GratiTuesday!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Parents As Teachers and the coop for screening Camden for his speech. It is only SLIGHTLY delayed but I will find out more tomorrow after he is screened by the speech therapist fully. Puts my mind at ease. Plus I'm an advocate for early detection!! ;-)

2. My hubby for having a stable and good paying job to allow me to be able to stay at home with my kids. Not sure how to ever repay him for that!

3. The Christmas season! It is my favorite time of year! The lights, the decorations, the giving, the family, EVERYTHING!! I love it!! (I secretly even like the snow!!)

4. My dad's progressive healing...he is such an awesome person! I love him dearly!

Hope you all have a great week!

Much love!

Bday Fun for Mac, Early Bday for me, and Christmas in the Park!

Well yesterday was a fun-filled day! It started out at Dave & Buster's for McKinley's 13th bday! We ate lunch then headed off to play some arcade games and collect tickets...Decovin ended up with a cool car and Camden got a stuffed lollipop...;-)

Then we headed off to Christmas in the Park (a family tradition since I was a kid) in Lee's Summit, MO. It is really fun and the kids go gaga for all the lights! They were both squealing and giggling and generally had a good time!

It was then off to On the Border for a yummy mexican treat and some early bday wishes and singing from the staff! GAH! It was fun and the free soapapillas were worth the embarrassment! Yum! Thanks Christy and Amanda! They bought my dinner and the boys' dinner and Christy got me a smelly good plug-in scentsy thing with refills and a new bookmark with Edward on it! Whoo hoo! haha!

It was a good bday...only sad Bob wasn't able to come. Stupid night shift! Oh well.

Grati Wednesday!

Yesterday got away from me so I am going to be thankful today! LOL!

Things I am thanful for this week:

1. For the outage to be over and that I got to spend Thanksgiving with my husband!
2. That I got to spend some time with my dad at the hospital on Thanksgiving too! We watched the plaza lights/fireworks from his hospital room window. We also watched "It's a Great Thanksgiving Charlie Brown" together! It was special.
3. Our DVR! I hate that i rely on it, but it really is one of my most favorite things!
4. Black Friday Shopping! Got some steals and deals and managed to get almost the rest of my xmas shopping done! I only have a few more things I need to get then I'm done!
5. Digital cameras...not sure how anyone managed to get pictures of their kids in front of a Christmas tree without spending a gazillion dollars and a lot of time before these little wonders were invented!!

For Jennie & Sarah per their request! ;-)

Gravy Making 101:

Let the Christmas season commence!!

Got the tree up today thanks to my hubby and my sister and Decovin! ;-) Bob lugged it in the house and set it up. Christy, Decovin & I opened the ornaments and put them on the tree! It was so much more fun to have someone else help me! Bob doesn't like to decorate so it is all I can do to get him to bring the tree in! ha! With Christy's help though, we got the entire tree up and decorated all while Camden was taking his nap so no little "accidents" could happen. It was AWESOME! It feels so good to have it done! Thanks again crew! (and yes, my tree has presents under it already!!)

Black Friday!

I made it thru Black Friday shopping and got some STEALS! My cousin Amanda and I shopped for 9 hours!! Oh yes! We are serious shoppers! WHOO HOO!!

So steals of the day you ask? I got a dual screen dvd player for the car that attaches to the headrests for $88!

I called mom and told her about the AWESOME sale at Old Navy and she told me to go ahead and pick up some clothes for the boys from her for xmas...so she got them 2 pairs of jeans and 3 shirts EACH for $60!!!! And can I just say that the one pair of jeans I found for them is LINED with fleece! AWESOME...AND they are adjustable waistbands...a MUST with my skinny waisted kiddos!!! The coolest unexpected deal was if I used my O.N. credit card I got an additional 10% off the sale prices!!! WOOT!!!

