Recap of my birthday

Ok, so I just wanted to tell you how the rest of my birthday went - it was probably the best birthday I've ever had. Once Martin and I got to the office, he proceeded to tell everyone that it was my birthday that day. I just kept shaking my head at him - he's never done that before. Then he got rolls and invited the carpenters from their office and the guys from the shop over too, to help celebrate! By the time the day was over, everyone at Bargen Inc. knew it was my birthday. Some even got my age out of it. Some of the guys (bless their hearts) truly thought I was still in my 20's. Now, to be honest, I don't know if I really look like I'm still in my 20's, or if they were simply being nice. Not that I look old, cuz I really dont' think I do, but you know how guys are - especially ones you work with - if they can suck up somehow, they'll do it. Martin asked Brad if we could get off work at 3 so we could head to Mankato for supper and Brad said "sure". So we were off at 3 to go out for supper. And yes, I still wanted to head to Jackpot, but with going to Mankato, we can kill 2 birds with 1 stone and get groceries while we're there too - thus saving us a trip there this weekend. Martin said it was my choice for supper and that was hard - it was between Timberlodge and Chinese. We had about $35 to save at Timberlodge because of a gift card we had and a $10 coupon I had for my birthday, so only because of that, I chose Timberlodge. I love Timberlodge, don't get me wrong, but Chinese is wonderful too, and we all enjoy both places. Josiah was disappointed I didn't choose Chinese, but he immediately asked if we could eat there for his birthday and we agreed that we would.

Ok, so on to Timberlodge. Our waitress, Kirstin came and Josiah blurted out that it was my birthday and that I was 38 today. She smiled, laughed and said happy birthday. We ordered our food and later on, Martin asked her if they sing for birthdays. She said no, but she could probably find someone. I told her no, that's ok. Then Josiah came back from the bathroom, and Martin asked him if he would start singing Happy birthday to me. His response? "sure!". So off they went, singing to me at Timberlodge. I was embarrassed, and apparently they had a crowd watching them, cuz the couple waited to leave until the guys were done singing to me. Others were staring too. So I got a free cheesecake out of the deal, and Martin told Kirstin that Isaac had a birthday 2 weeks ago, and Josiah will have a birthday in 2 weeks, so she got them both 1/2 slice of cheesecake for their birthdays as well. That was very nice of her!

After supper I was ready for a nice nap, but we had groceries to get, and off we went to Sam's club and Walmart. We had a nice time in Mankato getting home around 10:15. It was a good thing the boys didn't have school the next day or we probably wouldn't have been apt to go to Mankato during the week. Anyways - it was a great day, and I just wanted to share that with you guys. Oh yes, and one more topper for the day was knowing Kevin, Michelle and Travis made it to Houston to see Krystie and Mike ok. They left early to miss the snow we were suppose to get. I knew they were there ok when he posted a comment on Krysties' facebook page teasing me about my age. Only a brother would do that! And reading that comment totally made my day. Kevin has always been one to call and wish me a happy birthday.

So to all of you that wished me a Happy Birthday - thank you! It was a great day and all of you made it even more special by being in my life!!! :) :)

Love to you all! ~
Michelle

It's my birthday! :) :) :) :)

Hello! Well, today is a day that I love to have. Not that I like the fact that I'm getting closer to 40 every year (I'm 38 today), but its a great day! :)

Isaac and Josiah got me a beautiful plant - not sure what the name of it is (I'll probably have to google it or something), but its an orangey-peach color and really pretty. And they got me a card too. (both were with help from Grandma and Grandpa who had them yesterday after school for me). They sure do love their Grandparents, and I wish we were closer to Lubbock for the boys to enjoy Grandma Josie and Bubba the same way they enjoy my parents. Don't get me wrong - the first time we visited them in Lubbock, Josiah was crying on the way home because he wanted to stay with Grandma Josie. We had to call her and tell her that because we thought that was really sweet. Family is very important to me - always has been and always will be, and that's the biggest beef I have is that Martin's family is so far away from us. I love them all and wish we could be more part of their lives and them with us. They are a great family! :)

but anyways - then Martin felt guilty when he got home last night and he hadn't got me anything so he quickly ran to Pamida in Windom to find something. I told him not too, but secretly I was happy he was doing something. So many times the day goes by without anything from him, so I welcome his thoughtfulness! He ended up getting me one of those long body sponges to use in the tub (the kind where it has the long handle and you can actually wash your entire back with it!), and a hair brush. We had planned to go to Jackpot Junction tonight for their seafood buffet (my favorite), but with the weather we got, we'll probably just opt to go to Mankato this weekend with the boys and go out for supper. That will be fine too, but that seafood buffet is something else! :)

oh yes, and we can't forget Mom and Dad either - they always get me something. Mom ordered me a skinny scarf through Avon - its teal and gold - really pretty. I wanted to wear it today, but I need something to go with it, so that will be my next project! (wink wink) Mom and Dad are the greatest parents around too - they are so willing to help with the boys afterschool, and the boys love playing games with them (Isaac and Grandpa play battleship and Grandma and Josiah play connect four). Its so cute watching them interact - I love it! :) They are the best!

