This is a first and hopefully last!

Kevin has officially been sued! For those that have heard about the whole First Amendment fight Kevin has been going thru for the past few months, it has resurfaced again. He was given his papers yesterday. So, let the fun begin! We aren't worried about any of it. You can't fight the First Amendment! Let the fun begin! Newspapers are already calling. We'll probably start hearing from the ACLU and Freedom of Speech Organizations. They'll want to jump on the 'choir wagon'. (HA! HA! HA! This all started over a choir article being put in a paper....so that was suppose to be funny!) :-)

Since these things happened during Kevin's work related responsibilities, the district lawyers will cover Kevin. So that is good. But to segway into our personal lawyer and friend (see picture to the left) Jacob Sommer is running for School Board! I believe he will make a GREAT board member as he is concerned about the kids and also has no hidden adgenda coming in. He isn't 'pro-teachers' or 'pro-administration'. He is 'pro-the right!' So please vote for Jake! He will be a great asset to the school district!

Ryan's neck and his duck

If any of you watch America's Funniest Home Videos I am sure you have seen our families favorite video. It's the one of the dumb-dumb that puts on a dog's shock collar and yelps at different volumes to get zapped. That leads us to Monday....I took Ryan back into the doctor for his neck. His pediatrician said that she thinks 's muscle. So he got (what he calls) a shock collar!
He has to wear it for at least one week to relax his neck muscle. He is also on Ibuprofen. So we'll see how it works. Does everything in it except shower and get dressed. Those 2 things it comes of! We'll see!

On to Q.T. After a week, we had to start putting Q.T. in some water so it could swim and develope the oils needed for it's feathers when they come in. Did she like it?!?!

SURE DID! She splashed and shook and slashed some more! It was so 'bad' we had to put a towel under her! It was a lot of fun to watch her. I wish I could do video on here to show you. If anyone has the know how to get the video from my camcorder to the blog, I'd love to hear from you! But all the chicks and duck are doing fine. Growing feathers and getting bigger!

A few new upducks.....I mean updates!

So I am behind a few blogs. I didn't post the last pack meeting we had for Cub Scouts. Ryan is now a Webelos since he turned 10. It is a LOT more involved than the past dens. Oh Well! We'll get 'er done! Comptyn has completed his Wolf and a few arrows. He will be a Bear in June when he turns 9. The boys had to make a refreshment commemorating the 100th anniversary of scouting this year. I made the cookies and yellow sugar during the day. They came home from school and did the frosting and decorated them. They wrote 1910-2010 in them (second picture). THey had a pinata to break open. They allowed all the kids to participate in that. I always love to see the boys and their excitement when they earn their awards. Bryce turns 8 in April so then we'll have 3 in scouts! UGH! Thank goodness the manuals are so organized! Or I'd have to figure something out!



Here is our newest additions to the family! 6 chicks and Ryan's duck! Nathan and Daniel are holding the Easter Egg chicks. So maybe this winter we'll get some blue, green and other pastel eggs! Kids are excited!








Ryan and Q.T. Duck. Until it grows it's feathers and we can tell weather it's a boy or a girl (tail feathers will curl if it's a boy) then we'll just call it Q.T. He is BEYOND thrilled and even wished CRT testing wasn't today so he could stay home with Q.T.! He has been saving his birthday money for a long time to buy this duck! Comptyn, Bryce and Nathan want to get some turtles, but until they start going to bed better, they have lost that. Last night was good. So maybe we'll be getting some turtles soon, too! Stay tuned! :-)

Ryan and his neck

So for the past 3-4 months (back around Thanksgiving) Ryan started telling us he was having pains in his neck. We thought it was more of a muscle and tried a few things, new pillow, new mattress (he needed one anyhow), heat with a rice pillow, Ibuprofen, etc. I'd rub his neck often. Nothing seemed to help. So, he started having his twitch. He tips his head to the right. That is the side that bothers him. So I started rubbing it again and this time really paying attention to what it felt like, asking questions, etc. It doesn't hurt when I push on the 'knots', it does let up, it just feels good to have it rubbed he said. There is no 'release' when I press on it like some knots I have worked on. Well, then I started noticing that the 'knot' didn't really feel like muscle. More like a couple harder balls in his neck, down near his collar bone. Of course....lymph nodes are there. Where does my mind wander and what do I google? Hodgkin's Lymphoma! So I decided to take him in today. His pediatrician is out of town until Thursday, but her husband saw us (general practice) and he wants to treat it as muscle for a week. He said he had a hard time telling what it is. Definately something there, but not sure what. He is on a muscle relaxant and Ibuprofen round the clock for a week. If we don't have any improvements, then we'll go back in for labs. So anyhow, we are now praying that Ryan will be 100% in one week so we don't have to continue with other tests! So I will be posting next week, if not sooner! :-)

Gotta share this!

