I've just heard from a former co-worker that his son has an inoperable cancerous brain tumor. Cade and Skyler are only 8 days a part in age. I'm going to post their website because I know Ryan, Melissa and Skyler will be needing all the prayers they can get over the next few weeks. Please pray for a miracle and that Skyler will be healed. This is breaking my heart. I can't even begin to imagine what Ryan and Melissa are going through.
Skyler's Site
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Last Day of School
This may end up being one of the “feel sorry for myself posts”. I’m not quite sure how it will end up, but right now I feel a little sad. Today is Cade’s last day of Kindergarten. I can’t believe that when I see him next, he’ll be a First Grader. I remember two years ago, when we’d reached that all important one year mark of trying to have another baby, saying how I was going to go buy myself a brand new Mustang on Cade’s first day of school. I couldn’t imagine sending my baby off without another baby at home. I honestly didn’t think it would happen, I thought we’d have a baby before that day. But if we didn’t I at least had a back up plan in mind – who wouldn’t feel better if they had a new car? Well I ended up getting a new car a couple of months before that, but it still wasn’t a Mustang and it wasn’t brand new and we still didn’t have a baby on his first day. Now here I sit, 9 months later and Cade is out of Kindergarten and we still don’t have another baby. I guess I never imagined it would go on for quite this long. I know there are people who wait much, much longer than we have – I just didn’t think we’d be one of those. (Now I’m sitting here at work tearing up typing on my computer. It’s a good thing Tom appears to be on a phone call that could take awhile. I can get control before he walks back in here.)
Ok, I had to go to the bathroom for a little while to collect myself. As I was coming out I heard my cell ringing. It was Jay, he had been at Cade’s end of the year BBQ. I really started crying then. A little later Tom came out to ask if I was ok. I told him I’m just being a mom because I’m sad it’s the last day of school. Of course since Tom is single and childless he knew exactly how to comfort me “yeah, before you know it he’ll be graduating” Uh, thanks for that reminder. I just hope we have a baby before that day comes. If not, I may have to take a leave of absence during Cade’s last month of school and be medicated during the graduation ceremony. I wish Sandra was here today – we’d be laughing and crying about this at the same time.
Ok, I have to stop typing now because I’m starting to cry again. Where’s someone with a funny story when you need them?
Ok, I had to go to the bathroom for a little while to collect myself. As I was coming out I heard my cell ringing. It was Jay, he had been at Cade’s end of the year BBQ. I really started crying then. A little later Tom came out to ask if I was ok. I told him I’m just being a mom because I’m sad it’s the last day of school. Of course since Tom is single and childless he knew exactly how to comfort me “yeah, before you know it he’ll be graduating” Uh, thanks for that reminder. I just hope we have a baby before that day comes. If not, I may have to take a leave of absence during Cade’s last month of school and be medicated during the graduation ceremony. I wish Sandra was here today – we’d be laughing and crying about this at the same time.
Ok, I have to stop typing now because I’m starting to cry again. Where’s someone with a funny story when you need them?
Track & Field Day
The mere mention of this event makes my hands sweaty. There is nothing that strikes more fear in the heart of the slightly overweight athletically challenged child than Track and Field Day. For us, it’s the worst day of the entire school year. It’s the day we would rather have been home suffering from the stomach flu, strep throat and head lice (yes all three at once) rather than coming in last in event after event after event. I think what made this day worse for me was my last name. My Fowler grandparents had 6 children and 17 grandchildren and all but a handful were good at sports. My dad held the state record in the long jump for years. I even had the sports gene on the other side - my Grandpa Ewing was a coach. Somehow when God was mixing up my genetic material he forgot to put in a “dash of athletic ability”.
