Happy Birthday Brek!

Today my boy turned 20 years old! How is it possible that I have a child that old...let alone that child is now a father?!?! I have so many memories of raising my boys. It has been a wild ride. Granted, that I'm not done raising them. I'm still unsure how any parent survives the teenage years. I'm still seeing Kyle, Cody and Cole through them. Brek and Chad nearly put me into a looney bin with all of their antics. Give me strength to get through the next 8-10 years. Brek is really a great boy that is growing into a great man and father. He has always given me hugs and told me he loves me...even through his stinker stages. I want him to know that I love and appreciate him. He is an important part of our family. Happy birthday my sweet boy!

HE'S HOME!!!! HE'S HOME!!!!

Whoever says Friday the 13th is not a lucky day is so wrong! I'm thinking it's a pretty darn lucky day since baby Mark got to come home after 1 month, 1 week, and 4 days in the hospital. I am so happy that there is no way anyone could wipe the smile off of my face....seriously! I just love having him here....we all do! This is the first time any of the boys have seen him. They think he's so cute...and of course they are right. I took some pictures of them in the nesting room last night and this morning...plus some pictures of him being loaded in and out of my truck, but those are on the other camera and I left in Brek and Brittany's room. Right now the baby is sleeping in his crib and mommy and daddy are taking a nap. I'll get that camera later. For now I'm letting the new little family get their rest. Brek's birthday is tomorrow...he got the best present a day early!

Julie's HERE!!!

The whole family was so surprised when my sister Julie showed up at each of our doorsteps yesterday. We have all missed her so much since she moved to Tennessee. Her oldest daughter Candice still lives here and she was the only one who knew. Those girls are good secret keepers. My mom cried... she was so happy! Anyways...I only have a minute, because I have a full day with all of my sisters! hee...hee...I'm so stinking happy she's here...if only for 2 weeks!

(this picture was taken in April before she left)

(Kimberly...it's so good to "see " you!...in comments)

Have a great day and thanks so much for visiting my blog.

updates and stuff

Meet the Scotch ATG 700. I got this bad boy in the mail. It came in this HUGE ball of bubble wrap and plastic. I'm not lying when I say it took serious effort to get it out of it's bubble cocoon. After much effort on my part, I gave up and gave it to Mark. He took his carpet knife to and it was free. What I love is that the tape is a whole 60 yards long. I got the 3M 908 Gold 1/2"X60 yrds. I wont have to refill for quite some time. It works like a hermie or an orange duck, but the double stick tape is stronger and you have to use the trigger.Look at the size comparison to my purse. It's GINORMOUS!...yes that is a real word....at least in my mind it is. :o)Good news about baby Mark. He has been moved to the CCN (continued care nursery) for babies who are less sick. He had his broviac line taken out yesterday and hasn't thrown up at all. Brek and Brittany are taking a CPR class tomorrow and have been given a go-home check list. If everything continues to go well, he could get to come home in a matter of days. Mark and I spent a few hours with him last night....feeding and holding him. He really is the sweetest baby.


Say good-bye to Pumpkin...We gave her to a guy to has a male golden retriever because we just couldn't take it any more. She is happy to finally be able to play with a dog that has her kind of energy. She is a gorgeous dog, but clearly not worth the destruction she caused. Plus the other two dog didn't like her because she jumped on their backs all the time. Cinnamon is too old to have her doing that. They haven't been able to use the back yard at all because of her. Let me just give you a run down of things she has eaten or chewed on that I can remember off the top of my head.

the weed whacker

the lawn mower bag

both propane lines to my new grill (you can click on the June archive to see the grill...it's mondo huge!)

the BBQ tools

patio furniture

a couple dozen boxes of candy canes

all the pool toys and pool tools

shoes towels and clothes

trash

my broom

my coffee table

the door frame

the concrete

the new AC unit

the laundry room wall

the patio support beams

the stucco walls

she was literally eating my house.

For obvious reasons we really had no choice. She cost us a small fortune in damage. My stress level was through the roof. We just don't have the 2 years of patience it takes to see this breed of dog through the puppy stage. I love her and I miss her, but I'm so glad she's gone. (I know...that sounds mean)

National Card Making Day

First I want to thank all of you for your kind thoughts and words to me over my Grandma passing away. I appreciate it more than you will ever know. Grandma's really are special. I hope to be a special kind of Grammy to my grandson and to all of my future grandchildren. Building strong bonding memories is a top priority for me...thanks again!

Saturday was national card making day. I figured I ought to do my part and spend a few hours making cards. My friend Paula came over and made some cards for herself too. I made two of every kind. They are all made from scraps and are pretty simple, but cute enough. It's nice to have cards on hand when you need to give one. I wish I could have made more, but I had to do some cleaning and for some strange reason the family got hungry and thought they needed to eat. :o)

That's it for now... I'm determined to bail out my bedroom and get caught up on laundry today.