Its true what you hear - that over time you appreciate your parents more. I see my Mom every day. I don't see Dad as often, cuz I usually stop at Cenex to see Mom during my lunch hour and sometimes Dad is there - just depending on what he's doing that day. But Mom and I are really close and I love it. I have counted myself very lucky to have Dad around since his heart attack. That he was able to walk me down the aisle at my wedding and now to see our boys grow up and have the chance to get to know them better. After Dad having his heart attack, and me having 2 miscarriages (1999 and 2004), I certainly have come to appreciate the little things in life like LIFE itself. After having the miscarriages, I came to appreciate the "normal" pregnancies of having a healthy baby at the end of those wonderful 9 months. And with Dad - I have learned not to take his life for granted either. And I think that was Gods' way of telling him that he needed to slow down too - time to stay home and be closer to the family. Those are just my thoughts though.

Must get going. I have work to do, and a day to celebrate LIFE!!!!!!!!!

Love to you all - may your lives be richly blessed today and everyday!

Michelle Denise

an Easter picture

I'm sure many of you can say too that when you were little, your parents got your Easter outfits to wear to Church. Well, I was the same way. I remember getting dresses, hats, etc. especially for Easter. That tradition is no exception in our house for the boys. They each got to pick their own shirt to wear, and got flip flops to go with the outfits, but of course living in MN, it was too cold to wear them yesterday. But they sure looked handsome in their new outfits going to Church!

Hope you all had a great Easter!

It was a perfect rainbow

It was a perfect rainbow. I had just dropped the boys off at AWANA and it was drizzling. Enough to keep your wipers on. I happened to look on the East side of town and saw the perfect rainbow - the entire rainbow! So I drove over to that end of town (not that it took that long to get there, but still), and I could see the entire thing. It looked like it was ending in a nearby field, so I quickly went home to get my camera. In a matter of those few minutes, the arch of the rainbow had disappeared and all I could get were the ends, which is so typical of seeing rainbows. I was so disappointed. I was so anxious to show it to Martin and the boys when I got home, but all I could show and tell of it were the ends. Maybe next time?!. . . . . .

What an amazing day!

Ok, so I meant to update this on Sat., but I just forgot. Julie and I had a wonderful time shopping! We found some great sales at Maurices and Kohl's and of course had to make the usual stop at Walmart for the basic stuff. We wanted to see a movie, but there were no chic flicks playing, so we opted to do that another day. We ate at TGIFriday's, which I haven't eaten there since I lived in New Jersey! That was so good! I have not found the recipes for their amazing fried green beans as appetizers and wasabi dip and the zen chicken pot stickers I had for lunch. I know, they sound like something that would definitely stick to your ribs, but they were SOOOOO good! There were only 5 of them and they were served with soy sauce and they are really like wontons. They were so good, not filling, but just right. They were actually listed in the appetizer section, but they sounded so good, that I had to have them. Julie had a strawberry lemondate slush and I had the wild berry lemonade slush. YUM YUM

Last night we had our Cub Scout pinewood derby races, and I'll have to get a picture and try to post it on here. Of course I didn't bring my camera along, and I should have. Isaac got 1st place for the Bears, so he now goes on to Districts on April 12th in St. James. He was so excited! I have to be there too because that day we are having training for leaders and the kids have an action packed day of events - rock climbing, tomahawk contest, swimming, etc. All for the cost of only $3 per child. Not bad. The key is to get the boys involved in scouts.

Anyways - had to tell you about my shopping day and of Isaac's grand night last night at the Derby races!! Hats off to Isaac!!

Have a great day! We're having some real slushy snow here and the ground was just getting nice and hard and ready for spring. Hopefully this stuff won't last long - the boys are SO ready for spring its crazy! (but then so am I! - I actuall got my capris out one day last week!)

Love,
Michelle

A shopping day!

