rosebush

Well, I am back home. I have so much running through my head that I don't know where to start. Here is a pic of the rosebush on the front of the house. It is a vibrant red and so full of blooms this year.

I had a good trip to Seattle. When I got into town late tuesday and saw Grandpa he was not having a good day. He very sick to his stomach. The phone tag with the doctors office was too much to bare. They needed to call in some anti nausea/vomit prescription. Even by the end of the day it still wasn't done. He had not eaten and was very weak. It became evident that an aggressive push for hospice to be set up needed to happen...quickly. Part of the problem is that Grandma and Grandpa do not communicate with the doctor very well. So the doctor doesn't think they are having any problems. They are too proud to talk about it. So by 1:00 pm Wednesday the prescription was finally called in. I was disgusted with how long it took. I picked up the meds and took them down to him. I swear by 3:00 he had so much color back in his face. I don't know if he was just having a good day or the meds were helping. I was just glad that he was feeling better. He even went outside to watch Scott mow the lawn! I spent the afternoon trying to help Grandma with some things around the house. I had great chats with them and got to share with Grandpa my favorite memory of him and I blackberry picking up at the lake when I was very young. I was able to leave feeling good about the situation there. As I was driving home the hospice people were there and Scott and Aunt Bess were able to be there too. So things are in place for when he starts not feeling well again. O.K. enough about that.

I regret being convinced to cancel the cleaning gal for yesterday. Now I am faced with dirty floors and toilets. Yuck. A run to Costco for dog food. A run to Walmart. All with kids. Max gets out early and no doubt will want to have a play date. Barry finished the raised beds in the garden. What I really would like to be doing is outside planting some seeds. And weeding. On a good note, the weather is going to be in the 80's all weekend so I should be able to get out soon.

Many thanks to Joanie and Scott for their hospitality. I had a great time staying with them. It was wonderful being able to spend time with Jacob and Ava without my kids needing my attention. They are so much more quiet then these boys of ours. We had lunch with Ava at a friends restaurant and she was so good!

Hailey dog missed me. When I got home and started unloading she jumped in the car and wouldn't get out. Love her!

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Coop's last day

We had a great time at Cooper's picnic for his last day of school. Here he is with Mrs. Wegener. She was Max's teacher also. So it was fun telling her that we would see her in a year and half or so for Wyatt's turn. Just then Wyatt ran up to Cooper and starting pulling on his hair. Really hard! I said " well maybe that is not such a great thing for you". "We will work on the hair pulling thing". Then Coop said" I have a wart on my foot". With that we decided to move on and have our snack on our blanket. Poor Mrs. Wegener!

My Grumps had an appointment today to review his recent scan. We found out that he has cancer in his liver, lungs and multiple places in his chest. He started with prostate cancer and it spread to his bladder. He has had treatments all along. He has decided to not have chemo. It would not cure his cancer only keep it controlled. I am going to go to Seattle on Tuesday evening and spend a couple days. I am looking forward to having some meaningful time with my grandparents. Since I have had the boys, it has been hard to sit and focus on just them when we are in town. I am filled with sadness that my grandfather will have to endure such pain. He has been a hard working, honest, family man. Devoting himself to all of us. But there is a part of me that knows that he will be taken care of. I know that a person that has lived this way will be blessed. I also know that I have always tried to be honest with him. So he knows that I have nothing but respect and love for him. I would never be prepared for what is going to happen. I can only do my best.

I love you Grandpa!

Cottonwood trees!

