Prom

Andrea had her first high school prom on Saturday the 14th of May.  She really enjoyed getting dressed up and going out with her friends.  They rented a limo, had a yummy dinner, then danced the night away!  Here are some highlights!

Getting ready at Grandma's

 

Andrea and Walter

The back of her dress

Janelle and her buddy Sadie had a good time taking pictures of their sisters.

Taking a break under the HUGE tree.

Receiving her beautiful corsage.

Cute couple

The whole gang.

Into the limo!  Can you PLEASE stop taking pictures now?

Dinner at Babetta's.

They had a great time!

A long night

Poor Emma had a nosebleed at 2:30am last night.  David & I were both woken up, though he was very kind and was the one that got up with her.  He got it stopped, and her all cleaned up.  Luckily, it wasn't a very bad one.  Trying to fall back asleep afterwards proved much easier for her than for us.  It actually took me several hours to get back to sleep, and I felt HORRID this morning.  David & I dragged ourselves through the day, and I foresee an earlier bedtime for us tonight!  I'm glad Emma had an easier time going back to sleep!

She did have another minor nosebleed today at school, but we were prepared for that.  I was having flashbacks to a year ago, when she had seven nosebleeds in 24 hours.  NOT fun!  Hopefully tonight will be less eventful!

SIX FLAGS!!!!!

We wanted to get away during Spring Break, at least for a few days.  Preferably warm, and not too much driving.  We decided to head to Santa Rosa, where we had a great visit and BBQ with my cousins.  We stayed at their house, which was super fun as our kids all got to spend some time together!  The next day we stole my niece Madison, and headed to Vallejo!  The girls had been counting down the days, and we were all very excited!

We arrived about 10am and caught the tram heading into the park.  It was a beautiful, sunny day!

On the tram!

 As soon as we got through the gate, we made plans to meet up at the first show, and off went the teenagers to the roller coasters, while David and I took Emma to scout out the animals and find the Butterfly House.  Emma loves butterflies, and that's what she was most looking forward to.  We ended up going through it twice!

A just hatched butterfly dries its wings in the chrysalis box.



This butterfly was as big as a bird, and landed on Emma's shoulder!



So many colorful butterflies!

OMG!!!  A butterfly is ON MY FINGER!

Next, we met up with the big kids and watched the Pirate themed sea lion show.  Very entertaining!

Next, we went to the whale show, where we met Shouka, the Orca.  We made the older kids sit in the Splash Zone, and they were drenched by the splashing whale.  We had a good laugh at their expense, but really, how many times do you have the opportunity to be splashed by a whale???

Madison, Janelle, and Andrea - all wet!

Next, we went to the bird show.  The talking birds were a lot of fun, and the vultures and bigger birds were interesting!

The big kids went off to ride more roller coasters, and Emma got the chance to ride a few herself!  She went all through the kid area, and actually rode a pretty big roller coaster!

This slide was super tall & I was shocked she went down!

A refreshing stop at the fountains!

We had a few more shows to catch!  The tigers were tough to photograph because of the chain link fence, but the dolphins were awesome!

The girls then took a turn with Emma so David and I could try a coaster before the park closed.  With both enjoy roller coasters, so we chose to ride Medusa, and a classic wooden coaster, Roar.  Both were exhilarating!!!

Medusa

Roar!

We had a fantastic time, and the kids LOVED Six Flags.  I highly recommend it to any family looking for something fun that isn't too far away.  Pack your lunch though, the food is pricey!!!!!  I think we'd like to go back again sometime!

A very fun Easter!

It was very nice to have an Easter with no snow this year! 

Princess Emma looking for eggs.

We had a small group of only about 17 people this year.  It was a relaxing day full of food and fun!  We hunted eggs, played dominoes, and ate pie!

Janelle, Tim, and Uncle Dave

Andrea's trying to fill her basket, and I make her stop and pose!

"There's one, but the flower is taller than me!"

Happy Birthday David!

On April 11th, my handsome husband turned 38!  I think it was the first birthday in a while where we had nobody over (at least on the actual day).  Our house was quiet, and it was just the 5 of us!  That weekend however, we had a dinner party for him.  Much sausage was ingested!  Yum!  He loves sausage from Loleta Meat Market.  I think we had 5 different kinds.  "Sausagepalooza" is always a success!

Emma wanted to make Daddy a special birthday present.  All us girls have a tie blanket, so she thought he should have his own too.  She picked out the fabric.  Blue, because it's his favorite color for the back, and Dalmatian dogs with red fire hydrants for the front.  Totally cute!  We made it really long, so he can really wrap up in it.



Emma was excited to 'help' unwrap his present!



David had fun stacking up all the tissue paper- on Emma!

He loves it!

It was a great birthday, and a wonderful night for our family to be together!

A month has gone by??

Wow, time flies when you're busy.... and maybe a little lazy!  I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged.  Time to catch up!

Under the weather

Friday afternoon, I went to Dr. Biteman's office in Arcata to have that nasty little crypt removed from the right side of my throat.  I was supposed to go on Monday, but he was ill, so it was pushed to Friday.  Turns out, that was probably a good thing, so I had the weekend to recover.  I was very nervous about having the procedure done while I was awake.  For my tonsillectomy years ago, I was out cold in the hospital, as it should be!
David drove me in, which was great, because after just the consultation a few weeks ago I felt woozy!  I went to the back, and Dr. Biteman sprayed the numbing stuff in my throat.  Then off to another room where the procedure would actually take place.  Here we go!  They were prepared for me this time.  A cold washcloth for my neck AND my head, and they had me take my shoes & socks off to help keep me cool.  After donning very stylish protective glasses, I was as ready as I was going to be.

I kept my eyes closed as much as possible, so I wouldn't see all the scary stuff coming towards me.  First was the numbing shots, which weren't bad since the spray had already numbed me up.  Then, I was told to inhale, and on the exhale, he would laser so I would blow the smoke out of my mouth.  The person who went before me took about 15 minutes.  I took closer to 40 :(  Turns out, my tonsil had grown back halfway, and as he lasered away, the tissue underneath would be bad, so he'd have to take more.  It also took quite a while to clean out the crypt.  My simple procedure was not turning out so simply!

Dr. Biteman did a great job.  It was much more extensive than he anticipated, but he got the job done.  He and his staff did great keeping me calm through it as well.  Now I have to see how I do tomorrow and into Monday.  I was hoping I wouldn't miss any work, but this turned into WAY more than I'd planned.  I'm on Vicodin for pain, which he said to expect for 7-10 days.  I certainly don't want to be on it that long (I really don't care for Vicodin) and I don't want to drive on it.

So for now, I'm down for the count, and hoping my problem is solved.  I go back for a checkup on the 26th, which is during Spring Break.  At least I won't miss any work for that!  My mouth tastes and looks like charcoal, and is very, very sore. Talking is painful, so I'm doing a lot of texting and Facebook.   David has been great, driving the kids everywhere they need to be, as well as doing the grocery shopping, and a couple of other events I was going to help with, or we were going to do together.  Thanks honey!