Tennis Anyone?

Well, I have to quickly write about Russell's first tennis lesson. I signed him up for some lessons at thru the city rec center. So far everything we have done thru the center has been good, so I thought this would stand a chance at being good too. I was only a little bit wrong – it was great!!! We have only had one lesson, but it was worth every penny just for that one hour. Russell enjoyed every second. He just smiled the entire hour, even when they had to pick up all the balls all over the court. What really made me happy was just witnessing the pure joy on his face, it was amazing. It has been a long time since I have really seen that. Probably not since this summer. It was really cold that night and he had on a knit ski cap and it totally reminded me of when we lived in OK and Russ was about 3, playing at the playground and loving life.

As far as the tennis skills, I think he did well for never picking up a tennis racquet before. There was one game that they held a cone upside down and they had to catch a ball after it bounced. Russ only caught like 1 ball out 25, but he never gave up and he just kept trying and smiling. But as far as hitting the ball, he did well. The coach was so positive and had so much energy – you could tell that tennis is his passion and coaching kids really energizes him. That guy said something positive after every swing, hit, miss, try, etc.

On the ride home, Russ was on cloud 9. He really liked it. And one thing he mentioned that surprised me a bit was that he thought tennis was good for him because he had to really focus on the ball and nothing else.

By Popular Demand

Some of you are not on FaceBook and haven't seen my great creation..... Ha! Well, here ya' go! And here is the link to the recipe for the chocolate cake and frosting.... Thanks again Schelley!

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake/

Sick City

Yeah, so you can guess, we are sick. It started with Rowan the day after his birthday. I thought it was the shots he got. Nope, that icky cold virus going around. Ugh. So for a week plus he has not been sleeping well, congested, cough, fever – the works. (On a positive note, it really is his first bad cold, hurray for breastmilk!) So, last Wednesday I took him in to the Dr. and the Dr. said, if he's still running a temp. tomorrow bring him back. AAAHHH!!! But I am here TODAY. So, we ended up back at the Dr. on Friday and sometime between Weds. and Friday Rowan got an ear infection. Now, I am a little suspicious only b/c it went from, Oh his ears are fine to Oh, definitely an ear infection. Whatever. He still isn't sleeping well and rubbing his ear a lot. Hopefully tonight will be better. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that Adam is gone and so it is all me. Yaawwwwnnnn… achoo! Yep, I think I am getting the bug (just call me Aimee ZiCam Bright), Rachel has the bug and is complaining about her ear. She complained so much that she even let me clean it, look inside with my otoscope and put drops in it. It looked red to me; guess we where we are going on Tuesday? So far Russell is staying strong and healthy, but ever since Kindergarten, he rarely gets sick. Hopefully he'll miss this round of the crud. Adam doesn't get back until Saturday. Sunday I plan to sleep all day.

The Birthday Report

Well, time to report on the birthday festivities for the month of February. We started with Rowan's 1^st birthday on the 4^th. We just had a fun little day at home. Rowan loves whipped cream and waffles. So, he got that for breakfast and kept asking for more whipped cream. We made pizza for dinner and had yummy sugar cookies with lots of frosting. A great day all around.

Then on the Friday, the 6^th, Andy and his friend Rachel came from Portland. They came to do some run in the Mojave Desert, not for the birthdays, that was a bonus. Then my dad, Pam & Adelle also drove down Friday night, not for the run in the Mojave, but for the birthdays and to see Andy. It was cold and rainy all weekend and Andy & Rachel got up at like 3am to get ready and drive to the desert for a run in the windy rain and cold. That sounds like A LOT of fun, doesn't it? Weirdos. Rachel has a boyfriend and we always wonder about them b/c Andy and Rachel are always out doing stuff together – backpacking, running, etc. After this weekend, I am beginning to think her BF is a smart guy – who would want to run in the desert in the rain and cold? You know? Rachel was teilling us she's a runner and her BF is a cyclist and neither enjoys the other's sport. So, it works out for them. Back to the weekend…. Andy made a great pre-run dinner on Friday night with some wild rice called Oregon Jewel. According to Andy it is the best wild rice ever. Schelley, I had him bring some for you, it is waiting for your arrival in LV : )

While Andy & Rachel were freezing in the desert, the rest of us went to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. We had not been before and the kids loved it. It is small and crowded, but it was nice to get out of the house. Adam, Dad and the kids went back to the house and those of you who know this, Adam is horrible with directions and getting around. His report to me was – I don't think I impressed your dad with my driving skills. Ha ha. Pam, Adelle & I did a little shopping – gotta keep the teenager happy!! I did put the teenager on a time hack (military term) to keep us movin' along and not shopping all night. Adelle was pretty cute with the time hack – she'd check the time frequently and report how much time we had left. In fact, in Juicy Couture, I got a few weird looks when I said, "Adelle, 5 mninutes, Hack." These ladies looked at us like I was from Mars. Pretty funny.

