theMcKeevers.com

If Army Ants Invaded
by William

If army ants invaded
They would eat everything in their way
They would eat a corner of a rug
They would eat a whole bath tub
They might eat a door
They would eat even more!

The collage

William
by William

Fast
Quiet
Slithering
Ready to strike

[This poem was written through a poetry and collage artist workshop at the library.]

For those who didn't know, I had surgery on Friday. It was not my first surgical experience, but it was a first in many ways. It was my first surgery since we've had kids, my first surgery at the hospital, and my first open incision. As you can imagine, those firsts are not an upgrade from previous surgeries. But...

...my kids have been amazing! We've decided Eliana is going to be a nurse someday. We had already noticed her desire to be a caretaker when loved ones are sick or hurting. If not a nurse, a hairdresser would be another likely career path. William has been doing great on his schooling. It's nice that he's home #1 so I don't have to drive him to and from school every day which I'm not supposed to do for 2 weeks and #2 so he can help. He's been doing laundry and helping with meals.

Stuffed animals and blankies to help Mom feel better / Talented hair dresser

...while the hospital certainly wasn't the four-star treatment that I had gotten used to at the surgical center where they send you out the door with a rose or carnation, it is well equipped and well staffed. I have come to realize that it pays to live in a hospital town for your whole life. A very good friend prepared my surgical instruments - she said it was hard not to leave a note for my doctor. Then a woman I know from church growing up stopped to give me communion before surgery. While I waited (and waited) for my doctor in pre-op, a nurse who I'd had in a couple parent ed classes came to wish me well and chat a bit. So while the service might not be what I've become accustomed to *a-hem,* I can't say enough good things about the people. As much as I wanted to come home, once we got here I cried to my husband that we should have stayed. The nurses just know how to take care of a patient. As smart, talented, loving and handsome as Darren is, one thing he is not is a nurse (I love you, Honey!) And I was certainly more needy this time than ever before.

...having an open incision was the best choice for my surgery. The hernia that I've had forever is now repaired. I trusted my doc to make that call while we were already in surgery to remove an ovary totally destroyed by endometriosis. It required calling in a general surgeon, but it needed to be repaired. The hernia was also extensively involved with endometriosis. So it's good to have all that done, but it has made for a much more difficult healing process than I'd expected. As long as I keep up on my pain meds and rest often, I'm improving quickly.

I've been very grateful for family and friends who have been willing and able to help with groceries, watching kids, driving kids, driving me to appointments, bringing goodies to keep my spirits up, and just being nearby and willing to help. I love and appreciate all of you!

The electronics kit we ordered has arrived! William is having a lot of fun exploring electricity with Squishy Circuits and the activities created by the University of St. Thomas. Caution: The buzzer is loud on the video. So loud, in fact, that Eliana's ears no longer work :)

Sunday-
History Museum:
We went to a lot of exhibits. We went in a grain elevator. In an old-time house exhibit, we sat on a bed where the words "Sit Here" were projected. Then, a lady's voice said, "I don't know what's wrong with this bed, but every time you turn over, the bed falls down." And we felt the bed fall down! There was also a piggy bank that we could put giant coins in, then we would pull a lever and all the coins would fall out. (It would be cool if they turned into real coins.)

Water Park of America:
All the water slides were really fun, especially the family tube slide, which always had a really long line. I also liked the lazy river. I went boogie boarding. This is what it looked like.

Monday-
Sculpture Garden:
It had a giant spoon and cherry sculpture. The handle of the spoon was on the ground and the other end was on an island in the middle of a pond that had ducks in it. We took lots of cool pictures and we want you to check them out in the photo album. I especially want you to see the picture of me squatting with two heads!

The Works Museum:
I played the light harp. Eliana did, too. I played K'Nex. We built cars to race. Eliana built a wall. I helped her a little. We saw a robot that just kept looking at us. We moved and its sensor sensed us moving, so it turned that direction. We just couldn't get it to keep its eyes off us. Finally I just ran far away from its sensor, then ran to the right, and ran back to the robot. It didn't turn to look at me. The Works Museum was really fun.

Holiday Inn:
The Holiday Inn had a diamond shaped pool. We swam in it. It also had a triangle shaped hot tub. We swam in it. (I didn't really swim in it, but I kind of sat with my legs in it because it was too hot. They should turn the heat down.) They had two big beds for all of us. We slept on them. The Holiday Inn was pretty fun. (Wasn't this section of the blog pretty funny?)

Tuesday-
Mall of America:
I played at Lego Land. I made a Star Wars ship, cops and robber Lego guys, and a robot that had a chainsaw and an ax. Eliana covered a giant Lego play station with Legos.

We went on a few rides. Eliana did a few more rides than I did because I didn't want to go on them. But one of them Mom made me go on. Some of the fun rides I liked were the mini roller coaster, the ferris wheel, the hot air balloon ride (though it made me feel sick), and the merry-go-round. The merry-go-round had a dragon that I wanted to ride, but a little girl got there first. I rode a horse instead, which is common for merry-go-rounds, but a dragon isn't that common.

The entire trip was pretty fun! The end. That is a true story.

[Eliana didn't have any comments about this video. I believe it speaks for itself. She is quite a proud little budding reader!]

Scratch is a place to make video games. Explode The Cat was the first game I made. Here are some rules from my rule book: the rules are simple all you have to do is...1. the cat is running to the bomb 2. you click the bomb for it to go off.

Whenever Mom leaves her computer open when she goes out of the house, Max sometimes types in google. Today he was programming this website! He opened a few other places (I don't know where he clicked, but I'm thinking it was Start) and he typed "-0p". I think he was trying to program this website by doing that. Maybe he thought that it would make our website more dog friendly. Now mom thinks he's got an internet addiction.

Eliana on cake decorating: If I took a cake decorating class, I would do something easy... like eat it.

I wasn't the most pleased with my final results. The cake ended up being a mash-up of techniques I wanted to practice. My friend's cake across from me looked like a beautiful wedding cake covered with frilly borders and tons of roses. But once I got my cake alone, I was more happy with it.

The final product - cake decorating level 1

The best part of the last class was bringing home all my frosting and practicing with the family.

Mom practicing roses

Eliana's name

Mom: You need to try and go potty.
Eliana: I don't have to go! I already went last week!

I was dancing in front of the tv when the songs were singing. And I was in a white dress.
(Watch this video before it gets flagged and removed for copyrighted content. Hopefully the sound of dishes in the background will disguise the music.)

Animal Habitat: I started off with my animal habitat. I even more started off by getting the ceramic animals from Henley. (Henley is my friend Haskell's sister.) I even MORE started off by making a collection of junk I used to build stuff. Surprisingly, only the things to make the trees, except the tape and the cotton string, were in my collection. It's kind of like the board was in my collection. Grandpa Ron let me have it and I put a bunch of stickers on it, but then I took them off to make my animal habitat. (A long time after I put the stickers on it. Not right away.)

Animal Habitat

Rain Forest Ride: It's a big track that goes through the animal habitat (which is a rain forest).

Rain Forest Ride

In the picture, you can't see the turn, but there is one. It makes the cars go on a wall. (Not literally.)

The turn

It starts with a shark car. Then the shark car triggers a race car. Then the race car goes through the animal habitat.

King car

Then it triggers the king car. The king car goes around the turn and the track ends up almost where it started.

P.S. I put a valentine in the koala's tree from the horse and it says, "I love you.
-Horse"
The end. That is a true story.