Do you want to know what...

61,100 pop tabs look like?


And 6 of the 7 amazing little girls who collected these in 12 weeks.

(Left-right) Hanna, Lela, Lindsay, Megan, Kaylie, Madison

Okay Ladies, I need your help. :)

Lindsay has set a new goal. 100,000 pop tabs by the end of the year. To date she has collected 30,418 pop tabs. So we need 69,582 pop tabs. I will try to post updates from time to time on how she is doing. Let me know if any of you are interested in assisting her to get to her goal.

Vent...Vent...Vent...

1) Why the heck can't the leaves fall into my neighbors yard. He LOVES yard work. He has an awesome lawn vac and his yard always looks perfect. (NO EFFING JOKE!!!) He and the McDaddy would be the best of buds!

2) Why can't my normally amazing neurosurgeon email me back. Dude! I have emailed you 2 times over the past 2 weeks. COME ON NOW!!!! I get up at 5am and check my emails and go back to sleep. Dude...You are CAUSING ME STRESS.

3) I do not IM you because I do not know that you are online. You cannot hide as invisible then get your panties into a bundle and nose out of joint because *I* do not IM *YOU*. Sweetcheeks, stop hiding if you want people *aka your friends* to IM you. It makes me feel like stalker chick when I IM you and you are "invisible". It does to our other contacts too.

4) Mother Nature, come on already.... WARM UP!!! My pool has had the solar cover on it for DAYS now and it is barely 70 degrees. I. NEED. WARMER. TEMPS

5) People who make shunts.... YOU SUCK!!! Now if only your shunts SUCKED as much as you do. We would be a slightly more happy household. And perhaps *I* would get more sleep.

6) If you have something to say...say it. It is not like we are all children and you have to speak in code. Even when speaking in "code" your point got across with a nice stab to the back and through the heart.

Happy Things:

1) Lots was accomplished today. Pool area and decks power washed. Rock beds at the front of the house weeded and leaves removed. Rock removed from 1 bed and placed in another. Hostas moved and ready to be transplanted tomorrow. :)

2) House 90% clean

3) 45% of wall paper down

4) I am having a picnic here June 8th for my extended family. I get to see all of my aunts from my Dad's side. :)

5) I believe that I have my paint colors chosen. (again)

6) Fayeth recited her ABC's. Of course it is not exactly 100% understandable to others, but OH MY GOD!!! She actually VERBALIZED the alphabet. WOOHOO. (HUGE thing for us with speech)

7) I got 10,000+ pop tabs from Jessica and her mom. THANK YOU GUYS!

8) Our pop tab count is now 59,378. Need to break 60K by Saturday AM

9) Going to RMH on Saturday to donate tabs

10) Next week I am meeting up with Ari and Jess!!! WOOHOO!!!

The good out weighs the vents, but I HAD to vent. I feel so much better now.

I told you so....

We have discussed back hair a few times recently. Mostly probably due to Tony Stew art's bet that resulted in him getting his back waxed. Darren did not believe me when I told him that he had a hairy back. Of course the hair on his back is nothing compared to my brothers (Gotta love the Wilson Hair) but still he has some, For some odd reason Darren believed that his back was a smooth as a baby's butt. I finally got tired of convincing him.

Then I took this pic of my sweet Baby Fayeth. When I was looking at them Saturday Night, Darren leaned over and said, "OH MY GOD!!! I really DO have a HAIRY BACK!!!"

D'uh! Yep....Told ya so!

Pop Tabs....

It has become a frenzy here. Our Daisy Troop is collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House that we use. (Near University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital) We set a low goal of 200 tabs per girl and we have 7 girls. So our initial goal was 1400 tabs. Both Dawn (leader) and I (asst) new that this would not be a problem. We are going to the RMH on May 31st to donate our tabs and for the girls to take a tour of the house.

As of my last count our troop (Since March7th) has collected 42,052 pop tabs. We are beyond thrilled with the girls, our community and family members that have assisted the girls in collecting their tabs. :)

However that said, my family has become obsessed with collecting these tabs. They are going way over the top. I will give you a few examples....

1) My Aunt Zorrinea---
My mom tells my aunt about the pop tab collecting. My aunt goes outside and empties her can that has her cans to be recycled and spends the entire afternoon outside with her two 4 year old grandchildren pulling pop tabs off of cans.

2) My Mother---
Goes for her walks, along the way stops and picks up or pulls tabs from any can that she sees. Averages 15 pop tabs a day.

3) My Mother---
Goes to local gas station to get something. Sees a pop can on the ground in the parking lot that has been run over a gazillion times. My mom goes over picks it up, pulls the pop tab off, and throws the can into the garbage. She notices that there a lot of cans with tabs on them. She thinks, "No the garbage can is so dirty" and goes into the gas station/food mart. On her way out she stops, opens the garbage can, sticks her arm in and starts pulling out the pop cans and removing the tabs. Yes, my mother was garbage picking for pop tabs.

4) My Children---
If they hear a can of pop being opened they are immediately there. Asking/Reminding/Driving one NUTS about removing the pop tab.

I think the sweetest one was, My Aunt Zorrinea's grandson Mikie was helping her pull off tabs on the previously mentioned afternoon. He asked why they were doing this and my aunt explained that Lindsay's daisy troop was donating them to the RMH that we stay at when Gabe is in the hospital.

Yesterday (Thursday) Mikie went to his other Grandma's house. When he came home he went directly to my Aunt Z and said, "Look what I have for you!" He opened his little hands and had 4 pop tabs in his hands. Mikie said, "I told Gramma Jan that we needed these for Lindsay and the RHM". How freaking sweet!!!

Our Goal is 50,000 pop tabs by May 31st. If you have any pop tabs that you would like to donate, email me and I will send you my address. We are so proud and excited for the girls. :)

Oh what have I done...

For the past few summers Frim has supported a camp for his patients and their families. Last year we missed it because Gabe was having a very bad day. It was a week before his surgery and he was a mess.

So this year it is at a campground in Wisconsin. (Much closer than the Dells, and I can make it to the U of C in 1.5 hours. So just in case we are covered. Well, we could not find a hotel that could house us all in 1 room and since at first it was just going to be me and the kids I needed to be in 1 room. So, Darren said Lets get a cabin. *Rolls Eyes* Said cabin is 1 step above tent camping. We have shelter and do not have to sleep on the ground. Oh, plus we do have electric so that means that the husband can take his snore sucker and hopefully this will be a much more restful trip for ME. ;)

We have a fridge and a charcoal grill. So, any good ideas on meals to make on a campfire? Darren is excited. I am dreading 4 days with him in a cabin that has NO TV and NO computer access. Sweet Lord in Heaven....What have I done???

By the way. Did I tell you that we have to pay to use the showers? This could be a long 4 days....