Take me out to the ball game

I'm a little behind, I know...

The day BEFORE Zander had his tonsils taken out, we decided to have a fun night out as a family. Thanks to the Phoenix library's summer reading program, each of the three kids had earned a ticket to the Diamondbacks game.






We didn't stay for the whole game since the kids were getting a little tired and cranky, but I think we all had a good time!

Goodbye Tonsils

Zander has been sick quite a bit in his life. As a baby, he had an ear infection about every other month. It got a little bit better as he got older, but not much.
And he snored. A LOT - LOUDLY. When we were were in Washington DC last year, he fell asleep during the video portion of our tour of the capital building. He snored SO loud that all the school kids in there were laughing hiserically. When the lights came up and they saw it was a little kid making all that noise.... sheesh...
Anyway, he had a problem.
In June of this year, he got strep throat. When I took him to get checked, the doctor told me that his tonsils where HUGE and I should really have them looked at by a specialist. This wasn't the first time I had heard that, so I decided that it was time to get something done.

So, I made an appointment with an ENT. He took one look at Zander's throat and said, "That's not normal. Those should come out."
This is what his tonsils looked like:


So. It was time to take them out. I wanted to have it done BEFORE school started so that he wouldn't miss any school. The first day that they could get him in was August 9. ONE week before school started. Talk about cutting it close!

Naturally, he was a little nervous about the whole thing. So we tried our best to get him ready for it so that he would know what to expect and not be scared.
We got this book from the library. I would HIGHLY reccommend it to anyone who has a kid getting thier tonsils taken out.

It is written from a little girl's perspective. She describes everything that happened to her, from the beginning to the end. We read the book over and over. I think it helped all of us.

A couple of days before the surgery, we had a little "Goodbye Tonsils" party - just like they did in the book. I made a cake and decorated it with carmel topping. It didn't look very pretty, but it was pretty yummy.



On the BIG day, we had to get up pretty early. We were supposed to be there at 6:30 am. I had a friend who volunteered to watch the girls for me, so Brandon and I were both able to go. (Thank you Jennifer!) Brandon's dad came and joined us in the waiting room.


It was almost 8:00 before they called us back. Zander got to sit in a big chair and put on a nightgown with clowns on it. (In the book the girl wore one with elephants, but Zander was happy with the clowns.)


The doctor and the anestegiologist both came and talked with us. Then it was time for him to go. A nurse came and walked him back to the surgery room. We were able to give him a kiss and a hug, and then he was gone.
It was a little hard to sit and wait while they were operating on my little boy. But, it was over before I knew it.
The doctor came out and talked to us. He said that everything went perfectly and that he was doing just fine. Then, we got to go see him.
He was sleeping, and I started crying a little at the sight of him lying there with an IV running out of his arm. But soon, he woke up. The nurse kept telling me how cute he was.
It wasn't long before he was eating a popsicle.



Then we took him home.

We had a rough few days, but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be. The worst time is right after he wakes up, when his medicine has worn off and his throat is dry. But, as long as we keep his throat wet and cold, he's been doing really well. We went to visit Gran and Papa yesterday - and he got to play with his cousins. He was VERY tired by the time we went home, but I think he did pretty well.
I think he'll be ready for school on Tuesday, but I'll probably be worried about him all day.

Curls

Ady asked me if we could make her hair curly.
Does anyone else remember wearing pink sponge curlers to bed in order to have pretty, curly hair? These aren't really anything like the pink curlers I remember, but they sure do bring back memories.



The crazy curly results


This was just for fun since we went swimming a few hours later and the curls all went away. But, a few days later we did it again so that she could have curly hair for church. (We used a few less curlers so it wasn't quite so crazy!) Having girls is so much fun!

Embroidery Machine is back - At last!

