Sonny's forever family has found him! I've kept him in my prayers constantly hoping he would be adopted soon. I check the website almost daily with two hopes, one to see his picture still there because that way I know he's still okay, but two that his picture is gone from the waiting children because he's not going to be waiting much longer and his family has come.
Earlier this week I went on Reece's Rainbow to discover his picture was gone. I couldn't find him anywhere on the site - my heart sank because for some reason my first thought was that he passed away alone & an orphan.
Today I went on to find him in the "committed families" section - he's not going to be an orphan much longer! He has a wonderful family working hard to bring him home. He's going to have a Mom, Dad, Big Sister & a Big Brother.
I can't wait until his family gets him home, he gets to feel the love of a family & more love than he'll know what to do with!!
Please keep this family in your prayers that everything goes through smoothly and Sonny makes it home soon!
To donate to help bring Sonny home to his waiting family please click here! http://www.reecesrainbow.com/familysponsorshipnew.html
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Reece's Rainbow - Sonny
Back a few months ago we discovered Reece's Rainbow. A website dedicated to finding homes for children with special needs such as down syndrome or birth deformities - living outside of the US.
Anyone who knows me knows I was given a love for children and a heart for adoption.Recently I came across the picture and story of a one year old little boy named Sonny. He has the smile of an angel and if we could we'd bring him home this second hug him never letting go and while right now we don't have a way to afford it I decided I can still help by praying for him to find his forever family. I also wanted to share his picture and story with everyone so you can also keep him along with all the other little ones in your prayers.

Sonny (41)
BOY, born February 5, 2009
This muffin has a whole host of health complications, but what a SUNshine he is!
Diagnosis: congenital malformation of urinoexcretory system: bilateral terminal hydronephrosis to the left, secondary chronic pyelonephritis, chronic nephrism (kidney failure), aplasia of muscles of anterior wall of stomach, cryptorchism, systolic murmur, brain affection of unspecified etiology, iron-deficiency anemia
He has $500 in his grant fund towards the cost of his adoption!
To donate towards the cost of his adoption please go to:
http://www.reecesrainbow.com/newsite/angelboys.html
BOY, born February 5, 2009
This muffin has a whole host of health complications, but what a SUNshine he is!
Diagnosis: congenital malformation of urinoexcretory system: bilateral terminal hydronephrosis to the left, secondary chronic pyelonephritis, chronic nephrism (kidney failure), aplasia of muscles of anterior wall of stomach, cryptorchism, systolic murmur, brain affection of unspecified etiology, iron-deficiency anemia
He has $500 in his grant fund towards the cost of his adoption!
To donate towards the cost of his adoption please go to:
http://www.reecesrainbow.com/newsite/angelboys.html
You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.
Psalms 10:14,17-18
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Sumo Baby Bath Time!
Aydan just recently started tolerating bath time. He still doesn't fully enjoy them but we are getting closer... Up until last month he still screamed at the top of his lungs every time we touched water to his body. This seemed very strange to us since our other two are part fish, but oh well! He is his own person!!
This is how Aydan insists on sitting during his bathes. He absolutely refuses to let his tush touch the tub in any way. He sits like a little sumo wrestler, he's even got the tummy to match! :)
Aydan favorite tubby toys are his duckies - he's doing well to keep his ducks all in a row!
The little guy is quickly outgrowing his bath robes. Maybe it's time to go robe shopping....
Aydan is officially our biggest. At his 18 month appointment he weighed 19.6 pounds & was 30 inches tall! Such a big boy!
Aydan is officially our biggest. At his 18 month appointment he weighed 19.6 pounds & was 30 inches tall! Such a big boy!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
And the adventure begins!!
Back a couple weeks ago we began a journey to discover why my grandmother -Grannie- was having abdominal pain & tenderness. We scheduled her a CT scan, x-rays, blood work, & urine analysis to try to find the source of the problem. 2 months of searching and well...no such luck, but we did find Kidney & Adrenal Cancer as well as a MASSIVE amount of fluid on her heart.
Going to Dr. appointment after Dr. appointment we are beginning to set a game plan in motion to take care of everything to get her feeling better. Still of course scared for her at the same time.
This coming Friday we go in to the hospital to have a procedure done where they will insert a needle into the sack around her heart to hopefully drain off all the fluid. If the needle fails to do this the will insert a drain tube to do it. Once the heart is taken care of we can begin working on discovering the main source of her cancer to figure out a treatment plan for this.
