THE 5 OF US

Sara

2010-04-15T22:39:00.003-05:00

Sara got her braces off today!!!!!!

Sara's 15th Birthday & Eric's trumpet solo

2010-03-04T22:20:00.005-06:00

Eric has his trumpet solo and scored a 1!

Today is Sara's 15th Birthday!

Last night she went to see Eric Clapton

with Matt & Demian and her friend Amanda and

tonight we went to Grandma's to celebrate.

She is going to have a slumber party

Saturday night.

Just one of the lovely gifts that we got her

and she wouldn't even try them!!
Sadie really wanted a present too.

Sara's Choir Program

2010-03-02T22:41:00.005-06:00

Sara had a freshman and sophomore choir concert tonight at

Oak Park high school. It was really good! The video is of the

last song with all 8 choirs.

Sweetheart 2010

2010-02-20T19:30:00.002-06:00

Alex and his girlfriend Amber all ready to go to the dance.

They went out to dinner at Fookee then went by Grandma's

then came home for pictures before the dance.

2009-11-15T21:44:00.004-06:00

November 4th was Eric's 13th birthday. On his

birthday we had a family dinner at grandma's

house and his party today.

November 13th (Friday the 13th) was my 26th birthday.

Paul made me put this picture in!Ali & Emma on the trampoline at Ersix's party.
Ali saw Alex sitting on top of a tall block and had
to climb up there with him.

Sara and lily sat on the trampoline and Lily fell asleep.

Sara must be really boring.

Blowing out candles.

Ali & Ersix

Lili just hanging with the big kids

Sara made it through the obstacle course

without getting hurt!

Ali & Ava

Here is Eric jumping people. At the end of the day he jumped 6 people.

It's Official!

2009-09-14T20:37:00.003-05:00

Alex got his drivers license today!

Labor Day weekend

2009-09-13T12:18:00.003-05:00

We pulled the camper down to Lolly and Don's

cabin for the weekend. Carly was with us and

Josh & Claudia came

with all of their kids then Jessie and Jack

came down for the day on Saturday.

The kids had a ball riding the go cart until

the chain on it broke then Don hooked a

sheet of plywood to the back of the

lawn tractor and they drug each other

around. They also had a lot of left

over fireworks. The kids had so much fun!

I don't think they have ever been so dirty!

There were a few games of cards.

Don kept us very well fed...

It was such a nice relaxing weekend!

Happy 16th Birthday Carli!

2009-08-30T22:39:00.004-05:00

I got to Decatur just in time to
celebrate Carli's 16th birthday!

I drove up today to help Tina take care
of Delores. She is doing ok but still not
100%.

Gary's Retirement Party

2009-08-25T22:29:00.007-05:00

Paul's captain retired yesterday and

Paul and I put together a surprise

retirement party. Paul had to be at

the station so my mom helped me

set everything up. Paul & Gary

All of the guys at the station chipped
in and Paul had this plaque made.
The best part was that he had to steal
Gary's badge for the plaque and Gary has
been looking all over for it. Gary blamed it
on a guy that he had loaned it to one time.

2009-08-19T22:11:00.002-05:00

Theo hunting big (caged) game at the

Iowa State Fair

2009-08-19T22:08:00.001-05:00

2009-08-19T20:26:00.004-05:00

Sara & Amanda and Alex & David flying

Alex's First Car

2009-08-19T20:21:00.002-05:00

Alex got his first car! It is a 1989 Pontiac

Lemans. Now he just needs a drivers license.

Iowa State Fair 2009

2009-08-16T22:09:00.008-05:00

The knuckleheads and I went to the fair

with my mom and dad. Paul couldn't go

because he had to work, stupid job!

My cousin David and his son Theo (just turned 2)

posing in the pig barn.

Sara and Amanda on the spinning roller coaster.David and the boys.

Theo watching his dad and the

knuckleheads ride the roller coaster.

He was very impressed! He is

such a good boy he just sat and

talked to us the whole time we were

waiting, his speech is great.

