Lists and the Unexpected

I'm a really big planner... I love lists, it's how I stay sane. I need order and structure in order to maintain the household, the chitlins, the husband, school.... the list can go on. It's when a monkey wrench is thrown into my mix that I cannot function; my entire being goes into shock when there isn't anything I can do to change this. Being the planner I am, I had our summer scheduled around some events that were deemed important... all that came to a halt the other day. I have been told I need surgery to check the site where the Giant Cell Tumor was located... this. is. a. problem. 3 years and 11 days from the first GCT removal surgery I will be under going it yet again. It was the longest process the first time; I'm very concerned about this time around. Luckily the chitlins are 3 years older and will be a bigger help. (I'm sure of it.) So now all of our deemed important events are in limbo or not happening at all. Limbo is not fun for a planner. I'm not a fly by the seat of my pants kind of a girl. With the last surgery I had a month to plan and grasp the idea; this time I have a week. Barely long enough to get an insurance company to call me back! 

The essentials I learned from the surgery: 

• Have easy snacks on hand for the kids.
• Be sure to drink tons of water!
• No codeine for me. 
• Thank my mother endlessly.
• Show appreciation to my husband. 
• Get lots of easy pull on loose fitting shorts.
• Night gowns are a must!

Well, even in my moment of chaos; I make a list to make myself feel more in control of the situation. I have made the "freezer meal" list, the "must get grocery list", the "household to-do before surgery" list, and the "essential homework to be finished" list. I better get started on some of it. 

Vacation Day 5: April 3

Saturday, April 3, we had the opportunity to invade Uncle Lou's friend's pool! They invited us over for margarita's by the pool, swimming and a water gun fight! The only people who swam were Gracie, Kailee, Jon and Lou's friend Mark. Everyone had a marvelous time!

Can you tell these two little punks were having fun!

Those smiles never left their faces the entire time they were in that pool! 

Vacation Day 4: April 2

Day 4 of Florida vacation was lots of fun, we woke up early to go to Fort Myers Beach (we weren't getting stuck in 2 hour traffic!) so we could see the sand sculptors.

 See the traffic was much better!

However the children were just as goofy!!

 Even Grandpa Lou and Kailee were pretty funny!

The sand sculptures were so cool... but the kids thought that the "kids zone" was even more fun!

 Kailee and Uncle Lou are besties!

So glad we were driving the opposite direction! The line of traffic was backed up miles to Fort Myers Beach!

 Somebody has a wiggly tooth!

 These grand-girls are tired after a long morning walking around and playing on the beach.

 Me and Mom



Vacation Day 3: April 1

Day 3 of our Florida vacation Uncle Lou was off work, so we had a lazy morning and attempted to go to Fort Myers Beach... the wait in traffic was over 2 hours (at 10 a.m.!) so we went to Sanibelle beach. It had a huge selection of sea shells! We brought home a gallon baggie full!

Looking at all these Kailee pictures probably had you thinking, "where's Gracie" well, she sat in the sand and wouldn't look at the camera so I have lots of these shots...

We were at the beach for 2 hours and time flew by! I couldn't believe how fast 2 hours went, there was a nice breeze, the sun was hot and the kids were very entertained playing in the ocean and moldable sand! Look at those sand castles! I couldn't get close enough for "good" pictures because of the crutches darn it!

Vacation Day 2: March 31

Day 2 of our Florida vacation started with some really cool orange sunglasses that Grandma Deb found for us. Nothing like stylin like a G6. Since Uncle Lou was working our day included some fun shopping at various interesting places that included a cool Goodwill where Gracie and Grandpa Lou found a wooden airplane.

See the airplane above; this will be the Uncle Lou's newest addition to his home as it was too big to bring home on the airplane.

Our day also enjoyed some relaxing and lizard searching... though the lizard wasn't really a search so much as it was a jump out of no where to say, "Welcome to Uncle Lou's house in Florida" - according to Gracie.

Our afternoon also included some sidewalk chalk!

Grandma Deb also found herself bonding with grand-puppy Emory. Lil Em loves her grandma!

The after also involved checkin out of the rental van, it was a stow and go kind... so Grandpa Lou had to show the girls and Jon had to tease the girls and say that they ripped the seats out. To which Kailee says, "it's not safe dad!" He says, "you can just sit on the floor." Gracie screams, "it's not safe dad, the police will be mad!" Yep... she's the drama queen.

Kailee told Grandpa Lou, "can you please close the door so we can have some peace and quiet." Really... the kid asked for peace and quiet... that alone is the reason for this blog! I love her!!

The day ended with Bo the Lion being silly with Lou.

Vacation Day 1: March 30th

Day 1 was our airport day! Everyone woke up early (6 a.m.) to finish packing the car, showering, and preparing for our day of travel. We met Grandpa Lou and Grandma Deb in Boyne Falls at 7:45 a.m. then followed them cat and mouse style down to Flint. Where we enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the Meijer parking lot (killing lots of time!) then a lengthly wait at the Flint Airport while awaiting our 2:30 p.m. flight to Fort Myers. Finally by 3:15 we were in the air and beginning our trek to Florida! We eagerly said "bye, bye snow and hello sunshine!" We arrived to a welcoming 83 degrees! Uncle Lou met us at baggage claim and aided us in taking our bags to his vehicle so we could get our rental van situated. Finding Uncle Lou after getting the van was interesting... he passed us patiently waiting for him on the side of the road, then we passed him when attempted to travel in his direction. It was a long day of cat and mouse play, flying, driving but it all ended with hugs, kisses and exhausted children, eagerly awaiting a day of beach play!

Just realize...

Everyday my children teach me something new...
...stop and wait for the angel to kiss your cheeks, you feel it when you close your eyes and listen with your heart. Inspiration: Gracie
...when the lights are off and the sunlight is shining in the windows there are rainbows, everywhere! Inspiration: Kailee
...books are good for reading when my fingers get tired from typing all that school work. Inspiration: Gracie
...books are good for listening to when you need snuggle time. Inspiration: Kailee
...sleeping is only good when it's dark, if there's nothing else fun to do. Inspirations: Kailee and Gracie

Suck it up buttercup!

Sunday Classics

Kailee is in her bedroom, putting away toys, shoving them all in the toy box.
Gracie walks in and said to Kailee, "you're not cleaning this up right."
Kailee begins to cry. Through the sobs she says, "you don't understand me, your words hurt my feelings."
To which Grace replies, "suck it up buttercup."

I was doing Kailee's hair and she said, "ouch mom, you're hurting me."
I began to say, "pain is-"
Kailee interrupts and says, "yeah, yeah pain is beauty, I know, but it still hurts."