Showing posts with label crazy stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crazy stuff. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

'Tis But a Scratch

Sadie signed up to play in the Homecoming powderpuff football match. During practice a couple of weeks ago, while running to tackle a defendant who had intercepted the ball, Sadie slipped on wet grass and caught herself with her left hand as she went down hard. She laughed it off at first, but then realized her left wrist looked a bit wonky. I got a surprisingly calm phone call that went something like, "I think I broke my wrist. You should probably come pick me up now."

Four hours in the Emergency Room verified that Sadie's wrist was broken. The end of her radius was tipped back and, despite more than one attempt to bring it back into alignment, she was put in a bulky cast and told that surgery might be needed. We were sent home with instructions to see an orthopedic surgeon within a few days. 

Sadie didn't miss a beat; she was at school the next day. One of her biggest hurdles was not being able to type so some of her teachers gave her extra time to complete assignments, but overall she wasn't going to let this slow her down. Four days later, we took her to the orthopedic surgeon. He said she would need surgery to either 1. manipulate the bone into place and hope it heals properly, but often it will tip back again or 2. put in a plate to hold the bone in place and solve the problem. At his recommendation, we opted for number 2. He was able to schedule surgery the next day.

Sadie's biggest fears are doctors and needles. She really isn't scared of much else. To keep her mind off the surgery, she attended her first two classes the next day. I picked her up from school and we went straight to the hospital. Despite her fears, Sadie was so brave as they inserted the IV. For her, that was the hardest part. Then before we knew it, she was waking up from surgery and prepping to go home. 

The orthopedic surgeon assured me that everything went well. He even stayed longer to stitch her up himself to make sure it was done well. :) A little over 6 hours after we arrived, Sadie was given the green light and we headed home. She even insisted she was well enough to attend a couple hours of a college softball game that some friends were playing in that evening. 

Most people would settle in and take a couple of days to rest, but this was Homecoming Week and Sadie had been looking forward to Decade Day for a few weeks. So the next morning she got all dressed up and headed to school. She made it through like a champ and definitely rocked the awesome '80's, complete with big hair, acid washed jeans, and Jeff's high school letterman's jacket from 1987.    

Sadie, the day after surgery



Since then, Sadie's hardly complained. We're hoping she graduates to a removable splint next week. And then it's on to a full recovery shortly after. I'm telling you, this girl is tough!

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Bat Number Three

A few nights ago, Jeff and I went to bed a little later than usual and were just drifting off to sleep when our phone started ringing. We knew from the ring that it was one of the kids using the intercom feature. Jeff answered to hear a frantic Sadie informing him that there was a bat in her room!

We rushed downstairs as quickly as we could. Sure enough, there was a rather large bat flying back and forth as it tried to find a way out. Sadie had been reading in bed when she first spotted it so she climbed all the way in and threw the covers over her head. She was safe, but peeked out now and then only to scream when the bat flew over her head. Jeff had a large container, hoping the bat would stop long enough for him to capture it. I ventured in just long enough to see the excitement and take a picture when the bat finally landed. In the retelling, this all sounds pretty tame, but the whole thing was terrifying! Sadie wasn't the only one screaming.  


It took a little while, but finally the bat rested upside down for a bit from Sadie's curtains. Jeff placed the container over him and somehow - after a traumatic near miss - managed to get him under the container on the floor. I slid a stiff piece of foam board under the container and Jeff was able to carry the contraption outside to free the bat. Whew! Needless to say, it took a little while to fall asleep after that.

That's bat #3. We had in-house bat adventures back in 2012 and 2015. I'm hoping this is The End!

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Running for President

My kids were looking through my high school yearbooks last fall. When they got to my Senior yearbook, class of '88, there was a list of memorable events for the calendar year of 1987. I had to laugh when I saw these two entries:


Funny how, 34 years later, these two have once again been making Presidential headlines. Who would have thought?

Monday, February 22, 2021

The Addams Family - You're Invited!


If you'd been a fly on the wall at our house these past couple of  months, you would have heard a lot of funny music and plenty of laughter as Sadie and Soren prepped for their high school production of The Addams Family. It's a special quarantine edition which accommodates social distancing so they are actually allowed to have a production this year. The script even has a couple of one-liners about quarantine. :)

The show will be streamed online on March 5th & 6th at 7:00 pm Central time. Yes, you still need to purchase tickets. Our poor performing arts program was drained last year when Mary Poppins came to a screeching halt after they'd already built the set and purchased costumes, etc. We're hopeful that The Addams Family will be a smashing success to replenish the budget and allow them to put on more shows. (You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown is ready to start rehearsals as soon as The Addams Family is through!)

