Tim's BD

been very busy, not any time to blog...getting spring cleaning done just in time for an appraiser to come see our house...nice how it coincided, right???
even garage is like 70% done....that is something for us...
now all we need is a huge garage sale and get rid of everything...
I would like to still get bins and organize all of my fabric...then, I would genuinely feel organized...the only thing I am worried about is that when I have to go to the hospital, for my surgery, the house will once again revert back to it's old bad habits...and then we all know how long it takes to get it back in shape once again...the house is bad right now, since I had my heart attack when Zoe was in kindergarten (and she is 9 now...)

so, yesterday was Tim's BD and I like to make the BD's special, even when I have a ton of work to do...so, we took a day off and went to Disney (where else???) we had to wait till Zoe got out of school, she was there for 3 mornings for state testing...she got out at 11:20 so off we went right from the school...
it was a nice day at the park...you can always tell from parking, how the park attendance is...all day it was nice, no long lines or anything...we called it an early day as something Tim ate, made him sick...on the way home, he felt a little better and so we stopped at Outback for a BD dinner...we don't go there at all, tho Greg and I had been there when we were in Myrtle Bch on our trip...

early to bed so I can get to work first thing in the morning...the appraiser is coming on Friday and then I can let my guard down a little and relax...

nice day

today was a very nice day, thanks to some people...

I mentioned before that Chris cleaned house for me, Sam and Zoe gave me flower seeds and a nice pot and Tim gave me an MP3 player, soundtrack to Princess and the Frog...then he took us to dinner at the Auld Dubliner a really nice Irish restaurant by Tyler mall...I had fish and chips, it was really good...the tarter sauce tasted like it had cinnamon in it...fries were very good...as an appetizer, we got sausage rolls, very good...Zoe went with us and of course got grilled cheese...Greg loves his corned beef and cabbage...Tim got a cheeseburger...
afterwards we went to the mall...Zoe had gotten a marker on a dress I had bought her from Crazy8 and I was hoping to find another one there and I did...I am so happy...then I let her pick a few things at Children's Place...she was so happy...
Tim got me some cookies from Mrs. Fields, he knows how much I love a cookie with a glass of milk at night and he also got me a new mini Princess and the Frog snowglobe to add to my collection...

my migraine did a little better at least the bad pain in the back of my head eased some...

early to bed tonight and hope I feel a ton better tomorrow...

thanks God for a nice day today...please more patience...

birthday present to myself...

a migraine...yeah...cannot ever remember having a migraine on my BD before...woke up with a headache and as the day progressed, I knew...so, far nothing is touching it...no one is here right now, I should be lying down...but, hey, I can never sleep anways...

for my BD...Tim got me an MP3 player and the soundtrack to Princess and the Frog (he thought it would be great to take to the hospital with me)...
Sam and Zoe got me flower seeds and Zoe painted a pot...
Chris and the kids gave me pictures and he would not let me do any housework today, he did it all...
Greg remember took me last weekend to Disney and for breakfast to my favorite place...

Greg is stressed, tomorrow is his big thing with Elk's (won't even try to explain it...) just know it is big...

Tim is taking us out for dinner in a little while, that will be nice...

toady part three

before reading this post, scroll down to Toady One Kenobi part one to read all about Zoe...

so, how well do I know this little princess???

her favorites..........................

bff's are Lauren and Jazzy

color is teal

number is 18 (not sure why)

holiday is Christmas

dessert is a tie...chocolate brownie funnel cake (Disneyland) & fried ice cream

dinner chicken pot pie

breakfast ham and bacon omelette

lunch tuna

book franny k stein

disney character alice

stuffed animal cherssire cat

disney ride new mulholland madness old jungle cruise

ice cream pineapple whip

disney attraction Lincoln

tv show chowder cartoon

tv show wizards

teacher Mrs. Sherman & Mrs Barbosa

movie coraline & dr dolittle

parade Main Street Electrical

animal pug dog

disney land fantasy

singer faith hill

song one

movie star jim carrey

drink orange fanta

toy zhu zhu pet hamsters

she will eat the same thing every meal every day for a week or so, and then be so sick of it (of course once we stock up on that item...) like rice...that girl for ages loves a bowl of rice...just rice and butter and soy sauce...that's it...or grilled cheese, every day, with a side of ranch...we'll buy a ton of nacho lunchables and then she won't have a thing to do with them...thank goodness, I just send them over to Sian...
oh yeah, and she is a vegetarian (well sort of)...she will eat bacon (has to be very crispy tho) and she will eat chicken once in a while...absolutely no beef...no hamburger, unless it is In & Out...

