I Guess If I Have to Play Catch-Up...This is a Good Place to Start!

My family has gotten the BIGGEST kick out of the fact that I counted down the days until Steven came home by how many garbage days were left! I guess it is a memorable occasion that happens every week (either that or we lead a BORING life?? Maybe it is because it became MY responsibility to keep track of it while Handsome was gone?) Oh well, for whatever reason...garbage day was a day of celebration at our house...because it was ONE week closer until the "Daddy-Dude" came home! FINALLY...it was the LAST garbage day before he came home! I don't think I even had to remind them *grin*

I guess I wasn't much better! I also got very emotional when I realized the milk expired AFTER my husband was home! I stood in the aisle at Walmart with tears in my eyes and had to take a picture of the milk cartons LOL! I guess in a military community, people get used to it--since no one even paid much attention to the looney lady in the milk aisle!

It was FINALLY THE DAY!! They were supposed to come in a day earlier--but their flight got bumped. It is amazing how agaonizing an extra 24 hours are! The day just absolutely WENT SOOOOOO SLOW! No homeschool was accomplished...no cleaning...no reading...just a bonkers mommy day! *grin* We finally started getting ready for the BIG event after lunch! When Steven went to Desert Shield/Storm, I was only 19 and had gone home to Idaho for the deployment. Kimmy and I weren't at the base to welcome him home so we wanted to go "all-out gaudy" for him! We spent the afternoon decorating!

I had ordered a "Welcome Home" banner. It was quite the feat getting it hung--I should have let Stevie hang it I guess--since he is taller than me--but staple guns and teenagers just sounded like a recipe for the emergency room LOL!

Missy decided to do a HUGE sidewalk mural as a welcome home! She spent lots and lots of time making it look "just right"!

I decided we would hang yellow ribbons all over. I thought about letting the kids tie them on the tops of the trampoline poles...but once again...emergency room would really detract from the welcome home ceremony *grin* We also ran out of ribbon so that idea got shot down!

Steven has always laughed about all the car windows being decorated at the base...so we made sure his car was just as gaudy as everyone else! We COVERED the car with ribbons, pictures, and more! Everyone got to take a window and decorate however they wanted. (Crayola has the BEST window markers!!)

Kimmy did the whole back window. It said "Welcome from the Zoo Crew" and had a picture signifying each of us...Handsome was the gorilla, Missy the giraffe, Stevie the tiger, Kimmy the wolf and I was the red panda. It looked AWESOME!

Missy made lots of flowers, army men (with "impossible to draw" hair) and hearts galore! The car REALLY stood out! (which is good...since it is a boring white van LOL)

We got to the gym early to find a seat (since my foot doesn't like just standing). The kids took lots of books to read...though everyone was so excited, I don't think they read much! The USO had goodies and drinks available and mostly we just "people watched". It was amazing to see what some people would choose to wear (????) We were boring...just dressed up cute! I was getting worried Kimmy wouldn't get to see her dad come in...they were running late and she had a class she HAD to be at for a test. Luckily she got to be there for the excitement, but then gave him a hug and ran LOL!

After MANY "get your hopes up" false alarms...the DJ would get the crowd worked up with "Let's get ready to rumble..." or other wowsa songs, the smoke started and in through it ran THE SOLDIERS! It was so exciting...trying to figure out which of these identical trees was yours! The screaming and yelling was almost deafening! We yelled out "HANDSOME" because we knew he would know who that was if he could hear us LOL!

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity...but in all actuality was probably only a minute or so...I found him. The look on his face when he turned and saw us was priceless and one I will treasure always! My handsome had come home safe and sound!

I wish I had a picture of Kimmy with her dad too...but she literally hugged and ran! Her teacher had told her she could be late for the test...and she was! I am amazed she got such a high score after all the excitement we had! It was a music appreciation class with slooooow music to identify and other such "dull" questions *grin* How she kept her mind on it, I don't know! Missy and Stevie were soooooo excited to see their dad!

It's always amazing to me, when Handsome comes home after being gone for so long, it feels like he has never been gone. We got into the car, and even after having been alone for so long and being in charge of everything, we just reverted right back to how things were before. It felt nice to be the passenger in the car and to let him drive. It felt right to have him home (after a startling moment or two waking up in the night to someone else in my bed LOL) and I am grateful that we are a family together once again. It has been a super long year and not the easiest one. Here's hoping the next one will be filled with joy, fun and togetherness!

