April 19, 2007

Nathan had his "crown" removed today at the Univ. of Iowa hospital in Iowa City. After six weeks of distraction and the implantation of a bone graft in his right lower jaw, he looks like a different child. I hope to have new pics posted soon. We were hoping to be able to feed Nate some steak this weekend, as he's been on a mostly pureed diet the past 6 weeks. Unfortunately, his doctor wants his diet to remain "soft" for a while.

Other recent events around the Kamberger household include:

-Grace got her hair cut shoulder length and got glasses. These changes make her look about 16!

-Caitlin participated in a solo ensemble last weekend. She played the bells in a group percussion ensemble and did both a tympani solo and voice solo. I taped the tympani solo and have uploaded it onto youtube.com. If you want to see it, go to youtube and search "Caitlin's tympani solo". I also taped the percussion group. I will try to upload this to youtube soon. I'll also try to put a link here in the blog so you can watch the videos from this site.

-Spring may finally have sprung. This week the temps are in the 60's and 70's, but just a week ago we had another 6 inches of snow! I'm hoping that was old man winter's last gasp. We were able to get out and do some yard work this week, and I think it will be time for weed killer and fertilizer soon. Mary's tulips and crocuses are coming up and one of the crocus has a bloom on it.

-Baseball season has begun, and I (John) got to go see the Orioles play in Minnesota on April 9. Three buddies and I drove up to the dome and had great seats in the 6th row along the left field line, right behind the Twins' bullpen. Although the O's lost 3-2, it was an excellent game and a good time. Thank goodness for the dome. It was snowing outside while we were quite comfortable inside. The two hour drive back to Clear Lake took a bit longer though, because the roads were very icy when we left the dome. And to think... in a few years the Twins' new stadium will be ready for play- an open air stadium with no retractable roof. In this day and age, that is ridiculous! I much prefer baseball outdoors, but in April in Minnesota.....it's gonna be COLD! As late as the playoffs and world series are now, if the Twins make it that far they could be playing in snow like what happened in Cleveland last week. Many of the newer stadiums (Toronto, Milwaukee, Arizona, Houston, Seattle) have retractable roofs. I think the powers to be in Minnesota are going to regret their decision not to go this route with their new ballpark.

-The walleye spawn has begun in Clear Lake. That means the fish will be very hungry soon as they complete the spawn and the water temps go up some. I'm looking forward to getting out on the water and beginning the hunt! I'm not much of a fish eater, but fresh walleye makes a fantastic meal. Mary will dip the fillets in batter and fry them and we all enjoy the results. The walleye in the pic below was caught last summer.

-We had an excellent Easter. Sarabeth enjoyed coloring eggs for the first time, as did each of the other kids. I've attached a few egg coloring pics below. Enjoy!

John