Backyard Fort

The boys were busy today building a fort in the backyard. I think they have their mind on camping... Here is them eating dinner in their fort.

Christmas

So we had a great Christmas break...too bad it is over.
One great milestone we reached was the Green Gorilla (suburban)turning 200,000 miles. What's sad is the car isn't far behind at 194,000 miles.
I desperately tried to get a picture of the cousins together...as you can see below, it didn't quite work out!

Mikah informing Jake there is no way he would be involved in this parental entertainment that never ceases for cute toddlers. AKA-pictures

Mikah with his new Santa toys

Jake with his new Santa goodies. I'm so glad at least one of my children still believe.

Bradley opening his Star Wars AT-TE...it's a walking ship that hold the action figures.

Mikah loves Bradley

Randy putting together the boys basketball goal....using his new tool belt of course!

Mikah and Bradley playing with the AT-TE.

More Football and Bradley's 10th Birthday!

Saturday we celebrated Bradley's 10th Birthday at the YMCA swimming pool. The BEST part of the birthday of course was that his dad finally got to come to one of his parties. Someone in the lunch room last week was asking me about Bradley's party and mentioned something about Randy being there. My eyes immediately teared up and I had to not talk bc I was sad that Randy was not going to be able to come, and he has never been able to come to one of Bradley's parties bc of football. Well, the head coaches wife was in there and went home and strongly suggested to her husband that he have Randy take Saturday off of football to go to his son's party....So a picture below of Bradley and his DAD AT HIS PARTY!!!


Opening gifts

Blowing out candles.

Gift from Grandpa and Mimi...Both my and Randy's dad have given Bradley a quarters map...pretty cool.

More Friday night football. It was COLD!!! The boys are drinking hot chocolate.

The winning team.

Us bundled at the game. Jake sat between me and Shannon, and Bradley huddled below him.

The ride home.

Jake's head, Bradley's legs.

Friday Night Fun

We are 9-1 heading into the playoffs. Tri-district champs, we have to share the title with two other schools. So here are some pictures from our Friday nights lately. The first one is the sweetest. This was Bradley's frist time to go on the sidelines with his dad. Precious.


And what would Friday nights be without Crickets???

I know disgusting, but he sure was having a good time. From the back...

EWWWWW! This was an away game, but I made Jake stay awake the entire way home so I could throw him in the tub.

And I shook the boy off real good before we got in Shannon's car!

FC DALLAS

The boys and I had a blast last night at the FC Dallas game. The YMCA sold tickets to the kids that play soccer for $15. With that, you get a free FC Dallas Tshirt and the kids got to be in a parade on the field before the game. Below is the boys in the parade. It is very easy to see where they are. See the big gap in the line? That is Bradley talking to his friend as he walks, not paying attention to the line!

Ready for some soccer action! Yes, I colored Jake's hair red. I colored both the boys hair red last time we went. This time Bradley didn't want his red...I guess he is too old for that. :(

SCORE!!! The game was exciting at the end. It ended up tied 2-2 against Toronto. I really like professional soccer games. They are exciting. Jake making some noise!
Me and Jake. I was playing with the settings because I didn't like my make-up...it had come off and I didn't have on lip stick and I just think the green color is much more becoming than my regular self.
Jake and his buddies.
Bradley watching the game. I love to see my boys having a good time.
Jake picked up streamers off the floor and began tying them around his eyes and mouth. He asked me if I would tie one around his nose...I said NO!
Goofball! Gotta love him!

"Nurse, Nurse, Paiging Nurse Scott"

Here's the nurses station...the living room floor. This will last us all of oh 3 days! I covered the top of the trash to spare you the "puke factor". Let me just say thank you to family and friends who have been sooooooo supportive and helpful. We are tired, but healing :)

THURSDAY UPDATE: Randy went to therapy today. The nurse said his wounds are healing quickly! She think the burns will heal quicker than his arm however. She said they didn't realize initially how deep the road rash was on his arm. He looks so much better though, and no more whirlpool therapy!

UPDATE

I was able to take Randy to therapy this morning. They said we did a good job washing his arm and getting the gravel out. They put him in the whirlpool and cut off more dead skin. They sent me home with a bag of "goodies" to take care of Randy with. I took Randy to Chick Fil A for lunch and he said he wanted to go to work. I took him and he hung out in the coaches office until time for practice. He made it through practice and came home with yellow stuff seepeing out his bandages. I am not happy. I wish he would stay home. The people at therapy said his wounds look good though.

I just helped him take off the bandages and it was nasty! I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to puke. I asked for a trash can at the ER yesterday. The nurses gave me another lesson today in how to dress it. They said he didn't need to come back to therapy until Thursday, which is good for Randy but bad for me. I was hoping he would have to go every day and that THEY would have to dress the wounds for one of the times per day. Hopefully, they will heal quickly even though he is being stubborn and going to work.