This is a day that I have looked forward to for a while now. My friend Julie and I are going to Mankato today to have some fun! We're gonna go out to eat (don't know where) and do some shopping. We tried to do this a few weeks ago, and things didnt' work out, so now we're finally making it happen today! I'm excited about it. Julie and I used to work together, but now the past 3 years or so she's been at a different place of employment and we don't see each other too often. She was my maid of honor at our wedding, and we were very close at work. I've known her for the past 13 years. Her youngest daughter is in Isaac's class.

Its funny how time flies - when I first started work at Bargen, she had just had their first child. And now Janessa will be 13 years old next month. Then I had Isaac a few years later, she had Lexia the next year and then we had Josiah. We're both in different stages of child rearing, but that's ok. They are almost in the teenage years and we've only begun the double digits in our house. Her girls can stay home by themselves good, our boys can't yet. Although Isaac is mature enough to handle things, Josiah is too wild to want to listen to his brother! (imagine that?!)

Martin talked about taking the boys to Mankato too. We need groceries bad. Martin has finally returned to work so he can now get a good check instead of drawing unemployment. That got to be a real drag having him all the time. With me working, seemed like all he had was time on his hands to think about the things he could be doing if he were working. ARGH. And now we don't have to worry about that anymore - thank goodness!

I also added a map of sorts on the right side of this site. I got it from my cousins' wifes website. Mitch and Kelleigh live in Oregon and Kelleigh is an awesome scrapbooker! She displays awesome layouts on her website - I'm afraid to say that my pages are very simple compared to hers. Not that hers are full of stuff on them, I would say they are elegant and easy. I just don't know how to do the "elegant" part of scrapbooking. Anyways, I'll put their site on here again - I took it off cuz I didn't have it typed in there right and I could never access if anyways. But she put that map on her site to see where all her readers are coming from and I thought it was cool too, so I copied it (hope that's ok Kelleigh!)

Must get going. J asked for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so I better get that for him.

The weather here has been wonderful, although snow/rain is suppose to come here on Sun - Tues, but then warm the rest of the week next week.

Talk later!
M

another day

Ok, I am over my harping and won't do that any time soon!! thank you for listening to my grumblings! The days here have been so nice. Today it was in the 40's again, yesterday too and tomorrow will be as well. Then we're off to some snow/rain for the weekend and down to the 30's, but hey, who's complaining about the 30's?!

As for me now, I am fighting a cold. It started yesterday as an irritating runny nose and this morning I woke up to a full blown cold, but only in my nose. Now tonight as my day quil wears off, I feel the pressure in my sinuses. That is where it always ends up going. Why, I have no idea. So tonight will be vicks and nyquil and hopefully a good nights rest. Am staying away from the boys - no hugs or smoochies at bed time. Martin, well, he's another story. He's got his own cold, and not from me. He's been outside roofing in this lovely weather and Im positive that's where he got his from. These days are so nice that you forget that you should still dress warm for them. He's doing ok, but guys need so much more attention when they are sick then when we do. I don't know why, but all my friends say the same thing on that one. The world practically stops when they are sick but when we're sick, we're still expected to do all the things we normally would and then they wonder why we are crabby? Why don't they figure that out?

Oh well. Such is life. I won't go on rambling about that one either. Will go for now. I was going to download a beautiful rainbow that was outside tonight in the nice rain, but by the time I got my camera out, the full rainbow wasn't there. All you could see were the ends of it, where when I saw it the first time, it was a complete rainbow. The boys would love to have seen that one, but they are at AWANA. I got the ends of it so I'll show them those pictures, but it just isn't the same!

Have a great night! hope everyone in your home is well and enjoying this beautiful weather we are having!

Love~
Michelle

Hospital bill from Josiah's ear surgery

Ok, so at this point I am absolutely infuriated!! I just went online to BCBS to see if they had processed the bill from the Hospital from Josiah's ear surgery. Well they have and you better be sitting down when you see this! Oh my word, I can't believe that 1) the hospital has the audacity (spell?) to actually charge that much for us being there for only 3 1/2 hours!!! and 2) we were there for only 3 1/2 hours!!!! I would hate to see how much they charge you for an entire day. My friend figured it out to be $765.00 per hour that we were there!!! That's like 8 times the amount that Dr. Janning's charged us for the actual procedure!!!!

The bill they were trying to charge us for was $2,801.25 and thank goodness we have insurance, because they picked up a measily $124.86 so we have to pay the rest!!! - $2,676.39!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I mention that we were only there for 3 1/2 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am just livid about this whole thing. I can't believe this! And then people wonder why we can't afford health care! Start telling those Doctors and Hospitals to charge reasonable costs for their services! They are needed - yes, but not to the point where they have to charge outlandish prices for their facilities or services!!!!! Up until now we were only left with paying around $600 for all the Clinic visits we had (3 to be exact) and the 2 appts. we had with Dr. Janning's. And here I was afraid of the cost of Dr. Janning's procedures!!! Those were nothing compared to this bill!!!!!!

