married to a dr. -edited to not be so scroogy

Many of you will understand this.....you may be married to a dr. also or some other kind of hard working man!

So about two weeks ago dave said, "I didn't formally request any days off during the holidays because I have some great surgeries scheduled on T/W (21/22) and T/W (28/29) but other than that I will have a lot of days off."

So, fast forward to last night (Sunday) when I said, "so are you going to be around tomorrow (Mon the 20th)." Dave looked at me like I was from another planet and replied, "I have to work."

Realizing he had sort of told me he would be home he said, "Don't worry, in the next two weeks I'll have AT LEAST 7 days off......well, maybe 6."

Denise: "You do realize those days only count if your pager is off and we don't have to drive two cars every where?"

Dave: "Okay, at least 5 days then."

I am grateful that he is not the guy covering Christmas so there is a good chance he'll be home that day. Thank you to the intern who is in house on call and the one Jewish guy in the program who graciously offered to be backup!

I am also glad Dave likes his job. I know he feels bad to miss family stuff but he really loves to operate.

Also, the holidays are fun even when dave is working b/c we have family that comes to town which is a special treat for us.

1st Tooth!

Calvin LOST his first tooth today!

( I would add a picture but the camera is not working again. I guess it was just a temporary fix.)

He lost one tooth on the bottom.

dave fixed the camera

It wasn't really that broken...just had been messed w/ a bit.

Here are a few pics from the last few weeks.

Chorus (sorry for the blurry pic. it's the only one i've got but at least you can see how many kids there are)!



Calvin and Lex loved seeing Santa at our ward Christmas party. Calvin wants the New Super Mario Bros Wii. Lex doesn't really know what Christmas is about yet so hasn't asked for anything.




I took the kids to see the Nutckracker ballet (with a home school group for $5/ticket which is awesome!). .They all really liked it. Lex kept talking about the big mouse that was scary.

favorites

I love Andrea Bocelli. He has been a favorite for years.

watch this version of him singing The Lord's Prayer with the Mormon Tabernacle Chior. If you cannot spare 4 minutes, then at least watch the last 2 minutes.

Here is the URL incase the link didn't work http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEplqV0scyo

My kids' favorite is his version of Santa Claus is coming to town. I love hearing his great accent as he sings this playful song.

link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYu5PocI4nk

highs and lows

The chorus concert was amazing. A definite high for the semester of hard work. The parent volunteers who did the set decoration went above and beyond. The kids really loved to shine and turned up their game for showtime.

One funny thing that happened during the concert was that in one of our songs we had a surprise visit from Santa. In one of the songs we have about 90 seconds of nothing in the middle of the song (up on the housetop type song) and it is a perfect time to have Santa come dancing through. We didn't tell the kids he was going to be there. They were so excited and so surprised. Except for one child who started crying and ran off stage to her mom! That would be clare. She is terrified of Santa. It was a good friend of ours so she recovered herself quickly and went right back on stage to finish the concert as soon as Santa was gone.

Everything else was not amazing.

Here is a little conversation w/ lex to give you an idea of some of our lows.

lex: "momma, take my picture!"

mom: "sorry, i can't, the camera is broken."

lex: "That ok momma, you can use the phone."

Mom: "sorry lex, the phone is broken too."

lex: "oh, that is sad"

mom: "yes it is."


Camera broke Thursday morning during chorus rehearsal while Calvin was playing with it and I was busy conducting. I do not know excactly what he did.

Phone broke last Thursday morning during chorus practice. Calvin was being SOOOO out of control that I called Dan and he came to pick up Calvin for me so that I could rehearse. While wrestling w/ Calvin to get into the car I didn't realize that my phone dropped out of my pocket. I was in the drop off zone where parents can swing through to drop off their kids before school. My phone got run over about 100 times as all the parents dropped off their kids in the morning for school...I found it about an hour after I lost it and it was very beat up.

So, no pictures for the week including the kids seeing Santa, the chorus concert or sweet Calvin who I thought about selling this week. more than once.

If you need to talk to me call home or email.

why did the attending borrow the keys?

To get into the office which he had locked himself out of. Dave has about 5 keys on his key ring that are for different rooms in the hospital and aren't really his private spaces. It wasn't a big deal for the attending go borrow the keys (except for him forgetting to return them)!

Our chorus concert is this week so it is a busy week for me! The kids are all SUPER excited which is really fun. Hopefully all goes well and I'll have some time to catch up on the blog later in the week!

dave's keys -- lost and then found

This is just too funny (to me) to pass up recording here so I won't forget it!

So, Wed. night Dave lost his keys. They disappeared while he was operating. This in an of itself is kind of strange since he keeps them in the OR with him and it is not like there is a lot of foot traffic in the OR. So, either somebody who was there with him took them, or they got accidentaly thrown away in the OR clean up. Either scenario is somewhat mind boggling and unlikely. But something happened since his keys were not there when he finished his case.