During this you can tell inside Grannie is coming to terms with her own life/death. She has things the she desires to do "while she still feels like it and is still alive" as she puts it. First of all she wants to go back to Hugo to put flowers on the graves of my dad (her son) as well as her brothers and parents. This is a huge deal to her which she keeps telling me she is worried it wont happen. We are trying so hard to be able to make sure this happens for her. Her sister Ruby is hoping she will be upto going next week, so if everything goes well - Hugo here she comes!
The next thing Grannie keeps bringing up is the fact that she wants to "see our little girl before she dies" this one for many reasons is much harder to make happen quickly. She knows our plan is to someday adopt, but she feels this wont occur before she is gone - which most likely this is true. Our children have been very blessed to have something that many people never get the chance to have Time With GREAT-Grandparents! Ours have gotten to spend time with 2 wonderful Great-Grandmothers! They also have 1 Great-Great-Grandmother (whom they haven't yet gotten to meet). I want more than anything to make Grannie's dream of seeing her from the heart(adopted) granddaughter come true. So I guess it's time to sit down & start a game plan for that too!
Please take the time to look at the beautiful children on this website. Keep them in your prayers that they will all be blessed to find loving forever families!
http://www.reecesrainbow.com/newsite/index.php
Going to Dr. appointment after Dr. appointment we are beginning to set a game plan in motion to take care of everything to get her feeling better. Still of course scared for her at the same time.
This coming Friday we go in to the hospital to have a procedure done where they will insert a needle into the sack around her heart to hopefully drain off all the fluid. If the needle fails to do this the will insert a drain tube to do it. Once the heart is taken care of we can begin working on discovering the main source of her cancer to figure out a treatment plan for this.
During this you can tell inside Grannie is coming to terms with her own life/death. She has things the she desires to do "while she still feels like it and is still alive" as she puts it. First of all she wants to go back to Hugo to put flowers on the graves of my dad (her son) as well as her brothers and parents. This is a huge deal to her which she keeps telling me she is worried it wont happen. We are trying so hard to be able to make sure this happens for her. Her sister Ruby is hoping she will be upto going next week, so if everything goes well - Hugo here she comes!
The next thing Grannie keeps bringing up is the fact that she wants to "see our little girl before she dies" this one for many reasons is much harder to make happen quickly. She knows our plan is to someday adopt, but she feels this wont occur before she is gone - which most likely this is true. Our children have been very blessed to have something that many people never get the chance to have Time With GREAT-Grandparents! Ours have gotten to spend time with 2 wonderful Great-Grandmothers! They also have 1 Great-Great-Grandmother (whom they haven't yet gotten to meet). I want more than anything to make Grannie's dream of seeing her from the heart(adopted) granddaughter come true. So I guess it's time to sit down & start a game plan for that too!
Please take the time to look at the beautiful children on this website. Keep them in your prayers that they will all be blessed to find loving forever families!
http://www.reecesrainbow.com/newsite/index.php
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Dylan's Birthday! He's 6!!
Wow, I can't believe it's been 6 years already! It has just flown by!
Well, Dylan actually managed to get a bunch of "parties" this year! 3 so far & 1 still to go.
The first party we had was a family party. Gamma, Gampa, Aunt Jamie, Nana & Grannie all got to join us for it! Unfortunately J.D. had food poisoning & spent that time in bed.. :(
Dylan had a great time though & was very happy to have so many people here.
He LOVED all his gifts! A transformer, 2 boxes of Legos, A Space/Astronaut book, box of office supplies (what boy doesn't love ink pens, paper & a stapler??), a giant wooden dinosaur puzzle, AND...
A HUGE smiley face cookie!! - So yummy!! (From Aunt Jamie - who knows the best way to a boys heart is through his tummy!) :)
~~Party # 2 took place at school, not really a party so much as just snacks with his classmates. He took juice & cupcakes to school - since we refused to let him stay home for the day & yes he did ask...I don't remember asking to do that until like 4th or 5th grade!
~~Party # 3 was when he got home from school on his b-day. We took him out to eat at Golden Dragon Cafe (his favorite food place besides Red Lobster), he had shrimp & chocolate ice cream! Then came home & got to open his gift from us.

What could it be???
Legos of course!! A 539 piece creator set - took him less than 15 hours to put together (he slept about 10 of that & ate twice - so more like 2-3 hours). His biggest set before this was about 90 pieces....
Well, Dylan actually managed to get a bunch of "parties" this year! 3 so far & 1 still to go.
The first party we had was a family party. Gamma, Gampa, Aunt Jamie, Nana & Grannie all got to join us for it! Unfortunately J.D. had food poisoning & spent that time in bed.. :(
Dylan had a great time though & was very happy to have so many people here.
~~Party # 2 took place at school, not really a party so much as just snacks with his classmates. He took juice & cupcakes to school - since we refused to let him stay home for the day & yes he did ask...I don't remember asking to do that until like 4th or 5th grade!