Our belongings in the wagon were

very well protected!

The highlight of the fair was watching Theo

hunt. He got a cork gun and the cork was

attached to a string. He walked through

all of the animal barns and shot every animal!

He is great at shooting caged animals!

This is the strange goose guy. His geese were very

well dressed and followed him all over the fair.

The main street of the fair.

I think there was at least 14 million people

there that day.

This cute pig reminded us of someone we know.

They sit and sleep the same way!

Josh and the kids stayed at mom's house

for the weekend to take care of Sadie.

Josh said that her and the kids loved each

other and that the children had been licked clean.

And of course the highlight of the Iowa State Fair!

Alex and David and Sara and Amanda

before being flung into space.

Eric decided to go rock climbing instead.

He is smarter that the others!

When we got home Theo showed Grandma and

Grandpa (my Aunt Kim and Uncle Rick)

how great his gun works. He is a nice guy

though, every time he shot grandpa he kissed his

owie.

Rick and Kim didn't fill their pool this summer

because it has been so cool. Now it is even better

though because it is full of frogs! Eric had a great

time catching and releasing frogs. Of course

Theo thought everything that Erk (we tried to tell

him that it is pronounced ersix but he went with

erk) did was great!

I have videos I will post tomorrow.

Babysitting Jack

2009-08-12T16:27:00.004-05:00

Last week we babysat for Jack

while Jessica took Sara and Carli to

go see a concert. I think we got the

better part of that deal from the sounds

of the concert. We went over and played

at the school and had all kinds of fun.

Paul was teasing him and Jack kept

telling Paul that he is ridiculous. It

was really funny because it comes out

dick-a-less.

Henry Doorly Zoo & Cousins

2009-08-11T19:33:00.009-05:00

The Knuckleheads with Cousin Colin, Sara's

friend Amanda and a statue of Paul.

He doesn't even remember sitting

for it!

Sara on the tortoise just before it threw

her off.

The kids just love having their pictures taken!

One of our favorite things at the zoo is feeding the

fish from the bridge.

This elephant was just relaxing...

The new skyfari is really really neat. It takes you all the way

across the zoo.

The prettiest bug I've ever seen.

Butterflies and moths in the new butterfly garden.

Giant Lily pads!

A baby anteater!

Oh Cute!

Some guy was throwing potato chips to the

orangutans. (really bad but fun to watch)

The mom and baby were catching them then

the mom went and pulled a tuft of grass and

used it to sweep the fallen chips close enough

to the fence to reach them. While she was

working at getting the last one a squirrel

came up and grabbed it.

After the zoo we went over to my Becky and

Mark's (my cousins) new house for a cookout

and to hang out.

Back row: Amanda, Colin, Alex, Sara

Front row: Eric, Connor, Elizabeth, Josh

and Nate is out front, he was a little

weary of the big kids. Smart Boy!!

The girls hangin out:

Amanda, Sara, Daisy and Elisabeth.

Jim, Becky, Elizabeth and Connor.

Eric

2009-07-27T15:16:00.003-05:00

Eric has been having headaches for the last

few weeks. When we were in Springfield I

had to take him to the ER it got so bad. He

had another really bad headache the night

of the wedding so as soon as we got home I

took him to our regular doctor. She wanted

him to go see a neurologist at Children's

Mercy and sent us home to wait for them

to call and said in the mean time just take

him to the Children's ER if he had another

one.

Tuesday night he had another bad

headache so I took him to Children's at

about 1:00am. They gave him some pain

medicine and finally got the headache stopped

and sent him for a CT scan. While we were

waiting for the scan results I paid our copay and

got ready to go home. I figured they would

come in and say that they didn't see

anything and would send the scans to neurology

and we would follow up with them.

Unfortunately that did not happen. The doctor

came in and said that they had found a

large arachnoid cyst on his left frontal

lobe. He told me that they are normally

nothing to worry about but this one was

very large and they were going to admit him

to the hospital and we would see a

neurosurgeon in the morning.

