Life goes on even with dear hubby recuperating from surgery. Shauna had her recorder band concert and I had to tape the entire thing since Charles couldn't attend. This Shauna's first year to play in the band. She gets to "feeling" the music more than playing sometimes I think!

Hope PaMac and Bopka get to see these videos!

Here is a clip of them playing Yankee Doodle:

Shauna had her last regular season softball game. Charles did make it to the game even though he was still extremely sore from the surgery. She started off the year hitting great but then had a bit of a slump, so the coaches started working with her. Poor thing, they've got her all confused now and she can't seem to hit anything until time to hit off the T. Here's a video of her hitting of the T. We have an end of season tournament in 2 weeks. Go Lil Rebels!!

Crazy Week #2

We started off the weekend with our normal Saturday activity of attending Shauna's softball games. During the 2nd game, Charles started not feeling well. (On a side note, I hadn't blogged about the fact that we had taken Charles to the emergency room at 3am Saturday morning of the previous weekend. He was in extreme abdominal pain. I was sure it was gallbladder issues, but they couldn't find anything and sent him home at 9am.) We went to lunch and he ate a bit but still wasn't feeling great. His stomach was bothering him again. We were scheduled to have my parents down to celebrate Mother's Day a day early and we went ahead with that. We bought a fabulous brisket that the Pattison Area Volunteer Fire Department cooks every year for a fundraiser. We had the brisket for dinner but Charles didn't feel like eating, so it was just me, my parents, and Shauna. I felt really bad about eating without him. About 7:30 Charles said we needed to go back to the hospital. So, pack clothes for Shauna and drop her off and at my parents for the night. Being a Saturday night, it was CRAZY at the emergency room. We waited about 2 1/2 hours before we got taken back to a room. We saw an amazing doctor this time who immediately asked if they hadn't done an ultrasound the previous week. We told her they didn't and she asked what time we'd been there. Well, apparently, there isn't an US tech there after 1am, so that's why we didn't get one! This time, that was the first thing she ordered, along with the order to not eat or drink anything in case emergency surgery was needed. At 12:30 the doctor came in and confirmed Charles had gallstones and would not be going home. They admitted him and he got a room about 2:00am. He sent me home to get some sleep. I headed back to the hospital bright and early on Sunday. About 2:00pm, the surgeon came to see Charles and said they would operate on Monday. I asked if that meant he could eat now since he hadn't eating since noon on Saturday. They allowed him to have just liquids, some broth (which Charles wouldn't eat), jello, and shaved ice. About 8:00pm, we were told they'd do the surgery at noon on Monday. Luckily, they kept Charles on mor.phine and Toro.idol so he didn't hurt anymore. On Monday, they ended up coming in to get him before 9:00am, so that was a pleasant surprise. The surgery usually takes 1 hour, but it took 2 1/2 hours. I was started to freak out a bit when the surgeon finally game out to talk to me. Turns out that the gallbladder was hemorr.ghagic and was huge - like the size of a baseball! Very lucky for Charles, we had an amazing surgeon who was patient enough that he worked on it before he gave up and just sliced him wide open. They were very worried about infection because of how bad it was. Charles had to stay that night in the hospital and was told he'd probably be staying two more nights because it was so bad. However, he did remarkably well (we did lots of walking around the hospital floor) and was able to go home on Tuesday evening. He still can't go to work or drive for the rest of the week, but he's recovering quite nicely. I am so lucky that I have my parents nearby because they were able to take care of Shauna for us. I took her to school each day, but they picked her up and she spent the night with them.

Ready to start a new week

This has been a rough week. It started off Sunday evening when I noticed the area around our septic looked a bit strange. So, dear hubby lifted the lid on the 2nd tank (not a fun task, by the way) and we noticed it was completely full! Okay, time to freak out a bit but we placed a call on Monday to the septic company, who couldn't get anyone out until Tuesday. That guy came out and pumped out the tanks, at a cost of $560 by the way. He said he thought our pump had gone bad but he didn't work on that part of the system. Apparently, as I've learned, the septic system is very specialized. We did get a recommendation from him and called that guy immediately. He said he'd be out Wednesday but to be careful with showers, don't do laundry, etc. HELLO, we are family of 4, that can't go on for long. Septic pump guy comes on Wednesday and says that it is the pump, but he doesn't have the right one! argh... he must come back the next day. This after I've already taken a day 1/2 off from work to deal with this. At least, we finally did get it fixed last night, at a cost of $679.

My mobile device decided to quit working for receiving email while I was home on Wednesday and it still isn't working right. Frustration because it only works when I'm home through our WiFi... kinda defeats the whole purpose of the "mobile" device. I need to be MOBILE!

On another note, I noticed that there was some mold/mildew on the wall of my closet. Of course, that always gets big attention so we noticed the carpet was wet. EEK! So, we had to tear out the sheetrock to see what was going on. Luckily, it didn't turn out to be a big deal, but we had to dry out the carpet and pad. Now that it's finally dry, we'll have to put in insulation and new sheetrock because we had to get rid of the old since it was moldy. I want my closet back!!

