Pretty Princesses!

Cannon the Caveman

Why is it just so natural for a kid to pick up a bat and hit things with it? I think it goes back to the old caveman club.

Pain killers

Dad's knee replacement surgery went great. I went to visit him this morning and watched as the physical therapist got him out of bed and into a chair. It was a lot of work for the both of them. I think Dad was a little frustrated he couldn't walk yet, but I also think his femoral block was still in effect, so he didn't have much control over his legs yet. When he started to get out of bed, I decided to leave the room so I didn't get flashed. My original vantage point was behind him looking at his backside in his untied hospital gown. I decided that is not a side of my dad that I wanted to see. However, I think he has the same attitude as I do when I am in the hospital... come one come all! If you don't want to see... don't look!

He is still a little loopy on his pain medication and he is very sleepy. I think he took a few naps in the middle of our conversation. During our conversation, he kept saying that 2001 was 11 years ago. I corrected him a few times, but he kept going back to that 11 years. It was weird to hear my dad get a simple math problem wrong. This is Mr. Super Engineer we are talking about!

Mom visited him this afternoon and he didn't remember me coming to visit this morning. I wondered if he would. He could also not remember what he ate for breakfast... not so different than me sometimes! Allie visited him this evening and she said he was even worse and wasn't putting full sentences together. The nurses say its normal from his pain meds... I was starting to worry he had a stroke! I am not taking the kids to see him until he is on a lower dosage!

Summer summer summer time!

It was warm today. It feels like summer is finally here and we are enjoying it!

The kids went to swim lessons this morning. I got a cute photo of Zane and Spencer lying in the warm puddles of water on the side of the pool. Unfortunately with Zane’s lean body, he also inherited his Daddy’s tendency to freeze as soon as he gets in the water.

The kids enjoyed the slip n’ slide in the backyard this afternoon. We got some great photos! Zane really enjoying going on his stomach, but he had a hard time staying straight on the plastic and often ended up sliding halfway on the grass.

At swim lessons... nothing better than the warm dirty water on the deck of the pool!

Dancing with the Stars!

I feel old!

Two weeks ago I was playing slowpitch softball on a women's team. We were having a great game, I had been hitting well and I was feeling good! Around the 5th inning, I was running the bases between second and third, when all of a sudden I was falling on my face in the dirt. As I fell, I turned sideways, landed on the side of my right knee and I heard a loud POP!

Its amazing what can go through your mind in just a small moment of time. I really wanted to just lie on the ground and wait for them to call time and scoop my body up off the dirt. All I could think was "OH MY GOSH THAT HURT SO BAD!" and then the stronger thought was "THE PLAY IS STILL GOING... I HAVE TO GET TO 3RD BASE!" All within the second that I had fallen, I was thinking those thoughts, then rolled onto my back and somehow my momentum kept me going until I was able to get back up on my feet. I painfully bumbled and stumbled to 3rd, then slid under the tag. I was safe, but boy was I in pain! It was one of the proudest moments of my life because I knew I had given it my all rather than giving up!

When I finally stood up I was laughing inbetween my gasps of pain. I was imagining how uncoordinated I must have looked. I asked for a runner and they had another gal come to replace me. But then they all turned around and walked away. I had to call them back to help me walk into the dugout. Sad to say that this was the only time in my life that I needed someone to help me off the playing field or court of any game! I felt old!

My teammates were saying things like "No pressure, but you are ok right? We don't have any extra players to relpace you!" I know this is rude, but there is one girl that I find rather annoying and don't particularly like as a person nor respect as a player. I was explaining where my leg hurt (basiclly all the way around my leg from the knee down to my ankle), she said "Oh, welcome to how I feel every day!" I wanted to slap her. Is that rude? Sorry.

I was still laughing mostly because that is how I deal with stressful situations... and how could I not laugh because I hurt myself by tripping over NOTHING! But I was hurting bad. I could barely walk, let alone run, but I finished out the game. We lost by one point after two extra innings.

After nearly two weeks of icing and lots of ibuprofin, my leg is starting to feel normal again when I am just sitting around. It still hurts when I try to run or when I stretch, so any real physical activity other than mowing the lawn has been out. For the first few days I felt very depressed when I saw other people running and playing. I became very aware of my injury when I played with my kids outside. The thought kept coming to mind that I wouldn't be able to run to them if they needed me. Oh the things I take for granted!

For the past 10 years I haven't been as active as I was in high school, but I've always been able to do the things I wanted to do! I feel so old! But at least I am still laughing about that too.

I have learned how valuable and precious a working body is! I am so thankful for a healthy body that can walk and run when I need it to. I swear when this is over I am taking better care of it!

Dad's knees

This picture is one of our favorites of my parents. We think this picture was taken the day Jon and Deanna were married in Portland, nearly 8 years ago!

This year my dad will be 73 and although he is quite healthy, he has experienced some wear and tear on his body. This last year his doctor told him he was borderline diabetic. Since then he has lost around 50 pounds. He is thinner than I ever remember him, he is doing great and I couldn't be prouder. (His new motto "If its white, don't bite!) Way to go Dad!

Dad's big battle now is his knees. He had his right knee scoped about 10 years ago, but it's time now for knee replacement surgery. His left knee will also most likely need to be scoped as well. They are confident that after his recovery he will be feeling great. Until then, I worry about him going up and down the stairs to get to his computer and ham radio gear. We may need to make some new arrangements. Its going to be a different summer for him! I love you dad!

The Jungle Gym

As a parent do you ever feel like you are a human jungle gym? Now I understand why my parents always called us monkeys.