Do you C what I C?

How about TWO C times from TWO great kids!!!

That's right, today both of my little swimmers earned their very first C times, and this momma couldn't be prouder!!

Madison did it first with a C time in the 50 yard backstroke. I am cheating and putting another picture of her swimming from another meet - I didn't take my camera with me today, doh!



William, not do be outdone by his little sister proceeded to drop NEARLY 10 SECONDS on his 100 Breast, earning his first C time too! I was so proud, his breaststroke is improving so much, that's definitely going to his stroke! Yay!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It's the first official snow storm of the season! Yay! William was at his dad's this weekend, but the rest of us got out for some fun in the white stuff. We had lots of fun, Cade LOVED the snow, especially being pulled around on the sled.

All bundled up:




Madison's Snow Angel:





Momma, my snow!




Red Cheeks!



I had a hard time getting him to come in, and he wouldn't keep a scarf on his face, so his cheeks were still pink the next day! There's something magical about the first snow, and the kids made me kind of like the stuff again... for now.

Hey Four Eyes...

My beautiful second born has unfortunately been cursed with my astigmatism and poor vision. A few weeks ago I got a letter from the school saying that Madison had failed her vision test. Off we went to the eye doctor, and today we went to pick up her brand new glasses! She was actually very excited!

I spent a good deal of time telling her how beautiful she looked, and making sure she wasn't concerned. A few minutes later daddy came home and looked at her and said, "Hi, Four Eyes".

(insert head smack)

He did follow up and tell her she looked "cute". I guess that'll have to do, that's a raving complement coming from him.

Here's my sweet girl in her new specs:

Fall Fun at the Apple Orchard

Yes. I'm a shameful cheat. I changed the date on this so it didn't look like I haven't posted in the past 2 weeks.

Last Weekend Today we went to Apple Jack Orchards, and had lots of fun. It was a GREAT day to go, nice and warm. Caden got a haircut this morning too, no more shag.

Isn't he handsome?



In my typical fashion, the kids had to pose for a photo shoot prior to leaving:





Once we finally got out the door, we took the short trip to Apple Jack Orchards. I like this orchard because it's close and fun. I'm too cheap to buy my pumpkins there (egads, do they KNOW that $1/lb makes a VERY EXPENSIVE pumpkin when they pick the biggest one)? So, I buy my pumpkins for $2.99 at the grocery store. Never fear, I still believe in supporting my local apple orchard. I spent well over $50 on pony rides, apple cider, carmel apples, and hayrides!

Caden ran straight for the haypile so that he could roll around and get all dirty. At least he was wearing his Carhartt's!





Then we did pony rides. William was too big for the pony this year, so he walked along Caden instead. Madison and Cade both enjoyed their rides.







All had fun crawling in the tree tunnel thingy...







And of course we had to find out "How Tall This Fall" we all were:



All in all, a GREAT day... and I LOVE their apple cider, yum! I love Fall!

Go William! Or maybe not...

If I could choose one word to describe myself today, I'd have to choose the word oblivious.

1 : lacking remembrance, memory, or mindful attention
2 : lacking active conscious knowledge or awareness —usually used with of or to

That pretty much sums it up!

William had his first "away" swim meet today, and he did GREAT! Before I go into how absolutely AMAZING he did, I have to tell you a funny little story.

It's the first event of the day. The 200 Medly Relay, which is where each swimmer swims 50 yards of a different stroke. William was on the program as swimming the first leg of this relay, which would mean he was to be swimming backstroke. I missed the swimmers entering the water amidst my own personal chaos - juggling a camera, camcorder, and throwing cheerios at Caden, who I had tied down secured safely into his stroller right next to me. The race starts and here is idiot me yelling and cheering for William, completely oblivious to the fact that everyone else is cheering for someone else.

The first leg of the relay ends and I'm yelling "Good Job William, etc." while throwing more cheerios at Caden and juggling my program and telling Madison to sit down for the 8th time in 2 minutes. My friend Dawn behind me says "Wasn't that Henry?". I look at her in a puzzled sort of way and say, "no, that was William". We proceed to have a short conversation about this, her saying she could've sworn it was Henry, and my nodding and saying, nope, it was William.

I glance up at the blocks, the relay is coming to an end and the last swimmer is getting ready to dive in. Hmmmm.... that last swimmer looks an awful lot like William. Crap.

Out comes the camcorder. Again. I cheer William on. Again. He does a GREAT job. Again. Ok, not really. Henry did a great job the first time.

