WE HAVE A DATE . . .

Okay, truth is we have had a date for awhile. But, I actually heard Dad tell someone today that he is having surgery on his shoulder on October 28th. So, YAY! It looks like he is going to go ahead with the surgery! We have kind of been in limbo, not knowing whether or not he would.

I am so glad he is deciding to go ahead because it is so hard to watch him in so much pain. Both of his shoulders are bad but his left one is the worst. So, that is the one he is going to have surgery on first.

Once Dad has this shoulder fixed, Mom needs to have surgery to repair her torn rotor cuff in one of her shoulders. Yep, we are falling to pieces here. Luckily, we have a repair shop right around the corner! Lol!

BAD NEWS FROM THE ALLERGIST

I took Jonathon to his allergist Tuesday and they did a food panel on him. We were specifically testing him for a milk allergy. A huge surprise came out of that appointment--Jonathon has a severe peanut allergy. The doctor told me we were SO lucky to have been testing for the milk allergy or we might not have caught this until there was an incident. Gah! How frightening. It's serious enough he can't even be near peanuts or peanut butter and has to have an epi pen with him at all times.

There is a twenty percent chance he can grow out of it. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for that. In the meantime, we will just keep him away from anything peanuty, I guess and hope for the best.

IT FINALLY HAPPENED . . .

I'M OVER THE HILL! But it was sure fun getting here. Lol! Just a few pictures from my birthday party. Had lots of fun with family. Love you all!

GIRL'S NIGHT OUT

Did some running around earlier in the day with Rob doing errands. Then left late afternoon with some neighbor friends for a planned outing. We went to dinner and then to a women's church meeting. It was a nice evening out. Rob, Julie and Megan babysat.

Mom and Dad went to visit Susan and her husband, Russ today to celebrate Russ' birthday. They spent several hours there and got to see their girls as well. They had a good time and made it home safely.

Not much else going on here. That's all folks . . .

WERE IN TROUBLE!

Yesterday, I got up a little later than usual and looked at Carly's room to see any signs of her being awake yet. I didn't see any so I started to quietly walk by her door to let the dogs out when I heard this not so little voice say "You guys got to sleep all night long!" Apparently she had been awake for a while and had been trying to get our attention to come and get her out of her room.

I hadn't heard her until just then and she was losing her patience with us. She is such a crack up! Sometimes I can't believe she is only two and a half! She is so bright! She is not going to let us get away with anything--ever! Darn it all! LOL!

GRANDPA'S CARDIOLOGIST VISIT

Grandpa went to his cardiologist today and got a clean bill of health. He gave him a green light for his shoulder surgery, too. I think Grandpa is starting to feel a little better about going ahead with that. We hope he will because Grandma can't really do hers until he does his. At least it wouldn't make sense to. She could just re-injure herself all over again trying to help him if she did. If he has his surgery he should be able to use his arm to help get himself up and down better and not need so much help.

Grandpa has been walking on the treadmill several times a week trying to strengthen his polio leg. He thinks if he can strengthen that leg he will be better prepared have his shoulder surgery. I think he just wants to feel like he is more able to move around on his own before one of his limbs is temporarily not working. Makes sense to me.

Made some taco soup for dinner. Even Jonathon liked it. That's pretty good, I think!
Well, better get some sleep. Night all.

I took Jonathon to his allergist today. We are pretty certain he does have a milk allergy. His allergist is going to do a food panel on him but has to wait until next week. We started him on vanilla flavored soy milk tonight. He took that better than he took the soy formula we tried him on when he was tiny. Man, he just hucked those bottles across the room. He wouldn't even touch those ones after he tasted them. He did drink the vanilla soy tonight, though. Yay!

Hopefully, we have found what has been making him so sick. I sure hope so! That would be SO GREAT! Cross your fingers with us. We sure need him to be healthy this Winter. He had such a rough Winter last year.

We got a lot of rain this afternoon and the temperature cooled down quite a bit. I can feel Fall starting to hit us. Haven't seen any leaves turn yet, though. I'm sure those are just around the corner. Can't wait!

HAIR TODAY . . . GONE TOMORROW

Grandpa got out for a haircut today. That's about the biggest thing that happened around here. We actually are a pretty boring people. I think that may be a good thing.