~~Party # 3 was when he got home from school on his b-day. We took him out to eat at Golden Dragon Cafe (his favorite food place besides Red Lobster), he had shrimp & chocolate ice cream! Then came home & got to open his gift from us.
What could it be???
Saturday, January 30, 2010
One week, one day away and.......
He's doing it, finally doing it!!
His Dr. told us he would before she saw him next at his 15 month appointment...I was beginning to wonder!
Those of you who came here from FB though I was pregnant didn't you! LOL...Sorry...NOPE!
His Dr. told us he would before she saw him next at his 15 month appointment...I was beginning to wonder!
Those of you who came here from FB though I was pregnant didn't you! LOL...Sorry...NOPE!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wow, what a week!
Ok, as a Mom I've had something happen this week that very rarely happens & even when it does...not for this long!!
Actually I'm convinced it's just not real!!
Okay, okay...so I'll get to what I'm talking about! My kids! They are being...well...how do I say it...PERFECT!!
Maybe someone came in when I wasn't looking & switched them out - who knows!?!?
All I know is I LOVE it!!!
They've been sharing with each other & caring about each other. Playing together non-stop...All 3 of them!!
We've had no fighting, no arguing...and when we ask them to do something they've been doing it!!
It's been so wonderful...I know though by writing this that it'll all stop first thing tomorrow morning! But oh well - it's been an awesome week!
I remember when Dylan was little he was always like this until he woke up on his 3rd birthday and it's just been crazy from there with him.
Ryan - well, Ryan was born loud & wild...so we don't know any different with him...(But he's a great kid & he keeps us on our toes, every parent needs at least one like that!!)
Aydan - he's only 14 months..refuses to walk so really doesn't get into any trouble (yet)....Though today did decide to all of a sudden blurt out (as clear as day) "I want up" & said it twice - which is crazy because up until now all he's said was Momma, Adda (Dad-da), Bu-Bu & Cookie (have to thank Grannie for that one!) So I'm not sure what to expect in the coming days...
I wish we could just continue this week forever! I mean I've been shown that kids don't have to fight to live! (Even though I'm sure somewhere in the sibling rule book it states otherwise - I just lost my copy so I can't check, and am sure not going to tell the boys).. :)
What a week though. I've needed it for a long time, so maybe it's just been a belated birthday or Christmas gift....
I'm truly blessed even with their little quirks I still have really awesome (mostly) well behaved boys. And although I think there is some truth to the old saying "Boy will be boys." I think so much of it has to do with their upbringing.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)
Actually I'm convinced it's just not real!!
Okay, okay...so I'll get to what I'm talking about! My kids! They are being...well...how do I say it...PERFECT!!
Maybe someone came in when I wasn't looking & switched them out - who knows!?!?
All I know is I LOVE it!!!
They've been sharing with each other & caring about each other. Playing together non-stop...All 3 of them!!
We've had no fighting, no arguing...and when we ask them to do something they've been doing it!!
It's been so wonderful...I know though by writing this that it'll all stop first thing tomorrow morning! But oh well - it's been an awesome week!
I remember when Dylan was little he was always like this until he woke up on his 3rd birthday and it's just been crazy from there with him.
Ryan - well, Ryan was born loud & wild...so we don't know any different with him...(But he's a great kid & he keeps us on our toes, every parent needs at least one like that!!)
Aydan - he's only 14 months..refuses to walk so really doesn't get into any trouble (yet)....Though today did decide to all of a sudden blurt out (as clear as day) "I want up" & said it twice - which is crazy because up until now all he's said was Momma, Adda (Dad-da), Bu-Bu & Cookie (have to thank Grannie for that one!) So I'm not sure what to expect in the coming days...
I wish we could just continue this week forever! I mean I've been shown that kids don't have to fight to live! (Even though I'm sure somewhere in the sibling rule book it states otherwise - I just lost my copy so I can't check, and am sure not going to tell the boys).. :)
What a week though. I've needed it for a long time, so maybe it's just been a belated birthday or Christmas gift....
I'm truly blessed even with their little quirks I still have really awesome (mostly) well behaved boys. And although I think there is some truth to the old saying "Boy will be boys." I think so much of it has to do with their upbringing.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)
Monday, January 04, 2010
Wow, when it rains it pours!!!
Here are just a few more snapshots that I found while clearing the camera.
After this I think I'll be caught up for a while on blogging!!! :)
After this I think I'll be caught up for a while on blogging!!! :)
Dylan also got some "Moon sand" for Christmas - this was also a huge hit! Even I enjoyed it, but we did discover "Moon Sand" required supervision so it doesn't get everywhere!
