The Past Ten Days:

We have a crazy last ten days, so I am opting to make a list of our ten most memorable things that have happened. (This is not a list in priority order ... it is just in the order that I think of it.)

1. Garet advanced in Tae Kwon Do. He is now a white green striped belt Little Dragon. We are so proud of him!!

2. Kaleb participated in his first Tae Kwon Do competition. Nerves got the best of him for the "form" presentation part of the competition. On the spur of the moment, he chose to present a belt form that he had not practiced for a while and flubbed it a little. He was still awarded third place for his efforts. The last part of the competition was sparring. (For those of you that are not martial art savvy, it is when they dress up in protective gear and fight each other.) Unfortunately, Kaleb got paired with the kid that eventually won first place over all for his first round. His opponent was very aggressive and kicked Kaleb in a not-so-nice area(his cup dug in and left a huge welt ... he still has residual bruising a week later). Despite the pain, Kaleb kept fighting until the time was up. He wound up placing third in the sparring competition. He was pretty pleased that he came home with two bronze medals for his efforts!!

3. Our computer has been violated. We have been overcome with some type of virus called a Trojan. Apparently, Trojans mess up all of the controls and settings on one's system. Our computer thought that we liked explicit sites and materials. We were constantly bombarded with icky ads. Our computer is a bit better now, but is running slower than usual. It will not let me add pictures to this post for some reason. I will keep trying..... Dang Trojans!!!

4. Maddie has had the throw-ups for not one, but TWO days. I kept hoping it was a 24 hour bug, but my hopes kept getting dashed every time she started coughing. We are really hoping that no one else gets this in our house!! (So far, the last 24 hours have been trow-up free here.)

5. Maddie had the rotavirus about six months or so ago. We are learning that anytime her digestive tract is disrupted, it rears it's ugly head again. Seriously, does anyone know how long it takes for her intestines to get back to normal?? I went to the library today while she was down for a nap. As soon as I walked into the library doors, Kaleb called me and said: "Mom, Maddie had a blow-out in her crib and it is everywhere!" AAARGH!!!

6. Gizmo has ear infections. Yesterday, I took him to the vet for his yearly immunizations and he was running a fever. The vet checked his ears and there were things "growing" in them. Ick!! Now, I have to flush out his ears and put an antibiotic ointment in his canal 45 minutes later. I guess the 'flushing' solution must really itch or burn when I put it in. Gizmo runs around like a madman rubbing his ears on the carpet. We hope our puppy gets better soon!!

7. I cleaned my entire house this week ... even dusting.

8. I joined a book group with the women in my ward. Since I've been serving in Primary for the last little while, I really do not know very many people in my ward. I am trying to start making efforts ... I even went to the Relief Society service project this morning. They were sewing bibs for a nursing home ... I colored alphabet cards. I am really glad they think of people like me when they plan these activities!!

9. Our beloved prophet President Hinckley passed away. ( I know we all know this ... I just wanted to note this for posterity's sake.) I am so grateful for the faith and testimony that I am beginning to have of the Plan of Salvation ... I have always lacked in the faith department ... but, I think I am beginning to have the faith of a dust particle, maybe.

10. I just barely had to retype this from memory. I typed it once and accidently erased it.

Here's to the next ten days ... everyone keep your fingers crossed that it will get better and NOT worse for us!! =-)