A SLOW MONDAY

Didn't get a whole lot else accomplished today but I did make a good dinner. I made barbeque boneless pork ribs. I slow cooked them in the crockpot and served them over rice. They were really good.

I went to the gym tonight for the first time in weeks. It felt good to lift some weights and get back on the treadmill again. Hope tomorrow my body thinks it was as good an idea as my mind did today! :}

JUST STOPPING BY TO SAY HI

Haven't shown my face for awhile! Hi everybody!

JUST SOME STUFF

Grandma and Grandpa got home safe this evening. They had a good time and got to see Sarah's kids play their football and volleyball games.

Jonathon is saying new words. He will just suddenly repeat things we say. In fact, he is saying little phrases like "I love you", too. I can't tell yet if he is retaining many of them or not. He has said "I love you" several times so I know he has that one down and he usually want to give you a kiss when he says it, so he seems to understand something about its meaning.

He is also getting more teeth. Not a happy process. But he looks so darn cute with his little toothy smile.

Carly is getting so tall. Everyone asks me if she is four. She is only two and a half. Although, I will say she is two and a half going on thirty!

Lately, whenever I go run errands I've been letting Julie drive us. She just barely got through her driver's ed class. She is doing O.K. but I did have to buy a box of hair dye tonight. I'm thinking we need some more parking lot practice time. :)

REPORTING IN . . .

Grandpa and Grandma went to visit Sarah, Rich and the kids the last couple of days. They wanted to go to each of the kids sports games after school. Actually, I think one of the games is tomorrow and they will head back when that is over. Sarah lives about two and a half hours away. I think it's good for Grandpa to get out once in a while. I'm sure he will come back exhausted but it will do him good to have a change of scenery.

We watched a movie tonight. It was an old one. So old our kids hadn't seen it. So, not really, really old--not as old as our kids would have us think anyway. I mean, Sandra Bullock was in it but I think she was in her twenties. It was called "The Net." I hadn't seen that for years and it was actually a pretty good show. The kids even liked it.

The little ones are missing their Grandparents. Glad they will be back soon. Night all.

WHERE'S THE BALL GAME? I'M ALL SET TO GO!

Jonathon loves this ball even though it's bigger than he is! He loves to carry it all over the place. It just looks hillarious when he does it!



But just so you know, he is wearing something! Lol!

I KNOW IT'S ONLY SEPTEMBER . . .

and it's still 95 degrees out but you've got to plan ahead a little, don't you? It's a little big for him, but I think it will work. He does seem to like it! I think I will call it "The abominable snow-baby outfit!" Lol!

HUMOR ME FOR A MOMENT . . . THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Here's an opinion piece by Chuck Green who writes "Greener Pastures" for the Denver Post Aurora Sentinel...one of the more liberal papers in the country. Additionally, Mr. Green is a life long Democrat...so this is rather a stunning piece...

THAT DARNED GEORGE BUSH!

Obama is victim of Bush's failed promises
Greener Pastures Column -- 5/ 15/10
Barack Obama is setting a record-setting number of records during his first year in office.
Largest budget ever. Largest deficit ever. Largest number of broken promises ever. Most self-serving speeches ever. Largest number of agenda-setting failures ever. Fastest dive in popularity ever.

Wow! Talk about change.

Just one year ago, fresh from his inauguration celebrations, President Obama was flying high. After one of the nation's most inspiring political campaigns, the election of America 's first black president had captured the hopes and dreams of millions. To his devout followers, it was inconceivable that a year later his administration would be gripped in self-imposed crisis.

Of course, they don't see it as self-imposed. It's all George Bush's fault.

George Bush, who doesn't have a vote in congress and who no longer occupies the White House, is to blame for it all.

He broke Obama's promise to put all bills on the White House web site for five days before signing them.

He broke Obama's promise to have the congressional health care negotiations broadcast live on C-SPAN.

He broke Obama's promise to end earmarks.

He broke Obama's promise to keep unemployment from rising above 8 percent.

He broke Obama's promise to close the detention center at Guantanamo in the first year.

He broke Obama's promise to make peace with direct, no precondition talks with America 's most hate-filled enemies during his first year in office, ushering in a new era of global cooperation.

