Plasma Donation

I'm a big kid now.

Ryan and I started donating plasma to earn some extra cash. You know you're poor, when you have to donate plasma...I just hope our children realize how much we did for them, so they could have/do the things they want at this stage in our life.

I am the biggest cry baby when it comes to needles. Ryan kept saying that I can't cry if I do it. What do you know, I didn't even shed a tear! However, my anxiety going into it, was through the roof. The fact that I am willingly going back to do it again says a lot. Both Ryan and I are going to try and go twice a week, this will really help us financially. I wish we would have done this sooner.

Do You Want To Build A Stegosaurus?!?!?!

Ryan gave Paisley a new meaning of snowman! 

Ryan did an awesome job building this stegosaurus. I told him he needs to build a T-Rex next :)

Marco Island

The following is a submission by Ryan Muir.

This evening, Desi asked that I spend a moment to summarize our Christmas vacation in Florida. Currently, it 32 degrees and snowing here in Minnesota, and when we left Florida, it was 80 degrees and sunny. The feeling of melancholy has shrouded our lives like a dense fog rolling into San Francisco Bay at the break of dawn. But life continues and the arctic air is on the horizon. Literally on the horizon, Saturday's high is 0.



So what is there to say about our vacation to Florida, other than AMAZING! Desi has been to Florida on a number of occasions, where this was my first trip. We begun our journey to the panhandle state by spending a little extra time at the airport in Minneapolis. When I say extra time, I mean 6 hours extra. The plane we were taking ran into some sort of mechanical issue before it left the ground in San Diego. Because of the issues there, and the ensuing takeoff delay now being estimated in Minneapolis, we were going to miss our connection in Atlanta. I'd like to take this moment to thank Southwest Airlines for offering absolutely zero non-stop flights out of this great state. But I digress. Southwest was honestly terrific in this whole ordeal and we got lucky. Because of the issues, they put us in a hotel in Atlanta at no cost, gave us $600 to use towards future airline tickets, and some food vouchers.

We arrived in Atlanta, stayed at a Holiday Inn, then flew out the next morning. Nothing more needs to be said there.

Finally, our plane landed and our feet touched Floridian soil. Our family of 4, loaded into a white Chrysler minivan, with my sister Camryn, my mom and dad, and headed south to Marco Island. Marco Island is the largest island in a chain of 10,000 islands on the Southwestern coast of Florida. This island is full of homes, beautiful resorts, and impeccable white sand beaches. As expected, we were not disappointed in the Marriott resort we stayed at.

After spending some much needed time on the beach, it was time to take to the water. We rented a few jet skis and explored the many island south of us. Our favorite, was an island where the beach was not covered in sand, but covered in tiny sea shells, millions of millions of little shells. Further exploring on the jet skis led us to dolphins, mangroves, and endless fun.

Our next adventure, was into the Everglades on a airboat. If you've never seen an airboat or been on one, you need to. These crazy things glide across the top of water with this massive propeller sitting right behind you outside of the water. These things are loud, very loud, and we had Cruz with us. Ever heard the expression, "Sleeping like a baby?" Well this little guy was the epitome of that expression. Desi held him while on the boat and he did not move a muscle. Paisley, had to warm up to it. Once we started flying around the mangroves, and found a few Alligators to stare at, Paisley was hooked.

Unfortunately, our time on the island had to end.  But our trip was not over at that point. We made our way north to Tampa Bay, home to Grandma Gloria! Our next adventure, was to the amusement park of Busch Gardens. If any one knows Desi, they know she has a big heart. So big a heart, there were tears at the corner of her eyes at the end of Blackfish. If you didn't know, Sea World owns Busch Gardens. I on the other hand, simply just do not care. The moment I found out about this ownership, I sent Desi a text calling for her support of whale abuse through going to the park and spending money on over priced soda and candy. After some sarcastic remark and eye rolling, we all had a great time there. Shocking to all of us, but Paisley rode rides! All of the rides she could go on, restricted adults from going on. We never would have expected Paisley to want to ride these without one of us or without a friend to go with her. Man were we wrong! She was so excited to wait in line, jump into the seat, and have some fun. She hopped on a little log ride, ferris wheel, plane ride, and even did those spinning swings. She had a blast!

