Well, it got worse. I finally decided to go to Mizzou Quick Care about 2 pm today. The sting did not hurt, but was incredibly itchy. The Nurse Practitioner measured the redness and it was 17 centimeters long by 11 centimeters wide. She prescribed one of the strongest topical steroids available and also suggested an allergy medicine like Allegra. After the first application, the redness started to recede, but it is going to be a few days before it is really better. It appears that I, like my Mom, am allergic to hornet, wasp, and bee stings. Since I have only ever been stung twice in my life, I have not yet encountered breathing problems. Let’s hope that I never get stung again and I never have to deal with this again!
Birthday Party!
Today is the big birthday party at Lake of the Woods pool. We began the day with a quick trip to Hy-Vee to pick up the birthday cakes. Laura’s cake was full of “Flip-Flop Fun” (the flip flops are magnets).
John’s cake was military tank robot cake. Yes, the tank does turn into a robot *and* it takes up most of the cake!
The morning was overcast and it rained a bit. After some deliberation, we decided to go to the pool anyway. It sprinkled just a bit once we got there, but it actually turned out to be near perfect weather because of the clouds. It wasn’t too hot, but definitely warm enough to enjoy the pool. We had about 40 people between kids and adults and everyone had a great time! Not too long after arriving at the pool, John finally decided to take his first turn *ever* on the slide.
Once he figured out that he could go down the slide and get to the side all by himself, there was absolutely no stopping him! Laura had a great time swimming with all her friends. She was all smiles the entire time.
We stopped about halfway through the party to enjoy some cake. Unfortunately, I managed to remember everything except the candles. Oh well, we sang “Happy Birthday” without them. It worked out because it got a bit windy right as we were getting ready to sing and the candles would not have stayed lit anyway.
After cake, the kids opened the mound of presents. And, yes, I mean the mound…
We spent most of the rest of the afternoon in the pool with us finally leaving about 4:15. It was a great party with great friends! The only downside to the day was the fact that I got stung by a wasp before the party got started. The sting area is swollen and it hurts. Really hurts. Let’s hope it doesn’t get worse…
He’s Done…
Camp Mudd Family Night!
Yes, folks, it is that time of year again! Camp Mudd Family Night and Sleepover for the kiddos. Their sleeping bags, pillows, and clothes are packed and ready just waiting for Andy and I to deliver them.
This week’s theme was Cowboy Week and so all the skits were cowboy-themed. Since John’s favorite part of Family Night is singing songs, I made sure to get a picture of him waiting “patiently.” Yes, he is trained to stop and smile whenever I tell him that I want to take a picture, but he was definitely *not* sitting still…
Laura got to tell a joke as part of her skit – “What did the Cowboy say to the pencil?” “Draw Partner!” As I mentioned with John, she is also trained to stop and smile when I want to take a picture. So, here she is stopping and smiling for me while she waits in line to tell her joke.
Laura almost had a meltdown and wanted to come home with us, but she recognized that she was just a bit tired and decided to stay. It helped that she only has two sleepovers this year and she did not want to miss one. I am sure we will have two tired kids tomorrow, but they will be happy they spent the night!
SEVEN!
Happy, Happy 7th Birthday to our fun-loving, sports-loving, car crazy, athletic, silly All Boy! I know I shake my head at you when you do those things that only boys do, but you completed our family and things just would not be the same without you. And, now, for birthday pictures!
The good picture…
The SEVEN picture…
The silly picture…
The “OK, you can stop now” picture…
We love you John!
NINE!
Happy, Happy 9th Birthday to our beautiful, fun-loving, talkative, gymnastics-loving, and artistic Wee Ginger! On this day nine years ago, your Daddy and I were sharing a cup of coffee before we visited Linda Buchheit for our weekly ultrasound. We didn’t know that less than eight hours later we would meet our sweet Laura. And, now, for birthday pictures!
The splits picture… She is almost there!
The pretty picture…
The NINE picture…
The “OK, you can stop now” picture…
We love you Red!



