Kaylee was teaching Dylan how a "gangster" wears their hat. A Black Bear hat with ears & a Disney Cars hat pull off the look even better!
When I asked her how she knew what a "gangster" looked like she told me because she saw one & when he sat down she could see his "underpants"!! LOL, she is sooooo funny! I love that little girl! It's hard to believe she'll be 7 this year!!! Seems like only yesterday I changed her very first poopy diaper!
Gingerbread Houses!
After Christmas we found these cool little gingerbread house kits on sale - so we got a couple for Dylan & Ryan to do.
They just loved them!
Makes me wish we had done it sooner, but life has just been so busy up until last week.

Of course they were begging to eat them before they were even 1/2 finished & 5 min after the houses were completed - well, they had bite marks taken out of them already... :)
Playin' in the Snow!!!!
When we arrived home from Hugo we were met with ALOT of snow!!!
I'm not such a big fan but between JD, my brother, my 3 boys, & nephew...there were a few fans in the group...
Being in Oklahoma though we didn't really have good "snow clothes" so we came up with our own!

Double pants, trash bags over shoes, plastic disposable gloves over regular gloves, hats, coats - lots of bundling!!!
Christmas!
Our Christmas was started in Hugo since we had to pack & move Grannie...
The first gift the boys got was something to share - a Backyardagins movie (the robot one) - we gave it to them on Christmas Eve morning so they could use it while we were packing....
Gift 2 - was a tradition of ours - Christmas Eve night opening one gift - it's always PJ's - usually JD & I are involved with this one too, but this year just the boys.....
Dylan got Transformers, Ryan & Aydan got Disney Cars.

Gift 3 was Christmas Morning - since we weren't going to be home I want to take one thing for each of them to open when they woke up.

Then Christmas night my Cousin came over with her little boy & all the kids exchanged gifts.
Dylan got Bakugans which he loves (Mommy & Daddy are still trying to figure out exactly what these are)
Ryan got Batman toys
Aydan got a shape sorter blender thing - that is awesome!! :) LOL
~Christmas at Home!!!~
We had our family Christmas at like 2:30ish a.m. on Dec. 27th - so we were all verrryyyy tired!
We had left milk & cookies in the fridge for Santa when we left so it wouldn't go bad before he arrived...

Dylan & Ryan also got their first set of "big kid" legos from Daddy! - They each a box box of 400+ pieces - they love them!!!
Then Nana came over so we could have Christmas with her on the afternoon on the 27th.
The first gift the boys got was something to share - a Backyardagins movie (the robot one) - we gave it to them on Christmas Eve morning so they could use it while we were packing....
Gift 2 - was a tradition of ours - Christmas Eve night opening one gift - it's always PJ's - usually JD & I are involved with this one too, but this year just the boys.....
Dylan got Transformers, Ryan & Aydan got Disney Cars.
Gift 3 was Christmas Morning - since we weren't going to be home I want to take one thing for each of them to open when they woke up.
- Dylan got a Robot - this he actually knew about but didn't know he was getting it for Christmas. We had bought it back a few months ago so he could use his allowance to buy it from us, but well he never did & with money being tight I thought it was a good thing to wrap up!!
- Ryan got a pretend computer - he has wanted one for soooo long. He sees J.D. using his for work & he likes playing number & letter games on mine so when we found one on HUGE clearance we got it!!! - I love sales!!!!
- Aydan got a Mini Car Raceway thing - it has soft chunky cars that go down a spinning track thing.....
Then Christmas night my Cousin came over with her little boy & all the kids exchanged gifts.
Dylan got Bakugans which he loves (Mommy & Daddy are still trying to figure out exactly what these are)
Ryan got Batman toys
Aydan got a shape sorter blender thing - that is awesome!! :) LOL
~Christmas at Home!!!~
We had our family Christmas at like 2:30ish a.m. on Dec. 27th - so we were all verrryyyy tired!
We had left milk & cookies in the fridge for Santa when we left so it wouldn't go bad before he arrived...
Dylan & Ryan also got their first set of "big kid" legos from Daddy! - They each a box box of 400+ pieces - they love them!!!
Then Nana came over so we could have Christmas with her on the afternoon on the 27th.
How do -You- eat Pizza????
This is how Aydan does it.......
I realized as I was taking the pictures that I had forgotten to put a bib on him...oops!
Oh well, at least he was wearing something dark....
....The Move.....
Well, it's done...it's finally done!! We got my Grannie all moved to Stillwater!
Drove down to Hugo on the evening of Dec. 23rd & started boxing things up the next day. Spent all day the 24th & 25th packing boxes with a goal to spend the 26th loading the trailers & cleaning her old apartment.
