At least I'm the only one that got sick....

I've been feeling kind of bad lately cause I feel like I have a MILLION pictures of Gretchen, but none of Ella.  Ella is now a super mature 10 year old, and I worried I wouldn't get to capture her sweet face on camera much anymore.  Being 10 can be awkward.  Being 10 can be embarrassing.  Being 10 makes you very self aware and quick to edit yourself.  But then she signed up for an Instagram account.  On  my phone.  Which means two things:

1.  The world will not be deprived of thousands of pictures like this: (phew, right?)

Introspective Self Portrait - January 2015

2.  And I will probably never see my phone again. 

We did have a little chat after she ran the batter down AGAIN (for the third time in a week) that she needs to #%$&#* ASK ME before she uses MY PHONE.  The message has been received.  We're totally getting along again. 

We had another whirlwind week.  What else is new, right?  Our dear friend Tauni flew in from Seattle so we could work on their new card game.  It's going to be adorable, BTW.  It's geared more towards kids (which I love) and is dog themed (which I ALSO love).  Tauni & I worked nonstop for two days and got a ton done.  She spoiled us rotten too.  Took me out to lunch, took us to dinner Monday night.  She let Ella choose the restaurant for dinner, and of course Ella promptly chose Olive Garden.  Which (don't tell Olive Garden, they'll be mad at me) but IS NOT MY FAVORITE.  The girls were happy though.

But man, Tauni got us this fabulous new dessert which just may change my mind about pseudo Italian food.  Totally don't remember what they were called (something Italian-ish...)  They were like beignets and had this ridiculously amazing sugar concoction dusted on top and raspberry dipping sauce.  And it reminded me of donuts.  So I was sold. 

So Tauni left Tuesday night, and I worked some more, went to bed, and then WOKE UP TOTALLY SICK!  It was CRAZY!  My right eye was totally sealed shut, I was coughing so bad I was seeing stars, I was a hot mess.  Luckily our insurance doesn't suck anymore, so I was able to go to Urgent Care and knew it wouldn't cost me $500.  Yay!  So I called around to a few Urgent Cares and found one that wasn't slammed with other sickos, and headed down.  By the end of the day I was on 3 prescriptions and in bed.  I crawled out Thursday morning to get the girls to school and work a few hours, but by the time I picked the girls up from school that afternoon I was DONE.  So I slept and slept and slept.  Friday morning I was so much better.  I'm so grateful for drugs!  I'm so grateful for modern medicine!  I'm so grateful I didn't die of pneumonia or go blind.  Yay for living in the year 2015!

To celebrate my newfound health, Friday morning I taught 50 first graders to draw elephants, went to lunch with my Art Moms, worked furiously for 2 hours, met with Gretchen's teacher about my dummy book/educational standards, accompanied 8 Girl Scouts to the Planetarium, and then rounded out the night with some super healthy In & Out with Colby & our GS Peeps.  Yay!

Saturday was surprisingly awesome!  I knew it'd be good cause my dear friend invited us to the Grossology Exhibit at the Wilbur May Museum.  But I didn't know it'd be THIS GOOD.

You know how Reno is a super small town?  You know how you can't go ANYWHERE without seeing someone you know?  Well, it's true.  You can't.  And it's awesome.  (Unless you're a stripper on the side, that could probably get embarrassing).  Anyway, since I'm not a stripper on the side right now, I was so pleased to run into ANOTHER friend at the Wilbur May.  So instead of hanging out with 3 awesome families, we got to hang out with 4 awesome families!  And join in the wonders of the human body. 

Ask Gretchen what happens to food once you eat it.  Not only did we learn all about it, WE SAW VIDEO.  Mmmhmmm.  Then Gretchen got to crawl through a simulation.  (You slide down the large intestine and land on a poop-colored pillow.  Classy!)

Here you see Ella with the "Burp Machine" behind her.

And here you see Gretchen shooting snot balls into giant nostrils.  (Hands on learning at its best!)

 

Afterwards we saw they had the old park open, so we went and climbed on dinosaurs until a pack of teenage girls scared us off.  (Youths!  Quick!  Run!)

We escaped the Youths and went to Popeye's.  Where I ordered extra biscuits.  And my life was complete. (Geesh, sorry I keep talking about food!  I'm hungry!)  (And I honestly really love teenagers.  Promise.  We didn't really run from them.)





Ella and I rounded out the evening with a whirlwind trip to Savers.  I love that kid, she is SO EASY to please.  I love that she loves thrift store shopping as much as I do!  We found a number of treasures, including about 5 new pairs of jeans for her, a brand new royal blue leather purse that perfectly matches her new gauzy orange skirt, and a cute pair of black flats.  Gretchen is the proud new owner of a pair of shoes that don't fit (the Saver's cycle is complete.  They'll go right back next week in our donation bag!) and a new collection of Cat and Peace Sign shirts.

We, my friends, are happy campers!