Happy Halloween!

Too busy to write a good post right now...seems to be the story of our life these days. But Halloween was wonderful--crisp fall weather, no wind, lots of candy, a few tears, lots of bickering, and a great day spent with each other. Here are Ross the Knight, Hope the Cowgirl, and Grant the Clone Trooper:

Lunch Break

So, I'm sitting here eating at my computer in my office. I meant to post yesterday on my lunch break, but it was so dang busy here that I didn't even eat lunch (thank goodness for that banana at 3:00!).

Ross and I were driving to school yesterday when All Summer Long by Kid Rock came on the radio. In case you don't know, Kid Rock samples Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd pretty heavily in All Summer Long. You can hear the guitar and piano parts from SHA really clearly. He'd never heard that song before, so I said, "Ross, this is a great song!"

Ross: What's it called?

Me: All Summer Long.

pause...

Ross: Oh. I thought it was Sweet Home Alabama.

He's 4 and he can already recognize a classic rock song when he hears one. Last night he requested Pour Some Sugar on Me so he could jam in the living room as he picked up his toys.

I love that kid!

Shoulder surgery

So, I had scope surgery on Friday to repair a torn labrum. The labrum is a piece of tissue between the ball and socket of the shoulder joint. All went well, but I didn't really think much about the fact that there would be some recovery involved. I just figured, "Oh, it's same-day surgery. I'll have to wear the stabilizer again but I've done that before when it's been dislocated." Well, I'm also on pain medication, have to sleep in the recliner for a week, and CANNOT lift my arm above waist level or move my are away from my side at all. And yes, this is the right shoulder and I'm right handed.

Basically, it's an inconvenience to me and to all those around me. I will be fine, and I'm SO grateful to my in-laws and my parents for pitching in and helping us with kids.

Things I can't do right now:
lift or carry Hope
style my hair
put on clothing like a normal person
sleep flat in my own bed
laundry
vacuuming
shave
drive

Things I'm getting pretty good at:
Eating with my left hand
brushing my teeth left-handed
pulling my pants up with one hand

Funny story...when the nurse was helping me get dressed and ready to go home, I had to use the bathroom. So I went, and guess what I got? Yep. Monthly Martha. I literally moaned out loud, "Are you kidding me?" So that's something else I can now do left-handed.

Things I Like

Bonnie's post was so interesting, I thought I'd do one of my own like-lists. Actually, I started this as a "dislike" post but I couldn't think of much. I'm sure I just have to be in the right mood. So, in no particular order, here are things I like:

Holding hands with Kris
The first sip of piping hot coffee early in the morning
An hour to myself before everyone else wakes up
chocolate chip cookie dough
My kids' smiles
My kids' giggles!
when Hope asks for a "panapkin"
When Ross said, "Hope is smaller, I'm mediumer, and Grant's the biggest."
crossing tasks off my to-do list
a clean bathroom
freshly-vacuumed carpet
watching Kris play with any of the kids
playing with play-doh
working with colleagues
hearning from former students who have acquired teaching positions
Paul Blart, Mall Cop
every single episode of Friends
The Facts of Life
Little House on the Prairie
dark chocolate
Nestle's milk chocolate chips
coconut
curling up between our down comforter and the featherbed
Starbucks
bulldogs and pugs
Eddie Murphy
Jersey Boys
the Bee Gees!
Andy Gibb
Jamie Lee Curtis
Sharon Osbourne
Bret Michaels
the Purple Rain soundtrack
my dad's grilled steak
a crisp glass of Riesling
my nieces and nephews
the first whif of fall leaves
Christmas music
the chemistry of the Golden Girls and Designing Women
laughing so hard I cry
Betty White
The Little Mermaid
pedicures
McDonald's french fries
pink
turquoise
all manner of rings
my pillow

First Day pictures

Ross's first day of preschool--and his last year at the MSUM Early Ed Center.


Grant's first day of 3rd grade


All shiny-clean and ready to play!


Grant wants to keep growing out his hair. Here he is in his daily uniform: athletic shorts and a t-shirt.


Posing for the camera


Oh yes, Grandma Jeanne gave Ross and Hope a bath in the sink yesterday afternoon. My cuties.

Back to school

After a summer that was far too short, Ross and I went back to MSUM yesterday. Well, actually, I've been going in all summer for meetings and whatnot, and last week we had faculty workshop all week, but yesterday was the official first day of classes. I love this time of year at school--whether they're 4 or 24 or older, students are excited to see friends and get back to class. There's an energy in the air that's unmistakeable...enthusiastic, eager, and overwhelmingly positive.