You can find all the information about tickets on the flyer above. If you're not familiar with Charleston High School, they have a long history of amazing stage productions. There must be something in the water here because the talent pool in our small town is unreal. Jeff and I were lucky enough to be part of a very small audience tonight to view the dress rehearsal and we were blown away! Sadie is amazing in her role as Mrs. Beineke. Soren did great as one of the ancestors and on Saturday we got to see him perform as the understudy for Lucas Beineke. 

I hope you'll join us, wherever you are, for this fun show! You won't regret it. :)

Monday, February 8, 2021

Family History Fun

Are you a FamilySearch fan? Have you ever tried any of the activities and games available? Here are three of my favorites:

In this one, you can put your face in an old photograph. There are options for men, women, or groups. We prefer the groups and Sadie especially has had fun with this one. Sometimes she'll replace her face for everyone in the photo like this (yes, those are all Sadie's face):


Or sometimes she'll just replace one face like this (this one is my personal favorite - Sadie put her face in for the child grasping the ostrich's neck. So funny!):


Anyway, click here to go to the website. Then select whether you want males, females, or groups. From there you just select the photo you want to put your face in and it will guide you through the process. Fun stuff!


2. Geneopardy

This game isn't through FamilySearch, but it will ask you to sign into your FamilySearch account because it uses your family history to ask you questions. So you get to know more about your history and what might have been going on in the lives of your ancestors. 



Make it a contest. Play with your siblings or kids and see who can get the most right. You can also choose how many generations you want the game to draw from. I've realized how little I know about the 5th generation and beyond.


If you click here, you'll go to a page full of various activities. Scroll down and click on Ancestor Challenge. This activity shows you ten photographs of ancestors, one at a time. For each photo, it will give you four names from your family history and you have to select the name of the person in the photo. Keep playing until you get 10 out of 10.


(Feel free to try out the other games and activites!)


I'm including this last one just for fun. It's not really a game, but when you sign in with your FamilySearch account, it will show you how you are related to all sorts of prominent people. Whether it's sports figures, presidents of the US, famous authors, or any number of other well-knowns, it's fun to see your connections. 

Have fun. :) And if you make any cool discoveries, I'd love to hear about it!

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Saving the Cake

Spencer and Grace were married in November. The cake was ordered a couple months in advance and it was our job to pick it up the morning of the wedding and deliver it to the home where the family celebration was to be held. Spencer told me he was excited to see the cake. He had given the bakery creative license and couldn't wait to see what they came up with. 

You can imagine my surprise when I looked in the box and found a plain white cake base. I told the baker about my conversation with Spencer and how he was expecting them to decorate the cake. She understandably looked horrified. It turns out it was just a big misunderstanding. Spencer thought he'd given them creative license, paid a deposit, and would pay the rest later. The bakery notes said he ordered a plain white base and had paid in-full up front. At this point, it didn't really matter who was right. I had a plain white cake base and limited time to drop it off and get to the ceremony. 

Several ideas popped into my mind during the drive and by the time we arrived, I had a plan. Grace loves poinsettias so we had those for some of the table decorations. They had curly gold things in them so we were able to use those as well as the flowers. I had some pretty gold ribbon with me, again for the tables, that we incorporated as well. Fortunately, the family whose home we were using knew that the sap of the poinsettias contains harmful chemicals so they advised us to wrap the poinsettia stems in plastic wrap so they wouldn't leak on the cake. Good save! 

Here's the finished cake. Not bad for a 10 minute decoration job, if I do say so myself. While Spencer eventually told Grace what happened, she had no idea during the celebration itself. Fortunately, this is the worst thing that happened all day and it wasn't even that bad. Whew!


 

Monday, February 1, 2021

Living the Dream

The "Past Forward" writing group I attend hasn't met since last March, only days before the world shut down. Mid-April, a month into "lockdown" and with no clue how long it would last, we were encouraged to write down our thoughts about the virus and staying home. Here's my short piece, written April 14, 2020. And for the record, as anxious as I am to be rid of face masks and to gather with others without a second thought, I still feel like I'm living the dream.