We didn’t start having this Track & Field day until I was somewhere around the 1st grade. It was one of Marsha’s “Brilliant Ideas”. She set this thing up to be a miniature version of the state track meet or something. The mornings were devoted to the running races – 50, 100, 150, 200 yard dash, the relay, etc. The afternoons were the field events – long jump, high jump, discus, shot put, etc. The first year we even had a little awards assembly. There were a handful of us in K-6th grade that didn’t win anything. I remember Marsha having us stand in front of the entire school and hearing the words “these kids didn’t win anything, but they tried, give them a round of applause”. My face still gets red every time I think about it. And if things weren’t bad enough for me up until the 4th grade it got worse after that year. Charity started Kindergarten. It was pretty much a given – I’d come in last and Charity would come in 1st in every event. Oh the sting of defeat! Now if Marsha had only included a speed reading event.......
Anyhow – I got the same sweaty palm, sick feeling in my gut when I read that Cade was to have a Field Day. Luckily I was off that day so I could be there to protect my baby from the horrors that would be inflicted on him. I told Jay I’d let Cade go this year to see what it was about, but after this year I’d never force him to go again. This was one of those times Jay just agreed with me because he knew that would be the best thing to do because of my extreme hatred for this day. I’d have a standing “sick day” scheduled at work for the rest of Cade’s elementary days and we’d go to the movies or something.
Once I got to the school Friday morning I was really surprised. Gone was the hard core competition I had experienced at my last Track & Field day 19 years ago. The kids were not lined up for dash after dash where each class and each parent could watch the defeat and the smashing of a child’s self-esteem. It had been replaced by fun games – a water balloon toss, a sack race, a tug of war. This day was purely for fun. All of the kids seemed to be having a good time – except for the heat. Cade did a lot of whining about the heat (but it was very hot that day), but he wasn’t the only one. Most of the kindergartners thought they were on deaths door because they were hot and sweaty.
I think in the years that I’ve been out of elementary things have changed a lot. I think there has been more emphasis put on building up kid’s self-esteem. Gone are the days of the kids picking teams. You know the feeling – when you realize the last two kids left are you and the kid who eats glue. It’s usually a toss up as to who’s going to be picked first. Some may think going through all that is good for kids – it teaches them that things aren’t always fair. Yes, life isn’t fair, but my 6 year old is going to learn about that soon enough. He’s got his whole life ahead of him to experience upset and disappointment, I don’t want him to learn about it too soon in life. I just want him to enjoy his Field days for as long as possible because the time slips away so quickly......But then again, what will the three of us sit around the table and laugh about when Cade's older? Nothing is funnier for Dad, Mom, Charity and me to laugh about than my athletic escapades.
We didn’t start having this Track & Field day until I was somewhere around the 1st grade. It was one of Marsha’s “Brilliant Ideas”. She set this thing up to be a miniature version of the state track meet or something. The mornings were devoted to the running races – 50, 100, 150, 200 yard dash, the relay, etc. The afternoons were the field events – long jump, high jump, discus, shot put, etc. The first year we even had a little awards assembly. There were a handful of us in K-6th grade that didn’t win anything. I remember Marsha having us stand in front of the entire school and hearing the words “these kids didn’t win anything, but they tried, give them a round of applause”. My face still gets red every time I think about it. And if things weren’t bad enough for me up until the 4th grade it got worse after that year. Charity started Kindergarten. It was pretty much a given – I’d come in last and Charity would come in 1st in every event. Oh the sting of defeat! Now if Marsha had only included a speed reading event.......
Anyhow – I got the same sweaty palm, sick feeling in my gut when I read that Cade was to have a Field Day. Luckily I was off that day so I could be there to protect my baby from the horrors that would be inflicted on him. I told Jay I’d let Cade go this year to see what it was about, but after this year I’d never force him to go again. This was one of those times Jay just agreed with me because he knew that would be the best thing to do because of my extreme hatred for this day. I’d have a standing “sick day” scheduled at work for the rest of Cade’s elementary days and we’d go to the movies or something.
