High School Musical 3

It is finally here! After all the advertising all summer long, the movie finally started showing in theatres Friday night!! And Brianna has been bugging me about taking her to go see it since! We decided to catch the matinee on Sunday afternoon... we did get tickets to the first show we wanted to go to, but it sure was crowded in there!!! Lots of young kids -- girls and boys alike! Brianna loved the movie! She insists that we are buying it when it comes out on DVD... I suppose since we own the first two movies, we will have to buy the third one, too!! Now I wonder how many days until it is released on video?...

Pumpkin Patch Visit

Since my Mom was here for the weekend, we decided to take Brianna to a small "pumpkin patch" here in town. Mosher's Greenhouse actually set up a pumpkin patch on their grounds and called it "Kid Daze" -- it was actually a lot of fun!! When we first arrived, Brianna got her face painted... with a pumpkin, of course! Then she got to go pick out a pumpkin for herself and take it back and paint it! There was popcorn, hot chocolate and hot apple cider available while you were taking in the festivities! Brianna used A LOT of paint on her pumpkin, so we left it there to dry and went to another building where they had set up a huge maze made with hay bales!! Brianna like this the most! She went through with me and Grandma the first time, then wanted to make her way back from the end to the beginning! We had to wait for the tractor to come back to give us a hayrack ride, so Brianna just kept going through this maze with all the other kids that were waiting! The hayrack ride was bumpy and fun -- it took us out through their field where they had Halloween sculptures and pumpkins and decorations set up throughout! By the time we got back to the first building, Brianna pumpkin was mostly dry, so we picked it up and went home! All these activities only cost $1 for Mom and I, and Brianna was $4 (for the pumpkin and face painting included!). Not bad!!

End of Football Season

Friday night marked the end of Zach's freshman football season!! The freshman team ended the season UNDEFEATED! (11-0) Zach even managed to get a sack in the last second of the last game!!! Way to go!! Here is the season recap:

East vs. West 39-0

East vs. Yankton, SD 39-10

East vs. North 30-14

East vs. Sergeant Bluff 48-14

East vs. Heelan 14-0

East vs. South Sioux City 40-8

East vs. North 20-0

East vs. West 42-6

East vs. West 20-0

East vs. South Sioux City 60-7

East vs. Council Bluffs (TJ) 38-12

I have also finally posted some pictures of Zach in uniform! My mom also came up for the last game, so we took her picture with Zach!! Now we are just waiting for basketball to start...

CJ's First "Surgery"

CJ has been having some stomach problems, of which I finally convinced him to see the doctor about. The doctor scheduled a scope "surgery", where they put him into a "twilight" sleep and insert a lighted tube with a camera down his throat and into his stomach and so forth. This procedure was scheduled at the Same Day Surgery Center and took all of 15 minutes! Because he was being sedated, I had to go along to be his designated driver since he wouldn't be able to drive afterwards!

We first arrived to the surgery center at 8:00 AM, where paperwork was filled out and the nurse took us back to a room. CJ was freaking out because everyone kept calling it a "surgery", when he didn't think it was a surgery, just a procedure!! He wouldn't admit it, but he was nervous! He has never been hospitalized or had any "procedures" done, so he didn't know what to expect. The funniest part of the morning was when the anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself and tell CJ what he was going to be doing. Then he asked CJ if the nurses had done the "bowel prep" yet!!! CJ's mouth dropped open and his eyes opened so wide!!! Then the anesthesiologist said, "Oh, never mind, they only need to do that if they were going into the other end!"(Meaning a colonoscopy!) CJ probably would have jumped up and put his clothes back on and left if he was going to be doing that!!!