this girl is extremely creative....and man can she draw...she is so good...she will look at a picture and then sit down and draw it and people think she traces...she loves sewing and painting and gardening...when you take her shopping and offer to buy her something, it will always be art related...cannot even count the number of boxes of crayons and colored pencils she has...

this girl has a passion for ALL animals...we have a picture of her when she was under 2 and she had a ton of snails all lined up in a row...too cute...last night, in the rain she was outside "rescuing" snails and getting them out of the rain...she cried and cried last week when our cocker spaniel brought in a dead baby bird and we lied and said that Grandpa buried it...she never tires of getting called away from whatever she is doing to once again see our resident squirrels...she has meltdowns about worms and lizards being eaten...

we love this little girl and are eternally grateful to God for this precious gift that He gave us...

toady part two

so, to finish my last post regarding Zoe's cardiology diagnosis...we were devastated...what the pediatrician told Brant was, "I usually do not tell parents that this is a concern, but I feel you need to know." great...
but, now trying to get in to see a pediatric cardiologist takes time and it took several weeks...
May 8th, a Thursday...long wait while the doctor was doing the echo, kept taking longer and longer when other people had been in and out...the doctor finally asks, does anyone in the family have........................? and Sam started crying...I made her leave the room so Zoe would not see her cry and I made Sam go get her dad out of the car...we needed him for moral support...
now, the rest is history...
it has been a long (almost 2 years) and we still really don't have answers...this little girl keeps getting sick and sometimes when she gets sick, she gets really really sick...
I posted just the other day on how we changed pediatricians and hopefully now, will start being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel...
her new meds seem to be working in just a couple of days and she likes taking them...

so, to finish this post of Zoe up:

Zoe is our precious, sweet, fun and fiesty 9 year old...she can be such fun to be around....she is great company...she and I love to take walks (me on my scooter and since she learned to ride a bike, that's what she rides) at night and we go all over...our favorite is to ride up to Rite Aid in the shopping center and get ice cream...she also loves the fish tacos in the same center...
she is a very caring person and when she loves you, it is with a very deep passion...

She was a total miracle, God was watching and saw how much we needed this little miracle...most times when I think about it, I still cannot believe it...I had waited for years for a little girl...and right from the first few minutes of life, that little face could melt my heart and it still does...sometimes I look intently at her and that face with those big brown eyes and those pixie freckles, it almost takes my breath away...

I absolutely never knew how special a grand daughter could be...they are so important to you, they are the reason you get up each morning, the reason you live each day looking forward to seeing them...words cannot really express the totality of how I feel for her...I wish more than anything I could take this pain for her, I ache terribly for her and the future of problems that she will have for the rest of her life...

two of my kids when they were little were so blond with blue eyes and Tim was the one who got his dad's Italian dna with the brown hair and brown eyes...and when they were little I always wondered what a little girl of mine would look like with Tim's colorings...Zoe is IT...she is Tim's mini me and the funny thing is that she is like him in so many other ways too...she loves comic books (like him) she loves movies with a passion (like him)...every week she will look up on the computer the upcoming movies for the week and what they are rated...she and Tim love doing things together in fact, later this year Tim plans on taking her to Tokyo with him...how cool is that???

toady one kenobi part one

have wanted for awhile now to do a post on each grandchild...time has come...starting with Zoe...

what can I say about this little girl??? where do I start???

never thought I would have grandkids...as I have previously posted, Samantha had ovarian tumors and to save her life at the time, we consented to taking most of "everything"...they talked to us that night, that they had saved a teeny piece of ovary and later on, (when she got older, she was 18) they would do invitro when a baby was to be in the picture...so fast forward many years to her marriage and they both didn't give kids a thought, "it wasn't supposed to be..." but God had other plans and imagine our complete surprise, when the little stick turned positive...don't think anyone of us truly believed it until we saw the precious little bundle of joy on the ultrasound...

