Breaking News!!!!!

Today on the news were reports of multiple Tiger sightings. In Puyallup, Wa.  Weird, right?  The police and animal control couldn't find any sign of it.  

And I know why. 

 It came over to our neck of the woods...

Don't you love people with a great sense of humor?  This is just up the road from our house.  I get the giggles just looking at the pictures.  You should have seen Brooke and I cracking up taking the pictures....

(And I sent the news channel my pictures and reported where to find the missing tiger.  Why not have some funny news to go along with sad, scary, depressing stuff?)

Leavin' On A Jet Plane...

Horsin' Around...

When my parents came to help after my surgery, my dad brought the greatest gift ever... The Horsey Swing.

As you can see, it was joy at first swing...

Alix

Brooke

Erin

And now, most days, the bus stop lines up in front of our porch and takes turns swinging.  We are the hit of the neighborhood.   All my friends are jealous.  Some people have started building a few extra minutes into coming or leaving, since their children have to swing on their way in and out.  =)

My dad grew up with one of these swings, I grew up with a horsey swing and now my children can as well. Thanks Pop Pop.  For the swing and so much more.  We love you!  (and the swing...)

Lost and Found

I occasionally (ok, all the time) miss calls because I can't get up and down my stairs very well.  Yesterday, I was waiting for an important call and I didn't want to miss it.  So I put my phone somewhere I couldn't lose it.... (You only think you know where this going...)  Half an hour later, I hear my phone ringing.  I'm sure it's my important call, so I look for my phone.  I can't find it.  I can hear it.  Loudly.  Ringing right next to me.  I tear the couch apart, I move all the pillows and blankets.  I'm starting to panic.  I can't miss this call...  Guess where I found my phone?  

That's right.  Down my shirt.  

How I forgot I'd used my bra as a phone holster, I don't know.  

But I did get to my call just in time...

High Expectations

Brooke is pretty smart.  She's in the "nerd class" at school (her words - she's proud of her nerd status.  Strange child...).  When she was younger, she wanted to be a Roller Coaster Designer (cool, right?).  Then a Scientist/Chemist (nerdy, but cool, right?).  Now?  She wants to work in a jelly bean factory.  


I was informed of this change of career path while she was doing research for a 20 minute presentation she has to give in school (20 minutes?  The girl's in third grade.  Nerd class.  I forgot...).  Her topic?  Jelly beans.  =)
It did look pretty sweet.  Maybe we can work there together...

What Would You Have Done?

I was filling up the font for a baptism yesterday.  No problem.  The font faucet and controls are in the men's room.  Turned out to be a problem...

The font was almost full and I had popped back in the men's room to make sure the water coming out was still warm.  I was hidden away in the handicapped stall when a man walked in.  (It was WAY after church, I hadn't even worried about manly company...)  I didn't know what to do.  So I hid.  Which is to say I didn't move one inch.  I didn't want him to see my crutch (dead give away who I am these days...) or the ruffles on my shoes (dead give away I'm not a dude...).  Thankfully his business was short and he left and I decided the font was full enough, turned off the water and ran.

It seemed worse at the time to calmly walk out and surprise him, but it was also pretty bad to stay hidden....  So what would you do?

Update on Sam

It's been a little while since I last wrote about how Sam is doing, so I thought I'd fill you in...  Overall, she is doing really, really, really well.  We upped her vitamins and cut preschool down to 2 days a week instead of 4.  Which has made a HUGE difference.  I described it to one of her teachers as Sam being a cell phone and she was using 80% of her battery up at school and then only had 15% for the rest of the time.  Almost immediately after cutting back, we saw great improvements in her energy, her joy and her sleeping less.  She is happy and has more energy than we've seen in months.  It's awesome.

Not so awesome, are her stomach issues.  This picture is how she is when her tummy hurts.  Which is a lot of the time.  We had her re-Xrayed after keeping her at high doses of Miralax and she is still impacted, up high in her intestines.  She'll have days where she can't eat because her tummy feels full and hurts.  So she lays on the couch (or her mom or dad).  

 We've upped her Miralax even more and it's hard to tell if it's working any better or not, but we have an appointment to see a GI specialist up at Seattle Children's.  Hopefully we can figure out something soon.  She's so sweet and it is so hard to not be able to help her.

 But like I said, overall, she's doing great.  The best in a really long time.  I'll take it. =)