Lambchop has a boo-boo :(

Randy, my wittle lambchop has a boo-boo. Yea....okay that's disgusting I know. You're supposed to talk sugary sweet about little babies and little grandbabies, but I have to work with what I've got here. Randy is my little lambchop, and always will be so he doomed to be embarrassed for life by me. He loves his Momma more than anything and not embarrassed about that so I can get away it, almost always. So Randy comes home on Saturday evening and says to Darin and I "I guess I got bit by something" while showing us a little black dot with surrounding redness about the size of a quarter on his right calf. My response to this is the usual bite remedy I think all Mom's use "Keep it clean, don't scratch it and take a benedryl". Sunday afternoon he informs us that it is worse. Getting redder, larger, more painful, and swollen. So I kick it up a notch with the standard "keep it clean, don't scratch it, maybe soak in some hot water, add some tylenol or motrin to the benedryl". Well Sunday night/Monday morning at 1:00 am I was awoke by Randy letting me know the pain is so bad he needs to go to the ER. Now it's the size of my fist. He cut it with a pocket knife to try and release the pressure himself however only made it bleed and hurt more, so I pick him up, threw him over my shoulder...........okay not really, he hobbled himself to the car and off we went. Now I love my guy to pieces, but I'm a little irritated. Apparently his girlfriend was telling him all evening he needed to go have it looked at. His Dad told him the same, but he thought the best thing would be to wait until the middle of the night and wake me up so I can be stared at like the mother of emo kid that cuts himself.
Anyway the doctor laughed at him cutting it himself. Actually he told us girls just come in crying, boys always come in after they try to cut it themselves. Still have no idea what bit him, he said this is Florida, your guess is as good as mine, but something got him. He was put on some antibiotics and we were sent on our way. Today is day #4. Looks a little better but still hurts terribly, so I think back to the doctor we go. (Too bad my "Sister Nurse" went home) :(

A time for laughs ?

With Momma being so sick we were able to see alot

of friends and family as they came to visit.
This is a picture of Karl's wife Pat, Sisters Anita

and Wendy, and Michael Kelly (a family friend).

Pamela "The Baby"Pat and Anita
Brother Bruce, wife Teresa, and their girls, Emily and Laura.
Anyone who knows my brother Mike will find this picture of

him some what normal. Now you know why we laugh so much,

even at inappropriate times.

Uncle Mike and Sheila

My friends and boss, Kevin and Julie Taylor. I see them all the time, but LOVE this picture of them so I thought I'd include it.
Mark & Kathy with their daughter Tiffany and granddaughter Stella.

Wendy, Me, Momma and Anita. Anita flew in from Utah to help out out with Mom and had to go home on Sunday. I was seriously scared for her to leave and considered calling for the other "Nurse Sister" Kim, but Mom is doing well enough that Kim can be spared the expense of the trip for now. I'm selfish and want to see her sooooo bad but pretty sure I can't make her come to help with Mom, without her actually checking to see if it's neccesary. My wheels are turning though so maybe I'll come up with something good.

These are my nephews Davis and Russell. Russell came to visit but somehow manage to slip off without me taking a picture with him. I loved hanging with him (he makes me laugh).
There were alot more visiters during this time but like Russell, managed to slip out without pictures and like I said, even though times were a little on the tense side it was awesome to see all the people we love. We're so happy Mom is feeling better and can't help but wonder if laughter really isn't the best medicine. Even if she wasn't the one laughing!

Count your blessings !

When Momma fell flat on her face and spent a week in the

hospital we were all super duper sad :(

Especially Daddy !! (Allie & Noah have nothing on these two)
Even though she didn't want them at first, railings

were installed at both entries to the house.

(Beautiful railings I might add)

Now she's feeling better and better everyday
so we are really wheely happy:)
(Especially me)

I love my crazy babies !

One day my sweet baby was over visiting ("Visiting" is parental language for "Eating"). At the time I did not find this to be a very funny conversation, however every time I play it over in my head I must admit I laugh.

Me: You know the way I am Tabi. You know I'm gonna get all upset and stressed out, Why can't you just clean up after yourself so I won't have to do it?

Tabi : You know the way I am Mom. Why can't you just clean up after me so it doesn't upset you and stress you out, then we'll get along fine?