A little later I'm cheering on other SeaDevils and based on the name on the cap, I AGAIN made the mistake of cheering a boy on by first name. I hear someone else cheer the same kid on using a different name. I'm like, ok... NOT AGAIN - and consult my trusty program. The last name on that swim cap is a last name that I KNOW... but apparently they borrowed the swim cap from a friend, cause that's not the kid swimming. Double Duh.

So, what I learned today is that it is much safer to keep my cheering extremely generic unless I hear someone else using the name first. I spent the remainder of the meet whooping and hollering non specific words of encouragement, and I'll probably do that for awhile. All the kids look the same when they're wearing those darn yellow caps.

Ok, that's enough of my antics, let's get to William. He did great, I can not even describe how proud I am of this boy! This was his second swim meet, and he dropped SO much time!

He swam 3 individual events: 50 Free, 50 Back and 100 Breast. He dropped several seconds on each event. I think he has a real chance of getting some C-Final times this season! Good job, kiddo!

Another brag about my boy...

I got another fun email about William yesterday, and I feel the need to put it out there. I am so proud of him, though at times I wish he'd show more of this side of him at HOME... he can be a bit too smart for his own good for me. It's not fair when an 11 year old can argue convincingly with you, and actually make sense. Makes my "cause I said so" seem rather weak.

Anyways, this email came from his swim coach :)

Hey…did William say anything about being a “lane leader”? It was so cute…I was giving my description and explaining why I needed lane leaders and what their responsibilities would be, then I announced who would be the leader and the alternate in each lane, when I said William’s name he looked around and then I said yes….you are the only William (last name) I have! He was grinning from Ear to Ear! And it is so cute, he has taken his responsibility very seriously and does a great job keeping his lane in tact!

He has his first meet of the season tomorrow morning, and I don't know who's more excited... him or me! I know it's a bad idea to live vicariously through your children, but I can't help it. He's swimming the 50 back, 50 free, 100 breast (yay! that was my event), and something in the medley relay too. He has improved SO much since last season, I'm excited to see how he does. I'm sure I'll be posting pics tomorrow!

Madison is a bit more laid back about her swimming, she likes to take her times and diddle around. That's ok though, she's having fun with it! She swims in her first meet on Tuesday the 23rd.

Wish us... I mean, William luck tomorrow! :)

Get Ready to GIGGLE!

Typically large emails that take forever to download and bog down my system irritate me (just a little). At least they do until I've had a chance to watch/view whatever could possibly be taking up 18 meg. Then my irritation goes away. I'm an irritable person by nature, so please don't take offense if you've ever sent me one of these behemoth emails. I promise I've gotten over it and DON'T want you to stop sending them to me! After all, my impatience on the computer doesn't keep ME from sending them to someone else!

My boss sent this one to me today. I've gotten this particular email from a few people now, but I've been so busy that I hadn't taken the time to watch it yet. It took my boss sending it to me to actually WATCH it (just in case it was work related, ya know). I laughed my hiney off and hope that you do too.

For the record... I do think that I said EACH and EVERY one of those things to my kids yesterday... at least twice.

Enjoy!

Told him so!!!

So... according to the nifty website dateandtime.com, I have been with my darn DEAR husband for approximately 3093 days, 3 hours, 9 minutes and 19 seconds. So that would mean that for the last 3092 days, 3 hours, 9 minutes and 19 seconds I have been complaining about his HORRENDOUS snoring and his habit of not breathing for several seconds at a time and then scaring the snot out of me with a gasping snort every 15 seconds or so. ALL NIGHT LONG.

That's assuming that I waited a full day to start harassing him. Knowing me, that's unlikely.

This mans snores have been responsible for waking my children from a dead sleep (in other rooms), making dogs bark and howl outside, and keeping everyone in a campground awake all night. There are no words to express exactly how horrible his snoring was. I have literally ended up in TEARS down in the lowest level of our house in the dead of the night with a PILLOW over my head over this little problem.

Two nights ago, after years of threatening pleading and begging, my husband went in for a sleep study to confirm what I'd been yelling at him telling him for years. Sleep Apnea. Like Duh.

He must realize think that I'm not so bright, cause at first he tried to tell me that they didn't find anything, and that he had no problems. That was SO not even an option, so I wasn't buying it all? What truly, does he think that I'm that gullible? I am choosing NOT to let him know that last winter when I was REALLY busy at work someone called me on the phone and told me my shoe was untied. That person was 1000 miles away and we were talking on the PHONE... and I still looked down to check. I attribute that to stress and being overworked, it WAS the week before Christmas in a retail store for goodness sakes. Oh, and it doesn't even matter that the shoes that I was wearing didn't have laces.