Needless to say both Eric and I were

terrified! I called Paul and told him what

was going on then tried to keep calm until

morning.

The neurosurgeon finally came in and said

that all most all of the time someone who

has one of these cysts was born with it

and the normally do not grow or cause

problems and they never remove them

unless they do cause problems and he

didn't think that the cyst was the cause of

the headaches. Then he ordered an MRI

and referred us to a neurologist.

The neurologist didn't think that the

cyst had anything to do with the

headaches either but they are going to

watch it for changes. The doctors think

that he is just having migraines and the

cyst in incidental. We finally got

released from the hospital about 6:00

that night with naproxen for the

headaches. He is still having headaches

about every other day

so now we just wait and see

what happens...

The cyst is on the left MRI images are mirrored.

At least we do have proof now that he does

have a brain. He does have funny looking

eyes though.

A wild week...

2009-07-22T20:59:00.012-05:00

The kids and I started the week by going to

Melisa & Jeff's house in Springfield

on Tuesday. Mrs J was Sara and Eric's

preschool teacher and we liked her so

much we just decided to keep her.
She has a new baby the same age as

Lily and my nephew Remington and

we just couldn't wait to meet her!

Sara and the girls.

Ariana, Rebecca & Ella

Ariana Grace

She is so sweet!! She's a very happy

baby and likes everybody.

Poor Ross was having pj problems

but he didn't mind.

The kids and I went on to Aunt Tina's

on Wednesday, Paul met us there on

Thursday and we went up to the

Grand Bear Lodge on Friday.

Friday Toni & Tim had a big

pig roast so everyone could get

together.

There was a big ladder ball tournament.

We finally got to meet Cash and Slade.

They are even more cute in person!

Madaline had a great time! She danced

all night at the reception. She is so talented

she can even dance while eating a

chicken leg!

Patti made her salsa and cookie bars

for the picnic they were great as usual!

Aunt Tina made all of the center pieces.

she hand painted all of the pots and

they were different colors they

were really cute! We went up early so

we could help her get ready for the trip and in

true Aunt Tina fashion she had everything

ready to go. Except for the potting of the cacti.

We wore gloves to plant them and as Tina

said we still got little pricks all over us!

Aunt Tina had a pinata made.

The wedding was Saturday under this beautiful

tree and the weather was perfect around 80 degrees!

Ali & "Aba"

Josh & AJ

The Reception

The reception was a blast! We danced all night.

They had a photo booth at the

wedding. It was so much fun

before dinner everyone took

nice family photos then after

dinner the props came out!

Charlotte was very serious about

getting dressed up for her picture!

Quite a professional!

Others, not so much...

The kids had a great time doing the limbo

Jack just kept running circles around Erin!

Ali & Ersix

Ali spent a lot of time keeping track of

Ersix, Aba & Sara. If only Lolo could

have been there it would have been

perfect for her.

I love this picture!

The only way to get my knuckleheads

to stand together and smile is to add Ali.

The love of my life! He makes me so proud!

Sara and Jack on the balcony in our cabin.

The water park at the Grand Bear Lodge.

The amusement park at the lodge.

Matt, Demian, Jesse and Sara trying to make

themselves sick for the 6 hour ride home.

This is pretty much how we all spent the next day!

4th of July & Hanging Out

2009-07-10T10:44:00.006-05:00

We spent the 4th at Lolly & Don's.

Don spent the entire day cooking

and the food was great.

The pinata fell apart right

away so we had to keep

putting it back together so

all of the kids could get

a whack at it.

Best friends are even better

when they have a bag of candy!

The peanut gallery

Demian is teaching Jack dork 101

It's like the street sweeper after the parade.

Caught playing ball in the house!

2009-06-30T23:05:00.003-05:00

The kids and I spent the last 10 days

taking care of my dad and Sadie while

mom went to New York to see Gin & Joe.

The heat index was 110 for about 4

days so Sara and Eric had to find

ways to keep cool.

Sara said that she went to Silver Dollar City in Branson

with her friend Amanda and her Grandma

but these are the pictures that she came

back with so we're going to have to talk...