The case finished around 9pm and Dave spent the next couple of hours looking for his keys and calling around to the different lost and found locations trying to find them. At around midnight Dave called Dan (my brother who lives with us) to come down to the hospital and bring him a spare set of keys. This is one of those situations where it is SUPER handy having an extra adult in the house, and a night owl at that. I would have probably told Dave to find a call room to sleep in if he tried to get me to come down to the hospital at midnight! Anyway, the spare key to Daves car has been MIA for a few months now so as it turned out there really wasn't an extra set of keys and Dave was stuck. So, Dan went and picked up
Dave and brought him home to bed. (although he didn't sleep very well wondering what happened to his keys and worrying about the safety of his car. I was worried too!)

At 6am Dave woke up as he should have been leaving for work and texted a few individuals who would need to know he wouldn't be in to work right away.

Then he started trying to figure out how he would get himself a new key and wondered how long it would take to get one. ... he was waiting for the MAZDA dealership to open at 7am.

Then Dave's attending called.

Apparently this attending had borrowed Dave's keys while he was operating and then forgot to return them!!!! Dave was happy to know these keys were safe and sound! This attending felt TERRIBLE about the run around he put Dave through the night before and offerend to come pick Dave up (but would have missed a case to do so, so it wasn't really an option)! Anyway, Dave ended up asking Dan to drive him back to the hospital b/c I wasn't availible to take him 'til after chorus and he didn't want to wait that long.

Dear Scott,

When are you coming? I bought these chocolate and mint chips today and think they will be so good in some of your brownies!


It is very cold in our house. The only way we can survive is with lots of blankets and a fire. It is in the 30's and 40's at night and as you know we do not use the furnace. Pack lots of sweatshirts.

Hope to see you soon!

Love,
Denise

the first birthday celebration

We had Dad, Kari and Shi over to celebrate Clare's birthday. She kept asking when we were going to have her REAL birthday...the one where her friends come over. I was so busy last week I knew I couldn't handle the stress of having a party for her so we are going to wait 'til after Thanksgiving break to have her friends over.

Clare decided she wanted cake for this birthday and choose green frosting w/ pink decorations. For her real birthday she wants cupcakes.





From Calvin, Mom, Dad, Lex and myself Clare got pink legos...she was super excited about this!

she also got some puzzles since she is getting really good at puzzles and spends lots of time on them at home.


Clare is a sweet girl. It was fun to celebrate her!

Happy Birthday to Clare!

Clare got this new dress from Kari and Bob and the necklace from Grandma Linda. Both made her feel very special!


Clare bear is 5 today. It was a fun day.

I love how lex is growing right into all of Clare's old clothes. this was a favorite and is just so cute on Lex just as it was on Clare



Also, it was so fun to see Calvin in Oliver this weekend. He had a blast!
here are some of the little orphan kids/fagin's gang kids. some are girls but the girls wore wigs to look like boys!

Over the course of preparing for the show (especially the last couple of weeks where we were there a TON) the kids became good buddies!


taking a break in the lobby and reading the program.



The principal said no to a teacher change. so, now we're figuring out what to do next.... I did send Calvin to school Th and Fri and he did great. Maybe now that I've stirred the pot a bit the teacher and principal will be a little more careful with him....

anyway, haven't had a quiet moment in a week. I am going to relax now!

life at our house

is a little crazy right now.

this post will be lacking in many many details but here is the short story of why I'm hangin' by a thread this week.

1. sickness. calvin has strep. dave and i have bronchitis. i don't get sick very often and i can't remember ever being sick for so long. it has been a full week now for me.

2.oliver. (calvin is in the musical production of oliver this weekend) so, this is tech week. It is very time consuming and trying on my patience. monday we were asked to be there at 4pm. Rehearsal did not even start 'til 7:30. Last night little ones were supposed to practice from 6-7:30. I left at 7:30 and they were just getting started (calvin was too sick to practice anyway but we were there just to watch).

3. (this is where there is a big story missing- maybe i will have time to fill in details later). this week i requested a teacher change for calvin. if he doesn't get a teacher change I will pull him out of school for the rest of the year. the principal will let me know today. mon night I had nightmares all night about big fights w/ the principal...but it wasn't too bad talking to him.

4. chorus. we're a little behind so this week (minimum days) i decided to have a couple of extra practices. This would be a little easier if I actually had a voice.


On the happy side of life I discovered a new dinner that is fabulous.
ratatouille with cauliflower instead of eggplant. I love cauliflower and can't find enough ways to work it into our menu.

calvin wore an ohio state sweatshirt last week. I got it on him b/c as he got out of the shower I stuck it in the dryer so it was nice and warm for him. He could not resist.



(calvin cut his hair again this week. when he looked in the mirror he cried b/c he didn't like it. maybe he is learning that it is not a good idea?)

Lake Poway

Friday we had no school and we had a very fun day doing a picnic and hike at Lake Poway with some friends from school. The weather has been lovely. very warm and sunny during the day and cool by 5:30 when it gets dark. I am still trying to adjust to the early dark time!