I got SEVERAL xmas gifts for family and maybe even some stuff for myself...oops! ;-) Kohl's was awesome and after we had left and gone to another store I realized I had a coupon for Kohl's that I forgot about and so we went back in and asked if we could get it even though we had already checked out...the lady rocked and returned and rechecked our stuff and gave us the additional 15% off! The coupon was good for the entire weekend so we gave our coupons to two people in line to use as we weren't coming back the rest of the weekend...;-) I gave it to a guy who had a newborn with him and he looked like he could use it...it felt great to offer it to someone else! ;-)

We also hit Walmart first and it was a MOB of craziness but we managed ok, I didn't get my Nintendo DS I was hoping for, but that's ok...I wasn't going with any expectations so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Overall, it was a great day and I had so much fun and many laughs with Amanda...we always have a good time together! *heart*

GRATI Tuesday

Grati Tuesday Everyone!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Doctor's, Nurses, and hospital staff for taking care of my dad!
2. Friends, old and new!
3. My cousin Michelle and her courage to keep fighting!
4. My husband, he is still my world after almost 10 years of marriage. I love him.
5. Family
6. And of course, THANKSGIVING!

Update on Daddy

Yesterday I went up to the hospital to hang out with my dad for the day. Thanks to my friend Sarah for watching my boys so I could go! When I got there he was still without food/nutrients/etc...but he was able to get up and walk around the ICU floor. He did two laps. Then back to his room to sit in a chair for a bit. He REALLY likes getting up and moving...he is getting STIR crazy!

The nurse said his infection is looking better but it is still draining pus and still has a ways to heal. This is apparently the only reason he is still on the ICU floor. Hoping it will heal fast so he can get off that floor! Later in the afternoon, the physical therapist came in and took him for another walk and to attempt some stairs...he made it up four steps and down twice! He was a little stumbly on the first attempt as he was trying to go all gung ho and too fast. But then he got it no problem! We were joking around and telling the nurses he was "bustin' out of the ward" as the stairs were out in the hallway were the waiting room is...he REALLY liked seeing something new! He LOVED it in fact!

They did finally prescribe him some "nutritients" via IV, or TPN, Total parenteral nutrition. TPN is a way of supplying all the nutritional needs of the body by bypassing the digestive system and dripping nutrient solution directly into a vein. While this won't make his belly feel "full" he will gain some more energy. 9 days with NOTHING can take a toll on a guy. So this is a VERY good thing...he has also been successful in the extraction of gasses in his chest and intestines making his belly look less distended and "soft" again! YAY!

Slow process but he is getting better everyday! Thank you all again for your prayers, thoughts and concerns...we truly appreciate it!

Update

I have been up to see my dad Thursday, Friday and will visit him again today, Saturday. Yesterday dad had a pretty productive day. He met with physical therapy and they got him standing and he took several steps and was able to"march" in place also. All good things. He was disappointed though because he thought he was going to get to walk more. Because he is so tied up to so manydifferent tubes he couldn't go but 4 steps away from his bed...he did great though!

Somewhere between getting back in bed and lunch time (for Mendy & I anyway) dad's feeding tube came completely out so Dr. Hup (sp?), the doctor who assisted Dr. Al-Kaspools (sp?) in the surgery came in and put it back in for him. They had to give him a local to numb the area and a few stitches to boot. :-(

I was able to help him brush his teeth, he REALLY enjoyed this since he isn't allowed water or food. He said it tasted like candy! LOL! I actually helped him brush his teeth 3 times in total yesterday b/c he liked it so much! LOL! Later in the afternoon they were able to give him a sponge bath and shampoo his hair...he enjoyed the shampoo a great deal! They lotioned him up and he smelled pretty good! ha!

Dr. Al-Kaspools had come in the afternoon and checked him over and told him he was doing well and that he was likely going to be moved to a room by Saturday! YAY! And if everything goes well with that, he will likely have the test on Monday to x-ray his esophagus while he swallows to see if there are any leaks in the incision, etc...if no leaks and everything looks good, he will get to start liquids that day also! So keep those prayers, positive thoughts, etc coming so dad can start drinking his food...he is LONGING for a vanilla milkshake. If you come and visit him, there is a likely chance he would bring it up in conversation at least twice! haha! He's got a ways to go before he can have something like that, but a man can dream can't he?!

I'll try and update what I find out today. Thanks for checking up on my dad...we really appreciate it. :-)

Happy Veteran's Day and GratiWednesday all in one!

First of all, Happy Veteran's Day! This includes my hubby! Love you honey!

