to post his pictures from school.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/bacon-wrapped-blue-cheese-stuffed-chicken-green-beans-and-smashed-potatoes-with-green-onions-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/red-lettuce-with-balsamic-onions-recipe/index.html

Scott

Kirsten is down with her family. Scott got a bow and arrow from his grandmother in Vernal and was showing me how to shoot it. I took all the kids yesterday to Jamba Juice for a treat. Scott was playing Star Wars with Amy and cried because he didn't want Amy to leave and didn't want a treat. After about five minutes he decided to come with us. He talked about Star Wars the entire time. I walked with him down to McDonalds to get a kids meal as he doesn't like smoothies and he chatted continuosly about Start Wars. I think it is safe to say he is obsessed but "So Cute!"

Tyler Medical Update

Waiting for the doctor

Recovery Room Waiting to Go Back

We are still in the process of ruling out what Tyler doesn't have. I had the doctor do some blood work on Monday but it all came back normal. Yesterday Tyler was scheduled for an endoscope and Bravo study by the cardiologist. He thinks it is his stomach which I don't think it is but you have to keep just running a bunch of tests. I'm sure $10,000 later we are going to figure out the problem. Tyler handled the endoscope and Bravo study well. They gave him an IV so he didn't feel anything. The nurse got the IV in the first time which is what we like to see. Deron took his little boy in because he had RSV and the nurse poked him nine times and failed before they got someone else. Insanity! Ty's appointment was for 11:30 and the doctor showed up at 12:45. Luckily Tyler was the first one on the list. It actually doesn't take long and they rolled him back in to the room. It took about five minutes for Tyler to wake up. Here is a description of the procedure. "The procedure will be performed while you sit in a recliner. The nurse will monitor your blood pressure, pulse, and temperature prior to the test. You will have your throat sprayed with a numbing solution called Cetacaine. During this test, a capsule is passed through your mouth and suctioned to the wall of your esophagus. This capsule transmits data every 12 seconds to a pager that is worn for 48 hours. This capsule naturally sloughs or falls off in 5-7 days, travels through your system and is not retrieved." The endoscope came back normal hence the Bravo study. We are not having fun. He fell asleep around 6:30 p.m. and was planning on going to ballroom at 7:00. I thought it was better for him to sleep. He woke up at 7:10 and was mad at me because I didn't wake him up for ballroom. Oh well, such is life.

The Mom Song

This was sent to me at work and is great. You have to listen to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESe-AysF9mw

Confessions of a Shopaholic

JC Penney marked down its clearance and Michael and I went shopping on Saturday. We loaded all our stuff on a flat-bed and headed to the register. I guess there is a 50 item limit per transaction. We ended up with three transactions, over 100 items. Crazy! We did find lots of great deals and a great price. We just couldn't resist. We then piled it in the Disney mobile. I love shopping with Michael. We always have a fun time and amazing the things we can find.

Sick

Tyler has been feeling sick again the last few weeks. He was having chest pains again so we went back to the doctor. I had tried to schedule him an appointment with Dr. Bingham, the family's cardiologist but he only accepts patients who are over 18. So back to the family doctor we went.
I also went in because I have been having a lot of headaches since Disneyland. I was told that my migraines are expanding and changing although he sent me to radiology for a CAT scan of my head which came back normal. I was also told that my blood pressure is too low and to drink more water. When I informed him that water is mostly all I ever drink he said to add more salt to my diet. Here is the story about salt. My mom never salted anything when we were growing up and I wasn't allowed to eat salt because of gymnastics. One of the reasons my mom didn't salt food was because my dad over salts his food. I was also told to drink diet soda. Yea, just told him that wasn't going to happen. I rarely drink anything other than an occasional ginger ale so that wasn't going to happen. Next told to drink sports drinks. Now I am trying to eat salt and drink sports drinks. I never realized how salty sports drink taste until I started eating more salt.
They still have no idea what is wrong with Tyler and want to schedule him with a cardiologist. He also had a CAT scan done but with an IV (Surprise! Nobody told him till he got back there) because they wanted to see fluid being pumped through his heart. We are waiting to here about his next dr.'s appointment.
The end result - I mentioned to Tyler that I thought he should quit track. He is barely able to train and hasn't done much since October. He also said he thought he should quit lacrosse. I called the school and took him out of track. They gave him early release as it was too late to put him in another class. I also contacted lacrosse and cancelled. He is going to focus on ballroom. It's really sad. At 14 he ran the St. George Marathon and at 17 can't run a mile. Hopefully they find out soon what the problem is.

4th Grade cont.

