Where has all the time gone?!

It's been nearly a month since I posted last! Oops, I had no idea until I checked the date on the last post. Oh my goodness, what a roller coaster we've been on!

R has been in the hospital for over a week now, with Thing 1 and Thing 2 trying to come out much too early. They stopped her labor 3 times and she has had contractions off and on the whole time since then. They monitor her and the babies multiple times a day. If she can make it to 32 weeks they might let her go home.

Her friends had a baby shower for her today. She wheeled down to a special occasion room where her friends had decorated. It wore her out but she had a great time wearing real clothes and just doing something "normal". She also got to go to a chat session on Tues with the other "ladies in waiting" who are at the hospital trying not to have their babies too. R was one of two having twins and one of three military wives and one of three in the same week of gestation. It's always nice to know you're not alone in a situation and can help each other cope. She is at 30 weeks and 2 days. Prayers are appreciated.

JT has been able to spend a lot of time with R and for that we are grateful. He's done a great job taking care of his wife and babies. He even brushed and braided R's hair one day. How sweet is that?

J is brushing my hair as I type this. He's still loving high school and especially basketball. They are having homecoming week this week and he's thrilled. I remember R's first homecoming week and how  excited she was about it. J told me everything they were going to do and how short his classes were going to be and I just smiled and said, "You're my third child to have homecoming week. I know how it goes. But I'm glad you're so excited about it." J had a birthday since I posted last. He's 16! He continues to do well in school and at home. He's a bottomless pit and will eat just about anything. He's a bit lazy and has an attitude prob now and then, but he's a 16yo boy! We love him dearly.

We (the 4 of us) sat around last night and played games and sang Veggie Tales songs. What  a hoot! We are all looking forward to fall break and the beach. Bring it on!

A got an 85 on her stats test the other day and was thrilled with it. Woot! She likes her classes this semester for the most part. She also likes her job and continues to do well there. A and P are going to join us for part of our time at the beach, Lord willing and the creek don't rise. We are all looking forward to it. I hope it works out and doesn't disappoint.

My dad got approved by the doctors for the cochlear implant. Now he just has to get approved by the ins. We are hopeful that this would open up his world again.

I'm officially a junior in college now. I'm only 2 months behind where I wanted to be. I've done well after surgery and am pleased with it all so far. I was even going to play keys and lead music in church tomorrow but a major water leak at the church this evening has cancelled services. I did play the ukulele a bit this morning so that's good. I'm doing therapy twice a week for my wrist and it's going well. Fibro is ok too but I've had sleep issues and hip pain a lot the last couple months.

I'm trying to go through things and get ready for a yard sale. I cleaned out the game cabinet today. Well, I got all the games out. Trying to decide what to keep is hard. I came across my 20 Questions thingy. Have you ever played with one? It's creepy good at guessing what you're thinking of.

The "Ladies in Wheeling" episode of 4x4 Nation is coming out this week. Check it out if you can at www.4x4nation.com .

So, I think I will end this with a thankful list. I'm thankful that Thing 1 and 2 are still tucked safely inside their mommy. I'm thankful for medical care. I'm thankful for God, family and friends. I'm thankful for a chance to take a vacation. I'm thankful for the chance to "go to college" online.

Life...

Wow, we are more than half-way through August already! I can't seem to keep up with everything. I thought I'd do a person by person update and that would be the easiest for me.

T had a hectic first full week of back to school technology glitches. Things all seem to be working correctly now. He had a birthday since I posted last. He is still happy to be working on the ugly boat when he feels like it. We (T, J and I plus my dad) took my dad's old boat to the lake yesterday and it wasn't without it's drama. It was nice to be at the lake but jeepers, how much time/money can we sink into those darn boats? Anyway, it fired us up to work on the ugly boat and two more seats are ugly no more. Yay! He also found out that he does indeed have an umbilical hernia which can thankfully be left alone for now. And since he was at the doc's office and that happens so rarely they took a couple of suspicious moles off his head and arm. Praying for good news on the biopsy results.

