What $1000 Can Buy For Kids In Haiti

• 3 Frisbee's
• 10 decks of cards
• 12 bottles of bubbles
• 21 mirror
• 30 jump ropes
• 30 balloon punch balls
• 32 bottles of children's pain relief
• 35 colored wiffle balls
• 36 kazoo's
• 36 sparkling hair barrettes
• 60 funky pencils
• 80 colorful pencil sharpeners
• 150 colored pencils
• 485 pair of underpants
• 1680 children's vitamins
• 3200 stickers
• 4000 pictures to color
• plus money left over to give to the community

I also picked up 200 Tylenol and 1200 aspirin for the adults.

"Mommy, what's a suppository?"

Michael asked that question yesterday at the doctors office. He could not stop vomiting and learned exactly what it was. He did freak out a little, but in the end (no pun intended) it made him feel so much better he really didn't care.

Today, he's still home from school. He has to be fever free for 24 hours. I can tell he's getting back to his old self as his orneriness is starting to show. It has been bottled up for a couple of days.

Feel sorry for Sean as it starts to flow freely, I won't be here to deal with it.

Two More Days

and I'm on the plane to Haiti. We leave Thursday morning and stay in Florida because the place in Haiti where we are going does not have runway lights at night due to the fact that they do not always have power. Having grown up in a house where one of dad's jobs with the FAA was to make sure that the runway light are ON at night, I think it's a good thing not to attempt to land in the dark.

I was blessed to have someone donate $1,000 for the trip. Today, Sean and I will be off to buy children's vitamins, pain reliever, colored pencils, coloring books, a few toys and underpants. It will be interesting when they go through my bag. Some of the money will be giving to the community to be used for food and other items they may need.

Michael was home sick yesterday. He was running a fever and said his tummy hurt. He then started getting sick about 3:30 this morning. I'm hoping he is feeling much better by the time I leave. He is having a really bad flare up with his eczema and I'm taking him to the doctor this morning. He has his soccer tournament this weekend so I hope we can get it under control.

I just heard Michael run across the floor, duty calls.

Fun Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend and hope you all did too!

We spent Saturday at my parents house. Amy and the boys were there as well as grampa and Lucille on their way back to Minnesota. Noelle and Michael played hard with Jack and Riley. The boys didn't take a nap and Amy said that when she headed home, the boys were asleep before they hit the highway.

Mom fixed a wonderful brunch with pancakes and her wonderful breakfast casserole. As Amy tried to get the boys to sleep, Noelle and Michael rode bike and I went to visit my former patient Josh for his birthday. (I was so excited that he recognized my voice)

After a dinner of pizza, Sean and Michael went home and Noelle and I went and saw "Nim's Island". What a wonderful movie that I'm sure will be added to our ever growing DVD library.

On a sad note, my great-aunt Rose passed away on Friday. She was someone that I loved visiting when I would go and see my grandparents in Minnesota. I remember thinking she had the coolest basement because she had all kinds of work out equipment including a belt machine. (we didn't wear the outfit, but did use the machine) She loved to do porcelain work and made both Noelle and Michael little booties with the day they were born and their height and weight. Rose was a very fun and loving lady who kept the family genealogy up to date and always had fluffy dogs and friendly cats. She will be greatly missed.

Fun Thursday

I'll post some pictures I took of Michael doing some sanding/bodywork later. He had a great day and even did some welding on his own (with close supervision).

Noelle had a great day with Aunt Amy. Despite the LARGE AMOUNT OF SUGAR Amy allowed her to have. (she seems to forget I'm good at doing paybacks) Amy said that she was very well behaved, polite and quiet. Noelle and quiet don't usually go together.

Last night, the kids and I watched the "wonder twins" so that Amy and Jon could go to the baseball game. Here are some of the exchanges we shared:

• Me: "Jack are you poopy?"
• Jack: "No, Jack no poopy."
• Me pulling back diaper: "Jack, yes you ARE poopy!"
• Jack: "giggle, giggle giggle"
• Me: "Riley, lets take your socks off."
• Riley: "No, no socka on a Riley foot."
• Michael lets out large burp
• Riley: " 'scuse you MIkcoe"

When we put the boys down for bed, Jack lays down with his blanket looking at a book. Riley is screaming. I tell the kids to tell the boys good night to hopefully help lesson Riley's despair. I give them both a kiss and the kids and I head to theater area of the basement to watch "Enchanted".

