6 in the Sticks

Hello. Kim here. I am home for a short visit as mom is in the hospital for the third time. She is holding up pretty good considering all she's been through the last two weeks.

As most of you know, mom found out earlier this week that she does in fact have pancreatic cancer. The surgeon is confident that he got all of the cancer out of her pancreas. Mom is working on healing from surgery and building her health to prepare for Chemotherapy.

Her attitude is wonderful considering all she's endured the last few months. And I think the hospital staff is getting a kick out of her sense of humor.

We have another baby added to our family. He is the sweetest little mug but I had forgotten how active little puppies can be. He is SO cute though. We named him Cooper. Pictures do not do him justice but here is a sneak peek.

It's so good to be home again and I missed my family so much. Jeromy did a wonderful job doing "both of our jobs", I am so blessed to have him here with me. And I'm hoping that mom will be able to come home with me next week, a nice change in the environment from the depressing hospital. But for now, when I'm done cleaning, I will enjoy running around with the kids and pups.

Until we meet again.

Hello.

I had a few moments and thought I'd put a little something on here. Hoping for schedules to come together as I've been a bit miffed lately trying to find an easy going routine. I'll be back on here more when that happens.

Charly is done with ECFE and starts preschool in the fall. She REALLY wishes it were kindergarten though, she could probably do it too. I personally feel why rush it, and am glad she missed the cut off age by four months.

Jackson has his last day of preschool on Wednesday and then he's on his way to kindergarten this fall. I'm not sure if he's excited for that quite yet or not. He's never liked change. Hopefully that'll ease with time. He had his kindergarten round up meeting tonight. He said his tummy hurt, and looked a bit under the weather but we sent him on his way because the meeting was mandatory. The poor guy threw up in the grocery store, and once at the school during the meeting. Jeromy was with him and listened good to Jackson when he told his dad he needed to get to a bathroom. They managed to avoid a mess both times. I sure hope he feels better tomorrow.

Ashley has been cramming in make up work from missing a lot of classes this quarter from being sick herself. Her summer job started up again so she's managed to squeeze in three days of work somewhere in the mix as well. Her post prom dance is this weekend and she's looking forward to it.

Jessica. I've never seen her so much since she's moved out until these past couple weeks. She finished her finals last week and is all set to graduate the end of this month. She had planned on having a party at her house the beginning of June. She stopped in one day to copy addresses out of my address book as she lost the book I bought her and then filled in every relative and friend imaginable when she moved out. Kids. So if you never hear anything, and you'd like to wish her well, find out party info and so forth, please contact us and we'll let you know. I think most of you have her phone number too so give her a call and leave a message.

Mom is still hanging in there. She had a couple of set backs at the hospital with being able to hold food in her stomach so she has been on an ice chip diet only for the past week. She and I have conquered the routine of hooking an IV bag up to her every night so she gets some kind of nourishment and insulin as she sleeps and then disconnect her in the morning. We also have conquered the why's and how's of the the many meds she takes four times a day along with the three different types of insulin that she gets depending on her blood sugar levels and so forth. I wonder if we'll get some kind of diploma for the 1/8 of the nursing education we have been administering. Lol. It has been a long recovery process from the surgery but are told she is doing well. She goes in for a follow up appointment in two weeks. Once she is healed good from surgery, she will begin chemo treatments. She has been such a trooper even though we know she misses being in her own home, and being able to just feel good in general and come and go as she pleases. Hopefully soon. She takes two walks a day if she's not too weak. And each walk she tries to go just a bit further than the last. Along with healing from surgery, she has a goal to become as healthy as possible before the chemo starts.

The puppies are keeping us busy as well. I take all three dogs to the vet in the morning. I suddenly have the tune to the chicken dance in my head. I think some people find it comical just to watch me enter the vet clinic on a normal basis with two kids, a dog, and a cat. It'll be interesting tomorrow. Hope that all goes smooth.

