Easter eggs, Aunt Sarah, and Disney on Ice

It has been a BUSY week. I am going to attempt to capture all of it in one very long blog post. Here goes.

On Tuesday Lydia's preschool class had their Easter party at the park. Lydia was sooooo happy that her mom and sisters came to the party. She introduced all her friends to her sister Claire, and made sure Claire sat with them for lunch.They had an easter egg hunt, pizza, and then played on the playground.I lost track of Claire for a moment, and then looked over to see Lydia's friend David pushing her on the swing. It was fun at first... then she got a little scared. On Wednesday night my sister Sarah came into town. The girls spent some time with her and grandma making some Easter treats. They decorated egg-shaped cakes with frosting and all sorts of candies. Claire's decorations never made it to her cake. In fact, even the icing didn't last long. It's not hard to tell which ones Claire, Lydia, and Sarah made. The girls also tried to go swimming in grandma's pool. Every day that it's warm outside Lydia asks "Is grandma's pool warm yet??"
The girls got sunscreen and swimsuits on... then realized that NO, it is NOT warm yet. They never made it past the steps. Maybe next month. Thursday and Friday me and the girls and Sarah all went to San Antonio! We were there to see Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3. We drove up on Thursday afternoon, and got the best nights sleep ever in a hotel... we didn't wake up until after 9am, and almost missed our free breakfast! That is quite a feat with 3 little girls.
First on the agenda: swimming. Then we cleaned up, checked out, and headed over to the Alamodome for the show. This is just outside the entrance.Then once inside, we had to make some souvenir purchases, along with the hundreds of other fans. Lydia got Jessie, and Claire wanted Woody.
Then I couldn't resist the photo-op with a cardboard cutout. Such a rip-off, but at least it's a pic of all of us together.The show was pretty good - great costumes, great music, great skating. Not too many special effects or tricks other than army men parachuting and Buzz Lightyear's flying entrance... but this isn't broadway, it's ice skating. Though I don't think most kids there really appreciated that Woody could do a triple-lutz.The best skating performance was by Ken and Barbie. They're a fan favorite. Wish we had better pics, but it was dark and we just had the small camera.

Lydia and Claire loved the show, and were shouting "Hi" to the characters. Scarlett was good until the second half, when she started getting tired and irritable. AND, as is evident in this picture, she's teething again, and was drooling all over.
Before we made the 5hr drive back to Midland, we went to a park in downtown San Antonio to let the girls burn some energy.

It worked. It was hot, and they were exhausted. They slept for the whole ride, except for maybe 2 hrs when they were watching "Tangled", and when mommy got pulled over for speeding (85 in an 80... and got off with only a warning for being so curteous ;)

Josh had been away on a youth trip these past few days, so we were anxious to get home and see him again on Saturday. We spent Saturday night getting ready for Easter and dying our hard-boiled eggs, of course. This is our first Easter in the US in 4 years, and I was anxious to do this with my girls, but at the grocery store there were hardly any egg-coloring kits! Maybe the tradition is just fading. We had fun though.Then it was Easter Sunday. We were all dressed in our Easter best. The girls looked sooooo stinkin cute!After church we had grandma and grandpa and Sarah over for a big Easter lunch, and then the girls went on an egg hunt outside.

It's been a wonderful week. Happy Easter everyone!

SOMETIMES I miss my free health care

2011 has been a very sick year for us. I was warned by one of my expat friends "Cass, be ready, because your family has been out of the country and you are going to get hit by every bug imaginable this season." She was right. All three of my girls have taken turns with strep throat, flu strains, stomach bugs, allergies and ear infections. Even Josh and I were knocked out on occasion - me with a sinus infection, and him with a stomach virus. Unfortunately with these illnesses comes frequent visits to the doctor, and lots of perscription drugs. We've spent a lot of money on health care this year, and its made me almost miss the free health care in Scotland. Almost.