Living the Dream

I woke up and looked at the clock. 4:59am. I turned off my alarm before it went off at 5 so I wouldn’t wake my husband. I got out of bed, knelt to say my morning prayers, and quietly left my bedroom.

I have things I want to do today, or rather, I have things I wanted to do last week or last month that didn’t get done because everyone is home. By everyone, I mean two of my six kids and my husband. But I’m the mom and I take that title seriously. I like to mother. So when I’m in the middle of something and someone needs me, I stop what I’m doing. I like being available, even if that means watching a Hallmark movie on the couch with my daughter because she asked. Or four Hallmark movies…but who’s counting? Sometimes that means making cookies or muddy buddies or dishing up goldfish crackers because school from home requires regular snacks. Sometimes it’s just being available to answer questions about school, even if the answer is “Ask your brother. He knows how to set up a Zoom conference.”

Then there are my other four kids. Three of them are students at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah and one is serving as a missionary in Texas. My daughter just got married in January but has now been without her husband longer than she was with him because he’s at basic training for the Marines. She’s doing really well under the circumstances, but sometimes she has a really hard day so the phone rings a lot. And I talk to her. My missionary son can call twice a week and I drop whatever I’m doing to talk to him. My oldest son has a habit of calling while he walks across campus to the library (where he’s still allowed to study, social distancing all along the way). And sometimes he gets a little philosophical and so our conversations go a bit long. I can talk on the phone while I do the laundry, make dinner, clean the kitchen, etc., but all those “things I want to do” require a little more focus. I save those for the times when I’m home alone while Jeff and the kids are away each day. Only now they’re not.

And so, in an effort to have my productive alone time, I woke up at 4:59 this morning. I made progress on a project before the kids started getting up. I’ll get back to it eventually. In the meantime, I get to mother even more. It’s quite a nice perk, really, since in just over three years I’ll have an empty nest. Being the mom has always been my dream job and so I guess you could say I’m living the dream. That’s what it feels like to me.


Friday, December 25, 2020

So Much To Be Grateful For

Wow. 2020. What can I say? Goodbye and good riddance? But even after all the grief the year has brought, I can't help but feel really grateful for the beautiful things we've experienced. I've posted next to nothing, but that's not because there's been nothing happy to post. Two weddings (Savannah in January, Spencer in November), our first grandbaby on the way, more time together at home, our 25th wedding anniversary, time with family in Utah and Idaho, and Sterling's unique missionary opportunities in Texas, just to name a few. We have many reasons to look back on this year, smile, and be grateful. In so many ways, good and bad, it's been a year like no other. Let's focus on the good.


Merry Christmas!

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Class of 2019


Sterling just finished his junior year of high school. He also just graduated with the class of 2019. Somehow, a year earlier than planned, I find myself with another graduate in the family.

I have to hand it to him. Last November Sterling told me he didn't think he could do another year of high school, and then he set out to find a way to finish early. We have several students at our high school who graduate a semester early, but Sterling wanted more than that. He wanted to be done this school year.

The principal wasn't against it, but frankly told him that he didn't have the authority to change policy, specifically the part of the policy that said a student had to attend for at least seven semesters, so he sent Sterling to the superintendent. Thankfully, the superintendent was on board. The district leaders had been discussing a competency-based pilot program they were hoping the school board would approve. Removing the seven semester requirement was a perfectly natural companion to this, and both passed with the school board's full approval. Now the policy simply reads that students must meet all graduation requirements. At that point it was up to Sterling to comply.

It was a crazy semester at times as Sterling had not only his eight regular classes at school, but also four online independent study classes to complete along with a few other requirements. But he did it and he did it well. He graduated on Friday with high honors.


Congratulations, Sterling! We can't wait to see what your bright future holds.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Arctic Blast

I know, "Arctic Blast" sounds like a flavor of minty gum, but it's what we have to thank for a day off of school and work today. And we got the call just before lunch today that the kids will be off tomorrow as well. Yay! (But Jeff will be back to work in the morning.)

I haven't seen temperatures like this since my first year at Ricks College in the winter of 1988-89. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the RealFeel was in the negative 60's a time or two. For real. My roommate and I would lay in bed in the morning and listen to the radio as they listed off all the schools that were cancelled day after day. Never once did they say "Ricks College." To avoid freezing to death, I would walk through every single building on my way to my 8:00 a.m. class which was all the way across campus. It was brutal.

