Give Thanks

I once saw a billboard while driving that said, "Give thanks for your healthy kids." It was advertising for St. Jude's or another children's health non-profit. I remember thinking, "That is so true. I need to be more appreciative that I have healthy kids." This took on a whole new meaning for me this past Thursday.

Wilson had been ill for a couple of days with a bad chest cold, high fever and vomiting. We went to the doctor's office on Thursday to get him checked out. The doctor was concerned about his cough and so he ordered a chest x-ray.

After two trys at the chest x-ray, we sat waiting for the results. I was thinking worst case scenario is he would have pneumonia. (I should learn not to tempt fate like that.) The doctor came in and said that he was "perplexed." He took me out in the hallway to view the x-rays.

From what I remember of the conversation, he was saying that Wilson's chest was clear, but the"shadow" around his liver was much larger than they would expect. We walked back into the room and he said that we needed to go to Children's Hospital to have a radiologist read the x-ray. Panic was taking over. The doctor then said, "During my external exam I did not feel a mass or lump" and I asked, "Is that what you think it is?" He replied, "I don't know." Sheer terror set in.

We went to Children's and Wilson's x-rays were examined and an ultrasound was ordered. Finally, after a number of truly agonizing hours the doctor said, "The ultrasound was totally clear. We don't have to worry about all that really bad, scary stuff."

I have felt relief in my life: the safe birth of my children, passing the bar exam, etc. but nothing can touch the relief and gratitude that I felt at hearing those words. To be able to walk out of the hospital that night holding Wilson was such a gift and one that I won't soon forget.

I can't help thinking about all the parents that don't get the same news that we did and that don't get to carry their healthy child home with them. I really cannot imagine what they must go through. I had a very small glimpse that day and I can only say that it must be beyond belief and I don't know if there are adequate words to describe the agony, terror, and heartache that they feel.

It seems like it often takes something scary to wake us up and remind us to be thankful for what we have. I hope that this experience will stay with me and serve as a reminder every day to be thankful for my wonderful kids. I hope that I won't need a billboard or another terrifying situation to remind me to truly give thanks.

Everyone give your kids, spouse, partner, friend, pet, parent, etc. a hug tonight.

Chanhassen Nice

You know the saying, "Minnesota Nice," but I think that the heart of the "nice" is in Chanhassen. Truly, I am continually surprised by how friendly everyone is here-everyday encounters at Target (this is very important as I go there almost every, single day), the grocery store, gas station, etc. are just so darn nice.

We have met so many of our neighbors just being outside gardening and playing with the kids. What a great 'hood we've found. Scott was with the neighborhood men last Friday until 3:30 in the morning! (When I asked him what they talked about for 8(!) hours his answer was, of course, "oh, nothing much.") Claudia is-as I write this-having a tea party at the neighbor's house. We also have had 2 playdates with some adorable twin boys who are Claudia's age from the neighborhood who I met while weeding the garden one day. (Well, that sounds kind of creepy. I met their mother while I was outside. Although, I was just about ready to accost any child that looked halfway "normal" and close to Claudia's age with a "hey, do you want to be my daughter's friend?" because Claudia had been saying to me, "Mom, when are you going to find some new friends for me at our new house?" I am sure that wouldn't have scared any street-savvy kid away and/or brought a suspicious mom or dad to my door.)

We are making ourselves at home here and not freaking out the neighbor kids (yet). It feels great.

Dancing with the...

Walkers! (Well, Wilson and Claudia Walker that is.)

We were practicing dancing this morning for the big wedding this weekend. My cousin Hannah is getting married and so the whole Lawson gang will be there (yay Hannah!). This will be the first wedding for Claudia and Wilson. I foresee that Claudia will be quite enamoured with all the elements of the wedding--getting dressed up in a new dress, the bride and bridesmaid dresses, the cake and the dancing.

Purely in preparation for this grand event, (I hate to admit this) Claudia may have seen a couple of episodes of the latest round of "Dancing with the Stars." She loved it! I think that the lifts and spins really made an impression on her. (Poor Wilson...the little guy is just along for the ride. Anyone have an air sickness bag?)