He broke Obama's promise to end the hiring of former lobbyists into high White House jobs.

He broke Obama's promise to end no-compete contracts with the government.

He broke Obama's promise to disclose the names of all attendees at closed White House meetings.

He broke Obama's promise for a new era of bipartisan cooperation in all matters.

He broke Obama's promise to have chosen a home church to attend Sunday services with his family by Easter of last year.

Yes, it's all George Bush's fault. President Obama is nothing more than a puppet in the never-ending failed Bush administration.
If only George Bush wasn't still in charge, all of President Obama's problems would be solved. His promises would have been kept, the economy would be back on track, Iran would have stopped its work on developing a nuclear bomb and would be negotiating a peace treaty with Israel . North Korea would have ended its tyrannical regime, and integrity would have been restored to the federal government.

Oh, and did I mention what it would be like if the Democrats, under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, didn't have the heavy yoke of George Bush around their necks? There would be no ear marks, no closed-door drafting of bills, no increase in deficit spending, no special-interest influence (unions), no vote buying (Nebraska, Louisiana).

If only George Bush wasn't still in charge, we'd have real change by now.

All the broken promises, all the failed legislation and delay (health care reform, immigration reform) is not President Obama's fault or the fault of the Democrat-controlled Congress. It's all George Bush's fault.

Take for example the decision of Eric Holder, the president's attorney general, to hold terrorists' trials in New York City . Or his decision to try the Christmas Day underpants bomber as a civilian.

Two disastrous decisions.

Certainly those were bad judgments based on poor advice from George Bush.

Need more proof?

You might recall that when Scott Brown won the election to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts , capturing "the Ted Kennedy seat", President Obama said that Brown's victory was the result of the same voter anger that propelled Obama into office in 2008. People were still angry about George Bush and the policies of the past 10 years. And they wanted change.

Yes, according to the president, the voter rebellion in Massachusetts was George Bush's fault.

Therefore, in retaliation, they elected a Republican to the Ted Kennedy seat, ending a half-century of domination by Democrats. It is all George Bush's fault.

Will the failed administration of George Bush ever end, and the time for hope and change ever arrive?

Will President Obama ever accept responsibility for something... - anything?

(Chuck Green is a veteran Colorado journalist and former editor-in-chief of The Denver Post.)

NOT YET

It's been a busy day. Got the stains out of the clothes. Still working on the couch. Big frowny face :( . So far not much luck but hopefully with time we will figure it out. Kind of bummed about that. Think I'm going to rename my 2 1/2 year old "the destroyer." This little girl is so curious I never know what she is going to do next!But I'm starting to think I should be frightened. Very frightened. Lol! Just kidding.
Hopefully, Jonathon will be my mild child!

MY NOT SO FUNNY DAY

Had a funny story to tell you from church today. It will have to hold for a day or so. I have a not so funny (probably somewhat funny to you)story that happened tonight I'm still frustrated over and I need to vent.

This evening Carly came walking in from the front room to the family room and I heard Grandma ask her why she was so wet. I was in the kitchen so I looked over to see what she had done. Now, this is not an unusual question for any of us to ask her, mind you. She loves to take her sippy cup and when we aren't watching shake it out on her head or clothes. She has even poured someone's regular cup of water on her. She's a crazy 2 year old so not much surprises us. I said not much.

Pretty soon Jonathon rounds the corner and he is wet, too. I asked Carly if she had a cup of water in the front room and she told me she did, so I asked her to bring it to me. I wasn't prepared for what happened next. She went in the front room and came back with an small empty bottle of blessing oil. It's consecrated olive oil for healing the sick. My husband and my cousin had given Julie a blessing about an hour earlier because she has been sick. Apparently, Rob forgot to put away the vial of oil. It probably only had 4 or 6 ounces in it BUT those 4 or 6 ounces were now all over my two kids heads and clothes--OR SO I THOUGHT. And wouldn't you know it, they both had on brand new clothes.

I soaked up what was on their heads (luckily, oil won't hurt their hair) and got them out of their clothes and changed. I put Carly in a time out that actually turned into a nap! Yay! Then I thought I'd better go in the front room and make sure she didn't get any on the carpet. I turned the corner and realized she had missed the carpet BECAUSE she had been on the couch when she poured it on them. Our fairly new couch had several large oil spots on it. We had it stain treated but I'm not sure it was treated for oil!

