Reincarnated As A Mother

Sunday, January 31, 2016

The Den of LOVE

There is no way we have been married for seventeen years!
Part of me feels like it was yesterday
but the bigger (and more tired) part of me feels like
we've been married for centuries.
Oh, how I love this guy. 
 And out crazy girls.
They sent us out on a date last night
with homemade fabric wallets (courtesy of Reese)
and twenty bucks inside each of them.
 We went and had yummy Thai food on them
and then a movie (The Martian-- which was great-- intense but great)!
Look what we came home to-
as Byron referred to it:  "the den of love"!
 The girls went streamer crazy in our room...
left chocolates and other treats on the pillows
(well, in front of them anyway)..
 I kinda had the theme from Mission Impossible going through
my head-- our room looked like we had infrared beams all over it.
 This was my favorite part-- we thought it was a B with an L
through it- but it is actually the "&" symbol.  There are tiny hearts
on each side:  one says husband, one says wife.
 And then there was the 17 years sign...
 the chocolate hearts all over the floor...
 and this little gem:  Anniversary Barbie with an old
photo album they dug up from my bridal shower!
 Oh yes, and one glass of sparkling cider to share.
It made our night...
and the seventeen years we've been married
worth every minute!

Friday, January 29, 2016

The Possessed and the Obsessed

Spooky puppy update.
Gotta love those glowing eyes.
The girls are growing and sometimes, honestly, all I can say is-
it's a good thing they are so dang cute.
 Lola fell asleep like this tonight on an old towel.
(They'd gone out in the rain and gotten muddy - yes, again).
Lola and Monroe like to gang up on Kean and steal
whatever he's playing with.
I don't know who I have to watch closer.....
 Kean, by the way, fell asleep in this crazy position.
I guess it is not so crazy when you realize he was in the womb
like this for most of his time.  He still sleeps this way or completely
folded over on his front.
I have to put a barricade in front of the opening on his bed
(where his head is) so he doesn't fall out at night.
(Yes, we all learned the hard way- thump).
And in case you somehow missed this on Facebook - or you 
are one of the last few holdouts, this is worth your time.
Greer has been singing this song to Kean for the past
three years, especially when he was feeling particularly sick
from the Chemo.
Evidently, he was listening.


Sunday, January 24, 2016

Cinderellas At the Ball

I've told you- every once in a while we see a huge blessing
come out of the fact our son had cancer.
This weekend was one of them.
We were invited up to Sun Valley for the big
Share Your Heart Ball to benefit Camp Rainbow Gold.
We were given two rooms at the Sun Valley Inn
(one for us, one for the kids-- oh and we opted to leave
Kean with my parents.  He wouldn't have enjoyed it and neither would
I -- if he'd come).  Our beloved friends from Camp left
all kinds of goodies for the children in the rooms.
 The girls have been so excited about this event for months.
They love getting all dressed up and getting to play princess
for the evening.
 This has to be one of the coolest fundraisers on the planet.
They have several activities to raise money to send kids
to cancer camp-- but also to give attendees a feel for
some of the fun of camp.
The girls all tried their hands at archery -- depending on where
they hit on the target determines how many raffle tickets they win.
(We didn't win the diamond necklace or the big trip-- but the parents who
lost their only child to cancer won the trip to Hawaii.  Isn't that the coolest?).
 They  had cow roping- we skipped that since we have enough cow roping
at home and opted for the crazy photo booth instead.
 We marveled at the items in a huge silent auction
and then got to sit with several friends at our table- 
including Miss Idaho Teen.  The girls know her from
sibling camp.  Her little brother had the same kind of
cancer as Kean.
Greer looks a little too comfy in that crown.  Heaven help us!
 The live auction was a thriller.
Almost every item went for over ten grand.
Sometimes, the items went for that huge amount twice, meaning,
they'd offer a trip or something again.
The sponsors were that generous.
 The final item was a piece of artwork-- made by children
battling cancer while up at Camp.
My girls (and two other friends we know from camp)
were asked to go up on stage and show off the art.
It went for 15 grand (I think Reese's mad Vanna White skills
helped) and it included a one night visit to camp (can we 
say Tater Tot Casserole?).
I was touched by the generosity of so many at the ball.
The same guy who bought this artwork, raised his paddle a
short time later and donated another 25 grand to camp.
There are some big hearts in Sun Valley!
 Once the dinner and auction were over, it was time to let loose.
The girls were on the dance floor for the first song
and Greer and Holland were on the floor for the last.
(Reese ran out of gas half way through).
 One of the things that made it so fun-- is everyone was
incredibly friendly.  Every time I turned around, the girls 
were dancing with someone new.
Let's just say we made a ton of new friends.
 Our late night called for a lazy morning-
we tried to sleep in a bit..
But the girls wanted to go check out the newly
remodeled pool at the Sun Valley Lodge.
 Everything is beautiful-- and I had to include this picture
of the girls in the new work out center--- all on the treadmill
in their snow boots! 
 We had the best weekend getaway and loved seeing all
the support shown to the amazing Camp Rainbow Gold.
One of the moms of a child with cancer put it perfectly:  she said,
Camp heals a part of our family that medicine can't.
We couldn't agree more.


Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Viva Las Vegas!

