The Month of May

Hannah came for a visit the first weekend of the month, she loved playing with Riley.Evan was baptized at Owensboro Christian Church that weekend also.
The kids have spent a lot of time playing outside but this was one of those rare moments when they all wanted to watch the same DVD-- it was Riley's Nursery Rhyme video of all things.
I had a great Mother's Day weekend. On Saturday we went to the BBQ Festival and the kid's had fun while I looked at the booths and bought this cute outfit for Riley. On Sunday after church all of Jason's family came over for a cookout which was great fun!
Riley and I go for walks almost every day and now she also loves to swing out front of the house!
Here is my first attempt at "piggy tails" on Riley, she didn't like it too well but mama thinks she looks too cute!
Blaine and I made his favorite dish-- Cheeseburger Soup-- when he was off from school on Election Day.
Evan had is first baseball game and Riley was the designated cheerleader.
The weather got up to 90 degrees but the pool is still a little chilly at 73 degrees-- Sam Ward came for a visit and Blaine floated around with his broken arm.Grandma and Grandpa McClain came for a visit and spent some time hanging out with us. Riley actually warmed up enough to let them get a picture with her.

My 40th Birthday

I will never forget my 40th birthday! It started when Riley woke me up at 6:17 a.m.-- Blaine had overslept for school so I had to wake him up and rush him out the door. Then the fun began. Riley was not in a very good mood at all, she did not want to eat breakfast, and she also did not want to play with her toys. Instead she wanted my full undivided attention and she wanted me to take her outside. I did get her to take a shower with me and then I got us both ready to leave. Riley also was in a foul mood in the car and fussed all the way to Mammie's house-- I ended up yelling at her, which really made me feel even worse. I was also frustrated at Jason because he was not home yet from work when I needed him. But Mammie saved the day by taking over the job of keeping Riley occupied on my birthday.

So then I decided to go to the tanning bed for a few rays, and Panera Bread to get a bagel and coffee from Brenden. I was then on the road to Evansville for my Spa day at Head Over Heelz Salon. I arrived at 10am and started my spa day with a Hot Stone Massage. I was really starting to think I was jinxed when all I could hear was construction equipment during the first 20-30 minutes-- come on now, isn't a massage suppose to be relaxing, how can you relax when you hear "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP" from a machine backing up over and over and over again. But at least the last 60 minutes were relaxing.

Next I received the most unforgettable facial-- at some points I thought she was scraping all of my skin off but overall it was a very good facial. My skin on my face feels amazing now. In the middle of the facial though she excused herself because someone knocked on the door. Before I could get mad I realized it was because Jason had went shopping and bought me a new dress, shoes, jewelry, and perfume and dropped them off at the spa. (Here I want to add a side note that Jason had worked 16 hour days the last 2 days before this and had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep). Anyway the lady doing the facial was so impressed and was telling everyone there what a wonderful man I had for a husband. I think that all of the significant others of the spa employees are going to be in big trouble now!

Anyway next thing I had lunch that was brought over from Biaggi's-- it was an awesome Club Sandwich and chips and bread/oil--- a lot of carbohydrates. The best thing though was the fact that my co-worker, Angela, brought by a card and bag of white chocolate dipped pretzels. It made me cry with happiness.

After lunch I received a Hot Stone Pedicure and that was very relaxing also. Then I sat in the sauna for a little while and took a shower and put the new clothes on. Jason had also arranged for someone there to do my makeup and hair. By this time it was almost 5 pm and when I walked outside Jason walked up with his suit on looking so handsome:) He had me follow him in his car to Cavanaugh's Steak House that is next to Casino Aztar. It is a very fancy restaurant that overlooks the Ohio River. We sat down and Jason ordered us a bottle of wine. The waitress had just opened the bottle when Jason got a phone call that changed our plans for the night.....

It was our neighbor, Nancy, calling to say that Blaine had been racing to the trampoline and tripped and fell on his arm causing a very bad break. Jason had Nancy call an ambulance to transport him to the hospital because he was worried that his condition could change or that something could happen if Nancy or Brenden tried to transport him. (Blaine was actually being "babysat" by Brenden but had been playing outside). So at this point Jason and I get in our separate cars and start quickly heading for Owensboro. When I get in the car I realize that I am just about out of gas so we had to stop and fill my tank up a little. Also I received a call from my friend, Courtney, who was wishing me a happy birthday, needless to say I was hysterical and so she ended up going to the E.R. in order to check on Blaine. While I was driving I received phone calls from the ambulance service, Nancy, and the E.R. nurse. And of course I had to call our babysitter Mammie, who was still watching Riley, and my mom, and my best friend Jene. By the time I got to Owensboro my cell phone battery was dead. So Jason headed home to get the chargers, and I headed to the E.R. When I arrived Courtney had left because Nancy and Brenden were there and they wouldn't let more than 2 people be in the room at a time. When I walked in the room Blaine started to cry and say that he was sorry that it happened on my birthday. Nancy said that Blaine had been so brave and that he really loved talking to the EMT named Roger (Blaine says that he was a sniper in the Army). I then had to answer a trillion questions and then Jason arrived. They finally got an IV in but it wasn't working very well. Next thing was that Blaine & I went to have his arm x-rayed. Then they gave him some Dilaudid and Zofran and he started saying some really funny things. There was a "crazy lady" across the hallway that was quite interesting too and because of her there were 2 security guards outside Blaine's room the whole time-- he said that he was important and needed security.