I have always loved dressing little girls, think it stemmed from me coming from a family of 12 kids and I was the second to the oldest and there were always babies around and except for being so poor, I did love caring for the littler ones...early on, I loved sewing for them...that is how we would always know when my mom was pregnant another time, when she would go buy flannel and the older kids and her would make baby clothes...

so, when Sam was actually pregnant, I didn't dare hope for a girl...there were many ultrasounds done, but the baby would always cross the legs and we never got a good view...so, no matter what the sex, I was ecstatic to have a baby period...started buying baby things right away and putting them away...a lot of unisex, but when I did see really cute boy clothes would get them also...that is when I started buying on ebay (the early part of 2000)...

fast forward...never forget the day, it was a Friday and Sam had an appt. and they discovered her blood pressure was high and she was close to due time...they told us to go to the hospital, but we lived a little distance from there, so we got permission to go home get her stuff and return...we went out to eat at the Mongolian BBQ place that we all loved near there, went home got the stuff and returned to the hospital...it was a very long weekend...Zoe was not ready at all to come out...they tried inducing and nothing...so, they would induce all day long, turn it off at night, so Grandpa and I went home to sleep, and then try again the next day...finally on Sunday night, they did a c section...

think I was in shock, when Brant came out and said "foo foo" (meaning girly stuff...) it did not really register...my friend was there, and she repeated it to me...they finally let me back to see Sam and I was the first one to hold this little (well she was not little...9-5) bundle of joy...that moment is etched in my memory forever...

went to the Carter's store and bought everything pink I could get my hands on...got pink flowers and pink balloons and cigars, you name it...

I watched Zoe once Sam went back to work and this is how I have gotten so close to this little girl...I had her more than her parents did and even a lot of nights would go get her, so her parents could sleep before work...everything in my life started revolving around Zoe...I loved it...

except for a brief period of time, when we all moved to Riverside, they either lived very close to us or with us, so Zoe was always around me...when they moved to Riverside, we would come every other day and see them...and then once we got this house, and they took the back house well, she lives here more than at her "real" home...

when they told me that they were putting her in preschool I cried...I did not want them to take her away from me...I went on a tour of the school with Sam and I did like it...talked Sam into only putting her in 2 days a week, that way I still had her 3 days...and she did love the school so much...her first bit of socializing and I saw that she did need that...she flourished at the school and with the teacher of Pooh Bears Mrs. Stalder...we would take Zoe in the morning and she would hang with the teacher holding her hand...one day we went to get her and another mother was there getting her child and she was kneeling on the floor and Zoe went up to her thinking she was talking to her, and she in a sweet southern voice, said, "aren't you just the cutest little thing???" Zoe was wearing the ladybug overalls I had appliqued for her, with her red high tops...

it was just prior to her starting school, looking at some handmade clothes offered on ebay, that I thought I can do that and that is where my passion started...I did start making Zoe's clothes, sometimes, I have to say I did copy from ebay, but it started something in me that got my creative juices going and I do think I came up with some really good ideas of my own...everyone has always commented on how good Zoe always looks (tho it is getting much harder, when she only wants to wear jeans now that she is 9)...

helped out a lot in her 4 year old class of Cute Kittens and I really enjoyed it...funny story...the first day she was in Cute Kittens, I went to pick her up and had not met the teacher yet, and she asked who I was there to get, and I answered Zoe...but, Zoe would not look at me or anything (really weird) and the teacher asked her if she knew me and Zoe told her "no." Miss Erdman said that she could tell by the grin on Zoe's face that she did indeed know me and let her go with me...oh yeah, this is where the title of this post comes from...Grandpa has a nickname for each kid...started with our own kids and has followed with these little ones...for some reason, Zoe's was Toady One Kenobi...in Cute Kittens when asked her name, she would answer, "Toady One kenobi..." she did that for a long time...now she hates it...I catch myself calling her "Toady" still sometimes...

got really close with Mrs. Sherman of Lucky Ladybugs and we had a great year...Zoe will say to this day that Mrs. Sherman is her favorite teacher...Zoe one time told her, "know how when your heart hurts so bad when you don't see someone you love? that is how I feel when I don't see you..." and she was only 4 going on 5 at the time...for Zoe's birthday, the teacher gave us the whole day to celebrate...we had ladybug crafts, bug appetizers, bug cupcakes, bug hats the whole bit...a really fun time...this was our last year at the school and we cried having to leave but kindergarten was waiting for us...