Come Hell or High Water...I Think I Missed the Ark!

Do you ever just have ONE OF THOSE DAYS??? A couple weeks ago I was planning on taking the kids to the Waco Zoo for the day. I woke up to a rainy icky day so we had to regroup quickly and come up with something different to do for "Friday Field Trip Day". We talked about it for a few and decided to run to Austin and hit our favorite used book store, a couple craft stores and maybe have lunch at Ghengis Grill (my favorite new restaurant--my doctors hound me about needing protein!)

It was raining--but not horribly when we left. I noticed we had a flash flood warning--but they don't usually amount to much and hey--I lived 3 years in Miami--they have LOTS of rain! (Plus 3 years in Seattle--we were eternally waterlogged LOL) About half way there we hit some pretty good pockets of rain and I had to really be careful driving (especially when other cars were off the road or spun backwards on the freeway) but still didn't think much of it. You know "crazy drivers who speed" LOL! We did a few of our errands only getting marginally wet but while we were in Michael's--it just opened up and POURED! We got drenched getting back to the car and ended up freezing in the restaurant with the air conditioning and soaking wet clothes! I still didn't think much about it--since we were used to rain. I guess that would be mistake #2--number #1 being--going to town in the first place during the rainstorm LOL!

We normally get to Austin through a little country road--but Kimmy needed to go to a concert that night so I decided it would be quicker to run down the interstate (mistake #3!) I hadn't caught the news that 35 was CLOSED! Part way home we hit TRAFFIC!! It was absolutely backed up! I was able to get off on a frontage road but eventualy it backed up too. You know it's a bad sign when there are news crews all the way up the roadway. I finally hit the exit for the little town of Salado. I decided we would cut through there and hopefully make it home. NOPE! The little river in Salado was now a HUGE river in Salado that had overflowed the banks, covered the bridge and was what was stopping the interstate with water over it also. Blech! Now what? Well, first things first...of course I have to get out of the car...slip and slide over the icky mud so I can take a picture *grin*


This is what used to be a cute little pool of water around a mermaid statue. I had taken the kids recently and the drought was so bad there was just the statue and some slimy stagnant water. NOTHING like the raging river that was all the way from one house up the bank to the other house up the other bank (and the parking lot...and their yards...) The kids watched in awe as trees and BIG branches went whooshing past them!

Well, with the interstate out...and the Salado road out...what now? I asked a couple of the bystanders if they knew another way. One lady gave me directions through massive amounts of country roads...but when I got to the connector road--this is what I saw! Cones not allowing us across since the river was HUGE!! It completely covered the road and up both hills. It was amazing! I wish they would have let me a little closer for pictures LOL!

This is as close as the guy in the truck let me get (below). He also gave me more directions through more tiny little farmroads to the point we weren't even sure which direction we were going anymore. He called ahead to make sure the road was okay...BUT...by the time we made it to that road...it too was under water!! I was in tears at this point. I was down to about 1/4 tank of gas, lost in the country, it was getting dark and every way I turned was under water! It had quit being funny! MUCH more driving and many prayers later, we found a road we could get across and made it to a gas station and then home!

Of course, being the curious person that I am, I took the kids back last week to see how much damage had been caused in Salado. The picture below is the first river we came to (with the mermaid statue) The house in the background had water almost up to it's porch. There is the parking lot you can see and then behind us (quite a ways) is the other house the water was up to! Amazing! Kimmy was impressed with the tree branches stuck in the trees 10 feet up! They got about 18-20 inches of water in about 2 days!

I am pretty sure this piece of road wasn't left in the river area on purpose! It had been washed there with the flooding! The bridge lost it's sidewalk but was okay to drive on still!

Here are the kids at the Mermaid Statue. They were relieved to see that she was still okay! They had worried maybe she had returned to the sea *grin*

The kids spent a lot of time playing in the water...throwing rocks...playing with the small waterfall and more! They had soaked feet by the time we were done!

The parking lot had a HUGE pothole where the water had washed away dirt. Of course Stevie had to goof off for pictures! He was in a weird mood that day! He was pretending he had stamped his foot and cause the "earthshake"

Playing at the Central Texas Fair!

