Busy, busy!

Even though we didn't travel very much this summer, we had a lot of fun with birthday parties, a long visit from Nana and family outings. Nana was here a whole 3 weeks and I couldn't have been happier. She is one of my favorite people in this world. Being with her brings back wonderful memories of childhood and creates so many wonderful new ones with my kids. Lynnea was a little wary of showing too much affection at the beginning but warmed up to Nana fairly quickly. We went to Chick Fil A and, of course, the kids had to "order" their very own balloon animals. Tyler got a lizard (a very cool lizard), Mikayla got a ladybug hat and Lynnea sported her very own butterfly wings which she proudly showed off with a hands-on-the-hip model pose.The monstrous lizard that doubled as a hat.
This past month, we also celebrated Will's dad's 80th birthday. 80!! And still going strong. All in all, we had 3 birthday dinners for him (and the scale reminded me of that). Here's a cute picture I got of Will's parents at the last dinner, with the family.
Tyler and Aly.
Lynnea loves Yeye (that's what my kids call Will's dad) and loves to climb all over him. I don't think she realizes that he's not as young as he used to be and a climbing 2 year old probably isn't the best for him. He never seems to mind and lets her hug, climb and stand whenever she pleases.
We attended a birthday party for a friend that included this huge climbing wall. Mikayla climbed the wall in only a few minutes and Tyler wasn't too bad either. I've got a few monkeys on my hands.
Of course, mommy had to try it too. The three of us climbed pretty easily but it hurt my feet. Climbing in only socks was not the most comfortable way to accomplish the feat.
Then Will turned 40! I can't believe it. I meant to put a whole slideshow of his life on my blog. I may still do it but it's been almost a month since he turned the big 4-0. I had this cake made for his birthday since he's such an iphone fan. He loved it and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks Aly!!
A close-up. Of course, we had to add the spider icon since he had a close call a few weeks before with a mystery "bite" or "infection." Gotta have some fun with it, right?

Back in Time

So, I saw this idea on another blog and thought I'd do it on mine just to give you something to read while I get the pictures ready for the next post.

Here's the idea:

1. Open your first photo folder on your computer.
2. Scroll to the 10th picture.
3. Post that picture and the story behind it.

There isn't much of a story here but this is the 10th picture so I've got to come up with something, right? This picture was taken back in 2003 and we had moved into our house about 1 1/2 years before. Before we bought our house, it was a mecca for weeds. When the neighbor removed our front yard, essentially, I think it was about 10 tons of foliage and overgrowth. Ya, a lot. We had decided to seed the yard ourselves so a friend of ours, David, came over and put in sprinklers with Will. I knew it would take a long time but it ended up taking all day. Here is a picture of the work in progress. Don't you just love the green colored cement? That's still there to this day. Who wants to grind off paint from cement? Not me.

Just thought you'd like to see a little history.
Oh, and just because I would have the same curiosity as you do and wonder what it looks like now? Here it is today......complete with green cement. *sigh*

Arm Snatcher...

Yes, this past week was pretty scary. If you were on Facebook (and can see my posts), you have already seen the photos of what happened this past week but for those of you who need a little more detail or weren't "in" on the happenings, this is what we went through..

Wednesday morning, Will traveled to a convention center to represent his company at a local show so he left, in a nice long sleeve shirt and pants, to go to work (this knowledge will be helpful later; it's not just fluff). Around 11:00 in the afternoon, he started to feel a slight pain on his right hand between his thumb and first finger but thought nothing of it. Lunchtime brought a little swelling which he joked about and claimed he couldn't even hold a fork, it hurt pretty bad.

When he returned home that night, around 6:30, he looked a little flushed. I just assumed, since he was wearing a long sleeved shirt and pants (remember, I told you it would be helpful later), the heat was due to the long sleeves on a hot day. So, like any loving wife, when Will said, "look at my hand, it's swollen and I don't know what I did to it," I just said, "oh...ya, that's weird. I'm heading off to work for a few hours. I'll see you later." Aren't I just the most doting wife? I tell ya...I can be so sympathetic it makes me weep. As most mothers will understand, my mind was on feeding my 3 bottomless pits and trying not to lose my cool when I had to say, for the millionth time, "sit on your bottoms on the chairs while you're eating dinner!!" (my kids cannot, and I really mean, canNOT sit still for more than 30 seconds.)

