Fourth of July photos from Utah

Mother's Day Tea 2011

Kaitlyn's school is so great at making us mothers feel so special. The kids prepare each year by making fun things for us and singing to us. Today we ate a wonderful lunch and had pink lemonade. :)
Here is a video of the kids signing.


Also, in the hallway were the fun things they have the kids to each year describing their parents. I absolutely adore these as they are usually hilarious and not one thing is true except maybe our name.




Thank you, Kaitlyn, for all of my fun things you made for me and for singing so nicely to me. You are my special, sweet, beautiful, smart and silly daughter.

Mommy Kaitlyn

This morning it was my turn to get up with the kids. My body got out of bed, but my mind wasn't really there yet. I suggested to them that they keep playing while I slept longer in Kaitlyn's bed.

Kaitlyn was proud to see that Mommy had chosen her bed to lay down in (that was where they were playing), and decided to mother me.

"Lie down, Mommy, and I'll cover you up, okay?" She instructed.
"Okay sweetie," I replied. "Can I cuddle with Lovie?"
"Sure!"

I laid down on my side, facing the wall. She covered me up, first with the sheet and then with the quilt and patted me on the side of my ribcage in the slightest, sweetest way.

She left my bedside and went on to create completely loud ruckus with James trying to build the alphabet squares squishy pad.

One more minute passed and she came back to me, patting me again, "Mommy, I'm going to get you another pet," she said in her soft mommy-like voice.
"Here is another pet, Mommy." She handed me her pink bear.

She went back to playing with James.

One more minute passed and she came back to me, patting me again, "Mommy, I'm going to turn the light off for you," again in her soft mommy voice. I've created a mini-me and I LOVE IT.

This continued for about five more minutes and I never did fall back asleep. I ended up having James beg me to go downstairs to eat breakfast and Kaitlyn needed my help at the potty. Turns out I still am the Mommy after all.

Sneaky sneak.

Kaitlyn has decided to reinvent the "feel sorry for me when I get in trouble" act as she has done in the past. For a while when she'd get scolded she'd say, "I want you to hold-a meeeee." Now, probably for the second time, it's hard for me to remember, she is bringing up Grandma and how badly she misses her. "I miss GRANDMAAAAA!"
Ok kid. I miss Grandma too, but she's not here to bail you out right now sweetie.
Apparently she's getting pretty good at complaining to Grandma how much she misses MOMMY when she gets in trouble over there. Sneaky sneak!

So tonight I tucked the kids into bed and was ready to get a few things done when I heard the pitter patter of little feet upstairs. I knew it was Kaitlyn because she has been getting out of bed lately to go to the bathroom or peak down the stairs. She's testing boundaries.

I tiptoed up the stairs and quietly peeked into her room to find her not in her bed. I looked in the bathroom and found her squirting hair conditioner out of the bottle into her hand.

"WHAT are you doing?" I asked.
"Nothing." She looked at me like she had seen a ghost.
"You are playing with the conditioner, aren't you? Now come here and wash your hand because you are going to the naughty spot."

You guessed it. Here it comes.

"But I miss GRAAAAAAANNNNNDMAAAAAAAAA!" She blurts out.
"Yes, I miss her too but she's not here right now and you are in trouble."

To sum up what could be a long entry here, I had her sit on the naughty spot and apologize. She WREAKED like conditioner. I mean it smells good, but the waft coming from her was intense. I asked her if she had any on her jammies and she told me that it was on her nightgown on the sides of her legs. While putting on her new and clean jammies, I realized that she had the stuff slathered in her hair as well. AWESOME.

She got into the tub complaining the whole time how much she missed her Grandma. I literally had to hold back the laughs from sneaking out of my mouth.

Animal Kingdom

When we decided to go to Disney for Kaitlyn's birthday, we ended up buying the Florida Resident pass that let us go four times by May 26. So now we have been trying to squeeze Disney into our already busy schedule.

We decided to go to Animal Kingdom because none of us had ever been there. What a great park! We had so much fun. I must admit- it was REALLY hot and it's not even close to the brutal summer heat that we experience here. I gladly traded the hot day for NO lines though. It was amazing. We pretty much saw everything we wanted to do in about 5 hours.

