May 30, 2010

WOW! I was sitting at my desk this afternoon and thought about writing a blog post that would summarize the past two months. So I started jotting down some of the things that have happened and the list just kept growing and growing! So, rather than list everything out I'll just hit on a few of the big things.

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First there was Michael's surgery. Back in mid April Michael finally got the surgery that he had needed for the past year. We were extremely lucky to find a Dr. up at the University of Washington that could figure out what was going on with Michael's shoulder and what needed to be done to repair it. Unfortunately, what he recommended was total shoulder replacement. There were so many issues going on in his shoulder that there wasn't anything that could be done that would be a long term fix other than replacing it. Hearing that was a shock because he's only 32!! But if he ever wanted to use his arm again it was our best option. So he had the surgery on April 20th and everything went very well. The surgeon was actually able to fix another problem he found while operating that they hadn't known about.

Michael's Dr. was sure to put his initials on the correct shoulder.

While Michael was in the hospital my niece Mariah moved in with us. We spent a few days talking about expectations and making sure everyone was on the same page with things. So far things have been really good and she is an amazing addition to our family.

Mariah put on a puppet show for Payton's birthday.

Other than that we have been really busy with baseball, swim team, school, church, field trips, end of the year testing, Mariahs Senior Prom (and soon graduation!) and all the other things that fall into the days to make them full.

This weekend Michael and the kids set up the tent in the backyard and had a camp out. (Payton and I had our own little sleepover in my bed) They had a little campfire thingy(I'm not sure what it's called) going and make shish kabobs and roasted marshmallows. I think they took every spare blanket they could find out to put under them to make a cushy bed. ha! I think they had five or six inches of blankets to lay on!

June 21, 2009

I mentioned yesterday that Michael took Regan and Ryan camping out at Jakes house. As soon as they got home Ryan brought me the camera so I could see the pictures of his fish. Ain't it a beaut!

The kids had never been camping before so Ryan was really concerned about where he would be sleeping. Once they got their tent set up Ryan did his little inspection. It passed with flying colors!!

Dinner was A little kids dream of BBQ'd hamburgers and hot dogs.

I wasn't there but by the looks of the pictures everyone had a great time.

June 20, 2009

Michael took Regan and Ryan camping yesterday. They were actually in Jake's backyard but there are lots of woods and the neighbor had a pond for them to fish in so the kids thought it was awesome. I'm going to do a post on their trip sometime this weekend but I just HAD to show these pictures of Regan and her first fish that she caught ALL BY HERSELF!!

She was so proud of it. Jake was showing her how to hold it by the mouth and she was just about to when suddenly........

it MOVED!!

May 1, 2009

Yesterday afternoon Devon went into the laundry room to switch the clothes from the washer into the dryer. She stepped in a puddle of water and yelled to me "The washers leaking!" It turns out the pump and some other thing quit working.

That is not something I wanted to hear. I was already behind on laundry and the idea of hauling everything down to the laundromat while waiting for the washer to be repaired...well, I almost cried just thinking about it.

So this morning Michael and I went looking at washers and found one that was both pretty and industrial. They delivered it this afternoon AND they hauled away the old one! I'm still not caught up on the laundry but the kids think the new one is fun so I have plenty of volunteers!

April 27, 2009

I know, I know! I keep disappearing and leaving my blog for weeks at a time. I'm sorry! I got caught up in Facebook and got lazy. With Facebook I only had to think up a single sentence at a time. It was so easy! But I miss my blog. And I think that maybe my blog missed me.

So, let's see. Since my last post we have been to five birthday parties, two field trips, mopped the floors about sixteen times and mowed the front yard twice. Michaels arm was re injured (thats a whole 'nother story!) at work so we have been to many doctor and therapy appointments. In march we decided Ryan would probably do better at home with me so we took him out of school. I have had SO much fun teaching him. He is such a quick learner and so motivated!

I have to take Michael to the orthopaedic Dr this afternoon (he isn't supposed to drive) so I'll try to get another post up tonight or tomorrow.

February 27, 2009

Yesterday was Michaels 4 week post op visit with his surgeon. When he was checking in at the front desk the lady handed him a form to sign. But first she asked him if he was over 18. Maybe she thought I was his Mom?






They took another x-ray to make sure the bone was healing properly. It is. So they took off his cast and said he was good to go. Are they crazy? They didn't even give him a splint or brace. Obviously they don't know this man.

The boy with the super sensitive ears thought the cast removing saw was too loud.

Here's the finished product. Courtesy of Dr. Frankenstein.

February 13, 2009

You'd think that having Michael home the past two weeks would free up some of my time and I could actually get some posts done. Too bad it doesn't really work that way. Michael has a really hard time sitting around the house doing nothing so he's had us running around like crazy people just about every day. The dishes and laundry piles are getting a bit out of hand. I think I'm going to try taking the weekend to get caught up. Although, now that I think about it I heard Michael talking to Regan about going to Chuck E. Cheese's tomorrow.