Day One: Breakfast!
Day One: Non-stop rain!
Well, all went pretty good until trailer loading day when things got WAY slowed down as we had run out of space in our 2 trailers & 3 vehicles (Yukon, Pathfinder, & mini van) - I was amazed how much stuff one 79 year old lady could have!! Wow!
Just being cute! (Did I mention Aydan is really into undressing himself??)
They have so much fun playing together! (Most of the time)
The plan was to leave Grannies old place around 1-2 p.m. so we could get home early enough to have Christmas. Ended up leaving around 6:45 then still had to stop to eat supper.
Playing with toys!
The roads in Hugo and about half way along our trip were all clear. Mid-way through we started seeing snow in ditches & in fields, a little further along we began seeing it in yards & on houses, about an hour away from Stillwater we found snow & ice on roads - this turned our 4 hr. trip into about a 5 hour trip. It's crazy pulling trailers on ice!
Watching the loading process....
We made it home around 12:45 & it was time to unload one trailer into the garage so we could return it to the rental place. It took an hour to get this thing backed into the driveway. The road in front of our house & or driveway were just too slick! Luckily the guys took care of this while us girly folk sat in the house. :)
Trying to get the trailer into the driveway.....
Finally around 2 a.m. we got to have Christmas! I'll post pics of that later!
Grannie & Aydan were very worn out!!
On Dec. 31st we got word that Grannies new place here was ready! We went right away and started getting her moved in! So far I think she likes it - it still isn't home to her yet, but hopefully soon she'll meet some neighbors & make some friends!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Just being cute!
Ryan, being his 3 year old self is always doing something that's just plain cute. Most of these events I never catch with pictures or video, but I just wanted to share a couple of things I do have pictures of!
Ryan discovered the "Santa" Mr. Potato pieces fit him too!
Mom: "What do you think it is?"
Mom: "Do brownies usually smell like pumpkin bread?"
Ryan: "Sometimes..."
He's so much fun when his little horns are covered up.. :)
(okay really he's fun all the time- I Love this kid!!!)
It's been almost a full year since we went on the wild goose chase trying to find out why he wasn't growing. I'm so glad we finally gave up! I knew he'd grow when his body was ready! The other day I measured him to discover he had grown 3 inches since last March!! Isn't that awesome!!! Now he's upto 26 lbs too!!!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Picture with Santa 2009
Every year we go to the mall to get the boys picture taken with Santa...of course this year was no different. I think it turned out really cute although Aydan wasn't sure what to think of him!
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
I Do Believe?..........!!
It's 2:25 a.m. & I find myself unable to calm all the things in my head enough to fall asleep. It the last month it has somehow felt as if the world around me - my safe haven is coming apart at the seams. How does a person keep standing tall when everything around them is crumbling??
Let me start from the beginging...
July 2009 my Grannie's brother passed away from cancer. Leaving her pretty much alone in the area of Oklahoma which she lives. After talking in depth with my brother (all the close family she still has is 1 sister & 2 grandkids -> my brother & I) we come to the agreement that Grannie is going to have to move. She'll be 80 in Feb. & someday in the near future is going to need some assistance and being 4-7 hours away is too far. Finally after much talking it is decided the best place for her to move is to Stillwater to be near me since it's easier for me to take care of her. The ball is set in motion with us putting in an application at a local 62+ low income housing apartment complex.....Now We Wait.....
Late Oct. 2009 some of our worst fears are confirmed as we find out J.D.s Grandmother is diagnosed with early stages of dementia. Of course we stand up ready & willing to fight this battle to the fullest. We set a path with medication mishaps, lost belongings, and memories fading as the first few stops. J.D. decides it's time for him to control the medication since it's not going to help if it isn't taken correctly. He makes plans to visit nightly to dose out her meds & fill her pill box for the following morning & fix her dry erase board on her fridge so she can do check marks as she takes each of the items in it. First thing every morning he gives her a wake up call and reminds her to take her medication - while he's on the phone.
All of this maybe making it sound as if things are very bad, I want to let you know as of right now it's not. She is just forgetting short term things who has come to visit, fed or not fed the animals(sometimes feeding more then once I'm sure), taking or not taking her meds - things of this nature. Sometimes things such as repeating the same things over many times in one conversation.
She now does many things with us such as grocery shop & spend time eating together & watching movies. We find ourselves wanting to capture every great memory and put it in a bottle on a shelf to give back to her later, but we wont be able to return them.
Nov. 2009 - We get the call!! Grannies apartment is going to be ready Dec. 1st!!! Yay!!! ....But....she has to give 30 days notice where she is and being half way through the month already that puts us mid December. Though if she moves into the new apartment she'll have to pay rent both where she is & where she's going.
