Turkeys homeschooled

A&E were off the entire week of Thanksgiving. I loved having them home with me all day. I think they were tired of each other by the weekend though because they were fighting over everything. They were excited to go back to school on Monday (but I was sad).

Since I wasn't feeling well, I tried to keep activities for them to do. They are much better at amusing themselves but Evan would rather play a video game or play ball than do anything else. I didn't want him to rot his brain and I wasn't up to playing ball so we did some homeschooling and I set up games for them to play. Their favorite was pirates. I was the captain of the ship (aka my recliner) and they had to go find objects for me like a treasure hunt. I would give them shapes, colors, or beginning sounds. They were really good at it and even put it all back when we were done. That will definitely be used again when it's too cold to play outside!

Evan coloring a turkey


Avery doing patterns of pilgrims, indians, and turkeys


Disclaimer: I absolutely did not do that to Avery's hair. Her hair looked like that almost every day she was home. I think the most hairbows she had in her hair at one time was 12. I am not a fan of this look. ;)

Thanksgiving Day

I was sick on Thanksgiving Day. I loaded up on my meds and tried not to eat much before we went over to the neighbors for dinner (so glad Taira invited us because Andy would have had to cook it all himself here). I ended up leaving shortly after we ate because I was so sick. Maybe I was too brave in my eating but I didn't have that much!

Anyway here are the few pics I do have.

Andy prepping the turkey (centerpieces) ;)


Family photo (yes I do realize how pale I am in this pic)


The kids decorating the turkeys

Thanksgiving Program

A&E had a Thanksgiving program at school before their Fall Break. Sadly, I had surgery the first day and wasn't feeling up to going on the second day. Andy was able to go and get video and pics on Friday. He has the video on his phone so I don't have it yet.

A&E were both Pilgrims. I made the Indian vests (while on pain meds) so please don't look too closely at those. ;)







Our little pilgrims

Christmas cards

I enjoy being eco-friendly. So this year I had almost decided not to do photo cards for Christmas. Plus it saves time (to figure out what pics to use) and money. Plus they get tossed after the holidays, I am sure. Wouldn't it be wise to send a paper (recyclable card) and include a photo with it? It would but......

Then I heard about the Tiny Prints Christmas Cards. Darn them and their sweet temptation. If I blog about them, I can get 50 free cards. It's free which is saving me money and I just worked on photobooks so I have photos.....

So now I am stuck deciding which adorable card. I honestly hadn't thought about them for Christmas cards. I knew they did birth announcements and invitations though. I've heard great things about them. I should just give them a try! Right?!

So you may be receiving one of these cards if I do give in to the pressure. ;)

Update

I typed out a post early yesterday morning about how I was feeling better. I happened to be up not feeling so great but I was amazed at how I could eat again. I was sooo counting my chickens before they hatched. Yesterday was a rough day. I had heartburn, nausea, constipation, and gas pains.


I spent most of the day in bed (and whining to Andy, Kristi, and my mom....sorry guys). In a fit of rage (ok it wasn't quite that bad), I deleted my feeling good post that jinxed me.

Andy went back to work today and I wasn't sure how this was going to go since A&E are off school all week. Thankfully they have been amazing and helping take care of me and being very gentle around my stomach. Andy laid out food and drinks for them so I could lay in bed for a while this morning (it's so hard to get up and get started even on a good day so this helps). They only bugged me about 20 times (lol) before I got up. There will definitely be nap time today. I've had to get creative parenting from the recliner. Acting like I'm the queen helps because playing pretend is a big hit. ;)



My pain meds don't seem to be lasting as long. I thought I could do without them yesterday and that was a big mistake. I still need them (as much as I hate to admit it). Today has been better than yesterday but I'm still not feeling as good as I did on day 2, digestion wise. I can move around more and my incisions aren't as sore but I'm still having heartburn and a stomachache. At least I can get out of bed on my own! I'm REALLY hoping that my digestive system is getting used to not having my gallbladder because I am so ready to feel better. I'm also ready to get out the Christmas decorations!!

Farewell, gallbladder

I FINALLY met with a general surgeon today and I loved him. Seriously one of the best docs I have seen in Arkansas. He listened to what all has been going on and explained everything to me. Verdict: this gallbladder is coming out tomorrow morning!

See ya, sac o' bile


I'm not going to lie though. I'm nervous. The whole surgery and cutting me open in 4 little incisions and putting gas in to blow up my tummy to see better..... Just gives me the heebie jeebies. I know laparascopic surgery is supposed to be much better but that gas hurts when it moves around in the body.