I digress. On to the story in progress. My wifely sympathy reappeared when I arrived home to a dirty house 3 hours later and said, "wow, the kitchen is so picked up (said sarcastically because he had 3 hours and there was food everywhere.)" Yes, I was a little cruel but then I heard this small voice from the other side of the wall say, "ya, I'm just not feeling well." When I turned the corner, I saw my husband, beet red, working on the computer to finish an artwork for his dad! and looking horrible. I immediately took his temperature and it read 103 in both ears. After panicking a little (I was honestly wondering what adult gets a 103 temperature and lives to tell), I flashed back in my mind to a story from a friend about how her brother had been bit by a black widow, had a red line coming out of the bite, and almost died. I quickly checked my husband for any evidence of impending doom and found it, already snaking its way up to the middle of his bicep. Yes, I panicked a little more. I don't know if you've ever had that flush through your body when the adrenaline kicks in? Yep, I got that. I quickly called our friend, Dr. John, and asked if this should be a reason to go to the hospital. In the most calm manner, my friend urged him to go to the ER.

For the first time, Will didn't hesitate or question a Dr visit but got up, got dressed, and drove himself to the ER (hey, I would have loved to have accompanied him if I didn't have 3 sleeping kids). After he had been there about 2 hours, they admitted him and started some pretty serious antibiotics along with anti-venom. Their opinion was that he had been bitten by something venomous because of the red streaks on his arm which meant that the venom/poison had become systemic (in the blood). Here are a few shots of his arm (the black line is from the nurse marking the streaks with a pen to see if it got any bigger, which it did.)
This photo is extra large if you want to REALLY see a close-up.Each day Will spent in the hospital, the spread of poison got worse and worse. I forgot my camera the second day but it had spread almost around his entire arm. Eventually, the nurses were confident that the infection hadn't spread past his armpit (which is where the red lines stopped) and he stayed in the hospital until the red lines disappeared. It took a whole lot of antibiotics (and a whole lot of deductible). The whole ordeal was very scary but it brought out the best in the people around us. We were overwhelmed with the offers of childcare and meals from our wonderful friends and family and blessed by those who, without hesitation, took the kids so I could visit Will in the hospital. I can't even talk about it without getting all choked up...

Above it all, God is so good! Will kept his sense of humor through it all and fought the infection with all he had (having his iPhone with him helped ease the boredom in the hotel room. That, and the 85 year old stroke victim who was his roommate. Having a nurse come in every 3 hours to shout out questions to the man to see if he still knew who he was didn't help in adding to the exhausting 3 1/2 days in the hospital.)
So now my handsome, strong, wonderful man turns 40 this weekend and I've still got him. No spider (or Staph infection..they really don't know what it was) can take him away from me yet and I could not be happier. Happy Birthday to my very own Spiderman!!

Beach Day

Santa Monica was the destination of choice this past weekend and we headed out to the beach. With the forecast of 80 degrees, I was ready for some sun and sand. It wasn't 80 degrees...ok, so it got there for about 10 minutes? Before that 10 minutes and after that 10 minutes, it was more like 68; not my idea of beach weather.

It was kind of nice to just walk the pier and sample all kinds of different sweets (what is it with going to the beach and suddenly feeling the urge to buy ice cream?).

So, Mikayla decided that she wanted to ride one of the roller coasters. I had a bad feeling that it was going to cost me, both from my wallet and my company and, sure enough, it was $5 per ride. I asked Mikayla if $5 was worth it or would she want to buy something else with her money. Oh, it was worth it, she said. So I bought myself a ticket and we went for a $10 ride on the West Coast Coaster. I must say, my idea of roller coasters has changed somewhat. The whole time I kept thinking to myself, "I'm on an old roller coaster, next to the beach, rusty, probably not safety checked as often as it should and I'm not so light any more! There's going to be an accident." 2 times around the track and we arrived, still alive, to disembark at the station and I must admit, it was pretty exhilerating!

After the pier, we went to the beach and walked through the water, and under the pier (it was a little claustrophobic for me).
Snow Cone tongues.
...and cotton candy fingers. Tyler chose cotton candy over snow cone but did take a few bites of his sister's snow cone.
Posing on the pier.
Watching the waves...for about 2 minutes.
Cool shot of the roller coaster. We rode the yellow and red one.
After the pier, we went to 3rd street promenade and observed all of the colorful characters who shop that street. It is definitely not like home. I think every demonstrator was there, holding a sign for their "cause." Interesting world we live in.