What a surreal few days I've had.
Kind of strange to be on a trip and only have to worry about me--
(no kids, no diapers, no chicken nuggets-- you get the idea).
But oh, it was so good to be home and get "super hugs"
from this little guy.
(His face, by the way, has healed so quickly).
 My first night home (last night), our cow, Sadie decided
to give birth to a bouncing baby boy (a huge boy).
 We are now up to seven new calves since Christmas night.
Only one more to go, thank goodness.
But it is really cool to see all those little ones jumping and
running around.
They are pretty cute when they are little
(not so much when they are big).
 I went to Vegas with my brother Doug and his wife Dana.
Dana does all the marketing and sales for a company here in Idaho
that sells components for reloading ammunition.
They are still there-- at a huge convention known as "Shot Show"--
get this, 90 thousand people attend the show.
I went down to help for the day before-- what they call
the range part of the show.  Since you can't shoot guns
in the convention center in the middle of town, they hold
this day out in the desert at a shooting range.
It was quite eye opening (I know hardly anything about guns).
Well, that is, I did before this past weekend.
There were all kinds of booths-- selling everything from silencers
to hunting apps.
The first half of the day was "Media Day"-- what I specifically
went down to help with.
And we had quite a few journalists we talked with.
 The media was in the morning and then stores and distributors
took up the afternoon.
Dana was a rock star-- as was the guy on the far right.
He's a professional competitive shooter (Dana's company
sponsors him)-- so any time I wasn't able to answer
questions, I could steer the people over to them.
 John (the professional shooter) and my brother, Doug
got to shoot everything from brand new, just introduced weapons
to machine guns.
 There were all of the booths like ours-- and then about 60
shooting range "booths".  
Gun heaven for those who are into guns.
 One night we got to go to a private party at the
Strip Shooting Club.
This guy, Marcus Luttrell, a Navy Seal,  is the inspiration for the movie,
The Lone Survivor (starring Mark Wahlberg).
He dazzled everyone with his shooting skills.
 He and another guy were showing us a new type of gun
and a new type of bullet-- one that disintegrates when it
hits metal or cement (instead of ricocheting).
 He had volunteers walk up alongside him as he shot
nearly point blank at a metal box.
The only thing they got hit with was dust from what was
the bullet.
 Then it was our turn to shoot.
Dana and I waited until most everyone in our group 
had gone (and left the room).  You would have too--
in our group was Taya Kyle- (the wife of Chris Kyle who 
was portrayed in the movie, American Sniper) and two
sisters who are three time Olympic Medalists for shooting sports.
 So we didn't totally embarrass ourselves.  Not totally.
We had to hit these targets that popped up and if you hit them,
they fell flat.  May I say, they were the same targets Marcus Luttrell hit.
Anyway, I thought I got two-- but the guy from the range standing next
to me told me I only got one-- Dana got the other one. She actually hit two.
At least I hit one!  I haven't picked up a gun since my reporter days
in Vegas a gazillion years ago- when I had a gun and a concealed weapons
permit.  My, how times have changed (and my life-- and my shooting skills)!
Thankfully, they still let us come to the big party following
the shooting presentation-- at a mansion in Vegas.
It was actually quite fun and surprisingly tame-- for a gun show
party in Vegas.
 My final night, we got to have dinner with my childhood
best friend, April.
She lived one house away from me growing up.
In between our homes, our neighbor "Sunny"--no joke
was in the mafia.  We learned later, a hit man for the St. Louis outfit.
And looking at the context of why I was in Vegas, you will appreciate
the fact that we used to play "Charlie's Angels" and sneak
through Sunny's back yard to get to each other's houses.
He used to get so mad at us!
It is a wonder we survived our childhood.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Road Rash (Ouch)!

Poor Kean.
On our way down to the bus this morning, he crashed and crashed hard.
Bloodied face and bloodied knuckles.
 Any day we get even a skiff of snow, Reese begs to take him down
on a sled.
 Normally, they're both all smiles.
(This was from last week).
Today?  Not so much.
 She got going a little too fast and wiped out.
I'm not sure who cried harder-- Reese felt so horrible for hurting Kean.
Come to think of it, this may be his first ever natural "ouchie" -(one
not given to him at a hospital).
Oh, he cried and cried and stopped crying and bleeding
moments before the bus came.
I sent him to school  but get this, they called and had us
come get him.
I guess you can't have a kid at school with an "open wound"--
their description.  And since there is no way on earth he'd keep
a bandage on, he earned a day off of school.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

A Little Romance and a Little Football

We sure like to jam pack it in around here.
We started our Saturday morning off  throwing a bridal shower for
Nicole.  She married my dear friend Elly Moomey's son Mark a few
weeks ago in Utah.  
We had Mark surprise Nicole and show up for the gift opening
part of the shower.  They are so dang cute together!
 Once we finished with the shower, we headed down to Boise State.
Kean is one of the "Honored Children" that students will be dancing for
at the upcoming BSU Dance Marathon to raise money for St. Luke's 
Children's Hospital.
We were a few minutes late so ended up getting a private tour
of the football facilities.
This is the team room where the players all watch and study
game footage and meet with the coaches.
 Kean certainly made himself at home
in the locker rooms.  He found one of the few lockers
that wasn't assigned-- just like he was waiting
for them to put his name on the locker.
Oh, and by the way, the locker room smelled
wonderful-- clean and fresh.
How do they do that?!?!?
 The Boise State football complex is quite impressive-
for a school this size, it is one of the best.  Definitely, the
nicest in the Mountain West Conference.
The girls got to play in the game room...
 Got to try their muscles pushing the training equipment.

 And took turns running on the famous blue turf.
 Don't ask my why my children insist on being monkeys.
 We all had to laugh-- as they were quite proud of themselves
for being able to lift the 45 pound bar that the weights go on.
 They particularly loved looking and picking out their favorite
uniforms (and pretending to be players -or models)!
 Oh, and we did finally catch up with the rest of the group.
We've gotten to know these brave children and their families
through the hospital and through the Dance Marathon.
Incredibly strong children (and their mama's too).
Oh, and lest we forget, we finished the evening off
with the "Idaho" reception for Mark and Nicole.
Great day.  Exhausting but great.