How can I be posting at 7:30 in the morning on a work day? Well, Ross got the stomach flu at the end of the school day yesterday, so I'll be staying home today. I hate to miss work on the second day of the semester (I have another class and several meetings today), but my little boy needs me. Kris has teacher workshops today before he and Grant start school tomorrow, so it's certainly busy around here. I just hope no one else gets sick! Oh, and did I mention that Grant had back to school night last night as well as flag football practice? And there's FB practice again tonight along with his first game on Thursday? And so it begins...

Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. I have too many friends who are dealing with cancer or serious injury to think I'm "struggling" with this busy life. I am blessed and humbled by the good fortune in our lives.

Good Times (warning--very long post)

Last week we had the pleasure of being the first family to camp in Grandpa Ward's brand new, custom built 5th wheel camper. What an adventure! First off, the camper is beautiful and so huge! It has two bathrooms, a full stand up shower, and two bedrooms--one master bedroom and one with extra large bunkbeds. It also sleeps up to 5 more people in the kitchen/living room area. The kitchen includes a stovetop, oven, microwave and double sink. There's a built in sound system as well as a flat screen TV. It's like an apartment on wheels.

Our destination was Storybook Land at Wylie Park in Aberdeen, SD. If you've never been, we highly recommend it. The actual Storybook Land/Land of Oz park is beautfully manicured with many bright, inviting sculptures of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Wylie Park includes bike and hiking paths, a small zoo, at least 3 beautiful playgrounds, and an amusement park area with mini golf, bumber boats, and go-karts. So it should have been an idyllic 3 days, right? Uh huh. Read on...

After we got there and Kris set up the camper, I went to the bathroom. I pushed the flush button on the back of the toilet and it broke off. Oops. "Kris, can you come in here and put this button back on? I can't get it." "What button??" "The flush button..." "That's NOT a flush button!!! You flush with the foot pedal, Erin...you BROKE IT! THE PIPE'S BROKEN!" This was followed by several choice words I can't repeat here. I felt awful. I hustled the kids together and we went for a walk to one of the playgrounds. I was dragging with guilt and hoped it could be fixed. We'd only been there 20 minutes at this point. Thankfully, it wasn't truly broken; it was just unattached and Kris was able to fix it. WHEW. Huge relief.

At 3:30 in the morning that first night Grant came across the living room area to wake me up. "Mom, Hope's crying." "Okay. Thanks, Grant." I groggily got of out bed and walked down the two steps from the master bedroom to the main level. But I misstepped and caught myself with my right hand. Thud. "OWWWW!" Kris leaped out of bed, scurried by me to calm Hope and Ross, who by now were both crying. I moved gingerly to the sofa and sat, gripping my shoulder. Grant sat by me and asked, "Are you okay, Mom?" Kris came over. "Erin, is it all right?" Nope, sorry folks. I dislocated my shoulder again: FOR THE THIRD TIME IN TWO YEARS. So Kris got all the kids to pee, gathered up the nintendo DSes, put shoes on, helped me into a pair of sweats, and loaded us all into the truck at 4 o'clock in the morning to drive into Aberdeen to find the emergency room. Good times, right?

Thankfully, it only took 10 minutes to get there and I was their only patient at that time. You should have seen the kids' faces when they put an IV in my arm. Eys as big as saucers! Ross walked over to me and gently touched my arm. The nurses were wonderful, the doctor was very caring, and when it was all said and done it only took 2 hours for them to xray, administer pain drugs, pop my shoulder back in, and take another xray (thank God for versed--this drug takes away all memory of a procedure, so they tell me I was conscious but I have no memory of the popping back in). We made it back to the camper about 6:30 in the morning. Kris was so awesome through it all--taking charge, calming the kids, maintaining patience through major fatigue, and then buying the kids doughnuts before tucking us all back in to sleep for a while.

Don't get me wrong; we still had a great time: did all the things there were to do, and we even went to the local waterpark that afternoon. But Kris really wanted to drive back that night so he could concentrate while the kids slept. So we did cut our trip short by a day. :( But I've got to hand it to the kids--none of them complained at all about coming back a day early. We all had a great time and made many memories. Yes, good times.

The shoulder? I'll likely be having surgery on it in the near future to tighten the muscle/tissues around the socket so this doesn't happen again.