Boy, if I had 1/2 a notion I'd call the hospital up and complain about this, but I know it wouldn't do me any good. But man would I love too!!!!!!

Need to run - this is way too negative to keep writing about!

Love to you all! ~

M

Happy 10th Birthday Isaac!!!!!

Isaac, our baby, turned 10 years old yesterday on March. 7th. 10 years ago he was born at Windom hospital. I can remember the day like it was yesterday. Martin and I were at Mom's house washing clothes. I was already past my due date of Feb. 28, and was set to be induced that coming Monday. March 7, 1998 was a Saturday. Until that day, it was a perfect pregnancy - no contractions prior, no problems, everything had been going great. That afternoon Martin and I were sitting on the couch watching tv waiting for the clothes to get done. I started getting contractions about 4 - 6 min. apart for an hour. I quietly asked Mom for the phone number to the hospital and they both looked at me strange. I called in and told the nurse was had been going on and she said to come on in. That was around 4:30pm. So Martin and I headed to the hospital. Mom was set to go out for supper with her friend, Laurie and my Dad if I remember right was in Texas still driving truck for Marten Transport.

We went to the hospital and they immediately hooked me up to the monitor to check my contractions. Yep, I was in labor. But being this was our first child, they weren't expecting to see any miracles in having the baby come soon. So Dr. Taber took his time coming in. Finally about 7:30 they broke my water and it went fast after that. By the time I hollered for some pain medication they said I was dilated to an 8 and it was too late for that. So Isaac was born all "natural". Isaac was born at 8:38pm that evening. He came out reaching for Dr. Taber's shirt and the rest was history. Mary Minor was our nurse that evening and she said Isaac was the most beautiful baby she had ever seen! We named him Isaac Nathaniel Quintero. He weighed 7lbs. 7oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.

From then on, we've thought that 7 was our lucky number (not that we believe in luck), but every now and then it pops up for us. Like last night for instance, Isaac's score on his first game of bowling at his party was 77. Isn't that a little ironic?!

I'm posting a picture of Isaac's birthday cake, a picture of his friends that he had over (Tommy Kraemer, Jacob Suess and Sam Hirsch) and Josiah invited his friend Bileigh Anacker over too. And the picture of the monitor showing the bowling scores isn't very good, but Isaac's name is first with the score of 77. As you can see, Jacob Suess was the best bowler - for both games. He did some major kicking butt on the rest of the boys, and it was fun. We went to Springfield Lanes in Springfield, MN for the night out. They have such a nice bowling alley there and then we had pizza too after we bowled. We were all tuckered out after the event, except for the boys who talked the entire way home?! Man were they noisey. They were so excited to be here for Isaac and that was really cool to see. When I picked them up from school, they were singing Happy Birthday to him in the hallway. It was really cute. Isaac had a big smile on his face and was just laughing like crazy. It was a good time!

Someone asked me yesterday if I felt old becuase Isaac is 10 now. I told them no, cuz I don't. But what I can't believe is that 10 years have gone by already for Isaac. People always tell you how time flies after you leave High School, but you just don't have a clue until it starts happening! Which reminds me - I'll be celebrating my 20 year class reunion this summer! Now with telling you that, I do feel old! (but who's counting those years anyhow?!)

Love to you all! ~

My new haircut

Ok. so on Saturday I called Jennifer, my hairstylist and told her I was ready for a change, and I wanted to go short. She was excited! :) So last night I brought a picture in of the kind of cut I wanted. It was short and straight. I liked the cut, but wasn't sure about going straight. My hair has so much body and is so thick, that going straight isn't an easy thing for me to do. I almost always end up tossling my hair after its dried and spray it. Thats it. I've gotten more wave since I've had the boys, and its definitely gotten darker too over the years. No more blonde for me. A dirty brown is now my natural color. But Jennifer is such a great stylist that I know she can do wonders with my hair. And she's so great - she's the kind of stylist that you want - she loves doing new "dos" and doesn't tell me what I want to hear, but what she thinks. I totally trust her when it comes to my hair. And besides all that, she's also a great friend!

