Good morning everyone. It's a lovely spring day here in Northern California. However, tomorrow will be the start of a huge warm spell. We'll be in the 90s by Wednesday. Still need to find more shorts for my size 16 SLIM boy. All other shorts seem to just hang on him.

Later this morning, my son "B" will be having his sleep apnea surgery. We'll take his tonsils, adenoids, and do some work on his nasal passages. I hope he can finally not feel so tired all the time. It's also our anniversary. So DH and I will celebrate together with some Starbucks while we wait for our boy to get out of surgery!

No complaining here. Our oldest son babysat our trio for the 1st time while dh and I went out to celebrate our anniversary. Every year, we go back to the same winery we were married at 18 years ago to have a nice dinner. Very nice.


Dancemom (Trish), how was Elizabeth's surgery?

Here are a few questions to get us going.

1. How did you celebrate Mother's Day?

2. What's the price of gas in your neck of the woods?

3. When do the kids get out of school?

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car or take it in when you hear a funny sound?

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend?

Have a great day!

Sharon
11 year old b/b/b + 14 year old son

1. Mother's Day? Went out for breakfast, then returned home and worked on the house. I painted the laundry room and dw cleaned up the office. The Boys vacuumen and washed the van.

2. What's the price of gas? Over $4/gal most places, just under $4 at Costco and the card-lock where we get gas.

3. When do the kids get out of school? Mid-June

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car --semi-regular maintenance.

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? Probably more work on the house trying to get it ready to list...and ready for Dw's sister and BIL visiting from Australia for dw's 50th birthday.

In escrow for our new house. If all goes well, we'll start moving in on June 4th. There are some electrical and roof issues -- we are getting both inspected today.

Awards ceremony at the boys' school today -- all three are getting reading awards...got the digital camera fired up and ready.

We are off to Portland, Oregon next week-end...dw has a conference and we'll pay a visit to my Aunt in Salem whose 93 year old body is failing on her -- but talking to her on the phone yesterday, her mind and spirit is still great. The doctors gave her a month to live (about 6 weeks ago), but she is determined to find out who the next President will be.

Vaughn and the ABC Boys
Alex, Bryce, & Calder
3-31-97 @ 28.5 weeks

Sharon,
thanks for asking about Elizabeth. Here is a summary of what's going on:

Elizabeth had exploratory surgery on Monday and Voice clinic with scopes on Tuesday. I watched one of her scopes and her vocal cords are completely paralyzed. The doctors said other people with that condition can talk in an airy, very hoarse, monotone voice. Elizabeth is the first person that they know of that can control the tissue to create different pitches. They said her voice quality is very good, especially since she is speaking without vocal cords!

She is having 2 surgeries on June 12. She will only be in Cincinnati for 3 days for this. She has suffered with acid reflux since birth and the doctors are concerned that her esophagus may be damaged, so they will take a look at that and take some biopsies of the esophagus. She takes Prilosec now, but they may change her dose or try a different medicine. The other surgery is to remove her lingual tonsils. She had her other tonsils removed 10 years ago, these lingual tonsils are in the throat, below the base of the tongue. They are very large, most likely because of the acid reflux irritating them.

The big surgery will be July 14. She will have one of her own ribs grafted into the front of her airway to expand the airway and give it support. Right now her airway is collapsing when she breathes hard (during exercise) because the front wall of the airway is weak and doesn't have enough cartilage to fully support it.
She will be in ICU for 7 - 10 days, then in a regular room for 4 - 6 days. She will then move to the Ronald McDonald House for 2 weeks.

1. How did you celebrate Mother's Day? Kids and DH bought me roses, a new mug for my tea, and lottery tickets. Just hung around the house all day. DH and dd did all the grocery shopping for me.

2. What's the price of gas in your neck of the woods? $3.89

3. When do the kids get out of school? Last day is June 11

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car or take it in when you hear a funny sound? Regular maintenance.

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? Yep. We are going to Kalahari Water park in Ohio with another family.

Trish Dawson
Mom to bgg (1992 @ 31
weeks)

OH Trish...I feel awful..like a terrible friend.I completly forgot you all were coming down....%%##@!!@#!
I am so sorry....I will def come down when you guys are here this summer....
Becky
Realtor in Ohio and Indiana
Emma,Amber,Ian 8/18/99
Olivia 9/29/00

Sharon,

I hope the surgery goes well for B boy!

1. How did you celebrate Mother's Day? Church, lunch out and then a quiet evening at home

2. What's the price of gas in your neck of the woods? around $3.70 I think, but I haven't lloked, DH has fille dit up for me the last couple of times.

