7-25-2010 Week in Review….

Monday….um, yeah, I don’t remember. Probably cleaning as is the norm. Oh, I remember, I had SchnegelWagon on the brain. What’s Schnegelwagon?? Well, you may have seen the Swagger Wagon video on YouTube. It’s a commercial for the Sienna SE. They announced Sunday at church that there would be a talent show at the Pioneer Day celebration and I suddenly realized we could do a Covered Wagon version!! Let’s just say, that despite any other events this week, it was all that was on my mind. I knew I didn’t have time to write the entire song with all else I had on my plate (kids, life, props, photoshoots, Dade’s surgery, etc.) so I asked my amazing mom to help. She was right on top of it. My mom rocks.

Tuesday started EARLY!! Lucky for me I am blessed with an amazing neighbor who dragged herself and her daughter over to my house before they should have even been out of bed to watch the kids for me, all day! Dade was having surgery to fix a plethora of nasal issues. He’s had chronic sinus issues since he was small and finally decided he’d had enough and wanted it all fixed! So, here he is, preparing to have FIVE procedures done, including drilling new holes for his sinuses….I know….gross. Here’s a BEFORE nose shot, too.

Dade’s biggest fear with all of this was getting an IV so he was relieved to hear that Linda was the number one IV giver on the floor…..that is until Linda discovered that Dade was a bit dehydrated and she failed TWICE!! I thought she was going to cry but then Donna swept in and saved the day…then i was SURE Linda was going to cry. Suddenly it was the battle of who was Dade’s favorite nurse and he was bathed in Superman stickers and warm blankets. Though he teased a bit, Linda’s soft heart won and she was so excited when he asked to have his picture taken with her.

Dade’s surgery took a couple of hours and he had quite the time waking up afterwards. He really wanted to wake up and was cracking me up with his jokes and sleepiness. I was so impressed with him as he called each nurse by name and thanked them. Never once did he complain about ANYTHING!! We were finally on our way home later that afternoon. Dade had to wear a gauze taped beneath his nose to catch all the blood. Not a single complaint…..

The next day was spent taking care of Dade as he continued to show off the amazing young man he is. So kind to everyone and still no complaints. He was even willing to help with his chores until we discovered that any exertion makes his nose bleed horribly. He was still willing to try to help. Thanks, Dade.

Thursday I was hard at work trying to figure out our act. Ryan had somehow agreed to help. This in itself is a MIRACLE. This isn’t his sort of thing…. Anyway, he suggested that we prerecord it so that everyone could hear when we started laughing or when we messed up. It was a genius idea but how could we do it? Well, that’s where friends with recording studios in their upstairs come in handy! Thanks, Blake! I tried to offer him brownies or cookies as payment but he swore that the laughs were well worth the effort. Here’s Ryan layin’ down his sweet track….

Friday I was frantic to find a cart. I had planned on doing it out of cardboard but Ryan though we should just get a real cart. No luck there so I was ecstatic when I found a Lowes who would give me some appliance boxes for FREE!! I had just enough time between our box pickup and the impending rain to get them done. They even have chrome spinners!! (You can click on this pic to see it bigger….)

Saturday started EARLY with a fun photoshoot. I can’t show you pics yet but they are some of my new favorites…..sigh.

I then RUSHED home and had enough time to change into my costume and head out with my family to church. Thanks, Mom, for coming early and helping my family get ready without me!

Have I mentioned what an amazing trooper my son is? He headed out the door without a single second thought about what people would think. He’s taking this nose surgery very seriously and is cool enough to do what he has to do and not care what people think. He’s awesome.

Here’s the kids grinding their own wheat. Ella LOVED it. It’s a sensory thing.

Then it was TALENT TIME!! Corben broke in the crowd to our family’s kind of talents when he played Gently Sleep on is recorder….through his nose!! It was awesome and no one saw it coming!

Finally, it was our turn….Ryan started out with his special intro he’d written and then the music began!!

This is me and my mean rappin’ skills…..

Ryan is spinnin’ his chrome prairie spinners!!

When it was all said and done, I was really proud of my family for being so cool. I am truly blessed!

I know, you’re hoping to SEE THE VIDEO. Well, I have it and it’s even been enhanced with sub-titles….it’s just taking a LONG time to upload to YouTube. A LONG TIME….really. You’ll be the first to see it when it’s ready!

Sunday was awesome. I moved the wagon and Boxen (as we affectionately call our Ox) into the primary in a guise to be the coolest Primary chorister EVER! I put names of songs on all the spaces on the wheels with a red arrow pointing to each wheel. The kids spun the back wheel to figure out if we were singing a practice song or a fun song and spun the front wheel to figure to which fun song to sing. It worked out so well! I especially loved when we say The Oxcart since I had brought the best prop EVER for that song. The wheels even moved. To add to the fun the junior primary sang like NEVER BEFORE. They could be heard through the entire building (and probably outside). Do big props equal big singing?? (There were even 3 year olds sitting with their hands over their ears….) (Thanks to Leah for the pic below….she’s a rockin’ photographer!)

Sunday evening Ryan left for several days to work. We miss him already…..