The Great Outdoors

Thanks to the cooler weather, it is actually a pleasure to explore the great outdoors once again.

Addie has been quite the talker lately, and although we can't understand everything she is saying, we are hearing a lot of new words

and

she asks, "What's that?" more and more and more,

so our day at the zoo was not a quiet one.

She was full of questions.

We ended the day with a few trips down the slide, and one very happy little girl.

Veteran's Day

I won't even lie or try to make excuses on why I have been such a slacker.
I didn't even write a Veteran's Day post.

I am just republishing the one from last year.







In Honor of Those I Love:


It is Veteran's Day

and 

no words can express the pure love and gratitude that I have for my favorite veteran's.

No words can express the honor or pain and no words can express the selflessness involved in their actions.

Thank you to all of the men and women, past and present who serve and protect this great country we live in.

My Dad 

My oldest brother

and my youngest older brother.

My oldest brother was able to spend time with us after the wedding.

It was a rare opportunity for us to catch up and one story blended into another until we found ourselves talking about our family and the role each served in the military.

My dad was 48 when I was born and 28 years separate my oldest brother and me.

There is a lot of family history that I was never privy to.

From WWII to Vietnam to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, my family was there.

One of the most fascinating details I learned is that my dad's brother and my aunt's boyfriend was on the 

U.S.A.T. Dorchester, widely known by the story of the Four Chaplains.

My uncle made it back home, my aunt's boyfriend did not.

I have always known that the men in my family were tough, with iron perseverance, but that story just reaffirmed what I already knew.

Thank a veteran today.

Your kind words are more powerful than you know.

Halloween

I'm not sure why the camera was being so finicky on color and clarity, but I'm just glad I was able to get a few pictures from the evening.

Costume 2 of 2 - my Little Bunny

Probably the best picture of the night.

Addie was being so silly!

Addie was ready to get the evening started!

We headed out to see Charlie's Mom

and 

then go by our local Publix for a few Halloween activities.

Addie was able to obtain a pink bunny nose and whiskers

and thought they were so funny!

The butterfly lady had Addie rather perplexed.

Then, we were back home to enjoy a night with family, Trick or Treating, passing out candy and dodging the onslaught of straight line winds and temporary power outages.

She really was happy, I realize it's hard to believe it.

Julien had a costume.

The costume that he begged me to buy for him.

It went unworn.

The bright side of it is that I was able to get a couple pictures with his adorable little face.

It appears I may have been hugging her just a little too tight.

Either that, or she was just disgusted with all the picture taking by this point.

Tucker joined us for Halloween!

He still hasn't fully recovered from surgery, but he was such a good dog and went along for Trick or Treating.

- He had surgery a couple weeks before Mom died.  He had a Grade IV acute luxating patella that required extensive surgery.  Poor little guy has been through so much in the last two months.  AND, he misses Mom tremendously.-

Addie had lots of play time throughout the evening and enjoyed having other people reorganize the pantry in her kitchen.

We have guests over - and then Addie puts them to work.

We had a wonderful Halloween - and are so thankful for the night with family!

Do what?

I am having some outpatient tests done this coming week, so late Friday afternoon, I got a call from the hospital for my pre-registration.

I got the call in the midst of trying to get Addie and me ready for Halloween, and was only half listening to the lady on the other end of the phone because I could have recited the questions for her.

She went through the standard list of questions, but her very last two questions of the evening, stopped me in my tracks:

Her:  "Have you had a fever within the last 21 days?".

Me:  Seriously, what the...?  "No ma'am.".

Her:  "Have you been exposed to Ebola within the last 21 days?".

Me:  "No ma'am.".

I was seriously waiting for her to then ask if I had had Ebola within the last 21 days, because I was going to reply that I was pretty sure CNN would have already notified her.

It's absolutely not a laughing matter, but it's also the last thing I expected.

Well, I know at least one local hospital has enacted their "Ebola Action Plan".

Costume 1 of 2

Addie was absolutely thrilled to get ready for dance class, and for good reason! 

My Little Butterfly had the best time, although not completely evident by the look on her face!

Therapy...

After taking the kids to get their hair cut, we were supposed to spend the day doing something that we had never done before.

It was my rule, and I had the best of intentions.

I was in serious need of a change of scenery.

Instead, we ended up back at our favorite park.

We just didn't have it in us to do much of anything.

Even Addie was pitiful.

The day was beautiful and we tried to soak up as much Vitamin D as possible in order to make us all feel a little better.

I think Addie could have taken a nap in the tunnel had we let her.

When Julien came her way, she made a half hearted effort to get away and save her baby, but ended up stretching out and then laying her head down.

Once we finally extracted her from the tunnel, she was content to push her baby on the swing.

I did highly encourage her to, at the very least, practice walking on the little play structure.

She did good, but was extra cautious and when we told her it was time to go, she didn't make a fuss.

With the events of the last month, and a busy football season, we are more than a little tired.

I hope to find a more restful weekend schedule soon - just for a little while - long enough for us to catch up and get back into a routine.

~~~

October 11, 2014

Umm...Wow...

Inhale...and exhale.

Yep.

Trying to take it minute by minute.

Tomorrow marks a month since the death of my precious Mother.

As if that hasn't been difficult and stressful enough, my siblings have tried their best to add even more challenges to the daily mix.

Two weeks ago, my brother had knee surgery number eight.
I didn't go to the hospital, and I did feel incredibly horrible about not being there.
I don't have a great excuse, except that I'm trying to catch up on work and appointments and everything in between, but still.
He gets to go back in about a month to have a total knee replacement.
Yep, it's not over yet.

Last week, my sister decided to add to the stress and had a heart attack.
Yep.
A heart attack.
Three weeks and three days after my precious Mother died of a heart attack.
My sister has/had major blockages.
One main artery was almost 100% blocked, another 70%.
They were able to place a stent in the one that was almost 100% blocked and she gets to go back in two weeks to try to stent the 70% blockage, along with another smaller blockage.
Yep.

It's been a tad bit stressful lately.

I'm trying to catch up on football, and other things, not because I have to, but because it is great therapy for me.

So, once again, I am so incredibly thankful for my health, my family and the support of my friends.
This has been quite the challenge.