Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!


Today has been a relaxing and fun day. Tyler and I spent the day at home just playing. I had the opportunity to care two pumpkins since Eric and I did not have time to do it together. Most of the carving was done while Ty was sleeping since he wanted to play with the knife. Probably not the best idea. Afterwards we decorated the front of the house in preparation for Trick-or-Treaters. When the sun had set, we were off. We visited four houses with Tyler. He was more interested in trying to walk and get the candy out of his pale than actually getting the candy. We spent the rest of the night sitting in front of the house with Daisy and Zoe and handing out candy. It was an easier way to give out candy instead of the dogs having a hissy fit every time the door bell rang.We even dressed up the dogs.


The dog was carved just for Eric since he missed it and because Ty can say, "Dog."

The decorations turned out pretty good considering I did it all for free.

Daisy was a Bumble Bee and Zoe was a Lady Bug.
Can't wait to see what next Halloween will bring.

Trunk or Treat.

Our family went to a great Carnival and Trunk-or-Treat this weekend at our church. They had a carnival with a cake walk, basketball shooting, a scooter course, fishing stand, face painting, popcorn machine, and a chili cook-off. The activities committee did an awesome job and all the kids just loved it. There were so many cute costumes. Some even brought their dogs dressed up.Tyler was a Dragon. He was so cute. I thought that he was not going to keep his hat on, but he was so mesmerized by all the other kids that he did not notice it. He had a lot of attention. There was a big blow up entry way that he kept running to because he liked the pump and he even threw a tantrum when we had to pry him away from it. Dad was a mechanic and mom was a candy corn. We went a little cheap on our costumes, but it was fun. Mom played the basketball shooting contest and came in second with 16 made baskets in 30 sec in the Women's category. You almost had to pry me away from it. The trunk or treat was fun, but Tyler was more interested in eating popcorn off the ground or running to the side walk then trying to get candy. It was a great night. It is a lot more fun when now that Ty is older and can walk around. We did feel a little guilty that we were getting candy since Ty does not actually get to eat it, but I guess he needs to practice and we did work really hard letting him practice so we deserved a treat too.

Pumpkin Patch.

This last weekend, we had a great day at the Pumpkin Patch in Davis. We met up with other Vet students and their families. It is one of the activities that we like to get together and meet each other's families and let the kids just play together. Tyler was old enough to go to the petting barn this year. There were so many animal and kids. I think he was a little overwhelmed at times and was mostly interested in the other kids than the animals. We then picked out our pumpkins from these big fields. Tyler loved helping dad with the wheelbarrow.

Our family.

The piglets were so cute.

This little pygmy goat was very unusual with its ears curled up.

This is mommy's favorite animal, the cow. Both Tyler and the calf look a little tired.

Tyler loved helping daddy with the wheelbarrow.

Tyler picking up a pumpkin.

Mischief Child.

I was having one of those, "There is not enough time in the day to get everything done," day.
I was working on the computer printing some stuff off for a class I teach, when I heard a thump. Tyler was in the office playing with the plastic lid of a box and likes to bang it around where ever he goes, so I did not think anything of it and kept printing off my work. When I finally turned around, this is what I saw.

If you cannot tell what this is, he took off the top of the paper shredder (it was turned off of course) and threw shredded paper all over the office, then down the hall and into the living room. It's not the first time I have turned around and have been unexpectedly surprised and he was actually being pretty quiet with it.

Mom's recovery.

I just wanted to give an update on my mother's progress. The results of pathology and her estrogen and progesterone receptor test came back great. She will not have to have Chemo. She will just have to take a pill for 5 years, a mammogram every six months, and more doctors appts. Pretty great news. She has been so thankful to everyone for the gifts, food, and phone calls. She is feeling great and is relieved to finally be able to drive and get out of the house, but she still has a lot of healing that she needs to do and try as best as she can to not overexert herself. Thanks to everyone for your support and prayers. I truly believe that they have helped her and blessed her.

I just wanted to post some cute pictures of mom before her surgery. Mom, I hope you do not mind.
This is a picture of Aunt Nancy, Grandma, Mom , and Tyler in the waiting room before mom's surgery.
Mom in the pre-op room. Tyler was scared of mom in her hat.
She had to take it off to talk to him, then he recognized her.

I just love this picture of my parents. I think it radiates the love they have for each other.

Doing Something With My Time.

Recently I have decreased my hours at work by one shift every two weeks in order to be a little more sane and spend some more time with my family. I know there will be a little more strain on our financial situation, but I am willing to give up some luxuries to spend some more time at home.