Kaitlyn and James both claimed that the Kali River rapids ride was their favorite ride... probably because we all got soaked. Nathan took James on the Mt. Everest roller coaster and when I went on it by myself after they had gone, I was shocked James hadn't thrown up! Ha. What a great ride though!

Note to self: don't take the kids on a really bumpy ride that is completely dark and full of scary dinosaurs. They might scream their poor little heads off.






We knew the kids were beat by the time we left at 2:30 ish. We tried to convince them to lay back, relax and enjoy the ride home. We knew Kaitlyn would be out in a matter of minutes. James insisted that he wasn't tired. About 5 minutes after that, I looked back and saw this:



I felt bad for the poor kid so I tried to wake him up to make him sit up straight. It nearly took a hurricane to wake this kid up he was so asleep. I finally was able to get him upright, and when I peeked at him one more time I nearly fell out of my seat I was laughing so hard. Poor kid... Disney will do that to ya!

Spring Break 2011

OOOOOH la la! I just discovered this brand new beautiful way to display our blog photos! AND IT'S SO MUCH EASIER! YAY!

We had such a great Spring Break this year in New Smyrna. There were a few days of rainy weather, but we really had a great time playing on the beach and relaxing. Especially when we thought of our families freezing up in Iowa. Heee heeee... just kidding guys.

I hope you enjoy seeing the photos! Facebook users, click on View original post or you can click here to go to the link and see the gallery.

James whistles.

James has learned to whistle despite not having two front teeth. He loves to whistle, ALL OF THE TIME. It's quite impressive actually.
So here's a sampling, enjoy. ;)

Kaitlyn's Birthday at Epcot

Here is an awesome video that I put together from our day out at Epcot. We celebrated Kaitlyn's 4th birthday out there this year by having lunch with the princesses at Akershus in Norway.
What a celebration! Both kids were such troopers the whole day, it was unbelievable how smooth everything went.
We love you Kaitlyn, you will always be our princess. XOXO

First Tee ball practice

Gasp. I've really been bad about blogging.

Tonight is James' first Tee ball practice. Is it Tee ball or T ball? Well whatever. You know what I'm talking about.

Nathan and I decided it would be good for him to do a team sport. We stopped taking him to karate in the fall when I had mono, and when I asked him if he wanted to go, he'd say no. After a break for a while, he was actually interested in going back, but we are opting for a team sport this time.

Backing up a bit to a few weeks ago.... Nathan and I were going to ask James together if he wanted to go register for the league this year. That plan changed one day when James was being very theatrical in the kitchen one day. He was singing to me instead of talking and using very LARGE arm movements to accent his voice. Yes, Mom, I know, maybe we FINALLY have a singer to follow your footsteps.

So at that point, in the kitchen, I asked him, "James? Do you want to be in theater? Do you want to act on a stage in a performance?"

He looked at me with a confused expression.

"Do you want to act? Do you know what I mean?" I kept going.

"No, I don't understand." He responded.

"James, would you like to play Tee ball?"

"YEEEEAAAAAAH!" He screeched.

Whew. Sorry Mom.

So now he's at his first Tee ball practice with Daddy. :)

Bad morning turned to good morning.

My day started off pretty badly but thankfully took a turn for the better. James was in a sour mood this morning and didn't want to go to school. First he told me that he didn't have school and when I told him that he did, he insisted that he didn't want to go. I asked him to get himself dressed twice. He ignored me and remained on his bed in his PJs. He got to sit on the naughty spot for 5 minutes.

We got down stairs for breakfast and I saw what I had forgotten.... On the stove sat a lovely pot of chili that I had made last night for us to eat tonight for dinner. I forgot to put it away in the fridge before collapsing in bed. All that work, all that food, all that money, went down the drain... and I was TICKED.

It's been colder than 45 degrees the last few mornings, so James' school had "rainy day" drop off instead of a normal gathering in the parking lot for morning prayer.

