Good Things Do Happen

Well, it's Sunday morning and this weekend is already flying by. I just wanted to post a couple of good things that have happened.

1. I have paid off my student loans! Thank the lord writing those miserable checks has come to an end. Let me tell you, it feels good.

2. I got a raise at work and a re-classification to a Senior Department Specialist. Gotta feel good about that.

3. I found the Entertainment Center that I've been looking for and bought it about a month ago, it looks awesome in our basement. One glitch (of course) is that our TV is a projection television and has a large bottom for the projectors and is too tall to put in one of the shelves, but for the time being we are going to make do with it. It's been great to watch movies and relax.

I posted a couple of pictures of it below, this was not an easy achievement getting this huge piece of furniture into the basement with only Dan & myself (after Katelynn went to bed of course), this stuff is heavy - I won't go into detail, but my husband thinks I'm a wimp, I thought I did pretty good getting this down all those stairs and holding my end.

The Horror's of Ball Pits

I don't necessarily believe all of the stories in this email that was sent to me, but I do believe that these public places do not clean the balls and the pit out. Can you imagine the germs and random crap that is in these ball pits - leaky diapers, a blow-out, snot and boogers, and an random thing any child is carrying with them. Take caution! Buy a ball pit for your personal home - you can find them for $20.00 and enjoy them safely.

DONT IGNORE THIS BECAUSE IT'S A LONG ARTICLE PLEASE!! PLEASE READ!!
McDonalds, Chuck E Cheese, Discovery Zone... All places with ball pits
in the children's play area. One of my sons lost his watch, and was very upset. We dug and dug in those balls, trying to find his watch. Instead, we found vomit, food, feces, and other stuff I do not want to discuss. I went to the manager and come to find out, the ball pit is only cleaned out once a month. I have doubts that it is even done that often. My kids will never play in another ball pit. Some of you might not be parents, but you may have nieces, nephews, grandchildren, or friends with children. This will pertain to you too. As I read the following, my heart sank. I urge each and every one of you to pass this on to as many people as you can. I cannot stress how important this is!
Hi. My name is Lauren Archer, my son Kevin and I lived in Midland,TN.
On October 2nd, 1999 I took my only son to McDonald's for his 3rd
birthday. After he finished lunch, I allowed him to play in the ball pit. When he started whining later on, I asked him what was wrong, he pointed to the back of his pull-up and simply said "Mommy, it hurts." I couldn't find anything wrong with him at that time. I bathed him when we got home, and it was at that point when I found a welt on his left buttock. Upon investigating, it seemed as if there was something like a splinter under the welt. I made an appointment to see the doctor the next day, but soon he started vomiting and shaking, then his eyes rolled back into his head. From there, we went to the emergency room. He died later that night. It turned out that the welt on his buttock was the tip of a hypodermic needle that had broken off inside. The autopsy revealed that Kevin had died from a heroine overdose. The next week, the police removed the balls from the ball pit. There was rotten food, several hypodermic needles: some full, some used; knives, half-eaten candy, diapers, feces, and the stench of urine. (You can find the article on Kevin Archer in the October 10,1999 issue of the Midland Chronicle.)

Don't think it's just McDonald's either. A little boy had been playing in a ball pit @ a Burger King & started complaining of his legs hurting. He later died too. He was found to have snake bites all over his legs & buttocks. When they cleaned the ball pit they found that there was a copperhead's nest in the ball pit. He had suffered numerous bites from a very poisonous snake.

Bath Time and Making Bubbles!

Here is a recipe for making bubbles for bath time from Huggies. I haven't tried it yet, but it seems like this might be pretty fun at bath time! It also seems like this will make an awful lot of bubbles. If anyone does try it anytime soon let me know how it works! (of course it's from Huggies so they suggest using some of their products)

* Create a sturdy bubble solution in a plastic bowl using a mixture of 4 1/2 cups of water, 1/2 liquid soap (like Henry the Hippo hand soap or Billy the Bison body wash) and 1/2 cup of corn syrup to give bubbles strength and elasticity.

* Provide a variety of objects for your child to experiment making bubbles with during his/her bath. You might include sieves (I don't even know what that is?), colanders, paper towel tubes, or berry baskets.

Pictures

Here are a couple pictures that my mom sent me from Easter. She is holding my cousins new baby, Danielle. Isn't she a cutie!

Grandpa Dickhaus and Katelynn

Explanation of Flex Scheduling in the NFL

“NFL Flexible Scheduling 101”

• Begins Sunday, November 12, 2006 (Week 10)
• In effect Weeks 10-15 and Week 17.

• Not in effect Week 16 due to holiday weekend.

• Only Sunday afternoon games in Weeks 10-15 and 17 are subject to being moved into the Sunday night window.

• The majority of games on Sundays will be listed at 1:00 PM ET during flex weeks except for games played in Pacific or Mountain Time zones which will be listed at 4:05 or 4:15 PM ET.

• No impact on Thursday, Saturday or Monday night games.

• The NFL will decide (after consultation with CBS, FOX, NBC) and announce on 12 days notice the game being moved to 8:15 p.m. ET and may also announce games moving to 4:15 p.m. ET.

• Week 17 start time changes could be decided on 6 days notice to ensure game with playoff implications.

• The NBC Sunday night time slot in “flex” weeks will list teams as “TBD.”

• Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in flex weeks are subject to change 12 days in advance (6 days in Week 17) and should plan accordingly.

• NFL schedules all games.

• CBS and FOX each get to protect a total of 5 games in the 7 weeks of flexible scheduling, but not more than one game in any week.

• Teams will be informed as soon as they are no longer under consideration or eligible for a move to Sunday night.

The Lowline Cows

Finally got another roll of film developed and those of you who are anxiously awaiting to see these lowline cows that Dan purchase, the time has come. It's sometimes hard to judge the size of them in the pictures, but look at the feed trough and you can see they are smaller than normal cattle. Let me know what you think!