Once I got to the school Friday morning I was really surprised. Gone was the hard core competition I had experienced at my last Track & Field day 19 years ago. The kids were not lined up for dash after dash where each class and each parent could watch the defeat and the smashing of a child’s self-esteem. It had been replaced by fun games – a water balloon toss, a sack race, a tug of war. This day was purely for fun. All of the kids seemed to be having a good time – except for the heat. Cade did a lot of whining about the heat (but it was very hot that day), but he wasn’t the only one. Most of the kindergartners thought they were on deaths door because they were hot and sweaty.
I think in the years that I’ve been out of elementary things have changed a lot. I think there has been more emphasis put on building up kid’s self-esteem. Gone are the days of the kids picking teams. You know the feeling – when you realize the last two kids left are you and the kid who eats glue. It’s usually a toss up as to who’s going to be picked first. Some may think going through all that is good for kids – it teaches them that things aren’t always fair. Yes, life isn’t fair, but my 6 year old is going to learn about that soon enough. He’s got his whole life ahead of him to experience upset and disappointment, I don’t want him to learn about it too soon in life. I just want him to enjoy his Field days for as long as possible because the time slips away so quickly......But then again, what will the three of us sit around the table and laugh about when Cade's older? Nothing is funnier for Dad, Mom, Charity and me to laugh about than my athletic escapades.
Now doesn't this look like much more fun???
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Vacation
Starting today at 2:00 pm I'm on vacation until Tuesday morning at 8:00 am. I am so looking forward to having a few days off. I'm a little burnt out with my job so I'm hoping after a few days off I'll have a better attitude on Tuesday. Things have been really busy since the first of the year and I'm spending close to 80% of my time there alone.
But even though I'm on "vacation" my time off won't be restful. I've got a whole list of things I want to get done around the house. We are having our annual church party on Sunday evening. We still have some outdoor work to do, along with painting our doors, shopping for the food, cleaning the house, preparing the food, etc. You get the picture. Tomorrow night is Jay's FFA Banquet so we've been spending most of our evenings at the school working on the slide show. Friday Cade has his Track and Field day so I'll go to at least part of that (I'll blog more later about the Track and Field day). I'm off to work some more on the slide show. Everyone have a safe and happy Memorial Day!!!
But even though I'm on "vacation" my time off won't be restful. I've got a whole list of things I want to get done around the house. We are having our annual church party on Sunday evening. We still have some outdoor work to do, along with painting our doors, shopping for the food, cleaning the house, preparing the food, etc. You get the picture. Tomorrow night is Jay's FFA Banquet so we've been spending most of our evenings at the school working on the slide show. Friday Cade has his Track and Field day so I'll go to at least part of that (I'll blog more later about the Track and Field day). I'm off to work some more on the slide show. Everyone have a safe and happy Memorial Day!!!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Picture Update
It's been awhile since I've posted some pictures.
The first ones are Avery on Mother's Day. Cade was somewhat anti-social that day so Avery's the only one who got her picture taken. She LOVES ice cream.
Jay and I went on Cade's field trip Tuesday. We visited a fire station and the zoo. We took a sack lunch and got poured on while we were eating. Kids and teachers and parents were scrambling around trying to get everything gathered up. Cade had taken his sunglasses that day, which I knew was a bad idea, but I let him anyway. There were about 10 cars of parents following the bus that day. Once we left the firestation the bus was waiting to turn right with all the parents behind it. We waited and waited and finally saw one of the aides running down the row of parents. Her husband was behind us so we thought she was going to him. Of course not, she stopped at our truck. Cade thought he had lost his sunglasses and was upset. Our child held up the whole trip. It was embarassing, but fortunately I did have the glasses. Once we got to the zoo we split up into groups. Jay and I lucked out, we only had Cade and another boy. One mom by herself ended up with 3 boys. We saw the zoo in record time - we were at a dead run the entire time.
These are pictures from his first ballgame last night. His team won, which was exciting. It's pretty funny to watch them. One girl (who Jay and I think is adorable) was trying to wipe the dirt off of 3rd base. Cade was put in Right Field (not a big surprise - it runs in the family). At one point I saw him digging the dirt out of his cleats. He didn't see much action last night in the outfield, but he did get a hit his last time at bat. He said "it was a lot of fun"
The first ones are Avery on Mother's Day. Cade was somewhat anti-social that day so Avery's the only one who got her picture taken. She LOVES ice cream.
