See Spot Go

The doctor's office just called about the spot that they removed from my arm. The nurse said that it was high grade pre-cancerous. So, it is a good thing that the doctor noticed it... when he was checking out my carpal tunnel problem. Funny how things work out. The nurse said that they did get the entire area removed and that I should be rechecked in six months. Oh, and I need to wear sunscreen. That is the hardest part for me. I grew up in the era of dark tans... it is so hard for me to reprogram myself... I was born to be riding around in a convertible with the radio blasting away... in the warm summer sun. Times change. I guess that I need to, too.

We had a great weekend celebrating James' birthday. I can't believe that he is two already. Russ and Carol came over on Saturday afternoon. We had a fun visit with them. Mom and Dad came down on Sunday afternoon. We had a little party, complete with Cookie Monster cake. I haven't got the pictures downloaded yet... I'll try to do that later today.

The Hits Keep on Coming

Oh boy... James and I spent some quality time at the Emergency Room last night. He had a close encounter of the coffee table kind when we were just about ready to get him to bed. I'm not really sure how it happened... I think that he just kind of lost his balance and stumbled into it. At first, I thought that he hit his forehead. As soon as I picked him up and turned him around, I saw the blood in his mouth.

We spent some time trying to calm him down. Eventually, he quieted down, nursed and nearly fell asleep. We decided that we should try to take a closer look... and that got him fired up again. He had a small gash on his lower lip... no problem. But, on the inner part of his upper lip, he had an area that had pulled apart. Yuk. We called the doctor on call, and she said that without seeing it, she couldn't feel comfortable telling us a yeah or nay. So, James and I loaded up and headed to the ER.

James was admirably brave throughout the whole ordeal. He was not a fan of getting his blood pressure taken... nor was he pleased when he had to lay on the table for the doctor to examine his mouth. But, aside from that, he was very calm. The ER doctor said that everything should heal quickly on its own... that they rarely stitch up mouth injuries now. So, he got a prescription for some antibiotics to minimize any infection potential. Oh, and he also got the sweetest, softest white bear. I was very impressed with the ER facility... it is a fairly new hospital and I was very pleased with every aspect of it.

So, now we are starting off another day. There really is a lot to be done, but between being tired from the late night and itchy and stiff from the Fifth Disease, I'm not sure how productive I will be today. At a minimum, I need to load everyone up and do a quick trip to the grocery store. Food is really non-negotiable for the weekend... clean house and mowed yard aren't quite as important. We'll get through... somehow we always do.

Hmmmm

Ok, I am not sure why I pay my doctors big bucks... I think that my neighbor just diagnosed what is wrong with me... and what was wrong with Amanda a few days ago... and what seems to be starting with James. I think that Fifth Disease is making the rounds in our house. Amanda had the mystery rash a week or so ago. I called her doctor. She said not to worry if the rash cleared up by the weekend; it did. My doctor today wasn't sure, but thought that it could have been triggered by the poison ivy. And, today, James has really red cheeks... which my neighbor said is classis Fifth Disease, as is a lacy rash. Hmmmmm.

I did some research on the web after talking with her and sure enough... that is what it looks like. All of the descriptions that I have found match it to a tee. I guess that B (my neighbor) had it earlier this year, too. Strange. It is usually found in kiddos... not aging housewives. LOL. Lucky us.

Under the Knife

I went under the knife this morning and survived. I had a spot on my left forearm removed. When I went in in May for the carpal tunnel diagnosis, the doctor found a suspicious looking dark spot on my arm. So, today it got cut out. The nurse numbed me up very well... the numbing felt like a series of bee stings. By the time of the procedure, everything was very well numb. I really felt nothing of the cutting... but, still, I felt like I was going to pass out. The doctor was asking me all kinds of questions (to figure out why I have this odd rash). Finally, I had to just say that I wasn't feeling very well. At least I was already laying down. I'm sure that it was pretty much just a psychological deal... kinda like when I try to donate blood. Right, Dave?