My Grandma

This is me with my Grandma Peters from the last time we went to Colorado to visit her. Isn't she cute?! It's been too long since I've seen her. Her health had deteriorated, so we had made arrangements to send my dad to go see her a few weeks ago and to get her set up in hospice care because she wasn't well enough to return to the nursing home she had been in. He had a very good spiritual experience with her and was able to say good-bye to her with peace in his heart. She cried when he left to come back home to Arizona. She hasn't been at all responsive since he left. She really loves her boy. Well tonight my sweet Grandma passed away at the age of 87. She lived a full life that was full of humor. She was always laughing and saying funny things. When we were visiting with her I thought my boys would be bored and begging to leave, but they really enjoyed visiting with her. She had them all cracking up the whole time. My Grandma was never a very emotional woman, but the older she got the more she valued her family. We both had a good cry when we left her. I had a feeling it would be the last time I saw her and I was right. I'm just so glad my dad got to be with her again. We will all miss her dearly, but know that she has moved onto a whole new adventure and my Grandpa and my sister Debbie were there to greet her with open arms when she died.

I had some fun things to post from my weekend, but I will do that tomorrow and just keep this post for her.

good day and tagged

Today was a pretty good day. I showered, read blogs, ran errands, spent some quality time with little Mark. Okay...so I chopped his head off in the picture, but it wasn't easy taking a picture of him while he is laying on me. I got to feed him and cuddle with him. He was awake the whole time...so loved that. While I was rocking him, it started raining...with LOUD thunder and lightning. I wanted to see it but I was holding him and he's all hooked up, so I just leaned way back in my chair to get a peek out the window. The nurses were all so excited about the rain. We always get excited when it rains here..it's like a novelty...very fun!After I laid him back in his crib, I turned on his music fishies. He loves that thing and always stares at it as soon as you turn it on. It has been his favorite thing since he was first brought into the NICU. The only bummer part is that it belongs to the hospital and I haven't been able to find one for when he comes home. :o( Yesterday they didn't let him eat for 6 hours so they could give him this drink stuff that shows up in whatever test they were doing. They said it looked good. There was some dilation, but no kinks or pinching in his intestines. I'm happy about that! He was still awake when I left. I usually leave when he's sleeping or when Brek and Brittany are there. It was so hard to leave...I cried on my way out. I love him so much and I just want him home.
Look how big these cute kittens are! They love sleeping ontop of the couches. I got them all collars today. They can't be so sneaky anymore, because they are jingling all over the house. Actually it's making them crazy, but they will get use to it.

I also got my nails done today. It was loooong over-do. While I was there I got.........waxed!...there I said it! Now you know my hairy little secret. Oh my heck, does that hurt! I wanted to sink my face in a bowl of ice water. I'm still pink. Why are women so willing to take pain to look good?...just so dumb!

I got 4 letters from Chad today. He is doing so much better. It's hard of course, but he's doing well. They train guys for the Army and the Army National Guard there. The sergants favor the "real" army guys and give him crap for out performing them. He did say that he occasionally sees them smile when he does so good, but wont let him know he's doing good....gotta save face I guess. :o) My boy is AWESOME!

Okay...I was tagged...twice in fact. Here are the rules.

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they are not any good, but they must be songs you are really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your LiveJournal/blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they are listening to.

1. I can't unlove you - Kenny Rogers

2. Jesus, take the wheel - Carrie Underwood

3. Love me - Collin Raye

4. Don't forget to remember me - Carrie Underwood

5. Angels among us - Alabama

6. In my daughters eyes - Martina McBride

7. Grandpa - The Judds

I'm really not so good about remembering songs or who sings them. I just know I like a song when I hear it, then my brain lets go of the rest of that info. There's only so much room in there, ya know. Gotta save space for the important things.

Now List 5 weird things you don't know about me.

1. Snoring and rude gum smacking/chewing makes me crazy. (sad thing is I snore)

2. The right and left sides of my face don't "match" because I got bells palsy a few years ago which paralyzed my left side. I never fully recovered.

3. I love to watch the first 15 minutes of Live with Regis and Kelly. I just think Kelly is so dang funny and she gets my day started with a smile.

4. I'm very competive and a control freak. I like to do things myself so that I know it's done right.

5. I don't eat almost all veggies. There are a few I like, but won't touch the rest. Salads are beautiful and I make them...for others to eat. Wish I liked them so I would fit in socially at meal time.

Now I'm tagging...

Amanda

Missy

Carrie

Jen

Kelly

Maggie

Teresa

Sadira

oops...that's 8. Oh well....and anyone else who reads this and wants to play. Please don't feel like any of you have to play. It's just for fun...no crazy deadlines or impending bad luck if you don't.... That's just silly! :o)

P.S. To the girl who posted a comment a while back that lives in Yuma. You didn't leave your name. I would have loved to have met you at the bazzill sale. I hope you at least went to Scrapbooks Etc while you were here. There are other girls out there that I can't talk to because there is no link to you, but just know that I honestly appreciate your comments....I love all my new blogging buddies.

