Preston's 1st Soccer Game 2012

I was so excited when Melanie said Preston would be playing soccer again this spring. She had also decided to be a coach this time. Which made Preston excited because he told him mom she should coach t-ball too. (Which starts in about a month.) 

This season, Preston's team is lime green and he is #6.

It is so fun to watch Preston play soccer; he is such a character. He doesn't just run up the field, he hops, or dances, or twirls. I love his personality. 

I can't wait to go watch more of his games. I already know I won't make it to all of them, but I'm going to be to as many as I can. 

Administrative Professional's Day

Today is Administrative Professionals Day. Each year, work gets us something fun. I know I shouldn't expect something, but I was excited last night when I saw all the bags sitting in my supervisor's office.

In years past, its usually a gift card to somewhere, like a boutique store. But this year it was a gift. Probably because I know I'm not the only employee who would take MONTHS before using the gift card. Last year, I got a card in April, but didn't use it until November.

I wasn't sure what it was. I thought it was a blanket for the car. I love how it rolls up. But then I unrolled it and the underside was not blanket like material. I didn't want to admit I had no idea what it was, so I read the card.

Its a picnic blanket. How cool! I can't wait to use it. Already I'm thinking of picnics with the nephews.

Robin's Nest

Last week, I noticed a robin outside my window at work. Each time I saw him, he had a twig in his mouth, so I knew he was building a nest. Then on Thursday I had a few quite minutes at work, so I was able to really watch him. I was thrilled when he disappeared in a tree right outside. I then waited until he flew away and ran outside and peeked in the tree. Sure enough, there was a nest. I was so excited! I wanted to try to get a picture when the eggs were laid and then again when they hatched.

Then on Monday, I looked outside. The landscapers were tearing out the tree! The first company that did our landscaping did a horrible job and planted a bunch of partially to fully dead trees. This week, a new company came in to replace them all, and my robin's tree was one of them. I was heart broken. I stewed over it for a while, then decided since they were just going to throw the tree away, I wanted the nest. So I went outside and asked the worker to get it out for me. I would have loved to put it in the new tree, but I know the robin won't use it now that it has been touched. But it couldn't use it in the garbage pile either, so I only feel slightly guilty.

I decided to give it to Barb so she can use it in her classroom. She was thrilled.

When I peeked at the nest, I didn't think to take my camera with me. And when I asked for the nest, I didn't want to look completely insane, so I didn't take a picture then either. But I did get a picture as they took the tree out.  

They took the tree out on Monday and didn't set the new one until Tuesday morning. After they set it, I looked outside to see TWO robins. I feel so bad for them that their nest is gone. The tree was still tied up, so the robin couldn't even get inside it to look around. They didn't untie all the trees until yesterday afternoon. 

 One of robin's looking for his nest.

The other robin. I think this was the girl robin and she was mad at the male for not having the nest ready. I wish I could have spoken their language to tell them it was gone and to hurry and build a new one.

I've been watching today, but I haven't see any robins. I hope that means they decided to hurry and build a new nest. I think all the dead trees have been removed so hopefully this won't happen to them again.  



Babysitting the boys :)

I love spending time with the boys, so Saturday I volunteered to watch them so Vanessa could get a few things done. She brought them up to our house around 2:00 and then that night we dropped them off at 6:30. We had a blast.

The biggest worry I had was their car seats. So when Vanessa got to my house, I had her put the car seats in my car for me so I wouldn't have to do it. Then she came in and we talked about bottles, etc. I was a little worried there would be tears when she left, but there wasn't! She walked out and Valex did his little shoulder shrug of "where is she?", then he went right back to the toy he had been playing with. We didn't have tears for two hours. That was when I had to get after Valex for stealing his brothers toy. But even after a few tears, he was right back to his happy self.

I had plans to take lots of pictures, but they kept me pretty busy.

At first I didn't like this picture, but his shows his gorgeous eyes so well.

When the boys first arrived, I sat on the floor to play with them. This seemed to make Gaby jealous. She was right at my elbow crying for attention. Then Valex noticed her, so she ran to the chair to get away. But Valex followed her. She let him pet her for just a second; then she ran to the bedroom and hid under the bed.

Valex also tried to make friends with Zipper. My cats are not used to company so they weren't sure what to think and spent most of the time in the bedroom.

Valex found his brother's blanket. So he took it to this pillow and put himself to bed. Josh thought it was funny, so he tucked him in. But 40 seconds later he was back to playing.