Jay and I went on Cade's field trip Tuesday. We visited a fire station and the zoo. We took a sack lunch and got poured on while we were eating. Kids and teachers and parents were scrambling around trying to get everything gathered up. Cade had taken his sunglasses that day, which I knew was a bad idea, but I let him anyway. There were about 10 cars of parents following the bus that day. Once we left the firestation the bus was waiting to turn right with all the parents behind it. We waited and waited and finally saw one of the aides running down the row of parents. Her husband was behind us so we thought she was going to him. Of course not, she stopped at our truck. Cade thought he had lost his sunglasses and was upset. Our child held up the whole trip. It was embarassing, but fortunately I did have the glasses. Once we got to the zoo we split up into groups. Jay and I lucked out, we only had Cade and another boy. One mom by herself ended up with 3 boys. We saw the zoo in record time - we were at a dead run the entire time.
These are pictures from his first ballgame last night. His team won, which was exciting. It's pretty funny to watch them. One girl (who Jay and I think is adorable) was trying to wipe the dirt off of 3rd base. Cade was put in Right Field (not a big surprise - it runs in the family). At one point I saw him digging the dirt out of his cleats. He didn't see much action last night in the outfield, but he did get a hit his last time at bat. He said "it was a lot of fun"
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Stuff Christians Like
I know I've talked about this website before. If you haven't checked it out, I think it's worth your time. Some of the posts are funny and some have really good points. I just read one of today's posts and thought it had some important things to think about.
What's Your Time Worth
What's Your Time Worth
Friday, May 9, 2008
Adoption Update
I was looking back and saw it's been about a month since the last adoption update, so it's time to post another.
I contacted of Social Worker this week, since it was the middle of March since I last heard from her. Our profile has been shown once since her last e-mail. When she says "profile" I'm not sure if that means our short profile or the long profile. I didn't ask her to clarify because I'm trying really hard not to get bogged down by details. I'm trying to take things at face value and not analyze every little word. Between our crazy dog, crazy neighbors, crazy cows and a kid that peed on 2nd base - I don't have much time to think about details. But on a positive note, it was shown 1 more time than Jay and I had figured.
I contacted of Social Worker this week, since it was the middle of March since I last heard from her. Our profile has been shown once since her last e-mail. When she says "profile" I'm not sure if that means our short profile or the long profile. I didn't ask her to clarify because I'm trying really hard not to get bogged down by details. I'm trying to take things at face value and not analyze every little word. Between our crazy dog, crazy neighbors, crazy cows and a kid that peed on 2nd base - I don't have much time to think about details. But on a positive note, it was shown 1 more time than Jay and I had figured.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Ball Schedule
At practice Monday night we finally got our ball schedule. The first game shows as May, 12 but it says BYE. We asked if we were still practicing that night. The coach said “yes, I believe we need all the help we can get” - couldn’t agree more. Once the games start I’ll have some pictures to post. So far no other parent is snapping pictures at practice so I don’t want to be the one to mark my child for life. I did sneak some on my phone, but I’m not smart enough to know how to get them from the phone to the computer. Practice has gotten better except for Benjamin. Monday night he was playing 2nd base and needed to go to the bathroom. Rather than saying something he just peed all over the base. Of course his dad didn’t say anything and the coaches didn’t see it, but the mother’s were horrified. I made Cade take his shoes off as soon as we got home. It’s one thing to think you’ve probably stepped in stuff at one time or another, but to actually know your kid is running through it is disgusting.
Jay wanted me to post the ball schedule so everyone would know where it’s at. I’ll abbreviate the away games, but those from around here shouldn’t have a problem figuring them out.
