Stick Patrol

We had a short, nasty storm blow through here this afternoon. It blew over a few things in our backyard, including the bench Brian built me for Mother's Day a few years ago. So, when we headed outside once the rain had stopped, we noticed there were a ton of sticks and branches on the ground. Bryton said to Avery, "lets help Mom pick up these sticks!" I thought to myself, "great idea, but I doubt you 2 will stick to this task for very long." A 1/2 hr. later, they had all of the sticks picked up! They kept going, and going, and going 'til all the sticks were picked up. I was just happy that I didn't have to do it...so their treat was dinner out on the patio :) Lets hope they don't grow to dread "stick patrol" like I did in my younger years. Of course, "poop patrol" was a lot worse!

Our Little Jet-Setters

We returned from our fun trip to Virginia, visiting Jerod, Kristen, Isaac, and Samuel. Bryton and Avery traveled well. Our trip out last week was delayed 2 hrs., which pushed us back to a 2 AM arrival time to the Rife residence, but Bryton and Avery weathered all of that just fine. Then we were on the road in the dark this morning ("when it was still night" according to Bryton) so that we could fly out of Richmond by 6 AM. Bryton and Avery did a good job of fitting right in with the business travelers on this morning's flight! They've gotten to be pro's at going thru security...putting their blankets, stuffed animals, and shoes in trays and strutting right on thru to gather their goodies on the other side. On this morning's flight, the stewardess asked me what the kids would like to drink, and Avery replied to her, "Cappuccino," as if it was very normal for a 2 1/2 yr. old to order this beverage! Needless to say, she got water :)

An Unsolved Mystery

I didn't end up taking Avery to the Dr. this afternoon. I had an appt. to get her in at 3:30 pm today, but she acted just fine all day...she slept in 'til 9 a.m. (wow!), and then she went down for a nap from 1:45-5 p.m.! I didn't want to wake her for the Dr.'s appt., since I figured she'd need the sleep. She woke up happy both times, didn't have a temp at all today, and if tonight goes OK...I guess I won't worry about it. Maybe this unsolved mystery is just a figment of my imagination. Lets hope so!

The Ear Infection Mystery

My week had been fairly nicely planned out: work, pack, laundry, errands, pool-time, yard work, clean, soccer, story hr., haircuts, etc... so that we can scoot out the door tomorrow P.M. for our trip, with me feeling comfortable that all is well here on the home front. However, when a kid is out of whack, a Mom's schedule gets thrown a bit out of whack as well. Last night the light bulb went on in my head...wondering, "does Avery have an ear infection?!"
Here are the clues: 1. very slight fever as of this morning 2. she's waking up in the night whining, and then falling back to sleep on her own 3. she's been more irritable than normal the past 3 days, acting tired when she shouldn't be 4. last night when I was cleaning out her ears, she said "Ow!" to her right ear (she never says that when I clean her ears) 5. She isn't eating all that great (this is a mystery in itself, though, so no biggie difference there)
You tell me?! She says her ears don't hurt, and that nothing else hurts. That has been the story before, though, and she's ended up with double ear infections.
Off to the Dr. we go today, if they can squeeze us in.

Radar Ears

Yesterday Bryton asked me, out of the blue, "So, why did Tori break up with Shean?!" (Tori is our dear neighbor, who watches the kids sometimes, and Shean was her boyfriend). I thought to myself...'well, how do I explain this to a 5 yr. old?!' I then went into a very generic explanation of boyfriends and girlfriends and "break-up's." I could see his little wheels a 'turnin...but he didn't ask any more questions about it.
I asked him where he heard that they'd broken up, and he said, "You, Mom. A long time ago."
Yep, it would have been quite a while ago...and this poor kid's mom blabs too much! She tends to forget there are little ears hanging on her every word, and their little minds are like steel traps!

More Summer Smiles...

Yummo!

Tonight at dinner, Bryton proudly proclaimed, "I've had 2 lumps of everything!" I looked at our plates, and sure enough..."lumps" was the appropriate term! We had cheesy potatoes (hash brown casserole) and cowboy beans (hamburger & bacon baked beans) with our hot dogs on the grill :) Martha Stewart would not be proud of my menu!

Cute Summer Smiles

This Week's Favorites

T. Marzetti Italian Blue Cheese Vinaigrette - We are huge tmbc fans, and this is even better than their old standby.
Jake and Amos Hot Garlic Mushrooms - A good snack...kind of like pickles around our house these days.
Old Orchard Produce Stand - This is the old "Rabbit Farm" for you Lena natives. We visited there last night for the first time, and came home w/ all kinds of goodies to try!
Milkbone Rawhide Chips - The dogs take a little longer to gobble these down than regular dog bone treats.
Matrix So Silver Shampoo - For us "wanna be a lighter blond than I really am" girls :)
Cheeto's Cracker Trax - The kids picked these out at the store, but Brian and I like these better than the kiddo's! (thanks Theresa!)