Me. Well, I'm one class away from being a junior. I wanted to already be there but life keeps getting in the way. At least I'm not too far off my mark. I'm gearing up for wrist surgery-take 2- in Sept and not looking forward to it. Praying for good and lasting results this time. I made 4 batches of cookies today to sell where I work. I led music at church the last two Sundays. I enjoy it but I'm glad I'm not doing it all the time. I got two new textbooks. Call me weird but I enjoy getting them. Kinda like a kid with new school supplies. Or something.

R and JT. Yes, they are a set. And they are having a set! Ha! Both babies are boys, both are doing well, and R is doing well too. She's seeing a regular doc who has experience with twins and she now feels much more confident about her and the babies care. The babies are estimated at about 11 inches long and a pound each. They are head down and facing each other if I understand R correctly. One was head up but last week they did the wave across her tummy and now they are both head down. JT recently finished his schooling for promotion. Now he just has to have his time in at his current rank and then he can move up again.

A is working and getting ready to start her junior year in college. I've enjoyed lots of moments to connect with her this summer as she hasn't been gone to either work, school or with P at all times. She is a fun person to be with.

J is loving high school and loving basketball. I hope it continues. He still cracks us up at times. It used to be more with his words he was trying to speak. Now he's trying to read everything and getting things confused. The other day we had been to the airport to pick up Bampa and he said, "What's dat 'super me' gas for $3.59?" I said, "Umm, son, that's 'supreme' gas." So funny! Super me/supreme. So close!

Wowzer!

We have been unable to take a vacation or to sell a vehicle this summer. Those two items are inter-related. Sigh.... But we have had some fun along the way and some crazy busy times.

T is working on the ugly boat and nearly has it running. He never ceases to amaze me. It's still ugly but it has a new floor and we are working on that ugly part. Carpet and vinyl will go a long way towards making it not ugly.

J is sort of back to school this morning. He's at "camp" today. He gets his schedule, finds his locker, gets help opening it, finds his classes, etc. He was pumped and ready to go at 6:15 this morning. High school is a big deal. I cut his hair last night and I'm always a little nervous doing that. He loves it and proclaims it the best haircut ever and says he looks like Will Smith. I said, "Will Smith probably gets $100 hair cuts." And J said, "I know where to get it for free!" What a goober! But I'm relieved that he likes it.

A rode back to CO with R and JT and flew back home on Monday by herself. She navigated the airports just fine. She hit the ground running yesterday morning at work.

R and JT and T got here last Monday with the horses. Everyone is doing well except Dante can't believe that we expect him to forage for his own food. He keeps waiting for someone to give him hay. He's such a city horse. We had a nice time with the kids and had a baby shower for them. It was so much fun to watch R's stomach move around with the babies. Amazing at 4 1/2 months to see that. Nephews baby is due today and we had "the girls" lined up together for a pic. M is not much bigger than R. Ha! I will post a pic when I can.

I had a CT scan on this crazy wrist and there's a bone spur that's causing problems now. I'm trying to decide what to do. Gotta be able to hold those grandbabies when they get here!

How about a thankful list. Let's see; I 'm thankful for the promise of new life growing inside R and M. I'm thankful that J is pumped about high school. I'm thankful for our pets (most of the time). I'm thankful for our jobs. I'm thankful for God, family and friends.

Happy Father's Day and pics!!

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in my life. To my dad, you have been a great father, grandfather and soon you can try your hand at being a great-grandfather! What will they call you, Great Bampa? To T, the father of my children and soon-to-be grandfather. We don't always agree on this parenting gig but the children never call me when they have car or computer issues. You really are a good father and full of compassion. And to JT, the newest father-to-be on your first Father's day. I love the way you downloaded the baby app as soon as you found out you were going to be a daddy and when R has questions she can ask you what's going on. Ha! And to T's dad. And to all the other dads who might be reading this. Happy Father's Day!