Riley is still crying after 30 minutes so I go up to try and calm him down, then this happens:

• Riley: "Riley out bed pea's, a hold you Erin."
• Me trying to stick by the rules: "No Riley, it's time for bed."
• Jack looks at me and smiles (more than likely thinking "I'm the good one")
• Riley arms up: "Erin pea's Riley out bed now." (said between sobs)
• Me: "Come here Riley."

I then rock him while he tries to calm down. It's funny when it's your kids you tend to stick by the rules of "no, it's bedtime and you need to sleep" but when it's not your child you quickly turn into this pile of mush and give in.

After rocking him for about 20 minutes, I put him back to his bed, he starts to scream again. As I look back, he is standing in his crib, holding on and throwing his head back yelling "no, Riley out bed now". I heartlessly look back, say " I love you Riley, night night". Jack, who is still quietly looking at his book with out missing a beat says "night Erin".

Michael's Agenda

Michael has a mission of things to accomplish on his day with daddy:

• sleep in
• get ready to go to work
• get to work and "melt some pennies" with the new welder
• do some body work
• eat lunch "at McDonalds or some other cool place"
• weld some more stuff
• do some more body work
• weld some more
• go home

Sean got a plastic welder, (yes, it welds plastic together) the other day as well as a new regular welder. He should have a fun day. I wonder what he is thinking is a place to eat cooler than McDonalds?

A Couple Pictures

Here a couple of pictures of our pear tree in the front yard and some of Michael from his vocal concert.

Too Much Rain

Well, Michael's make-up game was called off due to rain. It is unreal the amount of rain we are having right now.

We didn't know the game was called off before we left to drop off Noelle at Amy's, but Michael thought that there was a "96% chance" it would be called off. The way it was raining when we dropped her off Jon said "I'd go as far as saying maybe 96.5%".

As I'm typing this, there is a bunny hiding out under the glider on the swing set. I included a couple of picture from the back yard. One is of the bunny and the other is of the "lake" that forms in our backyard when it rains like this. We are thinking we are going to talk to our neighbor about tying into his drainage so our yard will drain better.

Sadie Stinks And Other Stuff

I don't know what can help this dog. I have given her baths, sprayed her with "doggie perfum" and limited her time outside. She is a very fluffy dog and I have thought of taking her to the groomer and having her shaved. Sean thinks this would be cruel and she can't help it that she stinks.

Michael has a soccer game tonight. We are hoping that the storms that are headed this way hold off as this is already a make-up game. Tomorrow he goes to work with Sean for "take your child to work day".

Noelle will be spending the night at the "Wells' Ranch" as she is going to work with Amy tomorrow. She will be met with tons of hugs and kisses from her cousins. Tomorrow night, Michael and I will join Noelle as we watch the boys so Amy and Jon can go to the Royals game.

I leave for Haiti next week. I'm really excited and am looking forward to the experience. I won't be able to call home while I'm there and it's not certain if we will have power. It will be nice to get away from it all and at the same time really appreciate all that I have.

A Phone Call Started It All

21 years ago today, the phone at my parents house rang. The first time, it was a hang up. The second time, the person on the other end said "Chris said if I called you, you wouldn't hang up on me".

Sean was, at the time, dating a girl I went to school with named Chris and they both worked at Taco Via at the mall. Chris and I were in the same Spanish class and from time to time I would go see her at the mall. I kept eyeing the guy she worked with and was dating. For some reason she decided she wanted to start dating someone else (her loss, my gain) and she gave Sean my number.

The first call was a hang up because he was grounded and wasn't supposed to use the phone. With the next phone call, we spent close to an hour discussing what else, cars! Now, all these years later, we are still together. Not many people can say that they married the person they went to the junior prom with. (some may not want to)

Through all the up, down, good, bad, happy and sad, we've made it and are still going strong. (so there) It started with that phone call, April 21, 1987. We've survived all the high school drama, (without ever "breaking up"), seen friends married and divorced, had two beautiful kids and still say "I love you" before we go to sleep, head out the door or get off the phone.

