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Mythbusters: Farm Edition
10 years ago
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Grandma's House
Okay this is a post I've wanted...or needed....to do for months now, but never have taken the time to sit down and do it. It's an emotional subject for me, so here goes.
It's been a hard couple years emotionally watching Grandma age a little faster then I'm comfortable with. She turned 96 last May. I remember, probably 25 years ago, making a "deal" with her that she'd live to be 100. It hurts to know how close to that year we are now. She still tells me she wants to hit 100! I love that.
I hate that she got frail enough that she could no longer live in her house. That house always felt like a second home to me and my sister. We spent a lot of time there when we were younger before going to school and then weekday evenings and usually a week or 2 in the summer's and holidays and birthdays. We were always there. I also lived in the upstairs my last semester of college.
About 5-6 years ago is probably about when we where seeing more and more things that concerned us. I can't remember what they were now, just little, but we knew we needed to start thinking about different living arrangements. At first my mom and aunts and uncle tried talking to Grandma about it, but she would here none of it and would get mad. For several years we tried taking her to see different places to live. We had hopes of getting her into an assisted living place where she could have her own apartment and could call for help if needed. Grandma was very defiant and sometimes angry about it. She would go see these places and say they were nice, but she didn't need them. Finally about 2 years ago the kids (my mom and her siblings) got together and decided it was time. It was no longer safe for Grandma to be living alone and they were going to have to force the issue. She went to live with each sibling for a while, sometimes for months at a time. We all missed her around here, but new she would eventually be back. There was a lot of tension and stress around the issue between the 4 kids and Grandma. It was finally decided last June were she would be going and they moved her in, against her will unfortunately. Over the past several months she has softened to it all and knows she is safe and taken care of. She still desperately would like to go to her home, but it had been decided that it wasn't a good idea to take her back there anymore. It just confused her.
So for the past 1 1/2 we've been cleaning out the house. At first it went very slowly because between visits to her kids house they would sometimes bring her back home, so we didn't want to do so much to upset her. Didn't matter, she would still get upset. So I think last spring sometime is when she was last at her house. Since then we've been trying to totally clean it out. The first year that she wasn't living there I know my mom and sister did the majority of it. I was going through my treatments and couldn't help, so I don't even know how much stuff was gone through during that time, but it was a lot! I really started helping more last spring. We were shooting for estate sale dates in June. I think we ended up having about 5 sales in all. This week my mom and aunt have been meeting with a lady that is very interested in buying it. We all hope it goes through so my mom can stop stressing over all the paper work for medicaid and house selling. I worry about her with it all. Yes she has had a lot of help from Aunt Soni, and Aunt Sylvia when she can be in town, but alot of the calling and paper work is in her hands. I know she'll be glad when it's over.
Every time I go to Grandma's now I get depressed, and cry half the way home. It's so hard to let something go that has meant so much to you your whole life. Every time I'm alone in the house it's even worse. I don't know how many times I've stood in the kitchen facing the dining room and can just see, as plain as day, all my favorite people in the world sitting around that dining room table eating Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Everyone watching Grandma take her rolls right out of the oven and passing them around the table warm! Those of us born into the family trying to tell those who married in the "right" way to eat the rolls...you unroll them! You don't just take a bite off the end! I tell Mike that and he thinks I'm silly, but it's been something talked about at every meal around that table for decades. I was very happy this year to teach Gabe the "right" way to eat his roll and he listened! :) I can see all the men washing the dishes after we were done, because that's how our family did it (and Grandma and Grandpa's house didn't have a dishwasher). Then some of us sit back down around the table for desserts and hours of games!!! Oh how I miss that. Other "visions" I've had are of all of us crammed into that living room passing out Christmas gifts and we'd try and open them one at a time so everyone could see all the gifts (that didn't always work out).
Every sale has been hard too. My mom, sister, and I'd be sitting at Grandma's kitchen table for several hours 3 days a week for all those sales, watching all Grandma's stuff being sold. It was hard to be at that table with those 2 and not have Grandma sitting there right with us. That's how it's been for years, us 4 girls sitting around that table. It started when we were little and ended when she had to move out. I miss that time visiting with my Grandma. She's a little too confused these days to really have a good conversation with her. That's only happened in the past couple years, where she has trouble remembering things, so she really doesn't follow the conversations well. I'm thankful that she doesn't have Alzheimer's or anything like that, but I do still miss those talks.
Today we were at her house. There was a very large tree in the front yard that has needed to come down for some time and last week it was finally cut down. I asked for some of the main trunk to be saved for violin wood (I'm very excited about that). The rest is firewood that we are splitting with Candy and Ken. So we were there to get it cut up and loaded in a truck. I've tried to avoid going inside lately if possible. Outside, minus the downed tree, still looks right. Inside is getting very bare. I don't like it at all. The attics that used to be crammed full are now pretty much empty, don't like that. The upstairs furniture...gone...don't like that. Grandma's bed...gone...don't like that. Grandma's kitchen and dining room tables...gone...don't like that (although my mom and sister now have them in their kitchens so we can still see them and sit at them). Grandma's living room...destroyed right now. The furniture is gone, but it's full of all the stuff being donated to a charity in a couple weeks. Once that stuff is gone it will also be pretty bare. I opened a couple kitchen cabinets today....shouldn't have...they are bare....don't like that.