He seemed a bit lethargic when he got out of the car, but immediately changed his tune when the cool air hit his face. He did his usual... he started running/bouncing towards the school entrance where the Principal, Mrs. Walsh, stands and helps direct traffic. He went over to her to give her a hug. He hugs her every morning, he'll even wait if she's talking to someone, and she is always so welcoming and sweet to hug him back. I remember being petrified of my principal in school, I guess times have changed. ;)

I went to mass at SMM this morning at 9. The Kindergarten classes had planned it, and James was a greeter, so I wanted to surprise him when I walked in. He was standing at a side door instead of the main door, so I didn't see him right away. I had to ask Mrs. Danagher where he was, she pointed me in the right direction. His face lit up when he saw me with the kind of expression that he only shows when he's elated. He asked me if I could sit with him. I told him I couldn't since he'd be sitting with his class and his eighth grade buddy, Jack (who I got to meet today, finally).

I took a seat in the last row in the back next to a friend of mine. Mrs. Walsh was walking by, spotted me, and stopped to put her hand on my shoulder and tell me, "Your son is the sweetest boy in the world!"

I popped. ;)

Applause, please.

On the way to school the other day, we were listening to Lee Dewyze's new album. The song Stay Here played and as soon as it was over James said, "That song was WONDERFUL!"
Then he proceeded to give it a round of applause. :)

Kaitlyn is a licker and a picker.

Kaitlyn really loves condiments, spreads and frosting. Whatever it is that you put ON something, she is more likely to eat that part than the main ingredient. Cake or cupcake? She eats the frosting. Bagel? She licks the cream cheese off of it. Sub? She picks out the cheese, pickles and tomato. Pizza? She licks off the Ranch dressing. You get the idea.
So Nathan bought sugar cookies from the grocery store. He got the really soft thick kind that are frosted with sprinkles. It was the type that elicited one of James' first words... "BITE!"
Kaitlyn asked for a cookie after lunch, and me, being tempted to eat the whole container of them about 5 times a day, was a bit anxious to get rid of them. I said she could have one and I practically begged James to eat one. No dice. He chose Pez.
Kaitlyn sat up to the table to eat her cookie, and... you guessed it... she started licking off the frosting. Nathan and I are constantly trying to get her to take bites of thing instead of licking off the good stuff or picking it out of a sandwich.
"Take bites, Kaitlyn." I told her. "If you lick the frosting off again, you're going to go to the naughty spot."
"Will you stop looking at me?" She asked. Then proceeded to try to "hide" from me by leaning back to obstruct my view with a chair.

Stinker.

Remembering Kona.

We lost Kona on Dec. 27th. He was failing quickly, and the cancer was getting the best of him. He had stopped eating, couldn't breathe well, stopped caring to go for walks, and was truly lethargic. He wasn't himself anymore. It was time.
Nathan and I took him to the vet to have him put down and it was miserable. Everyone at the office was disturbed at what was happening, they all had bonded with Kona when he had been there in the hospital for pancreatitis. They all loved him. The tech that put the catheter in his arm even gave him a gigantic hug before she left the room. It was a very tearful goodbye, and we held him when he died, whispering to him how much we loved him over and over again. I felt the life leave his body and I sobbed.

Over the last few days I have noticed that even though I know he's gone, sometimes I think I hear him or see him out of the corner of my eye. I do a double take and remember that he's gone, then the replay of the life leaving his body haunts my thoughts again. Tears come and go, but I still am comforted by the fact that we did what was best for him. It was only a matter of time.

I want to write down what I loved about Kona so my memory doesn't fail me later in life. As much as I tell myself that I could never forget things about him, just like how I swore I'd never forget things about my kids, it happens. So the point of this entry is to celebrate Kona and what made him unique.