It's hard to believe that we've spent more than half our lives together. We've seen each other at our best and picked each other up when we've fallen down.

I'm so glad Chris gave him my number, and that I didn't hang up.

Capital City

Michael and I had a great time yesterday in Jefferson City. It rained here, but it was sunny there and SUPER windy. It was a long bus ride there and back.

We started off with a tour of the governors mansion. It was beautiful. On the back porch, there is a display that is in the shape of the house with one Christmas ornament from each family that has lived there. There were several large marble fireplaces and portraits of each of the first ladies. It was built in 1871 for $75000!

Next, it was off to the capital building. There were several school there and even though our guide had a microphone, you really couldn't hear him. One of the most interesting parts was a room painted by Missouri native, Thomas Hart Benton. Very interesting, he was hired to paint the "Social History of the State of Missouri". His painting included everything from slavery to people being persecuted for religious beliefs to a baby being diapered. People didn't like it and wanted him to change it. He refused saying that he had gone all through the state observing people and listening to their stories and the mural reflected what they had asked him to paint.

After that, it was off to the supreme court. Michael and another boy were used as examples to show how the court of appeals works. The story was this other boy had paid Michael $20 to do his chores and Michael kept the money and didn't do it. The boy went to court and won and Michael appealed to keep the money.

Our last stop allowed us to watch a vote in the house. Our group was also introduced by our representative Tim Flook. (personally, if that was my last name and I ran for anything, I think I'd have to change it since it would be a "fluke" that I won). He sat for a photo and also provided us with pizza for lunch. The teachers said that this was the first time lunch had ever been provided~it is an election year.

Enjoy the photos. I didn't get to take as many as I wanted. With so many people there, I kept a very close eye on the kids I was in charge of. I would love to go back when there aren't so many people and really have time to look around.
Hitting the road.
Govenors Mansion.
Capital.
"I lost"?
His class.

Upcoming Travels

Well, some of the Prideaux's will be hitting the road soon.

Michael and I head to Jefferson City tomorrow. He is having a school field trip. I've never been, so I'm really looking forward to it. I will have plenty of pictures to post.

I will be in Haiti May 1-5. Our church has partnered with C3 Missions to build and orphanage. There are 10 of us from church going. I'm so excited about this trip. The down side is that I will miss all if Michael's soccer tournament. Please pray for our group as well as those hosting us and the children we will be visiting. Again, tons of pictures will be taken.

Noelle will be taking a 7-10 day vacation with my parents after school lets out. They had long ago decided that when the kids turn 12, they will take them some place special for some one on one time. (should be interesting once Jack and Riley turn 12) It looks like they may be going to the Black Hills and Yellowstone.

The third week in June the kids and I are going to take a road trip to Indiana to see "The Indiana Ehmke's". This is the family of my dad's youngest brother. He and his wife have a large family of 13 kids. Seven boys and six girls. They are also the parents of Josh, who got married in January, and Caleb, who was just here to play baseball. We will be there during their Bible School, so Noelle and Michael will be taking part. It will be like a vacation for me. My kids will be entertained by their kids and their kids will have some new kids to play with!

As you can see, Sean is not listed. Since the shop will be open, (hopefully)he can't really be gone. Beside, someone has to take care of the dogs~ha.

Batter Up!

Here are some pictures from when Caleb was up to bat. There are SEVERAL of them, and this isn't even all of them. Thank heavens for digital camera's, with the number of photo's I take, we'd be in the poor house to develop them!

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THIS Is Spring????

I don't think so. We had snow this weekend. Michael's game was cancelled on Saturday.

Dad and I went to the Royals game Saturday night and just about FROZE! I had on two pairs of pants, two shirts, my winter coat, a scarf, cotton in my ears, AND thing that covered my ears! I also sat on a seat warmer and used two blankets. We stayed for the whole game. They lost to the Twins, but we had a good time.