I'm thinking this post was way too long...so sorry! :o)

The Canyon Ride

This post is dedicated to my husband Mark's Canyon Ride with a couple of his friends. Blogger never lets me put the pictures in the order I want, so humor me. This is the necklace Mark picked up for me on one of the Indian reservations. He saw the pink and knew I'd like it. :o) Good man!
Meet his good buddies Nick and Dennis. Apparently they liked the hole-cave in the mountain. Mark's not here to tell me how it really happened, so I'm improvising. :o) There is a bigger group of them, but these 3 were the only ones that could make this trip. These guys go riding together every Thursday, an occasional Saturday and a yearly big ride. This year it was the canyon ride. They rode 500 miles each day for 3 days so they put in just over 1500 miles and got to see so many things. They ate out a few times, but Mark cooked for them most of the time at their camp spots along the way.
I know this one is at the Glen Canyon Dam...only because I remember it from when he wanted me to take the tour and I said heck NO! I'm kind of a freak about stuff like that. He thinks it's cool...I think it's creepy.
Here they are pretending to hold up an armored truck while waiting in a traffic jam. Something tells me the driver doesn't find it funny. Isn't this illegal anyways...even though their "guns" are their fingers??? :o) See!!!! I told you it was illegal...dumb boys! ...hee...hee...
Yep! He likes to take pictures while he's driving. They are usually some of my favorite pictures although probably not the safest thing to be doing. Riding a motorcycle is really a two handed activity.
I've never been to the 4 corners. I'm kind of jealous about that one....and going to Zions National Park. I'll go some day...just not on the motorcycle. My kaboose can't take that long of a trip.

WOW! I've never seen Red Canyon either. Those rocks are even redder than the red rocks of Sedona....very cool!

Well that's all the pictures blogger is letting me upload. They took a bunch of pictures...some pretty funny ones and some that are just plain pretty! I'm glad he got to get away for a couple of days and do what he loves with his friends. He works so hard and deserves some fun!

(if you leave a comment it will make him a happy man!...thanks!)

Look who turned 10!

Today is Cole's birthday. My BABY is 10...yep...double digits!!! Oh my heck! Where does the time go? We picked him up from school for lunch at Tia Rosa's. We also brought treats for his class.


The loser mom that I am didn't plan well, so we didn't get invitations out until the day before. Can you believe all those kids??? All but one showed up. I was shocked!I thought he might get half of who he invited. He is a popular boy. Don't pay attention to my nasty dead yard. It will be gorgeous lush green in another month. Arizona summers stink! Plus we dry it out a few weeks before we plant winter grass.
Here's a few of them eating pizza and drinking gatorade after playing a bunch of games...soon after there was a minor gatorade fight between the boys and girls.
Cole getting ready to blow out his candles while his friends sang happy birthday to him. He loved his baseball cake.

After the party we went up to the hospital to see little Mark. He is up to 8 pounds 1.6 ounces (naked) what a big guy! After he weighed in Brittany dressed him up in his Halloween sleeper. He looks so festive. They removed his nose tube and have him eating again...only 20 cc for now. The green stuff was stomach acid. They said his intestines are functioning for the most part...when it comes to pooping and stuff, but not fully online to handle feedings when they get up in the 50cc range. For now they will raise him up very gradually and see how he does. If he does puke up green again they will have to put a scope down in him to see what's going on down there. I pray it doesn't come to that. The two Grandpa's gave him a Priesthood blessing tonight and I believe in that power. I know Heavenly Father is taking care of this sweet boy.
This is the first picture of me and Mark with little Mark. Too bad we look exhausted. I don't care...I'll still scrap it.

The proud parents... Aren't they are cute little family?!
Isn't he the cutest?!?! Pay no attention to my tangled, wind blown, helmet hair. Mark made us take the motorcycle.

Well that's it for tonight. My eyes are so heavy and my body aches...I'm off to bed!

Rough weekend

The baby had a set back this weekend. He threw up and it was dark forest green in color. That is not a good color. They have stopped his feedings completely, hooked him back up to IV feedings, and put the tube in his nose down to his stomach again to drain it. Today he is a month old and we all thought he was getting close to finally coming home, but now we are back to square one. They are doing X-rays and running all kinds of tests to see what's wrong with him. As you can imagine this has been very hard on all of us. Last night they had Brek and Brittany spend several hours of "kangaroo time" with him where they hold him skin to skin. It really gave him comfort to have that closeness with his parents. He also got moved out of the bassinet into a big boy crib because he's grown so much this past month. B&B took his mobile and colorful crib toys to the hospital, so that when he does come home he will have some familiar things around him.
I have more things to blog about but I have no time right now....maybe tonight.