Dinner and a show

We went to a fundraiser tonight for Ben's adventure club. They had a spaghetti supper and a magic show that included all of the kids. The magic show was great, the food was dodgy. We couldn't complain about the price though. The kids had a blast. Maggie got to walk on stilts across a bunch of the kids on the floor, one of them was Ben. Ben said that she tried to step on him, I told him you could hardly blame her!!!!

the verdict is in....

The Half Blood Prince is the best Harry Potter movie so far. The acting is so much better, the characters are more developed and believable, and the sets and special effects are impressive as always. Sam & I went to see it yesterday afternoon and have already decided to go back and see it on Saturday night so that we can soak in the whole thing (hope we can get tickets!!). Still, I have to say you're either a Harry Potter fan or not (no middle ground really). I can see how it would not appeal to everyone. My disappointments at the movies not being exactly the same as the books have waned after so long & now I can enjoy the movie for what it is and let it stand alone. As with every Summer, I am reading the whole series again & I have lost track on how many times I have read all the books. They are so easy to read & very enjoyable, great poolside reading. I'm half way through Goblet of Fire right now & Summer's coming to an end. I might try the Twilight series after this....

A new wine

Sam & I have been drinking Forest Glen Merlot for many years, it's our wine of choice. However, when I was in Schnucks the other week, I found a new wine sitting next to it. This wine was more expensive than Forest Glen, but was reduced significantly. I decided to give it a try, but only bought 2 bottles due to its name-Cupcake. Surely nothing called Cupcake can be that great, can it?

Well, it can be that great & it's our new favourite wine. I am trying to convert everyone I know as it's that good. This week, it's on sale at Schnucks for $8.88 a bottle. If you buy 6 bottles, you get 10% off, so it's only $7.99 a bottle & it's worth every penny.....

Growth hormone update

Every time I give Ben his shot, I am amazed that he is doing so well on the Norditropin. My Compulsive Outrage Disorder (Sam's new favourite phrase) comes to the fore every time I think that we spent 6 months suffering through the Nutropin injections just because the insurance company decided to change their supplier of choice. Most of the time now, Ben doesn't even seem to feel any part of the shot at all, every couple of weeks he will say it hurt, but it's rare. This is so different to the Nutropin when it hurt him every time. I used to think that the Norditropin was much more difficult to administer, but when we went back to it, I realized that it's really easy. We don't have to argue with Ben every day about doing his shot, he's perfectly happy to do it. I think his growth rate has slowed down, but he is still growing. He's gone long and lanky, his legs are thin & he has very knobbly knees!!!! We definitely need to work on improving his nutrition, which will probably be harder than doing his shots!!!!!

Random car conversations

One from each of them:

Ben: Mum, I know where all the coal in the train cars goes. They are taking it up to Santa's home because it's nearly Winter.
Me: I bet they are. You'd better hope none of it is for you.....

Maggie: I fell down and split my head open
Me: Did you?
Maggie: Yes, I went to the doctor and he told me I needed to get a new head....

Childhood fever of unknown viral origin

The elusive disease that randomly attacks children and leaves pediatricians clueless selected Maggie on Wednesday night. She woke up screaming in the middle of the night and told me she needed to go to the bathroom. This was the first time she has ever been up in the night. She woke up again later on and I could tell at that point that she was hot. This may be the first time ever she has been sick and we kept her at home for the last two days of the week. I did not bother taking her to the doctor because Tylenol brought her fever down instantly and basically she was fine apart from that. I don't need 4 years of medical school and another 4 of residency (plus a $30 office fee) to tell me that I would get the stock phrase of "it's a virus" or the other favourite "it's going around at the moment". Finally, after sleeping for 14 hours last night, Maggie is back to her usual self.

The most wonderful dream.....

I have been going to Sam's personal trainer (Sadistic Steve) for the last 5 weeks. I go on Monday & Friday mornings and Sam goes on Wednesday, the classes are at 6am. I dread them every time I go. I secretly hope we'll sleep in & I'll miss one, but of course that NEVER happens. Maggie has been sick the last couple of days and I was up with her last night, which meant that I wasn't sleeping as deeply as usual & I had the most wonderful dream. I dreamt that I got in my car and just drove to work and it was 6.45 before I realized that I'd completely forgotten about the class. Reality hit when I woke up and realized that there was still time to go. I do feel like I have achieved something every time I leave the class, but it's hard to get enthusiastic beforehand. Still, I have managed to lose 7lbs since I have been going. If only I could motivate myself to exercise on my own initiative, but sadly I doubt that is ever going to happen.

Steve commented on what a good mood I was in and I told him it was because I'd had a momentary glimmer of hope that I'd missed his class!!!!

On the way home, I had to stop at the grocery store and get milk. I decided to get Ben a donut for breakfast (very healthy start to the day!!). The store was pretty busy for that time of the day. Guess what the #1 food item being bought was.....