GratiWednesday begins:

1. Dr. Al-Kaspools (sp?) and his team...my dad's oncologist/surgeon. He was able to get all of my dad's tumor out, perform the resection of his esophagus all done lapriscopically! No need to disect him anywhere! (well, he did have to make a small incision and cut a small piece of his rib out to remove the tumor, but hey, that's minimal compared to what it could have been!) The surgery took around 9 hours to complete and my dad did great! He was out of recovery around 9:45pm last night and mom said he was in a lot of pain and puffy (all of which is expected and normal.) I'm just glad he is done. Now onto the hard part, recovering!

2. My friends and family for all their support via positive thoughts, prayers, etc...they have been WONDERFUL and I know that is why the surgery went so well! Thank you all!!

3. To the veterans, thank you for serving our country and sticking your neck out for all the rest of us, it truly is amazing what you do for your countrymen! Thank you!

4. And finally, coffee. Thank you coffee, for without you my days would be dragging and long...thanks for boosting me up when I need you most...first thing in the mornings! ha!

Hope you all have a great week!

GRATI Tuesday

I'm going to try to be thankful right now and maybe it will help me get out of my funk! Daylight Savings time I am NOT thankful for but I will try and move past this...

1. My sister. She really makes a solid effort to hang out with me and my kids! She really loves them (and me I assume...ha!) and they really love her back and me too! Case in point: she came to our house on Halloween just to hang with us and see the boys! She also helped out by passing out candy to our trick-or-treaters that came by while we were gone. We had over 100!! Awesome! Thanks sis!

2. November. New Moon comes out this month and it seems like we have been on countdown for a VERY long time! It's finally here! Wheeeeee!

3. Health. I am thankful that we have been "cold-free" for over a week now! Knock on wood it stays that way!

4. Last minute plans. We get to have Thanksgiving with my dad afterall! We decided we could all get together this Saturday to have our traditional Thanksgiving meal before my dad is fed through a tube for who knows how long after his surgery on the 10th. So I am pulling out all the stops and going to try to make all his favorites!!

5. My husband. He has been working this outage for 4 weeks now and is really exhausted, yet he doesn't complain about it. He's the reason I get to stay home with my boys, and for that I am truly thankful!

I feel a little more lighthearted now, but I really miss NAPS! Thanks for reading friends!

Preschool Party

So today was Decovin's Halloween Party and I was the coordinator! I was slightly stressing out about small details right up until the last minute. But once things got going it all went smoothly! All the moms/grandmas/etc, were AWESOME and everyone chipped in and helped with whatever was needed!

We had 5 "stations" for the kids to do and we broke them up into groups of 4 kids per station. We had the 1)popcorn popping station, 2)beanbag toss game (a mom made a cute pumpkin out of cardboard for the kids to toss into its mouth), 3)Witch's Ringtoss where they tossed rings onto a witch's hat, 4)drawing/coloring/dancing station, & 5)making their teacher, Ms. Tina, into a mummy with toilet paper!

It was such a hit! And I'm glad it is over, phew! LOL! It really was a good time. This kids also got their picture taken in front of our "homemade backdrop" in their costumes and one of the moms printed them off on site for them! They decorated a cute picture frame to put the picture in also! And right before they left, another mother read a cute Halloween story and had props for the kids to participate in! Uber cute! I think fun was had by all!

Alzheimer's Walk

This years event was WAY larger than last years. It was cool to see how much it grew in one years time!! Our team was a wee bit smaller this year due to work schedules and medical issues so we were forced to be shrunk. That's ok though because we still raised over $1000 and we had fun! Thanks so much to Mendy for all her effort to put our team together! Thanks auntie, I love ya!

So Tuesday I wasn't so "grati"...but today I am!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Cold medicine & Kleenex. We've all been struck with the sinus bug of ickyness! So we've all had our share of over-the-counter meds and heavy usage of the ol' kleenex!!

