Rylin's 5th Birthday!

Sunday was Rylin's 5th birthday, our plan was to go to Wild Adventures theme park in Valdosta, GA however those plans changed once we picked up his present Saturday. It is really for all the kids but this was his one b'day request and he would rather have a "park" in his back yard than to go to a theme park. Well, the directions said it should take "3-6 hours to assemble" Okay, let's be realistic. 3-6 days is a more accurate estimate. It took all day and into the late evening on Saturday and then till afternoon on Sunday to assemble. If you will note the picture of the "workers" standing around the half built playground looking like the Florida D.O.T. hard at work hmm... this may explain alot.

Well, the kids are really enjoying it. Rylin has even brought two chairs (one is for passengers) and a towel (to wipe and shine the slide) up to the clubhouse part of it.

He also received a 'slip and slide' from a family friend, which was much cooler than the pool due to the fresh, cool hose water. (Rather than the bathwater, steamy pool) We watched the kids enjoy the slip and slide and as they grew bored with it well.... we used it. Bob got a real kick out of watching me go down it over and over like a kid, by real kick I mean enjoyed mocking and poking fun at me. Then I guess, he saw what a great time I was having and decided to join me. I would pay good money for pictures of that! Anyway, I think the kids may decide to start hiding their toys from us. For my adventure back to childhood I have a bruise on my hip and forearm, but IT WAS WORTH IT!!!

Gardens and More

Here is a picture of my gardens, the old one which is rather empty as many things are done and I am waiting until later this month to replant as soon as I decide what I want to put in there and it gets a bit cooler. You can pretty much plant about anything beens, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, squash etc. in N. E. Florida in September. Go figure, huh? Usually the growing season is getting over most places and we get pretty much a year round one. I think it will be much more enjoyable to work out there when it's cooler.

The new one is pretty full. Most likely because there are two plants in there that have ideas of grandeur. If they do not watch it they will end up all alone being grand in the trash can. This garden is full of squash (that crooked kind), zucchini, watermelons and a couple pumpkins. I think I messed up a bit as I am beginning to see that you get more than one or two per plant and I will probably turn into some crazy woman dropping zuchinni on people's door steps, ringing the bell and running.

The last picture is for a specific friend of mine, she knows who she is. I brought these Hoffman's hotdogs back from Syracuse in a great quantity, larger than any normal sane person would buy. I took a picture of them and posted them because I know she likes them. She recently posted pictures on her blog of her bountiful garden harvest and made me have serious feelings of jealousy and caused my tomatoes to feel very insecure about themselves. If I didn't have pink eye I would take pictures of me eating these hotdogs and enjoying their delectable goodness!

The last picture is of the birthday gift from my husband. I realized two things. The first is that I have a great husband who will buy me things that he has absolutely no interest in and that quote: "clutter up his house". The second is that I have very HUGE hips in proportion to the top half of me and that no one makes a dressform adjustable to both halves of my body. I think is a joke in very poor taste as I have wanted a dressform forever.

IT'S JUST TOO HOT!!!!!

It's too hot to swim duly note pictures of children in the house lying about (do not note the toys on the floor of the diningroom), it's too hot to do laundry in the so hot it feels like a car after being parked six hours in the florida August sun garage. What foolish person thought it would be a wise idea to put washer and dryer hookups in the garage in florida? My very wise opinion would be... a man who has never done his own laundry. The outdoor pictures I am posting today are not altered by any 'dramatic effects'. It is just so humid out that the I cannot keep the moisture off the camera lens. We have a heat advisory today, with the humidity added into the temperature the heat index will be between 105 - 110 degrees. It starting to sound like we live in that Death Valley place. Do you suppose anyone lives there? The name is a bit of a detourant I would think. I will not whine about the heat any more as Bob is working out in the heat today, probably extra due to the heat and should he read this blog I will certainly hear about my whining about heat while he is IN THE HEAT, while I am sitting comfortably in the a/c that HE WORKS IN THE HEAT TO PROVIDE FOR ME! I guess the moral of the story is I have a good husband who makes sacrifices for our family.
In other news... I have pink eye. The coffee pot broke this morning, before the coffee was made so I had to make an emergency run to Walgreen's to purchase a new coffee pot looking like a robber due to my refusal to remove sunglasses in store. On the upside, having four kids who gave me this wretched disease (I know it was you four, your attempts to deny it are futile) I had eye-ick medicine on hand. It is a bit harder to locate things in store when everything is so dim though.

More Bad News...

It seems everytime I write this blog lately it is to relay more unhappiness.

I spoke to my Grandma this morning.Yesterday evening they drained more fluid off her lungs. She spoke with the Dr. this morning regarding her treatment and it comes down to this. The kind of Lymphoma (sp?) she has is not the kind she had before. This is un-curable. She will begin chemo tomorrow in an effort to fight the good fight. This was her decision and fortunately the type of chemo she will receive will be the kind that shouldn't cause her to be ill or lose her hair. The fluid will most likely keep building up in her lungs though. She is in good spirits regardless of this and said the Lord will do his will in her life and whether she sees heaven soon or years from now she is not afraid. Please continue to pray, for her and us; her family. We are not all as brave as her.

My Grandfather is still home from the hospital and doing well, although, he is in some pain.

The Good News... and the Bad

My grandfather is now officially out of the hospital. He's done so much better than expected and of course couldn't wait to get out of there. He's looking really forward to being home.

My grandmother has officially been admitted, again. There is fluid on her lungs again, after just having it drained off last week. The Dr. said this is very common with the kind of cancer she has. They will drain the fluid tonight if they have time, otherwise tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

I just want to wish my mom a Happy &% Birthday! (Age witheld due to fear of serious repercussions)

I hope you enjoy your day mom. We love you and miss you.

Update

I received a call from my sister that my Grandmother is on her way back to the hospital due to trouble breathing again. I will try and update as soon as I have any further news on her condition.

On the upside, my Grandfather is doing well and is getting up and around at the hospital. They are speculating that he should be going home in a few days if he keeps his behavior good. : )

Rylin had his Kindergarten pre-screening this morning. Of course, they tell you nothing so we will see. I'll have three boys starting school on August 20th. Only one left home to keep me company and make me feel useful. It's sad to think I won't be having days home with Rylin and Finn anymore. No more 'snack dates' where Rylin and I make popcorn and watch a movie in my bed during Finn's nap. We eat the popcorn on Bob's side of course! : ) I'll miss our special one on one times. I'm sure Finn and I will come up with our own different things that we do together.

Where do the years go?