Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Pondering One Year Ago

334/365

When I have days like this...



and all the kid does is scream, and climb in your lap and scream some more, my mind begins to wander. Today it's been wandering to where we were a year ago.

We were celebrating my children's blissful good health, in DISNEYWORLD.

In our first 24 hours there, we had a relaxing lunch with Fam, and super datenight atop the Contemporary, with sushi so good, it made Eric cry, and watched the Holiday fireworks show with the music piped in.



Cinderella's castle was decorated with icicle lights. Just beautiful.



Within our First hour in Magic Kingdom, all my visions came true.



Sam fell madly in love with Minnie Mouse. And I never cried so hard out of Joy.



Chris and I rode the Teacups...and he loved it.



And Chris and Emily got to spend some quality time with Mickey Mouse, with a guided house tour.




And Chris captured Cinderella's heart, she was so moved by his story, she danced with him, right then and there.

It's remembering times like that, and looking forward to the Next Big Thing that keep me sane when everything, and everyone around me is going crazy. Chris is coping, but it's been tough, and Sam is Sick. I'd love for my kids to both be healthy at the same time.

And it makes me wonder, if I'll be celebrating the same thing, my children's good health, in another year. I pray so, maybe God will even grant it in less than a year, I'd be ok with that.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Getting Plumbed

333/365

Last week, a short work week for the new house, was actually more productive inside than out. But I hadn't made it over to see much. While waiting on drugs today, the boys and I popped by. Now I got to see, the pre-plumbing rows that the town put in last. We are attached to water and sewer.
Well, Mostly. But this lovely trench runs from our house to the newer neighborhood behind us, allowing us to get Town Water and Sewer instead of having to survive on water and septic. Woohoo!



And tomorrow "The Guys" come to put a cap on it so we don't get water splashing into our lovely basement. ;)

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sit Down and Share the Joy

332/365

My sister and I frequently used to quote a family ties episode, where the mom takes the kids out to a cabin with lofty goals of happy bonding but much fighting ensues, finally she loses it entirely and screams, "Sit Down and Share the Joy!"

I've had a day like that.

It started all lovely, Eric had put up the tree, and the kids woke in awe to seeing it all lit up in the living room. I wanted to put the ornaments on it all together. We got the festive music going, made breakfast... but Chris didn't want to eat. Then he didn't want to help, and Sam was more interested in pulling things off the tree than putting them on. Etc...



The calls around our house, instead of lyrics of Christmas Carols were, "No Sam. NO SAM. NOSAM!!" while Sam chased all the fragile ornaments around calling "Ball!"



Oh well, it got done, it's beautiful, and hopefully Chris and Sam will find a happy medium with which ornaments can be removed, or put on, or even not bothered at all.



They've not been feeling the love, or sharing the Joy. Chris is still working on his recovery, and Sam woke from naps with a fever. Hopefully everyone will feel better soon, and be able to Sit Down and Share the Joy. I'd be happier, if maybe they'll Smile tomorrow.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Unpacking!

331/365

I am loving Thanksgiving weekend. By not traveling extensively, we have started making our new traditions, like getting all the Christmas stuff out of storage. Yesterday, Eric grabbed the bins from our storage facility, and today we started unpacking. The boys cracked my up by insisting on playing with every festive Christmasy toy.

The reindeer antlers were a big hit!



Chris is actually sporting the ones we originally bought for fina back in 2003, I think? He loves the little jingle bell jangling...so did Sam. But he kept telling me to take his picture, and not looking at the camera.



Sam's were a gift to Mommy from Opa. He kept calling them Hat, and pulling them off, putting them back on again, and repeating.



Two seconds after this was taken, they were on the floor, and he had moved on to the next big thing, which I suppose I must do too.

Friday, November 26, 2010

A Present for me

330/365

I have the sweetest husband EVER. I sent him to fetch the Christmas items for the house and he did. That was sweet enough, but as I came out of the shower, he had a diaper box. "I have a present for you."
He says, "It should have been a Christmas present, I've been working on it all year, and I had a plan, but since the house won't be done..."
Oh, for me? It's not even Christmas yet? He's all bummed about the house not going to be done by Christmas, so I decided rather than wait to see if we would be able to get into the new house, we should just decorate the old one, and we'll celebrate here. I didn't care where we celebrate it, as long as we're together. Eric was bummed.
But, I was moved to tears when I opened the box.

"You filled in the gaps!"