The next 30 minutes or so were rather stressful because some young man came in to put a gown on Blaine and then 2 young women came in with another stretcher and we were asking "What is going on?" and they said "He is going to surgery" (at this point Blaine freaked out and started crying) and we were saying "NO, he is not, no one has spoken to us yet" and so a big, older guy in black scrubs came in and said "He needs to go to surgery"-- (the weird thing is that the guy did not identify himself, I just saw his name badge that said Dr. Dwyer). So the next thing we know is that we are heading to the holding room.

After we were in the holding room the nurse, Kimberly, the orthopedic doctor, Dr. Moore, and the anesthesiologist, Dr. Frakes all were very good at explaining what needed to be done. They were very nice and friendly and put us at ease. Dr. Frakes put in a new I.V. that actually worked and gave Blaine some great medicine that made him feel a lot more comfortable about going to surgery. Blaine basically need to go to surgery to be put to sleep so that they could put the bones back in place and put a cast on his arm.

So at 9 pm Jason and I had a romantic dinner of Subway from the Hospital cafeteria in the surgery waiting room. I called my babysitter to check on Riley and of course she was asleep and was going to have her first "sleep over". At around 10 pm Dr. Moore had talked to us on the phone, Kimberly (RN) had came out and spoke to us, and then Dr. Frakes came out to the waiting room and spoke to us and took us up to a room on the pediatric unit. At 11pm Blaine arrived to the floor-- at this point I told Jason to go ahead and get home to bring the dogs in and get some sleep. Blaine and I left the hospital at Midnight, dropped off his pain prescription at Walgreen's, and then went home and got in bed. It was definitely not how I expected to end my 40th birthday!

Visiting Grandma in New York

I haven't posted in a few weeks because Jason, Riley and I went to visit Jason's grandma in Wappinger's Falls, NY from April 2-8th. (Evan went to visit Mobile, AL with his mom and Blaine went to Indianapolis, IN to visit his dad). Riley had her third trip on an airplane! She did so well on the trip there. We flew out of Evansville, IN airport and had a layover in Cinncinnati, OH and then arrived in Hartford, CT. We spent the night there which I think helped make the day a little easier. We ate at a local restaurant that had awesome seafood and good wine! The next morning we ate at another local restaurant for breakfast-- it was an awesome meal too and the people in Connecticut were so nice. We bought grandma an Easter Lily at the local fire department, then we headed to New York. Grandma was so excited to see use and we were so glad to spend time with her. Jason did several "projects" around the house including repainting and redoing upholstery on her footstool, rearranging her bedroom furniture, fixing her kitchen floor, and spray painted light post. I helped her empty a dresser, washed all the curtains, dusted and vacuumed the floor. But most importantly we spent a lot of time talking with Grandma and sharing time with her and Riley. The weather was great-- it got up to 91 degrees on Wednesday which is amazing for April in New York. One day I went shopping at the local mall, Target, Babies R Us, and Border's Bookstore, which was very fun. On the last day Jason, Riley, and I went to the Hudson riverfront and then to a Tiki bar for a beer. The trip back seemed a little longer because we had to drive to Hartford, CT and return the rental car then catch a flight to Detriot, MI and then fly back to Evansville, IN. It was great to have the time with Grandma Stephens, Jason, and Riley to just kick back and do what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it.

I must say that even though I miss the vacation this great weather makes it all worth it to be back in Kentucky. It looks like the weather this week is going to continue to be good also.

Crockpot Chili

Over the past 2 months our family has been a member of www.e-mealz.com which is a program that provides you with economical meal plans for couples or families. I decided that I wanted to try to blog about some of the good meals that we have and post them for others to enjoy.

The first one will be a Chili recipe. You start by browning 1# of ground round and 1# of sausage (I used a healthy one) in a large skillet.

You need to chop 1.5 cups of onions and add this to the ground meat.
Then add 1.5t of minced garlic.
After this is cooked, then drain the meat.
In the crockpot put 2T chili powder, 1t salt, 1/2t pepper, 1t oregano.
Then add the meat mixture, 2- 15oz cans of petite diced tomatoes, 15oz can of pinto beans, and small can of tomato paste (I substituted this for the 15oz can of tomato sauce) to the crock pot.
Cook on low for about 6 hours and you will have a nice pot of chili for supper!

We put shredded cheddar cheese on top of it and also ate chili Fritos with it. It was enjoyed by all of the family.

Nice Weather

Last weekend I had to work which was not fun at all-- but this week having 3 days off made it all worth it because it has been so nice and sunny outside. Riley and I even got to spend several hours playing at Ben Hawes State Park which was so much fun for her and so exhausting for me. I feel like I have been such a slug all winter long, and thus now a have no energy to play with the kids. Riley loves to be pushed on the swings, climb the playground equipment, and slide down the slides but of course she is so little that mama has to help her every step of the way. My arms feel like they have gotten quite the workout. Last night the boys played baseball and Riley and I played at the park again. It is so great to have nice weather so that we can do this!