So, my oh so dear husband got a APAP machine, which makes him look a little like Mr. Snuggleupagus.



How am I supposed to keep my hands off him when he looks so cute?

Last night was our first time with the APAP machine. I'm reserving judgement. The good news: He did not snore ONCE!!! YAY!.

The bad news... I like to bug talk to my husband as we fall asleep. You see, we have this long standing rule that he's not allowed to fall asleep before me, cause if he does than I can't get to sleep. When he's wearing that darn machine he can't talk. Or at least that's what he says.

Also, I had to deal with him tossing and turning all night long and listening to this Darth Vader type breathing whenever he opened his mouth.

So the reveiw's still out, I'll keep ya'll updated. He has an appointment tomorrow, apparently there's something that they might be able to do surgically to help him out. Short of removing a lung or pouring cement down his throat, I have no idea what that might be. And, as much as his snoring drives me crazy, I'm not about to do anything quite that drastic. He drives me crazy but I'm kind of attached to the guy.

JACK ATTACK

We had a new member join our family last month. Earlier this Spring, my beloved Dakota, aka "Kota Kitty" died at age 12. I was heartbroken and was promised that I could get a new kitty at the end of the summer after we were done with vacations for the year. Well... we ALMOST made it. I heard of a litter that was ready to go home at the end of August, but we had to pick up the kitty right away. Only problem is that we were planning on going out on our boat/camping with neighbors for a long weekend that coming weekend.

Hmmmm.... our boat has PLENTY of room. The kitty is small. Yes, you see where I'm going.

I called up Brent and he has a way of knowing when I want something. Maybe it's because I'm really pleasant and nice or something. He always knows when somethings up if I'm nice. I told him about my brilliant plan and he was like, "you want to take a cat on a boat". I said no. A kitten. Kittens are MUCH smaller.

Of course he had no way of resisting my threats charms so he told me to go pick up the damn cat little darling.

Now, in his defense... Brent had perfectly valid reasons for not wanting a new kitty. You see, Dakota liked to pee on his clothes. And crap on the bed. On HIS side of the bed. I don't think that Dakota liked Brent much, cause he left my stuff alone. Dakota was a GOOD very naughty kitty sometimes.

So far so good. It's been a long time since I've had a kitten though. I forgot that kittens attack anything that moves. Including Labrador Retrievers and 2 year old kids. Oh, and that they see nothing wrong with jumping up on the counter and sticking their paw in a pan of spaghetti sauce that's warming on the stove. Or crawling INTO the bucket bowl of ice cream that you're trying to eat.

Anyways. We got the kitty. We took him on the boat. (Bad idea, by the way, we're STILL picking kitty litter out of every nook and cranny). I told Brent that it was a bad idea to take the cat on the boat but he wouldn't listen to me.

The cat's name is Jack. Jack Bauer to be precise. Jack Bauer is our most favorite TV character ever. I let Brent name him, I thought I might have a better chance of keeping the kitty if Brent got to name it. Even if it does start crapping on his side of the bed.

Here's a picture of Jack:



OOPS. Wrong Jack.

Phun with Photoshop!

At William's swim banquet last month, I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the kids by the river since it was such a pretty site. I finally got around to playing with them in photoshop tonight, I got a few good ones! Caden was not cooperative, so I have a lot of him squirming and making faces, but thankfully the older two cooperated for the most part. They are quite used to my photo shoots and have perfected the "fake smile" over the years. Caden will learn in due time. ;)

Doesn't it figure that the ONE picture where Caden is looking at the camera with a pleasant look on his face... Madison is picking at tree bark. Nonetheless, it was still one of my favorites, and shows Madison's daydreamer side, a nice candid of her.

A letter from the teacher....

Last night William reported that I was supposed to email his science teacher.

Uh oh.

Okay, I really wasn't too nervous. If it was something bad, they'd call me, right? Right?????

So here's the email I got back today. I knew I had a good kid, but it's so nice to see other's recognizing it as well. I'm very proud of my boy.

Angela,

Thank you for emailing me...I just wanted to touch base with you as I have been overwhelmingly impressed by William! He does a phenomenal job both in class discussions and in labs. He has really shown a great concern for others and I appreciate the knowledge he brings into my class.
So with that...I want to thank you!

Have a wonderful day and please let me know if there is ever a question or concern!

Mrs. Science Teacher

Here's a picture of William on the first day of school. He hardly put up with it, and refused to let me take a picture of him getting on the bus. He thought that it would embarass him now that he's in Middle School. Silly boy ;) (no I wouldn't really do that to him, but it's fun teasing him).