I hate that we have to get rid of this house. I wish someone in the family could take it, but it's just not possible. I need for the process to be over and say good bye to it. Every time I'm over there it's like opening up the wound again and again. It hurts every time....not just emotionally...I mean it physically hurts in my heart to be there now. The day we say good bye will be hard, but it needs to happen. There is a potential buyer that we hope will take it in the next month. Hope all goes well with that. It's bitter sweet.
Okay now that I'm a total wreck for writing this I need to end it.
It's been a hard couple years emotionally watching Grandma age a little faster then I'm comfortable with. She turned 96 last May. I remember, probably 25 years ago, making a "deal" with her that she'd live to be 100. It hurts to know how close to that year we are now. She still tells me she wants to hit 100! I love that.
I hate that she got frail enough that she could no longer live in her house. That house always felt like a second home to me and my sister. We spent a lot of time there when we were younger before going to school and then weekday evenings and usually a week or 2 in the summer's and holidays and birthdays. We were always there. I also lived in the upstairs my last semester of college.
About 5-6 years ago is probably about when we where seeing more and more things that concerned us. I can't remember what they were now, just little, but we knew we needed to start thinking about different living arrangements. At first my mom and aunts and uncle tried talking to Grandma about it, but she would here none of it and would get mad. For several years we tried taking her to see different places to live. We had hopes of getting her into an assisted living place where she could have her own apartment and could call for help if needed. Grandma was very defiant and sometimes angry about it. She would go see these places and say they were nice, but she didn't need them. Finally about 2 years ago the kids (my mom and her siblings) got together and decided it was time. It was no longer safe for Grandma to be living alone and they were going to have to force the issue. She went to live with each sibling for a while, sometimes for months at a time. We all missed her around here, but new she would eventually be back. There was a lot of tension and stress around the issue between the 4 kids and Grandma. It was finally decided last June were she would be going and they moved her in, against her will unfortunately. Over the past several months she has softened to it all and knows she is safe and taken care of. She still desperately would like to go to her home, but it had been decided that it wasn't a good idea to take her back there anymore. It just confused her.
So for the past 1 1/2 we've been cleaning out the house. At first it went very slowly because between visits to her kids house they would sometimes bring her back home, so we didn't want to do so much to upset her. Didn't matter, she would still get upset. So I think last spring sometime is when she was last at her house. Since then we've been trying to totally clean it out. The first year that she wasn't living there I know my mom and sister did the majority of it. I was going through my treatments and couldn't help, so I don't even know how much stuff was gone through during that time, but it was a lot! I really started helping more last spring. We were shooting for estate sale dates in June. I think we ended up having about 5 sales in all. This week my mom and aunt have been meeting with a lady that is very interested in buying it. We all hope it goes through so my mom can stop stressing over all the paper work for medicaid and house selling. I worry about her with it all. Yes she has had a lot of help from Aunt Soni, and Aunt Sylvia when she can be in town, but alot of the calling and paper work is in her hands. I know she'll be glad when it's over.
Every time I go to Grandma's now I get depressed, and cry half the way home. It's so hard to let something go that has meant so much to you your whole life. Every time I'm alone in the house it's even worse. I don't know how many times I've stood in the kitchen facing the dining room and can just see, as plain as day, all my favorite people in the world sitting around that dining room table eating Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Everyone watching Grandma take her rolls right out of the oven and passing them around the table warm! Those of us born into the family trying to tell those who married in the "right" way to eat the rolls...you unroll them! You don't just take a bite off the end! I tell Mike that and he thinks I'm silly, but it's been something talked about at every meal around that table for decades. I was very happy this year to teach Gabe the "right" way to eat his roll and he listened! :) I can see all the men washing the dishes after we were done, because that's how our family did it (and Grandma and Grandpa's house didn't have a dishwasher). Then some of us sit back down around the table for desserts and hours of games!!! Oh how I miss that. Other "visions" I've had are of all of us crammed into that living room passing out Christmas gifts and we'd try and open them one at a time so everyone could see all the gifts (that didn't always work out).
Every sale has been hard too. My mom, sister, and I'd be sitting at Grandma's kitchen table for several hours 3 days a week for all those sales, watching all Grandma's stuff being sold. It was hard to be at that table with those 2 and not have Grandma sitting there right with us. That's how it's been for years, us 4 girls sitting around that table. It started when we were little and ended when she had to move out. I miss that time visiting with my Grandma. She's a little too confused these days to really have a good conversation with her. That's only happened in the past couple years, where she has trouble remembering things, so she really doesn't follow the conversations well. I'm thankful that she doesn't have Alzheimer's or anything like that, but I do still miss those talks.
Today we were at her house. There was a very large tree in the front yard that has needed to come down for some time and last week it was finally cut down. I asked for some of the main trunk to be saved for violin wood (I'm very excited about that). The rest is firewood that we are splitting with Candy and Ken. So we were there to get it cut up and loaded in a truck. I've tried to avoid going inside lately if possible. Outside, minus the downed tree, still looks right. Inside is getting very bare. I don't like it at all. The attics that used to be crammed full are now pretty much empty, don't like that. The upstairs furniture...gone...don't like that. Grandma's bed...gone...don't like that. Grandma's kitchen and dining room tables...gone...don't like that (although my mom and sister now have them in their kitchens so we can still see them and sit at them). Grandma's living room...destroyed right now. The furniture is gone, but it's full of all the stuff being donated to a charity in a couple weeks. Once that stuff is gone it will also be pretty bare. I opened a couple kitchen cabinets today....shouldn't have...they are bare....don't like that.
