Halloween 2013

How was your Halloween?

Ours was windy & rainy all day long...

Because we've had such a crazy month:

I didn't get out any decorations,

I didn't have costumes ready,

we didn't carve/paint pumpkins,

we hadn't had our traditional Halloween dinner,
we hadn't watched The Nightmare Before Christmas,
(or any Halloween movies for that matter)

we hadn't enjoyed caramel apples,

(even though we picked 1/2 bushel at a local orchard)

& I didn't have candy until the day before.

It just didn't feel like Halloween.

So when it came time to make lunch for the kidlets,
I decided to pull off an impromptu Halloween muffin tin meal.
This is what happens when I don't plan ahead of time...

We watched The Nightmare Before Christmas while eating pumpkin shaped cheese, ghost shaped pb&j, apple slices, a banana ghost, a pumpkin orange with an apple stem, & of course caramel sauce to dip the apples in.

Simple, cute, & mostly fruit.
Not quite as 'themey' as my usual,
but I like how it turned out.

After the first couple handfuls of trick-or-treaters came by,
I finally pulled out our Halloween bin to decide on costumes.

I wasn't sure how well the paint on the Calvin & Hobbes costumes would handle the rain
(it might have been fine, but we didn't want to take the chance that it might run)

so we decided to take the simple route
& go as student witches & wizards.

Yes, I understand that our school uniforms are not up to Hogwarts standards.
We're working on adding to them little by little,
& eventually will have our complete uniforms.
We received plenty of compliments on them "as-is" last night,
but that was probably because of those adorable red-heads that were wearing them.

We lost a wand while we were out & about,
so today we're going to retrace our steps to try & find it.
If we can't find it while we're on our walk,
We may have to make a trip to Ollivanders in the near future for another one.

Tonight we're going to have our {belated} Halloween dinner,
then make caramel apples.
We're going to nix decorating pumpkins this year,
but I think that will be okay.
Don't you?

Oh, & if you missed my Harry Potter party posts last month:
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
Check 'em out!

xoxo

Halloween costume 2013 - Possibilities

Halloween really sneaked up on us this year.

I'm sure that's partly because we're still trying to get settled,

but mostly because Gram passed away a couple weeks ago.
I can't believe it's already been two weeks

We've had a lot going on with the funeral & everything...

Since Halloween is only one day away at this point,
instead of creating/finishing our Wreck it Ralph costumes last second

I think we'll be taking the easy route

& wearing repeat costumes this year.
That's okay, right?
I'm thinking yes.

Besides...

Nobody in our new area has seen us wear these costumes before!

We probably won't decide until tomorrow,
but here are some of our easy options...

Chances are that Hubby & Little Dudeman will be going as Calvin & Hobbes again.

Little Princess will either be rockin' the Perry the Platypus costume,

the butterfly fairy costume,

or she may go as a little witch from Hogwarts.

I'll be Isabella again if Little princess is Perry the Platypus.

I never finished making my caterpillar costume to go with her butterfly one,
but I can always throw on a muumuu & lei like last year
or just find something in our costumes bin.

OR
We may ALL go as witches & wizards.
Fresh from Hogwarts.

It will be a surprise.
Don't worry, I'll post pictures of what we actually end up wearing.

On a complete side note...
Keep your eyes out for my review of K5 Learning.
Coming soon.
K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students.  I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program.  If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their  open invitation to write an online learning review of their program. - See more at: http://www.k5learning.com/review-k5

xoxo

Bittersweet

If you read my 'life is fragile' post a couple weeks ago,
then you already know why I haven't been keeping up with my 31 days of posts.
Sorry, not sorry.
Maybe I'll try again next month.
We shall see.

A lot has happened since that post.
Hubby spent almost all of his time (day & night) at the hospital by her side
& could tell that his mom was in a LOT of pain.
Although she has had to endure quite a bit of pain over the past 20 years
with her various health problems & surgeries,
there was something different about seeing her in this pain.

They were able to take the ventilator out on Saturday,
which I'm sure helped her feel a little more comfortable
but she still wasn't able to talk much.
When she did try to speak,
it usually didn't make much sense
& it wasn't very easy to understand what she was saying.
Most of the time it was nonsense,
but other times she made perfect sense.

