Thank you Damon, Jill, Will & Sam

For my birthday Damon, Jill, Will & Sam gave me this really cool Target gift card. I know what you're thinking... how can a gift card be really cool.... Wait til you see this! This card (not the actual plastic card - the lady at Target took it when I used it today) actually has wildflower seeds imbedded into the paper! The instructions on the backside explain to plant the paper & keep the soil moist for 3 weeks to see the flowers bloom. I think Madison & I will find a spot in the yard to plant these. It is sprinkling outside, so we'll have to do it tomorrow. Watch for future posts!

One of the items on my birthday wish-list was a pair of silver earrings. I accidentally dropped one of my good silver hoops down the bathroom drain in a hotel in Kansas earlier this month (the start to a bad day...). While I was at Target today fulfilling my birthday wish (thanks again DJW&S) I saw these cute flip-flops that have a silvery charm-button on them, aren't they cute?

Seatbelts everybody!

Even Macey must wear her seatbelt!

Adventureland

Yesterday was the Adventureland trip for the Hoover Middle School band and orchestra. Madison is in 7th grade orchestra and she marches with the band in the color guard. It RAINED all day (except about an hour which really doesn't count when it rains for the ENTIRE rest of the day).

I was a chaperone for the trip, but I don't feel like I did a very good job. It was about 55 degrees, rainy & windy. I rode on a few rides with the kids but then I puttered out and went to find somewhere warm to hang out. Despite the weather I did go on the Tornado roller coaster 3 times & the Space Shot once. Madison & her friends rode on 3 different roller coasters tons of times. Because it's so early in the season hardly ANYONE was there you could stay on rides more than once if no one else was in line! That's unheard of!

Madison will march in the "My Waterloo Days" parade next weekend. That's exciting! I'll have to figure out how to work the video to post her marching. Wish me luck on that one.

System Link

This is the daily view at the end of my hallway. Notice the cord running from Dillon's room on the right to Jared's room on the left?


This is Dillon's room; he has a team who play HALO on the X-Box against the team in Jared's room.

This is Jared's room who is getting their butts kicked by Dillon's team.

This is the newest craze amongst Jared & Dillon & their friends. We have set up a TV in each of the boys' rooms. An x-box is set up which has a 'system link' going between the TV's, thus allowing 1 game to be played in 2 places. This is great for HALO which is a combat game that makes the player (or team) create a strategy to obliverate the enemy (each other).

We have had 9 teenage boys come over at which time they draw names for teams, then they parade down the hall into the rooms and commence combat. I hear nothing for about 20 minutes then there is a huge hoopla, feet stomping, and laughing. Isn't this a crazy team sport? Besides the cost of a case Mt. Dew, it's really a cheap way to entertain a group of teen boys... and no one gets hurt (except the pride thing... sometimes we get an injury there... Scott....).

Dillon's 8th grade party

Last Friday was the 8th Grade Party for Dillon's middle school class. This is treated much like prom - except it's for 8th grade & the kids are encouraged to dress according to the theme. This year's theme was Hawaiian. Dillon took Kylie M. they made a nice couple. Dillon won the Male Best Dancer award. I'm not sure where he gets that from... not me & certainly not Scott.

This picture is me & Dillon with Dillon's friends Nathan & Tanner. I made them pose with me because it was my birthday and I was stuck as a chaperone at the dance. Actually, I had fun. I was very thankful that Dillon & Madison made me listen to 'their music' on our road trip to Texas, otherwise I wouldn't have known any of the music they played at the dance.

39... for the first time

Tomorrow is my birthday. So far it feels like it will be like any other day. I used to love my birthday & made sure all the people around me knew what day was coming up. I don't feel like doing that anymore, is that a sign of getting old? Sometimes I have to ask my kids how old I am or I have to add it up real quick when asked. Not this year.
39.
Next year I'll be 40. Soon I'll have to start checking the "40-50" box on surveys. What a weird feeling. I used to think 30 was old. I couldn't imagine being 40. When I talk about someone and I refer to them as 'older than 40' then I'm really saying that they are LOTS older than me.
But they're not. YIKES! I'm having a reality moment. Mortality.
But you know what they say... "You're only as old as you feel."
I better get to bed.
I want to feel GREAT tomorrow. :)

Dentist

A few weeks ago Madison was trying to feed me a jelly-belly while I was driving, she gasped suddenly and exclaimed that she could see a huge cavity in one of my back teeth! Oh MAN!! I HATE going to the dentist!! But I know that I am well over due for a check-up (4 years) and if I truly had a cavity big enough for others to see, then it's only a matter of time before I enter the tooth-ache stage.

When I arrived at the dentist office on Monday I explained that my 4-year absence was not personal, simply a phobia I have towards those sharp pokey instruments he uses.
GUESS WHAT?! Besides x-rays this dentist now uses a LASER to check for cavities instead of relying only on those painful sadistic tools! Is that way cool, of what? And more good news... the obvious cavity in my back tooth is an old cavity that has dis-colored. Yay!
Now the bad news...
I have SEVEN cavities.
Oh my gosh.
I didn't have a single cavity until I was in my 20's.
I'm so embarrassed.
The dentist gave me a speech about coming in for an annual check up. Like that would have made me have less cavities? I don't think so.
I have to go on Monday for my first of three visits to have all these suckers filed. Yuck.

Another quick trip...

I feel like I have caught the 'travel' bug or something! Dillon, Madison & I just got back from a road trip to Texas (see previous post). We were gone from May 1 and returned on May 6. I thought we had a good time... I think Dillon & Madison are disappointed we didn't get to stay longer. We specifically went there to select materials & design features for our new house in Round Rock, Texas (also a previous post). We had fun picking out stuff & seeing the lot for ourselves. Plus we got to go to each of the schools (Madison in Middle School, Dillon on High School's 9th-grade-campus, and Jared to High School) and check things out.

This past Friday the Cole family jumped in the Suburban and went to Yankton, South Dakota for the weekend. It is a 5-hour trip to get there! We traveled across the Western 1/2 of Iowa and saw many fields under water; there's been lots of rain over there. We visited Scott's brother, Eddie, who lives in Yankton. He stays in a Federal Prison Camp and can have visitors every 3rd weekend. We don't get to see Eddie very often because it's a long trip and many people in Scott's family like to see him too; we try to take turns. It was so good to see him & are encouraged by his attitude. He will certainly become an advocate of drug prevention when he is released (hopefully in 18 months...?).
The traveling is not finished...
Scott & I will leave tomorrow to visit an investor in Peoria, Illinois and then we'll continue on to see a franchise possibility in Ottawa, Illinois. Whew... I need a few days at HOME!! In Waterloo, IOWA!!

Quick Trips

I seem to be the only one really enthusiastic about the 2500-mile road trip. We left on Tuesday, May 1 and returned on Sunday, May 6. What a quick trip!
The back seat was a bit cramped, but Madison's red blanket was a big hit. It was great for naps and ideal for the 'home theater' Dillon made while watching a video on the lap top as we cruised through Kansas.

Dillon has begun the transformation... into a "Transplanted Texan".