Click right here! .....you will get a good laugh out of it! I got it from a friend's blog.

There are a few other ones that are pretty funny, too! Marriage tips is worth the visit, toO!

My Grandma!

So this is a picture, taken in November 2000, of my maternal grandparents with Ryan. It was taken just a few months before my grandpa (James Sofoulis, Jr.) died. He had esophageal cancer. My grandma, Maxine, has been a widow ever since. Today is her 85th birthday! Happy Birthday Grandma! My grandma's life has deteriorated over the years, as it often does with the years being added on to your life. She currently lives in a nursing home and has dementia. I have great memories of her! She was an amazingly active person! She worked at Sears and for a long time we always got to pick out some school clothes from the catalog (with grandma's 20% off!) and that was always fun! Growing up in a little town, that was HUGE to me! Pretty exciting!
Grandma was always on the board or chair of something. For as long as her mind let her (and as long as I can remember) she was the President of the Mecosta County Historical Society. (This is in Michigan.) Her father was the Sheriff in Mecosta County so they lived in the "Old Jail" for part of her life. So to be in charge of it's restoration and upkeep was very personal to her. Along with this position, she was also in charge of the Mecosta County Museum. I LOVED going to the museum! she would often let us try on the shoes or hats or sometimes even a dress or two. I loved looking at the old pictures and letters and books she would pour over, trying to figure out if they were relevent to Mecosta County. She would give tours to school groups or other organizations and I loved listening to her excitement in retelling these stories over and over and over! I can visualize her mannerisms, the way she moved her hands, tilt her head or wipe the saliva out of the corners of her mouth when she got talking so fast!
My grandparents are not memebers of the Church, but one night they came and participated in our Family Home Evening talent show. She came over in one of her long moo-moos, which I thought was odd. She then, when it was her turn, sat on the ground, put on a hair net thing (like the lunch ladies wear) and did a meditation pose (crossed legs, hands on knees). I remember waiting to see what she was going to do! Then, all of the sudden, she starts wiggling her ears! It was AWESOME! I had never seen anyone wiggle their ears before! I laughed and laughed and laughed! It still makes me smile to think about it!
Another thing I remember about grandma is that she ALWAYS had a project going at home! Her and grandpa had their side by side recliners and next to grandma's recliner was a couch usually filled with magazines, newspapers, something she was working on. She'd clear a spot off for us when we'd come over. We lived next door to them for a majority of my life. I loved walking across the yard to see them. Grandpa would offer a candy (usually a pink mint) and nuts (ALWAYS cashews!) and grandma would get us a pop or something she had baked. She was always trying new recipes.
Whenever I wanted to make some money, she would always have something for me to do. Usually cleaning out a pantry or cupboards or something. Grandma wasn't the neatest person, pretty much becuase she was always out doing other things!
Grandpa and Grandma had a motor home when I was in Jr High and High School. They would let me and my girl friends have sleep overs in it many times. We LOVED that! It was always so fun to have our 'own place'. She always had chips, pop and candies in there for us, too!
She'd take a few of us kids camping with her and grandpa often. Grandpa was in a band (called the Scotville Clown Band) and so they camped a lot to march in parades aroudn Michigan. On these trips she taught me cribbage.
When I moved to Utah, grandma was always SO amazing about sending a card on each holiday stuffed with a book of stamps and a $5 or $10 bill. She'd fill me in on everything she was doing to keep busy! I still have those cards!
We haven't been able to go out and see her in many years. Her dementia was just starting to show. I was pregnant with Nathan at the time, so it has been almost 7 years. So am I grateful for memories I do have of her! I know her quality of life isn't good. Sometimes I wish she was reunited with Grandpa and her family! But as for today....HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you, grandma!

A FUNNY FUNNY JOKE!

My sister-in-law sent this to me! I laughed SO hard! Enjoyed it very much and chuckled periodically throughout the day when I'd think about it! ENJOY!


The Dept of Defense briefed the president this morning.

They told President Obama that 2 Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq .

To everyone's surprise, all the color drained from Obama's face.

Then he collapsed onto his desk, head in his hands, visibly shaken, almost in tears.

Finally, he composed himself and asked, 'Just how many is a brazilian?'

This is not surprising, since he obviously has no understanding of billion or trillion either.