hello...

SO...I have decided to reinvest some time (not much) in this blog because I don't want to lose the things I've written or the pictures on here. I had some trouble for a while trying to log in, but in my absence...LONG absence...I guess google took over and so now it was a BIT easier to recover. Nothing fancy tonight...just seeing if will work. If you have never seen this blog, I must say, there are some pretty good/funny posts and some pretty SCARY pictures from when I had my last face surgery in 2008...look around if you would like!

OMGoodness...

HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN? Had you given up on me completely? I even wonder if ANYONE is reading this?? I NEVER update this because it is so quick and easy to do little updates from my iPhone on Facebook. We are still blowing & going here (but not blowing as much as in Amarillo!). Spring kind of came and went in our house and I missed it. I had a little surgery on April 12th and had a few complications - I don't mind telling you about it but since most people know, I won't repeat it here (if you didn't, let me know) and that "simple, little surgery" just about kicked my booty! I was basically in bed for 4 weeks and then we found out that my mom had breast cancer...I basically went from being in bed (with many restrictions - couldn't even lift a gallon of milk!) straight to Fort Worth to be with my sweet mama. I was there with her to meet with Dr's, do tests and for her surgery - I stayed there almost 2 weeks and then came back for the last week of school. Precious Dave was a ROCK during all this and kept everything going, along with his wonderful family - without all of their support, we would have been in a heap of trouble. Basically, I was the DUD MOM for almost 7 weeks. Things are really MUCH better now - at least for me. I FINALLY have my energy back and am back in the swing of things. My sweet mama is doing treatment for a very aggressive cancer - she has done 3 chemo treatments and has 5 more to go and then 6 weeks of radiation everyday. She is still doing as much as she can & walks twice a day if she feels like it and goes to Cole's games. She got her a RED wig so she is a new lady at 72! Please keep her in your prayers...

The girlies all tried swim team this year and I am SO PROUD of them. It is such a big thing around here that we wanted to "embrace" what was important where we now live. No one could believe that they had never done Swim Team before. They could all swim but mostly underwater and certainly not all the strokes. Addi received the "Most Improved" award for her age group and has decided to do it year round. What GREAT exercise!! Emee decided that she really would NOT like to do Swim Team again and that is OK - she did Horse Camp and is now taking lessons each week. She LOVES it - can hardly keep that huge grin off her face after each lesson. So happy that we found something that she likes - crazy how she always picks the most EXPENSIVE sports! Kendie rocked the swimming too - she qualified for the "Championship" meet in 3 events and WON the BUTTERFLY - she cut 2 seconds off the qualifying time (which wasn't hers) and Dave said she was the last one off the boards. She will move up next year so we will have to work on that if she wants to do Swim Team again. She is wanting to do soccer again in the Fall so that will be fun too! Seems like we are finally getting back into our activities here - even though I have NO IDEA about getting her on a soccer team here!! Have to work on that...

It is hard to believe that we have been in Houston now for over a year. It sure has flown by! We moved into our house September 13 and are really enjoying it. Dave seems to like his job and gets to work from home 2-3 days/week. His boss has been so wonderful about letting him work from home during all this crazy spring...yet another blessing to help us through this time. We are loving being close to Dave's parents and his siblings & their families (except Shari :o( !) However, we do miss my mom! Seems like we have been able to visit with more friends coming through Houston and are loving that! I've especially enjoyed getting to meet more of the people from the Acoustic Neuroma Forum. I will also be on the PTO board for the elementary school next year in a position that requires a lot of work - hope I'm up for it!! I am hoping that I will make lots of new friends in the process!

We are going with all of Dave's family on a cruise and then Dave & I are FINALLY taking a trip...just the two of us...& it doesn't even involve a surgery or house hunting (kind of stressful activities!). We are going to the Dominican Republic in the Fall and I am so excited!

OK - so I think that has about got you all caught up...if you are still reading!! I'll TRY to do better about keeping up with this...of course, I think I said that last time...

HELLOOOOOO...

I have gone from an OK blogger to a REALLY bad one!! Lots has happened...and I certainly have more time so I could update this more often but I just don't! I guess since I put stuff on Facebook and keep it updated, I forget to put it here too. Can you believe that Christmas is upon us again? This year...especially the last few months have gone SUPER fast!