On the weeks that I work one less shift, I have made a promise to myself that I will work on a project while Tyler is sleeping. This week it is Burp cloths. I have way too much fabric and craft supplies than our new house can hold so in order to use the fabric in a financially safe way, I have used my time to create future baby gifts. I had a pack of cloth diapers from the last time I made burp cloths and lots of cute girly flannel blankets. Here are the results.

So if you are having a baby girl in the near future, I hope you do not see this blog because these may be in your gift.

Happy 4 years!

Last week was our 4 year Anniversary of being married and 9 years of being together as a couple. I know that I am a little late to post, but we've been quite busy. It seems like we were married a long time ago, but at the same time that it was yesterday. We went from living in our mobile home with one dog and a Studebaker to now living in our own house with a child, two dogs and two Studebakers. I wonder what next year will bring or in another four years. It has been such a wonderful life and I can't imagine any other person to spend it with than Eric. He is a wonderful father and works so hard at home and school. I am truly lucky to have a this man in my life. (Sorry for the sappy stuff, but here's to you Babe!)

Here is a picture of us on our 1st anniversary. We went on a Dinner ride on the Sunset Dinner Train. It was very elegant. Having a child sure changes your plans of an anniversary trip.

To celebrate this year, we had a wonderful weekend of traveling and enjoying our time together as a family. Friday we headed to Milpitas, Ca (San Jose) for a Studebaker Zone meet. We have not been to a car function for a while so it was fun to see old friends and look at cars. Eric mostly looked since Ty couldn't miss his nap and it was cold and windy. There were some really gorgeous Studebakers. One car was bright pink and the woman did all the work on her car herself. She was really cute and dressed in black satin pants and a bright pink top with a black scarf around her neck. Total 50's!

After spending half of the day there we went to San Francisco. Once I heard that the Academy of Science Museum was having its grand opening, I have been so excited to go. It was fun, but very crowded. They had a really neat aquarium and coral reef area and rain forest area. We did not go into the rain forest because of the line, but we could look into it because it was this huge glass ball that people walked up a spiral walkway up the top. We also could not go into the Planetarium because Tyler was too young. The best part for Tyler was sitting on the grass outside and playing with all the kids running around. It was a kid zoo and he just ran around and walked up to families then stood and stared at them for a long time. It was funny to see him interact.

On Sunday, we headed to Point Reyes along Highway 1 and spent some time at the Lighthouse. We walked 300 stairs down to the Lighthouse then back up. It was quite a trek, but very beautiful. We even saw deer on the side of the path. Overall our weekend was just about spending time together and introducing Tyler to more exciting places even if he will not remember any of this.
Tyler did not seem to mind looking down at the cliffs. He constantly wanted to look over the railing at the water below.

Mom's Surgery Update.

What an emotional day! Today was my mom's mastectomy. We left the house and headed for Fresno at 10:30 am. When we were just out of town when the hospital called to tell my mom to come in as soon as possible because they wanted to move up her surgery. It took about an hour to get her prepped and the actual surgery was about 1 1/2 hours long. The greatest thing was that everything went great. The Sentinal test came back negative which showed that the cancer had not spread to lymph nodes. What wonderful news! It took another 2 hours before we were able to see mom and she looked great. She was hooked up to a PCA pump that gave her a dose of Dilaudid (really gooood stuff!) when she pressed the button. Mom was smiling and even laughing. She was also so concerned about everyone else ( That's my Mom!). When the medicine finally caught up with her pain, we would be talking to her one moment then she would be asleep within a second. It was funny, but we knew it was our time to go. I hope she gets caught up on all the hours of sleepless nights.

We had a lot of family there for support which was great. It is amazing how an illness can bring a family closer. My biggest job was being in charge of calling people after I learned of the results. I was also in charge of Mom's cell phone. I learned from dad that mom has 92 people on her address book on her cell phone. Of course I did not call that many people, but it goes to show just how many people my mom keeps in touch with. I did spend the rest of the night on the phone, though, with what seemed to be the whole town my parents lived in. I would talk to one person and they would tell me that they then needed to call so and so and let them know how my mom was doing. The phone tree was definitely in progress. Thank goodness I did not leave the cell phone with mom because she would never get sleep with how many people I had to talk to and when we got home, I would be talking to someone on the land line and cell phones would be going off at the same time. My dad just refused to answer the phone. Overall everyone was just so kind and loving. I just could not believe how many people were concerned for my mom and telling me what a great person she is. I just hope that my mother realizes what a positive example she is to others. My heart is just so full right now and I can't express enough thanks to everyone for their concern and their prayers. This will continue to be a very trying recovery for my mom, but I feel a little more at peace leaving her knowing that so many people will make sure that she is taken care of.