I just realized that Mrs. Poole was in the photo. I didn't see her the first 10 times I looked at it. She was my fourth grade teacher. I don't really remember the black lady standing next to her other than she looks familiar. The other adult on the left was an aid, I think. What I remember about her is that she smoked and taught us about the harmful effects of smoking in Health class. I thought at the time it was very hypocritical. At any rate, it was taught when I was young that it was unhealthy so people who claim they never knew were either lying or stupid.
Couple of other memories - Our school was really small so fourth grade was in a seperate one room building which was always used for the Haunted House at Halloween. I was deathly afraid of the Haunted House as a child. I went in it one year because my father was one of the characters that year and realized it was nothing. I also remember in 4th grade that somebody in the class had done something and we couldn't go to recess until the person confessed. Well nobody confessed and we finally had to lay our heads down and close our eyes and the person who had committed the offense had to raise their hand. It took a while but we finally were able to go outside. I also remember sitting in a circle and we had to tell everyone our middle name. I never liked my middle name so I can't remember if I said it or not. It is not such a big deal anymore and I will tell you that it is Farelyn (named after a friend of my parents) before Kirsten blogs it in capital letters. She always calls me by my middle name. I also just remembered that we used to always take turns saying a prayer before going to lunch. I always liked it because everyone said a memorized prayer and I didn't. Of course we had the best school lunches, especially the rolls. I can still smell them.

4th Grade

I am in the middle in a red jumpsuit if you don't recognize me

Carole Rice Hill, a cousin and childhood friend, posted our 4th grade picture from J. Paul Beam Elementary school on Facebook. I have all these pictures at home in a scrap book but it has been fun to relive some memories and read comments from childhood classmates as they try to remember the names. I can only remember a few first names and it is so nice to get people's full names. Kirsten wrote down all the names on her class pictures so she can name them all. She of course has a head for useless information. I don't. I really enjoyed going to school at J. Paul Beam. Mrs. Hubbard, my sixth grade teacher, was probably my favorite. We saw her once years ago on a visit to Gaffney. I haven't been back in probably ten years. She loved to read to her class and I loved to read so it was great. I remember all the books she read such as "A Taste of Blackberries" about a boy who gets stung by a bee and dies. A few after that I was stung by a bee and began having allergic reactions to it and had to be taken to the emergency room. Luckily I do not get stung very often and now just take some medication. Actually, I just freeze when a bee is around until it flies away. She also read "Bridge to Terabitha" also about someone who dies. Do you see a theme here? I think the summer before sixth grade a classmate had passed away in a go-cart accident. He and a girl drove under another car at night. She survived but he didn't make it. I wonder if she intentionally read those stories now to help anyone coping with the situation. I wondered it at the time but of course didn't say anything. She also read "How to Eat Fried Worm." She actually stole it from me. I had checked it out of the library and she saw it in my hands and took it. I had three favorite books I checked out of the library and read over and over again. One of them my name filled up the check-out sheet. My favorite was a mystery by Enid Blyton, I think. I just remember something about headlights shining in a window. The other book was about Swallows and one had a damaged wing and couldn't fly with the family south for the winter. I also read one about a Ghost Town. My least favorite books that I have read over the years..."Wuthering Heights"(I detest that book), "Desert Solitaire" (Snoozer) and "War & Peace." I actually only read that one because it was in a Charlie Brown cartoon and thought it sounded interesting. It wasn't. I can at least say I read it not that it does me any good.

Swim Meet

Samantha and Scott had a swim meet on January 24th at Skyline High School. I remember going there for Kirsten's swim meets and don't like the pool. It is really small but at least they do not pitch a fit about everyone sitting on the deck. There is no where else to sit. Amy was unable to swim because she had broken both wrists, which was a shame. I wanted to see my "Sweet Mim" swim. The morning went by really quickly, which if you have ever been to a swim meet you know that is not typical. The boring part was waiting two hours for Samanatha's last event. She kept telling me she was willing to sacrifice and scratch and we could just go to Red Lobster. I was somewhat tempted but was afraid of the wrath of Kirsten.

It was so fun to see Scott swim. He was the youngest by four years swimming. He has just started and swam the 100 free. He is a true Sanders. I know a lot of adults who can't swim 25 yds. and Scott is only five. He almost missed the event but luckily Kirsten got Marshall's attention and Marshall rushed him up to the blocks. Amy was at first embarrassed that he was her brother because he was so slow but she soon changed her mind when the entire place started cheering for him. I heard some girl come up behind me and say "I'm going to cheer for this little kid. He is so cute!" That's why we call him "So Cute." Even strangers concur. It was funny. He would paddle for a second and then do a few strokes. While paddling he would grin the entire time. He didn't stop but just kept going.

Samantha did really well. She has beautiful strokes and is fun to watch. The last event was the best. She was swimming the 200 free and was in second the entire time until the last 50. The girl in the lead lost count and stopped at the wall. Samantha stopped before the wall and had this confused look on her face. I think she knew she still had two laps but was wondering if she had miscounted or what was going on. Anyway, they stopped and looked at each other for a few seconds and then Samantha just did her flip turn and continued and won. Thank goodness she didn't stop or she would have been facing the wrath of Kirsten. I have to say, it is hard to remember because you start thinking about other things and then questioning your counting. I can't keep track either.

Amy's crystal with her picture in it and the word's "spoiled wrotten" came from Disneyland. It turned out really nice. We may have to go in together and do the one of the mouse ears. It is really nice but $300.