The big news, in case any of you are reading this and haven't seen it any place else is that I HAVE SOME MOVEMENT in my face!! Yep, after 15 years and 2 operations (the last being 2.5 YEARS ago) something is happening in there! Now don't get too excited...it is not like my face is all of the sudden back to normal BUT, at this stage in the game, I am ECSTATIC about ANY movement!! The last surgery I had (the Temporalis Tendon Transfer = T3) connected tendons from my lip to the muscle in the jaw. Therefore, any movement that I had was a result of me clenching my teeth thus giving me a HINT of a closed mouth smile. I have noticed some strange fellings (even though I have no feeling in the right side of my face?) the last couple of weeks so the Friday before Thanksgiving, I looked in the mirror at a stoplight. Lo and behold, I could move that side of my mouth without clenching my teeth (or placing my tongue on the roof of my mouth like I did after the 1st surgery (12/7 graft) - even could move it with my mouth open!! I emailed my surgeon in Baltimore (love that man) and he emailed me back to say that it is very rare but could happen! I asked him if this was "supposed to happen because if so, I missed that part!"!! Again, it is not much - but I'll take it!! A few people have mentioned that I have been so patient...um...like I had a choice?? I can't believe that on the 12th of this month it will be 15 YEARS since I had my Acoustic Neuroma surgery! Time flies when you are having fun...even sometimes when you think you are not!! :o) LOL!

New Background

Usually I do this while the girls are at school but tonight was different - I let them have input & this is what they picked!!

Two Songs...One We LOVE and One Not SO Much!!

First of all, I have added a song to my playlist here...it is INTRODUCING ME and we LOVE it!! I know that it is from CAMP ROCK 2 (I haven't even seen it) & that is certainly not why - I just think it is a fun song. I heard it on Radio Disney when we were in the car. Part of the reason that I love it is because all the girlies sing it and it just makes us all happy. I love to hear all the girls be silly and sing songs - together!! It is our new favorite FAMILY song!

Now, onto the one that we DON'T really like...but of course, there is a funny story that goes with it! It is a song by Willow Smith (Will's daughter) and I am sure that she is a really nice little girl, but we don't care so much for this song! Now let me just tell you the whole story, and then I will tell you the name of the song, OK? The first time I heard it, I thought that it was just a bunch of obnoxious noise and that they just repeated the same phrase over and over...which is pretty much what she does. However, I kind of heard the WRONG phrase...I thought that she was saying "I WAVE my HAND back & forth" over and over. To be funny, I started frantically waving my hand in the air. The girlies laughed and so I thought that this was a funny thing and continued. It came on another time...and I waved my hand back and forth...all the time wondering WHY in the world that this was a popular thing to be saying!! Finally, about the 3rd or 4th time we heard it, Addi asked why I always did that and of course, I answered her that I did it since that was what she was saying (insert crazy look from mom to daughter - why else would I be doing that? ). It was only then that I looked on the display to see that the song is titled I WHIP MY HAIR BACK AND FORTH AND to see the incredulous, crazy look from my daughter to me!! :o) Needless to say, we have had a LOT of laughs over that! It reminds me of the time MY mom thought that they were saying "GREASEBRAIN" instead of "Freeze Frame" or my friend said her dad was singing "Oooh, I'm drivin' my WIFE away, lookin' for a better way, for me" - what funny things do you hear in songs??

PS - I have NEVER inserted links before & I think I did right on my 1st try - snaps for me!! :o) Well, too excited - sometimes they show up a different color & not the others...hmmm...what am I doing wrong? There are 2 links here to the songs...

I'm Back!!!!

WOW!! I think this is the longest I have ever gone without making a blog post. Obviously, things have changed a bit in our little lives. We are in Houston now and are finally in our new home - it will be 3 weeks on Wednesday since the moving truck arrived. For the most part, we are settled in and able to go about our day to day activities (that are MUCH curtailed from the previous level before we moved). Of course, there are still boxes that I should be unpacking...but here I sit blogging. Isn't catching up with you more important anyway?? :o) Dave is at the office today, but is able to work from home 3 days a week so that is nice to help save on gas and toll. It will also allow me to sub some - I am only subbing when we know in advance so that we can plan our schedule around it. The girlies seem to be adjusting well to their new schools. I think that the biggest complaint I have heard (& why Kendie is NOT going there next year) is that they can't wear flip-flops to school!! Poor kid, even has to wear teenies to church on Wednesday nights! Addi tried out for the volleyball team (84 girls tried out for 24 spots) and made the "A" team! We are very proud of her as she has played vb a little, but has concentrated on basketball the last few years. Believe it or not, that is the only extra-curricular activity that anyone is involved in right now. Emee would REALLY like to take horseback riding (the stables are DIRECTLY behind our house behind trees but we can hear the horses) and Kendie needs to get back in gymnastics, but since our other house has not sold yet (PLEASE say a little prayer about that, OK??), we have decided to put everything on hold! Besides, I think a little time to settle in is a good thing! I have done some some volunteering for the middle school...well, actually a lot the first 2 weeks of school. [Did I mention that until our house was completed, we lived with Grandma & Grandad. It was a wonderful, special time (I hope they think that too!) but I drove the girls over to our new neighborhood each day so that they could start at the school that they would be attending...& I stayed all day so I wouldn't have to pay all that gas & toll to go back & forth. I rotated between WalMart, Target & HEB to use their restroom so that I wouldn't be the homeless lady that showed up on the same security tape everyday!] I have not been near as involved at the elementary school as I would like, but they just haven't called me. I signed up for everything, so I am hopeful that those calls will be coming in soon! Well, I better go get busy now...I think I heard the trash truck so I have to go wheel those cans in - no alleys and dumpsters here! I'll try to do a better job of updating...I promise!