I hate that we have to get rid of this house. I wish someone in the family could take it, but it's just not possible. I need for the process to be over and say good bye to it. Every time I'm over there it's like opening up the wound again and again. It hurts every time....not just emotionally...I mean it physically hurts in my heart to be there now. The day we say good bye will be hard, but it needs to happen. There is a potential buyer that we hope will take it in the next month. Hope all goes well with that. It's bitter sweet.
Okay now that I'm a total wreck for writing this I need to end it.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! We had a very busy Thursday. Most years we either have to rotate between the 2 families on this day, or sometimes my family has been known to have it on friday. I think they mostly have done that to accommodate us, though, so I don't blame them for wanting to get together on the holiday! We got to Cinci around 10pm on Wednesday night. Got up the next morning to watch the parade on TV, visit a little with family, and also some friends came by and said hi. We ate lunch, trying not to stuff ourselves on round one. This was hard for Mike, but he did pretty good. We were very proud of Gabe. Before the meal he had told us that he was going to at least try everything. He ended up not trying everything, but did try quite a bit. I've seen a lot of maturity in him lately.
Caleb on the other hand, well, I knew it wouldn't be pretty. You see he only eats breakfast, peanut butter sandwich or peanut butter banana, and pizza right now. Once in a while you'll get him to each a chicken nugget or two. And of course, he'll eat fast food fries. I try my hardest to limit any fast food consumption, but I have yet to figure out how to avoid it all together in some circumstances. Back to thanksgiving, he ate nothing! We all sat down to eat and as the food came around the table I put a mouse size taste of a few things on his plate. If he'd just taste some things he'd love them, but he won't even take a taste! Anyway the wining and crying wouldn't stop because all he wanted was a PB sandwich! Over the last year we've decided that he doesn't get a separate meal, he eats what we eat or nothing. And usually it's nothing. I ended up taking to the other end of the house and putting him in a room and told him he could come sit with us when he decided to stop crying. He decided he wanted to stay in the room. Our dinner then was peaceful. He did eventually come out and we let him have some dessert because it was Thanksgiving! Then we visited a little more and had to leave for Indy for dinner.
It was at my sister's house. They smoked a ham and a turkey! MMMMM The table was full of all the comforts of what Thanksgiving used to have when we had it at Grandma's house. Homemade dressing, Grandma's rolls, greenbean casserole...okay so I am not a fan of that one, but it's a staple, Aunt Soni's Apple Crisp, Dad's fudge. Besides all the food, I loved that most the family was there! We used to all sit around the table and Grandma and Grandpa's every Thanksgiving and Christmas, but as our families got larger our get together's got smaller because everyone has busy lives. Last year and this year, though, I look around and see just about everyone I wanted to see! We missed Uncle Phil, he was in New Mexico taking care of selling their house so they could permanently move back to Indy. We always wish the Prouty's could be here, but living in Colorado makes it hard. There were several Christmas's growing up that they were here though. There are several of my second cousins that weren't there, but being from a big family it's really hard to get all of us together. Of course, we missed Uncle Irv, hard to believe it's been 2 years since we lost him, just not the same without him and never will be. We all miss Grandpa. He's been gone 22 years, but has a special place in all our hearts and memories and we always remember what chair he sat in every year! Speaking of chair. It was nice this year to sit around Grandma's dining room table. Candy had asked for it and now she has it in her house, so that chair that Grandpa always used was with us along with all the other chairs we have all sat in over the years. I get choked up looking around that table at all the people in my life who have made me who I am today! I'm so thankful for them all! I love them all! I was most thankful that my Grandma was there and able to enjoy all the time together. I know how much it means to her. I have a hard time thinking about how Thanksgiving would be without her. I don't ever want that to happen, but know it has to come sooner of later. We will all be devastated by it, but for today we give thanks that she is with us and pretty healthy. Thank you Lord!
Caleb on the other hand, well, I knew it wouldn't be pretty. You see he only eats breakfast, peanut butter sandwich or peanut butter banana, and pizza right now. Once in a while you'll get him to each a chicken nugget or two. And of course, he'll eat fast food fries. I try my hardest to limit any fast food consumption, but I have yet to figure out how to avoid it all together in some circumstances. Back to thanksgiving, he ate nothing! We all sat down to eat and as the food came around the table I put a mouse size taste of a few things on his plate. If he'd just taste some things he'd love them, but he won't even take a taste! Anyway the wining and crying wouldn't stop because all he wanted was a PB sandwich! Over the last year we've decided that he doesn't get a separate meal, he eats what we eat or nothing. And usually it's nothing. I ended up taking to the other end of the house and putting him in a room and told him he could come sit with us when he decided to stop crying. He decided he wanted to stay in the room. Our dinner then was peaceful. He did eventually come out and we let him have some dessert because it was Thanksgiving! Then we visited a little more and had to leave for Indy for dinner.