So I went short. Martin told me last night that this was one of the best cuts I've had, and of course he likes it straight. He just doesn't understand how that works. If I blow dry it straight using a brush, it'll be completely limp by noon. My hair is so thick and heavy, that it won't do anything else then. I have to blow dry it from underneath to give it the volume it needs. So right away this morning he says "oh, its bushy". I knew what that meant - it was ok, but he kept emphasizing how he liked it last night. Jennifer and I have laughed at the thought of having her be at my house every morning so I could get my hair "just so", but that will never happen. The way she styles my hair always looks so easy, and she'll even explain it to me, and I think I can do it, but by the time I do it the next morning - all those thoughts of how she did it have completly escaped my mind.

So I go back to what I know - the "fluffy" look. I told Martin to give me a few days to get used to the new cut and hopefully by then I'll have a better idea how to style it.

Expenses

Ok, so I've only gotten part of the expenses from Josiah's "ear surgery", but so far, its not too bad. However, I don't have the bill from the Hospital yet. That will be a lot I'm sure. So far total expenses are $1,011.00 and we have to pay $671.12. The clinic charged $171.00 for the pre-op physical which I think is just ridiculous. He had been in there a week or two before and that was only $113.00. And they wonder why we can't afford Health insurance?! Its because they charge an arm and a leg!! Its ridiculous!

Anyways, just had to voice my opinion there - I'm glad that so far it isn't much more, but the Hospitals charge way too much too., so I'll be anxious to see just how much that bill will end up being?!

Have a good Monday! :)
Michelle

Dad turned 72!!

WOW - Can you believe that my Dad turned 72 this past Saturday? It just doesn't seem possible that he could be that old! I see Dad as the same Dad that I had when I was a teenager - no aging, no ailments, still working, but enjoying life. To me the only changes that have taken place is that I've gotten older, gotten married and have added 2 beautiful boys to the picture. They both love my Dad and after the heart problems my Dad has experienced, the times my Dad spends with our boys mean even more to me than ever. My heart goes soft when I hear the joy in the boys' voices as they hear that they will be going to Grandma and Grandpa's house, or that Grandpa will be picking them up after school today.

We met at the Happy Chef in Mankato on Sat. for supper. That was fun. Apparently it was all my Dad's idea, so Mom says. It was fun. But the one thing I didn't do, was bring the cards we had bought for Dad. They were left on our dining room table all ready to go, but forgotten. I felt horrible, but I know Dad understood, but that wasn't the point. I felt crabby going there because we took a short nap, and that seemed to make me even more sleep deprived. Even Kevin, my brother noticed that I wasnt' up to par when we got there. Leave it to him to notice that?! He did and that was that. It was fun. I had a great time! I always enjoy our family times together. We've always made a point of getting together for the holidays, or birthdays and I will never forget those times. Hopefully the boys won't either.

I hope Dad had as good of a time as we did.

Love you Dad!~

your daughter,
Michelle Denise

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Well, we made it through Josiah's "surgery" yesterday. We were there by 6:50am and got to his room. We sat around til 8am when they finally took him to the OR to get those nasty things out of his ears. They gave him gas so when he was done with surgery, he was out and talking like crazy. It caught up to him later though. Dr. Jannings is a VERY nice Doctor and I

would recommend him to anyone (but hopefully you wouldn't need him). You can see by the picture above how tiny those crazy little things were. The yellow piece was in Josiah's right ear and the grey sequin was in his left ear. All went well, and Dr. Jannings didn't think he would've had any hearing loss becuase of those things in his ear - he said they were too small and wouldn't have done anything.

We were very relieved to have him out of surgery and doing well. The only thing is that he got an upset tummy because of the anesthesia, so he threw up a few times, but otherwise he was good. We finally went home around 10:30am and Josiah and I both took almost a 3 hour nap yesterday. We were shot.

As for me, I didn't even want to go yesterday because my throat felt so bad, but Martin said I needed to go for moral support so I went. But my throat still hurts today and I think I'll be seeing the Doctor today, hoping I don't have strept throat. Atleast Josiah made it through without getting sick.

Thank you for all your love and prayers during this time. Crazy isn't it how these little things can be a person all worked up? I wasn't nervous about things at all yesterday - Martin was. Which is a first.

Must get going though. Today is "donuts for Dads" in school so they need to be there between 7:15 - 7:45am to get the good ones, so I better wake the lazy boys up! Have a great day everyone and Happy Valentines' Day!!!

love,

Michelle

Getting the boys ready

Well, Martin got these great photos of the boys tonight as Isaac is getting ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for night and Josiah didn't want to get out of his pj's to go with to G&G's house. Mind you, its only 3 above zero outside and yes, if there is any time that Josiah is to get sick, now will be the time.