While Jason was away

Jason has been out of town since Sunday night and I am so excited that he is going to be back tomorrow evening! I have been very busy taking care of Blaine and Riley (and Annie and Lily too). The week started with Blaine getting the stomach bug, which was not fun. I am not the one to take care of a little one with vomiting. I basicly gave him a bucket and told him that is where any of the vomiting should end up! I was a little perturbed because I was planning on going to a celebration for all the Dietitians at work at my manager's house. Last year was the first year that there was a Dietitian Day and my manager started a tradition of having a surprise celebration. Well, anyway I was going to have my mother-in-law watch Blaine and Riley so that I could go. When Blaine got home from school he was running a fever and complaining of a stomach ache so I didn't think it was a good idea for me to go. Needless to say I was not happy about having to miss it. Then he ended up being fine-- that is until 11 p.m. when he woke me up to tell me he had puked in his bucket. I got up and emptied it and then dry heaved and went back to sleep. Blaine woke me up at 6 a.m. again and said that he had gotten sick in the toliet this time, so at least I didn't miss the celebration for nothing. Well, on Tuesday I had a full day planned so once I found out that Brenden (my 21 year old) didn't have to work until 5 p.m. I asked him to stay home with Blaine. Riley and I went to MOPs at church and then I went to my CASA board meeting. For those who don't know I have been a CASA (court appointed special advocate for children who have been abused or neglected) for the past 13 years. Lately I haven't been able to be a volunteer for any of the children but I have joined the Board that helps supervise the program. So I did not want to miss my second meeting. I was also blessed to have my babysitter's daughter, Dee, to watch Riley for me while I went to this. So after all of that activity I was really looking forward to my additional day off today where I did not have any exact plans. And I was especially excited when I saw that it was going to be 68 degrees outside. It was such a wonderful day and I must mention that it was all due to God's wonderful glory that he poured out the sunshine for us all in Owensboro, Kentucky!!!! Riley and I took a nap together and than we sat outside for a little while-- or should I say I sat outside and she ran around! I also was able to take Lily, our new puppy, to Petsmart to be groomed and she looks wonderful!! It has been so nice to be able to go outside without a coat on and not feel like I am freezing my butt off. I do feel like I have survived quite well this week without Jason but I am looking forward to his return tomorrow.

Revelation

It has been rather crazy lately around our house. At least that is how I feel about it. There has been some of the normal "craziness" like Brenden's mishap with his car, in which we had to help him pay to get it fixed. And then there is Evan's Boy Scout's, and piano lesson's and now guitar lesson's (and thus Blaine's violin lesson's). But the main area of discord is that fact that Evan's mom has gotten a job in Mobile, Alabama and how that is going to affect us all. We really have been blessed to have such a good relationship with Jennifer (Evan's mom) and thus we have Evan quite often. That is why it is going to be so much harder when Evan is not living in Owensboro. So mostly what has been on my mind is the fact that we are probably going to move in the very near future also. Jason and I are trying to determine when we are going to move so that we are not so far away from Evan for too much time. Most people do not understand the situation and thus they have negative things to say or don't know what to say, when we tell them that Evan is going to be moving in the very near future. What most people do not understand is that eventually Jason would be moving for his job anyway. So at least we know where Evan is going to be and thus Jason can try to find a job close to him rather than us moving away from him.

My real revelation though has to do with how Evan is dealing with all of this. This past week we had Evan with us every day, which is unusual for us since we normally just have him on Wednesday nights. Well, by the end of the week he told us that he is upset because he feels that because of Riley he is not able to spend as much time with his daddy. And he feels that Riley is the reason that he doesn't get to do some things like go to the bowling alley, skating rink, etc. as often as before. Well, I can really feel for him because I don't get to do the same things that I was doing before Riley was born either. But of course I am the parent so I am not allowed to have these feelings. Well, tonight I had a revelation that now I really do know how Evan feels. Even though it is great to have a little baby it also comes with some complications that are going to work themselves out in the end. I can look fondly back at the time that Jason and I got to spend as a newlywed couple and know that when the kids are a little older we will get to spend that time again. Tonight I was noticing things in our bedroom that reminded me of the days before our precious little baby girl. There is the portrait of us from the CASA Auction. There is the pictures of us when we went to the Christmas party at the Executive Inn and on our honeymoon in Fiji, and there is the pictures above our bed that are of Charleston that we bought on our 1st anniversary trip. So that is my revelation that I know that Evan, and Blaine, and Riley, and Brenden all have these very special needs right now but that eventually they are going to all grow up and have their own spouse, children, and even grandchildren and none of the things that worry and upset us now are going to make a difference. That we need to live for each and every day because God has given us each day as a gift that needs to be cherished. So I don't really know why but it has really given me a peace about what is going on right now in our lives. I guess because I know that this is just another chapter and that I am hoping that there are many more happy chapters to cherish in the future. No use worrying about what tommorrow brings but instead I need to just be happy about what today is giving us!