I hate nothing more than waiting in a doctor's office with kids. THREE kids. And every time we go to the pediatrician I am waiting at least an hour to get in. Sometimes close to two! Why? Because our particular doc is popular, and is always overbooked. Why? Because more patients means more money. In Scotland I don't remember waiting more than 10 minutes to get in to a GP. That was awesome.

Then there's the insurance. Sometimes I'm paying a "co-pay", sometimes I'm paying a full amount to meet a deductable, sometimes I don't pay anything at all. I can't keep it straight. But either way, its expensive, and then you have to buy perscriptions. Nearly $100 for a bottle of Tamiflu? Really? For February and March I had a designated space on my kitchen counter for all of our drugs. Pain relievers, fever reducers, antibiotics, and teething gels. Yes, on top of the illnesses, we've had a teether. So yes, I miss the days of free health care, free perscriptions for kids, quick doctor visits, and health care available to all. But I still prefer the quality, professional health care here in the US for my family.

I am so glad to have a Pediatrician again, someone who is an expert on children. I am so glad to have an OB/Gyn again, someone who knew me by name, and my history, and was there for me when I delivered Scarlett. Neither of these were available in Scotland, unless you were specifically referred by a GP, and even then sometimes it took months to get an appointment. And yes, we had private insurance, but you'll find that in places where free health care is available, there are very few private care options. They just can't compete.

I am so glad to be able to get perscriptions again - easily. In Scotland there were a few times I would take my kids to the GP with a concern, and they would say "Let's wait a few days, then come back and we'll see how they are." Seriously? I'm a mom, and I hate dragging my kids to that disgusting, old, health center. I've already waited a few days, and that is why I'm here! Then I learned that GPs are trained to say that, because if its serious enough, the patient will be back. Fair enough, but that would never happen in the US.

I am so glad that my family's health care is in the hands of doctors and professionals who are the best in the world. Sadly, they are the best because of money. They're competetive, always wanting to improve, to get more recognition, and more patients, which leads to more money.

I think of all the senior citizens who filled the waiting room at the GP's office in Scotland, and I couldn't help but think "Isn't it great, that at this time in their lives, when their bodies are failing so, they are able to come to the GP as often as they need to. And its free."

So I go back and forth as to whether I like the health care here or there, but I think in the end most people agree with me, that both systems are highly flawed. It'd be nice to have something somewhere in the middle, but there are too many people "in the way" to make that possible.

What part of Canada are you from?

Every plumber, electrician, salesman, ... or anyone new who visits our house asks me this question and I am so tired of it. It's all because of this lovely piece of art painted on our front curb.I don't know if it's a Texas thing, or just a Midland thing, but people tend to paint their house number on the curb so that its more visible to visitors, and some Midlanders get creative with their designs. Apparently the last owners of this house were from Canada, and had a big hairy dog.

I searched the yellow pages to find someone to come re-paint my curb, but found no one. There is only one guy in Midland who "specializes" in such work, and he is so busy it takes him almost a year to get to your house. Umm.. no thanks.

So I got some paint and went to work. Nothing fancy, but at least now I don't get anymore Canadian questions. Visitors can ask us about Scotland, though :)Of course my girls were trying to "help" me with my painting, so I gave them their own project. They painted a birdhouse.
No, they did not paint in these lovely dresses, we took pics after everything was dry, and they had been dressing up.

Midland needs WATER

When we lived in Scotland, I would grumble about the endless weeks and months that we never saw the sun. There was constant cloud cover and rain. So much rain.

Midland has the opposite problem.

We haven't seen a cloud in months. We've had a tenth of an inch of rain this year! That's nothing - I could spit that much. It hasn't been this dry since 1930. This is a pic of the Rio Grande at the Texas/Mexico border. Its certainly not "grande", or even a "rio" anymore.
West Texas has been declared an "Extreme Drought" area, and we are having to take drastic measures to conserve our water. The City of Midland now has watering rules, and you are only allowed to water your grass and plants on certain days of the week, or else you are fined up to $500!