I remember:
- He loved socks. He never chewed them up, he'd just pick them up in his mouth and move them to a different location. He even found Harrison's baby socks at the bottom of Beth's diaper bag once. He did this with shoes too, usually only when Patty or Mimi came into the house through the garage door.
- He loved to snatch Patty's cleaning rags out of her bag.
- He loved the ocean in California. He would start whining when we'd get to the 101 and not stop until he was there. Then he'd poop in the ocean.
- He ate his own poop, and any other poop that smelled appetizing. NASTY.
- He licked people incessantly... especially after he had eaten poop. Just kidding.
- He loved the taste of lotion. But he also ate poop.
- He drooled a lot before we gave him his food dish.
- He ran figure eights in my yard in Cali. It was too small to do anything else.
- He loved to wrestle with Nathan. I had to put a stop to that when James was born. We didn't want Kona to think he could wrestle with James.
- He laid in front of the oven, only when I needed to cook on the stove or in the oven.
- He had circles of fur by his butt... like cowlicks.
- He was very sensitive about his paws. He didn't like anyone touching them, except Nathan or me.
- He was very gentle with the kids, except when he would knock them over since he didn't realize he was so much bigger than them.
- Walking him without the prong collar was impossible, he'd take us for a walk. Right, Marilyn? :)
- He loved to run around in the fields in Northridge Heights, especially in the snow.
- He loved to swim in the river in Ames and in the pond at Northridge Heights.
- He didn't really get in the pool at our house without me coaxing him a LOT. Then he loved it once he realized that it was fun.
- When he was excited about something, you could physically see his eyes dilate.
- He fake barked when he wanted you to throw the ball to him.
- He jumped in the air when he got excited.
- He loved to eat ice and would catch it 98% of the time when we'd chuck it into the air.
- He jumped on everyone that came to our front door and even knocked the kids over a couple of times. I never said he was a well trained dog.
- Every time the kids would play with a toy that made noise through a speaker, he would howl/sing. My mom could get him to sing also by belting out a few notes.
- If I winked at him, he'd sometimes wink back.
- He took two rounds of obedience classes in CA and knew commands by hand signals. We used the sit and down hand signals.
- After fetching the ball, he would always loop around to the left.
- He loved tennis balls more than anything. He would rather get foamy at the mouth than give it up. We'd have to bribe him with a treat bone to get the ball.
- If he had a rawhide bone and I got to close, he'd growl at me. I didn't like that at all.
- When he was a puppy, he chewed up my coffee table. He also peed on the couch when Nathan and I were watching an ISU football game and we both jumped up when they scored a touchdown. We scared the pi$$ out of him. ;)
- He got a stick stuck in between two of his upper teeth when he was a puppy, and we had to have him put under so the vet could get it out. That was an expensive stick.
- When we'd take him to the dog park in Santa Barbara, I'd pour water into a fabric travel bowl. He refused to drink it. He would only drink water coming out of my water bottle as I squirted it out at him.
- He pouted when I bathed him in the shower.
- The first time he felt cold weather (when we were driving from CA to IA) he could hardly walk he had stiffened up so much.
- A dog took a chunk out of his ear when he was boarded one time. He had to be rushed to the vet to have his ear stitched up because the other dog had hit a main artery in the ear.
- He chewed his way out of the back yard in Santa Barbara once, and took himself for a walk. A neighbor found him (across APS, the busy street I lived on) and took him to the vet. They called me and I panicked.
- Whenever we would put a pillow in his kennel and didn't walk him enough on a certain day, we would come home to a feather snow storm. We finally stopped putting pillows in the kennel.
- When I would rub his ears, he moaned. Every time.
- When we brought James home from the hospital, he would not look at me in the eyes. He was MAD at me.
- When Nathan would come home late, he would always go greet him when he walked into the bedroom. It didn't matter what time it was or how hard he had been sleeping.
- When he was dreaming, he growled and barked in his sleep, very high pitched barks.
- Words he knew were: walk, eat, hungry, dog, ball, kennel, go, car, ride, stick, cat, Nathan, Meredith, shake, down, sit, roll over, ice, treat, wait, bone, bed, outside, potty
- He found Saki under the deck in Iowa. We had been looking for the cat and I took Kona outside and told him to find Saki. He ran around and stopped where Saki was hiding.
- When the kids would blow bubbles outside, he would eat them out of the air.
- He loved to have his belly rubbed and would roll over when I'd walk up to him, especially at night.
- He loved to run around my parents' yard and find tennis balls that were hit over the fence.
- The day he died, he walked into the vet's office with a tennis ball in his mouth.

This list could go on forever, and there isn't any doubt I will come back and add to it.

We love you Kona but know you are in a better place. We will miss you forever buddy.

