Scavenger Hunt Sunday 08.03.14

Time for another Scavenger Hunt!  We are up to our eyeballs in Monarchs this year!  If you've been following along at all here or on Facebook, then you would know that we are raising LOTS of butterflies this year.  At least we are hoping too.  We have released one butterfly so far and have many more Monarchs in various stages.  Anyway, much of my time this week was spent feeding them and cleaning their containers.  On Tuesday after I left a friend's house, I decided to do more searching (since I was without kids) and found LOADS of eggs and nine (I think) caterpillars.  I plan to do a blog post soon on our progress so keep an eye out for that.

Moving on to this week's finds ...

{two things}

When I was giving these guys some fresh milkweed leaves to eat, I found that these two were hanging together on what once was a leaf.  Looks like a mirror image, doesn't it?

{animal}

Honey is the only animal we have.  Unless you count the frog, two salamanders, 6 or so snails, giant millipede, and over a hundred Monarch caterpillars we are currently housing also.  :)

{handwriting}

I write the Scavenger Hunt list down every week so I can remember the prompts.

{frozen}

This was a late-Saturday-night, I don't have a photo for "frozen" yet, photo.  Keira didn't complain though, because she got to eat ice cream.  :)

{naptime}

We are well beyond the age of naptimes in this house, unless you are Honey who sleeps 22 hours a day :) so Keira pretended to nap for me during our hike Saturday afternoon.

That's all I have for now!  Be sure to go visit Ashley for more great finds!  Have a wonderful week!

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Our 12th Week ~ 2014

Last week went by pretty quickly.  Sunday and Monday I recorded Keira and a classmate doing a presentation for science.  (That seems like so long ago now.)  Tuesday we had Bible study as usual in the morning, then in the evening Keira and I met with friends to get some cyber schooling information.  Keira had asked if we could look into the possibility.  Wednesday Honey went to the groomer for a couple hours.  She's always so soft and pretty when she comes home even though she's a nervous wreck while she's there.  

Thursday Keira and I had our vision checked.  I was way overdue for an exam and she had been complaining of not being able to read the blackboard at school.  Friday I got my hair cut.  Just a trim.  Not donating yet.  It was also Doug's birthday, but we didn't really plan anything since he had come home from work early on Monday and stayed home Tuesday because he was sick.  We did manage to get rid of the kids for a few hours and watch a movie - Captain Phillips.  Good movie.  You should watch it if you haven't already. 

Saturday was Alex's soccer game but he was really misbehaving on Friday night at the sitter's, so we didn't go.  He has spent quite a bit of time in his room since then.  Keira and I went to a bridal shower for one of the young women in our church Saturday afternoon.  It was a nice time.  Kudos to the ladies that planned it.  It went pretty quickly, despite all the gifts she got!  Then we ran in to pick up Keira's glasses that were ready already.  Mine aren't ready yet. 

Anyway, onto some of the pics I took last week ...


Keira doesn't usually wear green but she made an exception for St. Patrick's Day.  I had bought some green items for Wednesday's class at church.  The topic was about being green with envy like Joseph's brothers were with him.


I hadn't captured the moon in a while, so I gave it a go the other night.  This photo isn't as sharp as I would like.  I will have to work on that.


The calendar may say it is spring, but the weather says otherwise.  It has still been pretty cold with a nice day thrown in here and there just to tease us.  I decided to go buy some tulips to brighten things up a bit.  They make me smile every time I look at them.


Honey loves a good belly rub from Daddy.  :)


Our Frozen DVD/Blu-Ray came Tuesday morning.  Even though it didn't ship until late Monday afternoon.  Gotta love Amazon Prime.  :)  I've had several songs from the movie stuck in my head all week now.

Some of the other photos I took last week, I already showed in Sunday's Scavenger Hunt post.  Like Keira with her violin and with her new glasses.  Go check them out if you have a minute.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great week!

Linking with Tamar.

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Happy birthday, Honey!

Today is our dog Honey's birthday.  She's five years old!  It seems as though she should be older than that because I honestly can't remember what life was like before she became part of our family.

In honor of her, I wanted to share a picture that I took of her in February 2009, shortly after we adopted her.  (Pre-photography days - just picture-taking days.  In other words, my camera was in auto.)  :)

Awwwww!  She was a 13 pound ball of fur.  A bundle of energy.  With razor sharp teeth.  Just ask Nick who quickly became her favorite chew toy.  We went through many pairs of jeans during her puppy period.  :)

And today ...