I called Mom in and we discussed the possibilities and I decided just to try steam cleaning it with the regular carpet/furniture cleaner soap first. That did not work. So, I just looked online and it says that once it's dry to try putting baby powder on the spots to let it soak up the oil and then vacuum it up when it drys. If anyone has any better ideas, please let me know. I am really, really frustrated over this one!

So, when do the terrible two's end? Please be gentle. Don't say three or five. Let it be the last day they are two. Oh please, oh please, oh please!!!

GOD BLESS THE HEROES OF 9/11

So many heroes came out of the woodwork that day. So many rose to their potential as human beings. Too many lost their lives. We can never forget what happened to America that day and especially to those who lost their lives and their loved ones. We must remember so we can keep something like this from ever happening again. We can't allow this type of event to be politicized. If we do, we lose and they win. It was terrorism pure and simple. God bless the Heroes of 9/11. Let's Roll!

SHORT UPDATE

Grandpa has had a few days that have been pretty pain filled. His shoulders are really hurting him. You would think that might make him think he needs to have a shoulder replacement done but what the heck do I know. :/ Anyway, he has not felt like doing much or even coming upstairs much. So, hope he gets to feeling better soon.

Megan came today and got our kitchen table for her apartment. She sent me a picture on her phone and it looks pretty good there. We are having our new one delivered tomorrow. Spent this evening doing a nice clean up--floors and all, so it would look good in it's spot when it arrives. Kids(and dogs)have a way of crudding up the floor so it needed a good cleaning. Lol!

I will take pictures when it gets here tomorrow and show you what it looks like! Night all.

JONATHON'S CUTE FACE

Just thought you might need a reminder of what a cute face this little guy has.

MY LITTLE DRAMA QUEEN

Carly keeps surprising me with her words and language skills. Most of the time I have no idea where she picked up a word or phrase she uses on me. She is with me most of the time so my guess would have to be from some of these cartoons or kid shows I let her watch that are meant to teach her things.

Anyway, lately when I have asked her where something is or where she put something she doesn't even stop to think about it. She gets a really serious look on her face, cocks her head sideways for dramatic effect and says (as if she has been coached by an acting coach) "Mama, I can't find it ANYWHERE!" Now, mind you, it doesn't matter what it is I've asked her about. Seriously, I don't know where she picked that line up but she uses it every time without thinking twice. She might know where what I've asked her is, but this answer is lots more fun! Ye Gads! That's my DRAMA QUEEN!

AND BACK AGAIN

Like a ping pong ball. Hubby headed back to the Bermuda Triangle today. More work to do. Luckily, I got a call tonight and he finally had success. Sounds like when he leaves this time he may not have to return for awhile. Yay!

Had a migraine today and of course, the kids were on one all day long, especially Miss Carly! Although, Bubby has this new sound he likes to make that sounds like a wounded Rhinoceros. That does not mix well with a migraine--at least after about the twentieth time. It's a good time he's so darn cute.

Gotta take some more pictures and post them on here. The kids are too cute to not be showing you right now. Can't keep them all to myself. That just wouldn't be fair. Maybe tomorrow. :)

HOME AGAIN

Loved having a little get away but it is always so good to come back home. I missed my wee ones and even my not so wee ones. The temperature had dropped from near 100 degrees when we left to around low 60's when we returned. Mom made a pot of chili for dinner and some cornbread. Uncle Steve came up and we ate and then played a new game. It's called "FACT or CRAP". It was pretty funny. You read off different supposed things that have happened and everyone has to decide whether or not they are fact or crap. Sometimes you really wonder! We even got Grandpa to play! Then we had homemade brownies and ice cream for dessert. It's been a busy weekend.

Hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend!

WORST MEAL EVER

Rob and I ended up out of town for a second night in a lovely place I now like to call the Bermuda Triangle. Lol! It's a long story but it seems like every time we come here there are problems that suck us in and keep us for longer than we planned.