2. Sick leave. Bob RARELY EVER takes off work from being sick...only if he is forced to stay home does he (i.e. when he had his hernia surgery's and wisdom teeth yanked)...but I am still grateful that he is allowed to take some sick-leave (and still get paid for it) when he is under the weather, which he was yesterday! :-(

3. Fall. Fall to me equals baking and I triple heart baking! I have no idea why I do, but I just LOVE IT!!!! I hate the clean up, but I love the making! Decovin loves to help too, so it gets us working together and helps to teach him patience...which he still isn't so good at. ha! Tonight I made Pumpkin Bars courtesy of Paula Deen (http://www.foodnetwork.com/, then search "pumpkin bars" and hers is the first one on the list!) Bob LOVES this recipe and I must say so does everyone else that has tried them! YUM! Who can resist cream cheese frosting?!?! Decovin and I also baked a Pumpkin Pie. Can you tell our theme?! I'm debating on making either pumpkin bread or pumpkin cookies next as I have half a can of pumpkin that needs to be used and I would hate to throw it out! ;-)

4. People who appreciate my craft enough to want to learn it themselves. My friend Sarah recently asked me to teach her to crochet and she is picking it up quick! Tomorrow I teach her how to go beyond a chain! LOL! ;-) Ok, so she just started but you have to master the chain first! ;-)

5. My fellow bloggers! I so enjoy reading about what is going on in your lives. I feel, somehow, that I am able to connect with family and friends this way on a level other than just seeing them once a year or at family functions. So awesome! So thank you for blogging!

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Thought I would share a fun picture of my youngest who does NOT like to get his hair cut and will pout the whole time with an occassional tear along the way...

GratiTuesday!

It's that time again...

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. My friend Sarah tops the list again. I just can't express how awesome it is to have such a friend like her...it's nice to have someone in the same boat as you that you can rely on and chat to whenever need be!

2. Crockpots! My dinner has been cooking all day with wonderful smells of roast, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, and mushrooms! It was so easy too! Love it!

3. Our Grand Cherokee. I was so hesitant to let Bob convince me to buy this vehicle and not sell one or do a trade-in of one of our other cars...luckily we did just that and when I had my wreck we didn't have to rely on a "rental" for who knows how long!! I'm thinking I would be a rental until 2010 at the rate all this insurance junk is taking to do. His insurance is a joke, he only has/had $10,000 in property damage coverage!!! So now I am having my insurance fill out a claim and see how much I will owe this way instead of thru his insurance. Either way we will be out some money as we owe a bit more than the car is worth right now. *sigh*

4. Halloween Planning Committee! Without this I would be a ball of stress trying to figure out what to do for the preschoolers for their Halloween party this year as the "coordinator"...I was getting a little nervous. But after the meeting, we got a plan and delegated out the items we needed to the other parents involved and it is going to be a super fun party I feel!

5. New sunglasses...nothing like getting a new pair of shades on a cloudy day to make your day "appear" to be bright! ;-) They are fun in a "willy wonka-esque" fashion! LOL! The sides are interchangeable though...how cool is that?! And they are prescription so that makes them even more fun!

It's Tuesday, we know what that means!!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Cool weather so I can make yummy comfort foods like Chili, cinnamon rolls, roasts, fried chicken, etc...Yum!

2. Soft foods...otherwise Camden would not be able to eat. He has Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease (which sounds worse than it is and his mouth is the only part affected) and has sores in the back of his throat making it hard to swallow, etc. Soft foods slide right down without affecting him! Poor little guy.

3. My cell phone. Without this little device I might just very well go stir crazy!!

4. Grocery shopping trips sans my kiddos. Who knew getting groceries could be so relaxing?!

I hope you all have a good week and have many things to be thankful for!

Grati Wednesday ya'll

So I missed Tuesday cuz my hand was in a brace and it was really hard to type...I should technically have it on still but it was itching so I took it off for a bit to see how it would feel. So far just stiff fingers where I hit it.

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. WALKING away from the car wreck! Mostly thankful Decovin didn't get the brunt of the collision...I couldn't think straight until I knew he was ok.

2. EMT's and Police at scene of the accident. They were quick to respond, efficient, and calming...The EMT's even gave Decovin a teddy bear of which we named Lucky but then he changed his name to Tricky. LOL!

3. Pain meds...it was my salvation yesterday. Trying to not take any today...so far the pain is manageable.

4. My hubby...he has really stepped up and helped take care of me and the house...doing the dishes and everything! Love you babe!