Bradley got in the car today and started crying. He is upset to see his dad helpless in some areas and that his dad hurts. He wanted to go to Wal Mart immediately after school and get stuff for dad. He picked out a card, balloon, an Indiana Jones movie, Star Crunch, and Whoopie Cushions HA! He said maybe that would make dad laugh. Randy is TOUGH and handles it well. I'll be glad when we are done with this. Thank goodness we have good insurance that will cover the bike and medicall expenses!

Day I will never forget

Okay let me start with this morning. One of the sweetest mornings of my families life. Randy got to baptise Bradley this morning at church. I cried and cried it was so sweet. Randy did a good job and he gave Bradey a big hug afterward and said the best prayer about his son who is now his brother in Christ. Sweet precious unforgetful morning. In fact I know I am about to probably type paragraphs about this afternoon, but should be typing paragraphs about the baptism. It was a precious moment.

We came home and the boys went to play at their friends house, Randy went to work, and I laid down to take a nap.

2:40 the phone rings..."Hello Laura your husbands been in a wreck on 513 and hwy 69, laid his bike down, he's okay, we've got medical on the way." OH MY!!! I say I'll be there immediately.

Speed to Christie and Bens, run in their house ask them to keep the kids. Speed to Lone Oak (very carefully to not wreck though). Longest 15 minutes of my life! Thoughts racing through my head. They said he was okay. Does this mean he's conscious? Is he broken? Or is he really okay???

Get there and the paramedics have him bandaged in the ambulance. He's talking, whew! Thank the Lord!

My tough husband refuses to ride in the ambulance because of money, I tell him DO NOT WORRY about it. I end up driving him to the ER. He is scraped up pretty bad on his right side. Basically scraped off all the skin on his right arm and bottom part of his leg. Second degree burn on his hands. His poor hands are bandaged like mittens and he can't use them hardley at all. He will go to some type of therapy tomorrow for the burns. THANK THE LORD he was wearing his helmet.

A lady apparently did not see him and pulled out into the intersection causing Randy to fall and skid. The lady does not even know what she did and continues on. Thank goodness there were witnesses who saw everything and stopped and helped my husband.

Anyway, had he not been wearing his helmet, we would have been much worse off. It busted the side of his helmet. I can't imagine if that had been his bare head. Randy actually took a course that exempted him from wearing a helmet. So glad he wears it! He said his shoulder and head hit the pavement first.

I've got him showered and bandaged and in his recliner watching football. It has been a very bitter sweet day. I am so thankful for my boys and glad they are with me tonight. Shook up, but thankful.
This would have been the right side of his face hitting the pavement at 55 miles per hour. Instead it busted off the visor. That's the one thing we insisted on spending money on...a good Shoei helmet.

Cell phone is no more. I'm hoping we can get his ring sanded down or something. Not a very good picture, there are just scrapes all over it.

Grotesque and Comical

DISCLAIMER: I have permission from the author to post this as long as I don't mention his name. Let's just say a certain parent was tired one night of all the nose picking her child has been doing over the last couple of weeks. After getting on to her child several times that day, she gave her child the punishment of writing for 30 minutes about why he liked to pick his nose. Here is what he wrote (also typed below in case you can't read the picture)...


"I don't really like to pick my nose. But I do sometimes. I'm not sure why, but I do when my nose is stocked up. When I pick my nose I'm not trying to get in trouble, but when my nose is really full, I can't take it any more, So I pick it. I wish I had something to make me stop, but I don't know what. Sometimes, I do really stupid things. Half the time I do things without thinking, but after, I realise I could have done better. I also feel like my nose makes more bugers than the average nose does.

At least I don't eat my bugers, I would never do that. I want to stop, but I don't know how. If I knew a way, I would use it. Mabey I could pute some thing over my fingers, but what? If you have tips I need them, I really really really wish that somehow, I could stop for good. If you ever picked your nose, I really need to know how you stoped.

My mom got on to my twice for picking my nose today. My adress is (no such luck crazy bloggers), male me the story of how you stoped picking your nose. Mabey I could stop by doing what you did. If you maled me your idias, that would be great."

Friday

Friday was one of "those" days for sure. Actually, Wednesday started it all. Someone at school spilled water on the office floor and it didn't get cleaned up completely. Well, long story short, I slipped on the water puddle that I didn't see, and busted on my elbow after school. Luckily there were witnesses. The principal had someone go get my husband and the trainer out of football practice. Trainer thought my elbow was either chipped or just badly bruised, so principal encouraged a trip to the ER. So, I ended up on some good meds wednesday night. No chipped elbow which is good, but the pain killers made me really tired Wed. and Thurs.