was room mother for kindergarten and got close once again to the teacher, Mrs. Luginbill...had a terrific year...made Zoe so many dresses that she never wore the same thing twice to school and everyone commented on how cute she always looked...I had to take Zoe to the school nurse one time and she said, "oh you are the little girl who always looks so cute..." such a good year, could not have asked for a better class, better teacher, better year...Zoe did so well...when we had taken her to be pretested for kindergarten, she had placed low and later the teacher asked me, what had happened, cause once she got to know Zoe, she placed much much higher...I think it was the process in where they take the child from the parent (usually a 4 or 5 year old) and take them to a room, close the door and proceed to test them...Zoe is basically shy until you get to know her...I heard some of what was going on behind the door, and when she came out, I told her that I knew she knew some of what she said she didn't...she said she was too shy to answer...

between kindergarten and first grade, that summer is when I had my heart attack and they found my heart to only be functioning at 10%...I was going to have to give up on a lot of things...one I thought was to not be at her school so much as previous years...we did not get the teacher that we had requested for first grade but, decided to deal...Sam told the teacher I was willing to help, but on my terms (I had to sit, etc.) and the teacher agreed...the first time I went to help, she stayed in at recess to talk to me and said that Zoe loved me, talked about me a lot, and needed me around (in other words to take care of myself) to be there for Zoe as long as I could...the year went by, and altho it was not our favorite year we got thru it...

in April while Zoe was in first grade, I was going to Texas (by myself first time ever) to see my sister...Zoe had been complaining of headaches and shoulder pain and I kept after Sam to take her to the doctor...Brant had changed jobs so, insurance also changed...one night they saw what I was talking about and Brant the next morning took her to Urgent Care...he was there quite awhile but, I thought maybe they had gone out to eat or whatever...keep in mind I was leaving for Texas the next morning...Brant went to Sam's work (the preschool where Zoe had gone) and they came back together...I was waiting at the front door, for a diagnosis...at the time they told me it was scoliosis...OK that I could deal with...I have it, Tim has it...it is dealable (?)...

so, I went to Texas...when Sam would call me there, she sounded (funny) she now says, she was trying to give me clues to come home, that she needed me for moral support...whatever, I did not pick up on it...

got home and Sam and Zoe were waiting on front porch for me and Sam said, "I need to talk to you about Zoe..." and I said "what Zoe?" (Sam at the time was best friends with a girl who also had a daughter Zoe...) and then she told me exactly what the doctor had said regarding our Zoe and that she had not told me, as she wanted me to have a good trip without worrying about her...I was devastated, hearing about the extent of the scoliosis, requiring a spine specialist, but all the more, hearing about a heart problem...this requiring a cardiologist...

part two later...have house work to do first...

one sick little girl...

we have not been happy with Zoe's doctor for awhile now...sure, we are thrilled with him that he did find her problems (how much longer could she have gone with a hole in her heart anyways???) we know he is a fantastic doctor but we did not think we were getting the questions answered that we wanted answered...it was huge decision to change doctors and not made lightly...that is all I wil say...the new doctor is not really all that new, approximately 4 years ago, we had gone to him with a different insurance and had really liked him...

so, that being said, first appointment was today...other than a little hiccup at the front desk with an appointment mix up, things went great and Sam and I are very happy...very overwhelmed but with a certain peace of mind that we have not had for awhile...

funny thing...he remembered Zoe...maybe just from reading the chart but, hey give him a break...he said that when he previously saw her she was at the moderate level of asthma (the lower end of moderate) and she is now (from my typed history and the amount of breakthrus) at the very high end of moderate...he said he is not happy with with how things are going with her and I replied that I had not been happy for awhile with things with her...I have not liked the breakthrus at all...
this week, she has just been off, cannot put my finger on it...and it is always these times, when Sam does not think she is sick (at least real sick) and I do that there is something wrong...other times when she is visibly sick with a high fever and visible shortness of breath, they say VIRUS and that makes me so mad...when you take a visibly sick child in and hope for something anything to make them better and then offer nothing...
so, this week, a different kind of SOB, not bad asthma, she is just off...was at Disney also...oh yeah, she had a slight fever today also...
so, he completely changed all of her meds...
now;
Advair twice a day
Singulair once a day
Proventil up to every 3 hours...

no more nebulizer treatments which are time consuming...