Today we spent the day at Matt & Beth's

pool. The kids had a great time playing

with Matt & Ali and Lily and I hung out

in the shade. It was really nice out not too hot.

Eric was doing back flips off of Matt's

shoulders. He landed on Matt when

he came down on this one but they

were both ok.

Camping at Watkins Mill

2009-06-14T23:25:00.009-05:00

We went up to Watkins Mill for

a week for Paul and Alex's birthdays.
Our home away from home.

A field trip to Tyrst Falls.

Jack Jessie and Demain came out to play.Demain riding the HOG.

Jack kicking back by the fire.

Paul & Lily he tried to sit her down

and learned the error of his ways

very quickly!

Ali with the big girls working on her

3rd bag of Cheetoes. I don't think

Matt & Beth feed her.

Big man on a little bike...
Lily relaxing after spitting up all

over me.

Don serving beer can chicken. Beth and
Lolly weak from hunger...

Aunt Lolly riding the HOG.

The vela tent

Alex & his buddy Mike.

Ersix & Ali

Ali & Jack had a great time playing in

the tent but I didn't get any pictures.

Mama & Lily, we tried to put

glow sticks on Lily but she

didn't think it was such a

great idea.

Alex's 16th birthday celebration!

Sara and Amanda decorated the

whole campsite.

2009-06-14T23:03:00.002-05:00

Jack, Ali & Eric

A few years ago We were out camping and

Eric and I were playing with glow sticks and

here is what we came up with. Now we

can't go camping without them.

2009-06-14T22:49:00.002-05:00

Ali & Ersix

2009-06-14T22:34:00.001-05:00

Eric riding his bike with glow sticks.

Happy Almost Birthday Alex

2009-06-02T08:00:00.002-05:00

Alex will turn 16 on June 11th and

Paul went out and bought his

present a couple of weeks ago.

We hid it at Matt & Beth's house

and Paul just couldn't wait for him

to see it. We decided that we

would go get it and tell him that

Matt & Beth bought it for Zach

and that we were going to take it

to our house to hide it for them.

When we got to Matt's Matt told

Alex that he could test drive it

but if he wrecked it he would

owe him allot of money and

manual labor for the rest of

the summer. So Alex took it for

a quick spin and Matt took

Eric and Sara for a ride and

we headed for home. After

playing with Lily, Ali was

sleeping.

When we got home we put it

in the garage. A while later

Paul called Alex down stairs

and told him to read the owners

manual. Alex was asking

why he should read the manual

for Zach's scooter and Paul

finally told him that it was his.

2009-05-28T10:07:00.002-05:00

The kids made it through
another year of school.
The older they get the faster
time flies! Sara spent last
weekend in St. Joseph with
at her friend Amanda's
Grandma's house and the
boy's and I had a garage
sale at Lolly's with Lolly,
Josh and Claudia. We did
ok but I think a lot of
people were out of town.
We did have fun hanging out.

Sunday night Alex, Sara and I
had a Rocky Mountain Chocolate
Factory booth at Celebration
at the Station. Jack and
Jesse came and helped all
night. Jack was comical,
he wanted to go to the
alligator and it took us a
few minutes to figure out that
he was saying elevator.

Sara has been at Grandma's
for the last couple of days
and the boys and I have been
just hanging out here. Last
night we babysat for Jack, he
kept us entertained all
evening. Today we are going
to babysit for Miss Lily.
We can't wait to see her
roll over.

2009-05-19T22:00:00.002-05:00

Things have been crazy around here for
the last few weeks! It seems like we have
had some kind of event at school almost
every night. Both boys had band concerts
and Sara had a choir concert.

Alex had his last few golf practices then
his golf banquet. He had a lot of fun playing
golf and is planning to play again next year.
He will be 16 in less than a month and can't
wait to drive. AARGH!!!

Sara has graduated from 8th grade and
has stayed on the honor roll all 3 years
of middle school. She even got an award
for her math skills. She is really excited
about high school. We went a couple of
weeks ago and she picked her classes and
most importantly she and her best friend
signed up to be locker partners.