I know, this means nothing to you. So I'll clarify. Somehow over the years, we have gotten off count on our ornament collections. We started collecting the Old Master Towle Sterling Silver Snowflakes when we came back from California. We intended for our collection to start in 1998, the year we married, but we never got around to getting any of the earlier ones. And somehow, over the years, we've missed some. We were missing a few of the snowflakes. And Eric found and bought all the ones we were missing! As a bonus, my step-grandmother had picked up a couple of the White House Ornaments for us, but again, we were missing a bunch of them. And Eric filled in those gaps too!



Isn't that the Sweetest! Someday I dream of putting up a small tree with nothing but sterling silver snowflakes and blue lights. But the collection needs to be a bit bigger first. ;)

So now, we have Collections for the White House ornaments and the Towle Old Master Sterling Silver Snowflakes from 1998 to 2009.

And yeah, I cried. And I'm touched. And now, I can't wait for Eric to come back from working on the new house to put up our Tree so we can put up our new ornaments.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving

229/365

Happy Thanksgiving from the Willman's!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wordless Wednesday

228/365

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Two for Tuesday

227/365

Two tired sweetboys.



Chris had quite the busy morning: school, lunch, and a doctor's appointment at Riley. All is looking good, but it exhausted everybody, though Chris was the least inclined to admit it. Sam conked out on the way to the doctor, I just got a kick out of him falling asleep with his tongue sticking out. Silly Boys.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Sides Done

326/365

Eric let me out of the house this morning, just for a little bit. Apparently, on Friday, "The Guys" came over and put siding up on the last little spot above the garage. It would've cost 1/3 as much as we paid to brick the whole house to brick in that little area, so we put siding in it. And now it's done. For obvious reasons, I didn't get over there all weekend, but I did get to pop over to take a look for 5 minutes this morning.



We haven't gotten out of the house much at all in the last couple days. At first Chris really couldn't leave the house, now I'm not sure if he should. He's in such a bad mood this morning. I'm having trouble standing it. I'm a little jealous of all my friends who got to go see Harry Potter this weekend, and I'd like to start plotting our next trip to Disney World just for a mental escape, but Eric says Don't even think about it until we're moved. He makes sense, but I want to get away. At least I got to go over to the new house in the rain, I learned that I can stand on our new front porch and not get wet. That's worth a smile or two.

It's Curtains Kid

325/365



Sam is the only one around here in a good mood. Chris must be feeling better if he's getting timeouts and playing off the couch a bit. They both are getting a little stir crazy though, getting into trouble...like climbing on couches.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Couch potatoes

324/365

Can you watch Too Many episodes of Backyardigans in one day?



I think Chris was on a mission to find out. He was happiest just hanging out on the couch today watching TV as he recovered from surgery. He's a little achy, tired, and snippy, but considering all he's been through, totally understandable.
Sam on the other hand, has more energy than we know what to do with; he was climbing couches to sit with brother, and climbing all over everything and playing and getting into all kinds of trouble. It became Very Obvious that Sam was NOT in the hospital yesterday.

God Bless Versed

323/365

Yesterday after Chris's procedures: the MRI and bladder Urodynamics, his bladder was all filled up and had no where to go. He couldn't/wouldn't pee it out. We decided to do a surgery to put a temporary tube in his bladder until the rest of him stops spasming and heals up a bit. I wouldn't say it was an Emergency surgery, but within an hour of making the decision, Chris was on the table. So it went fast. They had us go up to Day Surgery, a chain of little rooms, where they prep/and take vitals and stuff where we go when they do surgeries. This was the first time we'd been up there in the evening, it was late in the day, really Night time in Day Surgery. And we gave him a dose of Versed to relax him so they could put an IV in first, and give him anesthesia that way to lighten the load. He'd been screaming for 2 hours, and within 10 minutes of getting that Versed, he relaxed enough to pee, he screamed a bit, and pushed Real Hard, and said, "I peed. Can I go home?"



No Baby, we were going to fix you all up. Then he proceeded to act like a drunken sailor, which made us all laugh. Yeah, he is not allowed to operate heavy machinery, walk, or even read a book on that stuff, but boy was he funny. A light moment in a heavy day.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Superboy, err....Man

322/365



Special thanks to Chris's friend Bryn for loaning him this ensemble. He was in 7th heaven last night and this morning because of it. And I kept messing up calling him Chris, "No Mom, I SUPERMAN!!!"

You're right. I stand corrected.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Better Days

321/365

It is good to be home, a boy sleeping in his own bed, wearing 'new' jammies, cuddling with his own stuffies.



Here's to Better Days ahead! We hope.

Pitifully Hysterical

320/365

They let Chris go home from the hospital today. Hooray! But he's still feeling a bit puny after getting a foley catheter in the middle of the night, and another suppository this morning. But we're home.