Just as our trip began, it did not end on the best note. The night before we were to fly our of Florida, Desi was hit by a nasty stomach bug. We ended up pushing our flight back an extra day to let Desi rest up, then sadly, made our way back to the cold of Minnesota. All in all, it was an amazing trip. We loved being able to spend some much needed time with family as we opened Christmas gifts, shared stories, and relaxed in the beautiful Florida weather.

We Wish You An Aussie Christmas!

 When we had Paisley's parent teacher conference, she mentioned that she was giving Paisley a part in the Christmas program. I was a little worried because a few weeks earlier she didn't say her part for her Primary program. When I saw her part and realized she was the first speaker, I got really worried that she would not only not say it, but that it would make her cry and then she wouldn't participate in the rest of the program. We practiced and practiced and practiced! Most of the time, she would say: "Um, how about we do it in the morning," hoping that I would forget to ask her to practice. When my mom got here she brought a suitcase full of presents and of course, Paisley wanted to open them! So I told Paisley that she could open ONE present if she were to practice her program and do a really good job. Well, one present turned into two and then two turned into three and eventually, all of her presents had been opened. Finally, the big day came and I was so nervous! 

The kids were all waiting in a line as the music started to play and one by one, the kids walked down the aisle to stand in their spots. Paisley was the last one to walk down and when she was about three quarters of the way down, she started to run toward me. Instantly, I was thinking oh crap here we go, but she just gave me a big hug and off she went to her assigned spot. I sat on on pins and needles as her teacher walked up to her with the microphone. She slowly but surely said her part! I could not believe it and smiled from ear to ear because that was such a big accomplishment for her. I owe so much credit to her teachers and her peers for that moment. As they started to sing their songs, she kept looking at Mrs. Walls, only to then turn around staring at her friend Corianna. I wish she would have looked more at us but I will take what I can get!

National Cupcake Day

Yummy yummy in my tummy! 

Since today was national cupcake day, Nadia's cupcakes was having a "special," $2 cupcakes (normally $3.25). The first time Paisley and I went there was April 1st, not knowing that it was such a "well known" store I just got a regular cupcake, instead of one of their special cupcakes (cat litter, dog food, chili etc). I made sure to get some of the festive ones this time around. When we got there, the line was out the door! This place is so well known since they won a season on Cupcake Wars. The gingerbread man cupcake was fantastic and our favorite! 

He's Making A List And Checking It Twice!

Since Cruz's early arrival last year, we were unable to go see Santa. So this year, I made sure to go see him. After Paisley's Christmas program, we headed over to Macy's to go walk through Santa's workshop and take a visit with the big man. I was really curious to see how Paisley would do this year since past years have not gone so well. She really surprised me as she sat on his lap and told him exactly what she wanted. Cruz actually surprised me too! I was pretty sure he was going to be screaming bloody murder but the photographer was able to snap a picture in time.

Decorating the Tree

Paisley loves decorating the tree. It is always a fun time to go back and look at old ornaments that we have purchased throughout the years. This year, Paisley picked out dinosaur ornaments for both her and Cruz. I was originally wanting a donut, but when it came time to buy it, they were all sold out. So I got second best ornament...ice cream. I was going to buy Ryan a golf ball ornament but when I was at Target, I saw a "Game of Thrones" ornament and knew that would be perfect for his ornament. 

Last year, our tree was naked at Paisley's eye level due to her taking ever ornament off at that level, and putting them on the very bottom. She loved laying on the floor underneath the tree and watching them dangle. This year, due to Cruz being mobile, all of the bottom decorations were moved above Cruz's arm reach.