Sorry to all the faithful who check in to see what is new here. I haven't felt much like being on the computer. The weather is finally turning nice and so I have been able to get outside more. It has been a week since I last posted. We have almost hit 100 degrees. I love the heat. It takes some getting used to when it first hits. I told myself during the summers that I was pregnant and disgusted with the heat that I would enjoy it again.... someday. Although, not as much as in my youth but I still like it!
The pumpkin starts are in the ground. Barry had seeds from last years crop so he started those indoors and we also bought some new ones which we direct sowed. I am just about done planting the vegetable seeds. Still have the peas to go in and I would like to grow some lettuce which I still need to buy some seed for. I am looking for some cedar mulch, ground cover stuff. Shavings of sort. I don't want bark! I need to get the permanent paths covered before the weeds start growing. The scarlet runner beans are up. They were seeds saved from last year also.
We had a busy weekend. Max had two birthday parties on Saturday. Barry invited his buds from work over for beer can chicken and roasted asparagus. He was back to work on Sunday.
The cottonwood trees are spewing their venom all over the place. I am on Clariton and still having trouble. It not only gives me typical allergy symptoms but bums me out too. It doesn't help that I am still on antibiotics. I am just hoping that the broncitis doesn't come back.
This is a hard week. Barry will work his 3 days and then on his 3 days off will be in Skamania for a work seminar thing and then home in time to go back to work. We will need to work on getting the lawn mowed somewhere in there. Seems TruGreen over fertilized and we can almost see it growing.
We really need to spruce up this house. The walls are marked up and dingy and just need to be painted. The only part I don't want to do is the entryway. With the high ceiling I think it would just be easier to have someone else do it. Barry and I don't do projects like that very well and with our 10 year anniversary coming.... lets just leave it to the professionals. :)
That said, I have called 5 painting contractors and no one has called back.
Wyatt likes to try and play video games. He doesn't really play but sits there and stares at them and occasionally hits a button which makes something happen and then he starts screaming for someone to come fix it for him. Honestly, this starts at 6:00 a.m. Today I had to turn the games off and just listen to him cry.
Coop is trying to play with Wyatt more. He is learning how to be a big brother. When it works it is so nice around here. His last days of school are this week. I have got to sign these kids up for swimming lessons or they are going to kill each other.
Max is really growing up. . He is getting an attitude that school is almost over and that he shouldn't have to do much more. He also showed me how he is able to point at things with his middle finger. He knows that it is a bad thing but I don't think he knows why. A day after our discussion he thought when he got mad at me that he would show me the gesture :o
I was shocked, disturbed and really didn't think we would be going through this yet. The "tween"years!
I found a new magazine that I just love. It is called MaryJane's Farm. I loved it! Old time projects, environmentally friendly living, gardening and homesteading info. She has a web site. www.maryjanesfarm.com . The boards have great advice from real women who are trying to retain some old fashion lifestyles.
Quick note. Grandpa started radiation therepy. He is really nautious though. Not from radiation, from something else. So he has to have a scan of his organs to make sure something else isn't going on.
Wow, that is all for now. Teach me to wait so long to write. Have a great week everyone!

I give up!

I was hoping this pic would be clearer. I went up to take my shower and this is what I came back to! There is a whole other mess on the other side of the room. Oh joy!

Great weekend!

I was showered with gifts for Mother's Day. Max made this tile at school. It is hard to see here, but it says Mom on the top and is a vase with a flower and a cup of coffee on the side. Melted my heart! His teacher also took pics of each kid with a globe and a note on the pic that says "of all the mothers in the world, I got the best one" How cute! Cooper made a beautiful painting at school. Then on Sunday I got a new wand waterer for the back patio and new plastic tumblers for the summer.
Barry worked really hard. He got the garden rototilled and made us some raised beds for the vegetables Coop and I are going to plant. They look great. Nice and rustic looking just how I like. I got the tomatoes in and some red peppers and banana peppers. Coop and I are going to plant the seeds during the next couple days.
Friday I was back at the doctors office. The antibiotic didn't work so I still have a ear infection and broncitis. I noticed it all coming back so I went in before it got really bad again. So I am on another round of different antibiotics. Hopefully, it will not be resistant to this one and I can get rid of this crud.
Wyatt is getting the last of his 2 year molers. He keeps waking up every few hours or so. Which isn't helping my recovery any.
It turns out my dear Grandpa has bone cancer in his pelvis. He is going to do radiation therepy to help control some of the pain. Then I guess he is going to do chemo for the other cancer. I don't know. It is all so scary.
Well I need to go start my Monday. Wyatt just came in and told me "Bot!" Which means Coop isn't being very nice to him. For some reason Wyatt calls Cooper "Bot". If I ask him "who made this mess?" he will point to Cooper and say "Bot did". It makes me laugh. At first Coop didn't like the name but now he is actually proud of it. After I told him that his cousin Ruby used to call Spencer "Bebe".
O.K. Monday here I come!

