Sleepover at Grandma C's

It's clean up time at Grandma C's house. The cousins come play tomorrow!!

Christmas day building

I got some great blocks for Christmas from Grandma C. And she built some with me. Best way to do it, I say.

(Mommy note: I can't manage to do this bogging thing like I want to do... Documenting and pondering and discussing... So I'm thinking a snapshot format might work... Thoughts? We shall see...)

Hopping hectic halloween

Braska reporting: Thursday was a very big day. Halloween AND Grandma C’s birthday.  There was a bunch of fun stuff that we can show you so I won’t talk too much…

This is my class, well, one of them.  I also go to Mr. H’s class but it’s a LOT more kids.


Mommy came to the party and brought my cheer outfit to be my costume. We kind of forgot to get new costumes this year.


Since it was raining a lot, we didn’t get to have our parade outside. So we went to the gym. It’s kind of a long walk, but I did a good job following the class. (Sometimes I like to not follow so well…) Then we sat in the gym for a little bit to see all the costumes.


Jack was Spiderman and Dashlyn was a cute black kitty. They’re both in my class. We’ve been friends for a long time. We’ve had halloween pictures with them for a few years.


Their mom, Miss Julie, did some super fun games and we made neat things.


She also got out silly string at the end.  And here’s a secret… I do NOT like to be gotten with silly string!!!!!!!  Can you tell?  I was screaming, “STOP! I don’t like it!”


So Mrs. F let me help her get the kids that wanted more. And that was WAY more fun. 


This was my favorite one. J is my favorite guy from school, and he really liked the silly string. So we got him good and we all laughed a lot!


After school, we went down to Grandma C’s house to help her give out candy. Kinlee decided to put on my bumblebee costume from last year.  We went out right at the end to just a few houses. Grandma C and Daddy took us.


At the end of the night, we were all very tired, but we stopped for a pic with Mommy before we left.


This was us last year with Mommy. 

Wonder what we’ll be next year!?!?

Big ole' bon fire

Enjoying a cool evening by a huge bonfire with friends... Props to Hillsboro, MO!  That's M and his two tiny helpers stoking the monster.

31 for 21: Busy weeks

Mommy reporting: Sorry all the posts came to a screeching halt.  Life took over.  But I do have a lot of things to post hopefully in the next week or so…  In the meantime, here’s what two girls at a pumpkin patch who are cold and don’t want to bother getting their coats on look like.   They like “stealing Daddy’s body heat.”

Cute little work crew

This past Saturday we ripped our carpet out of the living room and hallway. We spent the day pulling hundreds of staples and prying up tack strips. After a couple days of subfloor only, with the girls banned from anything but passing thru with shoes on, my parents came Monday to assist with laying new floors.

Things moved slower than we expected,  but we don't know mush about the installation process. Or we didn't then...

But now they're in,  they look great, and we are finishing baseboards and door trim. Because of course I wanted to do that new too... M has been pretty amazing and diligent in getting done. He took off the whole week to work on it, and with the help of hundreds of dollars worth of tools,  saws,  and compressors borrowed from friends, we are almost done.

Soon the piano and two storage cabinets can be removed from the kitchen.

What,  your piano isn't in your kitchen?

Yes, it's chaos to have no place but a pathway to be in the kitchen. We are bringing back less furniture to help with the crowded feeling. I'll love to have a kitchen back with counters not covered in tools and various scraps of wood.

In the meantime, the work crew is hard at it. Brask is the measuring assistant while Kinlee oversees. Daddy is doing the tough stuff though. He is going to need a vacation after his renovacation.

31 for 21: Mommy’s good day

Braska reporting: We had a fun dinner with Mommy for her birthday last night. And to finish the night, we did pictures just like the one from last year… with a little extra silliness…

This is from last year…

Today’s a big day, too.  Me and Mommy and Coach Katie (one of our cheer coaches) are going on a trip to talk to a whole BUNCH of kids about Down syndrome.  Me and Mommy went last year.  I’m sure it will be fun again.