then he wanted to discuss the heart problems and said that in all of his years of practicing he has never seen a PDA in a 7 year old...his words, "a very strange diagnosis..." and the MVP he says was probably caused by a previous undocumented case of pericarditis (fluid around the heart...)
I had to have him repeat so I knew that I got it right...pericarditis probably caused the MVP...but when could this have happened??? the doctor that found the heart problems found the problem in April and the first case of documented case of pericarditis (we think) was in March of the next year...so, it did not happen on that doctor's watch...so, we probably will never know exactly when it did happen (and really what good would it do, to know this info...) this is also "strange" to him...he asked how they treated the pericarditis and when I told him they treated it with Motrin, he rolled his eyes and shook his head...not sure how to interpret that one...I said that we sometime need to discuss changing cardiologists and he said OK and that he deals with one here in Riverside, which would be nice...

since he is not happy with the way things are with her right now, he wants to see her every week until he is happy...still a certain peace of mind for Sam and me...I am the kind of person that likes to know the answers to questions I have...I do not understand why doctors will only tell you part of what they want you to know...but, at the same time they think you should know the child's history...how can you do both, especially not having all the information you need???

frustrated and overwhelmed but with a peace of mind...

made spaghetti for dinner and made it early so Tim would have a nice treat when he came home from work...

btw...want to mention hoe proud I am of Tim...he is doing such great work with our newspaper...went to Coachella for the music festival and several of his stories (in collaberation) were on front page....www.pe.com

he works so hard and it seems to be paying off for him, with the paper at RCC, his tv show and now the PE...and his blogs for PE.

congrats Tim...

happy birthday to me...

have not posted for a week...not feeling really good...been throwing up for some reason...3 different nights now...not sure what is going on...

on Saturday had the little kids today and did not have a good day (not them) but no need to go into details...just a very bad day all around...took kids home and Greg asked where I wanted to go out to eat...was going to make spaghetti but with noone else home thought it would be nice to go out...other than breakfast, we don't really go out all that much any more...went to Pepitos and sometimes it is just soooooooo good...also got a margarita...it was so nice...no kids...
came home and watered plants...then Greg sprung a surprise on me...he went on the Disney blog (I know, I know Greg and blogs??? come on now...at one time he didn't even know what a blog was) anyways, the blog said that tomorrow (Sunday) is the absolute last day for the Main St. Electrical Parade...(can you believe it???) my very very very favorite...love the parade, and the music, oh my...so, Greg says, "instead of going next week (for my BD) let's go tomorrow, and stay the night and then we can see the parade for the last time???" WOW...
btw...they are sending the parade to Floridaso, they say it is the last time, but they have said that before...when they said it before, I bought the VHS of the parada and Zoe started watching the tape when she was really little and started loving it then...I am excited...and Greg said we can take Zoe with us...super excited...

Sunday...

got up early to get there, but I guess not early enough...parking was horrible...so, right away we know how the park will be...and it was bad, but hey you learn to roll with the punches and take it a little at a time and deal with crowds...
nice surprise, Greg took us to Plaza Inn for breakfast (my favorite, yeah) OMGosh the omelettes are to die for and Zoe got to see some characters she hasn't seen before...
nice day all in all...Zoe was really well behaved...
will go into more detail on other blog: www.dreamsofdisney.blogspot.com...

left Disneyland around 1pm to head for hotel as Zoe wanted to swim...stayed in pool for almost 2 hours...really nice and quiet, no other kids in pool but, Zoe was sad about that...

headed back about 4 and went dkirectly to Calif Adventure and had dinner (hot dogs) but, after the big breakfast we were not too hungry...went on some rides and kind of just waited out till time for the parade...while we were going around, they came on the loud speaker and said that since they had such a huge response to the parade they were going to add another parade at 10:30...the park is supposed to close at 10 so, for them to add a parade is big...

once again, will blog about the parade on the other blog...but it was so nice...they have added to it since the VHS version that I have...more lights better details, really really nice...loved it so much and to see the look on Zoe's face...priceless...she loves it like I do...had bought her the Alice in Wonderland doll earlier in the day and when Alice came by in the parade, Zoe was so excited...

got back to hotel at almost 11...Zoe was not sure she would be able to sleep...(she has a problem with hotels...it started when she had just gotten out of first grade and once we had gotten her heart diagnosis, Greg and I took her to Sea World and the night before we went, she threw up really bad in the hotel ALL night long...left the next day to bring her home since she was soooooo sick...) now, I guess she thinks it will happen again and every single time we take her to a hotel, she has a problem just before bedtime and usually it gets so bad that we end up coming home at night in the dark (with Greg not being able to see in the dark...) I knew she was stressing about it all day, but I kept reassuring her...and wouldn't you know, the minute her head hit the pillow, she was out...snoring...I was so happy...I knew she wanted to hit the pool in the morning...
she didn't throw up all night, but I did...could not believe it, but now I never want another Disney hot dog again...
no sleep, but I got up early to take her to the pool and I got her breakfast to eat by the pool also from the continental breakfast...not too bad, she had cereal, toast and hot chocolate...

came home and did not feel well all day...managed to unpack from our trip and that was about it...

very nice birthday present...nice day...will remember for a long time...

sunday and monday...

sunday...