As for staying well, I end up being the one with a cold/sore throat junk. And I know exactly where I got it from - a co-worker yesterday who came in the office and was hacking all over the place. I never gave it a thought when he was in there working, but Monday night I felt a sore throat coming on already and then I was upset. Now today I was ok, but tonight I am fiercely cold and my throat hurts something fierce. I have vicks on, but much to my dismay, we have no night time medicine in the house so I'm hoping I won't suffer too much tonight. I already told Martin and Josiah that they can sleep together and I will sleep in the boys' room so Josiah doesn't get what I have. Martin even went as far as wondering if it will be just him bringing Josiah to the Hospital tomorrow morning. Man, I hope not. I want to be there too, so let's keep our fingers crossed that I'll be well enough to go and that Josiah will be healthy as well.

Gotta run. Its 7:51pm and I'm ready for bed. Send lots of prayers our way in the morning. We have to be there by 7am, so we're guessing that it'll be done right away as he can't eat or drink anything now until after the surgery.

Have a great night everyone. I'll post tomorrow once we're back from the Hospital.

Michelle

Josiah's pre-op physical

Yesterday Martin brought Josiah into the Doctor for his pre-op physical. We were both thinking that this was a joke - thinking what can they possibly check on him that they hadn't checked a couple weeks ago when he was in there for his bad cough. Well, we were both enlightened by his checkup. Martin questioned Josiah needing a physical knowing that he had just been there a couple weeks ago. Karen re-assured him (us) that even though he was in there, he was sick, and his temperature, blood pressure and heart rate could all be affected when he is sick, therefore they need those readings when he is well. So Josiah checked out just fine yesterday. We are all ready to go for his appointment on Wed. the 13th.

We've made arrangements for Isaac to stay at my parent's house on Tuesday night and they will bring him to school the next morning. We have to be to the Hospital by 7am on Wed. for his surgery to be done at 8am.

I'm not nervous about this - thank goodness. I have been re-assured by several friends that having them go into his ears (even though these wonderful things are way down by his ear drums), that it isn't a bad thing to have happen. That their boys have had tubes taken out several times and the procedure isn't that bad at all. So thank goodness for being able to talk to others about this - they have made me feel so much better about this whole crazy thing!

Martin and I are VERY curious how Josiah will be after the surgery. His hearing we mean. I emailed his teachers this week and told them what is going on with everything and I'm hoping for a big change with Josiah in the classroom. Even though he says he can hear fine, he wouldn't know if he couldn't hear fine. So we'll see what happens this week. He's excited about having to miss school, (which child wouldn't be?!), and he'll be in school for Valentines day, so he won't miss his party at school! That is always a plus!!

Anyways - we're just chillin' today. We're suppose to have blizzard like conditions, so some people say. The temperatures are suppose to drop all day today with wind chills in the double negatives. So yesterday we got a roast, potatoes and carrots so we could atleast have some good "comfort food" for this weekend. Hopefully there will be some great movies on tv so we can all relax in our house in the warmth.

I will keep you posted how the surgery goes on Wed. Any prayers you want to send our way will be greatly appreciated. Right now Josiah isn't nervous about anything, but he certainly was nervous when we were in to Dr. Janning's office last week. He wanted to show his tough side, but I could see it in his eyes that he was nervous. Pray for him to be calm about this as we try to re-assure him as well.

Love to you all! ~
Michelle

Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist

Ok, so after being so disappointed, upset, stressed out and sleep deprived, I think I'm ready to post today's episode of our visit with the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist - Dr. Jannings.

We were to the Hospital on time this morning - 7:45am. Ready to take on the challenge of trying to get these crazy things out of Josiah's ears. We met Dr. Jannings and he is a very nice Doctor. He looked into Josiah's ears and tried to get those "things' out, but no luck. We were then forced to make another appointment when they would actually put him to sleep to take those things out. That is where my disappointment set in. I thought that's what we were going to do today. I misunderstood Martin. Talk about being disappointed. Josiah was such a trooper through it all, and laid very still for Dr. Jannings and his nurse. But Dr. Jannings said whatever is down in his ears is way up against his ear drum and he said even on an adult he wouldn't attempt to get them out without being put under. He said it would be too painful. So now we wait til Feb. 13th. In the meantime we have to get a pre-op physical done on Josiah to make sure he's healthy. We also need to make sure that he stays healthy, cuz even the littlest cold can make being under that anesthesia (spell?) miserable. So we're gonna pray that he stays healthy til then.

