Merry Christmas to my Blog Readers

Blogroll 10/11/09

Dear Friends and Family,

I've been neglecting writing because I haven't felt like I had much to say, but the last couple of weeks have gotten super busy as the holidays approach. The Arctic Blast has hit us and the past week has been below zero with the highs in the low 10's. Several mornings this week the kids woke up to ice on the inside of their windows and Twinkle Toes hasn't gone out to recess all week, thank goodness! We have been running the humidifier in Grace's room just to keep it warm........

Last weekend Twinkle Toes and I went out on a date to see the high school's rendition of The Nutcracker. She had a blast and thought that was pretty neat. We had a fun girls' night out and had fun spending some one-on-one time together. The kids and I made a gingerbread train and they had fun doing that and mostly trying to eat the (gosh awful) candy.......that stuff seems so appealing when you're a kid and then you grow up and it just holds no appeal to me now. Grace has moved on now from Sweet Boy's Bear Bear. She has adopted two new bears that Nana gave us and she won't let them out of her sight. It's pretty darn cute and she takes them to bed, eats with them in her high chair, and pushes them around in the dump truck.

Last night we went to a Christmas party for kids with cancer and here are some pictures we got of Grace opening her present. She has the best expressions! I met a gal that I had briefly met several years back and we reconnected. Her daughter has leukemia. It got me thinking about last Christmas, going to that same party, and how different it was this year. Last year I was kind of a walking zombie and this year things are so much different. We are in a much different place. I was admiring how put together she seemed.

All my kids are now vaccinated twice against the swine flu. Now I think I'd like to get it myself. We have somehow managed to stay super healthy this fall, no doubt from all the vitamins I have been shoving down their throats. We are on the "super duper" immune system regiment and by golly, it's working. I'm sure we will be jinxed and as soon as I say all this we will come down with something.

Tomorrow we have a babysitter and the Hubby and I are taking the day to ourselves, something I'm not sure we have ever? done......shopping, lunch, movie, we are out for the day! I can't wait. It's even supposed to snow.

Lastly, here's a picture of the Hubby with his fish that he calls "too small to keep." I think he is just joshing about it. It was a native or something. He is quite the steelhead fisherman this year!

Merry! Merry! Love, The M Family

Elk Hunting

Mommy's Little Gift

Thanksgiving Weekend

Daddy's Deer

The Results are In

"These people really know how to put me through the ringer!"

Well, we survived another round of sedation without too many hiccups. It's always a challenge since they can only use her arms for the IV. She went through three nurses before the Panda Nurse came and got it in. That is usually the hardest part for me to endure, watching, holding, and keeping her still until they can get that IV in and get her to sleep. Then, there's the hour and a half of screaming and thrashing she does when she comes out of it, but we are learning each time how to make it better I suppose. So, the MRI looked good. The doctor said there is only just one spot that they have been seeing all along and it has grown just slightly, but based on its appearance and where it is located, they think it is just scar tissue from her surgery. So they want to monitor her for yet another year (every 6 months now) just to be safe and keep her on the blood pressure medication too. I was sure thinking we would get her off the around-the-clock medication, but apparently Nurse Jodie is not off duty. So we will continue giving the meds and monitoring the blood pressure which is quite a challenge to get a one year old to sit still for a blood pressure reading! The nurse called with the echocardiogram results today and the size and function of her heart is completely normal! This is the greatest news for me because I think at this point I am more worried about the effect of the high blood pressure rather than the tumor.......they call high blood pressure "the silent killer." So this is a huge relief to me! Her bloodwork was fantastic so this tells us her kidney is getting the blood flow it needs and is doing the job for the other kidney too. She did say they saw a patent foramen ovale on the echocardiogram, but I don't think this is too much to be concerned about......she is going to check with the cardiologist on that one.

Yay for Gracie!