We were taking off his hospital bracelets, and I started pretending I was British, asking Chris if he'd like a spot of tea with a scone? He didn't. But he almost snickered.

And even though I'm IN the picture, I figure it counts, since I still am having trouble getting pictures off my phone, and I asked Eric to take it. ;)

Monday, November 15, 2010

My own Rainbow Bright Boy

319/365



I left the hospital and got to stay home with Sam last night, and this morning I dressed him in some more of the Vintage '80s goodies formerly belonging to his Uncle. Totally Rad!



Reminds me of Rainbow Bright. My own little Rainbow Bright, to brighten these not so bright days, while Chris is in the hospital. This picture makes me smile, while I am at the hospital all day, knowing my Sam is playing and happy too.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Things I'm Thankful For

318/365

*

1. God - He constantly amazes me. When I'm fried, tired, and distraught, he consistently sends me signs, like in a song as I drive home late at night.

2. Internet Access, for both to inform our friends and family what's going on, but also to receive support and prayers. It's meant a lot!

3. Our new roomies at Riley got into a fight, the DAY before we moved into their room. I'm thankful that a social worker keeps them on separate visitation shifts, so we haven't had any Drama.

4. Cheesy Potato Day at Riley

5. The fam who brings me lunch. Mom brought me Jimmie John's Turkey Tom, Yum-O!

6. A good night's sleep, in my own bed.

7. Good friends who love to borrow my Sam, no charge, just for the privilege of loving him. I love that! Does my heart good, and assures me, that Sam is getting lots of loving.

8. Good friends who work in the hospital. Jaime was on shift in the Riley ER when we arrived, and she made our impromptu stay much more pleasant, rustling up movies like Toy Story and the Lion King! God Bless Disney Movies!

9. Pepsi. I hate pepsi. But Riley was giving it away freely in the ER and on our unit, I didn't want to leave the room to go buy a drink. And though I don't like it, the combination of sugar and caffeine got me through the last 48 hours.

10. My Yarn - Sewing keeps my hands busy, keeps my mind from wandering and worrying.

* - Eric technically took this picture of Chris in the hospital, because mine couldn't be pulled off my phone, so it'll have to wait until later to fix it.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Last Garden Walk of the Season

317/365

Another gorgeous day! We've had a full week of 70 degree days, beautiful early fall days to enjoy the last pretty colors of fall. Today was the last, because rain came this afternoon, and it's going to get chilly after this. I'd like to say that we really went out and did it up, really enjoyed it. But the furthest we made it to play, was our frontyard, before tantrums sent us back in.



Aren't my boys sweet? Not cooperative for a photo session, but Sweet, nonetheless!



Funny thing though, I found Snapdragons blooming. Didn't even plant them this year, they just "popped up" leftover from last year, and boy these hearty little summer flower fellas were determined to bloom.



Snapdragons. Blooming on the 13th of November. Crazy. But it made me smile. When all the other flowers are calling it a day, these guys decide not to, but instead bloom on into mid-November. Reminded me of my little willful and determined sweetboys, kind of coming full circle. :)

Friday, November 12, 2010

My Superhero

316/365

Nothing says SUPERHERO like SuperGrover, a cape (aka stolen hospital blanket) and Spiderman Pajamas.



Chris must have superpowers to endure what he does, and still be able to flash us that beautiful smile. I'm Thanking God, my boy is feeling a little bit better today.

Sam Sylvester

315/365

So, how cute is this? This lovely 'Sue Sylvester' tracksuit was in gift bag of gently used clothes from my MIL. This probably belonged to my brother in law, about 25 years ago.



And the Beauty is, it's back in style again. I was at Target yesterday, and saw a top in the exact same color...albeit, in the girl's section, but whatever, Sam is Stylin'!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Wordless Wednesday

314/365

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Mending

313/365

The boys and I stayed home all day today. Tuesday should be one of our busiest days, but Chris was still miserable. So we stayed in. Chris did start feeling better this afternoon, and after naps, he was actually smiley.



Hopefully it lasts.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Spidey Sense

312/365

It's a Good thing you can't tell if he's happy or sad.



In this case, Chris was happy early this morning, pretending to be Spiderman, with his ToT bucket that doubles as a mask, and his Spidey Jammies. But this pretty much was the high point of his day. He had some work done at Riley, more to follow on that, and he's miserable. Still. Poor baby.

I'm not sure if I knew going into it, what I know now, if I would've gone through with this particular test. It hurt him, a lot, and all we got out of it, is knowing a bunch of stuff that ISN'T wrong with him. Wish I had some Spidey Sense.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Magical Mickey

311/365

The boys and I were invited to go see Mickey's Magic Show with friends downtown today, a wonderul opportunity for Mouse Lovers.