Chris and I did the front yard today and it was hard...so ready to get the gardeners back...tired and hurting when thru...really like the front yard to look nice, so not quite knowing what to do from now on out...planted the rest of my flowers and planted the sweet pea seeds also...

made pot roast, potatoes and carrots with gravy for dinner...

monday...

took both girls and Tim to Disneyland and it rained hard while were there...we kind of knew in advance that it might rain, but I hate to go back on promises to the girls so decided to brave it and go anyways...we had bought rain coats but, I forgot them in the car and Greg had to go back in the rain to get them...and once he got them it stopped raining 10 minutes later...our luck right??? we had a good day...Tim took Si over to Calif Adventure and we took Zoe with us...we were surprised that even witht he rain, it was packed there...thinking spring break must still be somewhere...Zoe Greg and I mostly stayed in Fantasyland and got on most of the rides there, but when it was really raining bad, went into Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln...I had never been in there, and it was pretty informative...Zoe really liked it also...thinking she is the right age to see something like that...she wanted to stay and see the other exhibits too... how often do you see someone you know at Disneyland??? saw Jessica and kids while waiting for Greg to come back with rain coats...they were there for Owen's 6th birthday...little kids growing up...

Debbie needed to take Si to the orthopedists for her feet and so I watched the baby for her...(Chris was here also..) he is so funny is all that he says...Chris said that the other day, the baby put the cat in the dryer, shut the door and then said "uh ohh..." the doctor said that Si's feet should correct themselves by age 10...they go inwards and she walks funny...

too tired to cook. woke Greg up and we took Zoe with us and went to Pick Up Stiks...sometimes beef fried rice is just so good...

to bed early...still spring cleaning...

dear God, patience please...

little kids...

since today is Saturday, had the little kids today...Debbie came and dropped them off about 9 am and then we took all 3 kids to "Goldies" for breakfast...feel kind of bad...we always leave a big mess when we leave...the baby is not a neat eater at all...both of the little ones love hash browns and keep wanting more and more...Zoe as usual got her grilled cheese with ranch, and shared her french fries with the baby...
after breakfast, took them to Mary St. park once again, getting to be our new hang out...they had fun and we tired them out for about an hour...
braved taking all 3 into Target with me, and it wasn't that bad...let the girls each get a couple of things from the dollar aisle...
the girls are starting to really get along well and they played together all day...we all walked up to the shopping center to get ice cream, but Zoe wanted fish tacos instead of ice cream so Si decided to try the potato taco and she did not like it...we had fun walking...

after the little ones left, Chris and I did yard work on the side of the house and after being out there for only an hour, it looks so much better...

made corn chowder for dinner...

Zoe is staying home to sleep and Chris is at a friend's house, so it is very quiet for me...

dear God, patience please....

great grandma

Greg decided to go to see his mom for a couple of days...she is 84 and lives in El Segundo...(about 45 minutes to an hour from here)...
he left early this morning and I decided to clean the (master) bedroom while he is gone...what a job...we have let a lot pile up...sometimes I think I could border on being a pack rat but, I try hard to keep it at a minimum...today I threw away a ton of stuff...ya know, if a tee had a small hole or a bleach spot??? normally would keep them and think I could wear for painting or whatever but, today is the day to throw and I did...still not quite done...taking a small break and then will get busy once again...

making pigs in blankets and tator tots for dinner (hey I'm tired from cleaning all day, wanted something that was super easy to make...)

hoppin down the bunny trail

Easter was pretty good...Brant took Zoe for the morning to church...
cooked pretty much all morning...Tim and Zoe had several egg hunts...
for dinner made:
ham
my special cheddar potatoes
green beans with almonds
applesauce bread

Sam brought:
deviled eggs
veggies
strawberry shortcake

didn't see the little ones today, but will see them this coming week...