A delightful story.

Mom told me a story yesterday that is completely blog-worthy because the caliber of cuteness is off the charts. ;)

She and Kaitlyn were out running errands in Mom's car yesterday. Kaitlyn always sits on the left, which put her behind the driver's seat. They pulled into the Walgreens drive-through to get some prescriptions. She put Kaitlyn's window down just for fun. Mom did her business with the guy working behind the glass, and then this happened....
"Excuse me? Excuse me!" Kaitlyn piped up.
"Yes?" the guy answered.
"We would like some cottage cheese and some Gogurts, please!" She asked, as if they were going through the grocery store drive-through.
I guess the guy working behind the glass covered his mouth with his hand and was really trying not to laugh. He was stricken with the cuteness factor.
"Kaitlyn," Grandma said, "Remember we have to go to Publix for that stuff?"
"Alright." She replied.
On they went to Publix to get cottage cheese and Gogurts. ;)

Hilarious!

Christmas morning 2010

I didn't get much video or photos on Christmas morning this year- I intended to, but we just sat and watched the kids unwrap stuff. We had a ton of fun and are very thankful for our blessings.

James loses tooth #2! :)

The Tooth Fairy made an appearance last night for the second time!

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth..."

Nevermind the awkward crop... he moved. It's not like I am a pro or anything. ;) Ha.

We love you Kona!

When you adopt a pet, you go into it with the understanding that they won't live forever. Eventually they will die, it's just a matter of when and how.
We are experiencing that with our sweet Kona. We adopted him in Paso Robles, CA in 2002 when we were living in Santa Barbara. We were instantly in love with the fur-ball and he has remained a family member ever since, traveling with us to Iowa and then to Florida.
His favorite things in his life are his walks at night with Nathan and playing fetch with tennis balls. When were in Cali, going to the dog park and running on the beach and galloping in the ocean were his most treasured moments. He whined in the car the whole time we were driving there. :)
On with this story.... After we boarded him over Thanksgiving break when we went to Iowa, he started coughing. We thought he had "kennel cough" which is vaccinated against, but like the human influenza, the vaccine doesn't cover all strains. So we brought him to the vet and started treatment for it.
A week and a half or more went by and he was still coughing, but it seemed to be getting worse. One evening he didn't eat dinner and then the next morning, again, he left his food in his dish. If you know Kona, or any other Lab for that matter, they DON'T leave their food. ;)
That was it for me. I called and got him an appointment as soon as I could (side note: if you don't go to the Winter Park Vet Hospital, you should- they are awesome).
Doctor Morford was working that day, so she was helping us with Kona. She examined him and then suggested that we move forward with some blood work. If that came up clean, they x-rays would be in order. I was okay with all of that, so Kaitlyn and I left Kona there and went to the post office and then home.
A few hours later I hadn't heard from them, so I called. They had done the blood work, and it came up clean, so they did the x-rays. She said that it looked like he has nodules on his lungs and that it was either pneumonia... or... I had to suggest it... the "c" word.
We decided to send the x-rays to a place that can read the x-rays with more detail to see what they thought. Meanwhile, I took Kona home. The x-rays would take a while, maybe 48 hours at most, to be read.
When we got home, Kona was significantly fatigued (it seemed to me). He looked like he was falling asleep with his head up. I still think my frame of mind made me a bit sensitive to his actions, but I literally thought he was going to die right then. I called the vet back, and since we still thought it was pneumonia, asked them if we could start treatment for that right away. I was sure he wouldn't make it until we got the x-rays back if we didn't treat him.
As soon as I mentioned to Kona that we were going in the car, he jumped up and ran out to the car. Ah, now, I saw, it was just me and my imagination. However, since they were expecting us at the vet already, we went anyway.
Dr. Morford showed me the x-rays when we got there. Sure enough, his lungs had strings of white in them (when they should be black), and there were little spots everywhere. I really still thought pneumonia would be the culprit.
Kaitlyn and I left Kona there again to start treatment for pneumonia (IV fluids and stronger medicine) while we waited for the readings.
I got a call from Dr. Morford around 2 p.m. with the results. She told me that the doctor reading the x-rays was pretty confident that it was cancer. She told us a bit later that they don't say that unless they are sure, to cover themselves. That's understandable.
Nathan was out golfing, so when he got home, he and I went to the vet. I had called Nathan in tears and had to tell him on the phone that Kona had cancer. I was sure we were going to have to put him down that night, and even went so far as to tell the kids that Kona may not come home. I bawled all day long. You should have seen my eyes. I looked like a crack addict by the end of the day.
Nathan and I sat with Kona when we got there (he was still hooked up to the IV giving him some fluids since he hadn't been eating). We cuddled and waited for Dr. Morford to be able to chat with us for a while. She showed the x-rays to Nathan and explained everything to him as she did to me, but this time talking about how it was cancer instead of pneumonia.
Nathan and I talked with her about what we could do, and we decided to take him home. He's not in any pain, and he's okay for now. We are giving him steroids to help him be more comfortable with is breathing, but they won't work forever. Eventually they won't help anymore.
We talked with Dr. Morford about Kona's quality of life and all decided that we'd know when enough is enough. At that time, we will say goodbye to our beloved dog.
For now, we are loving him and petting him a ton, taking pictures and enjoying his presence. My clothes are covered in dog hair and that is fine with me. We have had a great 8 years with him. As far as the kids go, they don't really understand. They know that he will be going to live with God soon, but that's it. James said that God will play with tennis balls with him.

