My Husband Should Have Been an Orthodontist!!!

This morning Rachel had her first of what turns out to be many, visits with the orthodontist. Let me start with I LOVE this office. The people are amazing. Everyone from the receptionist to the orthodontist himself. They have like 4 video arcade games for siblings to play if they so choose. They have a huge fish tank which I cannot wait for Garrison to see. They gave not only Rachel a capri sun but Natalie too. After Rachel was done she got like 4 full size candy bars. Probably not the best thing for a girl who just had 2 cavities filled but after all she went through today, she probably deserves them. They were just so family friendly. It was wonderful...until I got "the news." Poor Rachel has her fathers teeth only worse. She has a very significant over-bite. Her mouth is way too small to fit all of her teeth in so the crowding is out of control.

We will go in on April 2nd and get a "guard" which will fit in the top of her mouth. We will crank it every day to slowly expand her upper teeth to allow more room for her future permanent teeth. That will stay on for 3-4 months after which she will get braces on her top and bottom teeth. Those will stay on for a year. After those come off, we will wait until she is 12 or 13 at which time she will get another full set. Hearing this I became incredibly dizzy with dollar signs floating around my head instead of birds.

The funny (okay not so funny) part of it all is the secretary told me that we have incredible dental insurance. So $2300 is a good price for all of this??? Wow!!! I know it will all be worth it for her to have a beautiful smile but my wallet will be MUCH lighter for the next year as I pay this off.

In short...my husband definately picked the wrong profession.

Ahhhh the 80's

Last night I saw a picture of a girl friend and she was wearing one of these charm necklaces. The memories came flooding back!!! When I was in elementary school I LOVED these necklaces. I had a million of these charms. Some of them even worked like the toilet one where the lid came up and down!!! I got on eBay to see if I could still get one and holy moly..they are going for like $40!!!!!! So I guess I will just have to relive the memories by looking at pictures on the internet!!!

You Should See The Other Guy!!!

So I wake up around 9:00 on Saturday morning. I lay there for a second allowing myself to fully wake up. I reach over to grab my cell phone to see what time it is and holy moly, I have a text from Buddy. It came it at about 7:30. I knew he was gone because he goes early every Saturday morning to play basketball at the Stake Center. The text read.."I am going to get stitches at the hospital you went to for your burn. I am ok." Are you kidding me???? I jumped out of bed and tried to call him. No answer. Of course. I take a minute to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do. I thought of calling my neighbor to come and sit with the kids so I could rush down there but I thought he will probably be finished by the time I got there. A few minutes later, Buddy calls me.

He was playing basketball ( I knew that already) and some guy was on his way down to the court to make a basket and Buddy tried to steal the ball and the guy accidentally elbowed him right between the eyes. Turns out he had to get 5 stitches. Of course the other guy is fine. He felt awful for hurting Buddy. My poor hubby. I think he learned that next time he needs to call me and not text. At least I hope he did!!!!

The In-Laws

(My Mother and Father in law. Rosemary and Gary)

(Rachel with Alyssa and her boyfriend Andy)

(Kimbo with Buddy's Aunt Kathy)

(Garrison saying goodbye to Mitzi)

(Rachel with Bob and Lucy)

I feel the need to get sentimental and mushy. I have many friends who I often hear complain like crazy about their spouses family. Either it is their mother in law is too over-bearing or their sister in law is too judgmental or their spouses aunt and/or uncle are just nuts. Well I have to say that I have been extremely blessed with AMAZING in laws. My mother and father in law are just fantastic. They know when to step in and offer guidance and advice and yet they know when we have things under control and don't butt in. They respect our decisions as parents and support us 100%. They have made me feel loved and as much of a daughter as their own daughters. I love them unconditionally and will be eternally grateful for their love and guidance.

I cannot say enough about Buddy's two sisters. I ADORE them. I am as close to them as I am my own sisters. They are two of my dearest friends.

Buddy's dad is the oldest of 7 kids. One, sadly past away as an infant so it was just Buddy's dad and his 5 sisters. Now let me tell you..when you get these 5 sisters together...LET THE FUN BEGIN. There is nothing these ladies will not do. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to see them bungee jumping off some bridge. When you are around them, hold on to your pants. They are a blast. Often times, all 6 of them (including Buddy's dad) will burst out into song. If you say anything that resembles a song, they start singing. The cool thing is they sing very well together. I love to hear them sing.

While living in Omaha, I got the awesome opportunity to get to know one of Buddy's aunts (Lucy) and one of Buddy's cousins (Mitzi) so much better. Mitzi lived in a suburb of Omaha and Lucy lived a few hours away in a small town in Iowa. I loved this opportunity. I grew to love and cherish these two amazing women. They got to know our children and my children grew to love an absolutely adore them. Garrison grew very close to Mitzi, Kimbo grew very close to Mitzi's husband Al, and Rachel grew very close to Mitzi's daughter Alyssa. It was so fun to see the love that each of my kids developed for them. Thank you Mitzi and Lucy (and of course Al, Bob, Nicolas, Christian, and Alyssa) for all you did for us while we were there). We miss you more than words can say.

In short, I feel incredibly blessed to have such amazing in laws. Yes they are a tad bit crazy at times, a tad bit loud sometimes, and a bit passionate about their college football but you know what??? I wouldn't trade any of them for anything. (Not to mention that they have done a darn good job at sucking me into their Alabama football obsession.) I will forever love them all. Thank you to all of the Hopkins clan for loving me.

My New Hobby

So my mom and step dad came to visit a week ago and while they were here they taught me how to make these blankets. Now those who know me, know that I cannot even sew a button on a shirt. Crafty things just are not my cup of tea. However, this was so easy. I am sure those of you who already know how to do it are thinking "Hello, it's not rocket science." However, I am very excited about it as it is a huge accomplishment for me. The first one is Kimbo's. That was the first one I ever did. It is Monkeys. The second one is Natalie's. She is obsessed with Elmo. I found this material today and thought she would just love it. She is now in bed so we won't know until morning. I am so excited about them!!!

P.S. I just added a picture of Rachel's. It is frogs. I made it this morning. I seem to do better every one I do. Poor Kimbo got the smallest and least attractive one. She loves it though!!

Happy 10th Birthday Sweet Boy!!!!

Today is Garrison's 10th birthday. I can hardly believe it. I remember so vividly the day he was born. It seemed like he would never get here. I could hardly wait to see the beautiful angel that me and my amazing husband had helped create. The minute I saw him, I was overwhelmed with the love I felt for him. He truly was an angel from above. To this day, I do not quite know what I did to deserve such an amazing little boy but I am sure grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who trusted me enough to entrust him in my care. Anytime I talk about Garrison, I have a difficult time controlling my emotions and even as I write this, I have tears in my eyes. When you have a child with special needs, there is just a different and most sacred spirit about them. He knows no hate and loves all who come in contact with him. He is so accepting of all. His innocence is just precious. I love you son. Thank you for all of the joy you have and continue to bring into my life.

Pine Wood Derby

So the pine wood derby is next week. Garrison really has no idea what that even is but each year we try very hard to get him to help in making the car. This year, Buddy came up with the idea to do a "Yoshi" car. Yoshi is a character off of the Nintendo Wii game MarioKart. He actually did a great job in helping this year. When they did the weigh-in the other night, all of the boys LOVED his car. We are excited for the race this Wednesday.