31 for 21: Missing Auntie Baby Cow

Braska reporting: This summer we had lots of fun with Auntie Julia since she lived at our house and took care of us while Mommy was at work.  And when she was at work, we visited her sometimes.  She’s at college now in Oklahoma, so we don’t get to see her.  We found this picture, so we thought we would put it up because it was a fun day.  (Auntie Ju is in the baby cow costume! That was part of her job.  Fun, huh??)  We always thought it was really funny to keep the secret that we knew who was inside there when we visited…  Hi Auntie Ju!

(Here’s a peek at what Auntie Ju’s been doing at college… we like to listen to her!)

Surprise. Karaoke. 40

Tonight I was blessed with a surprise (I knew there was an event, but I didn’t know anything further than that) birthday party, thrown by my sister, Rachel and my husband. It was a fun time. I’ll write more soon and show more pics. But thanks a bunch to Rach for organizing and executing a smooth plan. And thanks to all who came. And those of you who couldn’t, we missed you. 

Official birthday countdown 5 days, 10 minutes.

(Lil sis Rach and me)

31 for 21: FINALLY a new header pic!

Braska reporting: I’ve been telling Mommy when we look at my page that it was “Baby Braska” in that picture that was at the top. So she finally found another picture to use. It’s not a new picture either, because I was only 5 when we did those pictures, but it looks more like me and KiKi now. 

And since my little sister is usually around for my stories and the things I tell about, I decided we could make the name of my page Braska Bear & Company.  That means the other people around who like to hang out with me.  So now I can talk about my family or my friends whenever I want to include them in my stories.

Next month I’m gonna be 7, and Mommy’s going to do new pictures of us soon. So maybe I’ll use one of those and even pick some new colors for my page. My favorite color is black these days. Or blue. Kinlee says that’s not a good favorite color, but she’s not the boss of my favorite color!  I’m still the big sister, even if she is taller than me!

31 for 21: Helping Grandma C win

Braska reporting: Today after Bears Sunday football time, I helped Grandma beat Daddy and Uncle Ethon at card games. I'm like a lucky charm. The Bears should have me come help them maybe.

Photo sneak

A girl just can’t get a fair photo with certain brother-in-laws around.  Nothing is sacred. Even an attempt at taking a picture of my first freehand rhinestone Bears shirt. I’m a bling girl, yes I am.  And this is way more sparkly than the picture shows.  But it might be because of the goofball dimming my aura or something. 

*sigh* little brothers….

Family Bears Day

It’s that time again!!! FOOOOOOTBALLLLL!

Braska reporting: Uncle Ethon and Auntie Cheryl have “the ticket” this year, so we’re going to their house for Bears on Sunday after church.  This was our first week, and we got ALL dressed for it!


And Kinlee got excited!

Mommy and I practiced our cheer poses with her, but we didn’t jump this time.

We won! So yay Bears!  Bear down, Chicago Bears!

Happy Father’s Day and see ya later

 
Me and KiKi are going to church camp this week with Grammy and Auntie Ju.  We went to see Grammy and Papa this morning so we could get in Grammy’s car. Here’s Kinlee with our Papa.  She’s looking funny because it was bright outside and she smiles weird lately.
 

I don’t think Daddy liked that we were leaving on Father’s Day, but he knows we’re gonna have fun with all those big kids. 


And Mommy had to have a goodbye picture, too, before we left for 6 days.

We’re gonna play outside A LOT and swim and play with little kids and big kids and sleep in a great big place with lots of bed.  And Grammy and Auntie Ju are gonna be there the whole time.  Kinlee was sad that Mommy would miss us, but I think they’ll be alright.

Father’s Day Send-off

Today my dad was preaching at a church in the metro, so some of us went to be there on Father’s Day.  This is three of the four sisters. Rachel, me, Dad, and Julia (our summer live-in nanny) One sister and two brothers were not there.


And Kinlee with her Papa Beagle.


In the same meet-up, the girls switched Siennas (our family has 3 in these get-togethers, one more wasn’t there) and climbed in with Grammy and Auntie Julia for a week at music camp!  They’re getting to experience their first week of church camp, and I’m a little jealous.  I used to spend several weeks every summer there. 

So they said a good bye to Daddy on Father’s Day.