Camping with Friends

Our annual camping trip with our church group was about a month or so ago. I know it's been so long since I informed you of life over here but I just haven't had a moment to sit at the computer and want to type out a blog entry. So, here's a recap of the camping trip.

We went to a beautiful camp site that was able to hold 80 people and we had quite a few less so it was very comfortable. I had nightmares of extreme heat, ticks, and mountain lions and was a little intimidated when they had a sign posted at the entrance of a mountain lion sighting the weekend before. Fortunately, none of the little ones got taken away as prey and everyone left the camp without sweating buckets and didn't take away any souvenirs either (in the form of blood-sucking ticks). We had a great time.
This first picture was a miraculous shot. Many of the women actually sitting down and playing a game! Camping with kids allows your rear end to rarely see the top side of a chair but this hour of game playing was just what the girls needed. Of course all of the kids realized we were playing the easy game of UNO and just had to be included. Next year, the girls are playing Settlers of Catan and the boys are playing UNO. It's only fair that you get to experience game playing with young'uns too...
Scooter riding on the dirt? Tyler didn't seem to mind.In the midde of our campground was this strange spot with the softest, finest sand you've ever felt. We referred to it throughout the weekend as the "sandbox" and you would usually find the small kids playing with all of the sand toys with one or 2 adults relaxing in a chair beside them. Eventually, we even erected an easy-up shelter since it was such a popular destination.
Lynnea and Blake, one of her friends (her friend from birth, really). It was so cute to watch the 2 of them interact. They even call each other by name.
The view of our tent in the middle of campground. We did have a slight issue with a bee-hive right behind one of the tents but we left them alone and they, in turn, did the same to us. No one even got stung! Miracle.
The wee ones. I believe this shot was taken after the older girls rounded them up and made them sit and watch a "play." You can see by the looks on their faces that they are having the time of their lives.
...and the guys played Settlers. I still need to learn how to play that game. It seems so addicting!
Now, one of the highlights of our camping trips are the donuts. Everyone brought a can of biscuit dough and we fried them up, sprinkled them with tons of cinnamon and sugar and inhaled them. So yummy!
Aly was one of my donut helpers. She did the "sprinkling" and Jenny helped me cut out the holes (because if you didn't, the whole middle would be doughy. Matt (below) thought that was just fine with him). Unfortunately, she suffered a few minor war wounds when the hot oil splattered onto her arm. Once again, Jenny, you owe me a scar.. =)One of the best things about the weekend is that, once we got to the campground, I hardly saw my 2 oldest kids. They just ran in the pack of kids until breakfast, lunch, and dinner, when they would grab food and go right back out to play. It was wonderful. Here's a picture of Mikayla with her "posse." Tyler was their mascot.We had a great weekend and can't wait to do it all over again next year!

Road Trip!

Ya, we're crazy. Why? Because we took 3 kids on a road trip to Sacramento the day school got out. In the end, I'm so glad we did it and here are some snapshots of our trip.Our first stop was my cousin Julie's house. We got to see their adorable son, Ryan and her husband, Bill. It was so relaxing just to sit, talk, and let the kids play in the pool outside with their cousin.

Me and Mikayla hanging out...and Julie doing something while standing on the couch? Good timing on the photo!Pool time with cousin Ryan...until the wasps appeared and then it was a scramble to the door!
Little Ryan-so cute!!
My cousin and her husband own a rather odd pet, a bearded dragon which my kids thought was the best thing EVER! They loved holding her and petting her.
Tyler was in heaven when he held Sammy. Look at that smile.
Mikayla with the reptile.
Julie and her baby, Ryan. When I look at this picture, it almost makes me cry. What a miracle baby, what a miracle mommy. It was only 2 years ago that Julie battled cancer while she was pregnant and look at that beautiful, baby boy, not to mention that beautiful mommy! God, you are amazing!!
Thanks, Bill and Julie, for a wonderful, relaxing time. We've got to do it again, soon!

Jelly Bellies and Papa

What's a trip to Sacramento without a trip to the Jelly Belly Factory? We picked up my Nana from her apartment and headed off to the Factory, full of excitement...anticipating a sugar high.

With my luck, however, it was surprisingly empty which I was excited about! However, we soon read signs that it was a maintenance day and there was nothing...and I mean, NOTHING, going on. You'd think they'd put some token Jelly Belly workers down there to look busy and show all of us tourists staring down on them some fancy candy making but there was nothing. The bins of candy were pretty...the "new" honey bean jelly bean was nausea inducing...and the temper tantrums thrown by my 2 year old after a few days of no naps were exhilarating. Even though we didn't have much action going on in the factory, we made great memories.

