Katie built a creative fort in the bed.
Category Archives: Friends & Family
David is the Maggie whisperer!
Maggie really needed her nails cut and we asked David to do it because he seems to be able to do it really easily (better than we do). She sat patiently while he did then and then just sat and enjoyed the cuddle!
Esrey Park
Outer Point in the background where Owen had kayaked.
The kids are on a boat!
From Grannie: Heading out on pontoon boat. Going to LacLaBelle. Through lake out to Lake Superior. Bringing sandwiches + for supper
Failure and Fun
Linda let us know it wasn’t all fun and games…
I asked what they were watching. First answer- nothing. Did not accept that. Another ask. Mumble. Another ask. Not a teacher for nothing.
We were watching something Bob. No clue to me. O said mom and dad don’t like it. So maybe you shouldn’t be watching it. Yah. Give me the remote. He hands it nicely. K is totally quiet, unless I ask her specific questions. Me, you lost the privilege of watching tv downstairs.
It was bedtime. K goes to her room. O asks to talk with me. Said it wasn’t really Bob (?) they were watching. Something worse…? Norman, maybe. I thanked him for being honest. Tried the why questions. Did tell him he was the big brother. Both in tears. O really meant sorry. K not so much. I have hidden both remotes for the rest of the week. Told them we would not continue to discuss it.
Fun: Nanc, Tim, Anna, Liz, and my cousin Colleen, her husband Randy, and her brother Randy came over for muffins, coffee, juice. Liz played darts with OK. They also visited. One of my cousins talked about people from Chicago being fibbers? O didn’t like it and left. They have had lunch. Waiting for ham to come out of oven. O prepped it. I made good potatoes. Mark and Julie coming for supper. Once ham out O and I going kayaking. Then to the beach. Hazy today.
Katie’s art project turned into a gift!
Grannie said that Katie decided this was going to be a gift for one of her friends!
Kati
Why not have lunch out in the middle of the week?
We were running errands and decided to go have lunch!
Katie, Owen & Papa on the raft!
Owen got to go out to the raft with Tom last year (he is a strong enough swimmer to go on his own, but Tom went since it was a new experience). So we assured everyone he would be okay to by himself this year, but Katie wanted to go this year, too, so Papa had to join!
Work and fun in the kitchen.
From Grannie: Work and fun in the kitchen. Katie made Papa a pretty plate of raspberries and blueberries. Owen cut the whole watermelon. Then they both cut slices. With lots of laughs and silliness in between.They were safe with knives. I try to be a good Grannie!
Can I just say that if I had asked them to cut a watermelon, I would have gotten eye rolls and attitude all around. Grandparent Camp must be magic.
Redoing the rooster!
So I really REALLY hated to get rid of the rooster I “stole” from our friend Allison but it just doesn’t go with our new decor…so spray paint to the rescue!
Now it will continue to live on and be a reminder of all the great times we had in Virginia! Stay tuned for the final reveal once everything is finished!
Grandparent Camp handoff!
One last adventure before the transfer!
Gabby’s Graduation!
Gramma and Grandpa were headed to Gabby’s graduation party on Moccasin Lake in the U.P. (near Munising) so it was a perfect time to make the transfer. They got to spend the day with their cousins and had a great time!
Owen’s first raft ride behind a Jet Ski!
Waiting patiently.
First time in a hotel with them. We were tired enough, we all slept!It’s almost time to make the transfer…heading to the U.P.
They stopped at the deer farm in the U.P. near Brevort.
She just floomphs anywhere.
She let Gramma do piggies!
Back to the lake again!
The kids had such a great time Gramma and Grandpa took them back again!
Watching the designer work!
Don’t get excited thinking I’m showing too much… this is not the final look. This is just one picture of many different options she tried.
To be honest as she was doing it I was liking it, but /skipping a lot of design and redesign/ it ended up waaaaaay too flowery and poofy so I asked her to redo it. Those pics will come later!
Dairy Queen smiles!
YAY OWEN!
So Owen is still sometimes afraid of…weather. He doesn’t like wind or storms. So Gramma and Grandpa had a funeral to go to (that the kids didn’t need to go to) so I said it was fine to let them stay home alone. But Owen was VERY concerned because it was supposed to be stormy.
7/24 – Owen is watching the weather like a hawk. They both are afraid of thunderstorms and lightening. He especially is watching Tuesday for the funeral and is afraid of being alone if it storms. It is predicted to storm of course. I won’t leave them here alone if it is going to storm. We’ll watch the weather closely and if it storms we’ll make sure he is safe and not leave him alone. We’ll figure it out. Best case scenario is that the weather changes by then and it won’t storm! I told him that too, it’ll probably change by Tuesday. He seemed relieved and took it all in. He told me about the incident at Mike’s when he couldn’t reach you and it started raining and he was scared.