I love this kid.....she even makes my heart smile :)

Then there's the other baby !! Randy decides that the gas prices are too high and having trouble finding much work decided he should sell his beloved truck and get something smaller and better on gas and insurance until things ease up a little. Pretty smart thinking for Randy. Sooooo

He went from this:

To this:

I don't get it, I guess I'm missing something, and.........I don't care what he does, he's still my best buddy, and he's definitely got my heart :)

Happy Anniversary

Woo Hoo !! Today makes ten years since Darin's left eye was removed to rid him of a malignant Melanoma tumor. Doesn't seem to most like a time to celebrate, but we know that ten years is a significant amount of time and the more time that passes the less we are concerned with recurrence. Our fear will probably never go away, but I must admit the daily feeling of impending doom has greatly decreased this year. I'm so thankful we were blessed with the best doctors, friends and support systems. I know prayers were answered and are still being answered with the outpouring of blessings on Darin. We'll continue the fight by following his health closely and continue our work with The American Cancer Society to search for the cure in hopes that our children and grandchildren are not faced with this awful disease.

Happy Birthday "Mercedes"

Please don't think I'm one of those crazy people who think my dog is human, considers her part of the family and all that. Mercedes is different you see. Although she is of the Miniature Yorkie Canine species, she really exhibits a lot of humanlike behavior.

1.) It is normal to pee on the bed sheets if they smell too much like laundry soap, clorox or fabric softner isn't it?

2.) I spin in circles, jump up and down, and run straight to the car when asked if I wanna go bye-bye. No matter if it's the vet, the groomer, or Dairy Queen. Doesn't everyone do that?

3.) Even I can hear a banana peel crack or a bread bag open and go running to that sound no matter where I am.

4.) When guests come to the house and use MY blanket to cover their legs, I too stand at their feet and stare them down.

5.) Even as crazy as this sounds I too try and bite anyone that tries to cut my toenails. That can really hurt you know?

Anyway, Mercedes is a great addition to our family. It's hard to believe she's 8 years old today. Even though the breed are typical 'yippers" she never barks. She never leaves the yard when she's let out, and scratches the door when she's ready to come back in. She's never complained when my house is a mess. Heck she doesn't even mind if my breath stinks. I do realize that it's not fair that I have the perfect husband, the perfect children and the perfect dog. I also realize I am super duper lucky :)

Have a great birthday "Sadie Sue" We love you !

Independence Day !

I love the 4th of July. I'm not much of a summer heat kind of person, but the patriotism, the cookouts, the fireworks, I just love it all. We didn't spend any time with the kids this year which was a little strange for us, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves.

This picture may be the reason for the kids not hanging out with us, but I'm not sure. Randy flat out said "Please do not tell me you are wearing matching shirts." I'm kinda thinking that their age is why they would prefer to spend time with friends over us, but I'm going with the shirts as my reason.

Our day started with a cookout at Darin's Mom's. We had all the typical cookout food, and a nice visit with family. After the first cookout, we came home, made some ribs to bar-b-q and headed over to our very longtime friends, Tracy and Greg's home. They've done a lot of work on their home since purchasing it and have done a great job. The home, pool deck and yard were absolutely beautiful and we had an amazing night just talking and visiting with old friends. We were actually able to watch some fireworks from right there on the pool deck.

Our Independence Day was a great day, just didn't seem quite long enough!

A Friendly Request

Please remind me if I ever mention the thought of moving to anyone, smack me and remind how I despise this. We recently took part in the move of my favorite "Roomies" Tabi and Pami. This actually was the easiest move for us yet. The extent of our help was picking up and returning the moving truck. Alright we did help with the garage sale (another I'd like to be reminded not to do) to de-junk last weekend, and I will help with cleaning and closing up the old place, cause that's what I do. I got out of all the actual packing and moving boxes and furniture and unpacking. See I'm really old and tired and those jobs are just too hard on me anymore (batting my eyes and showing my pouty lip still works ;).

The last couple of years I've actually been working Darin to sell our place, and buy a small condo or apartment. My goal is to simplify my life as much as possible. I know that the grass is always greener so I just sit back and fantasize in my mind living in my sweet little place with no lawn and no maintenance. However after being reminded of the hassles of moving by watching Tabitha and Pam, and Chantelle and her family, I think I'll just stay put in my little home, and work on keeping it up.