Mother's Day

These were my mother's day gifts this year!

A beautiful bouquet of tulips from Justin and Magda, along with a handmade SCRAPBOOKED card (by Magda)


These are solar powered lights...they turn all different colors when the sun goes down...BEAUTIFUL!! (From Helmut and the kids)

And last but certainly not least, an iPod docking station! I LOVE this! I have to put it in my scrapbooking area, but today is the first day I've been feeling up to it...so maybe tomorrow!

We have had quite the weekend! Declan has been throwing up since Thursday. Yuck. So, he's been miserable because we haven't given him any milk. Starting to feel better today, but he's still a little out of sorts. Khai wasn't feeling well on Saturday night, so we put him into our bed to fall asleep. I went in to move him back to his bed, and he got up, and threw up all over our floor. So we cleaned up, and put him back into our bed. He called me 20 minutes later saying "Mummy!! This time I threwed up IN your bed" Yeah. Fun times. We did laundry late into the night before we could get to bed. ICK.

Here's the way he tells this story:

"I threwed up on the floor, in Mummy's bed, in the toilet, in the bucket and in the toilet again" Very accurate actually...but funny that that is how he recounts the evening.

Sunday came and Declan was still throwing up...Khai was feeling better...and I WAS NOT!!

We had our niece and nephew's birthday party to go to in the afternoon, and I came home early. Was in bed by 7, throwing up by 10 and sort of asleep by about 4. NOT A GOOD NIGHT.

I was hardly able to move all day on Monday, but am feeling marginally better today.

So, all around it's been the land of the pukey here...and Helmut's starting to feel sick now!

and so it starts!

Last night was the first night of soccer for Khai (Brett started last week, but his game was out of town and late so Helmut took him, while I put the little ones down to sleep...hopefully I'll have some pictures of him tonight!)

Khai was SUPER excited, and told everyone we saw that he had a soccer game!

This year, his uniform is teal colored, and he is number 11.

A few things have changed since last year... for starters, he doesn't flop down on the field when he thinks he's run too far...nope, this year, when the action isn't close enough to him, he stands with his hands on his hips, and waits for it to come back to him!

He also no longer scores goals for the other team! (well, none yet anyway!) Last night, he scored 2 goals for his OWN team! Here he is after one of his goals...he has just given his coach a high five!
some fancy footwork....

and in between shifts...

My favorite part of the evening was when he came off of the field and informed me that he had touched poop. I asked him why he'd touched poop, and he said, quite matter of factly, "I had to move it!"


Thank goodness Auntie Michelle had antibacterial hand sanitizer in her purse (I will now too for that matter!)

Declan also had a good time! He loved running around everywhere...

It was a great night!

Now that the weather seems to have improved (well at the very least, the snow is off the ground!) my mood seems to have followed suit!

I've actually been able to get back to doing some scrapbooking and was able to make a minibook and two layouts last night. Hoping to keep it up today as we have a day filled with NOTHING! It's a wonderful treat around here, to have nothing to do in a day.

As for news... well, Brett and I had eye appointments on Friday. We BOTH need glasses. So, we're going to pick out Brett's this week. Mine will wait for a little while, though not too long, as the computer is blurry, even as I type!

Khai's soccer starts next week. So, our Tuesday evenings will be taken up with that...though I do hope that the weather gets even warmer, otherwise Declan will freeze while we're watching!

Brett had a basketball tournament this past weekend, and while we only attended the Friday night game, it was wonderful to watch him play. He is a great player! It's so great to see him playing.

Justin is preparing for graduation, and appears to be on the honor roll! He's doing great. He is also starting a new job today! I will get a picture of him in his uniform as soon as I can...hee hee.

Kelsey has also started a new job, and is planning on enrolling in U of M for fall session. I'm excited for her to start going back to school. I think she will feel less like she is drifting once she is working towards her end goal again.

Declan is now in a "big boy bed"....though I shouldn't say he's *in* it, as he is forever climbing OUT of it. He's an active busy little guy who keeps us on our toes!

Hopefully I'll be back soon!
Have a great day everyone!

I still love you.

Apparently my hiatus was NOT over!
I hate to say it, but I am right in the middle of what seems to be the worst year of my life. I am exhausted. Not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. I have next to nothing left in me, and it takes all I have somedays to get out of bed.
I assume we all have these times.
If I didn't think that, I might just go mad!

I hope to have some new photos to post next week!

Hope you are all doing well.

My hiatus....

from blogging is over! Not that it was a pre-meditated hiatus. We have just been so busy here, and I have felt very overwhelmed with the things I need to do on a daily basis, nevermind having time to blog.

