Talent Show

Erin played "The Dreamcatcher" for Desert Willow Elementary School's talent show. She also was chosen to emcee. She did a great job and I am very proud of her. Her good friend, Baylee Done from church, came too.

I was trying to hold the camera still but Nathan kept leaning up against me. So the video looks like I am shaking.

Eric's detour to school

Eric and his friends like to go skateboarding before school since there is a skatepark on the way. He usually forgets to call and tell me that he made it to school safely. So I was surprised when my cell phone rang. When Eric called, he calmly told me that he had an accident on his skateboard and that he couldn't feel his right arm. Talk about panic...the first thing I thought was maybe a spinal injury. Fortunately it was a half day of school so the boys had morning kindergarten and I didn't have to drag them to the hospital with me. I quickly loaded up the three younger kids and dropped them off a block from school. Then I rushed to the skatepark to get Eric and take him to the ER. The nurse took us to x-rays right away. Then they brought us to a hospital room to wait for the doctor.

There was already a young woman in there talking to a doctor on the other side of the curtain. The doctor left and a cop appeared. I could hear the woman say, "I was hoping they wouldn't call you." Then Eric and I had to endure several minutes of questioning about domestic violence. I felt so bad for the girl. She wouldn't provide the police with the man's name. I had never met (to my knowledge) a victim of domestic violence. But it was just like on the show "Cops." I've watched countless women on tv defend the actions of the abuser and now I was seeing it firsthand. I wasn't so thrilled that my 12 year-old had to be subjected to this talk. But I think he was intrigued and didn't want me to find a nurse to ask if we could be moved. I kept thinking how sad I would be if that were Erin in the hospital after being abused by her husband or boyfriend.

Anyway, back to Eric. The doctor came in and told Eric that he had fractured his right humerus (of course he is my only child that is right-handed) but there wasn't much he could do for him due to the break being close to his shoulder. He referred us to an orthopedic surgeon and told Eric to leave it in a sling and take his prescription medications.

So now Eric is excused from the piano recital that he has been dreading. I am not sure how he will write in school but fortunately I am sure his teachers will go easy on him since it is the end of the school year and they all love him. When I called his piano teacher, she said that he could still come to lessons and work with his left hand. Poor Eric!

The kids were so worried about Eric while in school. All they knew was Eric was hurt and couldn't feel his right arm. Zach vowed to not ride his skateboard anymore. At first he didn't want to go swimming after school because he wanted to be home to take care of Eric. So it is very sweet seeing everyone being kind to Eric. Even with a broken arm, Eric went to Erin's talent show tonight. I love when the kids show their support for each other. Sometimes I can tell that they really do love each other.

Another Week

Nothing much exciting to report on my blog this week. I did buy the kids all new baseball gear because Zachary wants to learn how to play. I find it incredible that I have 3 left-handed children. Finding 3 gloves for them was not an easy task. But we enjoyed a couple nights of playing baseball together as a family this past week. On Monday I told the kids we could play baseball for our FHE. We rarely go without a lesson on FHE nights because at least one kid objects and says it is not FHE unless there is a lesson. Eric was always that kid until recently and now Zach has taken his place. It is funny to listen to Eric try to convince Zach that it is OK to occasionally go without a lesson and just have a family activity.

Mario is doing pretty well in Afghanistan. He will reach the half-way point this month. So we are very excited. Some days are difficult and we don't see an end in sight. But overall, time seems to be going pretty quickly. Today was a pretty good day for both of us. Mario felt good about accomplishing a lot at work. My morning started off rough when Erin didn't want to clean her room but instead of getting too mad (I was upset about it for a while but Mario quickly diffused me), I decided to serve her and clean her room while she was gone to school. I wouldn't recommend doing that all the time, but today I felt like maybe it would show her that I do love her and I like to serve her. She appreciated it and she was quick to thank me. Mario always reminds me that we love our children the most when we are serving them. I feel like I am serving them 24-7, but I guess small things, that are out of the ordinary, like cleaning up a room for her means a little more. I miss having Mario around. He keeps me well balanced. I think we balance each other out. I love being married. I guess that is mostly due to who I am married to. (Yes I did indeed write this...Mario didn't get hold of my blog again!)

Gila Valley Temple

Last year, Eric, Erin and I flew to Salt Lake to attend the Draper Temple open house. But Nathan and Zachary weren't able to join us. So yesterday, I took all four kids to the Gila Valley Temple open house. It is exactly 120 miles from our home and took about 2 hours to drive. Mario could probably drive it a little faster.

The Temple was absolutely beautiful. There was an amazing chandelier in the Celestial Room. As you can see (these are pictures I found online), the mountains behind the Temple are an awesome sight too. I guess I appreciate mountains more than most because I am from Florida where there are none. There was still snow on the peaks yesterday.

The temple was small so the tour didn't take long. But it was great to be able to show my kids where Mario and I go when we are inside. We had to put little booties on so we didn't get the floor dirty. The kids asked if we put those on every time we go. One room that touched me was the Bride's Room. It made me realize that it won't be too many years before Erin and I are in a Bride's Room preparing for her sealing. Eric wanted to know if they had a groom's room.

I felt the spirit strongly during our tour. I hope the kids did too.