I'm also VERY upset that I'll miss A&E's Thanksgiving program. Their teacher promised to record it for me though. I made the little Indian vests. I want to see what I put my time and effort into. ;) It was either tomorrow or not until next week and I just want to get this over with so I can recover.

Thankful

After my ranting yesterday, I thought I would even things out by posting something positive. On facebook, I've been posting something different each day that I am thankful for (in honor of Thanksgiving coming up).

So far my favorite has been this one.
I'm thankful for A&E and the bond they share. No matter where the military sends us, they will have each other.


We were at walmart a couple weeks ago where I was waiting to get meds and I kept A&E busy in the Christmas section. These headbands were hilarious!


They've been helping take care of me and making me laugh. Just the other day I was informed that when trees lose their leaves, they are "nekkid". lol

Sick and tired

I am SOOOOO sick and tired of being sick and tired. I totally get that phrase now. I haven't updated in a while because I just haven't felt like it. Bad blogger.

So what I thought was another 3mm right kidney stone was in fact the results from my last ct scan. Yup the fabulous AR healthcare system gave my doc results from May instead of the ct scan I had done on Halloween.

I wasn't getting better and in fact felt worse, so I went back to the doc the Monday after all that. My doc sent for a hard copy of the radiologist report and surprise! it was totally different than what they were told. I was seriously so shocked and frustrated that I could barely think of something to say (Andy would say that is unusual for me).

My doc got a sample from me and discovered the antibiotics weren't doing their job and I still had an infection (kidney, bladder, uti? he hates being specific ) so he gave me different meds and stronger pain killers. I am not a fan of strong pain killers that make you feel woozy and drunk. Andy had already taken over all driving duties including getting A&E to and from school because I won't drive while taking them. So he gives me stronger stuff?!

Anyway so the "real report" says my gallbladder is pretty full of sludge (doesn't that word just sound disgusting, I mean seriously?! I'm a sweet southern belle).
It probably looks something like this.


I also have what my doc referred to as a 5mm kidney stone in my left kidney. Not sure if you are keeping score but the 3mm almost killed me in May so I guess it's big brother came back to finish the job?!. (Not really but it seriously felt like it).
Meanwhile I'm selling tickets to allow people to go spelunking in my kidney


I left the doc soooo angry. If we had known all this, I could have had my gallbladder removed a week ago and saved myself (and everyone around me) pain and suffering. I've been out of work for weeks and Andy hasn't been able to fly because he is in charge of our world as we know it while I'm so sick. I had to cancel my zumba certification training that I had already paid for and there isn't another one for months. I've missed field trips with the kids and do not even feel like getting up to play with them. My main job is sitting with them and reading books right now.

So as fast as everything moves in AR, I get appointments set up for a general surgeon to possibly remove my gallbladder and for a urologist to check out this boulder growing inside me. That of course means, I haven't seen either one yet and I just lay at home sick and waiting.
(bitter? me?)


So tomorrow I see the urologist because he thought the ct scan report was vague and that 5mm something-or-other may or may not be a kidney stone so they want to do an ultrasound on my kidney. If it is a 5mm stone, they will probably "blast" it (whatever that means) because anything bigger than that won't pass on it's own most of the time. I don't want to be the person who tries to prove them wrong.

Wednesday I meet with the surgeon to show him my ct scan and hopefully get this sac of sickness out of me (aka my evil gallbladder).
Don't be fooled by it's innocent appearance


So now that I have spewed (tee hee) my bitterness on everyone else, I can rest again. I just want to feel better and stop missing out on everything. It is almost Thanksgiving! I want to enjoy it and nag Andy to get out our Christmas decorations asap. I can't do that if I feel so crummy.

Thank a Veteran today

Soccer Party

A&E had their last soccer game on Saturday and we had an end of the season party for the team on Sunday. We ended up doing an afternoon ice cream party and the kids had a great time.









A&E received their first trophies!

Halloween on base

Last Friday was Andy's squadron Halloween party and trunk or treat on base. He had to fly so we met him there.

Balloon pop


Evan is not a fan of balloons popping


Bobbing for Apples (you know the apple addict was all about it)




Checking out the planes


Leia and Luke


Evan wouldn't go in the haunted rooms but Avery did

C-R-E-E-P-Y


Party!


After the party, we headed to trunk or treat. It wasn't as big this year but A&E had fun.



With Sparky the Fire Dog