Alone Again

Although I should be relishing this time to myself I was rather torn about it. I went to Loma Linda today for my scan and was unprepared for it I guess. I made it there fine and got registered. The tech was kind a tried explaining as much as possible. He started an IV to disperse the medication that would identify the cancer in my body. I had to lay still, not move, not think, just relax for an hour while the medication went into my body. That wasn't too bad, I let my mind wander and ended up falling asleep. The tech came & woke me up & then put me in the machine & strapped me down, this test would be about a half hour he said. The next test I had to switch positions & was only about 15 minutes. When it was all done, he asked about my kids. He told me I could not nurse anymore and I couldn't be around my kids. I could touch them if I had too for 2-3 minutes max, but could not hold the baby and should stay at least 6 feet away from the kids for 8-10 hours b/c I was radioactive! I'm supposed to drink about a gallon of water to flush the radiation out of my body! I wasn't told that I'd be radioactive afterwards, so I was bummed. The good news I thought, was that our Primary Dr. would have the results later today; that was until I called the Dr. & figured out he left at 11am & wouldn't be back until Tuesday. :( Bummer an entire weekend of uncertainty!!!!

James had Grady & Hoper at home this am, but had to work this afternoon, so I called my friend Chris Nydam. She & her girls will keep them until James is done with work. I got my Papa to pick up Gracie from school & Zach will be home on the bus by 4. I pulled into the driveway & Hoper ran out to greet me...I told her to go back inside b/c Momma was sick & she couldn't be by me. She responded in tears, which of course made me cry! I ran upstairs and here I still sit!

I guess I should be enjoying my time alone & spend it wisely, but instead I've watched some useless TV and had a pity-party for myself
:( It could always be worse, I know. I think I'll go change some sheets & vacuum or something.

Until Later...

First day done

The house is quiet. Everyone in my house is fast asleep :) The first day of school is done!

Zach came home on the bus and ran through the door saying "Hi momma, I'm home!" He was so excited. He thought it was so cool that the bus will pick him up and drop him off at our curb! He had a great first day and was really anxious to show us his classroom tonight at back to school night. My parents came to keep the other kids so we could focus just on Zach. He has 2 teachers and they are both great! I'm looking forward to a more possitve school year for him.

Hope, Grady and I (Zach stayed with James) went to pick up Gracie. Needless to say the parking around the school was chaotic. We parked a long walk away from school and walked in the 106 degree heat. By the time we got to the gate to wait for her, Grady's little head was dripping with sweat and the sling was soaked! I sent Hope in through the crowd to get Gracie and they came out holding hands smiling.:) (so cute) I could tell that Gracie was tired and her day was long, not to mention hot! She told me about her day and that she wanted to get hot lunch instead of taking her lunch :) It's the little things I guess.

We are trying to get into a routine of things and I'm thinking it won't be too hard to get things going and be back into the swing of things! Tomorrow morning will be my first morning with just Grady. First Zach will get on the bus at 7:57, I'll drop off Hope at 8:30 and Gracie at 8:45 and come home and put Grady down for a nap and will have the morning to myself until Grady wakes at 11 and then I'll get Hope at noon. I think I might just sleep...Does that sound lame? Have four kids and you'll understand. haha!

Unitl Later...

Schools in session

Both Zachary and Gracie were excited about going back to school today. Getting them up and ready went without a hitch. Hoper was a little sad that she didn't get to go to school again today, but she was fine. Both the kids were patient as I took their pics out front with their backpacks and were giddy with excitement as they got in the car. Hope wanted her picture taken again today, so she didn't feel left out :)James took Gracie to school and I took Zach with Hoper & Grady. Zachary only has a half day b/c he has back to school night tonight and will be riding the bus home about 1:30. Gracie will have her first full day at school today and I'll pick her up at 3:05. I'm anxious to see how their first day went. :)

Hoper's a preschooler

Okay...So dropping off Hope at preschool wasn't too bad. I got her up at 7 & got her dressed and ready before getting the others up. She was excited to wear her new clothes and hair bows :) We took the traditional first day of school pic outfront and then headed to school.
We got there and there were already 3 other kids in her class. She went in with no problem and started making faces as I tried to take her picture(silly Hoper)She thought it was really funny that her teacher's last name is Hope...
We gave Hoper quick hugs and kisses & left without tears, neither Hope or I cried. I was quite proud of myself :) It just doesn't seeem possible for my baby Hoper to be in preschool...and the day goes on.