Halloween- a Ladybug Princess, a Ladybug, and a Power Ranger

10/27

Dear Friends and Family,

A short update.......of what I remember of the last week. We have been eating a lot of deer meat and surprisingly, it is good! I have to say, I have not liked deer in the past so this is quite unusual for me to hear myself saying this. I guess I have Diane and Bob to thank for that as they said they fed our deer with garden goodies and apples all year long. So I hope we are just learning how to cook deer meat better and that this deer is not just unusually better tasting than all the rest. Otherwise, Diane and Bob will have to start feeding us a new one for next year...ha. I may just turn into a deer eater after all if they all taste like that one. The Hubby came home the other day and we were sitting around the table eating dinner. He was talking about how Bob Elder came to work that day and brought him some Traeger pellets. Caleb's ears perked up and his eyes got big, he looked at Daddy and said Bob the Builder came to work! Not exactly although Bob could probably pass for a good Bob the Builder :)

So apparently we have an issue in the house. Grace has decided that she too, loves Bear Bear. This is Caleb's grey Bear Bear, so we have a huge dilemma.....two kids who are in love with the same stuffed animal. She picks him up and carries him around and loves on and yes, this makes Caleb VERY angry because Bear Bear is his most prized possession. A million stuffed animals and they decide to love the same one. He must be very special :) - J

Weekly Update

So just to update because I know I said we were going to Portland for Grace's next MRI, well.....we didn't end up going. There was some confusion with the Hemoc department and somehow they canceled our MRI months ago and I just found out 3 days before we were supposed to leave. It was a huge mixup and someone's misunderstanding to blame. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy about it and spent a couple of hours crying and trying to reschedule 4 different appointments. Don't these people realize what we are doing here? They wanted to get us in at the end of November and I'm trying to tell them that we are 4 months out from our last MRI and we are monitoring a tumor, people! So much anticipation goes into it and I was so disappointed when I realized it wasn't going to happen. I'm over it now so the long and short of it is that Grace's appointment is now on Nov 2nd and 3rd. I just hope by then it doesn't snow over the mountain pass and we don't somehow end up with the swine flu, all of which is going to throw a huge kink in us making it.

In other news, Twinkle Toes is really maturing a lot these days. School is having a good effect on her I guess. She is so excited to go every day. Monday is now her favorite day of the week, go figure! She is a lot more helpful around the house and obedient which I am loving. I volunteered in the classroom last week and that was fun to see what she actually does all day. She is in the top reading group in her class and her teacher says that they are just going to skip over kindergarten sight words altogether and will go straight into 1st grade sight words. On another note, our little soccer player scored TWO goals at her last game. Granted, they were mostly the ball just rolling straight towards her and she leisurely kicked it straight in the goal but we don't care. It's a goal and her foot was the last to touch the ball. We were so proud we had to treat her to Coldstone. TT has a ONE track mind. The other night I told her she couldn't stay up and read this book about how to draw dinosaurs. So the very first thing she does upon awakening in the morning is grab the book and a piece of paper and commences to draw dinosaurs.

Here is Sweet Boy with his buddy Nicholas. They are so cute together they could be brothers. Nicholas is one of those special kids who takes the time to play with younger kids and he is so attentive and nice to Caleb. Nevermind they are two boys on a pink four wheeler, it was on loan from a girl at TT's soccer practice :)

First GOAL

the final push to the goal! It's a GOAL!
A last ditch effort by the BIG KID to block her kick.

Running the ball to the goal!

Twinkle Toes' favorite spot....parked in front of the goal. This minimizes the running she has to do.

Twinkle Toes with the pink hat, running behind her friend with the ball.

Her friend's older brother playing soccer, Twinkle Toes has a "thing" for him, he's pretty cute, huh? and good at soccer too.

This past week....recapped

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm going to "try" and write a quick a note to sum up the past week because I am tired. Hubby got a deer and this is him and my girlfriend, I call her "Pioneer Woman" because she is showing him the proper way to cut up a deer. And yes, this is our kitchen table. I admire her willingness to just grab that deer leg and go at it, but I was nowhere near them when they were doing this.....

Twinkle Toes had her fun run. She ran a mile and a half. Pretty good for such a skinny bean pole. Soccer is increasing her stamina I think. This past Saturday she made her FIRST GOAL! I about died and nearly cried it was so exciting. You would have to know a little about Twinkle Toes' soccer skills, let's just say we get excited if she even gets her feet on the ball during a game. So I of course couldn't believe my eyes when the ball rolled straight to her and she actually turned and went straight for the goal with it. It was priceless and such a confidence builder for her.