Anyway, Doc concluded that my rash and intensely painful joints (ankles, knees, wrists) are both being caused by a secondary reaction to my poison ivy. Great. I feel like I am 90 years old. It hurts to do just about anything... even go up one step from the family room to the dining room. Getting up and down off of the floor is nearly impossible without grimacing. It kinda stinks getting old... at least I know that this is just a temporary condition. I can't imagine having arthritis like this. Yuk. No fun.

We camped out a couple of nights ago again. This time it was much more pleasant... no ATVs riding around all night long. We only heard sounds of the crickets, frogs, cicadas and other critters in the woods. Very peaceful.

I stumbled upon a blog yesterday written by a lady who is adopting a little boy from Guatamala. After reading a few entries and doing a little searching, I found that she had lost her husband in a motorcycle accident. She was also in the accident with him, but survived. This was about a year ago. I'm not sure why, but her story is kind of sticking with me. Perhaps since we nearly lost Dad a few years ago in an accident. You never know when something like that might happen... Of course, it just scares me to death thinking that my children could lose either Doug or me before they are old enough to understand... Just gotta put it in God's hands, I guess.

Monday, Monday

We made it through another weekend. It was filled with fun and adventure... as usual. We wouldn't have it any other way.

The fair on Friday evening was great. It was a very nice county fair... lots of animals, great 4-H and good fair food. We all had fun. I definitely felt like we were at "home". We saw several people that we knew. I think that most of our street was there. We saw four families there. Funny. I just cannot wait for the kids to be involved in 4-H. I have so many fond memories of my 4-H years. Friends, projects... I learned so much from the projects that I did. I think that Amanda will be able to begin Mini 4-H in a couple of years. Won't be long.

We did some caching on Saturday morning and afternoon. We are only five away from 600 finds!!!

We camped out in the backyard on Saturday night. The weather was perfect for it. Unfortunately, some jerks were riding their ATVs nearly all night. I think that they finally quite around 2 a.m. or so. They weren't super-close to us, but it was such a still night, the sound really carried. On a funny note, we had just all snuggled in when we heard a "meow". Buttons was peeking in the tent, trying to figure out why we were all out there. James was concerned about Buttons being concerned and started saying "uh-oh". So, we all didn't get the most quality rest, but it was still fun.

Yesterday, we went out and bought James a big boy bed. It is a full size... and boy is it comfy! There were lots of zzzzzz's coming out of it last night. LOL.

This week will be busy with preparations for James birthday party. Can't believe that he is just days away from being a two-year old. Wow.

Fair Time!

Yeah!!! It looks like today we are finally going to make it to our local fair! I have been wanting to go to it for years - literally. Seems like we always miss it for some reason. Doug is planning on leaving work a bit early since he had to work late again last night. I am SO tired of him having to work late so often. I'm trying to be patient... but, having a hard time. That is fodder for another blog. Anyway, we should have a great time at the fair. It is beautiful outside this morning. Yeah!!!

As usual, we've been busy around here. Dana came to visit on Wednesday. It was great to see her. I'm not sure when the last time (aside from bumping into her at the homeschool convention) was. We visited for a couple of hours, which went far too quickly. We did make some awesome plans to go caching with her and her family in a couple of weeks. Can't wait!! Her hubby already uses a GPSr in his work, so they have gotten the most difficult part covered already.

Oh, and speaking of caching.... the strangest thing happened. On Sunday, I took Amanda to her classroom at church and then went to meet Doug at James' classroom. When I got there, he and the main "teacher" guy were chatting more than normal. When I finally tuned in, I found out that this guy is a fellow cacher, and he had discovered that we were cachers, too. We had recently found one of his caches... he followed our link to look at our profile and recognized us from our picture. How funny is that?