7/27 – The weather forecast changed so we did not get a single drop of rain. Kids did well. Katie wasn’t hungry so I guess she didn’t eat. I got her to admit she has one candy. But before we went, Owen was a champ. He said he’d be okay with it even if it rained or stormed. He said I have to learn to deal with it (or similar words). I asked if his counselor taught him some coping mechanisms and he said yes, and it helps/helped. I texted him once we got to the luncheon and they were fine. I know he played on his phone but he promised to share and he did. They did go outside for a short while and they watched TV. So, I think it was a huge stepping stone for him. Yay Owen!
Birthday shopping trip!
Katie got a birthday check from Gramma but she wanted to spend it in person…
From Gramma Jean: We went to Dollar Tree tonight before dinner and she wanted a basket to shop! Got two pair of flip flops and some other stuff, spent $12. I told her I would give her the balance so she had to get pencil and paper and figure out how much that would be. I said she could take the rest to granny’s and she said, not to be mean but shopping there is worse than here! (Choices of stores & options) I’ll give her the balance in an envelope. She’s funny. I pretty much let her choose what she was going to buy. She carefully thought about each one. Cute.
Yep those are my kids!
This just in from Grandparent Camp—two of those little dots out there are our kids! They really only get to swim in a lake up north—they are pool babies—so this is a special treat. Katie is freaked out by fish in the water potentially touching her but Gramma Jean says she’s in up to her neck so this is a big deal!
Gramma said later that they were out there for HOURS. Yep, those are my kids!
Kids at the canoe marathon!
From Gramma Jean: Owen and Katie wanted to go see the start of the race so the three of us went to DQ and then parked at my old office and walked down to Joe’s to watch them. It was fun and they enjoyed it.
When the kids are away…
You can leave at the drop of a hat for dinner out with old friends and new friends an hour away to celebrate National Tequila Day! We drove to Aurora to meet at El Jefe.
Anna and Jami were meeting for the first time but they said it was like they already knew each other! (They met just by posting in my Facebook business group and then friended each other.)
The Al Pastor tacos (me) and octopus (Tom) were both delicious. We also loved the guac trio, the oysters, the flaming cheese, and the margaritas!
The only bad thing was that the music was SO STINKING LOUD that we couldn’t even hear anyone at the ttable—so we really only got to talk to the people directly next to us.
Off to grandparent camp!
It’s time for a road trip to take the kids to Michigan for Grandparent Camp! Usually we go all the way to Grayling but we decided to try something different this year and meet halfway!
I’m not sure what Katie is pissy about other than that’s her normal look these days. (I told you!)
One of the few times she’s sweet.
Our meeting point was Bilbo’s, one of our favorite restaurants from East Lansing that we hadn’t been to in 20 years (since we got married and left Michigan). We were excited that Kalamazoo was the halfway point!
Making the actual transfer! We’re free! Good luck and Godspeed!
Seriously though, the kids absolutely love this time with the grandparents and couldn’t be more excited… especially after Covid put the kibosh on camp last summer. Here’s to making memories!!
Katie loving on Pepper
In a surprise turn of events, Aiden was taken to the hospital yesterday with what turned out to be apendicitis—so we took Evan for the first night and then tonight Tom and Katie needed to go over to let the dogs out. Katie always loves on Pepper and tonight was no different.
Happy 9th and 12-1/2th birthdays!
The show must go on! We had paid for the double birthday party and the weather was gorgeous and we were not cancelling—even though lots of people told me they wouldn’t have been surprised. Really, though, most everything was taken care of by the staff—we basically just had to haul in the drinks and snacks and then had the pizza delivered. I pretty much stayed on the picnic table the whole time.
A great time was had by all!
Our first big drive in movie!
The community center was having a drive in movie so we thought that would be a nice change of pace. We went with David and Anna and watched Sandlot (really cute). Of course when we planned it, I didn’t know if just be getting out of the hospital… But I really just had to sit there so it was okay!
I’m not sure exactly what happened but I didn’t take a single picture. Anna only took one. (Whaaaaat is happening?)
Of course we did have drama… They handed out glow necklaces to everyone and Owen and Katie found a way to be annoyed with each other over them. Then Katie was excited to see a bunch of her friends there—but refused to go talk to any of them.
But the movie was cute and I think everyone enjoyed it!
Lake Forest, Day 7—I’m sprung!