Last week I was offered tickets to the fair from Steven's work! I knew it wasn't going to be a huge fair like some we have been to...but it definately had to be bigger than the Pocatello fair (sorry Robin!) My kids still call that the "P" fair because it didn't have enough to warrant the whole title of "Pocatello Fair"! They had been very spoiled living in Washington and going to the Puyallup Fair--so when they hit Pocatello with the 3 food tables and no rides--they were very disappointed! LOL!

It's hard to believe how much my hoodlums have grown up! Stevie and Missy were mistaken for twins at church this week. Made us laugh pretty good! She is always guessed older than her 11 years! Kimmy will tell you she is slouching--she hates being the short one! Stevie used to love to run up to a lady in our last ward and measure himself against her (she was short and made a comment once that he was getting taller than her). He would LOVE measuring himself now! He is taller than his dad!

This is Stevie's longhorn hat he HAD to have. No...he does not love the football team...he is just obsessed with longhorns since we live in Texas now! He made the Build-a-Bear longhorn, has the MOST obnoxious longhorn shirt and even bought the longhorn cookbook! When he saw the hat...I knew it was $8 more out of my wallet! Kimmy and Missy found some fun hair scrunchies and I got a bouquet of wooden flowers. We had lots of fun walking around and talking to the people who ran the booths!

Steven's work gave out tickets to the rodeo. They also got us into the fair--but we thought we ought to at least go watch for a bit! I think we lasted about 30 minutes LOL! The kids loved the mutton-busting--where little kids hang on for dear life to get across the ring on sheep. The bull-riding was okay but after awhile they were done!

I guess the thing the kids love the most at the fair is...the FOOD! We always try a few things. We all shared a caramel funnelcake and then we tried a deep-fried Twinkie! That was an interesting thing! (I definately did NOT want to try the deep-fried pickle EWWWW!) They take a Twinkie...dip it in batter...then deep fry it. It was actually pretty good!

Poor Kimmy wasn't feeling very good...but took medicine and went anyways. She didn't want to miss out on the fun! (and the yummy food!)

We watched the hypnotist a couple of shows. The second show Stevie decided he wanted to try it. He never did go completely out--so I didn't get to have any embarrasing photos of him (dang!) We had fun laughing at some of the people though! One of his tricks was to make them think they lost their belly-button. One lady got down on all fours looking for hers--she was really upset!

Stevie was so excited over this energy drink--We always call him a NERD! So he had to have his picture taken with HIS truck! Dream on buddy-boy! I am not letting him drive--I have seen him play Nintendo! No WAY!! He tried the drink--but decided it was BLECH!

Fourth of July Fun!

Okay...yes...I am stilling playing catch-up (and I think I will be for awhile!) We were so excited that Handsome was able to be home for the Fourth of July! It's just not quite the same without him! Kimmy and I, with our long hair, have not quite mastered (or even started) the art of the grill! It just wouldn't be the fourth without barbecue! We also love to have him here for everything else associated with the holiday...but especially the barbecue!


We love to make cupcakes for holidays (or cookies...or cake...or ANYTHING sweet!) The kids got to decorate patriotic sprinkled cupcakes. They had a lot of fun decorating them. Missy was so careful with her decorating...


...Stevie could have cared less about the decorating...just let him EAT them as fast as can!

We always have a tradition of buying LOTS of glowsticks for the fourth. (That and those little poppers you can throw) I watched my nephew accidentally step on a sparkler one year and it went right through his foot :( I have never let the kids play with them...It was horrible! They love the glowsticks because you can do so much with them--they wear them, throw them, hide them...the list goes on and on! Missy usually ends up with a ton of them before the night is through!

This time she had made a belt, crown, bracelets, necklace, anklets and more! They usually end up having light-saber fights too

When we lived in Washington, the base handed out fireworks 3-D glasses at their Fourth of July fest...makes the fireworks really beautiful! We saved them every year so we have a pretty good stash of them LOL! We still use them at whatever show we go to (and they make laser shows at the planetarium phenomenal too!) We were lucky enough that we can see the big fireworks show the base here provides from our own front lawn! Then we spent lots of time watching all the traffic from the cars that went to the big fireworks show!

