What happens in the daily life of the family.. the drama of foster care, the adventures of parenting, & pictures to share with everyone!
Grandpa with the boys
Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts/prayers. Last night we had friends and family gathered here to simply be together. We are still missing David terribly and it doesn’t feel real. But, the love of family and friends has been strong enough to touch. Thank you.
We are mid-air on our journey home. I didn’t expect this to be a happy or easy day, tired kids and the stress of travel don’t make for the most peaceful days, even in the best of circumstances. But, I had no clue what a heart-breaking journey this would be…
Yesterday, as we were waiting in customs, B got a call from his sister. His father has passed away….
Only a few months ago, Grandpa was feeling healthy and looking strong. He was having some stomach issues, and they were playing with his diet, but it seemed there was nothing more going on… But, the stomach issues continued to grow. He spent about a week in the hospital a little over a month ago—his gall bladder was removed, they treated him for pneumonia and they put in a stint. He left, but never made it back to healthy.
A few weeks ago he was back in the hospital and they finally found the cause—cancer. Such a horrible disease. Thankfully, they live close to us and their daughter so we were all able to be together and laugh and cry and support him and Grandma..
He’s been doing chemo for the past few weeks. And he was doing o.k. Have I mentioned that cancer sucks?
As you know, my family was gathering in FL for our cruise… We saw Grandpa the morning we left. I wish we would have gotten all of the kids out for hugs, but had my crystal ball been working we would have skipped the whole trip.
I feel so incredibly sad for my husband. I wish he would have gotten more time with his father.
I have told he kids that it is o.k., but there is nothing o.k. He should have had more time. He was too young and we loved him too much. There is nothing o.k. or fair about his death.
I am a very lucky. I am married to a great guy. And it is his parents I have to thank–they raised him right and have him handsome genes. They also have loved me like a daughter. They fully supported us through our crazy journey of foster care (being Grandma and Grandpa to all who came and went no matter how long they were with us). They have loved me, accepted me and treated me like a daughter. And it is not time for me to let go of my Dad yet.
Once we heard the news we worked to get B home with his sister and mom… It was not an easy day. The kids are devastated. B had to be away from us to be with others who need him, too. My parents and family were trying to help as much as they can—but, this is a loss that can’t be fixed, at least not without some time and healing…
Hold close the ones that you love. Use each day and treasure them the best that you can. Life is far too short.
Love you so very much Dad.
I am starting this in line— guessing I will finish it later though.
We are rocking through the park!
We have gone on:
Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain
The Swiss Family Robinson treehouse
Pirates of the Carribean
Space Mountain (twice)
Buzz Lightyear (3 times!)
And the Rockets…
Then we added on *another* trip on Space Mountain and the Monster’s Inc. show.
Right now we are waiting to meet Merida 🙂 (My latest sewing project has been a Merida dress that will be done in time for Halloween)
Next up? Small World?
Tom Sawyer’s Island is in high demand, too.
One of the things I enjoy most about our school district is the calendar year. They have what they call “modified year-round” school. The kids still get a summer break, but it’s shorter than most & they get extra time off in the Fall and Spring. It is amazing for us in AZ, because the times you want to be out and about are not in the summer!
The other huge bonus is that extra times means that we can travel and enjoy without having to fit it all in a week…
This year, we are doing something more than normal, too! Rather than go through it all, I will try to blog as we go (key word= try).
Anyhow, we started our trip yesterday and it was a full day of travel. We literally were on the go the whole day… We left the house @ 6:45 in the morning and got the kids in bed @ 1:00 this morning—thankfully there is a time difference in there. It was a long day. But, we have good travelers and it gets easier each year.
Today, the kids slept in and we just ran out to the store to pick up food…
And then we hit the pool.
Right now we are waiting on the family… We are in FL, so we get to spend time with Nana, Papa & most of the cousins & they will get to see most of their Aunts & Uncles, too!
We will be quite the crew!
As if you didn’t know, my kids are lucky. The other night, it wasn’t just me spoiling them. If you have kids in the 8-12 age range, you’ve probably been “blessed” by being exposed to a little Adventuretime. Our boys talked B into watching it with them a week or so ago and he got a kick out of it… especially this part:
So, B had me pick up a little extra bacon (before we heard about the possible bacon crisis!). And he made bacon pancakes. I didn’t get out the camera to photograph them, but they looked delish (and not on my diet!!). He cut up the cooked bacon and put it on the top of the pancakes as the bottom was cooking, then flipped and cooked the other side. Three out of four children agreed that they were awesome. Four out of four kids agreed that they have an awesome dad!
Sigh.
I am ready to send my crew to bed–the lot of them!!
Little d has an ear infection that made him sick this morning. Big D is being bossy and loud and obnoxious. V is pouting. And I had to carry a crying B all the way home from school.
Add to that some frustration with prescriptions and the fact that I only got a short run in today and I am ready for bed, too.
Sigh.
Maybe tomorrow will be better.
So, I have been copying my husband.. I am doing the same plan that he did when he dropped his weight. I wasn’t sure I could succeed–frankly, some days I’m still not sure. But, I wanted to share a little before and mid-way progress.. I still have some work to do, but I am very, very, very happy with the progress that I have made.
Way back in my brown hair days.. the kids didn’t think this looked like me & thankfully it doesn’t anymore!
Yesterday before I hit the gym…
Please excuse the mess (both on me and in my house!).. These were just for comparison only!
When I was a nanny, I often joked that the dull days were the good days. I guess not much has changed. The days that don’t involve drama or phone calls from school or trips to the ER are pretty good days!
Today was full of volunteering at school, errands, doctor’s appointment, laundry, dishes, play dates, tutoring, homework and getting out the Halloween decorations… All pretty dull.
I have to say I love my job today!