Then, yesterday afternoon when I picked Shauna up from school, she was sick with a stomach virus. It has continued today and she missed school. Hope she's better tomorrow because she has two softball games and a school carnival.

I'm definitely ready to get this week behind me! Next week has to be better.

Baby....

I had the pleasure today of meeting Kim's new little boy today. I just love babies! It was fun holding Miles because it's been 7 years since my little one was that small! Kim, you and Dean did good!!

Weekend Fun

We had a very busy weekend but it was lots of fun. First, Shauna had a softball game on Thursday and two on Saturday. She did fabulous! She plays for the Lil Rebels. At this age, they do coach pitch and get 3 chances to hit off the pitch. If they don't, they get to hit off a tee. Shauna was able to hit off the coach in all 3 games until the very last at bat, but she got a great hit off the tee then too! They also rotate positions, which she doesn't care for - she wants to be able to stick to 2nd base. She got to play short stop, 3rd base, 1st base and pitcher (although not really pitching) as well. I can tell she really loved it because she told her Grammy "I think I've found my calling. I LOVE softball". No idea where she heard the phrase "my calling" - very grown up coming from a little girl!

Here are a couple pictures. They aren't the best quality because the batteries died in my camera, so these were taken with my smart phone.

Shauna playing short-stop. She looks all ready!

Taking off to 1st after her hit.

As mentioned in the last post, here is a picture of Shauna showing off her PSIA medal and ribbon.

We also had a great time at Shauna's birthday party. She turns 7 on the 8th and we had a gymnastics party. The kids all seemed to have a great time and as usual, I loved visiting with all the parents.

Shauna and I leave on Friday for a trip to Oklahoma to visit my grandparents. It will be a very quick weekend trip but we haven't seen them in long time. Shauna might go back this summer with my parents for a longer trip. It's important for her to get to spend time with her great-grandparents while they are still with us.

Proud Mom

This past Saturday was the district PSIA (Private School Interscholastic Association) competition. It's like UIL, but for private school and the kids compete in various academic competitions. Shauna was picked to represent her school in Storytelling and Creative Writing. Creative Writing was first at 9:00am. It was pretty chaotic at school where the competition was held because of so many kids being there. There were 10 private schools represented in this district and it was for 1st graders through middle school. That equals tons of active kids!

Shauna felt really good about her Creative Writing work but we had to wait 3 hours for the results. Only one bad thing in the day was when Shauna lined up to go to her Storytelling competition, a girl from another school yelled at her and made her cry. Really bad timing - but I tried to be cheerful and tell her not to let it ruin her day but I think it did affect her a bit. (Is it bad that the protective Mom side of me wanted to smack that little girl?) I got to watch the Storytelling competition and thought all the kids did great. Shauna received a qualifier ribbon for her effort in Storytelling.

When they gave the awards for Creative Writing, they started with the qualifier ribbons. When all those were given out, it dawned on Shauna that it meant she was going to be receiving a medal! The look on her face was priceless as they awarded medals and her name was yet to be called. Her best friend, Katya, took 3rd place in Creative Writing and Shauna took 2nd place! We are so proud of both girls! Unfortunately, in this competition only the 1st place finisher gets to go to state, unlike the other areas where the top 2 go. Shauna was disappointed in that, but we told her she did great to finish 2nd among all those students! I need to post a picture of Shauna with her medal but forgot the camera at home today.

While we were at competition, our Furbaby #2 (Holly), had a major injury on her leg. We think she got caught in a barbed wire fence. Hubby was home doing homework but had to change plans to rush her to the vet. The cut was so bad (bone exposed - sorry if TMI) that they had to knock her out to fix it surgically. She's doing okay now but I feel so sorry for her wearing that lampshade thing on her head so she doesn't pull out the stiches and staples.

Vacation

We had a lovely vacation in Florida. We spent 7 days at Disney World and 3 days with Charles' family in the Tampa area. I must say, 7 days at Disney is a bit much, but we had a fabulous time! We even squeezed in a day at Universal Studios. The weather was perfect. We had a great time with the family also. We got to see Charles' grandmother, who will be 94 next month and is constantly on the go. The kids had a great time with their cousins, Mallory and Eryn. We even got to see a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game. Shauna says she wants to move to Florida now!

I want to thank my travel agent (Papa AJ) for helping put together a great trip!

Here are a few pictures to share:

Shauna is thrilled to finally have arrived at Magic Kingdom!

We could have literally touched this giraffe because he was so close to the jeep!

Shauna meets Mary Poppins. She asked Shauna about her "badges" and Shauna corrected her, telling her they are called "pins".

Shauna after having her face painted by Disney Hollywood Studios special effects artists.

Shauna meets Pinnochio.

Can you believe the size of that Rice Krispie Treat that Ethan got? It was HUGE!!

Mommy and Shauna after picking strawberries with Charles' cousins in Florida. We had a great time and you can tell, she loved to eat them!

** Edited to add pictures of Charles and Ethan to prove we were all on vacation together!

Here's most of the family (without Ethan) posing with Mickey!

This is the picture I "snuck" taking of Ethan. It's tough to get a picture of a teenage boy!

Charles got to "act" in the Disaster ride/movie. He played an evil scientist!