It was at my sister's house. They smoked a ham and a turkey! MMMMM The table was full of all the comforts of what Thanksgiving used to have when we had it at Grandma's house. Homemade dressing, Grandma's rolls, greenbean casserole...okay so I am not a fan of that one, but it's a staple, Aunt Soni's Apple Crisp, Dad's fudge. Besides all the food, I loved that most the family was there! We used to all sit around the table and Grandma and Grandpa's every Thanksgiving and Christmas, but as our families got larger our get together's got smaller because everyone has busy lives. Last year and this year, though, I look around and see just about everyone I wanted to see! We missed Uncle Phil, he was in New Mexico taking care of selling their house so they could permanently move back to Indy. We always wish the Prouty's could be here, but living in Colorado makes it hard. There were several Christmas's growing up that they were here though. There are several of my second cousins that weren't there, but being from a big family it's really hard to get all of us together. Of course, we missed Uncle Irv, hard to believe it's been 2 years since we lost him, just not the same without him and never will be. We all miss Grandpa. He's been gone 22 years, but has a special place in all our hearts and memories and we always remember what chair he sat in every year! Speaking of chair. It was nice this year to sit around Grandma's dining room table. Candy had asked for it and now she has it in her house, so that chair that Grandpa always used was with us along with all the other chairs we have all sat in over the years. I get choked up looking around that table at all the people in my life who have made me who I am today! I'm so thankful for them all! I love them all! I was most thankful that my Grandma was there and able to enjoy all the time together. I know how much it means to her. I have a hard time thinking about how Thanksgiving would be without her. I don't ever want that to happen, but know it has to come sooner of later. We will all be devastated by it, but for today we give thanks that she is with us and pretty healthy. Thank you Lord!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Caleb turns 3!
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| 11/4/08------9:27pm------8 lbs 12 oz.------21 1/2 in |
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| 1 yr old |
He is so smart. I think it may have something to do with Gabe going through kindergarten. He copies everything Gabe is learning, so he can count pretty high, speaks very clearly and in sentences that are so cute! He "reads" just like Gabe now, acting like he's sounding out words. He still has that adorable smile! He'll break hearts someday with that smile! Boy how I love that boy! He's wonderful!
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| 2 yrs old |
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| Caleb & Cocoa |
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| 3 yrs old |
We've been having an issue the past month or so with him not staying in bed. We'll put him down at 8 and sometimes it's 11 before he stops coming out of his room and we put him back in his room! Then he's getting up at 6am with the rest of us to get Gabe off to school. He does still get a nap, but I wish we could get him to sleep more at night. Hopefully it's just a phase.
Happy Birthday Caleb! I love you!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Newspaper Interveiw
A couple of weeks ago we were interviewed by the Johnson County Daily Journal for a special edition section for October for Breast Cancer Awareness. The article was out today and it was just ok. He didn't quite get everything correct. Apparently I have a son named Ezekiel!!!! One of the main questions I guess they ask all whom then interviewed was "What cancer taught me". By leaving out one word the whole meaning of my response was changed. It should have said "It taught me to not always rely on myself". Most of the other mistakes are pretty minor, but since this is MY blog I will correct them here. :) First of all, though, here is the article as it appeared: (Please click on each page to zoom and read)
Now for my corrections:
I did not find the lump "while" breastfeeding. I stopped bfing Caleb in mid October, when he was 11 1/2 months old and found the lump towards the end of November. It is true that I thought the lump was breastfeeding related since I had recently stopped and the nagging uncomfortableness I had ignored for a few weeks turned into a lump. I just thought it was a clogged milk duct.
The paragraph talking about survival rate should say 40% survival rate at the 5 year mark. That number is a dated statistic and I don't dwell on this percentage because I know I'll be fine! Inflammatory Breast Cancer is one of the rarest kinds that not a lot is known about, but the treatment has been rapidly improving over the past 10 or so years, so that number will keep getting better.
My doctor also told me that this was "curable" which gave me great comfort (I told the interviewer this, but he didn't put it in). I thought this was a great statement to hear.
My surgeon did not cut a whole in my side for the chemo port. She inserted in my upper chest kind of near the collar bone area. I was short of breathe and in pain for 3 days before going to the ER, not a week. I described the symptoms to a wonderful nurse at the dr.'s office, whom still tells me she'll never forget that phone call from me! She said if anyone ever calls sounding like that again she'll know exactly what to tell them, go to the ER!!!
The article makes it sound like when the chest tube was inserted it immediately sucked the air out of the chest cavity and gave relief, but it did this slowly over the 4 days I was in the hospital. It was agonizing! The tubes coming out of me were not only for the chest tube, but also I had a drain tube on the opposite side to drain fluid/blood from where some lymphnodes were removed, the tube was not "for the chemo port". So I had a tube on each side and could only lie on my back.
After chemo started I mostly sat on the couch when I was wiped out. I never lied on the floor, but I did do my best to sit on the floor from time to time so I could try to play with the boys a little. I couldn't do it for long on those bad days.
I named my church hoping he would recognize them, but he didn't. It's Center Grove Presbyterian Church. Wonderful church family!
The out-of-pocket expenses where way more then $1300. Since it all started in December we hit that number in December and then again at the beginning of the next year! And then all the prescriptions on top of that! One round of chemo alone had me spending $45 on just 3 pills to prevent nausea, that happened several times plus other Rx.
