Happy Trails

Today the kids started at Vacation Bible School. They were so excited to be going again this year. The church where it is being held is absolutely amazing when it comes to the kids program. I can't wait for our own church to have a building so that one day, our kids can go to our own VBS........until then the kids will be riding the range this year at the neighborhood church. I am blessed that they reach out to the community, in the ways that they do.

Okay, if I am honest, I am also excited because I get 3 hours of Mommy time all by myself........Ahhhh my house is so quiet right now!

Solitaire

I have been playing solitaire lately. When I told Mr. C. his reply was "On what?" My answer, "The kitchen table." He just laughed. Go figure from a guy with a high tech phone with fun games.

This morning I was playing again, and it hit me. Solitaire is a lot like walking with God. He has dealt our hand, shuffled the deck, and laid out the beginning cards for us. We, walk up and start rearranging the cards, in hopes of the way that will lead us to "winning" (maybe a blessing). Free will is the simple act of choosing which cards we move, shuffle, play, and in what order. Only God though knows which cards are being hidden, which treasures we have yet to discover, and how the hand is suppose to be played out. His goal is for us to win too, but sometimes we don't get the prize because we haven't played our hand well. Sometimes we get really close to a blessing but not the whole thing because WE got in the way and messed things up. We didn't look at the bigger picture of what was being dealt to us.

Unlike Solitaire though, walking with God is not a solitary act. We can ask for help, hints, guidance, and hope. We still have free will, we still can mess things up if we let our pride not ask for the assistance that is there, but it is there all the same. My prayer this week, will be to not let my pride get in the way, and ask for help when I can't see HIS way and plan.

We have a diagnosis

It has been a month exactly since the original "incident". It has been mulitple doctors appointments, tests, and meetings, but today it became all worth it. I went to the Neurologist today. She had the results of the MRI, cat scan, blood work, EKG, and the rest of it all. The big diagnosis is this: LOW BLOOD PRESSURE. I mean, REALLY REALLY LOW. You can search on WebMD and look at low blood pressure and out of the 10 or so symptoms, in the last month I have experienced most if not all of them.

So how do we fix it???? SALT!!! Yep that is right, unlike the rest of you who have to watch what you intake, I now have a medical condition to eat chips and salsa, hot dogs at baseball games, pizza, and pretzels. She wants me to try for the next month to increase my salt intake, and if that doesn't work then there is a medicine that I can try. This is going to be great! Bean and cheese burritos here I come!!!!

I currently am wearing a halter monitor for my heart right now too. It might be related, it might not be, but at least it will rule out any questions. This I can't wait to take off. I literally look like the Bionic Woman with wires taped to my body.

Right now I am extremely excited that we have some answers, I am not crazy, and we know what path to take from here. Thank you all for prayers, updates, and just listening to this month long process.

Tuesday's Treasure

My kid's Dad ROCKS!!!!! He is the kind of Dad to build sand castles, read stories, build Legos, on rainy days create a tunnel out of couch cushions, and pretend to be at a tea party. Simply put he loves our kids, and loves to be around them. He is patient in areas that I am not. He is also the enforcer when I need him to be. He is our treasure, and am proud that he is my kid's Dad. Happy Fathers Day. Love you Babe!

Home again

Vacation is wonderful. You get to experience the adventure of a new place, discover where important things are like, the pool, golf course, and of course the grocery store! We had a wonderful time at the in-laws time share. We literally were across the street (HWY 1) from the beach. The resort had everything we needed to make the beach fun, and exciting. The kids could play on the miniature golf course right outside our room.

We had busy days, lazy days, but mostly family fun days. As fate would have it, the best weather was the day we left, but that just left us wanting more! The kids were wonderful, happy, and didn't fight! I had forgotten how much food the kids could consume when all they did all day was play in the ocean, pool, and be on some kind of adventure all day long! I wasn't sure on the timing of the vacation, being the actual first week of summer for us, but it ended up being exactly what the kids and us needed.

One positive, was coming home and the only chore left to do is the laundry.....piles and piles, but hey my house is clean!

Ahh Clean at LAST ~ part 2

If my house was bad, my car was DEFINITELY worse. Here is my scenario........

1 car

5 kids in carpool

1 puppy being transported

life in general

__+___________________________________

ONE DISGUSTING MESS OF A VEHICLE

So because I value my marriage, the germ free environment I should be giving my kids, I cleaned the inside of my car for 2 hours!

I used 17 Clorox wipes, filled the Dyson vacuum, and a trash can. Most of the mess was "under" the seats, but still. I want to start the summer and vacation on a clean note and in a clean car.

So for my germaphobe friends and family, you can now lick the inside of my car should you choose, and you will be free from any grossness. Come over quick though because we are taking this car on vacation and I will need to clean again ~ oy!