So, a quick update! Things are going VERY well! Helmut's back has healed remarkably well, he is off of all of his pain meds, but now he can't sleep. He hasn't slept (again) for the last 2 nights, and he is EXHAUSTED. Even the sleeping pills his doctor prescribed aren't working. But other than that, there is no residual pain or anything at all from the surgery.

Kelsey has moved in with us full time. We LOVE having her around all the time, it's been great!

Justin just finished out his volleyball season on Monday, and basketball tryouts started yesterday! Talk about no break! He did AMAZINGLY well this year and was named captain of his team. This is Justin's senior year, and he is trying harder than I have ever seen him try. He's involved, he's getting good grades, he's playing sports, working and has a girlfriend...who said high school doesn't teach you time management!!! We are so proud of him...he's doing really well.

Brett is back into hockey full swing. We don't have the opportunity to go to very many of his games, which I know really bothers him, so we're trying to be able to make it to a few more. He's also doing really really well in school this year and is learning to do his homework even when we aren't around. We are also very proud of him! He has also got a speaking part in this years Christmas play at school. We are looking forward to going to that!

Khai is loving preschool. He is doing very very well, and we just love seeing him learn. It's been great. Also, I'm not sure I mentioned, but Khai's adoption went through on September 8th. He is OFFICIALLY Helmut's, and it's great.

Declan is still active as anything! He is always crawling around, and has now started taking a few steps by himself at a time. It's so cute. I can't believe he will be one in a couple weeks. Crazy.

Speaking of Declan being one, our daycare gave away our spots, so I don't know how or if I'm going to be able to go back to work. We are looking for an alternative daycare, but finding one in the next couple weeks could be difficult. We'll see how that turns out!

I have been keeping busy doing everything under the sun it seems. I'm making the majority of our Christmas presents this year, and my goal is to be done them by November 30th. A lofty goal, but one I THINK I can achieve. Even if I still have a few things to do in December, I want to spend most of my time with the kids, enjoying the season.

I've been working on some new projects to do with the kids, and some that just bring me joy. Maybe a little later on, I'll post some of the things I've done!

Have a great Thursday everyone!!

August 28th...

Again...I'm playing catch up!!

Today was Helmut's surgery. We dropped off the kids at Grandma's house and went to the hospital. We were pretty emotional, as I was nervous already, and I think it was starting to hit Helmut, that this really was SURGERY!

We got into an OR prep room right away, got him hooked up to an IV and chatted while we waited for him to go in. They told me he should be up in his room at about 3:30 pm. So, tearfully, I said goodbye, and went to the cafeteria. I sat there attempting to organize things, called Shannon and chatted, hoping to take my mind off of things, and finally I went up to the floor they told me to go to. Sat in the "day room" until 3:30. Wanted to ask where he was, but didn't want to be "one of those wives" whom everyone thinks is a pain in the neck (Emily Gilmore for example), so I waited until 3:45. (I know...such restraint!) So, they said he was out of surgery and should be up soon....10 minutes later, I hear a voice over the intercom paging the doctor who had done the surgery. Yeah. That wasn't a good feeling. All I could think was that there was some complication, that he had been paged to Helmut's side in recovery...I was FREAKED OUT. I just kept praying for him to be okay, and telling myself that we were both in the Lord's hands. So, instead, I parked myself on two VERY uncomfortable chairs outside the room they'd assigned him to, and waited. He came up at 4:45. I was so happy to see him.

More later...I'm TIRED!!

August 25th...

I've got so much to catch up on!!!

Well, in addition to this day being my sister's birthday...Happy Birthday Candace...today my Kelsey got her wisdom teeth taken out!

When we got there, we were under the impression that I would get to stay in the room with her, at least until she was under. They told us I wasn't going to get to go in...and Kelsey started tearing up a bit, so I pushed a little, and they told me I could go in until she was almost out.

So, in we went, they hooked her up to an iv, and made her lie down, and take her glasses off...so she couldn't see anything.

They gave her a little bit of the meds, and she faded into la la land. At first she said (or should I say SLURRED) "The room went gray." And then,"I feel intoxicated!" Both statements I was only able to understand after she repeated them several times!

I told her I loved her, and I left. I sat in the waiting room for over an hour while they removed her wisdom teeth. I finally got to go into the "recovery" area, and this is what I saw...

The poor girl! She was not happy! Though I must add, it was HER idea to take the pictures, I had left my camera at home, so that I wouldn't embarrass her...

She asked to have her teeth, and they were able to dig out her top ones out of the garbage, but her bottom ones were in too many pieces.

She was in quite a bit of pain for several days after the surgery, but things are better now for the most part!

Oh, and on a side note, she doesn't remember saying anything about the room being gray or being intoxicated! But she does remember the anesthetist and her chatting! TOO FUNNY!