Riding a 2-Wheeler...

Since we had some extra time sitting in hospitals this past weekend, Brad and I got to talking about how Muluken has turned into a little dare devil his bike. He received a new 2-wheel bike with training wheels for his birthday in March. Muluken would ride his bike every day if he could. But, since it had training wheels, the bike gave Muluken a lot of confidence. He was riding with "no hands" down the road and also down the HILL in our yard! He was also trying to "jump" the bike, in which he could get the wheels off the ground.

So on Sunday evening after dinner, Brad went out and took off the training wheels. Muluken went outside and said "oh my goodness" with a laugh. He quickly got his bike helmet and went down to the road with his dad and Noah. I went with the camera and encouragement.

Muluken was all smiles and laughs but couldn't quite get the hang of it. Brad was hanging onto his shirt and making sure he didn't fall into the ditch. Noah was showing him how to balance on his own bike, but then Muluken wanted Noah to ride his bike. Muluken had an idea that his bike was broken and not driveable.

Noah got on Muluken's bike and started riding it down the road. This only got Muluken MORE excited. He quickly ran after Noah and wanted his bike back. Brad took him for a few more trips down the road and then called it a night. Muluken was grinning from ear to ear!

2nd Trip to Hospital in 48 Hours

So, if our weekend wasn't exciting enough, we went to Ally's confirmation open house at her home in Neenah on Sunday. After eating some AWESOME food, we were all outside when Noah came and told me that Jordan needed me. Of course, I say "why?" and he said, "No Mom. She REALLY needs you!"

So off I went around the house and there was Jordan laying on the grass, crying her eyes out. She was in a lot of pain. She was holding her left arm, near her elbow. Oh great, another broken elbow (4 years ago, Cassie broke her elbow). So I calmed her down and told her we'll take her in for an x-ray.

We left the other kids at the party and headed to Theda Clark Hospital. After about 2 hours of waiting, talking to doctor and nurses, and x-rays, they didn't think she broke her elbow but didn't want to take any chances until an orthopaedic surgeon checked her out. So, they put on a hard-molded cast on her arm and put her in a sling. Nice! Now, we have a drama queen with a cast! She actually texted her friends to let them know what was going on before we even got home. UGH!

So of course, being the scrapper that I am, I had to take more pictures at the hospital!

Tomorrow we find out what's the verdict if the arm is broken...

It's Been Awhile...

So where do I begin???

Last Friday, April 16th, Muluken went into the hospital for dental surgery. He had work done on 12 teeth. He ended up getting 1 silver cap, 2 caps on his front teeth, and 9 fillings. OUCH!! He handled it like a trooper.

Brad and I both took him in to St. E's. Muluken was put into a room and within minutes, we had at least 4 other people in the room. Muluken was smiling until I tried to put his hospital gown on. He took a step backwards and said "no way" with a nervous laugh. Brad and I needed to work together to get the gown on and his clothes off. Brad switched the cartoons on the tv, which helped distract Muluken with all of the nurses and doctors in the room.

Brad and I walked along with Muluken as he was wheeled down to surgery. He was still smiling but that changed quickly when the nurse told us to say goodbye. Muluken was REALLY MAD! The nurse tried to put the blue beanie cap on his head and Muluken jerked his head away and said "NO". No more smiles from my Muluken.

Muluken was gone for over 2 hours. What a LONG WAIT!! He came back pretty tired but OK. He drank some water and started to watch some cartoons in which he finally started to wake up. The smile returned to his cute face. :)

Of course, being the scrapper that I am, I had to take some pictures of Muluken's first hospital visit.

Happy little guy for just having dental surgery!

The BIG 4-0!

Yes, I turned "40" yesterday! I've been thinking a lot about reaching this milestone all week while I was on spring break.

Turning "40" means that I will have spent half of my life with Brad by my side.

Turning "40" means that I'm "OLD" according to my kids.

Turning "40" means that I'm halfway to "80".

Turning "40" means that another day has passed & life has not stopped moving on by.

So, of course, my OLDER sister and OLDER brother felt they needed to throw a surprise birthday party for me. If you know anything about me, you should know that I HATE surprises! Brad knows this. But, he still went along with the plans. Dorinda was even in on the surprise. That might HAUNT her in the future! LOL!

Dorinda was the instigator to get me there. She called in the morning and said that she wanted to go out with us for dinner. I wanted to go to the Country Inn. She and Noah wanted to go to Channel Cats ~ to see the fishing boats. Boy, am I gullible! I told her I would call back with the time. When I saw Brad at lunch time, he said that we should go at 6:30pm. WHAT?!?!?! That is SO late for us to eat. He said we always eat late. HUH?!?! No we don't. I gave him a hard time, but he said that would be better. Then Dorinda said that would work better for her too. OK, I'm still not understanding this but I go along with it.

I went shopping on Friday afternoon with Muluken & Jordan at the mall. We met Kris and the girls there, and I even invited them out to dinner with us that evening. They said that they all had plans. Hmmm. Then, I had to pick Noah up at Uncle Steve's house. I asked them to meet us at Channel Cats for dinner too. They said they would think about it. I even called Mom to meet us for dinner and she said "maybe".

So, you might be thinking how this turned out. Well, it was about 6pm on Friday. Thirty minutes before we're to meet Dorinda at Channel Cats. Everybody was getting ready to go out for dinner, but Muluken was kind of moving slow. Noah told him to hurry up and get ready for Mom's birthday party. Muluken came right to me and said, "Mom, birthday party?" What?!?! I proceeded to ask Jordan and Noah if there was a party for me. They both ran away with grins on their faces. Terrible liars! I marched right down to Brad and asked him. He started laughing and said "I knew this was a bad idea!"

Oh, I was so mad! I tried calling Dorinda and she wouldn't answer. She knew how much I DIDN'T want a birthday party. And here she was part of it! And Brad...he knew he was in trouble!

Noah started crying because he thought he ruined everything, but I told him that I was SO HAPPY to know beforehand. I gave him big hugs and told him we had a party to get too.

So even though the "SURPRISE" was missing, the party was still fun! Here are a few pics of the birthday girl and guests!

Maggie (the other birthday girl, whose MUCH younger)

Happy Easter!

It was a windy but nice Easter Sunday. Jordan & Noah were up at 6am, looking for their baskets. They woke Muluken up around 6:30am, and Cassie around 7am. Everybody found their baskets and the 29 eggs in the house. Brad (Easter bunny) had a good time hiding everything last night. We went to the 9:30am church service and then off to Aunt Kris' home for lunch.

Muluken had his first Easter egg hunt today in Aunt Kris' yard. I made Brad follow him around to make sure he knew what he was doing (& to take pictures), but Muluken figured it out really quick. He made a haul of candy and money!