Please see below:

Well, Lawson family, consider this your fair warning. I think that I am going to be bringing a couple of dancing fools!

Finally! A True Use for Dog Hair!

As I said in my last post, we have A LOT of dog hair floating around this house. Martha is a veritable fur factory. I have said more times than I care to remember, "if we could sell dog fur, we would be millionaires by now."

Well, I may have not found a way to make money off the dog fur, but I have discovered a way to put it to some really great use--using it to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf. I knew that many hair salons are collecting their clients' hair clippings and sending them to organizations that make "hair booms" or "hair mats." I guess animal fur can be used similarly. Apparently, hair and fur are great oil absorbers.

I found an organization that you can sign up with that will give you information on where you can send your fur: A Matter of Trust. I found a large number of hair salons and groomers in the Twin Cities that are collecting hair/fur.

If you are a dog, cat, horse owner and you want to finally make some use out of all the fur, I would encourage you to sign up with this website. Or, if you don't feel like signing up with another website, I would check with an area groomer and see if they are collecting fur. If they aren't maybe they did not know that they could and you can encourage them to start a new collection site!

Happy grooming!

We did it!

[insert big sigh of relief]

We made it through the "big move." It actually went very well.

It was very bittersweet to leave our little house in Minneapolis. The hardest part was when Claudia and Wilson were in the house for the last time. I had been trying to prepare them (well really just Claudia) for the fact that she was not going to be back at that house ever again, but I did not want to make it too overly-dramatic. The last time that they were in the house I told Claudia that she should say "goodbye" to the house. She went into her room and said, "Goodbye room. I will miss you." I hadn't cried until that point, but you can bet I did after I heard that.

I walked Wilson into his little blue room (that I had so lovingly decorated as a nursery before Claudia was born) and told him to say "goodbye" and he waved his hand. That just about broke me in two pieces.

Scott and I said goodbye the next day and that went without tears. I think I was just too excited to get into our new house.

The new house is better than I anticipated. We love it and it feels like we have already been here for awhile. We walked to the Chanhassen Library the other day. I love that we are within walking distance to "downtown Chan!" The kids are making themselves right at home. The only family members that seem to be having some adjustment problems our Martha and Frannie (our canine children). Who would have thought that I would have to comfort our dogs more than our kids?!? I think Martha has already lost a couple pounds of fur (she sheds when she's nervous, which is so much fun).

Have a Chantastic day!

There's always time for...

a princess dance!

Despite our crazy schedule lately with getting the house packed for our move, we found some time on Saturday night to enjoy a little party. It was the second annual daddy/daughter princess dance in Hastings. Claudia, Scott, cousin Brynne and uncle Eric were among the royalty in attendance.

Here are some photos of the beautiful princesses:








Meanwhile, the mommies spent the evening with a couple of hams:

March Madness

I have a new appreciation for that phrase. (Yep! I AM BACK!)

So, we put our house on the market late on a Thursday night. The following weekend we had 3 showings and lo and behold we got an offer on our house on that Sunday! Yippee!

Then it struck us that we needed to find a place to live. We were concentrating so hard on getting our house ready and enticing people to want to live there that I kind of forgot that we then needed to find a place. So, our house-hunting frenzy began--for about a week.

We found a wonderful house in Chanhassen. Chanhassen! Where is Chanhassen, you say?!? As my mother-in-law said, "I was looking at the map of the Twin Cities and I swear Chanhassen is almost to South Dakota!" Well, not quite. It is a wonderful little suburb on the west side of Minneapolis (just west of Eden Prairie). It is only a mere 15 to 20 minutes from our house now.

If you would like to check it out, click here. You will see that it was voted the best town to raise a family in by Family Circle magazine (one of the top 10 in the country!) and the best town to live in by Money Magazine in 2005.

We close on our little house on May 14. I have not really come to grips yet that we are going to be leaving this house forever. It has been a wonderful home for us for the past 11 years. We got engaged (in the living room), married while living here, raised our babies here. This house has been the backdrop to a lot of our history (and photos).

Now, it is time for packing.... ugh!