Dull...

Okay, just kidding.

We haven't exactly been sitting around. This weekend, especially, was nice and full. But let me back up:

Last week, Grant and Abbie had their doctor appointments here in Warrenton. It was only the second time I haven't taken them to Rolla for their appointments, and the first time they've been vaccinated here. The nurse was amazing. Because of her, Abbie's favorite part was getting her blood pressure taken with the "bear hugger". She insisted on having it done twice! She is small for her age, but based on the fact that my mother was always small-ish, and Josh has at least two small-ish sisters, I was not concerned. In fact, I was more surprised that Grant is not small. He is very thin for his age, but I'm sure that is only because children aren't as thin as they used to be, and he's actually in the 65 percentile for height. Hmmm. And speaking of Grant....he has a heart murmur, according to the doctor.

Isn't murmur a snuggly sounding word? Doesn't it call to mind pastoral brooks or newlyweds watching movies in one another's arms on a very comfortable-looking couch, or babies talking in their sleep? Just wait until it comes out of the mouth of a pediatrician. It completely ruins the affect.

What is a Flow Murmur, anyway? I looked it up when I got home and couldn't find anything. Fortunately, my dad (pharmacist, you know) asked the doctor he works with and she happened to be researching flow murmurs for her Continuing Education. According to her, they are benign, usually outgrown, and don't necessarily indicate any pathological malfunction whatsoever. They are also present in 5-85% of children. WHAT? Isn't that a crazy statistic? It would seem that they are not as easily detectable in larger children, but scrawny kids like Grant are easier to hear. I get the impression that it is believed that the vast majority of kids have noisy hearts.

Majority or no, benign or no, I have been told that I must take Grant to the city the day after his birthday for an echocardiogram. The lady on the phone could confidently rule out the $1200 one, so it will either be the $570 one or the $840 one. That news caused me a bad day. Why is it that even though Josh is finally about to make "enough" money, I am not going to be able to enjoy any sort of security? Then, I talked to the financial lady, who told me that since I am paying for it myself (nope, no benefits from Josh's new job) I qualify for a discount. Not so bad.

We helped the Frankes move on Saturday! It was fun. Abbie had a great time picnicking with Amelia on her new deck, and we got done faster than anyone had planned, which is a good thing. Grant helped carry for a while. Later, he tried to lie down on the cat and got attacked. This is why I always tell the kids to ask the animals parent's first.

Sunday, I took the kids to Rolla. We had lunch at my mom's house and then got our pretty clothes on to go see Annie at Ozark Actors Theater. It was the first musical they'd ever seen live. They were pretty good for their ages, a little squirmy, but not loud. Sadly....we didn't see the end of the musical. That's right, we were evacuated to the basement instead!! Tornado sirens were going off in Rolla. Even after the sirens had stopped, they couldn't get the power to come back on. Those who lived close enough got vouchers for the next week's show, but we just left. Before we did, though, we went and said thank you to "Annie", whose real name is Maggie, and Abbie gave her a hug.

Later that evening, the fun continued as we discovered that the strange sound we'd heard was baby birds that had fallen down the chimney into my parents' fireplace. Armed with a shoebox, a wire tie and a ladder, my dad rescued them and fixed their nest. For his pains, the baby birds scratched the &*@# out of his arm.

In the morning, we took a walk down the road and saw Ms. Reba and her horses. She was just finishing a lesson, and let Grant and Abbie walk in circles on her horse, Hollywood. Wish I'd taken a camera!

In the afternoon we went to the Splash Zone in Rolla. We stayed a long, long, long time. The kids had fun, of course, and were reluctant to leave, but seconds after we did, and even before we were in the car, it started to rain! I was going to wait until around bedtime to leave, so I could be sure that the kids wouldn't nap all the way home and then keep me up late, but when I called Josh, he said he'd rather I wasn't out so late, so I packed up right after dinner and came back home....in another horrible storm.

During all this, my poor cousin has had a pair of sick horses and, worse luck, they are her show horses. Poor thing. I believe they have colic that might be, in fact, colitis, but they are at the University being taken care of, and I am hoping that they are on the mend.

Did you see that for my last blog, a comment was posted that says, "Failure is the mother of success" ? I agree. However, I don't see how it is applicable to that particular blog. Where is the success? Where is the failure? I think a more befitting thought to ponder would be, "Celebration is the mother of disarray."

Today, we watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We borrowed it from my mom. I have my own copy, but can't find it anywhere. It's really bugging me. At least the kids can watch mom's until it is located. Also today, we got on youtube and watched a bunch of kids sing different songs from Annie. Abbie is officially interested in the theater as a hobby/career. Grant just wants to learn how to work the lights.

Mom is also lending me her copy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I just started it and have no opinion yet. She leaves tomorrow for her latest trip! She and her brother and mother are going to Canada. And Michelle is in France, and Julie just got back from Italy and Eddie went to Mexico this summer....I am very behind in my world traveling, it would seem!

Josh is doing classwork this week. He's already learned the general dispatch stuff from air traffic control, so it isn't as fun, but he's still doing well, and still on day shift this week.

YIKES! I'd better run along and shower if I want to get everything done in time to go to my taiko meeting. Sorry if this is cut off in feeling.