She's our beautiful girl.  Still a ball of fur (leaving it everywhere she goes) :).  Not as much energy but still quite playful.  And her teeth aren't nearly as sharp.  But she is such a gentle spirit.  Nick is still her favorite chew toy but she's a bit easier on him these days.

We are so blessed to have her as part of our family!

Happy birthday, Honey!  We hope to celebrate many more birthdays with you!

Linking with 5 Minutes for Mom, NC Sue and ...

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Week 30 in Pictures

We're home!!!!  Alex (and I) got released from the hospital on Wednesday.  We had to wait until Doug got off work to come get us, so we still spent the better part of the day at the hospital, but most of it, Alex wasn't hooked up to anything.  So we had lots of fun playing.  He was actually a little disappointed when Doug showed up because the hospital was hosting a fun Luau starting at 6:00 and Doug got there at 5:40.  Alex wanted to stay for the party, but we were anxious to get home.


He got his PICC line out in the morning, which was traumatic, as expected.  Although the IV nurse was really great.  She let Alex do most of the work which made it easier on him.  He felt more in control.  Removing all the adhesive is what freaks him out the most.  But she let him do almost all of it.  And then he didn't even feel the line being taken out.

We are so glad to be home.  Alex is doing great.  Eating and playing and fighting with his brother and sister.  Just like we never left.  :)   We're trying to get back to normal now.  I'm still trying to get caught up on sleep.  I told the kids to give me a week to sleep in in the mornings and then I should be okay.  We'll see.  :)  I managed to sneak in a chiropractic adjustment on Friday.  Man, did I need that after sleeping on a couch all that time.

Anyway, I am excited to be home and have the opportunity to photograph non-hospital stuff.  Here's what last week looked like ...

{Sunday}

Alex and I really enjoyed spending time in the hospital's healing garden.  We went there quite frequently ... when he felt up to it.

{Monday}

Alex was allowed to have clear liquids today!   He was so excited to have apple juice and a popsicle.  I tortured him by making him wait for the popsicle while I photographed it.  :)  Not the greatest photo but I was quite limited in my set up capabilities.

{Tuesday}

Jello for breakfast (and lunch)!  Must be more fun to eat it with your fingers.  He was watching TV and doing his best to ignore me taking his picture.  :)  Poor guy's cheek is all broken out where the adhesive was holding the NG tube in.  The other side didn't do that the first time we were in the hospital, so I don't know why it happened this time.  It is clearing up now though.

{Wednesday}

Shiloh, one of the therapy dogs that visits the hospital, stopped to see us before we went home.  He's such a handsome dog!

{Thursday}

Lots of flowers blooming at home including these liatris and sunflowers.

{Friday}

After so much hot, dry weather, we have been getting quite a bit of rain lately.  At dinnertime we noticed a rainbow in the sky and decided to try to find the end of it - leaving dinner sitting on the table.  While we didn't find the end, we did find this nice clearing where I could photograph the double rainbow without the usual trees in the way.

{Saturday}

I finally got to spend some time enjoying the hummingbirds that visit my feeder.

     


My favorite photo from July ...

If you recall, we got to watch the fireworks from our hospital room window ... one of the bright spots from our stay there.

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The great hospital adventure continues

Sorry I left you hanging there.  It has been a surprisingly busy few days.  Between visitors, our hospital explorations, and time spent in the play room, I just haven't taken the time to write.  And, yes, we are still here.  :)

If you missed the beginning of our story, go check these posts out ...

Deja vu all over again, part 1

Deja vu all over again, part 2

Deja vu all over again, part 3

Monday wasn't super exciting.  Not much happened.  Alex's belly was still full of the gas they put in for surgery, so he was pretty sore.  We did manage to walk down to the play room for a little while.  But mostly he slept.  He was allowed ice chips but he didn't like the taste of them (chlorinated water).  I coaxed him to eat some anyway.

Pastor Dick stopped by for a visit and brought a game - a gift from his wife, my friend, Becky.  She even sent the batteries that the game needed.  However, it required a little screwdriver, so we had to ask Mark from the play room if he could help us out.  He brought the screwdriver and even put the batteries in for us.  (Did I mention how nice everyone is here?  Well, they are!)  Alex did enjoy playing the game but mostly he just wanted to rest.

On Tuesday Alex was still pretty sore and full of gas.  The doctors and nurses kept asking him if he had farted yet.  I've never heard the word fart so many times as I have this week.  :)  We joked around with the nurses and doctors that Nick is more the farter in our house; Alex would be more of a burper.  :)

He was bumped up to clear liquids and had some apple juice and water, although he still really didn't want anything yet.  I managed to get him up and walking four times - twice to the play room and twice around the loop in our ward.  He was shuffling like a little old man and needed my help just moving around.