We all carpooled down together, and when Chris saw that Bryn and Shay were sporting their Mickey ears, you bet we put ours on. (Luckily, I had already found and packed them!) I just love that we were getting good use out of those Mickey Ears we bought in Disney World. But these kids were so EXCITED. So were the Mommies!



As soon as they action started the bigger kids sat still, hypnotized. I had brought some light up sticks, you know the kind that snap and glow. The kids thought they were their wands. Me, I was just happy they weren't asking me to spend obscene amounts of money on Magic Mickey Wands.



In another effort to save a penny or two, I had also packed the remnants of our modified monster mix, a snack mix of cheerios, M&Ms, and craisins. Another cheap big hit with the kids. And orange M&Ms turned Sam and Shaylee's faces orange, which I couldn't see until I snapped this picture, as we were sitting in the dark, I just thought he kids were a little sticky. But they were having a great time, snacking and watching Mickey.



We tried to get the kids to pose in their hats. Not quite. Plus it was naptime, as evidence by Sam's big hat meltdown.




Luckily, they're resting now. It's good

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Superhero Day

310/365

Ever so often Chris asks me to wear his pajamas all day. OK, who am I kidding, he asks every day. On the rare occasion I like to let him. Today was one of those days. He has special sets of jammies he likes to wear, he will watch the laundry for when they are clean. Last night he wanted to wear his Superhero jammies, and he demanded Sam wear his He-Man jammies.
We didn't have much on the docket today, nothing actually, Eric was going to run the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon. We weren't planning on going downtown, but...
I got to thinking, if this run was important enough for Eric to run rather than work on the house, then I want to go cheer him on. And I took the boys downtown last year.

So, when Chris woke up this morning, he asked if he could wear his Superhero Jammies, I said Yes. He asked, Where's Daddy? I told him, he'd already left to go RunRun, and would he like to go see if we can find him? He asked if he could keep his jammies on? OK, what the heck. I'm just joining another group of crazies downtown, who cares if the boys are in their jammies. That and it was already 8, race started at 8, and I needed to stake out a place. We drove downtown to Fall Creek and parked the stroller on a hill. I covered the boys in jackets and gave them blankets, but that didn't stop them from being cold. It was COLD, like 40 degrees high maybe. Cold.
And mostly Sam just cried, and Chris tried to get little in the stroller once I moved Sam to the car. Didn't work. But we made a lot of the runner smile (isn't that what it's all about), they could see Chris's red boots, and blanket covered head, and hear him crying, "DADDY". He was kind of cute. We never did see Daddy though.



Then he demanded Hot Cocoa. I couldn't blame him, so we went home. Chris took a picture of me cheering the runners. I was driving us home, rather trying to drive, but traffic was hard to maneuvre around all the course track runners, so I was slowly driving while yelling with my window down. It was funny.



The boys didn't appreciate it. They wanted Hot Cocoa. Just an FYI, the Starbucks on Meridian and 38th isn't there anymore. There was much sadness in our car. It got better when our superheroes came home and had some hot cocoa. Then we watched a little television, lunch with Daddy when he returned from the race, naps and more.



Chris filled another potty chart, so we took him to a movie, Megamind. Not to bad, not worth nighttime prices, but very cute, Chris really liked it. He especially liked it that we let him wear his Superhero Jammies to the movie about superheroes.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Chermans Museum

309/365

I mentioned a while back that the kids made some friends during Butler Homecoming. Well, they came back to town this weekend. And WE got to meet them downtown at the Children's Museum. It was a busy day there, but so much fun!



Chris and Jack prove that real men can like Barbies...and pink telephones.



I should mention that the boys and I were actually kind of crashing a playdate with Jack's betrothed, Elle, and her Mom Amy. My boys got along well with Elle too. She's a pretty sweet little thing. We got there just before lunchtime, but we just packed some snack mix to work on while we played. It was a big hit with the kids.



Chris got on the real train car, and for some reason did a super awesome imitation of Munch's The Scream. But he was without sound. :)



Cousins in the bond: Amelie, Sam, Chris and Jack.



Our full crew; somehow I managed to not get any decent pictures of all of us. Sorry Amy, must have caught you mid-blink. I hate when that happens. Though forget flattering, I'm happy we got all the kids mostly still. ;) What can you expect with 5 under 5?

Good times had by all, and now we are done, D-U-N.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Brick Front

308/365

Pretty evening tonight, crazy cloud formations, just a drizzle of rain at sunset, but pretty.



But what I thought was prettiest, was the front of our new house.



Brick Front.