We had to wait awhile before they came to take him for the procedure. We sat around watching TV and I took a couple pictures of him in his gown and cap! Once they took him, I was escorted to the lobby where I proceeded to make a cup of hot chocolate. I didn't even get time to drink it before they were calling and taking me to the consultation room to talk to the doctor. The doctor showed me a picture they took from the base of CJ's stomach and showed me that he had a couple of ulcers, so they would prescribe some medication to fix this and he will be as good as new. Glad it was just something simple and easy to fix!!! Then I was taking back to the original room we started out in. CJ was already back in there and the nurse woke him up when we walked in and asked if he wanted anything to eat or drink. She went to get him a Coke and some snacks, and he proceeds to tell me that he was awake through the whole thing!! So I asked him if he remembers the tube going down his throat, etc. He wasn't awake... he just didn't realize he was asleep!!! He doesn't remember anything from them putting sticky pads all over him to read his vitals to waking up back in the room! He didn't even realize the nurse had to wake him up when we came in there!!

After he ate his snack, the nurse went over his "discharge orders" and then he was able to get dressed and we were free to go. We were home before noon!

Busy Weekend At Mom's...

We went to Laurens for the weekend to help Mom with little "jobs" around the house that she wanted done. Mom had several projects lined up for us to help her with when we got there, so we made sure we brought all the tools that she didn't have to get these done!! As an added bonus, Zach got to drive us all the way to Laurens!! He did really well!! Even Grandma was impressed when her took her out "cruising" around town this weekend!

We started on these projects almost as soon as we arrived! CJ trimmed some limbs off a tree in the backyard. These limbs were brushing up against and hanging over the top of the shed back there. While he was doing that, Mom and I found some old boards and made rail posts for her basement steps. They turned out nice! CJ then climbed up on top of the house and cleaned the leaves and debris out of all the gutters. While doing this, an idea for another project was born... putting a gutter on the back of the garage! Mom gets water in the basement in this area and the back of her garage is also starting to have a "wavy" look from the rainwater running down it. Dad had some gutters and downspouts laying around in the shed from previous roofing jobs he had, so we used those parts. We only had to run to Spencer to Menards for some connectors and brackets to hang it up. Since we went to Spencer, Mom took us out for supper to The Sports Page, which is where we went to eat for my birthday last month! The food there is delicious!! After Menards and a WalMart "pit stop", we headed back to Laurens and went up to the bowling alley. They had Cosmic Bowling, which is where the lights are turned off and everything glows under the black lights. Even some of the bowling balls were flourescent colored and glowing! The kids had a blast!

On Sunday, we finished up the gutter on the back of the garage, then fixed the door to the shed. Mom made an awesome dinner for CJ's birthday, then she topped it off with an ice cream cake!!! (She always manages to spoil us when we come home!--Love you, Mom!!!) We stuck around until late afternoon because all the good food made us too lazy to get up and drive home!!!

All in all, the weekend was too short (as always!) but we got quite a bit done!! Hope CJ didn't mind all the work on his birthday!...

Happy 15th Birthday, Zach!!

Wow... Zach is 15 years old today!!! I still can't believe he is that old! Only seems like a couple weeks ago, he was this beautiful baby boy in my arms!! (I have to say "a couple weeks ago", since Brianna only seems like "yesterday"!!!) Where does the time go??!

CJ couldn't wait, so he woke Zach up before he left for work to tell him "Happy Birthday!"... this was at 5:30 AM! Then Zach was awake for the day, so when Brianna got up and wanted to surprise him by waking him up and telling him "Happy Birthday", he was already awake. We made blueberry and chocolate chip muffins for breakfast since I have the day off today. Zach has football practice after school, but it should be short since the varsity team has a home football game tonight. Once Zach gets home from practice and gets cleaned up, we are going out to eat to celebrate his birthday. In our house, when it is your birthday, you get to pick any restaurant to go to eat for your special occasion. Zach has chosen Texas Roadhouse! It is fairly new and we have never eaten there, so I am excited to go! I have heard they are very "entertaining" -- the wait staff does line dances and stuff while you are waiting and eating! Should be interesting! After we eat, Zach wants to go to the varsity football game. Our varsity team hasn't had a very good season. They are 1-6 right now, and their only win was at an away game in Des Moines. Tonight, they play the worst team in the district which hasn't won a single game in the last two years... Zach is hoping to see our varsity team get a win tonight!!! We'll keep our fingers crossed!!!