Anyway.

Here's a screenshot from my weather app this morning that shows our lowest actual temperature for the day (-12º). The RealFeel got down to -38º, but Sterling's phone showed -44º at one point. We have certain rooms in our hundred-year-old house that we are pretty much avoiding because they are freezing. Thankfully, for the most part we've been safe, warm and happy today. :)


Looking ahead, the forecast says we should hit an unseasonably warm 60º on Monday. If the RealFeel matches that, it will feel almost 100º warmer than today. What a difference a week makes!

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Surprise Sighting


Look who Spencer saw on his first day in his new area -- grandma and grandpa Stowell!! What a fun surprise. This made my day and I'm guessing I'm not the only one. Spencer was just transferred to Iona, Idaho. He's in his third area and his 10th month. He looks so healthy and happy. Just what my mother heart needed to see. ♡

Saturday, June 9, 2018

The Laddie Wha Lived

We all like Harry Potter so I was excited when my friend told me about a Scots language edition of the first book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stane."



It's a riot to read out loud, and somehow that seems to be the only way we can read it around here. It makes me miss my bonnie Scotland more than usual. The best part is when my kids attempt the accent. Sometimes they sound Indian or Irish. Sometimes they get it just right. Sadie is hooked and is getting pretty good at it.



We were hooked from the start. Page one had us all laughing, especially the paragraph describing the Dursleys:


The whole book is like that! It's pretty great and a fun investment.

Cheerio!

Thursday, November 30, 2017

A Shrimp Bug Contraption

You've probably never heard of a shrimp bug. That's because we made up the name. Years ago at certain times of the year, we would find these large bugs in our basement that sort of looked like a cricket, but they were brown with super long antennae and really long legs that could jump like 3 feet or more. They were terrifying. Their bodies sort of resembled a shrimp so we named them shrimp bugs and we all hated them. 


We later learned that they are actually called Camel Crickets, but we still call them shrimp bugs. We still get them. We still hate them. Unfortunately, we've had more than usual this year.

Sadie found one on the stairs last week after everyone had gone to bed. It was pretty late, but she was determined to make sure it wouldn't crawl (or jump!) into her room during the night. Here's the contraption she came up with:


You can see a few purple and pink ponytail holders on the stair behind the black folder. Sadie initially fired those at the bug to see if she could just annihilate it outright. It never moved so she thought maybe it was dead. See the markers and highlighters under the tub against the wall? She tried those next, throwing them at the shrimp bug which annoyed it enough that it crawled up the wall. She trapped it against the wall with the plastic tub, but then she was stuck. She couldn't let go or the tub would fall. She reached as far as she could and was barely able to grab Sterling's music folder which she propped against the bucket while she ran for tape. Once she secured the bucket to the wall, she kept the folder there for extra support then put her trash can next to that for added peace of mind. 

When I went downstairs the next morning, this note was on top of the bucket:

"Caution Massive Shrimp Bug!!! (caught by me so give me a medal of bravery)... or a blizzard  -Sadie Stowell
What a funny girl. :)

Fortunately for us all, camel crickets aren't invasive. They don't bite or get into food or otherwise cause trouble. They are just really big and ugly and terrifying. Sadie is the only one who sleeps in the basement and that's the only place we've found them, but I'm not worried about her. She's obviously got it under control.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Too Many Ducks

I know, I know. It's been forever. Life is good, it really is. I just haven't taken time to document the good stuff. But tonight I realized that there have been several things lately that have made me laugh or smile and I need to share! This one is definitely good for a laugh. I've watched it four times so far and I crack up every time!



Gotta love it! :)

Friday, October 6, 2017

Paint Louis


The city of St. Louis has a graffiti event every year, cleverly called Paint Louis. Graffiti artists paint sections of the flood wall south of the gateway arch.

Having previously studied this art form, a missionary serving in the St. Louis area decided last year that he wanted to be a part of the event. He was accepted to participate, received permission from his mission president and he and his companion got to work. The event was held a few weeks ago. I love how they were able to share their message in such a unique way. And I love the final result, right down to their graffiti "tag" in the top right corner.

Click here to read the whole story. It's pretty cool!