But the worst part of the drought - the fires. Last week 16000 acres of land were burned in Midland County. Homes and buildings and cattle and horses have been lost. Fires have been raging all over Texas, and they start from simple things - metal scraping the pavement and sending sparks into the brush, a cigarette butt that's still smoking, or
sparks from electrical equipment. So today, Sunday April 17th, our city Mayor has delcared a day of prayer for RAIN. In his words, "This day we are unified in prayer for rain,...We ask our gracious God to bless West Texas with rains that will quench our thirsty land and fill our lakes and reservoirs."

Even amidst this drought, I am very thankful to be in such a God-fearing part of the country, where we all can be united in prayer, and I know our prayers will be heard.

On two wheels

I have a very driven eldest daughter. Two weeks ago we took the training wheels off Lydia's bike, and within a couple of days she was riding around the driveway and the backyard like a pro! I wish I could take credit for being a great instructor, but really all we did is lower the seat so she could walk her bike and push off... and then she just taught herself! It also helps that her bike is way too small for her.


Here she is, the second day without training wheels



The funny thing is, every time she would do something new, like turn around, ride up the curb, or ride on the grass, she would exclaim "Daddy will be sooo proud of me!"
(and here I am singing her praises all day, but yet its her dad she wants to impress)I am also proud of Lydia for knowing how to take a fall. She fell a lot at first, but was very brave and would get right back up.
Isn't Debo such a sweetheart - he's our gentle giant. He was there to give Lydia kisses when she fell. And the girls gave him some love in return.

Opening Day at the Rockhounds

It was a perfect night.
Friday night we took the family to the ballpark to watch the Midland Rockhounds play. Going to a Rockhounds game has got to be the best thing to do in Midland. It's all about the atmosphere. We got to the park, sat and enjoyed some hot dogs, Lydia stalked "Juice the Moose" and "Rocky Rockhound" for some hugs and hi-5's, then we went and relaxed in the outfield while the girls played on the playground.
I know - a playground. How genius is that! Miss Scarlett was her usual, happy self.
And the weather... perfect.



Unfortunately I only had my small camera with me - so the resolution ain't great.The girls loved every second of it - even rolling and running down the big hill. It made me want to be a kid again.



Then we ended the night with ice cream in a baseball cap. So American. So much fun. It's great to get to go to baseball games again.

Time to brag

A friend of mine once said "Moms just start blogs so that they can brag about their kids".
Hmmm. Maybe partially true. So while I sometimes try to keep my ego in check, this is not one of those times.

Lydia is a freaking awesome soccer player.
She scored not one, not two.... but SIX goals this weekend!! And the best part was that everytime she scored, she would look back and me and dad, just beaming.
The pep-talks and home practices worked. And now the Lydia show is ON!
Bring yo popcorn!

Pottery Barn - you're killin me

I must confess I have spent a small fortune on potterybarnkids since we've moved here. I think I just missed it too much when we were overseas. They suck me in with their cuteness, and their personalized gear, and everything imaginable for those under 4' tall. And before I know it, I've clicked "Order now".... and then feel my stomach turn as I look at how much I spent on a lunchbox that says "Lydia" on it.

But now potterybarn has sunk to a new low. They used my baby's name.
I mean, really? Scarlett? I thought it was a pretty uncommon name when I named her. But now that Pottery Barn is using it, it'll probably be the next "Emma" or "Olivia".
And I will probably buy everything advertised with her name on it.

TeXas Day

Last month Texas had its 175th birthday. In March of 1836 Texas earned its independence from Mexico and became the Republic of Texas, and remained so for a number of years before it was a U.S. state. SO in March, many Texas schools celebrated TEXAS with a special day dedicated to our special state.

Lydia's preschool had a Texas Day, and asked all the kids to dress up as cowgirls and cowboys. The teachers had Texas activities, read books about Texas, and brought some horses to the school for all the kids to see and pet.

Lydia was more than thrilled to dress up as a cowgirl. But she had to be a PINK cowgirl. Very pink.When asked what she learned about Texas, Lydia said "It's really really big, and has lots of cowgirls and cowboys"