I'm Never Accepting a Free Pool Again

So the boys' grandma gave us a free pool last summer.  It was the 16' Intex above ground pool that she had at her house for a couple of years.  She hurt her back so she couldn't mess with it anymore.  After two failed tries, we finally got it set up right and enjoyed swimming and floating around in the pool for the summer.

Well, last Fall we just drained it and let it sit uncovered for the winter. 

BIG MISTAKE!

HUGE MISTAKE!

In May, we started putting the salt and chemicals in to shock it and get rid of the algae.  45 days, $200 in chemicals and countless tears later, we finally gave up and drained the pool.  Now there's about an inch of water and algae left at the bottom. This morning I was in the backyard scooping buckets of water out of the pool. It was the hardest work.  My back is killing me now and I think I suffered some sort of heat illness.

And...there's still water and algae in the pool.  Now we're going to take the sides down and scrub the pool liner. 

Have I mentioned that I hate this pool by now?! 

But....we are trying to be good parents and get the pool up so the boys don't have to go to the city pool everyday.  And, actually I want the pool up so I can lay out in peace. 

Is it too much to ask for a pool with clean water that I can float on a raft in?  (That was horrible grammar but I don't care!)

Puppy Love

Our new puppy Allie is now 4 whole months old.  She's so spunky that we find ourselves laughing at her everyday.

Having a four month old is like having a toddler again.  She has a definite routine.  In the morning, she gets up at about 6:30 and goes outside to potty.  She comes in and walks straight to my chair and stare at me which means she wants to take a nap in my lap.  She also takes a nap around 3pm.  When nighttime hits, she's ready to go to bed around 9:30 or 10:00.

The funniest thing about a white boxer is...their face gets red around their eyes and mouth when they get tired.  It's adorable.

Allie also likes to talk much more than our previous Boxer.   She likes to bark at the vacuum, my hair dryer and if you aren't looking at her, she barks.

Long legs

Also, the above picture shows what happens when you leave a puppy alone in the living room for 15 minutes while blow drying your hair.  She went into the boys bathrooom and got the roll of toilet paper, then ripping it apart all over the living room.  Little toot!

Her last vet checkup was at 15 weeks and she weighed 18.3 pounds.  It's going to be interesting to see how big she gets!

We've loved every second of her, even when she's being a crazy puppy!

+-

Summer So Far

So far this summer, we've been super busy. 

Small Fry has been excited about learning how to cook.  He really likes to make scrambled eggs in the morning.  I thought I'd show him how to make an omelette.

He made his very first omelette last week.  It was perfect and delicious!


Blurry IPhone pic

I've been walking three miles every night with my friend Melissa.  We walk on the nature trail thats right behind our neighborhood.  I've noticed when I walk with someone, I walk further.  Guess since I love to talk so much, I don't notice the distance I'm covering!

I've been a bum this summer and just been hanging out in t-shirts and shorts with flip-flops like this. 

Guess I need to join the Pleated Poppy's link-up party - What I Wore Wednesday.  It's a great link-up party where stay-at-home moms post the cute outfit they wore instead of the bum clothes that moms tend to wear because it's easy.

I'm usually a dress up kind of person but I've had to get up at 6:15 in the mornings to take my son to his summer conditioning program at the football field.  It's pretty funny to look at the moms as they are dropping off their children, they all have their glasses on, no makeup and their hair in a bun on their heads.  I usually have a t-shirt, running shorts and Walmart flip-flops on.  I'm styling, that's for sure!

I have to go back and pick him up an hour and a half later, still wearing the cruddy clothes I had on.  I'm actually going to try to get showered and dressed while my sons at conditioning next week, hopefully I can get it together.

In the evenings that I haven't been walking, we've gone fishing at my brother-in-law's girlfriends house.  She has a pond right in front of her house with a little hill above the pond for sitting.

I love taking Small Fry there, he gets so excited and he now thinks he's going to be a pro-fisherman.  So far, he's had some great fishing luck.  He's caught about 8 or 9 fish everytime we've been over there.  We throw the fish back though so they can grow a little bigger.

We've been on a few drives, looking at the beautiful green grass and trees.  That's a tradition I started when the boys were little and I needed them to take a nap.  I would drive around looking at the pretty countryside while they slept.  Now that they're older, they love to look for ponds and cool scenery.