As you know, I got an embroidery machine as an early Christmas present to myself. Well, last month, I started having some issues with it. The thread was pulling too tight, and the results were not pretty. At all.
After searching the instruction manual and trying everything I could possibly think of to try to fix the problem, I finally took it to get repaired. Sadly, it took over two weeks before it was finished, but now I have it back, and it is a good as new!
AND it was under warranty, so I didn't have to pay to have it fixed. Yay!

Here's a few custom Zadyballs that I have made since I got my machine back.

Eat Mor Chikin

It's no secret that we love Chick-Fil-A. We were really looking forward to Cow Appreciation day and the dressing up and free food fun.

Ady wanted to be a ballerina cow. I entered this picture in the "Show us the Cow" Contest. (You should go vote for her - NOW)

My three little cows

Walking in to get our free food

With our fellow cow friends

MOOOO!

Swimming Lessons 2010

Believe it or not, one of my favorite parts of summer is taking the kids to swimming lessons. It gets us out of the house every day, and gives us a little exercise, and helps the kids learn an important skill.
I love that the pool offers a "Parent and Child" class for babies. Mostly because it means that I get to get in the water and don't have to sit in the 110 degree heat while the kids swim.

Ady started the summer in Level One and moved into Level Two after two sessions. Zander was a little disappointed when his instructors thought it would be best if he stayed in Level Two for the whole time. But, they have had fun being in the same class.
Ainzlee has been doing amazingly well in the baby class. She has NO fear of the water at all (not always a good thing). But, she would much rather do her own thing that listen to what the instructor says.

On July 5th, Brandon was home from work, so he got to go in the baby class with Ainzlee and I took pictures.

July 4th Weekend in Las Vegas

(I'm behind in my blogging, so I'm playing catchup. Sorry)

Brandon and I had the opportunity to get a "free" two-night stay at a resort in Las Vegas for July 4th Weekend. We decided it would be fun to get away without the kids since we had never really gone any where without them since before Zander was born. So, the kids stayed with Gran & Papa. We invited my parents to meet us in Vegas since we had some extra room and we don't get to see them very often.
We had a great time! (I realize that we were in Vegas just a few months ago, but it was most definitely a different experience without the kids)

We got there Friday afternoon. We got checked in and settled, and then went to the temple. We spent about four hours there doing work for Brandon's ancestors. It was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed it!
Mom and Dad at the temple

Brandon and I at the temple


Then, we went to a resturant that came highly recommended: Memphis Championship BBQ. It was and interesting experience. We were told that we HAD to try the fried dill pickles. They were surprisingly tasty. Slightly too salty for my taste, but good anyway.

Then we got changed and went down to the strip. (Dramatically different atmosphere than the temple).
We went to the Bellagio and visited the flower gardens. It was so full of people we could barely move!


This giant chocolate fountain was pretty neat

Then we went outside to watch the water show. The view across the water is stunning!

Looking up at the Bellagio

The water show was pretty amazing!


Then we stopped by the Silverton to see some fish



On Saturday, we went to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory. The production was closed for the weekend, but we still got to take a self guided tour.


Outside of the Chocolate Factory, they had a cactus garden. We wandered around a little bit. It was hot.


We made the required stop in front of the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. I was amazed at how many wedding parties we saw in the just the 15 minuted we were there. (FOUR!)

(Taken by a stranger who didn't know anything about photo composition...)

We wandered around the strip a little more and saw things not worthy of taking photographs of. Like people shoving pictures of naked ladies into our faces... stuff like that.

Here's some flamingos and the Flamingo

A pretty flower


Then we took advantage of some of the coupons the resort gave us. We each got $25 loaded on a card to use in the slot machines at the resort across the street. So, we played the slots for free.
Brandon won a whole $0.10


Daddy won $45


And I won $40! Yippee!

Then we pigged out at the buffet - yummy!


Sunday morning, we went to church with my Dad's cousin who lives in Vegas. Then we made the trip home. It was kind of nice to travel without kids screaming in the backseat. But I missed them, and was glad to be with them again.
We had a great time and were very happy that we were able to go!