As for the 13th of Feb. - we check into the Hospital at 7am and actually go to the OR for this. Dr. Jannings' nurse said it will probably only take about 5 minutes to get done, so it shouldn't be too bad. My concern came when Dr. Jannings said there was a chance of scraping his ear drum. That wasn't something I wanted to hear from him.

Since this morning, I have been emailing a good friend of mine, and she has reassured me that having them go in the ear is not a big deal. That her son has had tubes put in twice and he's been fine. That in itself has made me feel so much better about this. However, now its the Doctor bills that we'll be getting after all of this - our health insurance sucks the big one (sorry, but it truly does). Our plan is for major medical only and our deductible is around $11,000.00 so you guessed it, we'll be paying for this whole thing out of our pockets. That's the upsetting part to me.

So after talking with my friend Tess, and now writing this on here, my headache is actually almost gone. That's what I get for being stressed out - I get headaches. Lovely huh?

From here until Feb. 13th, I will be praying for God to help get me through this, and I'll keep you posted on this crazy situation!

Thanks for thinking of Josiah today!

Michelle

My Josiah Wes

Ok, so its a nice, quiet and relaxing weekend at home with just Josiah and I here. Martin and Isaac are in the Cities at the Science Museum for Cub Scouts. The Museum was having a "sleep with the dinosaurs" event just for Cub Scouts tonight. They were to arrive at 3pm today and they leave tomorrow morning around 8am. The afternoon/evening is packed with lots of activities to do, an Omni film to see, pizza, late night snack and eventually lights out at 11:45. however, its 7:46 and Martin just called telling me he's so tired that he and Isaac are ready to crash now. Oh yeah, and they are sleeping on the floor. They said some areas will be carpeted and others won't be, but yet they weren't suppose to pack heavy (pack light) were the instructions, so how do you pack "comfortably"? I would love to have gone, but me and sleeping on the floor just can't be done. I'm sure Martin will be talking about it tomorrow too - maybe he'll even want to take a nap when they get home?

Anyways! I wanted to update you on Josiah. Last week Josiah missed the entire week of school because he had a very bad cough. If you know our boys, they get broncities and croop VERY easy. So easy, that I've been to the ER several times with them, knowing that is what they have and being very nervous about it. Isaac was never as serious as Josiah has been, but still. Croop is nothing to sneeze at. So anyways - I thought maybe Josiah had broncitis cuz he wasn't getting over the cough and it sounded deep and it sounded like it hurt when he coughed. So Martin brought him in, no he didn't have broncities (thank goodness), but he did have something in his one ear. The Doc. thought he had had tubes in his ears at one time. We assured her he didn't. She wanted Doctor Harder to take a look at them, but he wasn't in that day, so we made an appt. for the next day for Doc Harder to look at them, and possibly get whats in there, out. Well the attempt was made and was unsuccessful. So they forwarded us on to a "nose, ear and throat specialist". To me, those referrals always sound like A LOT of money. Great, there goes my flex plan for the year (and then some!). So we go in on Tuesday to the Hospital. The nurse told Martin that they will be putting Josiah to sleep (which I'm not too anxious to see). But that putting them to sleep would be the best way to do this - then there is no way Josiah can move and possibly mess anything up for them while they are trying to get this stuff out. Oh yes, and Doc Harder found something in BOTH of his ears. Like little beads or something? I'm baffled by this, as Josiah is almost 7, and when he was in the Clinic a year ago with croop, they didn't find anything in his ears then, so I am suspecting that this just happened this past year. I would think he's done with putting things in his mouth, nose, ears, etc. (he used to shove hamburger up his nose at dinner time). But then, just last week Josiah shaved part of his right eyebrow off (I'll see if I can get a picture to post on here). So his craziness hasn't left him (and probably never will).

But I must admit that I am nervous about this procedure. I trust the Doctor. (a friend of mine's daughter just had her tonsils out by the same Doc., and really liked him), so that was very comforting to hear. And the fact that we only have to go to Windom (about 9 miles from here) isn't bad either. It could be a lot worse. We have to be to the Hospital at 8am. I'm expecting to be back to work around noon and Martin (since he's laid off) will stay with Josiah at home the rest of the day, unless we think I should stay home with him-(that will be decided that day).

One of my friends had also suggested trying these "ear candles". Have you ever heard of them? They are quite the thing to try! I found them at our local Plum Creek Coop (natural herbs, foods, etc.) You literally put one end in your ear (they are shaped like a foot long cone of gauze dipped in wax), and you light the other end on fire. Sounds crazy I know, but I was willing to try them out! Well, we got wax out of all of us, but no foreign objects came from J's ear. However, when Doc Harder tried to get the stuff out of J's ear, Martin said they flushed it and got a lot of wax out of there, so that was probably why there wasn't much left to come out with the ear candles. At any rate, it was a good try, and I am VERY curious as to what will come out of Josiah's ears on Tuesday.