Here are some shots from the last few days....

"Can I eat, please?" He's being spoiled with canned food with his dry food... and he LOVES it. :)

At the hospital...

Snoozer... he's acting like an 8 year old dog now rather than the "puppy-hood" that lasted 8 years.

Kaitlyn loves Kona.

"Kona, do you want a treat?"

Such a handsome boy.

That Tooth Fairy can be just plain tricky!

This morning I woke up to hearing James cry out, "The Tooth Fairy didn't leave me anything! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He was CRYING!
I told Nathan that James was crying so he hopped out of bed to go investigate.
This is the conversation I heard over the monitor (given my sleepiness and difficulty waking up this morning, this is not verbatim. ;) )
Nathan, "What's wrong, buddy?"
"The Tooth Fairy didn't leave me ANYYYYTHIIIIIING!" James cried out.
"Well, let's look around," said Nathan.
They ended up finding the tin box that the tooth had been in under James' bed. My guess is that after the Tooth Fairy had put the money in the tin, someone's lashing around in bed may have caused it to fall off of the bed and roll under it. JUST a GUESS now, right?
So Nathan found it and let James open it. I heard a child-sized high pitch gasp. There it is!
"Two dollars!" James said and then, "Why isn't there five dollars in there? It's my first time!"

Oh for goodness' sake. How much are these parents paying their kids for teeth now? He has to lose 19 more! Sigh. I just wanted to put one dollar in there, Nathan convinced me to do two! :)

Nathan and I were a bit worried about what his friends were gonna be saying how much they got... and apparently we weren't thinking high enough. I might need to set up a separate Tooth Fairy bank account. Sigh.

Just pull it out!

James lost his first tooth today! His bottom two front teeth have been loose since before Thanksgiving, and apparently today one of them lost it's root. It was really wiggly when Nathan and James came into the bathroom where Kaitlyn was watching me put on my makeup. Nathan told me that I HAD to see how wiggly it was... so he showed me.
"That thing has GOT to come out." Nathan said.
"James! Just reach in there and pull it out! Grab a hold of it and pull!" I told James.
We were shocked when he actually did, he grabbed a hold of it and pulled! When he pulled his hand away from his mouth and was holding his tooth, I screamed! Ha! I can't believe he actually did it!
He was so cute. We were all laughing and he was a bit shocked at himself as well, he even got a little teary-eyed. I think he got a little weak in the knees when he was spitting the blood out into the sink.
We immediately called both Grandmas. :)
My boy... I remember like yesterday that he cut those two bottom teeth right before Thanksgiving, and now, 5 years later, they are falling out. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Awww, how cute!

We found the kids huddled up together on the chair reading together with the Poingo pen. Kaitlyn is dressed up as a princess, she does this EVERY day. :)