The girls look pretty relaxed watching the show too! Maybe they were just full from barbecuing for lunch AND dinner! Mmmmm...hot dogs, hamburgers, macaroni salad and watermelon! Gotta love the fourth!

Here's handsome and I looking like the old folks relaxing in their rocking chairs! Grow old with me...the best is yet to be!!!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home...

...or...Where the heck has Heidi been? She hasn't posted in FOREVER!!! LOL!

I know...I know...as I am reminded SO often...my blog is really out of date lately! I got out of the habit while I was down with my foot and I keep MEANING to update it...I just never get to it! So pretend today is January 1st and this is my resolution! I have to get back in the habit!

Steven came home for R&R in June for two weeks and it was WONDERFUL!! We had lots of fun just being together as a FAMILY! It is sooooo much nicer to see them in person than just on a webcam! (although the web cam is DEFINATELY an improvement since the first time he went to Iraq during Desert Shield/Storm!!) It was SO much fun to go to the airport and pick him up. I felt like a teenager getting ready for a date LOL! "Is my hair okay?" "Does this outfit look okay?" "Will he still think I am beautiful?" I think I drove the kids nuts! Needless to say...he liked what he saw! I love that man!

I took a ton of fun pictures of our days of playing...and will try to post a few more here and there! (Yes, mom...this is mostly for you...I know you LOVE the pictures!) The kids were very excited to have their cameras they got for their birthdays. Kimmy's birthday isn't until January...guess what she wants? We'll have more pictures of every event than any family should EVER have! Now I need to find the time to scrapbook a few of them!

Do I at Least Get a Discount on Pedicures?

Wow! This is a hard post to write about! I have thought about it several times in the last few weeks that I need to update my blog...but honestly...I am kind of scared to share this {sigh}

About four weeks ago, I got sick...REALLY sick! We had been cramming to finish our homeschool year up early. Our promotion date was Tuesday, April 20 and WE MADE IT!! We wanted to be able to get our new supplies before summer, so we could work ahead since we knew we were going to be moving next year in the middle of the year. We had a bunch of fun things planned to do over the next month while we waited for the supplies to get here. Everything WAS looking great!

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling kinda crummy...like I had the flu coming on. I stayed in bed. I even {gasp} turned on Steven's big TV and watched it. (I NEVER watch TV--I hadn't even turned his TV on since he left in November). I mean, I REALLY felt crummy. I kept getting worse and worse. I hurt everywhere. Thursday I noticed my left foot was swollen and really bothering me. I had a blister on my toe that looked infected and the toe was starting to swell...but I HATE doctors...so I just kept putting ice on it and anti-bacterial stuff--hoping it would go down. By Friday, I was pretty much in agonizing pain. I took the last of a some leftover pain stuff I had from a previous problem and it didn't even dull the pain. I still fought going to the doctor though.

Finally, about 11:00 pm, I couldn't take it anymore and begged Kimberly to take me to the Emergency Room. By this time the toe was almost twice the size and the whole left foot was red and swollen almost up to the ankle. Military waiting rooms are notorious for taking FOREVER and this was no exception. When other patients are asking to pray for you...you know you must be in pretty bad condition. Basically, my toe was just "melting". It was turning black and oozing everywhere. Each time they would ask me where my pain was on a scale of 1-10, I would say 9 or 10 and still I waited.

When we finally were able to see a doctor who could help us, it was early Saturday morning. This doctor was an angel. She chose to come in even though it was not her weekend. She knew the urgency of what was happening and knew how quickly it had to happen. She told me later, 12 more hours and I would have been dead. I knew from watching my toe that it would be amputated. We didn't know how much more would have to go too. It was very tramatic. I felt so bad for Kimmy--she was worried and scared. I am so blessed she chose to come to Texas with me to stay while her dad is deployed. She gave up scholarships to to it and I will be forever grateful to her for choosing to be with her family.