3. When do the kids get out of school? May 23rd

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car or take it in when you hear a funny sound? Both

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? None so far.

We have Kindergarten graduation this week. Lots of fun and exciting things going on here. I'm still struggling to get the garden planted, everytime I get out there , the next day we get rain and cold, ugh. I maybe still trying to plant on Memorial day.

Kim
Nate, Nick & Noel(36w4d)and Nia.

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1. How did you celebrate Mother's Day? My daughter gave me flowers, homemade gift certificates and card; one son rode his bike to the flower shop and got me a plant; my other son was most attentive that day. My husband was away on a business trip. Anyway, it was a lovely day.

2. What's the price of gas in your neck of the woods? Just over the equivalent of $6 a gallon.

3. When do the kids get out of school? School year runs from April to March. I will take my kids back to the States for July and August. They will miss a month of school here.

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car or take it in when you hear a funny sound? I do both. We have inspections (now every two years on our 10 year old Toyota) that run about $1500. Besides being highway robbery, those inspections can pick up all kinds of problems.

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? Not an issue here.

"

1. Mother's Day ended up being really relaxed at our house. My triplets were here and so was my Mom. We all went out to dinner because I refused to cook. We hit up the local Olive Garden. Wasn't really my choice but it worked and was good. I just didn't want to do the big dinner.

2. Gas in our neighborhood is at $3.59 today.

3. The last day of school in our district is June 10th.

4. I do regualr maintenance on my car but this didn't do any good the last time. I had it in and spent $1,000.00 doing brakes and some other recommended stuff and wouldn't you know a few months later it was another $1,800.00. My car only has 58,000 miles on it but the extended warranty ended last summer.

5. Honestly I forgot about the holiday weekend coming up. So I guess that means no plans.

mom to:
Ryan 32 The Lawyer
Jason 30 The Chief Meteorologist
Chris 30 The College Student
Tim 30 The college grad

I love hearing their versions of their childhood memories!!

1. I woke with a "killer-self-induced-headache" at The Great Wolf Lodge (theme water park in Ohio)
2. $3.87
3. June something. I will just try dropping them off one day and no one will be there to un-load...
4. Regular as clock work. DH is on it... not me!
5. Heading to Indianapolis... 500 Race in Indy (I am a Hoosier)

Happy Mother's Day an evening late!

Julie
Mom to g,b,b (ETM)
and SUPRISE baby girl (K)

"Even the worst day with my children is better than a good day at work."

hi everyone...thank you for the update on elizabeth's surgery...this must be so challenging for your family. i hope you are getting the support you need!

sharon, how was your son's surgery?

1. How did you celebrate Mother's Day?

we went to macau for the day/night. it was fantastic.

2. What's the price of gas in your neck of the woods?

it's appalling, about $10 a gallon.

3. When do the kids get out of school?

late in the game, last day of school is 27 june.

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car or take it in when you hear a funny sound?

regular maintenance. have had too many incidents where it breaks down.

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend?

we don't celebrate memorial day here, so i don't think it will be a particularly special day!


thank you for the questions~
tess
mummy to 6yr old ds & the triumverate born 2004

"the days are slow but the years fly by quickly"

Hi All - Hope you all had a nice mom's day - even you Vaughn! Hope surgery went well Sharon - Happy Anniversary!

1-We went to visit MIL who was in hospital with gall bladder probs. She had been at her time share so is in a hospital away from her home and 3 hrs from us

2-3.70-3.95

3-the very end of June - 27th or something. June is going to seem LONG!

4-a little of both

5-hopefully just be home, work on the house and cookout.


This is my first week with 4 less hours of work and I am very relieved! Last night was our first home baseball game and i had to get all the consession stuff etc and I never could have done all that with my old schedule!

have a good week!
Suzanne
BBB 4/00

1. How did you celebrate Mother's Day? hanging out with my family, lunch at Middle Eastern Restaurant, lounging with a good book

2. What's the price of gas in your neck of the woods? $3.69

3. When do the kids get out of school? May 30th (we'll return to class early July)

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car or take it in when you hear a funny sound? both

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? soccer tournaments

DH out of town this week. Johnny's (exchange student) entire family will be here Friday. omgosh, my house is SO not ready for visitors. LOL Only plans we've made is to visit Six Flags on Monday
In the tradition of our weekly Monday injuries, Gabi bruised her chest yesterday on the trampoline. We'll check it out today to see if there's any swelling. I knew she was hurt when she began crying during practice and left the floor.