Sunday, we had planned to go to Red Rock Canyon and do some hiking, but it was still raining!!! Dad, Adam & Russell headed out to Bass Pro to fart around. Pam and Adelle went back to Juicy to shop some more. Rachel went back to Oregon and Andy and I stayed home with Rowan and Rachel. I made a hamburger cake which turned out AWESOME. During this time, Rowan caught a cold and was very grumpy. So that night we did the cake and presents for both the boys. Needless to say they had a very fruitful birthday.

Let me report on the cake. The cake was delicious!!!! We made hamburgs and hot dogs for dinner, so I had thought it would be fun to make a cake that looked like a hamburger. After reading endless tips online on how to make it, I realized the key to a successful hamburger cake would be Peanut Butter Frosting. I don't like to make frosting from scratch, I always screw it up. Unless, it has cream cheese, I can do that, don't ask me why. So, I searched for a recipe and didn't find one to my liking. So, I turned to Schelley, as I always do when in a recipe dilemma. Of course, Schelley has made PB Frosting and gave me a great recipe. Hello, BONUS – it was made WITH cream cheese. I didn't even ask about a recipe with cream cheese, I just wanted a good recipe. It was meant to be, I had to make the frosting. Can I just say – YUM. Yum yum yum. It like melted in your mouth, it was so good. It is now everyone's fave frosting. YUM. I also used fondant for the lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Whipped vanilla frosting for the mayo and red icing for the ketchup, All of that was pre-made or pre-colored. It was a really fun cake.

On Monday, everyone went home. It was a houseful, but didn't seem like it. Adam left on Tuesday for New Mexico and he'll be there until the 21^st. Russell's actual birthday is Feb. 12^th. So, I made cupcakes for his class – beach and shark cupcakes. The shark cupcakes had blue frosting with a grey cardstock fin sticking out of the water and the beach cupcakes had white frosting with graham cracker crumbs and little umbrellas for embellishment. The kids loved them. Russ's classroom has a beach theme too, so the kids really liked that. Russ had a great day – calls on the phone, emails, a video email from the McKinneys singing Happy Birthday with the cha cha cha and at the end a triumphant HI-Ya! Hi- Ya indeed, a great way to end the birthday celebrations.

 

As It Turns Out, A Super Sunday

So, this morning around noon, someone rings our doorbell. This hardly ever happens, except with the UPS guy. I look thru the peep hole and it looks like a potential holy roller, but I open the door anyway. As it turns out a 13 year old boy in one of the quadrants of our neighborhood/community was missing. 13. He had gone out about 9am to walk his dog and they found the dog, but no boy. So they were passing out flyers in hopes that someone saw something. Adam had been out jogging that morning, but hadn't seen anything.

Your heart just stops beating for a second when you hear news like that. 13. We offered our help if they needed more people to pass out flyers, whatever, anything. Although sometimes the best way to help is to stay out of the way, as there were probably 100 people out at the gate with the police. The helicopter was out, people were out on their ATVs searching the desert area behind our neighborhood; it seemed like a lot was being done to find him. Then around 2:30 or so, everyone was gone and the neighborhood was back to its norm.

Adam and I were worried for this boy and his family. As a parent, you can only imagine just a bit of the terror they must be going through. It was hard to get excited for the Superbowl. However, during the Superbowl, Adam was checking the Internet to see if any news had turned up. They did end up finding him all the way down near the strip, right around the time the police and everyone had left here. The article said that he was distraught, upset, and seemed unharmed.

What a relief! We have no clue what of the details are, but just glad that this had a positive outcome. News and situations like this just want to make you hold your children a little bit tighter, you know? We often wonder if we are overprotective of our kids and today the answer was and still is absolutely not.