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Peach Perfect

Or maybe I should title this post "Peach Plenty." Either way, we have beautiful, sweet, ripe peaches coming out of our ears.


The peach tree at our rental home next door has exceeded all expectations. Jeff pruned it pretty heavily last fall. This spring, when we saw that it was producing more peaches than it could possibly support, Spencer thinned it, completely filling a five-gallon bucket with nickel-sized peaches. He thinned it a little more after the bucket was full then decided that was good enough. 

Fast forward a couple of months and several of the branches are dragging on the ground. This picture is the underside of just one branch. Isn't that crazy!! I've never seen anything like it.


It's kind of fun. We've been giving away peaches left and right. I've been eating them for breakfast every morning. I'm making a peach crisp tonight and peaches-and-cream cheesecake tomorrow. Between me and my friends, we've picked well over 400 peaches and still, the tree looks untouched. 


Good thing we like peaches! :)

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Guys and Dolls

The high school production of Guys and Dolls this weekend was amazing! The boys were gamblers: Spencer played Harry the Horse and Sterling was Scranton Slim. I wish you could have seen the Crapshooters Ballet; it was my favorite scene!

One thing our little town consistently does well is musicals. Every spring, we are wowed by a quality production. Music is a high priority and the stigma that exists in some areas isn't as present here.

We've had at least one of our kids in eight different high school productions over the years - including the year Sam and Savannah were in The Music Man as 5th and 6th graders - and we have six more years to look forward to. I'm telling you, it doesn't get much better than this at the high school level.

We're sad to see it end, but we're counting our blessings that our kids have such great opportunities here in Small Town, Illinois.

Just look at those suits! All the gamblers had on wildly colorful suits. I love it!
Just for fun, here's a list of the musicals our kids have been in at the high school...
The Music Man (Sam and Savannah)
Oklahoma (Sam)
Honk! (Sam and Savannah)
Anything Goes (Sam and Savannah)
South Pacific (Sam, Savannah and Spencer)
Bye Bye Birdie (Savannah, Spencer and Soren)
Shrek the Musical (Spencer; Sterling played in the pit)
Guys and Dolls (Spencer and Sterling)

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Rain Delay

At 11:00 this morning, I received this message from our school superintendent: Due to expected continued rainfall and its impact on road conditions, all schools in the district will dismiss 2-hours early today. 

School has been canceled due to snow and ice several times, but we have never missed school because of rain. I wasn't completely surprised by the cancellation; we've never seen rain like this. We've got little streams running through Jeff's office and our storage room downstairs. We have some rental properties and a couple of them are sporting huge lakes in their backyard. They don't normally have lakes in the backyard...


This next one has a creek that runs just behind the bushes at the front of the photo, but right now you can't tell where the creek ends and the backyard starts. The bridge to the backyard is completely submerged. Do you see the burn pile in the middle of the photo? That sits in the backyard and is several feet tall. But right now it's just a little mound sticking out of the water.


Tonight was supposed to be opening night of the high school production of Guys and Dolls. Spencer and Sterling are gamblers in the play and we've been so excited to see it! But they postponed tonight's show because of the rain. We're hoping for sunshine tomorrow. The show must go on!


Monday, April 10, 2017

Lip Sync Battle 2017

My boys were a hit at the Youth Lip Sync Battle on Saturday. Their number was a definite crowd pleaser and lots of fun! The competition was a little stiffer than last year so they didn't bring home the trophy, but from the many comments they received afterward, they should have! :) It was all in good fun so there were no hard feelings.

I love seeing what these three come up with. The choreography is all theirs and came together pretty quickly once they decided on a song. They were having a blast! Enjoy their performance of "Once There Was A Snowman," by Inside Out.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Beatboxing Battle

We attended a showcase performance of our high school's a cappella group last week. They had a beatboxing battle and invited audience members to volunteer to go against the group's vocal percussionist. Sterling was quick to volunteer. You can see his performance below. (We edited out most of the other not-so-serious contenders.)



Sterling is pretty reserved at school so a lot of people were surprised at his ability. Someone asked me, "Does he ever do this at home?" Only all the time.

After the competition, we learned that the audio techs were instructed to turn off the sub-woofers during Sterling's turn in an attempt to rig it against him. Nice try. :)

Sorry for the terrible video taping. That would be my fault...