My oral surgery went great. Much better than even I expected. It was fast and quick and I didn't feel a thing. An hour after I went in for the surgery we were back out again. I asked the Hubby if he would take me to Target on the way home so with gauze and blood in my mouth, yes, I went shopping. I'm not that vain so I really didn't care that I looked hideous. It was a rare opportunity without the kids so I got some early Christmas shopping in. I even went out to dinner with my girlfriends on Friday night. I, of course, ordered Tortilla Soup minus the Tortillas and minus the chicken so it was just broth. The waiter didn't even charge me for it which I thought was very nice of him. I got home just in time for my doctor to call and check up on me. Isn't that sweet? I think we should just go back to the good ol' days when doctors made house calls. He seems to take a keen interest in his patients which I was very impressed with. I told him he did a great job because I was feeling fine.

After taking a nap on Saturday in our room, Caleb came out with something in his mouth. When questioned he said it was "nothing." Upon further questioning he said that in fact it was a cough drop that had been stuck to the wall and "it just happened to fall into my mouth, that was all." What a kid. We both had to run away to keep from laughing to his face.

Good Night! Love, Hubert, Jodie, Twinkle Toes, Sweet Boy, and Grace

Dear Friends and Family,

The weeks are flying by way too fast now that Twinkle Toes is in school. The four-day school week doesn't help things.....four SUPER busy days of school, soccer, gymnastics, and then Friday-sweet release! TT is loving school! She is so excited to go every week and is having such a great expereince with her teacher and classmates so we feel very grateful. After a week and a half TT was ready for me to drop her off at the door of school. I think she could have walked herself in the second day but I don't think I would have been ready. So I was telling her what to do and where to go, getting ready to drop her off and Sweet Boy interjects, "And don't let no strangars git ya Sissy!" He's so cute. Always concerned about others. He is my boy who is always eager to say his prayers and be a helper.

The pictures are of Sweet Boy and his "girlfriend" (that's what we call her). Aren't they adorable? They really like playing together and she is his buddy at chuch, in the same class, etc. One day they were watching a movie on the couch and Sweet Boy puts his arm around her. THings like that surprise the dickens out of me! I can tell he is all boy because sometimes when our new friend comes in the afternoons he will say things that are such "boy" things to say, like he is trying to show off for her. It is hilarious.

Grace is doing great. The pictures are of her being super naughty. She was standing up on the changing table grinning at me because she knew she wasn't supposed to be doing it. I was in the bathroom telling her to stop doing that and she just laughed at me.

I was thinking the other day about the amazing difference between this Fall and last Fall. Last year I'm not sure I even noticed the change of seasons, everything was such a blur. I do, however, remember spending Halloween night with my two sweet older children, but most of the fall was spent in worry and tears being torn between home and Portland. This year I am excited to enjoy all this season brings. We have gone from Indian Summer in the 90's to a foreboding sign of snow in typical Central Oregon fashion. I am trying not to turn on the heat yet, but that is proving to be a challenge. Grace is spoiled now and every night wakes up crying for me, so I spend half the night in my own bed and half the night in her room sleeping by her warm little body with her legs pushed up against me and one arm to reassure I haven't snuck away.

Upcoming wonderful events are my oral surgery at the end of this week for wisdom teeth removal, should be fun? And Grace's next MRI in 2 weeks.....hoping it might be the last....

This weekend was spent in sweet relaxation listening to a modern day Prophet and Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has been a good weekend!

Hubert, Jodie, Twinkle Toes, Sweet Boy, and Grace

Jeff's Pics from Grace's Party....Thx!

She didn't want cake, but she was, however, very interested in the lollipop from Carla....

A Bunch of Firsts

First time riding the bus home

First Time Riding a Bike Without Training Wheels

Not the first time catching a Steelhead, but the first time on a fly rod! And he came home with TWO!

Aunt Amy came for a visit....not a first...... but fun...thanks Amy!

One Year Old....Happy Birthday Baby Gracie!

you can see her five little teeth in this picture

We had alot of friends show up...thanks for celebrating with us!

We finished off a whole Costco cake.....

Gracie didn't really want any cake....she kept turning her head....all she wanted was the bottle....Mom was a little disappointed.