Richard's Birthday!

Last Friday, Richard turned 4! We did most of our celebrating on Thursday, because Scott had to be gone on Friday for a Varsity Scout camp. We went miniature golfing per Richard's request. His technique is just as spectacular as ever! We had a great time.Then, we went to Carl's Jr. for dinner.

We came home and had presents.

Here's Richard the next day with all his presents.

Then, family members came over for cake. Richard requested a white cake with white frosting and strawberries. I'm not a big fan of cakes out of a box, because I think they're too dry. So, I found a recipe for a white-chocolate cake that had raspberries. I just switched out the berries. I thought it turned out really well!

Richard had preschool the next day, which was his birthday, and they helped him celebrate. We had more presents and cake the next night when my parents were able to make it. Richard was thrilled to have two parties!

Richard is very sweet and loves to cuddle and get hugs and kisses. He loves to play games and do a preschool learning book with me. He loves preschool and loves to learn. He always has so many questions and it's amazing to me how much he remembers. Happy Birthday, Richard!

How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis

This is a great article that cuts through some of the spin of the campaign trail. Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama would have you believe the collapse was the fault of the Bush administration and the Republican Party. The truth paints a very different picture.

24 is back!

Canning

My mom and I can fruit together every year. She pays for the fruit. I usually pick up the fruit since I live in a more convenient location. I help do all the work involved in canning, so even though I don't monetarily pay for it, I do earn the priviledge of eating the fruit throughout the upcoming year.
However, this year is different. I bought pears last week. The next day I found out my mom was having troubles. A couple of days after that I found out how serious it was. Do you think pears care? No, no. So, last night, I started canning on my own. I was quite pleased that after all the years of helping that I finally felt competent and that I knew what I was doing. All of the jars that I did last night sealed! Yea!
Looking at the boxes, there are more ripe for tonight. Oh, what fun!

parents

You know that comfortable feeling when you're a child that your parents are invincible and nothing that serious could ever really happen to them?
Well, right now, both Scott and I are worried about his parents and my Mom. What a week!
Scott's parents live right in the track of Hurricane Ike. They avoided the brunt of Hurricane Rita when it turned off the projected track (was it last year or the year before?). So, maybe they'll luck out again this time.
My mom just suffered an infarct (death due to loss of blood flow) to the lower 2/3 of her spleen. She unluckily had a small outpouching on her artery (called an aneurysm) that released a clot for some reason early Tuesday morning. The clot blocked flow and caused all her problems. They are pretty sure that was the source of the clot and so don't feel they need to put her on medication to keep her blood from easily clotting. The damage is done and can't be undone, and they don't feel that her spleen needs to be removed. However, she is basically on bedrest except bathroom and eating priviledges until her spleen heals as much as it can. The spleen is highly vascular, and, if it ruptures, you can bleed out into your abdomen quite quickly.
At least with my Mom, we can pray for a recovery without harming anyone else. If we pray for the hurricane to change paths, other people will suffer. So, I guess you pray that things will work out the very best that they can.

Preschool

Just like many others, Richard has started preschool this year. Today was his first day. Last night when I told him he finally got to start today, he was so excited! I had to remind him that he had to go to sleep first.

This morning, we took pictures before he left. Of course, Audrey did not want to be left out.

Audrey was sad when we left Richard at school. It's not like he's never been at friend's houses before, but for some reason it was different to her this time. Richard didn't have a problem at all when I left.

When he got home, Richard showed me his projects and told me about his day. He did want to cuddle for a few minutes and asked why I left him there so long! I'm sure he'll get used to the length and get so he's excited when it's a preschool day.

I was able to excercise only pushing one child in the stroller and did not have to bug my neighbor to borrow her double stroller. It will be nice to have things a little calmer in the morning.

Labor Day

We went to my parent's cabin for Labor Day. We arrived Saturday evening and left just after dinner on Monday.

It was really quite cold on Monday. It was pouring rain when we woke and I don't think the temperature got much above 40 degrees. Plus, it was windy out. So, that took out a lot of the outdoor activities we usually do. However, my dad was super creative and came up with games for the kids to play indoors which helped keep them occupied. They made parachutes out of hospital bouffant caps and yogurt cups. They played "Mother May I," built a fire in the fire place, played ping pong, and played "Where's the Penny?"

Some ventured outside and played on the swing. I was not one of them :). I hear both Richard and Audrey had a GREAT time. We also had a treasure hunt. Richard found one clue all by himself, which he was excited about.

Overall, it was a nice, relaxing day away!