Tracey
Homeschooling Mom to:
Michael, Soccer Dude (11)
Francesca, Shining Star (10)
Matthew, Little Soccer Dude (8)
Alexis, Giggles (8)
Gabrielle, Darling Dash (8)

Host mom to:
Johannes, German exchange student (17)
Torunn, Norwegian former student (20)

Thanks for all the well wishes. "B" is doing fine after surgery. There were no complications and he was a sweetheart during the whole process. The nurses loved him.

He's in a lot of pain but being very brave. He's living on tylenol with codeine. The doctor said his recovery will be more like an adult than a child due to his size. That means it will be more difficult and the pain should peak this weekend. I hope he proves the doctor wrong.

Off to make a milkshake for him!

Sharon
11 year old b/b/b + 14 year old son

I went thru this (except the extra nasal work) when I was 14 years old. But I had chronic sore throats, so I use to a lot of pain there...knowing it could be my last major sore throat helped getting thru it -- that and the McDonald milk shakes, circa 1968!

I started off in a clinic, but woke up in a hospital due to hemrogining (SP?). I was mad at my mom -- I woke up in a strange place, but with a window view...but without my glasses. I could not see much but moving blurs of lights on a freeway.

Best to B and his recovery!!!!

Vaughn and the ABC Boys
Alex, Bryce, & Calder
3-31-97 @ 28.5 weeks

I'm so sorry you had such a scary surgery, Vaughn. It is painful and we're doing homemade milkshakes! I did get him a Starbucks Strawberry and Creme milkshake when I went to Safeway to buy more ice cream. I avoid McDonalds these days but it was a staple of my childhood, too!

Take care,

Sharon
11 year old b/b/b + 14 year old son

I'm a day late, but oh well.

1. How did you celebrate Mother's Day? First coffee and a newspaper in bed and then we had my parents and bro over for dinner. It was a very nice time.

2. What's the price of gas in your neck of the woods? $3.70 something.

3. When do the kids get out of school? Their last day is June 6th

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car or take it in when you hear a funny sound? I let dh worry about it.

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? We are hoping to go to dfil's lake house.

Things have been "interesting" around here lately, to say the least, and the stress is starting to really pile up. Most of it is beyond our control but there are a few situations that we do have the power to change. I have been doing a lot of re-evaluating of myself and the things I can control. Hopefully, with a lot of sole searching I can lay certain things to rest.
I had the opportunity to vent about everything last night with a wonderful friend over margaritas and that did a world of good! A good ole fashioned vent to someone not directly involved. The only bad thing....I feel like a bag of crap today and I am STILL in my jammies, LOL! I was supposed to do my cardio interval workout, but the thought just makes me want to puke!

Sharon,
I'm glad to hear that your ds apnea surgery went well! Hopefully this will do the trick! We are repeating Katie's sleep study early this summer and we will go from there. I am trying not to think beyond that point, which is not an easy exercise for me,lol!

Have a great week everyone!

I hope you are feeling better today and the stress level is becoming manageable. You should like you have a lot on your plate.

Take care,

Sharon

Hi all,

Sharon, I hope "B's" surgery went well!
I want to ask you some questions about adnoid removal.
Can I please pick-your-brain a bit?


1. I had a nice day. Didn't make-it to the beach as previously planned. But, did manage to have a great day!

2. Over $4.00/gallon

3. Soon

4. Not as I should.

5. A small party at my home, and visit the cemetary

Have a nice week/end, everyone

7mozz

I'll send you a PM or if you prefer email, try s a f e t y p a t r o l @ c o m c a s t . n e t (no spaces!).

Feel free to pick my brains, it won't take long!

Sharon

A late Monday update!

1. How did you celebrate Mother's Day? Not a day I want to remember. DH was in bed sick with a stomach virus (10 days of virus at our house. Each child sick twice and each adult sick one), any my DD decided she was going to "ruin my Mother's Day." I am hoping next year is better!

2. What's the price of gas in your neck of the woods? 2.52

3. When do the kids get out of school? June 5

4. Do you do regular maintenance on your car or take it in when you hear a funny sound? My minivan is under warranty so we get the required routine maintenance.

5. Any great plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend? DH is changing jobs so we are trying to plan a mini-vacation. We typically don't go anywhere Memorial Day vacation, but based on occupancy rates, lots of people must travel.

Lisa
Mom to Aidan, Christian, and Rachel (10.03.01 @ 36wks)