I woke up assuming it was discharge day but I had to get the official word. While I waited I took another walk.
And then one of the docs came in to remove my pouch—which I’m just remembering I didn’t tell you about. So I had a little pouch with a line in my abdomen to drain the surgical site. I hadn’t even known I had it until like late into the day after surgery. Anyway, they emptied it a few times and I didn’t think much of it. But last night, one of the nurses came in…and wanted to show me how to drain it in case I went home with it.
WAIT—WHAAAAT?
I might be going home with this thing? Oh hell no. I wanted no part of that. But I diligently watched and tried to accept that I might actually have to do it. Ewwwww.
So back to the doctor coming in to remove it. I was ecstatic and told her she just made my day! I had no idea what was involved in removing it, so I was a little surprised when she just said she was going to pull it out. Yikes. Okay. She said it shouldn’t hurt but it would feel weird. Ooookay. And she was right. And it felt just like you’d imagine it would feel to pull 4″ of plastic tubing from your body. (Which, sidenote, I had no idea it was that long. I hadn’t even thought about it. I mean it makes sense but ewwww.) Then she just put a bandage on it and that was that. She also then gave me the good news that I would be going home for sure today!
12:23p — Anna was on call to come get me because Tom had an interview that morning—so here I am in her car! In real clothes! Feeling sore but in good spirits since I was going home!
Final thoughts? Man was that a crazy experience… I never would have predicted SIX days in the hospital for a gallbladder issue (what should be a very typical and easy thing) but apparently it was as old and cranky as I am! Let’s just hope I don’t need another visit for a very long time. I think nine years (to the date!) between visits is good!
Oh! One thing that surprised me was how much weight I gained from all the IV fluids! I had thought I’d lose weight since I didn’t eat for five of the six days…but they were literally pumping me fill of liquid all day every day. There happened to be a scale in my room and I remembered what I weighed upon admittance…and I had gained like 12 pounds! And all my clothes—even though they were stretchy—felt uncomfortably tight. Yuck. But I knew it would go away on its own (which it did within a week).
1:56p — Ahhhh. I have my dog on me for a nap. I’m good.
2:02p — Three nappers. (I think we let the kids binge on devices to leave us nap in peace.)
I stayed pretty chill the rest of the day and moved slowly, but the pain meds helped quite a bit. I was only allowed to go up the stairs once a day, so that was at bedtime… At which point I finally got to take a shower!
I actually asked Katie to come in the bathroom with me so she could be there in case anything happened (I mean who knows?). I had her help me remove some of the bandages, too, so hopefully she wouldn’t be super freaked out… And also so she could see this really was serious so she would hopefully not be a poop when asking her to do extra things to help out.
The shower felt good but I couldn’t really bend much so everything was slow and measured and I spent most of the time just standing there. I know Katie loves her Band-Aids so I had her get some ready for me so they were unwrapped and ready to go!
And I was stupid excited to do my full skincare regime!!! After a week without most of it, it felt like heaven!
Lake Forest, Day 5
8:01a — The surgeon just came in and confirmed the survey is still scheduled for 1p. If everything goes great I could be going home tonight. But since the surgery is a tiny bit later (the surgery takes about an hour, and usually it takes about an hour to wake up) they may want to keep me overnight one more night.
Look at all my gidgets and gadgets!
And look at what Owen texted me? I love him.
How are the kids doing? Just fine. They’ve been spending a lot of time at Anna’s with the boys and today she treated them to ice cream!
3:30p — The surgery went very well. I personally haven’t had the post-op discussion with the surgeon but the doctor apparently told Tom that my gallbladder was large and they needed to make an extra-large incision to remove it…and it was FULL of stones!
There are no crazy videos of me coming out of sedation! By the time I got back to my room where Tom was, I was pretty coherent. Sorry!
I know I had thought I might possibly be able to come home tonight (since this is typically an outpatient procedure) but with the bigger incision plus my pain level getting in and out of bed, I was actually glad to be staying another night.
I actually felt the best I have felt in days so I invited Anna to come visit for a bit so I actually felt human again eating CHICKEN POT PIE from the real food menu and visiting with people who weren’t staff.
By 7 o’clock or so, I was able to maneuver pretty well and didn’t need help getting out of bed. I kicked Tom out so I could catch up with my bestie and we actually took three laps around the wing.
Then—SURPRISE!—I had to switch rooms so now I’m in the even quieter mom/baby unit so hopefully I’ll get a full night’s sleep. They said they won’t bother me unless I page them. Fingers crossed.
So all is well. Now I just need to fart (AND poop!) before they’ll let me leave! #tmi