May 5 6:00 @Gnfd
May 19 6:00 @Home
May 22 6:00 @Home
May 26 6:00 @Home
May 29 7:00 @Home
June 2 6:00 @Lckwd
June 5 6:00 @Home
June 9 6:00 @Home
June 12 7:00 @Home
Jay wanted me to post the ball schedule so everyone would know where it’s at. I’ll abbreviate the away games, but those from around here shouldn’t have a problem figuring them out.
May 5 6:00 @Gnfd
May 19 6:00 @Home
May 22 6:00 @Home
May 26 6:00 @Home
May 29 7:00 @Home
June 2 6:00 @Lckwd
June 5 6:00 @Home
June 9 6:00 @Home
June 12 7:00 @Home
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Our Weekend
This weekend our family had a first – we took one of Cade’s friends to SDC with us. It was a first for all of us, it was the first time Cade had a friend to play with, it was the first time Grandma Robyn was around 2 boys, it was the first time we were responsible for someone elses child (except for Avery but she doesn’t count, she’s the next best thing to having our own), and it was Neilson’s first time to be at SDC. We all had a great time. Both boys were extremely well behaved. Neilson was an entertaining little boy to say the least. He comes from a family of 4, he has two older sisters and one younger sister. Neilson has a maturity that Cade doesn’t have yet, which comes from having older siblings. I really don’t mind that, Neilson was concerned because his 16 year old “girlfriend” went to prom with someone else. He said “can you believe that”. Much to mine and Jay’s relief that is the last thing on Cade’s mind right now. I’ve also decided we’ll have to monitor this friendship as the boys get older. Neilson seems to be the type that has absolutely no fear of anything. I’m used to riding rides with Cade, who is a lot like me. Heights and speed are not our thing. Jay and I had to ride the Flying Elephants with the boys because they weren’t tall enough to ride by themselves. Jay got Cade and I got Neilson. At one point Neilson was trying to hang over the side to get a better look. I had to drag him back in the elephant. Totally unlike Cade.
It was fun having him with us, it added to our normal family dynamics. Neilson came up with some zingers throughout the day. One of my favorites was him telling us about helping his dad and granddad turn their bulls into steers. He told us that they cut off their guts and fed them to the dogs. I’m sure his parents would love to know that he told that story. Then of course that makes we wonder what Cade’s told his parents. It’s probably best that we don’t know. I also decided that having 2 is much easier than one. Jay and I weren’t nearly as worn out as we normally are after a day with Cade at SDC. I think we’ll try to take him back with us later on this summer.
Everything was going really well on Saturday until we were on our way home from dropping off Neilson. Jay hit a calf in my car. We are very fortunate, God definitely protected us because it could’ve been so much worse. My car has some minor damage but no one got hurt, except for the calf. We were close to our house so Jay took Cade and I home and then went to find the calf’s owners. Cade told me that he was worried about the baby calf. I was worried about the mamma cow – she watched us kill her calf. Jay came home and was upset because, like Cory has said, he puts a $value on every animal. He hated that he had caused someone to loose money (even though the owner’s fence isn’t good). I told Jay what Cade and I were worried about and he said at least we had all our bases covered. I’ve driven by the spot several times since then and I feel bad for the mamma cow. I feel like she’s staring at me every time. It was definitely traumatizing for all involved.
It was fun having him with us, it added to our normal family dynamics. Neilson came up with some zingers throughout the day. One of my favorites was him telling us about helping his dad and granddad turn their bulls into steers. He told us that they cut off their guts and fed them to the dogs. I’m sure his parents would love to know that he told that story. Then of course that makes we wonder what Cade’s told his parents. It’s probably best that we don’t know. I also decided that having 2 is much easier than one. Jay and I weren’t nearly as worn out as we normally are after a day with Cade at SDC. I think we’ll try to take him back with us later on this summer.