Anyway, we finally went to get some dinner tonight and one of the only places that seemed decent was a Wingers restaurant. I've never been crazy about their food but figured it would be okay. We went in and seemed to be one of the only couples in the place and it wasn't long until we were the only ones left. It took forever for them to pay any attention to us or take our order. Then, even longer until our meal came. Rob almost had us get up and leave it took so long.

When our food finally came, it was horrible. Rob had ordered soup and a half-sandwich. He was supposed to get a club sandwich and clam chowder. His club sandwich was a couple of thin slices of turkey, a couple of tomatoes and lettuce on two half pieces of normal white bread. (That sounds like a turkey sandwich to me.) His soup was all in a clump in his bowl. There was no soup to it--it was more the consistency of mashed potatoes.

My meal was a Salmon strip with a baked potato and broccoli. Kind of hard to mess that up. Well, not for them. The baked potato was cut in half and had been baked more than once--so much so it was gray inside. It wasn't even warm. I put butter on it and the butter didn't even melt. I took a bite and it tasted old. Ew! The broccoli looked plastic and was cold as well. I could tell the potato and broccoli had been heated in the microwave but had probably been done before they cooked the Salmon. The Salmon didn't have much flavor either, though and was just barely warm. I could only eat a few bites of it and I love Salmon.

Now, I'm not that picky and I don't usually whine about food or restaurants. I can't remember ever telling a waitress the food wasn't good. But this was the worst meal I have ever been served in a restaurant. We both left most of our meal on the table, paid the bill and then told the waiter we weren't happy with the meal. He said he would tell the cook. (Big deal, eh?)

I am just telling you this because if I were you, I would stay away from Wingers! Blech! Bad food, bad service and no service recovery!

TOOK A TRIP

No, not a fall, just a trip with hubby today. We are in Nevada, hopefully just overnight. He had a bit of work to do here and thought it would be nice to have me come along. It has been nice. He has been working most of the late afternoon and evening but he took a break for dinner and we tried out a restaurant he'd been wanting to try here for a while. He usually does takeout when he is on his own so it was nice for him to go into a sit down restaurant and order a meal and enjoy it. Come to think of it, it was nice for me, too. We had a good time together.

Julie and Grandma and Grandpa are watching the little ones and Megan stopped by to give them a break. Hopefully, they are being good for them. I felt a bit guilty when I left today because Carly was sobbing and grabbed me around the legs and pleaded "Mommy, don't go ANYWHERE, PUHLEASE??" Wow, if that won't give you the guilts, nothing will!

Thankfully, Jonathon doesn't have enough words or understanding to say anything like that yet! One child guilting me is plenty, thank you! Ye Gads and no thank you! :)

WENT SHOPPING TONIGHT

and found a new dining room table we liked. Came home and measured and then took Grandma back to see it. Decided we liked it so we bought it. They will deliver it next Saturday. We are excited. I will post pictures when we get it. That's the only excitement here for the day. :)

DISAPPOINTING DAY :(

Went to Grandma's Dr. appt. and found out she does have a rotor cuff tear and will need surgery to repair it. I guess the bright side is that they can repair it and eventually she will feel better. They gave Mom a cortizone shot a few weeks ago that has made her shoulder feel a little better so the Doc wants her to wait until that wears off and she is in serious pain again to schedule her surgery.

Dad went along and promptly announced to the Doc that he was cancelling his surgery. Susan and I were both there for the appt. and were able to get some answers from the surgeon for Dad that made him feel more comfortable with the recovery and rehab process. Before we left, Dad did reschedule for late October and we are hopeful he will keep that appointment. His pain is pretty significant and that limits his movement and ability to do much, so it worries us when he talks about not having the shoulder surgery at all.

He needs all the POSITIVE reinforcement he can get right now. So keep your "success" stories and happy calls coming. Have a nice night and day! :)

ANOTHER DOCTOR APPOINTMENT

Tomorrow (Thursday) is Grandma's appointment with the shoulder doctor to find out the results of her MRI. Cross your fingers and say a prayer with us! Gotta hope there is some good news here. We are hoping she hasn't torn her rotar cuff but are afraid she has. Anyway, we will let you know what the doc says as soon as we know.

Nothing really new here. Kids are growing fast. Carly's words are getting bigger. Jonathon's balance is getting ton's better. Other than that, things are pretty normal. More later. :)