Daddy and Lynnea before the hat.
If you took "the hat" off, you were kicked off the tour, according to urban myths. Here we are, sporting the "must-have" accessory.
On our way home from the Jelly Belly Factory, we knew we'd pass right by my Papa's grave so we all took a side trip to pay our respects to my favorite grandfather.

It was a beautiful place with green grass and white marble headstones honoring military heroes; men and women who had served their country and deserved a peaceful place of rest.
My Papa's headstone. I miss him terribly.

Uncle Dannie's "Cabin"

After seeing my cousins and Nana, we were on our way to the small towns of what I would call "rustic California." Little towns I've never heard of were along the route from Julie's to Uncle Dannie's and the kids were thrilled with the scenery. We got to town at about 7:30pm and Uncle Dannie met us on his Harley to drive us up the hill to his place.

I love the mountains, the trees, the feeling of being in God's backyard, which is definitely my Uncle Dannie's place. The kids were so excited to see more than 2 trees within 10 feet of each other and started running around trying to find critters. Within 1/2 an hour, they had caught a frog and decided they would love to live here. We went to bed that night with anticipation of the morning.

The next morning, we woke up to this...Pretty amazing, huh? There were REAL deer, eating corn, and they had REAL horns! I felt like a tourist as I grabbed my camera and snapped several shots. The deer soon wandered off and we had a treat of another kind. A strange group of HUGE birds came swooping down to the piles of corn. Seriously, these birds were from the Jurassic time period. I asked my Uncle what they were and he answered, "oh, those are homing pigeons." Homing pigeons?? Aren't those supposed to be small, delicate birds? I've never seen a homing pigeon that took up more space than a coyote! Maybe it was an optical illusion but I wouldn't want to be caught in that wing-wind.

Of course, the kids have rarely had an opportunity to run wild in a forest so they took full opportunity and started investigating the grounds.Lynnea actually posed for a photo. Shocking, when there was so much else to do.
The sun was setting through the trees. Oh, how I don't miss Los Angeles...
The next day we took a trip to a little town nearby called Jackson. They had the best taffy EVER and the best root beer. We went with Dannie and his fiance Kathy and her 2 kids. It was so much fun looking through all the antique shops and making a wish list for Kathy's kitchen decor.
A shot of the town-straight out of a western. I love old towns like this that have history. I think we're missing a lot of that in the city.
Ah, yes, the first casualty of Tyler's love of insects. I had to apologize to the poor little thing once he caught it..."there's no chance of escape or of a normal, healthy life after this, little guy."

He held this damselfly all the way home and all the way to the pond near Uncle Dannie's house where Kathy and I told him that he needed to go home to his mommy and daddy. Needless to say, it had no strength left and it was a challenge to prop him up in the nearest leaf so that he looked alive enough for him to actually believe us. Rest in peace...
Here's the pond. There are quite a few critters in here and supposedly it's 7 feet deep. You wouldn't catch me swimming in this beauty but Tyler sure had fun "fishing."
Mikayla and Catelynn hanging out on the porch. I can tell these 2 will be buddies and it makes me so happy.
We made Kathy's kids watch our 2 oldest so that we could enjoy a night out with Uncle Dannie and Kathy but we took the little rugrat with us (I meant that in the most endearing way, possible). Thanks Catelynn and Josh!! We owe you! It was a treat to have sushi and then some frozen yogurt "on the town" and then come home to entertained kids who learned how to play Monopoly while we were gone.
At the end of it all, Lynnea didn't want to leave so she laid on our suitcases.
Before we hit the road, we just had to have a "Harley experience" so Uncle Dannie pulled out the beast (seriously, 900 pounds people) and let us all enjoy the thrill of pretending to drive it. I would put the picture of me up here but Will neglected to tell me that it wasn't the most flattering picture of my thighs but I'll post the cute ones of my kiddos, since they don't really even have a say.
Tyler riding like the wind.
Mikayla liking the ride!
Uncle Dannie promised to take me for a ride when he comes down sometime. I can't wait!

Here are the wild sweet peas that grow everywhere up on the mountain. They are so beautiful! The strangest thing is that, if you pull them and put them in a vase, they change colors from pink to white. So cool!
On our way home, we stopped by Bravo Farms, home of the 7 story treehouse. The kids climbed it about 8 times and got the jimmy legs out of their systems and then we drove home. We had a great trip and hope to do it again soon. I miss my family...