Birthday

I threatened to cancel my birthday yesterday. I figured that I should just wait to celebrate when Mario gets home so I won't be disappointed if the kids misbehave. But Erin was excited to bake me a cake (the kids threw a fit when I told them that we would just order one at the restaurant. They wanted homemade, ugly cake since they said "It tastes much better than bought cake." Erin made the cake and then asked if she could decorate it with horses (like Mario did for her birthday cake last August.)

When I woke up this morning, there was a note slipped under my door that asked me to not come downstairs until at least 6 am. When I finally came out, this is what I found:

Mario had sent streamers in my care package. So Erin decorated the house and she baked some popovers for breakfast. That was her first time making them and they came out perfect. I had never had a popover before but I loved them especially with the honey butter that she prepared. Mario called during breakfast and his whole office sang Happy Birthday to me.

After breakfast, the kids gave me my gifts. I kept telling them that all I really wanted was for them to get along and do what I asked without complaining. I guess giving me other gifts is easier. Nathan gave me Eric's Pooh Bear from when Eric was a baby and a picture he colored. Zachary gave me a teddy bear from an Easter party and a picture he colored, and a painted rock. Erin is making her gift at school but it isn't done yet. Eric asked if he could take me to Subway for lunch. Then I opened the much anticipated present from Mario. He sent me a necklace with green stones and an Omega watch. They were gifts from the "Exotic Asian Bazaar" in Afghanistan. Of course the watch was a knock-0ff (they sell Rolex brand too so if anyone wants a Rolex, let me know) but still very nice. The necklace was very nice too.

The big kids practiced piano without complaints. Erin emptied the dishwasher and the boys helped me with the laundry. The twins helped me pull weeds in the front yard and the only complaint came from Nathan when he told me that "We are supposed to do fun things on your birthday."

So now I am off to take the boys to school and pick up Eric so he can take me to Subway for lunch. I was teasing him this morning and asked him if I could get a soda and chips with my sub too since he always asks me for those things when I take him to lunch. What begins as a $5 lunch turns into an $8 or $9 lunch.

Mario has sent me at least a half dozen emails with different titles trying to trick me. Then when I open them, they all say Happy Birthday all over them. Very sweet and I fall for them every time.

I guess I am glad I didn't cancel my birthday. I will post later if the kids keep up the sweetness this afternoon and evening.

Update...The kids and I enjoyed a delicious (and cheap) meal at Texas Roadhouse. I had a coupons for 2 free kids meals and a free appetizer. Plus if you eat before 6 pm, the adult meals are only $7.99. The waitress brought out a saddle and made me sit on it while they sang a birthday song. After dinner, we came home and ate Erin's very yummy chocolate cake. I am so full now that I don't want to move. Someone will have to roll me up the stairs to bed.

It was a great day and I look forward to Mother's Day.

Acupuncture Appointment

I wondered the whole time I was driving to my appointment if acupuncture could really work. I read reviews on the internet. I found a lot of believers as well as many skeptics. But I already know that you can't believe everything you read. So I tried to go in with an open mind. I figured worse case scenario...I was out $60. But could that really be the worst case scenario? I found myself thinking back to the time that I had Erin. All my friends wanted me to get the epidural. They told me how they each had several and no complications. I reluctantly agreed to one and then had the needle hit the wrong spot and pain shoot through my leg. Then I had to lay down for a week and pray I didn't get the spinal headache. It took a couple weeks for me to walk normal again. Needless to say, I am a little nervous when having medical procedures.

I went in, answered several questions and the dr wrote down my answers in Chinese. So I have no idea what she wrote. Then she told me to lay on the table. That is when I informed her that in the past, I had been terrified of needles. I think after four kids, I am a bit more brave...at least I hope so. She told me to take a deep breath and then she stuck a needle in my hand. Then after more deep breaths, she stuck me in each foot, the right knee, and then about 6 needles in my left knee. I was really wishing I could reach my phone to take a picture. I could barely feel the needle go in. It felt more like someone had just touched me. The dr then attached some wires to the needles in my knee. She called it "electric steam." Then she put a lamp of some sort of my knee. The dr then asked me to close my eyes and relax. I could feel some pressure in my knee, but it wasn't too uncomfortable. I could have taken a nap if I was laying on my stomach. The treatment lasted about 45 minutes and then when she was done, she removed the needles, checked my knee for inflammation, and then rubbed some kind of oil on it. She told me that my knee was pretty swollen and that I should take a vitamin supplement to help lubricate the joints, I shouldn't lift anything heavy, and to get plenty of rest...don't walk on it more than necessary.

So, being the absolute worse patient, I took my kids to the zoo today. My knee is feeling about 80% better than it was on Wednesday when I could barely walk. But I'll see how it feels tomorrow after not following directions. I did buy the vitamin supplement and began taking those. So that should count for something.

I have no idea if acupuncture will work. I have to see her once a week for the next 4 weeks, so maybe I will know more after those 4 treatments. I am a little more optimistic after reading that the military has started using acupuncture to treat injured soldiers. Maybe it is becoming a little more mainstream.

Birthday Care Package

Mario told me that he sent me a care package for my birthday but that I couldn't open it until my birthday. Mario and I both hate surprises so we often give each other our gifts early. But since he is not here, I didn't think that I could talk him into opening it early. Today when it arrived I was very curious what could be in the box and wondered if I could possibly wait until next Wednesday to open. But upon further inspection, I noticed a US Customs form. Listed on the form are the contents of the package...candy, dvd's, and watch. Then under the total value, it says $10. I didn't know they had a Dollar Store in Afghanistan.