Our friends in Cincinnati don't "own" the pizza place! They were very kind to set it up though, we were so grateful!
The scripture above my bed read: "With God, All Things Are Possible. Matt 19:26" I was disappointed he didn't include how going through this journey strengthened our faith and how we relied on it so much. We talked about it in the interview, but he decided not to include it. :( Very sad.
Mike transferred within his school corporation from jr sr high band director to elementary music/beginning band.
Like I said most of these correction aren't too important, but I wanted a place to list them anyway. If for no other reason then for myself.
Thank you for reading.
Now for my corrections:
I did not find the lump "while" breastfeeding. I stopped bfing Caleb in mid October, when he was 11 1/2 months old and found the lump towards the end of November. It is true that I thought the lump was breastfeeding related since I had recently stopped and the nagging uncomfortableness I had ignored for a few weeks turned into a lump. I just thought it was a clogged milk duct.
The paragraph talking about survival rate should say 40% survival rate at the 5 year mark. That number is a dated statistic and I don't dwell on this percentage because I know I'll be fine! Inflammatory Breast Cancer is one of the rarest kinds that not a lot is known about, but the treatment has been rapidly improving over the past 10 or so years, so that number will keep getting better.
My doctor also told me that this was "curable" which gave me great comfort (I told the interviewer this, but he didn't put it in). I thought this was a great statement to hear.
My surgeon did not cut a whole in my side for the chemo port. She inserted in my upper chest kind of near the collar bone area. I was short of breathe and in pain for 3 days before going to the ER, not a week. I described the symptoms to a wonderful nurse at the dr.'s office, whom still tells me she'll never forget that phone call from me! She said if anyone ever calls sounding like that again she'll know exactly what to tell them, go to the ER!!!
The article makes it sound like when the chest tube was inserted it immediately sucked the air out of the chest cavity and gave relief, but it did this slowly over the 4 days I was in the hospital. It was agonizing! The tubes coming out of me were not only for the chest tube, but also I had a drain tube on the opposite side to drain fluid/blood from where some lymphnodes were removed, the tube was not "for the chemo port". So I had a tube on each side and could only lie on my back.
After chemo started I mostly sat on the couch when I was wiped out. I never lied on the floor, but I did do my best to sit on the floor from time to time so I could try to play with the boys a little. I couldn't do it for long on those bad days.
I named my church hoping he would recognize them, but he didn't. It's Center Grove Presbyterian Church. Wonderful church family!
The out-of-pocket expenses where way more then $1300. Since it all started in December we hit that number in December and then again at the beginning of the next year! And then all the prescriptions on top of that! One round of chemo alone had me spending $45 on just 3 pills to prevent nausea, that happened several times plus other Rx.
Our friends in Cincinnati don't "own" the pizza place! They were very kind to set it up though, we were so grateful!
The scripture above my bed read: "With God, All Things Are Possible. Matt 19:26" I was disappointed he didn't include how going through this journey strengthened our faith and how we relied on it so much. We talked about it in the interview, but he decided not to include it. :( Very sad.
Mike transferred within his school corporation from jr sr high band director to elementary music/beginning band.
Like I said most of these correction aren't too important, but I wanted a place to list them anyway. If for no other reason then for myself.
Thank you for reading.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Gabe's 1st day of Kindergarten
I'm feeling a bit lost today. Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Gabe. He will be going full day, I'm still not okay with that, but I have to adjust or homeschool...I think I'll adjust. The ridiculous part was his bus time was 6:50am!!! It was still mostly dark at that time. The bus didn't actually show up til a few minutes after 7 and the sun was out a little more by then. It was early enough that Mike was able to be here for this milestone! Love that part.
Last spring I had my head ready for him going to K this fall 1/2 day, then in May something got passed where everyone could get full day for free (it was an option before, but very expensive). I thought it was a state wide thing, but I've talked to several that confirm that is not true. What matters is it does effect us. So all summer we've been trying to get ready for this day (mentally and emotionally for me). I'm not there yet. Yesterday I was trying to be excited for Gabe trying to get him excited and he kept saying he would miss us because he wouldn't ever get to see us. He was under the impression that full day ment from the time he got up to the time he went to bed I guess. So I explained to him that it was only until nap time (Caleb's nap time, he no longer gets a nap). He gets home at 2:40, which if you really think about it really isn't that late. When the full day option came up we seriously considered taking him back to the school where he went to preschool. We all loved that school (it goes through 8th grade) they have 1/2 day 1st semester and full 2nd semester, but it's a Catholic School and expensive. Nothing against it being Catholic at all, we loved that he was getting a religious education too, but some of the Catholic things don't really transfer to Presbyterian and knew we eventually would go to the public schools so might as well now so he could make the friends, ect. As for the expensive part there were ways around that also, but we decided against it.