You can see the discomfort on his face.  :(

Daddy, Keira, and Nick came to visit along with three dogs, Jazz, Rufus, and Crackers.  We were excited to get dog visits.  And we got some mail - get well wishes from friends.

       

Before bed Alex kept saying his heart hurt.  :(  Then around midnight he vomited green stuff.  Like Shrek or Grinch green stuff.  And lots of it.  Ick.  We got him all cleaned up and back to sleep.  Then again around 2 a.m. he vomited again.  Poor guy.  I felt so bad for him.  It sucks being a mom when there is nothing you can do to help your child feel better.  We hugged and prayed and he went back to sleep and was okay until morning.


On Wednesday during rounds they backed him down to ice chips again because of the vomiting.  He was starting to move around better, walking without my help and moving faster.  We went out to the garden - there is a garden right here on the 6th floor balcony - and sat for a while.  It is a nice place to relax and has a great view of the city.  He was having frequent bowel movements and we were back and forth to the bathroom about 800 times.


He was smiling and even giggled a little and was more talkative than he had been.


However, around noon he vomited again.  The doctor (Dr. Tony - he never told us his last name - he is one of our favorite docs here) told me that if he threw up one more time, the NG tube was going to have to go back in.  An NG tube goes into your nose and down your throat to your stomach to help drain fluids.  And from what I'm told, it is no fun, especially for a little boy.  So we prayed and prayed that he would start to feel better and not have to have the tube inserted.  (If you recall from Part 3, he had a tube in after surgery but it wasn't draining well so our nurse tried pushing it down further.  Instead of going down like it was supposed to, it coiled in his throat and was choking him, so she pulled it out.)  


Daddy, Keira, Nick, Grammy, and Linda all visited today, since it was a holiday and no one had to work.  Once they all left, we settled in and waited for the fireworks.  We were told that we should sell tickets to our room because we would have a really great view.  For those of you who've seen some prior posts, you know that we did.





Our nurse, Maria, stopped in to watch them for a few minutes.  She said she had been in every room along our side of the building and we had the best view.  I guess if you are going to be stuck in the hospital on the 4th of July, you may as well have a great view of the fireworks.


Once the fireworks were done, we settled in for the night.  Praying for a good night.

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Week 27 in Photos

Despite being in Children's Hospital all week with Alex, I managed to get a photo a day except for one.  We are still here ... day 11, I believe ... and are looking at possibly going home on Friday.  I haven't had much time to blog the rest of our great hospital adventure story, but I hope to soon.  In the meantime, these are the photos I captured last week ...

{Saturday, June 30}

I was short one last week since this photo was on my phone and I couldn't get to it - no cord and unable to connect to my email here at the hospital.  Alex and I both got to share this first ... riding in an ambulance.  Not that it was a bad experience but once was enough for me.

{Sunday}

I'm totally cheating on this one.  This was Alex's surgery day.  And the last thing I wanted to do was take pictures even though Doug brought my camera down to the hospital.  This photo was originally taken for Sunday's Scavenger Hunt prompt "mosaic", but I ended up using something else.  This is part of a pillar in the play room down the hall from where we've been camped out.

{Monday}

We got to watch the sun setting from our window.

{Tuesday}

Monday we had a visit from a Child Life specialist who offered to sign us up for a dog visitation program they do here.  This was one of the dogs that visited us this day.  Her name is Crackers.  She, like our dog Honey, likes to sprawl out on the floor and make herself comfortable.

{Wednesday}

We had a great view of Pittsburgh's fireworks display from our hospital room window.  I layered a few photos together to get this grand finale type photo.

{Thursday}

This is Ike.  He's the ugliest dog I have ever seen ... a hairless Chinese Crested.  He was a sweetie though.

{Friday}

Today was a rough day.  Alex had a tube inserted in his nose to drain the yucky stuff from his stomach.  (He'd been vomiting for the past few days).  Since he didn't feel like going anywhere, we stayed in the room and played games, watched movies, and read books.  He kicked my but at Candy Land, but I got him back with Connect Four.  :)

{Saturday}

Doug and the kids came down for a visit today.  The kids got bored in the room so I took them down to the play area.  They had fun trying out the Xbox Kinect.  I'm sure they'll be begging us to buy them one now.  :)

     


Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great week!

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