I have completed part of Amanda's room-makeover project. I have removed all of the Baby Snoopy wallpaper border from her walls. It really didn't bother me too much... but, Doug was really bummed out about it. I had no idea that it would bother him so much. I guess that he sees this as the first sign that his baby girl is getting bigger. She, on the other hand, is really fired up. I found the perfect lamp base for her lamp shade at target. Not only is it white, like we wanted, but it has a purple star (or maybe flower?) as a pull. Next step, I guess, is doing a bit of research to figure out the best way to paint stripes on a wall. How hard can that be? LOL - how many times have we said that about a project that has taken FOREVER to get done?!?

Mom and Dad made it safely to Waldorf, MD. They have started participating in the DeSoto Convention activities. Mendi talked to them yesterday and said that they sounded like they were having a great time. I'm sure that they are. I hope that the digital camera is working out ok for them. We haven't had any "helpline" calls, so I assume that they've figured it out sufficiently.

Gotta go for now... Happy Friday.

Poisy Ivan

Well, that summertime visitor, Poisy Ivan, has returned with a vengeance. Yep, I really mean Poison Ivy... Amanda renamed it when she was just starting to talk and the name stuck. I think that I mentioned the other day that I had a little bit flaring up... well, it's flared. I have a really gross spot on my arm. It has been seeping for about three days. Yuk. I also have smaller spots on my ear and higher up on my arm. I guess that it must have been from a cache that we attempted.

Speaking of caching, we did several yesterday... I think that we found eleven. We started off the afternoon at the Indy Zoo. That was a mistake. Between the heat (it was over 90 degrees), the crowds (it was PACKED), and the kiddos (James was in meltdown state nearly the whole time), we didn't last long. Amanda and Doug were able to visit the new Oceans building. Amanda was brave and petted a shark. I, on the other hand, had to head back to the truck with James. Drat. Next time we can hopefully all go through it together.

Caching, like I said, was much more successful. Everyone enjoyed it so much more. We found a couple of really great parks around Carmel - Coxhall Gardens and West Park. The kids played for a long time at West Park. It's great that there are so many wonderful outside areas close to us. I wish that everyone had that opportunity.

Today, we are catching up on laundry... played too much over the weekend.

Mom and Dad are on their way to Washington, D.C. for the National DeSoto Convention. Yes, they are driving the DeSoto! Godspeed and safe travel to them. I talked to them about an hour ago. They were already east of Columbus, OH. I guess that they have already received several waves, thumbs up... and they've had their picture taken by another fellow traveller (someone from Louisiana). I'm sure that they will have a great time. We have let them borrow the digital camera. Hope to have some pictures of their trip to post when they return.

Jumble of Thoughts

I'll probably follow no real pattern in this post... there are just too many random thoughts and topics going through my head...

We've been "rock hunting" again. There are so many new subdivisions going in around here. And, with that, there are so many fields being torn up, plowed up, scraped up. We've been scavenging around looking for nice, big rocks to use in our landscaping. I don't know if we could get in trouble for doing this. Of course, I would never do it if the field were still owned by a farmer... I feel like all the big development companies will do is just load 'em up with a bunch of dirt and take them to a landfill. Why not put them to good use? Doug went with me last night to provide a little more muscle.

The other day when we were running errands, the kids got suckers... twice actually. Once at the bank and once at the landscaping place (yes, when we got more rocks... see a pattern here?) Anyway, when we were driving down the road, Amanda says, "Look, Mom. This sucker is the same color as my toenail polish!" She was right... so very observant.

Speaking of Amanda, she had a major wipe-out on her bike last night. She had been doing so good, too. Doug took her down to the end of the street so that she could practice turns in the big circle. She had just started doing tighter turns in our driveway... and lost it. Her elbow and knee were all scraped up. It took us awhile to recover from that one.

