Will change ever come?

I am so dismayed and frustrated right now.

Finally, the Health Insurance crisis has come knocking on MY door specifically. I bet it is a surprise to no one that school district insurance packages are not--by any longshot--the best out there. However this year, it has gotten beyond ridiculous, and we are STUCK.

Ugh! Getting my Master's degree, trying to remain part-time to spend more time with Carson, fighting for a 1% cost of living raise from BVSD--all just got canceled out in one Health Insurance nightmare. Why is this system so BROKEN??

Under BVSD's current health insurance benefits, I have to pay $384 per month to have Carson listed as a dependent. Next year, we have been informed that this cost will increase to $516 per month. This $132 monthly increase will result in $6192.00 paid over the year to insure Carson, which is absolutely ridiculous. So I shopped around a bit to see if we could independently insure Carson through another carrier...which is totally possible with a BETTER COVERAGE Plan that would cost around $180 per month. Over the year, this would save us over $4000.00!

Except that Carson has a "pre-existing condition". He has a genetic Epigastric Hernia that his doctor wants to remove this summer. The hernia is not a medical threat. The only reason we are having the surgery is for cosmetic reasons and to avoid any physical contact pain for Carson in the future (should he play football, etc...). It is an outpatient procedure that will take 1 hour.

So we can't get another insurance policy for Carson. Anthem just laughed and said to check back with them in 6 months. After paying $6192.00, we will make less money next year, and I won't see any financial benefit after getting my Master's degree except the added cost of student loans.

Running in the hamster wheel gets old. A Health Insurance system that operates like a legal form of organized crime is wrong. Will change ever come? Not in time to save us next year.

Catch the FEVER!!

I LOVE sports--for the very reason that there is a unifying frenzy of excitement when your home team is doing well. In Colorado, we experienced this with the Rockies in Rocktober, and now the Denver Nuggets are making a bid to play in the NBA finals. What a great game tonight! The Nuggies beat the Lakers in LA!! Woo Hoo!

Catch the FEVER!!!

Gearing up for Summer

I can't wait for Summer. The weather has been really nice this week, so Carson and I went over to the Orchard Center (5 minutes away from the house!) for some fun. I love these "jumpy-water things" that kids can run through. I got Carson in swim trunks and he was ready to go...
except he wanted to play at the playground instead. I kept asking him--"don't you want to play in the water"? He said "ok...NO".

In fact, Carson would rather go drive the rentable cars that were locked to the kiosk. He had a great time getting in every single car they had. :)

The water did peak his interest...but not enough to get out of the wonderful cars! "Drive, drive, drive"!!!

Even though we never ran through the water, we had a great day--and we can't wait for Summer!

Recession? What recession?? :)

We are co-owners of a boat! After years of working at the Boulder Reservoir, we always mulled over the idea of getting a boat--but could never pull the trigger...until the right deal came along!
Bob Franklin found the boat on Craigslist. The guy was selling the boat because he didn't want to deal with registering the boat trailer. We bought this boat for $3500.00--which is unbelievable when new ones retail for $25,000! I am SO GLAD we did!

We have taken the boat out twice already; once to Carter Lake and once to Boyd Lake. It is AWESOME! I just love hanging out, taking everything in. Mike loves to fish, and Carson loves to drive. :) These pics are at Carter Lake.

Carson and Daddy drive the boat a lot. Carson seems to love the boat as much as we do--so I have a feeling that we will use it a lot this summer. There are lakes where you can camp on the shore, so we will probably try that out for sure! Kava can even come along...

So thanks, Bob, for pulling the trigger on this one! There are many more good times to be had, and new vacation destinations now that we have a boat. Lake Powell, anyone?

Fun Friends and some silliness :)

Carson showed off his casa-nova style at our Mothers Day/Mike's B-day BBQ. How cute is this??
Carson's new thing is DRIVING. Driving ANYTHING. In this picture, Daddy let Carson have some drive time, and Carson found Daddy's hat in the car and put in on himself. Trust me, he won't be wearing a hat sideways or sagging his pants in the future... :)

This is Carson's friend Ana. Ana lives in the other culd-de-sac on our street. They are a few months apart, and they play well together. She calls him "boy"--it is pretty funny. I hang out with Ana's mom Tristen, so it is a great fit!

And of course, Carson just adores "JJ". When Jeff drives up to the house, Carson goes into excited, rabid dance mode waiting for him to come inside. He loves Jeff!

Good times :)

Happy Easter 2009

We weren't sure how much Carson would like finding Easter eggs--but we got our definitive answer this year. He LOVES it! We actually hid eggs twice and he just puttered around the house looking for them. Note to self: dye eggs next year and attend the neighborhood egg hunt!
Carson got an assortment of Easter goodies--a big duck who is now called "Ducky", some bath/sand toys (thanks, Keith and Debbie!), a new book, and some SUGAR!!!

More egg hunting. I swear he would have done this all day!

And some more...

Happy Easter!

18 Month Old Pictures

Here are some of Carson's 18 month old pics. I have gotten a bit smarter with this whole picture thing, and I am quite proud of my new skills. I negociate better when choosing proofs, and I don't fall for the pre-made collages much anymore! Heh heh, I beat "the Man".

Eden and Carson--Together Again!

Darren, Cherish, and Eden came back to Colorado for a visit in April. Carson definitely remembered "Baby" (his name for Eden), but he was somewhat preoccupied with cutting a few teeth when they were here. We didn't end up taking many pictures during their trip, because it was actually interrupting them playing when we tried to get a shot. Here are a few pics from the Denver Children's Museum that are pretty good:

Bruder and myself lookin' good
Carson is shopping in the play grocery area

Eden and Carson are selecting some produce

Isn't she cute? Both Carson and Eden enjoyed the Brio train room the most during our visit--which is great news since there is a HUGE train set at Grandma and Grandpas!

"All aboard"! And yes, that is a vintage Star Wars T-shirt. :)

Does this surprise any of you? Darren played with the trains as well, which gave me a total flashback to my childhood when he was obsessed with trains. I'm glad things don't change :)

Grandma performed a puppet show for the kids. Eden sat in front to watch the show, and Carson burst backstage to find out what the heck was going on. Hopefully Carson learns NOT to do that as he gets older--or we might have a problem with things like the circus...

There was a great conversation between Carson and the "B"--I only wish I had an interpreter :)

Eden got front row seats courtesy of her Daddy to look inside the fire truck. Carson is driving the truck (no surprise there).

There is never a shortage of quality time between Grandpa and Carson. They had some fun looking inside the fire truck and making lights come on

It is always fun to get together with Darren and Cherish--it was a fun weekend together!

I think I love horse racing

Did you see the finish of the 2009 Kentucky Derby? Simply put, it was amazing. A horse in second-to-last place passed everyone on the inside rail during the final turn and won by a few lengths. It was very dramatic! The odds for "Mine that Bird" to win were 50-1!! The Gambler that lives inside of me loves the combination of betting and horse racing...

Someday, I want to go to the Kentucky Derby to experience the whole event. :)