AHH Clean at LAST

My house was disgusting. In fact, it is so bad that I refuse to post pictures. Not the kind of dirty, when your friend comes over and you say "Oh excuse the mess" when really it can't be seen. I am talking about actual filth, slim, grime, crusty, visible dirt, nastiness on the floor, gross toilets, yucky sinks, OSHA might be called in, that kind of dirty. Not that it is an excuse, but with my health, kids getting out of school, my Dad in the hospital, cleaning has been last on my "to do" list. Hey, at least we have clean underwear!!!

Things changed Wednesday and yesterday. They changed because they needed to be. They changed because Small group was coming over ~ thank goodness!!!! They also changed because I am quirky on going away and coming home to a dirty house. I needed my house clean and refused to let more time go on without doing something about it. As I stated yesterday, we are getting ready to go away on vacation. That means that when I come home, I want my house to be as clean as the hotel is suppose to be. I want the sheets to smell like softener, the bathrooms to be gleaming, and the carpet to feel soft beneath my feet. I want when I come home from vacation for my only true chore to be the mountains of laundry that we come home with, and not have to worry about how to clean my house too.

So for three days I am on a cleaning frenzy. I have scrubbed them all; toilets, sinks, bathtubs, dusted, vacuumed, mopped, wiped down, cleaned up clutter and the whatnots. The laundry is done, a necessity for going away. The beds and towels will be cleaned on Saturday so they are fresh when we return. I am getting some of the sanity back, so that I can soak up the sun for summer time ~ when the sun decides to come out, that is!!!

As for today.........We are celebrating summer at Disneyland!

What Time is it?????

SUMMER TIME!!!!!

Here are the kids, done with school, homework, teachers (and their dirty looks). We are ready, all of us. These 5 have grown, but now it is time to relax. The starfish are on the mantel, the beach pictures are being displayed, and the slip and slide is ready any time you want to come over and join us. By the way, the new sport is waterballoon bombing.......careful upon entry! Next week ~ VACATION at the beach, post when we get home!

Lemonade Stand

This was ENTIRELY Missy's idea. She wanted to make the lemonade (sorry no photos of that), make a sign together, and have a stand. I am not exactly sure what prompted this, or where the idea came from, but I like it. The best part, was that she wanted the Lemonade to be FREE, so everybody could have some. What a generous heart. I am curious to see how many times the stand gets used this summer..............

The results of the stand were this: 22 customers, including neighbors we don't know. She was given $2.50 in tips. We used an entire box of Dixie cups, Two batches of Lemonade, and an entire bag of Goldfish. Moments like these and the smile on her face.......Priceless!

AHHHHHHHHH...............

What do you treasure???? I learned this week that I really, I mean REALLY, REALLY treasure hot water. Now, you may have thought that in my absence I have consumed way too much Starbucks and coffee, but stick with me. (oh and I did consume way too much, but what's a schoolin, working Mama to do?)

On Thursday, my Hubby got up way too early. He went downstairs, and fiddled. Then came upstairs and started his shower. He was clamoring around in the bathroom, to the point I lovingly and sleepily asked "What are you doing?????" His response was that he thought he was sick, and was looking forward to a nice warm shower. Now that he apparently thought I was awake, he started talking to me ~ ughhhhh. As he chatted, and I "uh-hughed" he went to get in the shower. "Yowza!!!!" was his exclamation.

He: "Didn't I leave it on long enough?"

Me: "Yep, thinking....just get in so I can get back to sleep."

He: "It isn't hot"

Me: nothing, I had nothing

He: "I wonder if our hot water is working?"

Me: " It worked last night when I was doing laundry."

He: "I am going to go check it out"

Minutes later, after I had fallen back to a nice slumber.......

"I think a mouse is living in the insulation of the water heater"

"Yew!!!!!"

"Going to have to Italian Shower it today, as now I am late, and there is no hot water for now. You are going to have to Man up or figure something out when you take your shower."

"Ughhhhhhh! Did you check the gas and see if we still have gas to the house?"


"Ooooh good idea, I'll run down and check."


"Good idea, but nope. We have gas, just not to the hot water heater. Man up if you want a shower."
He did his "Italian Shower" which quite honestly I am not offended by. If you grew up with Italian relatives, you are familiar with the term. Every good Italian has the Uncle you can smell coming from his Cologne from a different state (gold chains optional, but some of my uncles have them!) You wash the important parts, slather on some cologne (or half a bottle,) and call it a day. It beats stinking up the elevator. Well, that is all relative to the cologne or perfume. I grew up Wappy enough to know it is a reality and sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do ~ kapish?