Her current rent is $150 her new rent is $400. Being on a set income this is made impossible for her to do so we check into housing assistance for her & discover "Section 8". We get her application in to be told there are over 800 families ahead of her & it will be at least 14-16 months before her name makes it to the top. J.D. & I quickly go over our finances & decided we'll have take care of the extra $250. We set a plan of moving in Jan 1st. Of course that's when the new landlord tells us that shes going to have to rent out this apartment before then because it is actually going to be ready Dec. 1st & can't stay empty that long - so she moves on to the next person on the list, but tells me that she has another one that should be ready right when we need it - speaking of which I need to call & check on that! Then of course we have moving expenses such as gas, U-Haul, food, turning on utilities, apartment deposit, cleaning supplies for old house, possible motel, and I'm sure there is something else that I've forgotten. Luckily my bro is going to try to help some with those things.
So our planned move out date for her is Dec. 24th, 25th, & 26th. For my kids sake this makes me sad because they'll somewhat miss Christmas or at least Christmas day. Of course with everything else this year Christmas money is a little short anyways so there aren't going to be as many items under the tree as I'd like (well, there may be, but they wont be the things I really want to get). Dylan at school made a chain of rings to cut apart counting down the days to Christmas - I found myself wanting so bad to add a few rings so he wouldn't know that we wont be here when Santa arrives. At the same time though the gifts aren't what Christmas is about & I don't want to loose sight of that during all of this.
Dec. 7th - J.D.s uncle Lyle calls (keep in mind through all of this back a few months ago Lyle was diagnosed with cancer & is undergoing chemo at the moment) to let us know J.D.'s Dad has had a small stroke & has a large blood clot in his neck putting him at even greater risk for a major stroke. With all of this he is almost out of firewood right before the coldest night so far this winter.
So yesterday J.D. took off work to go find trees to cut down for some wood to get him to the weekend. After arriving out the he learns there is a place that has some wood they can have - it just needs to be hauled to his house. Two hours of hauling and he has firewood!!! (for now)
Last night(Dec. 8th) - my Mom calls to tell me they are heading to urgent care because she's having chest pain. (side note, things are supposed to come in 3's - if you've been counting this is #4) I start praying right away for this to be nothing, but am scared out of my mind at the same time. I mean this is my Mom we are talking about!
A while later they let us know that her EKG showed a little something so they are being moved over to the ER. I sit by the phone until a little after 11 p.m. when Mom calls to let me know they are keeping her over night just to be on the safe side & to do a few more tests. As of the last time I spoke to her at 8 a.m. they were still waiting to hear something.
So as you can see things are very busy around here.
At some point a person begins to wonder how much stress they can take. I'm physically, emotionally, & financially drained. Everything I do is lacking in it's completion. Starting with my involvement it Dylan's schooling all the way to my house just being flat out dirty. Laundry piles up because I don't have the energy to move the load in the washer to the dryer. We go back to newly wed meals(mac n cheese, ramen, corn dogs..etc)from lack of funds as well as lack of energy to actually cook(or the thought of cleaning up afterwards). I'm behind on daycare activities - but have to be caught up by our Christmas party. Sometimes I wish for a vacation, but know it's just a band-aid and at some point I have to come back to reality. As I sit here J.D. & I have just made the decision to keep Dylan home from school today, not because he's ill but because neither of us had the energy to search for clean clothes or pack him a lunch(school lunches are a whole other issue that I will not dive into at the moment). Although I know that is very pathetic thats just the way today will be in hopes that tomorrow is better!
I know that things are rough, but I also know they'll get better. I've been asked if I'm depressed, and the answer is no, I'm not...I'm just worn out. I love my life & truly would do nothing to change it. Through everything I'm trying not to complain but every now & then I have to, or seem too, but it's more of just needing to vent.
So to the title of my post - I Do Believe!! I believe things will get better, I fear they will get worse before getting better, but I know they WILL get better! For this reason I have decided to make today count!! I will start trying to catch up laundry, I will sing, dance & play with all 6 little people here with me! We will rejoice in the day & be glad!
I thank each of you reading this for letting me vent & hope God will bless you all today in whatever you are doing!!
Let me start from the beginging...
July 2009 my Grannie's brother passed away from cancer. Leaving her pretty much alone in the area of Oklahoma which she lives. After talking in depth with my brother (all the close family she still has is 1 sister & 2 grandkids -> my brother & I) we come to the agreement that Grannie is going to have to move. She'll be 80 in Feb. & someday in the near future is going to need some assistance and being 4-7 hours away is too far. Finally after much talking it is decided the best place for her to move is to Stillwater to be near me since it's easier for me to take care of her. The ball is set in motion with us putting in an application at a local 62+ low income housing apartment complex.....Now We Wait.....