My cousin, Caleb had two double headers this weekend. He was supposed to have two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. The games for Saturday were moved to Monday. I was able to see all four. His team won three out of the four, so it was a good series for them.

I took several pictures of Caleb at his games and am in the process of putting them together as a slide like I did for Michael's jumping.

Tag, You're It!

Tonight was Michael's birthday party with his friends. (he settled for a "soccer theme" because the party store had no "Buzz Lightyear" stuff.)

He had invited five boys, (plus him making six and an even number~no one left out) but the flu hit two of them. We took everyone to play laser tag. We went to place not far from here called Jaegerz that is in some caves. We used some coupons from the yellow pages and got a fantastic deal. Sean and Noelle played two games with the boys and I played the last one. The place has a pretty good deal on Wednesday nights, so I think we may try and go for a family night sometime.

They are now down in the basement, (no, I didn't get it finished, but close) watching movies for the night. They are a wild bunch. I may be taking a nap tomorrow.

Enjoy the pictures. The ones with everyone getting ready to play didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. It's all in black light, so it really doesn't show up. The "OU" is from a sweatshirt Noelle got from her aunt, uncle and cousins for Christmas. (shocking they would give her something from there, I know)

The Beast

Here it is in all its glory! Sometime, I'll scan pictures of it the way it looked before Sean worked his magic.

Guitar Hero

Michael had his first guitar lesson last night. His instructor is a very nice young man, I believe in high school, from church. He played in the youth band one Sunday morning and Sean went and asked if he would be interested in giving lessons.

Aaron tuned Michael's guitar and played something to show Michael what his guitar could really do. Michael couldn't believe how it played. He was given homework~learning to play the first part of "Smoke On The Water" (a song by Deep Purple that is a true story). Michael had "taught" himself how to play, now he will be able to play using the right notes!

Noelle starts gymnastics on Thursday and is super excited.

Michael is having his birthday party with his friends Friday night and has a game on Saturday. Only one game this weekend.

I am missing his game on Saturday so that I can go and watch my cousin Caleb, who goes to University of Southern Indiana, play baseball against Rockhurst University. That will be so much fun!!!

Busy Weekend

Once again, Michael had two soccer games this weekend. His team lost both. The boys need to work on going to the ball and not waiting for the ball to come to them.

Today, Michael was goalie for the second half. He did very well. The only goal the other team got off of him was where it Michael against one of their players. We were sitting at the other end of the field, so I'm not sure what happened.

The other team's coach was yellow carded twice for having too many players and was ejected from the game.

Noelle did not attend the game today and I was not sure that Michael would have a sister after her attitude this morning. When I was telling my dad about this at the game today, he just looked at Sean's dad and smiled the "oh good, my wish for 'one just like her' has come true".

I don't see how this is possible. My memories of my behavior are quite clear. I was always well behaved and did as I was told. He must be thinking about Amy.

On a serious note, please keep this young man in your thoughts and prayers. He is a real fighter. I had taken care of him several times and he is now in a rehab hospital in southern Missouri. I know deep down, he will be a miracle.

Beautiful Picture

Here is the photo that Sean and Noelle had taken at the dance. It is such a beautiful picture and they both look so happy.

A Flippin' Good Time

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Quick Update

We did hear that the city gave a thumbs up for the building. Now we need to get the bathroom in, pour the drive and get the other tenant to clean up his crap. (the kitchen sink is gone, but the barge remains)

Michael has four soccer games left along with a tournament that could have as many as three games. He will have to try out for the team again in the fall. They have some different soccer camps that he can go to. We are still trying to set up guitar lessons.

Noelle will start gymnastics next week. She is really excited about it. She has also informed us that they are having the second school mixer in early May. (she is getting too big too fast) We also got Noelle's mid-quarter grades yesterday. Once again, all A's and B's. She is loving school so much this year.

It looks like I may possibly be working through the new agency for a place called Quintiles. It would be for three months in a possible leadership role. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. When the lady called today, she said that I was the first person she thought of when they called her and that I had really impressed her with the things I had to say and the way I presented myself.

I guess I sold myself pretty well. Unfortunately, my profession doesn't pay as well as some others do.