In other news, Calvin is sleeping through the night. After Dave's week with him when I was in Ohio Dave decided we should try melatonin. We found an 8 hour time release tablet that seems to be working for him. Hopefully we can use it long enough for him to get used to sleeping all night and then take him off of it in a couple of months.

conversation in the car

Clare: I love onions.

Alexey: I hate onions.

Mom: Lex, you like onions.

Lex: NO...I hate onions.

Mom: No....you like them. Remember how you like them on your in-n-out burgerLex:

Lex: No....in-n-out no have boogers. Boogers in my nose.


(at in-n-out she eats a grilled cheese w/ grilled onions. I have probably never called it a burger before).



I love the funny things kids say!

today

**Calvin went to bed at 5pm, right in the middle of a room full of kids (we had friends over for dinner). He laid himself down and went to sleep even though the kids were protesting. This fall time change is the one that KILLLLSS us. No school for him tomorrow...he has 0% chance of success there. my day tomorrow will likely be an interesting one as well!

**Alexey went to church with a beat up face: everyone kept asking her what happened but she had no idea what they were talking about since she had fallen yesterday, cried and recovered. She was a pitiful little sight, even though she felt good as new (and don't you love that we have one kid who will wear Ohio State clothes?) 2 year olds are always covered in scratches and bruises! Lex is not afraid of anything and will try everything so she is often getting lots of scrapes!

**Dan cleaned his room....for most of you, you do not realize the monumental task cleaning Dan's room is.... here are his 6 trash bags (of trash) that he will hopefully take to the trash can before Tressel makes a mess of all this.

sweeping and mopping and 10 loads of laundry are hopefully yet to come!

he's #1

Our good friend Marc DAvis ran for school board and WON!! He gave all the kids t-shirts the evening of his victory party (while waiting for results to roll in). They all wanted to wear them to school the next day.

When Clare's teacher asked her if she knew marc davis, she said, "no, we were just rooting for him." she is a funny girl. We only sit with his family at church every week!!

A side story here, but sitting with the Davis family is the only reason I have saved my sanity over the last couple of years. I love them to pieces. the Davis' have 7 kids -- one of them was the little one who passed away 2 years ago in a drowning accident. They have 4 teenage daughters and a little one Clare's age + a son on a mission. They are very special to us .








PS. Heard a song on the radio that I loved today. Jar of Hearts by Chiristina Perri.

finishing up the columbus trip posts

went to the temple on day. It was beautiful. The grounds were breathtaking of course

(nobody was there to take my pic, so I took one of myself)!


what trip to columbus would be complete without a stop at good 'ol buckeye village?! Our first apartment in CMH.


We went walking through campus one day...saw the stadium
I got $10 for wearing my soccer shirt in public as a tourist!




also we shopped for some Ohio State clothes.





I went on a beautiful hike with April(and her cute baby kate) at a metro park. It was amazing to walk through the woods. We don't really have woods here so it has been awhile since I have been in such amazing trees!


Overall a fabulous trip. It was so nice to have a break from the stresses of life for a few days. Also, it was nice to have a break from email, computer, phone and things that make life a whirlwind ...those things are good but tend to pick up lifes pace so much. While I was gone I decided I would have more days with no computer. Also, being away from home and having a few minutes of down time gave me more time to ponder, read, and think clearly. It was nice!

And of course, the people was the best part. It was fun to observe strengths (no weakness found) and home and parenting methods of everyone, and think about how I can incorporate thosse things into my life!

Halloween

One of our favorite traditions is trick-or-treating with Shi. She is very sweet to do Clare's hair and Makeup for her to make her feel even more like a princess!

Clare and Lex were monkies for the school parade.
border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534578008227679394" />

friends

I love these girls....

April

and lisa
and Jessica

It was so great to see so many good friends!


and Kelli came up from Akron and spent a wonderful day with us!



It was so fun to see all the cute kids together. Most of them have been born since we last saw each other 3.5 years ago!( I am holding Kelli's baby Emily and Lisa is holding her Charlotte.


Lisa talked Joe into babysitting so that Kelli, Lisa and I could go out to Northstar Cafe..a very hip/healthy/organic place.



As luck would have it, Beth Johnston was also in town for a couple of the days that I was there. It was fun to see her and her two little guys.




It was really great to talk to everyone. Get the real story about how life is for each of these women, what is going on in life, how residency is going (for most), and catch up. Being face to face is so much better than blogging, email, etc. (although I don't see how we could live without those)! Thank you all for being so accommodating and making such a great week for me! You are so talented and amazing and FUN!!

BEAUTIFUL FALL WALKS in Columbus

One thing I did lots of in Columbus was walking .... it was such beautiful fall weather and fall scenery I wanted to be outside all the time.

(don't make fun of my photography. I am not a photographer!)

Sunday morning I walked around a cute little pond with Jessica and her darling kids.



One day I walked from Westborough to Lisa's house and took some pictures of trees, etc. as I went.





One day Lisa and I went walking down by the river!



One day we went walking around Ohio State Campus...pictures to come later!