 

I was able to get some pics from my phone on to the computer the other day when I took my phone apart for some reason. Here they are and I believe they are in a chronological order.

 

I love a sunset!

T and dad doing something on his boat.

Cooper, trying to be good and be part of whatever goes on in the house too.

View from the side of my parent's house. I love where we live.

We finally got down to the lake with dad's boat. Last year the water was so low that you had to jump down into the boat from the pier, which was high and dry then. Now the water's so high it's over the pier. J is checking it out.

This was the first time out. It ran about a 1/4 mile.

Both cats still think that I learn best through a process we've titled "catmosis". Every time I sit down to do some schoolwork one or both cats lay on top of what I'm reading or writing and absorb the info into their bodies. Then it passes to my brain. Or that's what they think. They're so helpful.

The gas tank in this boat is still "gunked up" so they bypassed it with a tank from a parts boat. It ran great this way and we had a nice afternoon at the lake.

Doesn't everyone have a cat sleeping on newspaper (soaking up knowledge for "catmosis"?) next to a headboard project in the music/exercise room/office?

T and I got to go to Atlanta for a couple days. We shopped at thrift stores, ate, spent time with Mrs. H and her family and got to see their church's 36th anniversary. There was a covered dish dinner afterwards. Ain't nothing like a church potluck in the south!

We met this cute dog. Is that her head or her tail?

Ta-da! It's her head!

Little miss G said I should take a pic of her eating.

Back home, my legs are too short to reach the pool. Sigh...

We still really need to sell this van. Please God, send us a buyer. It's an awesome van if you're interested.

Another dead mitsubishi. Poor T! And the way we are pronouncing mitsubishi right now is a bit more...colorful.

Some b-ball in the sunset.

Remember the whole dishwasher staring thing? Now she has graduated to the fridge. Yeah, we don't get it either.

Mr. Long Arms and Legs was sitting at the drums and trying to match rhythm with the keyboard. He just reached over with the stick and hit the fill buttons. Too funny.

Pics!!

Finally! Some pics. I'm always happy when I can figure out how to get pics off my phone and actually get them loaded on to the blog. Woot!

 

The new episode of 4x4 Nation is up on the website and it includes this bit about the Scout Resurrected. Look for all of us on there. www.4x4nationoffroad.com

 

This is the snow we had on the ground the Tuesday before we left for spring break in FL at my parents and T's aunt and uncle. We had some friends along with us and some of T's cousins were there too so we had lots of people to do things with. We had a great time. 

We went to Cowboy Church at Reality Ranch for Easter Sunday.

Where you can see the horses in the pasture behind the preacher.

Here we are getting ready to sift for fossils in the Peace River. We found lots of interesting things.

When the boys got tired of sifting for fossils they caught things with their net.

We went to the beach one day. I was just barely out of the boot so I didn't get to walk the beach but where we were sitting was gorgeous.

The boys were finding things in the rocks.

Then we went to Linger Lodge again. It's one of Al Rokers "Top 5 Weirdest Places to Eat in America." We had to take our friends to that! The boys all ate gator.

Taxidermist stuffed animals are everywhere.

And it's very whimsical.

And very pretty with the spanish moss hanging from the trees in the campground part.

My parent's place is deep in the heart of orange country. The orange blossoms smelled so good! I wanted to bottle it up and bring it home.

J spent some time working on his basketball skills.

I do love a pretty sunset.

When we got home I spotted "Herbie" in a parking lot.

And enjoyed the sunset in my own front yard.Yeah, we get to live here.