My "break" from home started up again for the season. Cabin cleaning. I just worked Saturday and Sunday last weekend. Again, really working on a regular schedule with a chance to shower, eat, and sleep. Just breath. I'm not complaining, it just is what it is and for today, in this moment, I am bushed. Hoping to get another chance soon to hop on the computer and hopefully get some regular pictures and fun rolling back on here.

Until then, peace out.

I grabbed my camera to pull some shots off that I had snapped of Cooper and found some glorious moments. Weird family.

Cooper the pooper. He has grown so much in just a week. He is such a love. I've never seen a dog make so much eye contact before. What a little babe. I wanted to name him Chewbaca but Jeromy shot me down, but he is a little Chewy. Chewing on EVERYTHING! He jumped the baby gate this morning to chow down some Moose dog food. Moose didn't care, he just watched then headed upstairs. After Cooper watched Moose head up the stairs, he decided to give it a try. He slipped after he got up about four steps. He tried it again, got half way up and started to cry. He looked like he didn't know which way to go. Silly little puppy.

Moose has been good with him but also lets him know who's boss. Ruby plays with him more, they'll play until they are both ready to drop. It's pretty funny to watch all of this craziness at times. Here is a shot in which Cooper was chewing and pulling on Ruby's ears and she finally put a stop to it.

Enough is enough! Darn sharp puppy teeth. You can kind of see how stubby her legs are in this shot. Jackson gets such a kick out of her legs. He smiles at her and says, "Come here Ruby with your little Ruby legs!" They basically look like turkey drumsticks. Funny looking dog.

Yesterday's vet adventure wasn't so bad either, it was just hard to get out the door period. Jackson stayed home and slept because he was still sick. He was bummed about missing the vet appointment as he really enjoys coming along. All doggies checked out ok.

Jackson missed his last day of school this morning. He was feeling good most of the day yesterday but was throwing up again this morning, poor guy, hope this bug passes quickly.

Well, another busy day ahead of us filled with errands, sick boy, eccentric preschool girl, crazy pups topped with an evening of work. I hope the weather warms up a bit so we can start on our yard work and gardening. Maybe tomorrow. At least the sun is shining today!

As you can see, the kitchen is still in the midst of stripping and painting. I wonder if I'll go down in history for procrastination of painting a room.

"No pictures please! I want to enjoy my corn!"

Deep Thought By Jack Handey:

Whenever someone asks me to define love, I usually think for a minute, then I spin around and pin the guy's arm behind his back. Now who's asking the questions?

He's getting bigger.

It is funny to see him watch the other dogs and give things a shot by trying to do what they do. He is definitely is doing more than just a week ago.

I think I mentioned how he watched Moose go up the stairs the other day. Last night Copper did it! Jeromy wasn't too keen on that idea.

Ruby has this thing she does if Moose comes after her to show her who is boss. She'll roll over like she wants him to rub her belly. Now Cooper is doing that too.

Another hilarious thing is how Cooper has watched the cat go in the litter box. Guess who takes an occasional pee in there now too? Yep, Jeromy's bird dog just possibly thinks he's a cat. LOL. Jeromy is like, "Oh great."

But nothing takes the cake to the amusement I had watching from the kitchen window is Jeromy teaching his good ole bird dog to fetch. I watched as Jeromy showed him a stick, and it looked like he was having this long conversation with him as Cooper just sat there and listened. Jeromy threw the stick. Cooper just sat. Jeromy squatted down and chased after the stick. Cooper sat and watched. Jeromy brought stick back to Cooper. Cooper cocked his head while he still sat and watched. Oh God, that was the highlight of my week, oh I wish I had a video camera on them, too much. Lesson number one. You teach bird dog, not bird dog teach you. LOL!

Ear chomp. Time for more play.

Oop. Chipmunk pause.

"Thanks for the new clothes Grandma F! See, they do fit! And I love to change my outfit four times a day!" :)