The past week

We've been a little bit busy this past week, when we're not out enjoying the warm weather:

BB turned 7 on the 6th! I made his favorite meal of grilled burgers and shrimp and we played outside in the pool. Then on Saturday we had a birthday party with his friends (10 boys and 1 sister and 4 lovely mommies!) at the movies where we watched Indiana Jones and then pizza and birthday cake at Pizza Hut. He had a great time, and then when we got home we stayed out late and played until dark (which is about 9:30 now!) and I got to sit around and chat with the neighbors and enjoy the great evening time.

You won't hear me complaining about the heat! I think it was just a week ago that I was tired of the cold, well the next day it jumped to 85 degrees and humid and it's been like that most of the week! I love it! I do need to get my air conditioner fixed in the van though... And BB is so ready for school to be done. It's been a long year for him (he started in August in KS) and they don't get out until June 25th here.

J sent the kids some 'presents' in the form of Big Wheels for the twins, a Wii game for BG and a little Swiss Army Knife for BB(eeek!). LG is really liking the Big Wheel and scoots around on it; LB gets frustrated because he can't reach the pedals and he really wants to pedal something! BG likes the Barbie Island Princess game, lots of problem solving and counting, but not too hard for her. BB's knife is put up until we can do his 'safety training' and rules of use...

I saw the orthopedic doc yesterday for my back. I've been having a lot of pain since LB and LG were born (almost 2 years!). Basically, he told me lots of people have bulging or herniated discs and there's not much they can do for it except what I'm already doing (exercise, lose some weight, and hope it goes away). Anyway, that part doesn't look bad. I'm also scheduled to see a rheumatologist next week for the inflammation in the same area along with recurring inflamation in my eye and an antigen in my blood that often occurs with arthritis. I'm really hoping that can be ruled out also. My pain has diminished quite a bit the last couple of months, especially since starting exercise again, but the stress of having pain and not knowing why has been wearing on me...

And finally, I skipped the gym this morning because as I was cleaning the lint trap in the dryer, LB came into the laundry room and threw something onto the top of the dryer and it went right down the lint trap! Rattle, rattle, rattle... So after clearing a space in the mountain (ok small hill) of clothes, I pulled the dryer out and took it apart. I would like to say the pencil (that LB threw) was all I found in it:



Unfortunately, the top of the dryer is just one of the areas that tends to gather clutter in our house. But, hey, nothing like taking a dryer apart and putting it back together to make you feel self-sufficient and I only had one screw left over...