SOOO FLIPPIN" BEHIND!!!

Hey, all! I am sorry that I have been *dragging* my heels on updating this blog... I do have a great excuse - kidney stones - do you at least forgive me a wee bit? What if I tell you I am going in for surgery tomorrow to take care of one that is stuck? Forgive me yet? Well, here is a quick blurb on the last week or two and some photos to go along with it.

First up is my weekend of walkathons. The first walk was for one of the suburb's school district that Bike Man's company sponsored. Nice day. Pleasant, two mile walk.

Had to stop at starbucks afterward for a *sinful* reward, of course!!!

That evening was the 30th birthday celebration of my dear friend, Extraordinary Ordinary... otherwise known as *T*! A few of us WILD 'n' CRAZY Gals met out for a fondue feast (and lots of laughs, but I won't get into any specifics...)

The next morning, the kiddos and I had another walkathon...this time for Melanoma. We walked with one of the sweetest women I know, who lost her hubby to Melanoma just a couple months ago. We love you guys!

Later that week, our family grew by four legs...

Meet Mocha, our new puppy! Mocha is a Yorkshire Terrier (Yorkie)-Maltese Mix dog, otherwise known as a "Morkie." He was born on March 19th. He weighs a WHOPPING two pounds... he is expected to reach about 4 pounds full grown. His Maltese Mama was 5 pounds and his Yorkie dad was 3.5 pounds... he is going to be a small little dude. We are all adjusting to life with a puppy... a first for us. He is a lot of work, but the cuddles make it worthwhile! I'm sure you'll be seeing more of him in my blogs because he is just SO DARN CUTE!

The CUTEST girl in the WORLD...

I have a new obsession...

A major weakness...

Maybe even an addiction...

See, I am completely and thoroughly wrapped around the tiny and precious finger of the most beautiful girl in this entire world! Seriously! And, she isn't even mine! I did not give birth to her; so it is not those "mommy rose-colored glasses" talking. Admittedly, though, it could be the "auntie rose-colored glasses" talking... After all, this gorgeous peanut is my niece. Let's call her Pumpkin.

Pumpkin is almost 15 months old. She makes the darnest noises and LOVES attention! When she smiles, she smiles with her ENTIRE face!!! And body for that matter! Her eyes become crescent moon shaped, her grin is ear to ear. Her impossibly sweet dimples pop out. Her body stiffens and her arms shake with excitement. Pumpkin is so dang CUTE! What a BLESSING she is! Take a look at her! This photo was taken a couple weeks ago at our house for my Mom's birthday. What a doll, I tell ya!

I Have Not Forgotten...

Yes, it has been a LONG time since I last blogged...

No, it is not that I have lost interest already...

... Actually, things have been unusually hectic around here. My sister, let's call her "Lissy Lucy," had surgery yesterday. Let me back pedal a bit...

Lissy Lucy is 24 years old, but mentally averages at a 5 year old level. She has Double Cortex Syndrome and a significant seizure disorder. She has had the hemispheres of her brain separated (Corpus Callosotomy). She has been on every anticonvulsant medication known to man (and some that were only experimental) all in a futile attempt to control the approximately 150 seizures she has every month. Her latest issue, and definitely her most significant issue, has been the discovery of her heart involvement with some seizure activity. Lissy Lucy's heart was found to stop beating... not good. Not good at all.

With one foot already in her grave, her doctors decided to try placing a pacemaker in her chest/heart to trigger heartbeats when her rate falls below 60 beats per minute. This is the surgery she had yesterday.

Last evening, we found that the pacemaker works, as Lissy Lucy decided to take it for a test run, quite a few times. Very cool that it worked! BUT...

Lissy Lucy is now noted to stop breathing and drop her blood oxygen levels dangerously low with these seizures. Their is no "pacemaker" for this; no instant fix. Now we worry about the cummulative effects of her brain having all these moments of oxygen deprivation... further brain damage, loss of abilities, loss of quality of life...

Please keep Lissy Lucy in your thoughts and prayers...

Oddities in our Neighborhood

We were sitting in our living two weekends ago when Bike Man shouted, "OMG! I think that is a gigantic snapping turtle in our yard!" The kids and myself pressed our curious noses to the glass and gasped. About 30 feet from our house, a prehistoric-looking, foot stool-sized creature was slowly making it's way to our house. We jumped off the couch, raced for our shoes, and dashed out the door. All the while, Bike Man was shouting, "Keep them back! That thing will take off a finger in a nano-second!!!" Being the photo freak that I am, I grabbed my trusty Canon (which is always strategically placed among the chaos on my kitchen counter) on my way out.

We grabbed a few photos and were amazed at a few things. First, if you look closely, you can see the 3-4 inch long claws on this turtle. Can we say, "Pedicure!" Second, what a tail! It was about 6 inches long and had stegasaurus-like points along the top of it. Lastly, this turtle's shell had moss all over it... crazy!!! This was no docile turtle! This demonic thing hissed at us like crazy and actually turned TOWARDS us and moved a step or two TOWARDS us as we roamed around it.



Here, you can see that we did not offer up our children as a Sunday Brunch. Brainiac kept her distance... Chick Magnet and Mellow Boy stayed even further back. What a cool sight for us!






Another oddity was spotted in our neighborhood, actually, to be a bit more precise, it smacked into it. That same weekend, a single engine plane sputtered and lost it's engine OVER OUR BACK YARD and landed nose first in a field. This plane narrowly missed our neighborhood. It landed about 100 yards from our neighbors! YIKES! Good news, however, the man and woman in it WALKED away from it with minor cuts and bruises. Simply miraculous. Take a look at the photos...










OMG!





























How could anyone have survived this???

















The boys wanted their picture taken with it. Despite what it looks like, they are not wearing helmets to protect their noggins from falling aircraft... (we rode our bikes to the crash site)

Day #2 - Still in it to Win it!

Posting again! Yippee! We had a very hectic day today. I am glad it is almost over! Tomorrow should prove to be a bit slower...

My boys and I spent the 30 minutes before bedtime this evening discussing, in great detail, all the different bodily systems. My oldest son was remarkably knowledgeable on the human skeletal system. He informed me that grown ups have about 204 bones, but babies have 350. He new that their skulls were not fused. He named and pointed out his skull, femur, pelvis, phalanges, tibia, spine, ribcage, sternum, and humerus. Pretty awesome for a first grader! He also informed me that the femur is the longest human bone. We then discussed the circulatory system, digestive system, renal system, and central nervous system... on a first grade level, of course! Fascinating, actually, that he is so into this! And into home structure, especially log homes... but that is a topic for another day!!!

Third Time is a Charm...

My third attempt at blogging... we'll see how long this time lasts! If I make it past 3 blog entries, I have set a new personal record! I think I can do it...

This blog is basically going to ramble on and on about anything and everything that tickles my fancy (or rocks my boat) at any given time. Bear with me! Tonight, I'll stick to a short, sweet entry (mostly because I am DANG tired and need to get to bed!)

Come visit me often!