I mentioned in an earlier post how we were trying to downsize yet again but something always seems to happen when we try to improve our financial situation. Well, the vehicle we bought to replace the van blew the head gasket a week after we got it. T has had to take all kind of things apart on this engine and has found all kinds of things that were wrong on it. We finally have the right parts but he doesn't have the right tools for working on it the way he needs to. But he's struggling through. Here is a pic of some of the things he's had to take off. I have faith that T will get it all back together with minimal parts left over! I'm sure he has saved us thousands over the years by being able to work on our own vehicles. We are still waiting on a computer for the truck.

My foot is much better though I had a minor setback last week. I still take the boot with me most places just in case I need it. It really does feel better when I'm wearing the boot. This pic is titled "Have Boot, Will Travel" but I look forward to being able to go without it.

Yes, I really do love sunsets.

A couple nights later over the pool.

I started making cookies to sell for our adoption expenses 6 or 7 years ago. I never dreamed they would sell that well. I'm making them in the kitchen where I work as they have a cafe now. I just made 3 batches the other day but a lot of times I do 5 batches at a time. Good stuff!

Well, that's all the pics for now. I must get some schoolwork done.

Waiting to heal

I went to the podiatrist again yesterday. He was perplexed. He said, "It's like your center of pain changed somewhat." He got new xrays to compare to last month's and discovered that the stress fracture of the cuboid is healing but there's another stress fracture of the 5th metatarsal. Those are notoriously long to heal. Ahhhh!!! I'm a bit down today as this is sinking in. I'm to be as non-weight bearing as possible and wear the boot to bed. If I'm showering or not in the boot I'm to be non-weight bearing at all. Sigh....I'm trying to avoid a cast and crutches. Waiting to heal.

On the upside, it's cadbury caramel egg season!! And jolly rancher jelly beans! The only kind of jelly bean I will put in my mouth. And then, only certain colors. The thought of eating any old regular jelly bean grosses me out and I don't even like the jelly belly ones. But jolly rancher ones are really good.

J is getting "almost a B" in math. Pretty much by himself. He had a little help with a couple things. And A got "almost a B" in her accounting class test. I wish these "almost a B's" were on the A side but they're not. But, C is average and as long as J is passing I figure he's doing pretty good and A was really nervous about this accounting test.

R and I have straight As. We're weird like that. It's like our brains are wired the same. I'm still trying to get T to do some schooling.

JT had a birthday this week but spent it in the clinic. His knee is swollen and sore. He's also waiting to heal. Neither one of us has time for this. Please pray for healing for us.

I stepped on Diesel's foot this morning. He hollered and limped away and laid down on the rug. I felt so bad. I couldn't feel a thing through this big old boot. I thought I broke his little foot with my broken foot. He's ok though. Poor little guy.

Today is cold and gloomy and my dad calls from FL saying it's 80s and sunny there. Thanks a lot, dad! But we will be heading down there for spring break. Or that's the change, subject to plan. Hurry up spring break!

Pics!!

Wow! Blogger is letting me post pics today! I'm honored. Apparently my cousin is having trouble with pics and blogger too. Any suggestions?

 

Anyway, we've been busy as always. We had a nice but too short visit with R and JT. They are doing fine. We are all back to school and work. I'm trying to convince T to do school with me. He has a two year tech diploma but he doesn't have that elusive degree that everyone likes you to have. He's afraid he wouldn't have enough time.

 

I'm back in the walking boot for a suspected stress fracture in the right foot. This would be the third diagnosed one. Only it's the cuboid bone this time instead of the metatarsals. Just like to change it up for stress fracture variety.

 

The pics! This year's tree went up in flames incredibly fast. There was a whoosh of flame along the ground and then a very loud whoosh as the whole tree was engulfed.

I think this is the tree and some kind of fireworks. There was a second tree out there but I think they went up together.

We also celebrated my birthday that evening and this is my birthday self portrait.

A totally cleaned out her room and found all kinds of interesting things. J went "dumpster diving" in A's trash bags and found all kinds of interesting things. They were both happy campers, she to get rid of some things and he to find them.