I went on a walk with the puppy hoping to clear my sleepy head. I came home, ready to "Man UP" and get clean. How bad could it be right? Let me tell you. Yes, I live in So Cal. Yes, it is warm right now, but definitely not hot. Yes the nights are still chilly. The water was FREEZING. My bones hurt from the cold. I quickly washed the important parts, forget shaving off the goose bumps, and got out in less than 5 minutes. I was miserable, and grumbling at my stupidity. Man -up, Man-up! There is a reason I wear a bra ~ I am a chick!!! I don't Man up, especially for cold water.

We later learned via our friend, that it wasn't the hot water heater, it was the regulator. OK, but we still needed to fix it. Hubby and kids went to my parents that night for showers. The next morning I went to my parents after I took puppy for a walk for my shower. Ahhhhhhh. Warm water, in a bathroom that still is like home, even though I haven't lived there for 15 years. Then yesterday on our way to Open House at the school, we swung by Home Depot to buy a part.

This morning, while I was still sleeping......my Man got up and went downstairs. By the time I lazily followed, he had the part out of the packaging.....uh-oh. I went into the garage to check on him. He said "watch out this is where the flames can come out of the tank" I took my first swig of coffee. He lit the pilot and WHAMOH!!!! It lit, and stayed it!!!! Without blowing us up, or catching anything on fire, no flames either! My man did it!!! He fixed my hot water heater in a matter of 20 minutes!!!! I was so incredibly proud of him!!!

Three days of no hot water. No showers or baths. NO laundry ~ but who is going to complain about that? No dishes to do ~ again, no complaints here. All fixed for $11. My Man ROCKS!!!

Perspective Point: People in our neighborhood adopted 5 Haitian children. They had NEVER had hot water in their lives for a bath.

Thanks Homework!

So for the last few summers, Bubba gets a new chore. I figure just because it is summer, doesn't mean he can't learn something, and Me do all the work around the house. So we have learned things like: make the bed, put away laundry, take out the trash. These are lifelong lessons. Well, because the end of the school year is fast approaching, I was thinking about what chore would be added to his list (Missy's too by the way). I was stumped for some reason, but then came home his homework.........Aha, my problem was solved!

As the last week of homework, they have had some quirky things: sign language math, a coloring sheet, basically things that were pointless but kept them in the habit I guess. The other part of their homework has been the $1 chore. For two nights this week, they have had to do an unique chore for a dollar. The money is then being collected to donate a wheelchair to someone in need in a different country. The idea is sweet, and teaches the kids compassion. So Bubba's first night he had to scoop the Kitty Poop (Mr. C. was thrilled for the help). The second night started his new chore: empty the dishwasher. AHA!!! LOVED the help, and the idea of not having to do this chore anymore. Well, except for the glass plates that are put up high, but that I can manage that part!

Medical Update

So I went back to the doc yesterday. Here is the latest plan. We are not going to continue with the steroids because he didn't see any obvious benefit (bye-bye muscles!). It is a good thing because there is significant opportunity for weight gain, and other complications from them. We are doing an MRI this weekend to make sure that everything is fine. We are going to follow up with a neurologist after the MRI for a second opinion for all of this. Later in the month I will also do the cardiologist test and wear a heart monitor. All in all, we don't have many more answers, but I feel safe and secure that we are actively looking. Thank you all for the prayers, but also please keep them up! By the way, today is a good day - I can walk relatively pain free!!!

Tuesday's Treasure

Remember the commercial and the old guy saying "Don't squeeze the Charmin?" What about bite??? Here is Koda, doing what he does best, chewing something paper or plastic. He is addicted or something. I treasure this though because it makes me smile and puts things into perspective. Life is simple when you are a puppy, and somethings just need to be let go. By the way, I saved the TP before he did any damage or added any moisture to the important parts of the package!

Poor Baby

My little (or not so little) Bubba, inherited my mouth. As much as I prayed while pregnant and then afterward, God apparently said ~um, no on this one. You see our problem is that our mouths are way too small for all of our teeth. Baby teeth are fine, Adult teeth are the enemy. So like me, my son is in braces early, he had his palate spread, and today had teeth pulled.

Let me clarify ~ he had 4 teeth pulled. This includes 4 numbing shots per tooth, 4 stitches, and two of them as they were being extracted actually made a POP sound like suction was being popped. It was so cool. I could have been a surgeon , doctor, or surgical nurse for sure!

So the pictures document our day. When we got home, he did what boys can do and spit, thus making the clots loosen and the bleeding to start again ~ OY! But my son is a TROOPER!!! The surgeon said, that Bubba was his BEST patient, especially for being 8! What great news to hear for a Mom. After movies, milk shakes, and just hanging out, this day has been pretty great. Missy has been in HEAVEN having Bubba home to play (she currently is playing house with him and her babies. He is the big brother in the game ~ go figure).