Summer's End/Back to School

I have to admit, I'm a little sad at the thought of summer being over. Hoper starts preschool tomorrow and the thought makes me want to cry. I know she'll love it and thrive there, but she's my baby :) We laid out her new clothes for her first day tonight before bed and talked about tomorrow. She's been talking about going to school for months, but now that it has come down to it, she seems a little nervous. I hope for both our sake that she doesn't cry when we drop her off.
Zach & Gracie don't start until Wednesday, so we all will take her & drop her off. We then plan on enjoying the sun & the sand at the regional park one more day before the real end of summer. Jess is going with us, so I'll quick get Hope at noon & then head back to the park to play the afternoon away.
I'm praying that I can hold it together in the morning, as of now I think I'll be a wreck when dropping her off. I'll blog after her first day and give an update of the day! :) Until then...

Bye Bye Summer!

Church had a big end of summer celebration, complete with worship, the slip-n-slide and Inn & Out Burger!
We got there at 4 b/c James was on the worship team; the kids played in the water until it was completely dark outside.
Even Grady went in the water!



It was a nice way to celebrate the end of summer with lots of friends from church!

Regional Park

School starts next Wednesday, so we've been trying to enjoy every last moment of summer! We spent the day at the Regional Park with the Nydams. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast! I love that we can enjoy "the beach" without the drive :)Both Zach & Grace thought it was cool that they got a new bracelet for the water slide!(I think it is Gracie's goal to have as many colors as possible before going back to school:))I think we might go next week for the last time before school starts!

The Rainbow isn't in the Sky...

The rainbow isn't in the sky...instead it's on
our feet. We drove to the Rainbow outlet in San
Clemente with the Nydams & everyone
got new flip-flops. We stopped in to eat at
Pipes and shopped a little at Trustles and
the Rip Curl outlet and topped off our day
by a trip to the beach.

Even though we only stayed for a little less than an hour, the kids had a blast! Zach and Grace body surfed, if that's what you can call it and Hoper splashed around in the waves. Grady loved putting his feet in the water and was mesmerized by the crashing of the waves on the shore.

Toothless at three?

Okay, so as if we needed any additional drama for our day yesterday, as we thought we were gearing down for dinner and bed, it was time to shower all 6 of us. James was in the shower and getting Zach ready for the shower when Hope runs to me screaming bloody murder, I it really was bloody! There is blood pouring from her mouth and I tried not to freakl out b/c I know that mouths bleed really bad, big cut or not. I grabbed a rag and tried to get her to calm down in order to get a story from her as to what happened.
It turns out, Gracie pushed her into the bathtub and she hit her mouth on the seat in our bathtub. I right away checked her teeth and sure enough, one of her big front teeth was dangeling there. By this point I was furious with Gracie for shoving her in the first place and then imagining My Hoper without a front tooth until she was 7 or 8 was too much!

Hope layed with my on thebed for a good 20 minutes upset because she couldn't suck her thumb to calm herself down :( Finally James and I cohersed her into the shower with me and got her clean at least. By the end of the shower she was smiling again, but still upset becasue she wouldn't be able to eat carrotts :( haha! This kid loves vegetables and only eats vegetables for dinner every night.

I decided to make breakfast

for dinner & we had omelettes

and pancakes, which she had

no problem devouring. This

morning her lip is still rather

swollen, but her tooth is only

a little loose now, as compared

to just hanging there last night.