Happy 15th, Zach! Love you!!!

Changes, Changes, Changes...

Did you think you were lost when you opened this blog page?! With "change" happening every day around here, such as the colder weather and leaves changing colors, I thought I would make some changes of my own! I decided to get rid of the pink and update the blog with a few new features, such as the color! I hope you enjoy it!! I also added a section for the "Photo of the Week", but I can't promise that it will get changed every week! I might have to change that title to "Photo of the Month"! We'll see how it goes!!!

High School Conferences

CJ and I attended Zach's conferences last night. Wow, what a change! In elementary and middle school, you actually go sit in the classroom and have a 15-20 minute discussion with your child's teacher about how they are doing in the class, what is expected of them, etc. Once they get into high school, you just get a copy of your child's schedule and then you go into the gym. All the high school teachers are sitting in there (in alphabetical order!) for you to walk up and have a brief "session" with them!!! (Not sure if I would like this "setup" if our child's was having some problems in school, but then I guess you could call and make a separate appointment to meet with the teacher or guidance counselor.) We thought we would just start at the beginning and go in alphabetical order, but we ended up jumping around because some teachers were available while some had long lines. It took us a little over an hour to see all six of Zach's teachers. Zach's grades on his midterm report card were three A's and three B's, so we weren't too worried about what the teachers would say! All six of them did they that they really liked having him in their class! I just hope that he keeps up the great work!!!

School Pictures 2008

Zach and Brianna have gotten their school pictures back!!! Here are the current photos:

EHS Homecoming 2008

East High celebrated Homecoming the week of September 15-20. The whole week was filled with many different activites... every day at the high school had a "theme", such as "Dress As Your Date" day, where girls dressed as boys and boys dressed as girls! And of course, the final day was Orange and Black Day, the school colors!! There was a parade on Thursday night, which we usually walk in with Brianna's elementary school. This year we decided not to walk and instead sit on the side and actually see the parade!! It was really nice! The Homecoming King and Queen were Scott Lahn and Ashley Vanderloo, pictured at the right. Scott is our neighbor (lives behind us!) so it was nice to be able to watch and see him all dressed up! We would see the Homecoming Royalty again at the game, but most of the boys will be in football uniforms!! Zach was also in the parade, riding a truck with the rest of his Freshman football team. I did take a picture but it is hard to see Zach because another boy's arm is in the way! Zach is in the top row, a little to the right, just kind of peeking out from behind that arm! (Can you see him?!) After the parade, the high school had a bonfire/pep rally to get everyone excited for Friday night's game.
On Friday night, EHS played Urbandale. It was a very exciting game, even though EHS lost by a touchdown! Brianna had gone to a Cheer Camp the weekend before Homecoming, so all the girls that participated in the camp got to perform at the game! They went out about halfway through the first quarter and stayed out performing the cheers they had learned! The were out there for a good twenty minutes or so!! Brianna had lots of fun!! She still performs the cheers at her brother's games!! I have posted a couple pictures of Brianna doing the cheerleader thing! (The cheerleader in one of the pictures with Brianna is one of Zach's classmates!)

The final event for Homecoming was the dance on Saturday night. The event was held downtown at the Convention Center. Zach did not attend -- not very many freshman did!! I think we only knew of three that were going!! I wouldn't have had a problem with him going if there was going to be a bunch of them going together as a group. But I didn't even have to worry about that! Zach and his friends thought they would have more fun running around toilet-papering their friends' houses! (Everyone knew about it and it was all in good fun, so no one got in trouble!!!) Except for the game loss, it was a good Homecoming!!