And Mommy had to have a goodbye picture, too, before they left for 6 days.

I’m sure they will have a super week with dozens and dozens of jr. high, high school kids!  M and I are kind of looking at each other like “what do we do now?”…..  guess it’ll be a long work-day week while we have the chance!

Faces today: Sunday evening at home

(To see some video that went along with the above picture, click here. )

Home with Daddy

Mommy’s here, too. And we were very glad to see her when she picked us up.  But we were SO excited to see Daddy when we got back home. It’s fun to be back together again. 

Bedtime story reading is our favorite.

Look back and laugh: Going sterile

Back by popular demand, and because this topic has come up on a DS forum I like… here’s my guest post done for M’s blog, which is no longer in publication.  It’s about time we all have a good giggle, and M doesn’t mind if it’s at his expense, just this once.  For real… I asked.

From 9/2009~

I don't remember much about "The Great Snip of 2009". Here is what I do remember: They stuck a needle in my arm and told me they were giving me Valium, then I woke up in a stranger's driveway and immediately went unconscious. The following is RK's interpretation of that event.

______________________________________________________

After about 30 minutes, the nurse came to the door and said, “RK?” She looked around the waiting room and I motioned that it was me. She asked if I could come back. I was feeding Kinlee, so it took me a few seconds to gather up the bottle, the diaper bag, my purse, etc. and get to the door. As we walked back, the nurse told me they had given him Valium just before they got started, and he was still “pretty out of it.” She said I needed to help him get dressed. I was thinking that I didn’t know about the Valium or I’d have told him he is very sensitive to sedatives. They left that part out of the post op consultation.

We walked through the door into the procedure room and there he was, lying on the exam table. He was more than “pretty out of it,” he was unconscious. Practically drooling while he snored very deeply. It wasn’t his most sexy moment, though the Cardinals shirt with athletic supporter is an interesting ensemble. And no, I didn’t take a picture of that particular part of the day.

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with Kinlee while I attempted put his pants on while he slept. So the nurse held her while I went back downstairs to get the stroller from the van. After I returned, having called Julie (Braska was at her house playing with her buddy Jack) to tell the already funny story and how it was going to make us later getting Braska, I strapped Kinlee in the stroller and set out to dress my unusually floppy husband. It should be noted that the nurse did not assist me at all. Now, she HAD put the jock on, thank goodness, so that’s good, but I would have liked some help.

Luckily M had decided to bring his flannel PJ pants (affectionately referred to as “comfy pants” at our house) because I can’t imagine attempting to put jeans on someone in that condition. The nurse had gone to get a wheelchair while I was working on the trouser task. “We’ve never had this happen before,” she kept saying. “We’ve never had to use a wheelchair before.” When I lifted up a leg to start the pants-on process, M stirred a little. I started to fill him in on the situation, even though it was quite clear that he wasn’t grasping it. But at some point during my description, he said, “Ah dun ned ah weecha. Ahken wahk jes fahn.” Ok, maybe trying to write the slurring won’t work, but imagine the drunkest person you’ve ever seen in a bad B movie and double it. He was WAY out of it. He clearly could NOT “walk just fine.”

He almost fell off the table at least 3 times while I was dressing him, mostly when I was trying to lift his rear end up to get the waist up where it needed to be. There was a bit of lift-n-drop, lift-n-drop going on, yet he slept, only rousing once to say, “Is it done yet?” He ended up in this position.

 

 

 

 

I told him it was over and we were going to figure out how to get him to the van. Again he said, “I don’t need a wheelchair.” Then he added, “Just sit me up.” I told him if he could sit up on his own, then we wouldn’t use the wheelchair. He tried, if you count a feeble grunt with no actual movement to accompany it. “Come on, just sit me up.” I didn’t comply, as it became obvious he was getting ready to be in a puddle on the floor. So I tried to shove him back up on the table more securely.

When the nurse returned with the wheelchair, she said, “He just needs to stand up, then we can get behind him.” I assured her he would not be standing up. She kept saying, “Muncher, Muncher! You need to wake up. It’s time to wake up. You can’t go through the waiting room like this.” Apparently there were a whole day of vasectomy patients behind us, waiting in the room that we’d have to pass through to exit. She didn’t want this picture in their heads before they got to the moment of truth of their own. “Muncher, Muncher! Please wake up just a little. I need you to wake up!”