So back to him being excited. Last night they had a meet the teacher night, that's what did it. He got to go in his classroom and meet his teacher. She sang with them and read them a story so the parents could sign a bunch of forms. He was hooked after that. He didn't want to leave the room last night. He said he's going to be a big helper to his teacher. So my last fear for today was him getting on that giant yellow bus! Gabe sometimes has issues with new situations. He's gotten a lot better as he's gotten older, but this is one that I knew could go either way. He could be very excited and jump on and not even look back, or the bus could pull up and open the door and he'd freak out and cry. Luckily the 1st is what happened more or less. When the door opened he hesitated and looked back at me and asked, "Will you walk me up to the door, Mommy?", so I did. There were several others at our bus stop, so I think that may have helped. He followed them onto the bus with no problem, picked a seat, and smiled at me and waved. No tears...from him anyway. I was very held together for him, but as soon as I got in the house the flood gates opened up.
I'm excited that he's excited and I know he was pretty bored around the house the last few weeks, so he's gonna love learning new things. I'm excited that they learn to start reading in K now! He's so ready for that. He's been able to sound out some things for months now, so I know he'll pick up reading pretty quickly.
My sadness, like most moms, is feeling like he's growing up too fast. Just yesterday it seems we brought him home from the hospital having no idea what we were doing! Didn't sleep for a month it seemed, and finally got into a routine that worked for everyone. It's true that some days he drives me crazy with all the questions, fighting with his little brother, not listening to me, but that's life with little kids. I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. I know we get them for a very short amount of time where they think we know everything and do what we say (for the most part) and we are able to help mold them into good people. I pray we have brought him up right and happy and that he will be a good boy when he's not with me. By him going to school full day I feel a little out of control. I mean, I feel like I don't control what he does daily now. Someone else gets to do that for most the day. We've been the primary influences in his life since birth, that's how we wanted it, that's why we've sacrificed a lot so I could be as much a stay at home mom (SAHM) as possible. We've been so blessed that we have my Mom and Dad so close to watch them when I do have to go to work, and occasionally Mike's parents, Julie, and Candy, too.
It's funny to think about now, but I never thought I'd be a SAHM. I always thought I'd be a "career" girl. That's why we waited to have kids until after all my schooling was complete. I wanted to make sure I'd be able to have the career I wanted after having kids. I never wanted to regret not finishing school first (violin making school, that is). It wasn't until I was pregnant with Gabe that Mike and I talked about it and I felt an extreme "calling" (I guess that would be the right word) to try and stay at home while our kids where young. So we cut our budget down to the bare bones and were able to make it work with me just working 2 days a week. In the beginning, of course, I had high hopes of making violins at home while Gabe played or napped. Didn't work out that way, he demanded a lot of my undivided attention from the start. And then Caleb came along and I decided to not worry about the violin making until they are in school when I have "me" time again. If I can work it in now that it's just Caleb and me at home during the day that would be great. Otherwise, I'll just become that world famous violin maker once my kids are both in school. :P Although, any money that could have come in from that business would have been so helpful NOW! Oh well.
In all of this, I don't want to forget to say how excited I am about the one on one time Caleb and I will now have. It's only the 1st day and I've already seen how his personality shines through when it's just him! He's made me laugh so much today! It's awesome! I just have to get through the transition period and I'll be fine. We're going to have so much fun! (and maybe I'll get him potty trained soon, too!)
That's enough of my emotional Mommy ramblings for now.
Last spring I had my head ready for him going to K this fall 1/2 day, then in May something got passed where everyone could get full day for free (it was an option before, but very expensive). I thought it was a state wide thing, but I've talked to several that confirm that is not true. What matters is it does effect us. So all summer we've been trying to get ready for this day (mentally and emotionally for me). I'm not there yet. Yesterday I was trying to be excited for Gabe trying to get him excited and he kept saying he would miss us because he wouldn't ever get to see us. He was under the impression that full day ment from the time he got up to the time he went to bed I guess. So I explained to him that it was only until nap time (Caleb's nap time, he no longer gets a nap). He gets home at 2:40, which if you really think about it really isn't that late. When the full day option came up we seriously considered taking him back to the school where he went to preschool. We all loved that school (it goes through 8th grade) they have 1/2 day 1st semester and full 2nd semester, but it's a Catholic School and expensive. Nothing against it being Catholic at all, we loved that he was getting a religious education too, but some of the Catholic things don't really transfer to Presbyterian and knew we eventually would go to the public schools so might as well now so he could make the friends, ect. As for the expensive part there were ways around that also, but we decided against it.
So back to him being excited. Last night they had a meet the teacher night, that's what did it. He got to go in his classroom and meet his teacher. She sang with them and read them a story so the parents could sign a bunch of forms. He was hooked after that. He didn't want to leave the room last night. He said he's going to be a big helper to his teacher. So my last fear for today was him getting on that giant yellow bus! Gabe sometimes has issues with new situations. He's gotten a lot better as he's gotten older, but this is one that I knew could go either way. He could be very excited and jump on and not even look back, or the bus could pull up and open the door and he'd freak out and cry. Luckily the 1st is what happened more or less. When the door opened he hesitated and looked back at me and asked, "Will you walk me up to the door, Mommy?", so I did. There were several others at our bus stop, so I think that may have helped. He followed them onto the bus with no problem, picked a seat, and smiled at me and waved. No tears...from him anyway. I was very held together for him, but as soon as I got in the house the flood gates opened up.
I'm excited that he's excited and I know he was pretty bored around the house the last few weeks, so he's gonna love learning new things. I'm excited that they learn to start reading in K now! He's so ready for that. He's been able to sound out some things for months now, so I know he'll pick up reading pretty quickly.