Post Doctor's visit

What a long morning. The boys were so crazy. Wrestling, hitting and teasing. By the time we left for the doctors I was going crazy. We were all up at 5:45 so they had plenty of time to push my buttons. But I knew I was going to get even with two of them when the doctor removed those warts. Sick I know. Little did I know that they don't remove them off the feet like that. Plus it would be too painful for them (he said to me). I giggled at that and told him my thoughts of setting them back on their heels with removal of the wart. So he just scraped some of it off and gave us a prescription for some remover which will work in about 3 weeks! 3 weeks of applying this stuff with a bandaid. So they are just as full of themselves as they were. We stopped by the house then went to lunch and got Max off to school. They were having the scholastic book fair so I took Coop and Wy to get a book each. Of course they have to have a bunch of crappy toys and candy right next to the check out. I managed to get out of there for $17.00. Cooper got a animal book and Wy found a Transformer book. With the min-markers and stickers we were finally out of there and on our way home. Now, I need to get caught up at the house.
Barry called to see how Eevee was doing. Jason said "your wife doesn't want her back does she?" So she is sleeping in his bed sometimes and running with the quad at 18 mph I think that is what Barry said. So we can finally rest that she is well cared for and happy. Hurray!

Tuesday, Coop is back to school

Coop is finally back to school. He is back to his old self. His last day of school will be on May 22nd. I can't believe it. Then he will go on to Pre-K next year and Wyatt will start the 2-3 year old class. Max's last day of school is on June 11th. I can't believe it. Once these days get close they seem to just fly by! I need to figure out what to get there teachers for end of the year gifts. Ugh! They had teacher appreciation day today at Max's school. Our neighbor organized a luncheon for them so I sent a pot of potato cheese soup with her. I am thankful that she took it up there for me. I was going to take it up myself but with the other two kids with me it just seemed to easy to let her take it :) Lame on my part I know. I will have to make up for it some other time.

O.K. I am not looking forward to tomorrow. Both Max and Cooper have been horrified that they both have a wart on the bottom of their feet! We tried over the counter junk and nothing worked. So now they have to go see a podiatrice to have them removed. Their pediatrician won't do it. I was so hoping that Barry would be able to take them. But they switched him back to day shift so he will be working. Their appts are at 9 and 9:15. They are going to cry!!! I don't even know what to tell them or not to tell them. I can only hope that they will num the area first. I can hear Barry now.. " you are thinking too negative". But lets be serious. We all know when Max gets a scratch you can hear him for miles! So I am going to buck up. Take them with a smile on my face. Bribe them with whatever I can! That is the plan and I am sticking to it.

Max spent the night last Saturday again at Caden's. He left at 1:30 and didn't get back until after 4:00 the next day. Plus, he walked both ways. The young ones "Coop and Wy" had a good time. Barry put them in the tree and we got a couple good pics.

The weather has been getting better. I bought a new slip and slide and a sprinkler that goes every which way. They had fun last night cooling off. We are starting to shop for this years pool. I think we will go with a framed one this year.

We have been enjoying our back yard again. We have been kicking off shoes and boots and socks leaving them on the porch and guess what? They are still there when we go back for them and no holes! Dang Eevee.

Well, Got to go pick Coop up from school.