Getting Ready

Things have been VERY busy around here!! I am not even sure where to begin - I guess with Emee's adventures at the ER! One Saturday we were at a basketball tourney for Addi and Emee started crying & complaining about her arm - apparently she had hit it on a chair at lunch and then a little girl had kicked it at the bb game. She KEPT crying and holding it to her side...this is not usual behavior so we finally figured that we better get it checked out. We called our neighbor & he was just about to go on duty in the ER so he met Dave & Emee there. You gotta love that quick, personalized service! They got it x-rayed and put a sling on it for a "bad bruising," got something to eat and were back for the next game all in 2 hours!! The following Friday at 2:45, they called from school and said that Emee had been in the nurse's office off & on that afternoon complaining that her tummy hurt. I went & got her (by that time school was out) - thank goodness I took a bowl because before we could get to the Middle School to get Addi, she started throwing up. She got sick a couple of more times but nothing out of control: however, that evening while I was taking Addi to practice, she told Dave her SIDE hurt and her fever started going up. He immediately thought APPENDIX and started looking on the computer. We called our pediatrician and talked to the nurse and he recommended that we go to the ER. We called our neighbor - AGAIN - he had just got off but did call up there for us and expedited our visit and told us the specific Dr. that would be working with us (he was AWESOME, BTW). **Let me just say here 2 things: #1) needless to say, we are doing something special for our neighbor & #2) In 12 years and 3 girlies, we have made exactly ONE trip to the ER - ONE, I say!! - now we have gone twice in less than ONE week's time!! (& we might as well say that poor Emee has been the one to go all 3 times!)** Anyway, it did turn out that she had to have an emergency appendectomy that night around midnight (which does bring me to my burning question - is there ever an appendectomy that is NOT an emergency??)...poor girl but she was such a trooper! She is all OK now and got the "All Clear" from the Dr. a mere week and a half after the surgery! I think the girlies took me a little too serious when I told them that "we were not taking anything we didn't need to Houston!" - I didn't mean body parts!!
We were already scheduled to go to Houston that next week to "House Hunt" so my precious mom, who was already watching the girlies that last week of school, took on the added task of a little patient that had just had surgery. Dave left on Sunday and I left on Monday after Addi's Theatre Arts play (so cute!) and we hit it hard on Tuesday looking at houses and communities! We were finally able to narrow down an area and are building a house. We will be leaving on July 1st for an "extended vacation" at Grandma & Grandad's. We will leave all our furniture here until this house sells or we need it in a new one...of course, I guess if we don't sell this one, we won't get a new one! Please say a little prayer that our house sells fast! That brings me to the next craziness of our lives! We had to have our house listed in a certain number of days from when we signed to start the house so it would be "Contingent" so the minute we got home we started (I had done some "purging") getting this house ready to go on the market. I must say that it looks AWESOME and I am SO PROUD of all that we have done! The pics are up on the internet now so let me know if you want to look at them!
We went Saturday to OKC to take the girls to catch the bus for Kamp Kanakuk! Getting two girlies ready for 2 weeks away at camp is not an easy task...especially while trying to keep the house relatively clean so if they call at any minute to show it, you can! They left bright & early Sunday morning and we got home last night. Kendie doesn't even know what in the world to do as an only child. She has NEVER been with Mommy & Daddy by herself for more than a day! She has already written her sisters letters!!
Ok - that was a quick rundown, but now I feel like we have caught up a bit...how about you?