The sunsets have been beautiful lately!  Amazing sights!

Brachial Plexus Birth Palsy Update

Right arm Brachial Plexus injury

A couple of months ago our soccer coach, who is also our Physical Therapist, told me he noticed that Tater Tot's arm (the right one) was drawing in a little more lately.  Our coach, Jeff, always works with TT during soccer and he said it looked as if his elbow was getting stuck in the joint, not allowing him to straighten it as much as he could.  

See, my son can't straighten his arm.  It stays in the slightly bent position due to nerve damage to his shoulder (brachial plexus) caused by a birth injury.

This nerve damage caused my baby to be paralyzed at birth and begin a heartbreaking journey for us. 

His right arm was completely dead with no movement from damage to the nerves running from his spinal cord during the birth process.  He was born cupping his face, which resulted in his being stuck in the birth canal.  It was an emergency situation and we both are lucky to be alive today.

At 5 months old, he was put on a prayer chain and in an absolute miracle, raised his arm the next morning.  You can read about it here.

Anyway, after the soccer coach mentioned this slight difference in Tator, we made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor that looked at him during the sports physicals at school.

We went to see the doctor yesterday and he told us that the radial bone in his forearm was not aligned with the ball of his elbow (I hope I explained that right).  He mentioned that there is a new pediatric orthopedist that's coming to Tulsa in the next couple of months and he would be a great doctor to see for TT.  He said there might be a tendon release surgery that could be performed on TT's arm and it might release those tight tendons, allowing him to straighten his arm more.   I looked at TT when he was saying this and he was trying not to look worried, but I knew he was.  He was having a hard time in the car when we left the appointment. 

Tater Tot turned to me and said, "My arm will never be better."

That broke my heart for him.  You see...as a mother...all I've ever wanted is for him to never feel pain, suffering or any anguish from this injury.  At 12 though, Tater Tot is starting to really figure out what's going on with his arm and that makes me so sad.  Granted, I'm so thankful that he has as much movement as he currently does, but I still hurt for him. 

We'll start intensive physical therapy in the next week or so and then see the new pediatric orthopedist at the end of the summer to see what they can do for Tater's arm.  I honestly just hope and pray that the therapy helps and he doesn't have to have surgery.  That is my prayer for this summer.  I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner Blog in hopes that people will pray for my sweet son.  We could really use it right now.

Awards and Good Grades

The school year is out and the boys did great this last semester.  Small Fry worked so hard on his reading and language arts classes and ended up with B's in those classes and A's in the rest.  I'm so proud of him.  His tutor even told me in April that he didn't need to come twice a week, she just needed to be on an on-call basis because he really didn't need her that much.  That made me feel so much better about things. We had a rough first semester but I think he pulled it together and started really putting some effort into school.  I'm so proud of him!  I can't wait to see how great he does in the 5th grade!

Tater Tot did great in 6th grade.  We made it through the first year of middle school with all A's and one 89.4 B.  He came home with the President's Honor Roll and the Star Reading Award.  He worked hard and had a fun year with his buddies.

Tater Tot loved 6th grade because he had six different teachers this year.  He especially loved his Life Skills teacher and all of the coaches that taught him.  He constantly talked about Coach Paulk, who is a young coach that teaches Science.  TT thought he was so cool.  I think Coach Paulk was even the person that taught the kids about Twitter.  Thanks Coach Paulk.....I think.

I plan to keep the kids busy this summer with some sort of educational activities.  I don't want their brains to turn to mush...ha!  We are going to try to visit the Philbrook Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum and any other fun places that might teach them something.  I tried to mention the library and they both laughed.  I guess the library is not the "cool" thing to do.  Maybe we'll go to the library in the next town!  I'm sneaky that way.

TT starts Summer Pride next week, a program to keep the kids in good condition for sports.  He'll go in the mornings all summer.  That means I have to get up at 6:30am to take him.  Ugh!  But, I'm so glad that they are having them run when it's cool and not hot.  TT is dreading it but I think he'll enjoy it.  He loves being active.

We've already started the crazy summer running around.  We've already had 2 kids spend the night.  I think someone has either spent the night with us or the boys have been at a kids house everyday since school got out.  It makes me feel a little crazy since I like to have a routine and order.  I think I'm going to have to get used to this tween summer crazy life!