So on to Friday...I was tired and behind on some work I had to get done for my mom, and I had a doctors appt. in Rowlett at 4:30, and I promised to take the boys to see Clone Wars...I was feeling a bit overwhelmed Thursday night :) I decided to take the day off Friday from work.

Long story short again, EVERYTHING went wrong Friday. Everything except dinner at Fudruckers and the movie with the boys. It ended up being pointless to take off from work, the doctors visit went HORRIBLE...so bad that the doctor called me after I left his office to apologize and give an explanation for the mess up, and said there would be some serious repremanding at the office. Geesh...

So the boys and I had a GREAT time at the movie and it was 10:00, time to head home. THANK GOODNESS I brought pillows and blankets for the boys, because I knew they had soccer games at 9 am Sat. and the theater is a 45 minute drive from our house (under normal driving conditions)....

So we left the theater and made it all the way to I30, only to find that the entire interstate heading East has been SHUT DOWN! Okay, usually not a big deal in the Dallas area where there are numerous alternate routs. No, the problem was that it was shut down at Dalrock, which is at the lake in Rockwall, which means there is NO easy alternate route heading East towards my house!!!

Long story short, again, we found a guy at a gas station that told me how to go down to hwy80 and cut over to 34 at Terrell. So I head down my alternate route. Well, some IDIOT has his brights on and is driving right behind me down 34, and my rear view mirror is all messed up, so that nice little button you push for night time to help take out the glare of bright lights, DOESN'T work! I thought I would try flashing my brights on and off and maybe he would get the hint even though I was in front of him. NOPE. Then I tried breaking lightly. NOPE. So I breaked a little harder... NOPE, but he did back off a little. Finally I put my blinker on and got in the shoulder for the idiot to pass me...

The IDIOT was a cop!

Luckily, he went past me. I guess my day could have been a little worse HA!

We got home at 12:15 AM. I discovered last night that I have learned to handle stress a little better than I used to. We got up this morning for the soccer games. The YMCA had not cancelled them. We got to the fields warmed up, and then the City came out and cancelled everyones games. Geesh! I really feel though that this is the end to the bad streak. Maybe I'll post a picture of my elbow later this week when it's really black and blue :)

SCHOOL

Well, we seemed to have muddled through our first two days of school. Not only did school start this week, but we also had our first soccer practice this evening. YIKES! Needless to say, my house is a disaster, we are exhausted, and Jake has consistantly had one meltdown per day.

Todays meltdown was over mashed potatoes. Since practice was at 6:30, I had the boys eat some mashed potatoes before practice and decided I would get the rest of dinner cooked afterwards. Well, Jake fell to his knees sobbing at my rediculous notion of eating a snack of mashed potatoes. I asked him what the problem was and he informed me in his own words "I only eat my mashed potatoes with fresh garlic in them." Oh really little buddy....well gourmet mama aint getting paid tonight, so you're just going to have to deal! Uhmm yeah...the kid went hungry to practice...

Surprise! A summer update! We have had a great summer. We did a lot of painting to the house after our Disney trip. Randy painted the outside of the house, and he helped me strip and paint our kitchen. I lOVE it!
Randy's sister and husband and kids came to Texas this summer and we had a great time with them. We house sat for my parents a couple of times. Most recently we have been hanging out together playing Monopoly and spending time with each other before school starts next week. Bradley and Jake's good friends down the street have been out of town for the last month and just got back yesterday. So they are extatic to have their friends back. And I am glad you're back too Christi :)

I had a couple of biopsies done recently on some moles. The dermatologist said the pathology report showed they were progressing into melanoma, but weren't melanoma. I think it means they have potential to be melanoma. He removed two moles completely. I told him to go ahead and cut out the remaining 6, but he said he would wait, because they didn't look as bad and if he did that, I could posibbly have six more spots grown back when I go back in. I will go back every six months so he can check them. I'm not totally happy with having to watch moles all the time, but at least they can be cut out.

I missed not getting to see Mikah this summer, but I am glad they got moved into their new house. We have all our back to school shopping done. I can't believe Bradley will be in the 4TH GRADE!!! Crazy!

Well, on to the pictures. Jake found this frog in mimi and grandpa's pool and caught it. After a couple of times of being caught, I think the frog decided that just laying there, and playing dead was better than being chased all over the pool. Jake loved it, and I finally had to make him let the poor frog go :)





Kitchen pics....Before (All of the befores are from when we looked at the house to buy it, so the previous owners stuff is in the pictures)

After


Before

After...I love love love this built in being painted, you can finally see my Africa, Turkey, Uzbekistan collection on the counter top!



Before


After