Valex kept playing on my exercise bike so Josh decided to move the seat forward so he wouldn't fall off. Valex was on the seat when Josh adjusted it and exclaimed "wahoo!". Then he tried to move the lever by himself.

Valex playing with my old sunglasses. He wouldn't leave them on for a picture.

I had so much fun and can't wait to watch them again. Josh was a great helper too. But in the 2 minutes he had them alone (while I went to the bathroom) Valex broke the hallway light. 

Mom's Surgery

Last Wednesday my mom had open heart surgery to replace one of her heart valves. It was a LONG day, but all went pretty smoothly. My brothers and I, along with my aunt Renee, aunt Janet, grandma Dianne, grandma Darlene and grandpa Clayton we all to the hospital before they took her back for surgery. Later in the day, my uncle Glade came as well along with a few other relatives on my grandma Darlene's side of the family. We took up half of the waiting room. My sister was there in spirit, but had decided it would be a long day of waiting and that would be hard on the boys. So she came to visit the next day, which worked out well since by then my mom was more awake.

When I say it was a LONG day, I don't exaggerate; I was awake for roughly 22 hours. My grandpa had offered to get a couple of hotel rooms for my brothers and I so we could go out the night before. Then the next morning I got up at 6:00 so we could be to the hospital by 7:00. By about 7:45 we were all kissing her goodbye and wishing her luck. Then I sat with every one's stuff while they all went to breakfast in the hospital cafeteria. The nurse called shortly before 9:00 to say they were starting the procedure.
My brothers went back to the hotel to sleep some. I took an hour and found a Curves to get a work out in. Then we spent the day just waiting. In that 22 hours I read 2 full books on my Kindle Fire. The nurse called every few hours with an update so we would know all was going well.

My aunt took this picture of my grandma's playing cards while in the waiting room. On the left is their step mom and on the right is their mom. It warms my heart beyond words to see just how much my family came together to take care of my mom.

Finally around 4:00 we were allowed to go back and see my mom. She was still out of it, but we all agreed she looked better then when she was life flighted out 3 weeks ago. Slowly everyone started to head back to home or hotels and it was just me and my grandma Dianne.

The one thing that didn't go as smoothly was the breathing tube. They had said in most cases, it comes out within a few hours of surgery. But my mom's lungs were still weak from the double pneumonia and they couldn't get her levels to where they would like them to be. Every hour they would check her levels and tell us: they were slowly improving, but still not good enough. I was tired, but I didn't want to leave until the breathing tube was out. You could tell they don't encourage visitors (especially overnight) in this ICU unit because of the very uncomfy chairs. Every other room my mom has been in has had a couch. (She should get a frequent flyer card, she's been in 5 different rooms at that hospital in the last month.) My grandma must have felt the same way because I couldn't get her to go lay down and sleep. She had gone to the mediation room in the hospital earlier in the night and slept for about an hour. But after that, we were both at her bedside.

Finally at 1:00 AM they pulled the breathing tube. Then they helped my mom out of bed so she could sit up for a little while. So then I decided to stay until I knew she was back in her bed. I KNOW the hospital would take care of her, but I still needed that peace of mind. So finally around 3:30, I headed for the hotel for some much needed sleep. I only got a few hours of sleep before people started calling and texting for updates. So I finally just gave up and got up around 10:00.

Since I had slept so little, I knew I would need a good nights sleep before even attempting to make the long drive home. I wasn't planning to go home until Friday, but if my mom was still in the ICU Thursday night, I needed to know I could sleep well somewhere. So I went to the lobby and paid for another night. Then I woke my brother up to give me my swimsuit. I had forgot it at home, but since Alden left after we did, I had asked him to bring it. When he handed it to me, it was only the top. I had been planning to buy a new suit before the cruise, so I decided to find a store and buy a new one to use that night.

Then I headed to the hospital. The good news was they had moved my mom out of ICU. Before heading up to her room, I stopped in the cafeteria for lunch. I LOVE that place.

My mom was awake, but not feeling well. But given that she had been in surgery for 8 hours the day before, that was understandable. Her shoulder must have been in an awkward position during surgery because it was giving her a lot of pain. So I asked the nurse for a heating pad to see if that would help.
Then I mostly visited with my sister while my mom slept.

At about 8:00, I was ready for bed. So I convinced John to spend the night (cause this room had a nice fold out couch) and I headed to the hotel. I spent a few hours in the hot tub, followed by a swim in the pool.