One special time in-particular she said she wanted to go for a walk.
Hubby explained to her that she was in the hospital & was in no condition to go on a walk.
To this she replied that she wanted to walk with her Dad.
Her Dad passed away many years ago,
so Hubby asked her if she saw him.
She said yes.
We believe her.
After all, she was gone for at least 15 minutes.
We wish we could have asked her more about her experience,
but she wasn't exactly in any condition to have lengthy conversations.

The kidlets weren't allowed to visit in the ICU
so I stayed home with them.
Later that night,
a close family friend (that wonderful realtor)
came to visit her in the hospital.
That was the last lucid conversation she had.
Gram clearly expressed to her friend & to Hubby that she was dying.
She asked him if he would be okay.
I'm sure that was probably the hardest question that he's ever been asked.

Some wonderful friends from church were able to watch our kids on Sunday,
so I was able to be with Hubby at the hospital & see her for the first time.
I guess she had a rough night with a lot of pain
because when I got there she had an oxygen mask on & wasn't doing well.
Whenever she was awake,
we were able to talk to her
& let her know how much we loved her.
We weren't able to understand her at all with the mask on
but she was able to shake her head yes or no letting us know she understood us,
& she would occasionally get teary-eyed while we were talking with her.
Those moments were bittersweet.
A couple more of her friends drove all the way from Nashville to see her that evening.
They hadn't really kept in touch over the past few years,
but they had always been like second family to Hubby
so it was great seeing them.

Hubby came home to get some rest that night since he was getting sick.
He already had a scratchy/sore throat,
but stress & sleep deprivation were easily making it worse.
After a decent night of sleep,
he got a call from a doctor at the hospital early Monday morning.
The doctor basically said that Gram had another difficult night.
She wasn't responding well neurologically & continued to have arrhythmia.
The doctor said they could implant a defibrillator to 'kickstart her heart'
to prevent cardiac arrest from ventricular tachycardia,
but didn't think that she'd be able to physically handle surgery at this point
(nor would she want another surgery).
The only other option was to just make her comfortable.

This was probably one of the hardest decisions Hubby has ever had to make.
Gram had a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order
but removed it ten-or-so years ago
when she had asked him about his opinion on the matter.
He had always said that he would want the doctors to try to keep her alive...
No matter what.
But his perspective changed after seeing her in such intense pain.
Knowing that if they were to somehow keep her stable,
she would never get her independence back
& would never be her normal self again.
She would be just that...
stable.
We knew she wouldn't want that.
She has never wanted that.
She never wanted Hubby or anyone to have to see her like that.
She never wanted anyone to have to take care of her basic needs.
She never wanted her grandchildren to remember her in a nursing home.
She has had to put up with so much pain for such a long time,
trying to be strong for Hubby,
trying to tough it out so that she could play with our kids,
& trying to just make it through each day.
We could tell that things were different now though.
She didn't have much fight left in her.
So we told the doctor to send her to hospice & make her comfortable.
Then we held each other & cried together.

The hospice staff was wonderful.
They said that sometimes (although not often)
patients actually improve in hospice
since they are comfortable,
they aren't restrained,
& aren't attached to all the monitors.
This wasn't the case for Gram,
although we could tell that she was comfortable.
Ever since they moved her down there,
she was resting & relaxed.
We brought some of her favorite blues cds...
B.B. King
Buddy Guy
& some others
so that she could enjoy some good music
while we were there holding her hand
& keeping her company.

She spent most of Tuesday & Wednesday sleeping,
but something special happened Tuesday night.
Our bishop from church came to visit,
& after talking with him for a while
Hubby & the bishop laid their hands on her head
then Hubby gave her a priesthood blessing.
The room was filled with peace, comfort, & love.
It was incredible.
Shortly after our bishop left,
the nurses came to re-position her.
She opened her eyes for the first time in two days.
Hubby & I got to talk with her one last time while she was awake.
We were able to explain to her that we would be okay.
That it was okay for her to go when she was ready.
That she didn't have to be in pain any longer.
That she would never be forgotten.
That we love her.
That her family & friends love her.
That people that didn't even know her love her.
That people she had disagreements or arguments with in the past love her.
That everyone was praying for her & for our family.
We talked to her for 20-30 minutes.
She would occasionally shake her head,
shed a few tears,
nod her head,
& finally went back to sleep.
Bittersweet.

