My first video upload

I'm so behind the times.

This was a great day when we took the kids to a museum. They made these really funky cool hats.

Must . go . to . bed . now .

2008 in pictures

A year has gone by since my last post. Amazing, but I admit, I pretty much just gave up on blogging completely. I was just surfing the net tonight and came across my blog in my Favorites and almost started a brand new one when I thought, hey, just pick up on the one you have. So, to continue the theme of my last blog, here is 2008 in pictures!

I insisted that we get a dog. Sunny came to live with us around February at 12 weeks old. She was much bigger than I thought she would be , but look how cute!

She just turned a year old this month. She is such a sweet Golden Retriever. We completed a beginning obedience course but haven't gone back for intermediate.

Aaron went for a "5 minute" bike ride before dinner one night in May on which he broke his right femur and had to have a metal rod surgically placed to fix it. It still hurts him a lot, poor thing. Amazingly, he has gotten back on his bike in the last month or so. He is a brave boy.

I attended my 20 year high school anniversary and found several old friends that I never dreamed I would see again. And, unfortunately, did not see some that I had hoped to.

The boys are still staying with the "Gospel Nanny" and it is working out okay. Lucas is struggling in school a bit right now. But, I trust we will make it through this tough patch.

And here we are out on the town one Sunday afternoon. If you look closely, you can see a couple of hooligans in the background. They are so silly!!

So, here is to a few more posts in 2009 and an altogether great year. Here's to bunches of family vacations, romantic trips, school functions, a wacky ideas: all good for blogging!

Thanksgiving Day. We went out instead of cooking. It wasn't as satisfying as cooking for your family, but it sure was easy.

2007 in pictures

My 3 Sons

Aaron right before his surgery --warning: the next pics are graphic!

Coming out of anesthesia

Sin bandages!!

Me Downtown

Oklahoma's Centennial Parade

Daniel driving in the cul-de-sac

Our 10th wedding anniversary weekend. We stayed in that cottage with horses roaming the area and our own pond to paddleboat in.

Merry Christmas

It isn't until a day like today that I realize how much I miss my blogging, both reading them and writing this one. I've been reading, more like playing catch up, with the blogger girls and moms that I used to read. Haven't even tried to catch up with the guy bloggers. One has had a baby and another is co-writing a blog with the mother of her step-children. I'm impressed!!

So, for the New Year I have a couple of resolutions:
1. Wake up early and read the newspaper before work.
2. Blog more often and with more purpose.
3. Read more books.
4. Lose weight (ha ha, I always stick that one on for fun.)

Merry Christmas!!

Growing Boys

There's Daniel. He is growing like crazy right under my nose. He walks, he talks, he bosses us all around. He loves money and he carries change around in his pockets. Pockets are such a boy thing, and Daniel has them figured out already. All small objects go in there, handy for any circumstances that call for a little guy to pull something completely unchildproof out and horrify everybody watching.

Summer has just blown by. I think we've all been robbed of a real summer this year. The kids got out of school late due to a hard winter, suffered record rainfall all summer so far, and go back to school on August 15th, which is just around the corner.

Aaron has been camping much of the summer away. He went to Falls Creek, Quartz Mountain, and Six Flags. He has an orchestra day camp starting the week before school starts, on top of surgery!! He is going to be worn out but I'm going to chronicle his corrective rhinoplasty here on the blog, starting with this "before" pic (my camera is sucking):

I don't know if it looks like much in these pics, but it narrows the passageway and looks dirty very often.

That covers everybody but Lucas. The Gospel Nanny has been staying home with him all summer long but she has been keeping a couple of additional kids along with him. He really liked having the friends to play with. This Friday I'm taking him to White Water.

Update

Just checking in to see how my old friend the blog is doing. How are you, blog?

Lucas' visit to the ER turns out to have been the peanut butter scare.

Daniel got the tubes in his ears and started chatting more the very next day. It was amazing.

Aaron will, in all likelihood, have the corrective rhinoplasty this summer. We'll plan it around camp.

Still to come: pics of Lucas' first lost tooth. Oooh the excitement!

Is there a doctor in the house?

3boyzdad is at the emergency room right now with Lucas. I've learned not to worry because this is 3boyzdad's habit. He has taken Lucas to the emergency room for a number of symptoms in the past, including a stomach ache and one imaginary rash. It was so funny one evening when Lucas was a baby and my mom fed him a strawberry. 3boyzdad ran Lucas to the hospital for fear he would swell up and stop breathing. Lucas was actually having no reaction at all.

I don't remember what it was we took him for one day when Lucas just would not stop crying. Persistently, he cried for over an hour in the ER until one of the nurses blew up a rubber glove and drew a face on it. Then, he was fine. Clearly, some treatments just can't be administered at home. A couple of years ago we took him for a stomach ache and he was diagnosed with constipation. That's what I got when we had to pay that bill!

Then there was the dog bite on Lucas' nose. That was when Daniel was just home from the hospital and we all ran to the ER in a panic. The doctor taped the wound shut and told us whatever we did, DO NOT REMOVE THE TAPE. Yes, that lasted about 30 minutes.

So, I wonder what the outcome of tonight's visit will be. I predict a spastic colon brought on by ER waiting room sufferage and the treatment will include losing some weight (in the pocket book area) and don't call anybody in the morning...no one cares. Oh, that diagnosis was for 3boyzdad. I bet Lucas has a 24 hour stomach flu and the doctor is going to say drink lots of water and get lots of rest.

But, when it rains, it pours, you know. Daniel is scheduled to get tubes in his ears this Friday morning. A study recently came out saying that no long term benefit in terms of speech or development were documented as a result of having tubes put in. That made us pause before scheduling this surgery, but I think there are short term benefits. We've has six back to back ear infections and Daniel has been on some kick-butt antibiotics over the last 8-10 months. I'd really like to see that trend broken. I'll post how the procedure goes.

And as long as we are seeing the ear, nose & throat doc for Daniel, I went ahead and scheduled a consultation for Aaron's deviated septum. It will require surgery to correct, I'm sure. So, tomorrow is just a look-see and talk over what the surgery would entail. I know Aaron wants to have it done because he has spent many years now with his nose not looking quite right. Sometimes you look and think maybe its dirty, but its not ( or it's "snot" ha ha). But, he is also a little scared and intimidated by the thought of having a surgery.