Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

In just under a month I will be participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K.  More than likely I will have all four kids with me.  I decided to do the 5K this year because this Nov. 19th at 9:05 am will mark the 10th anniversary since I lost my grandma to this awful disease.  You can find my team page here: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=47444&pg=personal&px=2086508  If anyone wants to join me in the 5K I'd love to have the company.  I'll be pushing a double stroller & encouraging my two big kids to keep up with us so I won't be running :)  From the sound of it, this is one big party mean to celebrate those who have survived this awful disease.  Come help me celebrate the memory of my grandma!

Brookelyn's first trip to the dentist

I broke down & called the dentist today about Brookelyn.  All four of her molars have been swollen something terribly all summer long.  The other day I noticed her bottom right molar looked like raw hamburger & was discolored some.  I was thinking it might be infected.

Dr. Gehring is really good with my kids.  Brookleyn was a bit freaked out when I laid her down but then she noticed the tv in the ceiling and I held her hands and sat right next to her and she did ok.  Dr. Gehring looked in her mouth and came to the conclusion that she had a cyst on her right bottom molar rupture.  Samantha had cysts on her gums when she would get teeth, but nothing that ever looked like this.  Sam's just looked like small blisters on her gums.  At one point we had some of them lanced and I swore up and down I'd never do that again!

Dr. Gehring said that she has some really thick, really tough tissue on her gums on all four molar spots.  It looks as though she's going to get some nasty cysts on all four of them.  He said that because it looks like the tissue is so thick and tough that the cysts will likely have to rupture several times before the molars can break through completely.  He said that I should give her teething rings, spoons, etc. to chew on and to encourage her to chew on things.  He said that her chewing on things will help apply pressure to the cysts which will then help the cysts rupture which will in turn result in those molars being able to break through and stay through sooner.  Dr. Gehring said I could lance the cysts at home with a plastic fork or spoon too.  I was talking to my sister later and asked her how in the heck I'd do that.  She told me that I would just use the spoon or fork to apply pressure to the cyst until is basically explodes.  Awesome.  Dr. Gehring said don't be surprised if the cysts start bleeding because they will likely bleed.  More awesomeness.

I also talked to Dr. Gehring about Nash.  I've noticed over the last few months that as his two front top & two front bottom teeth have come in that his mouth is screaming "I NEED BRACES!"  He's got one top tooth that laps over the bottom tooth and one bottom tooth that laps over the top tooth.  Dr. Gehring said that sometimes they do that until they are in all the way.  I told Dr. Gehring that these teeth are for sure in all the way.  He asked me if it was a cross bite.  I asked him what that meant.  He pulled out a card with some pictures on it and pointed to one.  I then had the pleasure of saying, "Yep.  That's EXACTLY what it looks like."  Dr. Gehring told me that that is in fact a cross bite and if it's bad enough it can cause an under bite (Caleb has a ferocious under bite).  I asked if I should schedule an appointment to bring him in before his next well check in November.  Dr. Gehring said we had better get a look at it and see what kind of plan we need to make.  Sounds to me like we're going to be making a plan for braces for Nash next Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 1:30 pm!

Apparently we are leaving the "We love our ENT" phase and entering the "We love our dentist and orthodontist" phase.  Good times never end over here!

Momastery Blog

Tonight I came across a new blog.  You can find it here: http://momastery.com/blog/ .  The name of the blog is Momastery.  I've read a few of the most recent entries.  I also clicked on each of the tabs at the top (the meet Glennon, G's family, etc.).  This girl is funny and I like her style.  I have a feeling I will be frequenting this blog.  Check it out.

A 40th Birthday Party

Today was my aunt's 40th birthday.  My grandma had a black, surprise 40th birthday party for her.  I was put on cake detail.  I made these cupcakes (thought the kids would like them) because she's "older than dirt".

I created a tombstone for her as well.

Not everyone in the family was able to make it to the party.  The only kids that were there were my aunt's five kids & my four.  They had a great time in the field next to grandma & grandpa's house.  It reminded me of when I was a kid & we'd have a get together out at their house.  I'm glad I don't have to worry about the canal (since they moved a few years ago) with Caleb (he's the one that would head straight for it I'm sure!).

The kids found all of the balls grandma had & started several rounds of dodge all.  Brookelyn kept running out into their game.  They were good sports to dodge her & she loved every single second of it.

Brookelyn LOVED the worm cupcakes:

Grandma busted out the left over bird houses from the reunion a few weeks ago & the let the kids paint.  Just the big girls & Caleb wanted to paint.  They had lots of fun though & now we've got a few more bird houses to add to our collection.  I keep forgetting to buy some shelack when I go to Walmart.  If' I'd clear coat them they'd last a long longer outside!

As usual, there was no shortage of great food or dessert!

It was fun to have a get together.  I wish more in the family could have made it.  I realized that my 40th birthday is now officially only eight years away!  There's a scary thought!  Not sure which thought is scarier, having all four kids in school full time or turning 40!

Dirt, GLORIOUS Dirt

Tonight I was sitting at the computer working on a few things.  All four kids were outside on the swing set.  I could hear them and see them and would occasionally get up and sneak out to peak a little closer.  At one point it got rather quiet.  I glanced out the back window and they were gone.  I could still hear whispers from them coming from behind the fence.  I peeked around the corner and here's what I found:

The kids LOVE playing behind the fence in the dirt.  I don't think the neighbors are too fond of this past time though.  They've filled more than one hole that the boys have left.  I pick up all the shovels, etc. every night and drag them back to our side of the property.  It's sort of a futile effort because they end up right back where they were not too long after sun up.  I told my father in law when he finally convinced Travis to plant grass out front that he was taking my children's favorite place to play away.  He brushed it off as though it was no big deal.  I know how big of a deal it was for them to lose that sacred dirt space.  In their effort to reclaim a bit of it back, they've staked their claim on the neighbor's property.  It's a good thing the neighbor's don't make too big of a fuss about it.  I don't know what the kids will do with themselves when we finally get the yard fenced in (some day).  We might have to make a sandbox when that happens!