The kidlets got to see Gram one last time on Wednesday,
(they were allowed to visit in hospice)
although we didn't explain much to them at that point other than that she was sleeping.
Early that evening Hubby went home to shower.
While he was gone I noticed her fever had gone away,
her hands & feet were beginning to get cold,
& her breathing was different.
When he came back we headed to the cafeteria to eat dinner,
then headed back up to the room.
We noticed the cd had restarted so we switched it out with the Great Blues Masters cd.
Her realtor friend was on her way back to visit again
so I figured I would stick around until after she left just in case I needed to watch her son.
Hubby was laying on the recliner next to the bed & was holding her hand.
I was getting cozy on the couch-bed.
We were exhausted.
After about 40 minutes of sweet blues music in the background
we each got really relaxed,
& started to doze off...
We weren't out very long,
maybe 5-10 minutes.
It's hard to say exactly how much time had passed when Hubby woke up,
but he knew instantly that she was gone.
Her breathing had stopped.
All was quiet except for the music.
Everything was still & peaceful.
He woke me up so I could get the nurse.

Gram passed away on Wednesday, October 16th at 10:20pm
at exactly the right moment.
She wanted us there with her when it happened
but was thinking of Hubby rather than herself...
She waited until I was there at the hospital
so that I could be there for him,
& waited until a moment when we were both asleep
so that neither of us would have to see or hear her final breath.
Again, bittersweet.

We held each other & shed a few tears,
but we didn't linger too long.
Although we are sad that she is no longer physically with us,
she is so much happier where she is now
& is not living in constant pain anymore.
Knowing all of that
& having the knowledge that we will get to see her again someday
has made the grieving process much easier.
We are so grateful for that.

Since this post is already lengthy & overdue,
I'll post about the funeral & the wonderful help that we have received later.
Thanks so much for all your kind thoughts & prayers.
You all are wonderful.

xoxo

Mommy School (2013-2014)

Mommy School has been a little delayed this year.
I'm not exactly sure if or when I'll get into a normal routine,
but this is what I would like to focus on...

Little Dudeman:

• Fine motor skills (focusing mostly on scissors since he knows how to write all of his letters pretty well)
• Tricky reading rules (he knows how to read things phonetically as long as those silly English rules don't apply)
• Math (simple addition & subtraction)
• Spanish ABCs & basic words (he needs the challenge since he can say it in English forwards & backwards)
• Potty training (I would love to not be buying diapers all the time)
• Drinking in actual cups (he gave up when he was younger because he doesn't like things spilling on him)

Little Princess:

• ABCs (she has bits of it memorized, but not the whole thing in order)
• 1-10 (shouldn't be terribly hard)
• shapes & colors (I think she knows her colors pretty well; but the shapes, not so much...)
• Potty training (two kids potentially out of diapers... a girl can dream, right?)
• Drinking in actual cups (seriously, real cups are so much easier to clean than sippy cups)

I've been teaching them a little here & a little there,
but just haven't gotten into a routine yet.
But realistically, parenting is all about the spontaneous teaching moments.
Often times that's when we (parents & children alike) learn the most.
xoxo

Life is fragile.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to write a post

every. single. day.

for the entire month...

It was inevitable that I would miss a day & have to play catch up or skip it altogether.

I figured when that happened that I would be super busy running errands,

that the kids would be a little bit more of a handful that day,

that I would be sick or exhausted,

or that I wouldn't have anything to blog about.

But the reason for me not blogging yesterday

was because of something that I didn't see coming.

Something we were completely unprepared for.

Something that was out of our hands.

Hubby's mom (Gram) has been in the hospital all week for severe abdominal pain.

They still don't know what the cause is,

& they can't exactly do any tests right now...

Her medical history is quite complicated & I am not going to try to explain it.

Long story short,

her heart stopped yesterday.

It was stopped for approximately 15 minutes...

It is a complete blessing that Hubby was on the phone with her when it happened

because if he hadn't called the nurse's station immediately after,

they may not have found out until it was far too late.

She's stable but sedated,
& they're using a ventilator to help her breathe.
We're really hoping that she'll pull through this
but we know that there's a possibility she won't.

There are so many thoughts that have been racing through my head:
Is she going to make it?
Have I been a good enough daughter-in-law?
Have I been kind enough?
What would I have done differently if I had known that her heart was going to stop yesterday?
How do we tell the kids if for some reason she doesn't make it?
If she pulls through, how much more time will we actually have with her?
What will we choose to do with the time we still have with her?
among many other questions...