Happy Birthday Allie

Today would have been the 5th birthday of our beloved dog Allie.

She was the best dog in the world and gave us 4 years of absolute joy.  We miss her every second of every day.

Lazy Days of Summer

Yesterday the boys went to the new city pool with their friends and both came back sunburned.  Tater Tot had told me that the lifeguards give you sunscreen (and one of our friends is the head lifeguard), but he kept forgetting to put it on.  Silly boy! He knows better and is feeling it today.

This morning we got up and took Allie to the veterinarian to get her 15 week shots.  She did terrific and everyone at the vet clinic was loving on her so much.  When the vet put her on the metal table, she got scared so he put her on the floor and then sat on the floor to examine her.  I about died.  It was the neatest thing to see that he didn't want my puppy to feel scared so he just went down on her level.

Where'd that sweet lady go that was hugging me?

Shots?!

After the vet, we went to get Small Fry's hair cut.  It was way too long and was bound to be hot.  We still kept it the shaggy surfer boy look but just trimmed it.

Small Fry thought he deserved a fun fishing trip since he sat through the torture of a haircut so we ventured down to the dam in town.  We live by a beautiful lake and the dam makes a great, calm place for fishing.  We were the only ones at the dam this morning and we loved it.

We didn't catch any fish but it was fun watching turtles bobbing their heads in and out of the water.  I love just being able to sit and talk with my boys while waiting on a fish to bite.

Happy Memorial Day

Today is the day to give thanks to our servicemen and remember all of the past sacrifices of generations of veterans.



My brother is a Retired Army Colonel.  He spent 26 years in the Army, sacrificing time with his wife and son.  He missed his son's high school graduation to serve in Iraq.  He was one of those little boys that wanted nothing more than to serve in the Army like his father did. And my brother was a terrific Army officer. 

He's now working for a civilian company and staying busy in his "retirement". 

For Memorial Day, we like to grill out and enjoy the wonderful day!  It doesn't get better than that!

Summertime, Summertime!

School is officially out for the summer!  The boys are so excited!

They ended up on such a good note with school.  They both have Mostly A's with just a few B's.  Tater Tot said he is going to have all A's with an 89% B in Reading.  Small Fry pulled his grades up after having a hard time this year to all A's and B's and I am sooo proud of him.  He worked so hard and really stuck to his work and turning in his homework.  He was really shooting for all B's but brought some of those up to a high A.  He got a 99% in Science so I told him he probably needs to be a Doctor!

I'm not working part-time anymore since my Mom's health is still not getting any better and she's falling all of the time for no real reason.  I just feel better being home to take care of my babies and my Mom.  She sacrificed and took care of me so I feel like its a honor to take care of her.  I don't want her to lose her independence but I need to stick close to home, which is only a couple of miles from her, just in case she needs me.

We don't have big plans for the summer, just hanging out and swimming in the pool. 

I'm going to try to keep the boys working on something educational at least a couple of days a week so their brains don't go to mush!

We hope to see a few Tulsa Drillers games.  They built a new stadium last year and I've still never been to a game.  Mr. H, however, sits 28 floors above the stadium about a block away so he gets to see the stadium everytime they play baseball.  That's a pretty cool thing!

Right now, I'm going to take a nap because it's the middle of the afternoon and it's summertime!

I'm an Oklahoman and Tornadoes Terrify Me!

I have to admit that the last couple of months have only served to heighten my fear of storms and tornadoes. 

You would think that being a life-long Oklahoman, I would be used to really stormy weather.  Not so!

Tornadoes are so scary to me. They are unpredictable and make me want to grab my children and hide somewhere.

Luckily, our friends have a saferoom in their garage.

Yesterday was the day that the weather guys had been warning us about for a long time.  They said it was setting up just like the Alabama tornadoes.  We got lucky though and only had winds and dark clouds.   We still went and got my Mom from her house and we all camped out at the house with the saferoom, Thank GOD!

As of last night, there is a 3 year old missing in Piedmont, Oklahoma and I'm praying they find him.  I can't even imagine the horror.  The house he was in is next to a lake and they are combing the lake looking for his body.  The heartbreak his poor family must be going through right now.

Also, Joplin, Missouri is only about 3 hours from us.  I cannot believe the damage there.   One of my husbands best friends just moved from there about 9 months ago.  We called him and he said that he knows a lot of people who have family members missing.  So sad and unimaginable.  Please pray for some peace for the people of Joplin. 