Relief

I do feel strange...I don't have an immobile husband; Our house is quiet (the kids return this morning :); The dogs are quiet; My house is clean; Laundry is caught up; and I've already got meat thawing out and thoughts in mind for lunch and dinner today. Wow! I haven't felt this "worry-free" for awhile now!
Brian's surgery was a huge success. They rolled him back to surgery at 1:15 PM on Wednesday, and I got a call from his Dr. at 2:45 saying, "All went well...I took a very large chunk of Brian's disc out, and I think he'll be really pleased when the results once he wakes up." I then let out a huge sigh of relief. I didn't get to see him until 4 PM, when he came out of recovery and got up to his regular room. By that time, he had already been up and gone to the bathroom...and he was starving! By 8:30, he'd been up walking the halls a few times, he'd eaten a good dinner, and he was ready to get out of there! So, they discharged him and we were home by 10 PM or so.
Since then, Brian has been walking with a straight back (haven't seen this for over 3 weeks now), he has no shooting nerve pain going down his rt. leg, and he's just a little sore from where they cut. His incision is only 2 inches long. He's tired, so the anesthesia is still working its way out of his system. He's off his strong pain meds...taking only ibuprofen as needed. Yeah! Life is Good in the Engle household this morning!

My Painter

Brian is slowly going crazy. Good thing surgery is today, so that he doesn't get all the way there! He's been bummed that he can't move around like he'd like, which also means he can't do what he'd like, when he'd like to do it. This week, however, he did start to paint in a chair he found to be relatively comfy...for short amounts of time. It was a change of pace for him, and it is going to be a small, pretty painting. You can see the picture he's copying, laying on the table in this photo. The other picture is his "nest" he's been living in for a few weeks now. All other paintings are on hold 'til he can stand and paint for long periods of time!

A Better Weekend

My last blog was a bit gloomy, so this one isn't going to be! We've had a good weekend. The weather is beautiful, so the kids have enjoyed being outside a lot. We've enjoyed perfect summer days and nights. Brian is fairly comfortable. Only a few more days 'til he has relief w/out so many meds...yeah!!! Brian is a good patient, so I can't complain about that. Jake has been a little less nucklehead-ish; Bailey continues to be good-'ol-Bailey; Bryton has become quite the little soccer player and diving board jumper; Avery makes me laugh with her goofy facial expressions and horrible singing; Both kids are getting really good at giving Mom and Dad hugs and sweet kisses "just because." We have so many blessings, large and small, that we are thankful for.

Surgery Next Wednesday

Brian is scheduled for surgery next Wednesday up at UW Madison. He'll have a microdiscectomy, which is removal of only the herniated part of the disc. It is his only surgical option, and frankly his only option for long term pain relief. Lets hope time flies between now and then. He's fairly comfortable on his pain meds, but they make him very tired. Unfortunately, I don't have anything else that is worth writing about at this time.

Brian's Back

We'd had a bit of a rough holiday weekend and week, so far, with Brian's back giving him issues. At this point, we'll try to decide if and when he needs surgery, based on what the experts at UW tell us this morning. His disc at L4 is severely herniated, so much so that the MRI of it pushing on his nerve looks like an almost completely pinched hose. Everyone's response when looking at the MRI film seems to be, "Oh my gosh!" Nope, its not good. His Dr.'s think its an old injury that has gotten worse over the years. We don't want to jump into surgery...so that is why we are wanting more opinions than the ones we've already gotten. Brian is able to walk to and from the bathroom, w/ the help of crutches, and he's on good and heavy pain medication 'round the clock. He also had an epidural while he was in the hospital, so that has helped to numb his lower back...just enough to take the "edge off" he says. Hopefully we get a little better bearing on which direction to go, after our appointment at UW this morning.

Happy Independence Day!

No fireworks for the kiddo's and I last night. We spent all afternoon at the pool, and by the time we got home and took baths...the kids were zombies! That pool routine can really wear them out, especially when they are playing there w/ friends. So, it was an early to bed night for us all (except Brian, who was out of town). I did watch a few fireworks out our bedroom window while I was finishing my book...somebody had quite a stash this year! We'll get to see fireworks at some point this weekend, as a family. You can't truly celebrate this holiday, without watching them at least once!