Yesterday was Michaels two week post op visit. I went with him to this appt. so I could talk to the Dr. about switching to an ortho here in town. I didn't realize they were going to take Michaels cast off and remove the staples. Oh My Goodness!! I almost got sick when I saw his arm. They had to make a six inch incision along his forearm to clean up the bone fragments and put the metal plate in. When they closed it up they put in SEVENTEEN staples! And they didn't even try to make it look nice! I think this scar is going to be a bad one. Not that Michael will care. Cause chicks dig scars. Right?

February 2, 2009

Friday morning Michael and Wes were loading a crane pad onto a semi trailer when another guy tried to help out and accidentally caused the crane pad to slam into Michaels forearm. The break was a compound fracture so he had to have a plate put on the bone to hold it together.

The accident happened around 2 am and I got a call from the foreman around 5 am letting me know what happened and that Michael was about to go into surgery. Thank goodness my husband knows me so well! He asked Greg (the foreman) to wait until they knew what was happening before he called me.

So my Mom and Julianna watched the kids for me so I could head up to the hospital. By the time I got there the surgery was over and he was in recovery. I had to wait two hours! before I could see him. And they sent him home the same day. I think it was around 2:30 when we got home.

So now he's home and feeling fine but unable to go back to work until the surgeon releases him. Which means he's going to get bored really quick and start making me crazy.

January 6, 2009

Michael had Monday and Tuesday off from work this week. The owners and head honchos at his company had their annual safety meeting. Personally, I think he should have been invited to attend but hey- its not my decision.

So he and the kids had a big Wii competition going on. They pick an activity and each person does their best to get first place. Its a lot of fun for them but a little annoying for me. How on earth am I supposed to get on these top 10 lists when they have them so full?!

I did have a lot of fun watching them, though. Michael doing the Warrior pose? Awesome! Ryan trying his best to run in place? Adorable! Regan flinching every time a soccer ball flew her way? Hilarious! I'm thinking about hunting down the camcorder so I can share some of it. Well, I'll have to clean the living room first. So it might be a while.

Michael and Devon bought me an early Christmas present last night. Two baby Lovebirds!

For our first anniversary Michael bought me a parakeet. I had never had a bird before and had no idea how much I would love them. So for the next four years Michael bought me another parakeet on each anniversary. When we moved into my Moms house I gave my birds to my Mother in Law who also has parakeets. I missed having birds but life was pretty busy so it was ok.

So now I have two new babies! They are so cute! They cuddle and kiss each other all day. The kids are so excited to have them and ask constantly to have them on their shoulders. Well, except Ryan. He is so ticklish he can't handle having them on his shoulder so he puts on a stocking cap and carries hem on his head.

Someone help me! Michael and the kids went to buy new shells for the hermit crabs (the perfect pet) and came home with two tree frogs and a dozen crickets to feed them. The chirping sound is driving me insane!

Things I Love Thursday

This man.

Sunday

Sunday afternoon we headed over to Jake and Octavia's house so I could work on some quilts and Michael could help Jake assemble a gazebo. Every summer Octavia has a quilting week where she, her Mom and her sister get together and get some major sewing done. When I was there Sunday they had completed 8 tops and had the pieces cut out to make three more. Before we headed out I cut fabric for three quilt tops and two projects that just needed the binding tacked down. I was able to finish two tops and the binding on my table runner. WooHoo! Thats a lot more than I would have accomplished at home. I'll get some pictures of the tops as soon as I can.

Happy Birthday, Devon!

Today my baby is turning 13. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Part of me is feeling extremely old. How did I become the mother of a teenager? Just yesterday I was teaching her to ride her bike without training wheels. Now she's learning to drive a stick. (Pray for us!)

Instead of planning a big party for her we decided to celebrate her birthday by giving her a gift each day for thirteen days ending today. This worked really well. Some of the days she got a large gift (a new MP3 player) and other days it was something smaller like a manicure kit. Todays gift was a birthday card with 13 crisp (because I ironed them) one dollar bills. I think thats a new tradition I am going to do with each of the kids.

Happy Fathers Day, Michael.

Happy Fathers Day to you Honey! You are such a great father to our children.

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.~ Sigmond Freud

Thank you for giving that.

Two Years

I can't believe I missed it! Saturday (the 3rd) was the two year anniversary of me starting this blog! I was planning on doing a big commemorative post but my creative juices have evaporated. So in place of something witty I will take a trip down memory lane and relive some of the past two years. We lived at the pool for about six months while the kids had swimming lessons.
We took a vacation that was so much fun we still talk about it.
We had,oh, maybe 300 dr. visits.
Because Regan needed surgery to remove a bone tumor.And Michael needed sinus surgery.
We had some major flooding in our region.

Grandma went home to be with Jesus.
It snowed.
We had some awesome holidays!


A HUGE family reunion.Some good eats.
And best of all we had a new baby join our family.

What a great two years we've had. Hopefully the next two will be just as good.
Well, minus the surgeries.