My sadness, like most moms, is feeling like he's growing up too fast. Just yesterday it seems we brought him home from the hospital having no idea what we were doing! Didn't sleep for a month it seemed, and finally got into a routine that worked for everyone. It's true that some days he drives me crazy with all the questions, fighting with his little brother, not listening to me, but that's life with little kids. I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. I know we get them for a very short amount of time where they think we know everything and do what we say (for the most part) and we are able to help mold them into good people. I pray we have brought him up right and happy and that he will be a good boy when he's not with me. By him going to school full day I feel a little out of control. I mean, I feel like I don't control what he does daily now. Someone else gets to do that for most the day. We've been the primary influences in his life since birth, that's how we wanted it, that's why we've sacrificed a lot so I could be as much a stay at home mom (SAHM) as possible. We've been so blessed that we have my Mom and Dad so close to watch them when I do have to go to work, and occasionally Mike's parents, Julie, and Candy, too.
It's funny to think about now, but I never thought I'd be a SAHM. I always thought I'd be a "career" girl. That's why we waited to have kids until after all my schooling was complete. I wanted to make sure I'd be able to have the career I wanted after having kids. I never wanted to regret not finishing school first (violin making school, that is). It wasn't until I was pregnant with Gabe that Mike and I talked about it and I felt an extreme "calling" (I guess that would be the right word) to try and stay at home while our kids where young. So we cut our budget down to the bare bones and were able to make it work with me just working 2 days a week. In the beginning, of course, I had high hopes of making violins at home while Gabe played or napped. Didn't work out that way, he demanded a lot of my undivided attention from the start. And then Caleb came along and I decided to not worry about the violin making until they are in school when I have "me" time again. If I can work it in now that it's just Caleb and me at home during the day that would be great. Otherwise, I'll just become that world famous violin maker once my kids are both in school. :P Although, any money that could have come in from that business would have been so helpful NOW! Oh well.
In all of this, I don't want to forget to say how excited I am about the one on one time Caleb and I will now have. It's only the 1st day and I've already seen how his personality shines through when it's just him! He's made me laugh so much today! It's awesome! I just have to get through the transition period and I'll be fine. We're going to have so much fun! (and maybe I'll get him potty trained soon, too!)
That's enough of my emotional Mommy ramblings for now.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
We went to see Grandma!
We took the boys to see Grandma today. When we got there she was in an activity with others. I guess I need to get a copy of the activities calendar because she always seems to be doing something when I show up and I don't want to interrupt that time for her. They told us to go on in anyway. They had just made pizzas. Of course, the boys wanted some and they let them have some. Grandma ate her whole piece! Then we shared with her a photobook we had made of our Florida trip last month. She seemed to really enjoy looking through that, although she asked about 10 times how long we were gone and if everyone stayed healthy on the trip (that's where the short term memory problem shows up). We then played one of the kids games that we brought with us called Zingo, it's kind of like Bingo (go figure). She said she enjoyed playing it and when I asked if she'd like us to bring it again to play she said yes. We stayed for almost 2 hours and surprisingly my boys didn't get too crazy, which is a HUGE concern for me taking them to see her. It seems ok when I take only one of them, but both of them makes me a little nervous, so I'm trying to figure out things to do so it goes smoothly. Taking one of their games definitely helped! We then walked her back to her room. My boys always want to "help" her with her walker and it scares me to death! Just one fall would be horrible! Grandma insists that it's okay, so I just tell them to go slowly and not pull on it and then I almost hold onto Grandma the whole way. Sometimes I don't know if it's them pulling her too fast or her just walking that fast...she does walk faster then I expect. Miss Geneva, her roommate, always gives the boys something to eat when we're there. Today it was bite sized Butterfingers. I think that was the first time they have really had a whole (bite size) candybar! And she said she had a whole drawer full of them, so of course my boys will remember that every time we are there! Gabe gave Grandma an invite to his bday party next weekend and she asked if someone would be there to bring her, we told her of course! She also asked if she got to bring her swimsuit to swim with the kids (on the invite it says for kids to bring their suits to swim in kiddie pool) I told her sure! She said she didn't think she owned a suit anymore! :)
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Gabe's bday invite
This years birthday party theme was almost a given. The boys and Mike have been watching the Christopher Reeves Superman on Netflix alot lately. They both put blankets on their backs and run around the house singing the theme. We bought Superman shirts for all 4 of us to wear to Disney one day. They're really into it! The only problem was they both wanted it for their birthday theme. I told them they couldn't both choose it, so they decided together (with some coaching by mom) that Gabe would have the Superman party. I can still sway Caleb's decisions in this area this year and maybe next year, but by 4 I let them pick just about whatever they want for a theme. I enjoy doing the "themed" parties for them. Not sure where I got the idea, I mean growing up we had a few themed parties. We always had big family parties and I knew I wanted to have them for my kids, but the theme parties just kind of happened. I'm sure at some point the boys will tell me they aren't cool to have anymore and that will be fine. I'll be sad, but I understand that. I've found over the past 6 years that I love decorating cakes, so after I'm not making birthday cakes twice a year I'll have to find another outlet for that. Here are the cakes I've made for the boys:
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| Gabe's 1st bday-Jeff Gordon |
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| Gabe's 2nd bday-Dinosaur |
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| Gabe's 3rd bday-Caillou |
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| Gabe's 4th bday- WALL-E |
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| Caleb's 1st bday - Pumpkin |
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| Gabe's 5th bday - T-ball |
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| Caleb's 2nd bday-Balls |
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Happy 4th of July!!!