We're trying to stay positive
& have faith that whatever happens is all part of the Lord's plan,
although it's not always easy.

I think far too often we take the gift of life for granted.
We get caught up in our day-to-day lives,
in our work,
in our social media,
in so many unimportant things,
that we forget to take a step back to focus on what's important.
We forget to focus on each other.
We forget to focus on our families & loved ones.
We forget to serve & spend time with them.
We fail to realize that each day could be our last day with them.
We are quick to forget how fragile life really is.
Spend a little extra time with those you love today,
so that you can live without regret tomorrow.

We're grateful that Hubby was on the phone with her when it happened.
We're grateful that the medical staff was able to stabilize her.
We're grateful for all of the thoughts & prayers that are being sent our way,
& for the many people that are reaching out to help in whatever ways that they can.
We're grateful for the knowledge that there is life after death,
& that families can be together forever.

No matter what happens...
we will make the most of what time we do have left
& we'll find comfort in knowing that we will get to see her again someday.
No matter what happens...
know that we love you Gram!

Continue reading here...

xoxo

Harry Potter Surprise Party (Part 3)

If you missed Part 1 or Part 2 of our Harry Potter Surprise Party,
I suggest catching up before reading this post...

The next morning we woke up ready for our first day of school at Hogwarts.
We began by being sorted into houses...

We had all taken the Sorting Hat quiz on Pottermore ahead of time to determine which house we were in.
Once we were all sorted,
we headed off to our classes.

I switched over to the role of Professor Marissa to teach our first class.
None other than...
Potions.

What did you expect?
Snape is my fave (:
I may or may not have a slight character crush on him...
We created a couple of potions from the Potions Student Handbook
that we found from the potions class post over at Mrs. Nespy's World.
She also has the Master Handbook available for download with additional potions.

Our next class,
Care of Magical Creatures,
was taught in Rubeus "Dad"rid's hut (the gazebo).
He taught from the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
We learned about Kappas, Nundus, & Lethifolds.
I hope to never encounter any of them.

Professor Abby taught us how to do a Patronus Charm
in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
We each took turns conjuring our Patronus
while the rest of the class guessed which form each of our Patronus' takes (our favorite animal).
We're now ready to take on all the evils of the wizard world.

Next up on the agenda was our first flying lesson
followed by a quick Quidditch match.
Unfortunately, our lessons were cancelled due to inclement weather
& we all know that you can't play Quidditch if you don't know how to properly use your broom.

It seemed like a great time to head into Hogsmeade (town) for a bite to eat.
So off to Culvers we went for a late lunch / early dinner.
Everything was super tasty as usual
& with our bellies full,
we headed back to Hogwarts
so that we could enjoy the rest of the festivities.

We decided it would probably be best to let things settle before eating cake & drinking Butterbeer.
Sounds like the perfect time for presents (:

After all the card reading & gift giving was over,
we gathered together in the Great Hall
to enjoy birthday cake & Butterbeer
while watching Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

...and that is the moment Hubby's life completely changed.
That's right.
He-who-disliked-Harry-Potter actually enjoyed it!
Not only did he enjoy it,
but a few days after we came home,
he surprised me with that wonderful news
by saying he wanted to watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that evening!
I was completely stunned & overjoyed all at the same time!
I stopped eating to tell McCall of the wonderful news immediately!
I never thought I'd get to watch the Harry Potter movies again,
especially with Hubby (since he reeeally didn't care for it).
We spent the entire rest of the week watching Harry Potter
after he suggested buying the entire boxed set on blu-ray with our Best Buy rewards...
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I had been wanting that forever!!!
I am still slightly in shock that it actually happened & that he got so into it.
We may have stayed up until the wee hours of the morning watching movies a few times.

Sorry... I got a little ahead of myself there,
but we didn't really have much time left to party after watching it anyway
since we had to fly home the next morning.

Overall, we had a quick but fun weekend
and it was great getting to actually surprise McCall!
Happy Birthday Kai
I magma you (:

xoxo

Harry Potter Surprise Party (Part 2)

If you missed Part 1 of our Harry Potter Surprise Party,
you should probably catch up before reading this post...

So there we were.

Waiting at the park.

Little Dudeman & Little Princess were wearing their robes.

I was carrying our robes & the glasses.

People were giving us funny looks.

Some people asked if we were going to a wedding.

I have no clue as to where they got that idea.