Late Oct. 2009 some of our worst fears are confirmed as we find out J.D.s Grandmother is diagnosed with early stages of dementia. Of course we stand up ready & willing to fight this battle to the fullest. We set a path with medication mishaps, lost belongings, and memories fading as the first few stops. J.D. decides it's time for him to control the medication since it's not going to help if it isn't taken correctly. He makes plans to visit nightly to dose out her meds & fill her pill box for the following morning & fix her dry erase board on her fridge so she can do check marks as she takes each of the items in it. First thing every morning he gives her a wake up call and reminds her to take her medication - while he's on the phone.
All of this maybe making it sound as if things are very bad, I want to let you know as of right now it's not. She is just forgetting short term things who has come to visit, fed or not fed the animals(sometimes feeding more then once I'm sure), taking or not taking her meds - things of this nature. Sometimes things such as repeating the same things over many times in one conversation.
She now does many things with us such as grocery shop & spend time eating together & watching movies. We find ourselves wanting to capture every great memory and put it in a bottle on a shelf to give back to her later, but we wont be able to return them.
Nov. 2009 - We get the call!! Grannies apartment is going to be ready Dec. 1st!!! Yay!!! ....But....she has to give 30 days notice where she is and being half way through the month already that puts us mid December. Though if she moves into the new apartment she'll have to pay rent both where she is & where she's going.
Her current rent is $150 her new rent is $400. Being on a set income this is made impossible for her to do so we check into housing assistance for her & discover "Section 8". We get her application in to be told there are over 800 families ahead of her & it will be at least 14-16 months before her name makes it to the top. J.D. & I quickly go over our finances & decided we'll have take care of the extra $250. We set a plan of moving in Jan 1st. Of course that's when the new landlord tells us that shes going to have to rent out this apartment before then because it is actually going to be ready Dec. 1st & can't stay empty that long - so she moves on to the next person on the list, but tells me that she has another one that should be ready right when we need it - speaking of which I need to call & check on that! Then of course we have moving expenses such as gas, U-Haul, food, turning on utilities, apartment deposit, cleaning supplies for old house, possible motel, and I'm sure there is something else that I've forgotten. Luckily my bro is going to try to help some with those things.
So our planned move out date for her is Dec. 24th, 25th, & 26th. For my kids sake this makes me sad because they'll somewhat miss Christmas or at least Christmas day. Of course with everything else this year Christmas money is a little short anyways so there aren't going to be as many items under the tree as I'd like (well, there may be, but they wont be the things I really want to get). Dylan at school made a chain of rings to cut apart counting down the days to Christmas - I found myself wanting so bad to add a few rings so he wouldn't know that we wont be here when Santa arrives. At the same time though the gifts aren't what Christmas is about & I don't want to loose sight of that during all of this.
Dec. 7th - J.D.s uncle Lyle calls (keep in mind through all of this back a few months ago Lyle was diagnosed with cancer & is undergoing chemo at the moment) to let us know J.D.'s Dad has had a small stroke & has a large blood clot in his neck putting him at even greater risk for a major stroke. With all of this he is almost out of firewood right before the coldest night so far this winter.
So yesterday J.D. took off work to go find trees to cut down for some wood to get him to the weekend. After arriving out the he learns there is a place that has some wood they can have - it just needs to be hauled to his house. Two hours of hauling and he has firewood!!! (for now)
Last night(Dec. 8th) - my Mom calls to tell me they are heading to urgent care because she's having chest pain. (side note, things are supposed to come in 3's - if you've been counting this is #4) I start praying right away for this to be nothing, but am scared out of my mind at the same time. I mean this is my Mom we are talking about!
A while later they let us know that her EKG showed a little something so they are being moved over to the ER. I sit by the phone until a little after 11 p.m. when Mom calls to let me know they are keeping her over night just to be on the safe side & to do a few more tests. As of the last time I spoke to her at 8 a.m. they were still waiting to hear something.
So as you can see things are very busy around here.
At some point a person begins to wonder how much stress they can take. I'm physically, emotionally, & financially drained. Everything I do is lacking in it's completion. Starting with my involvement it Dylan's schooling all the way to my house just being flat out dirty. Laundry piles up because I don't have the energy to move the load in the washer to the dryer. We go back to newly wed meals(mac n cheese, ramen, corn dogs..etc)from lack of funds as well as lack of energy to actually cook(or the thought of cleaning up afterwards). I'm behind on daycare activities - but have to be caught up by our Christmas party. Sometimes I wish for a vacation, but know it's just a band-aid and at some point I have to come back to reality. As I sit here J.D. & I have just made the decision to keep Dylan home from school today, not because he's ill but because neither of us had the energy to search for clean clothes or pack him a lunch(school lunches are a whole other issue that I will not dive into at the moment). Although I know that is very pathetic thats just the way today will be in hopes that tomorrow is better!