M was not responding to all this encouragement from the nurse. He was snoring right through it all. But as we scooted his rear around to attempt to get him off the table into the wheelchair, he did manage to say, “I don’t need this wheelchair. I can walk to the van.” I ignored him. I ended up lifting him up completely, with my shoulder in his chest and him slumped over my back to pivot him into the wheelchair. The nurse helped by holding the wheelchair still. I probably shouldn’t have let him plop into the wheelchair quite so roughly, but there wasn’t much I could do about it at that point. I just about ended up in his lap from the momentum of him falling down into it.

The nurse gathered his feet up and straightened his head, like she thought it would stay upright, and then headed out of the room. I grabbed my things and pushed the stroller out behind her. She kept urging him, “Muncher, Muncher! PLEASE sit up straight when we go through the waiting room. Please wake up! You’re making us look bad.” I just followed and smiled at the men who looked nervously at our little parade as we passed through the waiting area and out the front door.

We went down the elevator, M sleeping soundly, Kinlee looking at him like he was green and had 4 noses or something, the nurse still saying, “This never happens. I don’t know why he won’t wake up. We’ve never had this happen before.” I just let her stew a little and didn’t say anything. When we got to the front door of the building, she waited while I went to get the van. I put Kinlee in her seat and brought the van up to the front door. The nurse wheeled him out to the passenger side door, and I told her I wasn’t sure how we were going to get him up high enough to get into the seat. M managed to throw in his 2 cents by saying, “I can get in by myself. Where’s the door?” He was reaching for something to hold onto, yet his hand was only about 3 inches off the arm of the wheelchair, missing it’s mark by over a foot. As much as this was funny to watch, I was kind of wishing he could actually give us some assistance. The nurse pushed him out of the chair from behind while I held his legs stiff so we could turn him with his rear to the van. Then I grabbed him around his thighs and lifted him, again quite roughly, into the van seat. I had thought to recline it so that he could flop back, so we just shoved his feet in enough to shut the door, I buckled him in, and the nurse said, “Good luck.” It wasn’t a comfortable position, but it worked.

I called M’s parents to see if Dad was available, because it was very clear that I was not going to be able to get him out of the car, up the steps to the house, and back to the couch or the bed. I figured since he was in the van, we could just head south 45 minutes and let them help me get him out and recover there for the day. But first we went by Braska’s school to cancel a therapy appointment we had in an hour, and we stopped at QT to get frozen cappuccinos (a fave of me and Julie) to share with her since she’d kept Braska for us. When we got to Julie’s, I left M in the van, in the shade of the driveway, and put the windows down. I brought out a blanket to prop his head up since it didn’t look comfy the way it was. I went in with Kinlee and decided we’d give M a bit to come around a little, maybe avoiding a trip south. Julie and I chatted for a while, about 45 minutes, as I watched him out the front window to make sure he wasn’t stirring around or anything. He didn’t move a muscle.

I loaded up the girls, called Mom to say we were coming, and stopped by home to grab some things. By the time we were in our driveway about 5 minutes later, M was a bit more conscious, asking where we were, saying again that he was fine to walk into the house by himself. He was holding his head up a bit more. But he still couldn’t move his limbs well, and I didn’t want to chance him ending up on the garage floor for the remainder of his recuperation.

We headed down to his parents, and by the time we got there 45 minutes later, almost 2 hours after leaving the clinic, he was more lucid. Dad came out to help him in to the house, but he was able to bear most of his weight on his own.

There were hours more of sleeping, bags of frozen vegetables that his mom deemed “contaminated” and lots of crude jokes at his expense.

 

Footnote: 6/8/2011

This story still makes me chuckle almost 2 years later.  From what I hear—from those who have this on their Top 5 fave stories ever—it’s better if you read it out loud to family.  So feel free… let us know if anyone harms themselves falling out of a chair. Not that we’re legally responsible for such things, mind you, but we’d love to know about it.