I spent 3 days in ICU and an additional 5 days in the hospital. The big toe had strep and e coli infections in it. They also had to take part of the bone the the toe connects to. I am very blessed that was as far as the amputation had to go. They were very concered I would lose the whole foot and possible the leg before I went into surgery. There was also a worry of organs shutting down if the wound became septic. (To read more about this type of infection: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrotizing_fasciitis)

I came home from the hospital having gained 56 lbs. of water weight from all the IV's and such! I felt like Violet after she turns into a blueberry in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"! It was pretty miserable--I felt like if you poked me I would explode. It was pretty amazing losing 50 lbs. in about 6 days though! I wouldn't suggest this diet plan though {grin}

It is going to be a long recovery {sigh} I have to have antibiotics administered through a PICC line for about 6 weeks. I am also supposed to be non-weight-bearing on my foot for quite a while. I am not the easiest person to put on those restrictions...I am not a patient patient {grin} I guess I just am frustrated a lot...we had worked SO hard to finish school so we could have a month off...and now our new books are here...and I am still hurting tremendously and can't do anything. Percocet is my new best friend...but then I overdo and pay for it later...or my head is so muddled I can't do what I want. {sigh}

I am so grateful to so many people who have looked out for my family. For all the meals people have brought in (even when I say we don't need them--I know Kimmy has appreciated having a night off), for the people who have said they are bringing "just milk and cereal" and then proceeded to bring the whole store, for the flowers and cards, for the visits to keep me sane while I am stuck on the couch, and the phone calls "just to check on me"...Thank you! You will never know how much it has meant to me and my family. I hope one day I can make a difference in your lives too.

I have tried to find humor in this trial. Sometimes it's not easy...but I'm trying. One day in the middle of a bad pain period we got to laughing too hard about my toe--the doctors think I have a warped sense of humor I think. (They also think you're strange if you mention the words "Toe Funeral" while they are in the room!)

• How will the little piggy get roast beef now that the big piggy is not there to go to market? The piggy that stayed home is going to just HAVE to get over his anxiety about leaving the house!

I have had MANY people want to see pictures. So...if surgery pictures gross you out...you may want to quit reading {grin} but here goes: {BIG BREATH}

This is what my foot looks like most of the time {grin} Nice BIG bandages covering the whole foot! Lots of cotton gauze!

This is the PICC line I get my antibiotics in every day. They asked me in the hospital "Are you right or left handed?" I assumed it was so they wouldn't tie up my arm I used the most...Nope! They put it in my right arm, so it is hard for me to do stuff {sigh} I have a nurse who comes a couple days a week to draw blood and change the bandaging...but other than that it is "Nurse Kimberly" who takes care of me!

This is my foot about 5 days after coming home from the hospital. You can still see some of the swelling. The round black spot is another dead skin area they are still watching. There was quite a bit of concern about having to still go in and take it off too. The incision is a LOT longer than most people expect--it goes almost up to my ankle. I guess they had to clean out quite a bit of infected skin. I have a great start on a Frankenstein costume for Halloween!

This is my foot on my most recent Doctor appointment last week. You can see the swelling is down quite a bit. There are still a couple trouble spots they are watching, but it is looking a lot better. They had to add more stitches to the incision--it was not healing quite like they wanted. YEOUCH!! The skin is starting to peel horribly too--so it itches like crazy! Hopefully one day I can put this whole experience behind me {sigh} It has been a very long month!

The Goose Attacked the Grandparents!

I know I am a little (well okay...a LOT) behind in posting! My parents had been here from Idaho visiting! They came down for Stevie's birthday and we had been playing a lot! It was an awesome visit! The first day they were here, we decided to take them to the duck pond. I guess they must have look appetizing--the big brown goose decided to sample my poor dad. (He also got Kimmy--she has a big bruise on her leg) We had to run away from them--the goose was too demanding and would try to nip you--and it HURT!


Kimmy (injured leg and all) had fun feeding the BIG fish in the pond. They are HUGE and it is fun to watch them jump for the bread! There was a turtle that day too. Oh yeah...and the ducks *grin*


Stevie and Missy just stayed away from the goose! They went on the other side of the pond and had fun playing in their imaginary world--they are always in some magic kingdom with creatures of all sorts around them.

My mom...can't you just hear her saying "Don't you take my pictures Heidi!"?? One of these days she'll get used to her shutterbug daughter! LOL! She was busy feeding the small birds around her.

I love this picture of my dad feeding the ducks! Isn't he handsome?

It was a fun trip...goose bites and all! We had a lot of fun playing this week. (Sadly they already went home) I have lots of fun pictures to put up! Thanks for coming Mom and Dad! You made Stevie's birthday extra special! We had a BLAST!!