I know we live in tornado alley, but you never believe that kind of devastation can actually happen.

Poison Ivy and An AHA Moment

Last Wednesday night Small Fry came up to me and told me that he had to go to the nurse that day at school.  He lifted up his shirt and said his right side was kind of itching him.

He...had....full....blown....poison ivy! 

First of all, I couldn't believe no one at the school had called me and second of all, I couldn't believe he had waited until 9pm to let me know, silly boy!

We stayed home from school and work on Thursday and went to the doctor, where he gave us some topical steroids to apply to the rash.  I felt so bad for Small Fry because he kept getting in the shower to try and make the itching stop.  So sad. 

It's finally getting better and I let him spend the night at his friend Matthew's house for Matt's birthday.  I just talked to him and he said they had a great time.  They went to the Renaissance Fair in Muskogee, OK which is a medieval fair with jousting and fun games.  I so glad he didn't have to miss it because of the poison ivy.

It's the first time Small Fry has spent the night at someones house.  I just don't encourage it because my boys like to be at home and honestly, unless I know the parents and what goes on in their house, I don't want my boys spending the night away at a strangers house.  Luckily we live in a small town and several of the parents in town went to school with Mr. H.  He knows every member of some of the kids families.

***************************
I have to share an AHA moment I had on Friday night. 

Some history,  I have had constant stomach problems for the last four years or so.  At the time it started, I worked an extremely stressful job as a Marketing Director for an aerial photography and mapping company.  The stress of the economy tanking on my job and working late at night everyday was killing me, literally.  Almost everyday, I would suffer from stomach pains.  Most of the time, it would feel like I had a strange trapped gas kind of feeling, with no way to relieve the pain. 

About two years ago, I went through every testing the Gastroenterologist could do without putting me to sleep and scoping me.  The tests came back and said I was perfectly healthy.  He wanted to do the next test, which was a colonoscopy and scope down my throat.  I told him I'd have to think about it because I'm a horrible chicken when it comes to medical procedures.

After that doctors visit, I decided that my health was more important than any job and the time was right to quit.  I resigned and for a year, never had a horrible stomachache, just minor ones.  I thought I probably had just had an ulcer.  I never put it together, but I also had started eating a lower amount of carbs at that time. 

Last Friday night on Twitter, I happened to notice a conversation between two bloggers about stomach issues and one of them said they had been to an endocrinologist who told her that she couldn't process refined starches and sugars and recommended a no carb then low carb diet. 

She said it had worked like a charm and she felt better than she ever had.  No IBS symptoms, no ulcer symptoms, just a normal stomach everyday, no pain.

So....I think I'm going to try the no carb induction phase and see what happens.  Two weeks isn't going to be too bad, and I might just feel better in the end.

We'll see what happens.  I really hope this provides me some relief.  And it wouldn't hurt if I lost some pounds in the process!

Tater Tot Cut His Hair

After a year of having the long shaggy hair like Justin Beiber, Tater Tot cut his hair!

Tater Tot and his two other friends, H and L, decided they were all going to cut their shaggy hair short right before school got out.  We have one more week of school so they decided today was the day. 
I think it's a great change!  He looks so handsome!

Blurry but I thought it was a cute pic of the two of us!

Baylee the Beagle's Birthday

Today is our Beagle Baylee's 6th birthday!

She is such a Beagle, never really wanting you to shower her with attention.  She kind of does her own thing and comes to you when she wants to be loved on.  She is coming around as she's aging.  She's become much more affectionate in her older age.

She was so sad when her sister Allie died that she just layed around, quit eating and her face even turned greyer. 

Now she has the new puppy Allie II and she's actually been playing and chasing with the puppy.  I even watch them play tug of war all the time. 

Her favorite spot is still the big overstuffed chair in our living room.  She loves to sit on the top of the pillow and sleep, knowing she can see everyone when she wakes up. 

She loves to watch the boys and go into their bedrooms to check out whats going on with them.

She also loves to sleep on my legs at night, right at the foot of the bed.  When it storms, she climbs up by my head and tries to sleep on top of my forehead, silly dog!

Baylee is a great dog and we are so glad she's been our little sweetie for 6 years now!