Everything was going really well on Saturday until we were on our way home from dropping off Neilson. Jay hit a calf in my car. We are very fortunate, God definitely protected us because it could’ve been so much worse. My car has some minor damage but no one got hurt, except for the calf. We were close to our house so Jay took Cade and I home and then went to find the calf’s owners. Cade told me that he was worried about the baby calf. I was worried about the mamma cow – she watched us kill her calf. Jay came home and was upset because, like Cory has said, he puts a $value on every animal. He hated that he had caused someone to loose money (even though the owner’s fence isn’t good). I told Jay what Cade and I were worried about and he said at least we had all our bases covered. I’ve driven by the spot several times since then and I feel bad for the mamma cow. I feel like she’s staring at me every time. It was definitely traumatizing for all involved.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Happy Birthday Jay
Today is Jay's 31st Birthday. I wish I had a picture of him in his marching band uniform to post. I guess this one will have to do....
Jay with his state winning Ag Mechanics Team
Jay with his state winning Ag Mechanics Team
We love you!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Charlie Update
Wednesday evening Jay tried turning Charlie loose again. We were outside practicing baseball so Charlie stayed in the yard for about 30 seconds and then he was gone. Cade batted for about 5 minutes and he was done. I went back in the house to do dishes. Jay stayed outside and talked to a previous student who stopped by. Jay came in the house later and told me what had happened to Charlie.....
Charlie got a ride in a VW Bug. I've never ridden in one, Cade hasn't ridden in one and as far as I know either has Jay, but our dog has. He ended up at the neighbors again so they brought him home. Jay has tried to be nice about it, telling them they don't have to worry about Charlie but they won't listen. We know they're being nice, but Jay doesn't like people micro manging his ability to take care of his dog. He gets that enough at home, he doesn't need input from the neighbors. So now we don't know what to do. We want to turn Charlie loose, but we don't want the neighbors bringing him home every night. Of course when this happened Wednesday night it led to all kinds of jokes between us about them wanting to see what Jay was wearing. Charlie was just an excuse to see if Jay would be wearing something crazier than the snowman pants.
I'm sorry I was in the house. I keep imagining Charlie in a VW Bug and I laugh. I think those cars are cute, but yet I think they're funny looking. Same thing with Charlie, he's cute but his legs are so short it makes him look funny. When I put them together in my mind it's just hilarious. Of course Jay isn't laughing quite as much as I am about the situation. He just wants them to leave our dog alone, but we don't think that's going to happen.
Jay finally read the blog after this last problem with Charlie. He seemed to be a little on edge because he informed me that I was wrong when I said the kids were using a softball. It is in fact a baseball because they couldn't get their kindergarten hands around a softball. I think he's just sore about the last post, but thats what he gets. If he's not going to read them I can post whatever I want about his attire :)
Charlie got a ride in a VW Bug. I've never ridden in one, Cade hasn't ridden in one and as far as I know either has Jay, but our dog has. He ended up at the neighbors again so they brought him home. Jay has tried to be nice about it, telling them they don't have to worry about Charlie but they won't listen. We know they're being nice, but Jay doesn't like people micro manging his ability to take care of his dog. He gets that enough at home, he doesn't need input from the neighbors. So now we don't know what to do. We want to turn Charlie loose, but we don't want the neighbors bringing him home every night. Of course when this happened Wednesday night it led to all kinds of jokes between us about them wanting to see what Jay was wearing. Charlie was just an excuse to see if Jay would be wearing something crazier than the snowman pants.
I'm sorry I was in the house. I keep imagining Charlie in a VW Bug and I laugh. I think those cars are cute, but yet I think they're funny looking. Same thing with Charlie, he's cute but his legs are so short it makes him look funny. When I put them together in my mind it's just hilarious. Of course Jay isn't laughing quite as much as I am about the situation. He just wants them to leave our dog alone, but we don't think that's going to happen.
Jay finally read the blog after this last problem with Charlie. He seemed to be a little on edge because he informed me that I was wrong when I said the kids were using a softball. It is in fact a baseball because they couldn't get their kindergarten hands around a softball. I think he's just sore about the last post, but thats what he gets. If he's not going to read them I can post whatever I want about his attire :)
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