I will keep you all posted, but in the mean time, do you mind saying some prayers for us? When I've talked to Josiah about it, he just tells me that he doesn't want to talk about it - and he probably doesn't really realize what will will be done yet, but he soon will when they put him to sleep. I am just nervous about the whole deal. I'm nervous about seeing Josiah put to sleep - he's my "vim and vinegar" little boy - there's never a dull moment when he is around - always on the go and never wanting to sit still. Not even for a second. I've heard stories from people acting crazy as they come out of the anesthesia (spell?) (some crying uncontrollably, or saying crazy things, etc.) So I'm not sure what to expect with this at all. And of course there's the Mother in me being undeniably afraid that they will harm his hearing and he'll be scarred for life. Could it be me instead? Why can't those crazy things have been put in my ears, and let Josiah have his ears be just fine. (by the way, he doesn't remember putting anything in his ears). I'm just plain nervous. Can't really put my finger on specific thing other than he's my son and they better do a great job on him. (Josiah told Doc Harder that he "better be careful" before Doc Harder went inside of Josiah's ears - cute huh?)

OK, enough rambling. I will keep you posted and yes, I will be saying extra prayers myself for this to be a smooth situation. That everything will be good, and that he'll be able to hear even better (which is also something he has never complained about - not being to hear very well). Strange isn't it? You would think he wouldn't noticed something had happened. I don't know.

But I will go now. Have a great night and I'll update this as soon as I can on Tuesday. In the meantime, send some more warm weather our way! Right now its 25 degrees and feels so good to be outside!

love to you all! ~
Michelle

Mr. Cool

Here is our "Mr. Cool". He definitely likes to look "cool" with his new fleece jacket he got for Christmas, his sunglasses and Dad's ipod. He loves getting his pictures taken and loves the attention. Oh yes, and did you notice the necklace he has on? He LOVES to dress up, and even got his Grandpa Dennis' bow ties that he used to wear when he was a little boy. Man is Josiah proud of those! He loves his tie and bow ties and will wear them every chance he can get!

Then there's Isaac who isn't near as happy to get in front of the camera like Josiah does. Sure he likes getting his pictures taken, but he's more to himself than what Josiah is. That's ok. Isaac has joined the chess club after school on Wed., (from 3-4) and then he's going to enter the Science Fair at school too. That should be interesting. Last year Martin helped him make a volcano that actually erupted and the kids loved it! (so did Isaac!). We haven't decided what we're going to do for his project this year, but now in 3rd grade he can actually enter the contest and the winners will go to Mankato in May for the "best". He's anxious to start it, and honestly, so am I. I'll have to keep you posted on that!

Must get going. I have a house to clean and laundry to do (if only someone would invent that to get done on its own).

See you

Michelle

Here is the finished closet!!

Ok, so now we have our shelves in and man is it nice! The window you see in the picture faces the North and is about shoulder high, so its at a nice spot to look out and see our back yard. The doorway of the closet is all framed out now, but we have no door on it yet. We'd like to put a bi-fold door on there, but that will come. Right now its just nice being able to have everything up on shelves or hanging up instead of having 1/2 my clothes on the floor of the closet because I didn't have any room for them. (our house is a very old house with no closet space for anything, so the closets we did have were very small - we approached things as a need basis and closets were not on the top of our list when we first moved here 9 years ago!)

I hope you enjoy looking at the closet. I know the pictures dont' really show you too terribly much, but it atleast gives you an idea of the end result of Martins' latest project!

Hope your having a great day! We're gonna be staying indoors for the next couple of days if at all possible - temp. is only -8 degrees! with wind chill of around -25!!! eeeeekkkk

Stay warm!

The beginnings of our new 4'x 11' closet!!

Ok, so here are the beginning pictures of our new closet that measures approximately 4' x 11'. The closet was originally framed up last summer, but with Martin being gone during the week, it never got finished. Now, in January Martin has been laid off and is finally finished.

Josiah thought he had to help too on the weekends and the days that he didn't have school. He's a big helper to Martin and loves to do carpentry! Basically when you see the square window, that is in the middle of the closet. My side is on the right side and Martin's 1/2 is on the left. The shelves you see here are on my side of the closet with a rack for hanging clothes just underneath. To tell you all what I had before, was only about 24" of rack space and now it has increased to around 55" of rack space. Believe me, finding my clothes has never been easier!