Since we had plenty of time to kill
I called McCall to wish her a happy birthday
I put my phone on speaker so that we could all sing to her.
After reminding Hubby to remember to act casual,
she didn't even pick up.
So we all sang to her in a message
& then I was about 99% sure that I completely blew the surprise.
After we had sung, I said something crazy like this:
"Happy birthday McCall! I hope you had a great day today. Call me back when you get a chance to tell me all about your how your 18th birthday went & to let me know what fun things you did. I hope you have fun plans this weekend. You'll have to let me know what you're doing to celebrate. Love you! Bye."
I'm terrible at leaving messages.
That's why I don't usually leave them.
That may not have been exactly what I said, but you get the gist of it...
Seriously though.
If we were home, why would I need to know what her plans are?
It didn't sound casual at all.
I should have just stopped at 'how your 18th birthday went'.
Anywho...
She called back shortly after that awkward message.
We talked & she told me about the football game & how her day went
(which I of course already knew)

Then she said she doesn't think they have any big plans
& that she doesn't even know which day they will be celebrating since they haven't really talked about it.
I explained to her that her present was on the way
hoping to give her the idea that we weren't there after all.
What she said next threw my 99% belief that I ruined the surprise
all the way to 100%...
She said something like this:
"Well, I'm hoping that the present is that you guys are flying out. That would be the best present ever."
Completely stunned by what she had said,
it took me a second before I could regain my composure & complete a decent comeback thought.
I replied, "Yeah, that would definitely be cool, but that's not the present."
Not a complete lie.
We did get her a present.
Our being there to give it to her was just an added bonus.
Slightly bummed,
& in my opinion not fully convinced,
she said that's too bad but that she looks forward to opening it when it arrives.
We stayed on the phone for a while & just talked.
When she told me they were leaving Walgreens
I wrapped up the call so that she could go home
& enjoy the first part of her surprise...
the letter.

This is roughly how things went...
I wasn't there so I don't know firsthand, but I can't wait to watch the video (:
They pulled into the driveway & Dad asks if she can get the mail.
She says sure, then heads towards the mailbox.
Dad closes the garage while she's on her way there.
Baffled by him closing the garage door before she came in, she opens the mailbox.
Inside is but one letter.
Her Hogwarts acceptance letter.
She is overjoyed & takes a gazillion pictures before even thinking about heading inside.
Since the garage is closed, she goes through the front door.
What's this?
Brick walls (plastic backdrop) so that she can't go any further into the house,
& Abby standing there waiting to help her get to Diagon Alley.
She taps on the bricks & leads her in.
They visit many different shops while in Diagon Alley.
She gets her various wizarding school supplies, her owl, & her wand.
Mom was filling in for Ollivander that evening & made sure that the right wand found McCall.
They reached another brick wall.
A dead end of sorts.
They didn't realize this at the time,
but it was actually an extremely rare entrance from Diagon Alley into the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts.
They turned around & headed back the way they came only to find that they were at platform 9 ¾.

They ran through the brick & hopped on the Hogwarts Express.
While inside the train (Ford Freestyle) waiting to arrive at Hogwarts,
they ordered sweets from the Honeydukes Express trolley.

There were Toffees, Acid Pops, Sour Jelly Slugs, Chocolate Pretzel Wands, Chocolate Hazelnut Snitches, Cockroach Clusters, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, & Chocolate Frogs

They had only traveled a few blocks away from where they departed at King's Cross Station,
when they made an unexpected stop at a nearby park to pick up some more passengers...

The second I saw the S.U.Van (Hogwarts Express)
We hid behind the playground,
threw on our robes & glasses,
& we all ran as fast as we could so that the train wouldn't leave without us.
Thankfully McCall didn't notice we were there until we were practically to our train carriage!
After quick hugs & much excitement,
the train departed for Hogsmeade Station.
Upon our arrival at Hogwarts (this time entering through the garage),
I noticed everything really came together while we were at the park.
McCall was given the tour of the school,
& some special guests (church friends) came for a visit.
Once they left, we headed to the Great Hall to enjoy our feast.
She had wanted Poppyseed Chicken, fruit, & salad for her birthday dinner
so we enjoyed that while enjoying each others company.

We had intended on being sorted into houses that evening,
However, the youngest wizard & witch were fast asleep,
we were all quite exhausted,
& it was getting late.
It was agreed that the Sorting Hat would have to wait until morning.

Part 3

xoxo