Remembering Mom...

21 years... that's a long time. My 21st birthday was bittersweet for me because it meant that I had now lived more years without my mom than I did with her.

Now, yet another year has passed and my mother has been gone for 21 years.

Lucy Cuen Bradford passed away from colon cancer at the age of 50, on Septmember 20th, 1986. I was 10 years old at the time.

My mother was beautiful, and I will always remember her that way. There's just no way to describe the effect that she had on my life, though my time with her was much too short.

The following is a video of my mom. I'm the little one with her most of the time.





The following is from http://www.coloncancerfoundation.org/anyage.htm

Please Know the risk factors of developing colon cancer.

They include:

• A personal history of colorectal polyps, previously treated colorectal cancer, or inflammatory bowel disease

• Race : African Americans are more likely than other racial or ethnic groups to get colorectal cancer

• Being physically inactive

• Eating a diet high in fat (especially from red meat)

• Obesity

• Smoking

• Alcohol use

• Eating a diet low in fruits and vegetables

• Having a family history of colorectal cancers, certain other cancers, and benign colon polyps (Fewer than 10% of colorectal cancers are caused by inherited gene mutations.)

If you experience any stomach discomfort, bleeding in your stool, or sudden weight loss, please contact your physician today.If you are not confident that your doctor is providing you with the correct information, or is not investigating the possibility of colon cancer immediately get a second opinion DEMAND THE PROPER DIAGNOSIS AND CARE. It’s you and your loved one’s lives at stake!

Caden got a HUMMER for his Birthday!!!

Yesterday was Caden's 2nd birthday AND the first day of school, and we had a good day. He had his 2 year visit yesterday (along with a burn check, everything's good!). He's 29 lbs, 1 oz, and 38 1/4 inches long. Tall boy! I was looking at baby pictures of him and he doesn't even look like the same kiddo, he's so tall and lean now!

We had a small party for him last night (just our family). Daddy surprised him with a hummer ride on toy, he LOVES IT! He screamed and cried when we finally dragged him away from it to have his birthday cake. I made him a jello poke cake and that was a hit too (once he got over being pulled from his truck).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADEN!!!

Our Day at the State Fair

We did our annual visit to the "Great Minnesota Get-together" yesterday and had a blast! Caden was in good spirits until he needed another dose of ibuprofen in the afternoon, but otherwise really enjoyed himself!

I think he liked looking at the baby animals the best, there were some baby ducks and chicks that he just went nuts over. He also really enjoyed cheese curds (I know, not a good thing but I HOPE a couple don't clog his arteries so soon!).

I've copied some pics below from our day :). Cade's burns are doing REALLY well. It's a major pain to re-dress them each day, but they're healing well. The deep one on his upper thigh is still bleeding a lot, but the other ones have stopped bleeding and the new pink skin is already forming. phew... We go to the doctor again on Tuesday (his birthday!) for a followup and to do his two year well child visit.

Here's some pictures from our day, the big kids had fun too! (Editors Note: The reason why this post was Caden centered was because I shamefully copied my post off of my September 2005 baby list).







Don't you wish YOU had a pickle hat??







At the BIG SLIDE:

Caden fell into the campfire...

11+ years of no major accidents or illnesses in my kids is over. I had what I think was the scariest day of my life on Friday. We were boating/camping with several neighbors and Caden tripped and fell halfway into a roaring campfire. He has several 2nd degree burns and a few superficial 1st degree burns.

I have been second guessing myself ever since about how/what I could/should have done to prevent it. I have always been SO PARANOID with my little ones around fire and water, I can't believe that this happened. It happened so fast. I was cooking dinner on a grill (set up on a table), and Caden was sitting on the other end of the table eating cheetos. My back was to the campfire about 10 feet away. Brent had to use the restroom, so I was keeping an eye on him while I cooked. I went to the grill to flip the steaks and glanced up and Cade was gone. I turned around just in time to see him trip and fall against the metal campfire ring and his left side fell into the fire. I don't know how I got there so fast, I caught him just as he was going in.

He was screaming of course, and I was keeping calm and ran over to the water faucet to get some water on it and all the neighbors came running and started screaming and yelling advice, and then I lost it and started crying myself. Once we got Brent out of the bathroom we jumped in the truck and used Onstar to get to the closest emergency room. It was very scary, and Caden was so pitiful it hurt my heart to look at him.

He's doing ok now. We went to his ped this morning for a followup visit, and he says we're doing a good job and it's healing nicely. The two worst ones are on his legs.

I have a feeling that it's going to take longer for me to heal that it will for him to heal.