We are in hopes that once the

swelling goes down the gum will hold onto the tooth and she

won't loose it. Just like everything else in our lives, we'll just

have to wait & see what happens. So, if you see Hoper toothless

in the near future, you'll know the story. :)

All in a days work

Dirt, dirt and more dirt! The kids have loved playing in the dirt over the past couple of months and since we started the retaining wall, we've had a 5ft. high pile of dirt on one side of the house. Today the pile was cut in half, as James used the dirt to back-fill the retaining wall. Everyone enjoyed the bobcat and Gracie and Hoper helped Jamesy move the dirt. Papa was here to level the dirt once James moved it to the yard where the concrete & grass will go.

The morning didn't start out as smooth as we planned though. James drove to Fontana to pick up the bobcat and when he unstrapped it to take it off the trailer he realized that the guy at Claremont Equipment hadn't given him the key! He called and they said someone would meet us halfway to give us the key. So, Grady, Hope & I drove to meet the guy at the Tennessee off-ramp to get the key. Once I got back with the key, James drove it off the trailer and realized there wasn't any gas in the bobcat! My Papa went and got diesel and finally we were able to get started. One more problem though. When Jeffy and James piled the dirt the first time on the side of the house, they didn't think of the slope out to the yard and it was too steep to get into the back yard without tipping over backwards! So James & I got shovels and attempted to move the dirt to lessen the slope; we got nowhere though. Finally James backed it up the slope and the dirt moving began! I know its only dirt, but we really did make a lot of progress today.

The picture here is of the dirt that was moved today. When we started the dirt was solid across the yard, about 5 ft. high! Now the remaining dirt will be leveled and the trampoline will go on top.

The retaining wall is completely back-filled and now we can finish the drains, start the sprinklers, get the concrete poured, set the BBQ, build the fire pit area, plant the flower beds and lay sod! Each little step is a step closer to a finished backyard. Yeah!!!

Water anyone?

Okay, let me preface this by saying...I know I shouldn't have let Hope start the bath by herself! But, with a screaming baby, 2 hungry men, 2 kids running wild outside, I thought "at least she'll be contained for a little bit."

So we started today by working outside. James picked up the tractor and we started moving dirt to back-fill the retaining wall. My Papa is here helping and the kids have been playing outside and running in and out of the house.

Hoper (my ever mischievous child) decided she wanted to take a bath while I was in making some lunch for James and my Papa. As I was making lunch I heard the water running and hollered to Hope that I'd be up in a minute to help her with the bath. After setting their lunch on the table and picking up a screaming Grady, I heard splashing water from the dining room. I ran in to see water streaming out of both the canister light and the air duct in the dining room! I ran up stairs to find the bath overflowing and Hope naked in her room playing barbies! The water covered the bathroom floor all the way to the carpet! I grabbed a freshly washed load of towels from my bed and started sopping up the water. James and my Papa got 5 gallon buckets and the remainder of the towels to catch the water streaming from the ceiling downstairs!

James shrugged his shoulders and went back outside to continue his tractor work, as it needs to be returned by 5pm. The water has stopped dripping and now, we just have to dry out the ceiling and pray that it doesn't mold or start to collapse beneath the bathroom! So, I'm guessing we'll be having Steve Aranda over to do some drywall repair in the very near future!

I was going to quick fix lunch and then take Grady upstairs to feed him while sitting in the bathroom watching Hope, however that obviously didn't happen! I guess I learned my lesson about leaving Hope alone. I mean, I should know better, she gets into everything! At least she didn't drown! :)

3 little fish swimming in the pool

We are into week 2 of swim lessons and all 3 kids are doing great!

Zach is working on perfecting his strokes and learning some

of the more difficult strokes. Here he is doing the back stroke.

Gracie is learning strokes & practicing her dive.

Hoper is just plain having fun! :)

Grady is just chilling in the sling during their lessons, taking a little snooze.

This session of swim lessons is done on Friday, but the 1 1/2 hours called sign-ups start Thursday night, not sure if I'm up for another session, but we'll see. :)