Yesterday was not good for the wildlife around here. I decided to start mowing the backyard by the woods. Everything was going great... when I heard a "Ka-thump!" I was afraid to look. When I did, I found the bottom half of a frog. I assumed that the other half was in the mower bag. Yuck. After doing a couple more passes, I discovered the top half, still looking at me. Thankfully, the death had to have been instant. Poor guy... I felt horrible. Then, later in the evening when I was mowing the front yard, I noticed Buttons (the neighborhood cat) chewing on something in the neighbor's yard. Woohoo! I thought that she had captured one of the pesky moles. After closer inspection, I discovered that she had gotten a baby rabbit for dinner. Double-yuck. I'm pretty sure she ate the whole thing. I looked later for leftovers and found none.

I've got some poison ivy right now. Nothing too bad, but it is seeping and looks rather gross.

The other day I purchased some electric hedge trimmers. Wow! Why we didn't do that 10 years ago, I have no idea. They worked great!!!

Yesterday, our Sonlight order came. I'm not sure who was more excited - me, Amanda or James. The books are AWESOME!!!!!! I can't wait to get started on her "school" for the year.

Not sure what we will get into today. The rest of the front yard needs mowed... the barn door still needs painted... and oh, yeah.... the house is a disaster! Plenty to do.

As Promised...

Pictures! Ok, there are only three. The first one is of James and his "hot stud" hair do. At the Euge Groove concert, I decided that he really reminded me of James... or vice versa. When he was playing certain notes, he would roll his eyes back up into his head just like James does when he nurses. Ok, I know that is twisted, but it is true. I just imagined James being in the next generation of Smooth Jazz saxophonists. So, with that, he has to have a cool hair do, right? Well, here it is:


And, here is the mean albino fish all alone in his tank:


Here is the tank that we have in James room. We have seven white "barcas" as we call them (named after the fish that Amanda got when we were potty training her. Yes, we still call it potty training around here... LOL.). We also have one male daktari and one male red zebra in there. I think that it turned out really nice. The new rocks give it such a nice look.


I called the doctor about Amanda's red spots... or mottled spots, I guess. She said to just keep an eye on them. If they are still there on Friday, call back. That sounds good to me.

It is beautiful outside here today. Think we'll do some outside chores... woohoo!

Status Report

Ok... I did accomplish quite a bit yesterday.

In the morning, I worked on finishing the roof of the barn birdhouse. Then, we loaded up and went to the bank, did our recycling and went to the library. The kids had "read" another 10 books for the book club and were awarded a book a piece. James got a Rainbow Fish book; Amanda got a Bob the Builder book.

After a short break at home, we again loaded up in the truck and headed to the landscape supply store. It is a huge place with tons (literally) of mulch, rock, dirt... you name it. A couple of years ago, they had a Cessna plane stuck in one of the mulch piles. I think that it was a marketing ploy... not a real accident. They had a beautiful saltwater tank inside. The lady (after giving the kids suckers) let them go back and check it out. It was gorgeous! Anyway, we carefully selected 45 pounds of rocks (river rock and flat stone) for a couple of our fish tanks. We brought them home, washed them up and redid James and Amanda's tanks. They turned out great.

I thought that we could try breeding Amanda's albino fish... but, it didn't work. In a matter of hours (three or four), the male had totally beaten up the female. All of her fins were shredded. We had to separate them. I don't understand the macho, beat your wife approach. It just doesn't work, folks. So, while his tank looks nice, he has no queen for his castle.

In the evening, we made a second trip to the library, because I found a DVD that we had forgotten to return. Doh. We also did a shopping trip to Meijer. We needed a few staples... like Geraniums for the porch. Why do I insist on calling them Begonias?!? I have no idea. Anyway, we got some food... hit BK... and headed home. Doug returned from golf as we were all wolfing down fries and Sprite. It was a very busy and rewarding day. I'll try to get some pictures out later...

