A Birthday Surprise [Sort of] And An Ear Cut

2 Years, 8 Weeks


I have a confession to make.

I had been corresponding with a few women via email behind Tangie's back over the past couple of weeks.  And though for most this may seem a tad bit inappropriate, it was the only way for me to plan and carry out my clandestine operation.  Or at least, I thought she would never suspect anything.

So when Saturday evening rolled around I was a little bit nervous.  We were headed to the Zbaraschuk's for a planned dinner with them, along with the Grodack crew.  During nap time I had quietly put together a bag of her clothes and make-up, along with a cooler full of ice and mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktail mixes, for those of you wondering) to kick start the evening activities.  You see, the secret cohort of women were all going to take Tangie out to dinner for her birthday courtesy of yours truly.  Of course, as soon as I gave her the bag of clothes to change into she said she thought something was up.  I guess it doesn't help to tell your 5 year old that there's a surprise party for her mother.  Oh well!

L to R:  Heather C, Corey G, Tangie, Lisa D, Kelli J, and Amy Z.  Thank you ladies for all your help!

So the fathers were left to their own devices and the children whilst the ladies enjoyed a girls' night out to the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant.  They all had a lot of fun, as did we, trying to get the children to cooperate with us in eating their pizzas and popcorn, before heading out to the pool for an evening dip. I am proud to say that we rose to the occasion and survived with flying colors!

The kids (minus Calleigh who was having a moment) in their pajamas, ready to end the evening festivities.

So let's see.  This was another fairly busy week.  Braelyn has been attending Vacation Bible School at the Markham Woods SDA Church in Longwood, with our good friend Jennifer helping chauffeur her back and forth from her house, along with her two boys and the Z's two boys as well, so 5 kids in total!    This brings back the daily routine when she would be in school, although this time she would be finished by 12:30, so we don't get home until past 1 for lunch and naps, which pushes bedtime a little later.  She seems to be enjoying it, coming home with crafts and songs to share with the twins.

Brae getting her bangs trimmed.

Maddy inspects Kohlden's new haircut.

Stickers on the face is so much fun!

Pirate Brae goes to sleep ~ bandana, eye patch and all.

Stickers on the sofa is so much fun!

At the Wekiva playground.  It was a very hot and muggy day.

Speaking of the twins, we had Kohl's bilateral appendage excision to remove the little tag on his right ear scheduled for this Thursday at 8:45 in the morning.  The procedure was performed by the same doctor that had inserted Braelyn's ear tubes at around the same age.  Tangie took him very early in the morning, for all the prep and necessary paperwork, while I stayed with Maddy and took Braelyn to Jennifer's for VBS, before joining Tangie at the surgery center.  We waited in the lobby for about 25 minutes until they called us back to recovery, where he had just woken up.

Last picture of him with the ear tag.

Not a very happy camper!

Maddy wanted Mommy to read to pass the time.

He did great, and Dr. Kosco did a good job with the operation, although he did mention that he was a little surprised at how much more involved it was once he made the incision, due to the cartilage and fat in play.  He decided not to worry about the left ear and made the right ear match it's opposite.  Of course in the beginning Kohl didn't want to have anything to do with the doctor, so they had to give him some happy juice to calm him down, the nurse having to carry him away to the operating room.  When we first saw him in recovery he was very disoriented because of the anesthesia, as expected, and was irate and fussy.  He kept saying, "All done!  All done!"  But it would be another half hour or so before they could discharge us, for observation.  He took some diluted apple juice and insisted his IV insert be removed immediately.

Maddy seemed understandably concerned for her brother, and was probably wondering why he was acting really strange when normally he would be laughing and wanting to play with her.  Tangie took Kohlden home while Maddy and I ran some errands for pain medicine and other things, picking Braelyn up from the church rather than the Bergherms so that we could get home quicker to see how the little guy was doing, apparently doing fine based on the video Tangie took of him, loopy and full of hiccups!

The finished product.  Now I won't be able to tell the twins apart!

Another bit of great news is that our good friends the Grodacks have surprised us with the decision to move a little closer to us, so close in fact, that they are only going to be half a mile away.  That's right, they are under contract to purchase a house right here in our subdivision!  Actually, they're buying a palace that is in the process of being built, which is ironic because Duncan kept making fun of some cousins who are getting their house built, ironically again, in our same subdivision, because of all the cheap houses and foreclosures in the area!  And after commuting 40 minutes each way to one another's homes over the past 5 years, it's funny to think we are going to end up living only 2 stop signs away!  It will be so nice to have them so close; for the kids to play at the clubhouse and pool together, and when I say kids I mean dads.  The only bad thing about getting a bigger house, as I've shared with Corey, is having to clean up a bigger mess!  Oh, but the space!  Welcome to the neighborhood you guys!

You've heard of a mother-in-law suite?  Well, hers is the entire west wing!

Dish of the week:

Medallion of Seared Salmon with Zucchini and Asparagus.

Randoms:

Another sad milestone:  170K miles on the Pathfinder!  And I  like how Tangie took this picture at 60 mph...

Pets of the week:  3 very large grasshoppers from our backyard!

Quotes this week:

• I was driving out to the east part of town to meet Tangie and do a kid swap before I met up with my former boss's husband, and we were driving on the 408 expressway, passing by the Orlando Executive Airport:

          Me:  "Look Brae, there's the airport!"

          Brae:  "But... I don't see any airplanes?"

          Me:  "Oh, they only have small airplanes."

          Brae:  "Why?"

          Me:  "Because it's a small airport.  Big airplanes can't fit in it."

          Brae:  "Only small airplanes?"

          Me:  "Yup."

          Brae:  "For small people?"

          Me:  [trying hard not to laugh]  "Yup."

          Small people.  That was a good one.

• We were having dinner one evening and Braelyn for some reason was taking her sweet time, to the point that the twins were just about to finish their meals and beat her, which is usually the other way around.  She obviously didn't want her mac 'n cheese and was waiting around to see if she could get out of eating it.  Finally I had had enough.

          Me:  [exasperated] "Brae!  Eat your supper!"

          Brae:  "I am!"

          Me:  "You haven't even touched your mac 'n cheese!"

          Brae:  "Yes I have!  See?"

          And then she proceeded to show me how she had touched it.  With her finger.

• Tangie was taking Braelyn to Jennifer's house early Wednesday morning, and she was sporting a bandana and a makeshift eye patch I had made for her when we were playing pirates with the twins the previous evening -- she wanted to show Blake and Zachary her get up.

          Me:  "Uh, Brae.  I don't think you can wear that to Vacation Bible School."

          Brae:  [whiny]  "Why?"

          Me:  "Because it's a church.  And I don't think they allow pirates there."

          Brae:  "But I'm not a pirate.  I'm a ...[pause]...woman!"

          Oh dear.  Already!

• Kohlden, after waking up from surgery:

          Kohl:  "Hey Dad, remember the story of Peter the disciple cutting off the
                      servant's ear in the Garden of Gethsemane?" [reference  John 18:10]
          Me:  "Yeah?"
          Kohl:  "I think I can totally relate to how that servant felt immediately
                     afterwards."

          Me:  "Really, how so?"

          Kohl:  "Oh, I don't know.  Kinda feels like something's missing..."

          Nah.  Not really.

Have a great weekend!