cheddar potatoes
I use (10 cans) of whole potatoes
sour cream
cheddar cheese
seasonings

shred potatoes, mix in enough sour cream to coat...add cheddar cheese to taste (more or less depending on cheesy you want them...)
add seasonings and top with cheese, bake at 400 for approx. 45 minutes...

so good, everywhere that I take this dish to, everyone loves it...

applesauce bread, Greg's absolute favorite

16 oz of applesauce
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
3 tbs milk
mix all together
add 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
cinnamon
nuts

bake 350 for approx 60 minutes...makes 2 loaves...

inaguration

finished the flag...yeah...so happy that this will be off my mind...now, I can go on to bigger and better things...like sewing...want to make Zoe and Si some dresses...

since Tim and I didn't feel good, I had told Debbie that I would not take the little ones but since Si is on spring break, I will come get them in the week and take them out to breakfast or something...got up and decided to get up at take Zoe to Carl's Jr. for breakfast and since Greg was at a mtg. we took scooters...got up there and Debbie, Niki and the little ones were at Carls Jr...what a surprise...got to see the kids anyway and they all loved playing together...

the inagural ball is tonight...for the esalted ruler for Elks...the only day in the whole year where I get dressed up...Greg had to wear tuxedo...leary about going, but am going to support Greg...

the place was decorated nicely and the food was all right...not a bad night at all...

next year it is all Greg's as he will be the exalted ruler then...a lot of work to plan...especially the menu for the dinner...this year she had"
salad, with apples and grapes
fresh fruit
rolls
roasted potatoes
grilled veggies
bite sized pieces of prime rib
bite sized pieces of chicken catticitore (sp?)
ice cream in cups

tgif

so, this morning Zoe wanted to go to work with her mom and we let her...that meant spending the night at her own house also, so, I can sleep in hopefully...
want to go get my hair cut for the ball on Sat. and Greg and I went alone to breakfast, and everyone wanted to know where she was...
also went to Joanns to finish getting what I needed to make Beth Troxel's flag that she had wanted me to make for her...got home and worked all afternoon on the flag, and in my opinion it is looking pretty good...I hope she is happy with it...
really wanted to post that I had a sliver of hope, a glimpse of what a functional family should be like...Zoe, Tim. Chris Greg and I were all here... and for a brief time, everyone got along, we all talked with each other and it was so nice...almost brought tears to my eyes...just wish it could continue forever...


made tacos for dinner...Tim and I still do not feel good, tho he is worse than me and he didn't even eat dinner...

went fairly early to bed and then did not sleep at all...was awake every hour...

bowling

in case you did not know it, for 2 years now Greg and I have bowled on Monday nights on a league for Elks...I am not good at all...last year was a lot of gutter balls...this year a guy that bowls on our team, has showed me some good pointers and I have done better...couple of weeks ago, I even bowled a 152...good for me...
so, each March when the league ends till September, they have this big party and hand out cash awards...I do not understand bowling talk, but last year we did not win very much money at all...so, was expecting same thing this year but was surprisingly mistaken...our team was in second place and each person on our team got $75, and then the awards kept coming at least for Greg and it totaled in the 500's (can you believe???) but we were very cash poor and that really helped us along...
Greg got new pants and shoes and sox...I gave Chris $20, sent $20 to my sister, took Tim to Applebees, and Sam wants some money next week to be able to take Zoe to the museum and out to lunch (can do that...) nice to have a little extra that you can share with people that you love...oh yeah, got Si another new pair of shoes and Zoe too...and then am amazed how fast that kind of money can go too...

better days???

so, today I feel just slightly better than yesterday's post...Greg tried everything he could think of to get me in a good mood...then, Tim came home sick from work...am thinking that I have what he has on top of this depression thing...
and still today have the chemical type headache...
but as a woman, I do what is expected of me and I forge ahead and went grocery shopping this morning and when we grocery shop we SHOP...(like $350 worth at the commissary)...then got home and had to put it all away...the frozen stuff is the worst...
went to Sam's also to get a few things and where else can you eat for 5 people for under $15 and the hot dogs are pretty good too...

Tim is much worse off than me, if I could get rid of the headache I would be all right...I had the cough for the month that led up to this, but you can tell he is sick...Zoe also is not feeling good, I kept her home from her one day a week school, cause I had a feeling I would just be going back to get her...

last night, still feeling crappy, ordered pizza and sometimes when you haven't had it for awhile, it tastes really good...