Odd Jobs

Boy, I have gotten myself involved in so many projects right now. I really need to finish some of them. At this point in time I have the following in process:
- Amanda's wall quilt
- My LeMoyne Star quilt block for the kitchen
- Yellow birdhouse
- Barn birdhouse
- Amanda's headboard
- Mowing the backyard
- Oh, and the other "normal" stuff - cleaning, laundry, dishes, library, recycling,...

Whew. I just need to pick one or two and focus on getting something accomplished today. I am looking in to taking a quilting basics class in a couple of weeks. I need to call today and ask a couple of questions. Oh, add that to the list.

Here are a couple of pictures from our get-together with Lowell and his family. It was nearly impossible to get everyone in the same place at the same time... and looking at the camera. These were the best two. The kids just really hit it off. The play area was awesome... and so was the mini-bowling.



Amanda just came staggering out of her bedroom. She needs to cuddle while she wakes up... guess I need to go.

It's Official

I just completed my order for our first set of homeschooling books. Oh boy... here goes nothing. We are going to be using the Sonlight Curriculum. I've heard some really good things about it and so has Doug. One of the guys that he works with highly recommended it. That is what they used with their children. I probably could have done something on my own, but I think for the first try, I would do better with a strict agenda already spelled out. We'll see how it goes.

It is very HOT here today. We made it to church and came back for lunch and to cool down. We're leaving in mere moments to meet Lowell, Karen and their girls to play. After that, we will be heading up to Kokomo for my grandma's 90th birthday party. It will be a whirlwind for sure... but well worth it.

Gotta run for now...

Fun on the Fourth!

Happy Birthday, America!!! God Bless all of the troops that are currently fighting to preserve freedom around the world. THANK YOU!

Wow! We had a great day yesterday. It was so nice to be able to spend the entire day together... just having fun. We slept in 'til about 9 a.m. After breakfast, we decided to head out and do some geocaching. You know, exercise our freedom to roam about the country searching for ammo cans, match containers and other hidden goodies. We had a successful day, finding 7 caches. We met up with a few other cachers and their expertise proved very handy at two of the caches. We had lunch at our favorite - McDonald's, and then it was off for more caching.

Since we were all so hot, Doug suggested that we head home, grab our swimsuits and go to our newly discovered favorite park. So, we did just that. The kids really have fun there... more so at the playground than in the water. I would have been perfectly happy just playing in the water. But, you have to go with the flow, so to speak. Here are a few pictures of the kiddos in the play area. Don't they look like they are having a blast?





We had a little cookout for dinner. The kids and I decided that it would be fun to bake a Happy Birthday cake for the U.S.A. Amanda helped mix up the cake... then, everyone was on hand to help with the icing activity.




I iced the cake in no time flat... with just enough time to spare. We grabbed some plates, napkins and forks and headed out the door for the local fireworks display. The fireworks started off just as we were settling in to our chosen spot. They were very good... and, the weather held out. Traffic was a disaster afterwards, though. Doug finally decided to follow a few folks and create our own exit from the area. Then, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way home. We were all exhausted from our busy day... no trouble getting the kiddos to sleep. James actually fell asleep while we were waiting in traffic. LOL!!!

The New Me

Well, here I am! The haircut went great yesterday. I absolutely love the new do!! My hairdresser was even able to get enough for me to send to locks of love. I am so excited. Here is a before picture and an after picture. I had to go all the way back to April to find a before picture with my hair down...


Oh, and here is Doug's reaction...

We had a great day caching yesterday. We found eight caches rather quickly close to our home. We discovered a fantastic new park, too. I had heard about it, but I hadn't had a chance to check it out. There is a nice walking path, a playground area, and... the best part - a water play area!!! We all enjoyed playing in that. It was a pretty muggy day. I'm certain that we will be spending much more time there this summer. Here are the kiddos on a favorite swing...

Also, here is a before picture of the headboard that we got for Amanda. It definitely needs some work, but I have faith that we can spruce it up. I've got grand plans for her room, but I seem to be the only one excited about it. She is very against change of any kind.