We celebrated the 4th of July at my parent's house with family and friends! It was a wonderful day. It's my favorite holiday! The kids all had fun playing in the little pool and catching lightening bugs. The boys enjoyed the fireworks after we put ear muffs on them. Neither of them like the loud sounds, but they do like to watch them. The night before the 4th we headed out to Franklin's fireworks which were very enjoyable.
Here I am watching Franklin's fireworks with the boys. Caleb wasn't quite into them at this point and didn't want to look at them. By the end of the show I got him to turn around and then he didn't want them to end. Funny thing is, when we were in Disney Gabe was the one who didn't enjoy the fireworks and Caleb loved them. That night it seemed they had switched spots on the subject. On the 4th they both liked them (with ear muffs that is).
These are yummy. I made them for the 4th.
Deacon spent a lot of time with Grandma. She loved it!
Here Mike is getting the fireworks ready.
How many munchkins can you fit in a baby pool? At one point all 6 small boys were in it.
Caleb was fine with the fireworks as long as he had ear muffs on.
Mike and Julie hammin' it up.
I think Cora may have liked this particular firework.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Happy 70th Birthday DAD!!!
My Dad turned 70 on June 18th this year. We decided we wanted to do something extra special. We thought about a big party or something like that, but settled on something fun to do with just the immediate family. We rented a boat for the day! I get emails from sites like Groupon and Livingsocial and got one for 50% off the price of a boat rental way back in March or April, called up my sister and mom to see if they thought it was a good idea and then we split the cost 3 ways! It made the boat VERY affordable! The deal was not good on weekend days (his birthday was on a Saturday), so we got it for the day before. Luckily Dad already had the day off due to taking his vacation days around his birthday. The rest of us made sure we didn't work that day and it was set. We didn't tell him until the night before. Mom told him then because we wanted him to bring his fishing gear along. He also had Gabe's fishing pole because the 2 of them had gone fishing for the first time together last year. Gabe has been asking to do it again for months. So Gabe was so excited about that part.
The boat was on Lake Monroe in Bloomington. We got a 21' party barge (pontoon) and added on a tube to pull off the back. We "set sail" at 10am and brought it back at 6pm (only docking once for potty breaks). It was a wonderful day. We packed our lunches and ate on the boat. Dad and all 4 boys "fished" off the boat. We never actually put any hooks on the rods. They all practiced casting. Gabe and Hayden didn't do half bad at it. We decided maybe the hooks wouldn't have been a good idea. Brody had a slight melt down cuz he lost his spiderman sunglasses over the side, never to be seen again. We swam in the lake where Gabe and Hayden both swam without holding on to an adult (with life vests on, of course). Candy, Ken, Mike, & I all went tubing. Ken & Mike also took the boys on the tube with them, all 4 kids loved it. I on the other hand was just as happy to drive the boat, tubing was just okay. Since my surgeries last year, my arm strength is not the best so my arms were pretty sore for a few days from that. I think we all had a great time. I hope my Dad did too, seeing how it was to celebrate his birthday! Many of us came home with sunburns, even though we thought we had applied sunblock well. Oh, and Mike and I found out my sister is expecting #3 that day! Mom & Dad already new and I guess Candy & Ken were dropping hints all day! She is due in February!
The boat was on Lake Monroe in Bloomington. We got a 21' party barge (pontoon) and added on a tube to pull off the back. We "set sail" at 10am and brought it back at 6pm (only docking once for potty breaks). It was a wonderful day. We packed our lunches and ate on the boat. Dad and all 4 boys "fished" off the boat. We never actually put any hooks on the rods. They all practiced casting. Gabe and Hayden didn't do half bad at it. We decided maybe the hooks wouldn't have been a good idea. Brody had a slight melt down cuz he lost his spiderman sunglasses over the side, never to be seen again. We swam in the lake where Gabe and Hayden both swam without holding on to an adult (with life vests on, of course). Candy, Ken, Mike, & I all went tubing. Ken & Mike also took the boys on the tube with them, all 4 kids loved it. I on the other hand was just as happy to drive the boat, tubing was just okay. Since my surgeries last year, my arm strength is not the best so my arms were pretty sore for a few days from that. I think we all had a great time. I hope my Dad did too, seeing how it was to celebrate his birthday! Many of us came home with sunburns, even though we thought we had applied sunblock well. Oh, and Mike and I found out my sister is expecting #3 that day! Mom & Dad already new and I guess Candy & Ken were dropping hints all day! She is due in February!
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| I think Caleb is upset here because he was the only one without his own fishing pole. Gabe got one last year for his birthday. I thought they'd share. I didn't know Candy had gotten both her boys one, so poor Caleb was the only one without...we'll have to remedy that soon, I guess. |
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| Hayden has been in swim lessons for a few weeks and actually swam by himself! |
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| Yes I tried it and survived, don't think I'll do it again. |
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| Mike & Caleb |
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| Mike & Gabe |
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| I love this pic! |
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