The next morning I went back to the hospital. My grandma Dianne was there and before I left my grandpa Clayton showed up as well. The nurse came in and said they could pull the chest tube, but afterwards, my mom would have to lay down for at least an hour. So we decided to take a short walk. My mom makes me so proud, she is such a fighter. She had a few moments where she got dizzy, but she had picked a point in the hall to make it to and she did. I think I get my drive and determination from her.

Just after they pulled the chest tube, Josh called to say he was headed home from work. I was still worried about my mom, but since I only see Josh on the weekends, I decided to head home. I should have stayed in the city; it was snowing when I got home. And the next morning we woke up to half an inch! When I got home that night, I called to let my grandma know. I was thrilled to hear my mom was doing better. I knew she would have no appetite for a while, but it still worried me to see her not eat her meals when they brought them. But after I had left, she ate some lunch.

My mom is improving and gets to come home today. Because of her age, they decided to replace her heart valve with a mechanical one. That means that she will be on coumadin (a blood thinner) for the rest of her life. Or until scientific advances find another solution. Which according to her doctor, there is a good possibility of her eventually being able to not need coumadin. It will be a long recovery, but the Dr. said that once she has healed from surgery, she will notice a difference in her overall health.

Belated Birthday

Just a few days before Christmas, I decided I wanted a Kindle Fire. But Christmas was already taken care of, so I decided I could wait 2 more weeks for my birthday.

Then I had to be a responsible adult and buy things like tires for the Escape and hay for the horses. And Josh had trip to Ohio that he had been planning for MONTHS. (I never did blog about that. And now I probably won't because he accidentally deleted all of his pictures.) And we had to pay for hotels and gas for all the wedding travels. Each time I thought, just a few more weeks and I'll order it. Just one more paycheck and I'll order it.

Then the longer I waited, the more I debated. I would waiver between a Kindle Fire or an iPad. I would have my heart set on the Kindle, but then I would get caught up in the excitement of an iPad and I would decide that since I had had to wait so LONG, I deserved the more expensive iPad. Even Josh agreed with me. But then I would start comparing the two and I just couldn't find a $300 difference. So then I would remind myself, all I originally wanted was something to read books, but having Internet access would be a bonus.

Almost 4 MONTHS later, I finally got it. After spending time in the hospital with my mom a few weeks ago, I knew I couldn't wait anymore. And it has worked perfectly because while sitting in the waiting room during her surgery, I have read an entire book.

I've had it for just over a week and can't put it down. Within minutes of opening it, I was online buying books. And I haven't stopped since. I've read a few short stories, but just finished my first full length book, "The Tiger Unleashed" by Rachel Rogers.

It was hard to wait so long for my birthday present, but it was worth it. Bonus, I have it in time for the cruise too.

Easter Dinner with my family

A few weeks ago when my mom's home life got a little crazy, I told Josh that I would like to have my family up for dinner. Then we would have plenty of room for everyone. After agreeing to make sure he got deviled eggs and hot crossed buns, he told me it was ok. So in the middle of all our playing this weekend, we also cooked a full ham dinner and had my family up on Sunday afternoon.

Dinner included

Ham

Twice Baked Potatoes

Twice Baked Cauliflower

Spinach Salad

Grape Salad

Rolls

Raspberry Lime Rickey Punch

Ice Box Cake with strawberry topping (I asked my mom to bring dessert)

I had my family up a few months ago for dinner and after they left, I decided I needed my own set of kid plates and silverware. This was the first time I got to use them. Valex seemed to enjoy it.

It goes without saying, I spoiled these little boys too. When I ordered their shirts a few weeks ago, Heather laughed and told me I would give them to the boys early and still end up buying more for Easter. She was half right. I didn't get the shirts in the mail until Friday, but if I had gotten them sooner I would have had a hard time keeping them until Easter. But she was right in the fact that I did buy more stuff.

Valex got three shirts, bubble bath, bubbles, a small ball, sidewalk chalk and eggs filled with candy.

Since Daxsen is still an infant, his basket was a little different then all my other nephews. He got three shirts, bed time lotion, bubbles, puff treats. Then I also filled his eggs with candy and told Vanessa she could eat it or give it to Valex.

When Vanessa saw the cute shirts, we decided to put one on each boy.

Alden was playing with Valex's bubbles. I remembered I had a large bubble set, so I got that out too. He spent the rest of his time trying out all the different bubble wands and blowers. You can also see my brother John's friend Wyatt who joined us for dinner.

It was the perfect end to the Easter holiday.