Rear Window

Gotta love lazy Saturday afternoons.

Byron and Holland cuddled up to watch Rear Window 

starring two of my favs-- Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.

 One of Byron's best friends-- Wendy, sent him the movie.

In case you are not familiar with it, Jimmy Stewart plays a man

who has broken his leg and is stuck sitting in a chair.

From his window, he sees what appears to be a neighbor

 in the apartment building commit a murder.

We laughed so hard when Byron got this movie in the mail.

A bit of life imitating art-- just without the murder.

Meanwhile, Mister Kean, who was not one iota interested in the movie,

posted himself at our rear window
and pined away for a motorcycle ride--

 and guess what?!?!?

Motorcycle Jeff arrived to save the day and make the day.

I tell ya, he keeps that motorcycle spit polished and can

keep an eye on Kean as they are riding on the mirror- like gas cap.

Pretty perfect set up.

 We have all formed the "Motorcycle Jeff" fan club for life.

Not only does he take a certain little boy for his fix

but today he took Greer for quite the spin.

He's sure one of the good guys.

X Marks the Spot

Great news.

We have crossed another doctor off of our long list.

Kean had a follow-up with his Pediatric Urologist,

Dr. Ebbers this morning.

She looked at his scars and checked to make sure his newly

sewn down testicles looked right (and they do).

Let's just say, Kean wasn't too thrilled.

It took three of us to hold him down.

In fact, he was so miffed, he refused to give her the time of day

when we tried to get a picture of the two of them together at the end of the visit.

 As I mentioned, the good news is we don't ever have to go back to this doctor.

The bad news is Kean has to be checked for testicular cancer every year

from here on out.

I guess in another life that would freak me out.

But since we will already be checking Kean for the rest of his life

to see if the cancer he already has will come back-- what's

another check?

Holland had a great day at school.

Easter Sunday is her big 13th birthday... 

yikes, her entry into teen-hood.

Her friends surprised her with a decorated locker

and lots of treats and gifts.ii

And Elly Moomey took her out to dinner

and shopping for her birthday.

I love my sweet girl

and all those who love her too.

The Return of Spartacus

Byron, a.k.a. "Ironman" has driven himself to work

the past two days.

He's driving with his left foot- yikes!

He's determined to try and help his brother, Craig,

keep the business up and running.

Of course, he's paying for it a bit tonight with a swollen foot 

but I knew he'd be anxious to get going

(as much getting and going as one can do

with one foot).

Meanwhile, I have to show you what is now hanging over

Kean's crib.

 Spartacus was Kean's nickname back when I was pregnant with him.

He was our little warrior baby

who fought against all odds

to prove the doctor's predictions wrong

and join us in this world.

 Amazing how he's still living up to that name

now a few years later.

Thanks Pam Brown for the "I Am Spartacus" sign.

I love what it reminds me of

and what it represents-- one brave boy!

Things That Go Vroom....

Kean didn't get his motorcycle fix today... but he did get a lawn mower fix.

Our good friend and neighbor, Joe came over this morning and mowed

the lawn for Byron.

Kean went about half crazy inside the house watching that lawn

mower going back and forth...

and thankfully, Joe was sport enough to take him for a while.

 The girls had a day off from school today.

Lucky Reese had a much awaited play date with her friend, Emma from school.

Emma's parents happen to own a limo

and offered to take the girls (plus Joe's daughter Jaymie for a ride around

town and then to the park).

Repeat after me-- HYPER.

The girls were bouncing off the leather upholstered seats.

Literally.

 And no, I wasn't stalking them.

I had some errands to run and followed them for a few blocks.

Good thing.

My arm may not recover from the constant waving.

The Secret Basket

Byron's leg looks a lot better today than it did yesterday.

So we are making progress.

My worry though, is he will get around the pain corner

and overdo it.

Who am I kidding, that's exactly what he will do!

It was much cooler and windy today-- Kean crawled

around the house much of the afternoon with his motorcycle helmet.

Hint.  Hint dad.

 I have to tell you about what happened to our family last night--

we got a call from our neighbor's the Bodily's saying

the Easter Bunny had stopped by and delivered a basket

to their house for the Barker kids.

Of course, the girls couldn't run down there fast enough.

They came back with a bag filled with treats, the cutest pair of

shorts and a t-shirt for Keanut...

 and new Easter outfits for the girls!!!

They were beyond thrilled

and mom was a bit teary.

So dear Easter Bunny...

thank you wherever you are

(and whoever you are)!

Frankenstein

I took "Gimpy" down to the doctor's office today for a followup.

Doc Spellich said he was healing up and looked fabulous.

 His nurse cut the stitches out (ouch-- I chose wisely not to watch)

and they gave him a "walking boot" that is just for looks.
Actually, it is for support and protection if he falls-- but still

no walking on his foot for another month.

 Nothing makes a painful trip to the doctor's office all worth it...

than a box full of "medicine" from Uncle Marc, Aunt Rachel and

the cousins in Texas.

 Kean had a better than good day too.

"Motorcycle Jeff" came over after dinner 

and took our boy for a loooonnnnng evening ride.

 I swear this man deserves angel wings.

He's having surgery next week and will be off for a few weeks...

so asked if one of his co-workers could take over for the interim.

I'm thinking we need to get t-shirts made that say

"Kean's Angels".

Whaddya think?

The Poster Family

Another day, another day closer to Byron being healed.

Yeah right.  We've got a long haul ahead of us-- 9 months to a year before he's 

back to full capacity.  

But it sounds good to tell myself that.

Holland helped me take Keanut for a walk this afternoon.

That girl-- I just love her.

She told me she has a dream of creating an assisted living community

for young adults and adults with Down syndrome.

I see the fact that our girls are so compassionate and kindhearted

as a direct result of all the upheaval and challenges 

we've gone through thus far.

So there's another silver lining.

(Byron and I have desperately been forcing ourselves to find and focus on

the silver linings)!

We've had a few people tell us perhaps the silver lining

to Byron getting injured and now being out of work-- could

be the opportunity for others to serve our family.

Um, hate to break the news, but we have been the poster

family for others serving us.

If you think about it, on and off for five years starting with my problematic pregnancy,

 we've been surrounded

by friends, neighbors, family and church members helping us, lifting us

and loving us.  

It has been an incredibly beautiful experience to feel so loved and supported--

but really, I can't begin to imagine that's why we are struggling once again.

On to the next theory.

By the way, our super cool Home Teacher (guy assigned from our church congregation

to visit our family once a month and make sure we are doing okay), Jonathan Riggs

came over this afternoon and got our sprinklers up and running. 

 See what I'm talking about?