5. My friend Sarah makes the list yet again...she is AMAZING! I'm not sure what I would have done without her the day of the accident. She was watching Camden for me and that eliminated him from being in the accident as well! She watched him the rest of the evening until we made it home! She is so caring and just purely AWESOME!

6. Insurance...THANK GOODNESS both the gentelman who failed to yield and myself have some!

7. Having an extra vehicle! Lucky for us we didn't need to use a rental car...less hassle this way and I like driving my own vehicles more anyway! Phew!

8. Family and Friends who care enough about us to ask us how we are doing and checking up on us. How lucky are we to have such people in our lives?!

9. Text messaging...saves so much time in spreading the word. It's fantastic! Especially when you know if you start talking about something that soon after an accident breaking into tears is inevitable...so I saved a lot of tears too! LOL!

Well, I think I was thankful for a lot this week! Thanks for checking in with me. Love you all!

It's Always Dinner and Then the Accident Story...

My drivers side front tire and door: Drivers side Back door (where Decovin sits):

The other guys car:

So here is what happened:

Yesterday, Decovin and I had just left to head out for gymnastics and left Camden home with my friend Sarah to watch for the 45 minutes we thought we would be gone for. As we are approaching the gym (about 3 blocks away), a middle-aged gentlman, who was driving, and his son failed to yield at the intersection and t-boned us. I got the brunt of the hit though (thank goodness!!). The first thing I did was check to make sure Decovin was ok and he must have sensed my panicked state as he was fine and then he started freaking out and crying after I asked him if was ok.

Turns out the house that we wrecked in front of was a day care and one of the parents was there to pick up her daughter and she came outside to halp with Decovin. She talked with him and kept him calm the whole taime. I was so thankful for that! My prescription sunglasses went flying off my face when we were hit so I did a quick search for those so I could see what was going on. I knew immediately that I had hit my head on something and then my hand started hurting pretty good too.

The EMS & Police officers arrived SO FAST!! I did refuse ambulence transfer as were only like 4 blocks from the hospital and I knew Bob could come and get us. I called him at work and the plice officers called him too and he was able to get out of there relatively quick and arrived w/in 30 minutes of the accident. He cleaned out the car and then took us up to the hospital to get checked out just in case.

They did an x-ray fo my hand and it was fine. But he did put me in a wrist guard to wear for a couple of days. They also gave me some painkillers via shots in my hip...3 to be exact!! YEEOUCH!! It was meant to be a hurts-so-good pain but I was still sore and stiff all night and today for that matter. They did give me a prescription for pain and for spasms...fun fun.

Decovin was 100% fine (thank goodness) and the EMS team gave him a really cute teddy bear at the scene of the acciden too. He even took it with him to show-and-tell today. Luckily Bob is off for the next 5 days so I have lost of help around the house with the boys, etc.

So our car is not driveable but I am gathering that it will not be totaled because the insurance company told me that with as new as the car is, it would have to be almost 95% damaged in order for them to total it...so it will just be a matter of when they can fix it and get it back to me...*sigh* We have to wait to hear from the other guys insurance company and the adjusters, etc.

So it was a crazy evening and I am just glad no one was seriously hurt. I'm also truly thankful for my friend Sarah who was only supposed to watch Camden for a short time and ended up watching him for nearly 4 hours!! Thank you so much Sarah! You are AWESOME!! Thanks also to all of you who have been praying for us and thinking of us, etc. It means a lot. Thanks again!!

GratiTuesday!

Things I am thankful for this week!

1. BASEBALL!! Going to the Red Sox game tonight with Decovin...this will be his first game ever! SO SO excited!

2. SOCCER!! We are letting Decovin participate in a 4 week soccer program put on by our local rec center. Hope he has fun!

3. Medicine!! Without this stuff, sleep time could be WAY worse! LOL!

4. Busy calender of events. Although it might seem hectic at times, I am truly thankful to be busy and not constantly at home! ;-) Makes my days at home without the hubby go by MUCH faster! Yay!

Just had to share this

Went to take Camden to get his hair cut while brother was at school and this was the look he gave me:

He got a sucker for his efforts but as one of my friends stated...it looks as if he was saying: "I'm coming for you! Don't think this sucker changes that!" haha!