 

Some of the things A found were two santa hats which I was looking for before Christmas which A told me she didn't have. She also found some old suspenders of mine which J latched on to and even wore to school one or two days. Goober. This is his Steve Urkel look.

Oreo continues to go down hill very quickly. She is totally blind and only seems to hear out of her right ear. She gets very confused and has wandered into the woods and down the driveway. She spends most of her time sitting or laying on her bed. Poor dog.

 

In order to ease the sting when she's gone we got a new puppy. I know, what were we thinking. But let me introduce you to Cooper. His mother is a mountain cur which is a hunting dog and father was believed to be an aussie cattle dog (or heeler). He looks like a yellow lab to me. He has green eyes.

 Is he not the cutest thing ever?

God made puppies cute so we wouldn't kill them when they do stuff like this. Cooper was a very busy boy. That used to be a chair cushion.

Well, here's to hoping that blogger lets me put pics up the next time I want to or that I can figure out a way to do it when I want to. Because, what's a blog without pics?

Just busy...

Well I was going to upload some pics but blogger is being stupid again. I may need to rethink this whole blog thing.

Anyway, we've been busy as ever. I was going to do a whole 2012 in review but I never did find time to do that. Sorry. I can't even remember what I had for supper the other day, much less what we did a year ago. I do know that 2012 felt weird. Not bad, just weird.

Onwards and upwards. J is happy to be back in school again. The Christmas break was a bit too long for him and he craves being with his friends. He didn't even mind the homework!

A has not started back to school yet. She is working 2 jobs though.

R and JT will be here next week for a short visit. We are looking forward to seeing them.

I'm still struggling with wrist, foot and back issues. Not bad though. Just would really like some resolve. I started back to school too and am kicking it again. Woot!

I'm trying to convince T to join me in school. He's thinking about it. He's glad to be back to work too. Now maybe we can tell what day it is. He's been helping my dad try to find and fix a water leak. J has been helping them too. It's my job to bring them hot chocolate.

Everyone survived the New Year's Eve party and the tree blowing up. It didn't even really blow, just kind of swooped into flame. Lots of flame. Very quickly. A kept saying, "I'm so glad it rained." Flame travels very quickly and makes and very loud whoosh when it does so. Just sayin'. I have some pics if blogger ever lets me post them.

Oreo is doing ok. Her tumor may have gotten a little bigger in the two week period of trying the antibiotics. So we know it's a tumor and not an abcess. We took her collar off and she's basically happy so that's good. She's such a good dog.

We've had a lot of rain plus dad's water leak so our driveway has been a mess. The sun was out yesterday and it's out again today so that's good. Dad is heading to Haiti today with a group of 12, I think. Keep them in your prayers. They are all excited to be on their way.

October already?!

Wow! This year has flown by. I can't believe it's October already. I'm ready for fall but I haven't gotten out a single fall decoration. How awful is that? Oh well. We've been busy. My online classes are "at your own pace" and I've been cranking it out as fast as I can. I'm not wearing myself out but just working as fast as I can.

We celebrated J's birthday this weekend. He went rollerskating with some friends. Two of them were really good skaters and two were beginners. J has only been about 5 times and he does pretty well considering. So he was kind of in the middle.

Please pray that A passes her math class. She struggles with it.

Will be sharing some good news for JT as soon as we can.

Both of our daughters are able to drive a standard transmission now. Mostly without killing their cars. Mostly.

I have a stew in the crockpot. I love crockpot cooking.

This was the sky on my way home from work last night.

This is the apron we made for J. It says "Chef Pazowski's Haitian Cuisine". T made it on paint.net and we printed it on transfer paper and ironed it on. J likes it. He calls himself Chef Pazowski when he's in the kitchen. He also asked for Hollister shirts for his birthday. He scored 4 of them, 3 fedoras, his apron, an itunes card, other clothes and some money. He's a happy 15yo.

Here he is in one of his fedoras with powder sugar from a donut all over his mouth. Got donuts?