I know that things are rough, but I also know they'll get better. I've been asked if I'm depressed, and the answer is no, I'm not...I'm just worn out. I love my life & truly would do nothing to change it. Through everything I'm trying not to complain but every now & then I have to, or seem too, but it's more of just needing to vent.
So to the title of my post - I Do Believe!! I believe things will get better, I fear they will get worse before getting better, but I know they WILL get better! For this reason I have decided to make today count!! I will start trying to catch up laundry, I will sing, dance & play with all 6 little people here with me! We will rejoice in the day & be glad!
I thank each of you reading this for letting me vent & hope God will bless you all today in whatever you are doing!!
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
'Tis The Season For....Cages???
Okay, so as you can see this year we were very worried about our tree running away...or at least the ornaments....
This cage has become a yearly tradition in our house for about 3 years now. Between daycare & our own youngsters this is the only way to protect the tree & the contents of the packages below it.
I think back to past years - before the "cage"..... How did we ever make it?? I remember having a very small tree our first two years of marriage one of which was child free. The next 2 were our big tree but no gate & don't remember the youngsters ever bothering it. Couldn't imagine giving them free reign at it this year though 3 - 1 yr. olds could be a real disaster! Not to mention the 2 year old who's arm is just barly long enough to finger-tip them anyways....luckily Dylan & Ryan aren't too interested in the ornaments unless we have guests over - of course they want to show off their favorites, but have decided it works just as well to point & not take them off of the tree.

Our tree is supposed to be decorated with an Orange & Black OSU sort of theme this year. Every year we do a different color theme on it & last year after Christmas found wonderful orange & black glass ball ornaments, we as you can see we never found any other orange or black stuff so it's just a little bit naked, but oh well! We still like it, and we very proud of our decorating skills! Dylan & Ryan did most of the ornaments from the bottom to a little over half way up the tree. JD had to do the ones on the top since we don't trust Ryan near a ladder or anything he could try to "fly" (jump) off of....
Durring our Thanksgiving break Nana also put up her Christmas tree. She put an extra one up on her kitchen table (just a little one), but it had no ornaments just lights so we decided to make some new ornaments for it. All 5 of us pulled out the craft stuff & went to work on some creative new things for her tree - even Aydan "helped" - ok so really he played "how big of a mess can I make while Mommy & Daddy aren't looking", but oh well he had fun! Sorry I didn't get any pictures of that, I was too busy cleaning it up to worry about the camera.


Our tree is supposed to be decorated with an Orange & Black OSU sort of theme this year. Every year we do a different color theme on it & last year after Christmas found wonderful orange & black glass ball ornaments, we as you can see we never found any other orange or black stuff so it's just a little bit naked, but oh well! We still like it, and we very proud of our decorating skills! Dylan & Ryan did most of the ornaments from the bottom to a little over half way up the tree. JD had to do the ones on the top since we don't trust Ryan near a ladder or anything he could try to "fly" (jump) off of....
Durring our Thanksgiving break Nana also put up her Christmas tree. She put an extra one up on her kitchen table (just a little one), but it had no ornaments just lights so we decided to make some new ornaments for it. All 5 of us pulled out the craft stuff & went to work on some creative new things for her tree - even Aydan "helped" - ok so really he played "how big of a mess can I make while Mommy & Daddy aren't looking", but oh well he had fun! Sorry I didn't get any pictures of that, I was too busy cleaning it up to worry about the camera.
So as you can see Christmas is in full swing around our house!!
Monday, November 16, 2009
What?!?! Turkey!!! Where???
Last Thursday Dylan brought home a "Family Project" to do & return to school. He had to disguise a Turkey so it wouldn't get eaten on Thanksgiving. The idea was to disguise it as something to do with your family (sports, hobbies..etc..). During the cold months one of our favorite family activities (besides doing art work) is watching movies - so....Dylan wanted to design his turkey as -Tin Man- from "The Wizard of Oz", but before starting this project we copied it so Ryan could do it too! Another one of our favorite movies is "The Polar Express" - and although I think dressing a turkey as a train would be fun, I have a feeling it would be difficult since trains have no eyes....We decided to go with Santa....
Here are the turkeys we made...this was so much fun! Dylan & Ryan LOVE doing any type of art work so this was wonderful for them plus J.D. & I love getting to spend family time doing it with them.
They both turned out so cute!!
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