Eric is ready to be out of school for
the summer, he has much better things
to do. He did great his first year of
middle school. He finally got to go to
Friday Night Live!

This school year has gone so fast!

Saturday

2009-04-19T09:18:00.004-05:00

Saturday the boys and I went over to

play with Ali & Lily. She was very happy

that I brought "Ersix" and Alex with me.

I painted her finger and toenails.

She wanted me to paint Ersix's too but

Ersix didn't think it was such a great idea.

I don't know whats wrong with him!
After that we went over to Grandma's.

How do you keep 4 teenagers and a

bulldog occupied?

BUBBLES!

They are freaks...

Chasing kids and keeping an eye on

those scary bubbles really makes

a bulldog tired!

Honor Roll

2009-04-18T11:53:00.000-05:00

Alex, Sara and Eric all made honor roll again!!
Great job guys!

Easter

2009-04-14T18:34:00.004-05:00

Crafts Ian hunting eggs.

This was the first time we met Madelyn. She is
such a doll!

The whole crew.

Ali eating bubbles, they must have been

pretty tasty! Matt & Beth will never be

able to watsh her mouth out with soap

as a punishment.

Aaron, AJ and Eric checking out

their loot. Eric and AJ went down

to Uncle Jerry's woodshop and

designed and built a car. They did

a great job and I didn't even take

a picture of it!

Ava needs a shave!

He looks so angelic!

We made a quick trip up to Tina and

Jerry's house for Easter. The weather

was beautiful and we had a great time.

We helped Jesse and Jack move back

to KC.

Weekend update

2009-03-30T22:24:00.002-05:00

We had a pretty quiet weekend here. I had to
go pick Alex up from school on Thursday
because he was sick. He ran a fever and
felt bad until Sunday. Sara and Eric went
over to Grandma's Friday after school and
stayed for the weekend. Aunt Tina, Jesse and
Jack were in town for the whole weekend
Tina ended up staying at Demian's house
and didn't come here until Saturday so that
she wouldn't get sick. They have had
the same kind of winter that we've had
with everyone getting sick. Sunday eve
Demian, Jesse, Josh, Ava, AJ and Lolly
came over and we were going to play
games but we ended up just hanging
out and visiting.
Today was wonderful! Tina and I went
and got pedicures, we went to a place
with great massaging chairs, what a
treat!! We also went shopping for
awhile and just had a nice girls day out.
Thanks Tina!

2009-03-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

For some reason I can't put these pictures in order...
The kids were on Spring Break last week and we did
all kinds of fun things. The biggest news it that
Alex had golf team try outs Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday and he made the golf team!!
Monday while Alex was at golf and Sara was at
Grandmas Eric and I went to the park
with Beth and the girls. It was a beautiful
day and we had a great time.
Tuesday Mom & Dad wanted to go to the
St. Pats parade so I dropped them off with
Sara, Eric and Sara's friend Amanda about a
block from the parade route. I got really
lucky I was able to get them in and out without
much traffic. Friday we went to the zoo with
Mom & Dad, my knuckleheads, Alex's girlfriend
Alaina, Sara's friend Amanda, Mom's neighbor
girl, Beth, Ali, Lolo And Brett. We took a
picnic lunch and had a lot of fun. It was a
little cool but much better than being there
in 100 degree weather. Saturday night we went
to see Liverpool. Sara and her friends got to
go up on stage and draw tickets for the raffles
and Sara drew Beth's name. She won a t-shirt big
enough for the whole family with a really pretty
bug on it.

MUSIC & FIRE

2009-03-05T21:33:00.000-06:00

Eric had his small group competition at school

tonight and he got a 1! That is the highest possible score!

I am the VP of Band Boosters so I had
to stay all night, as we were sitting
there we noticed flames behind the school.
We went out and here is what we found.
I sent the video to 41 news and it will be
on tonight or in the morning and will be on
their website.

Here is the link to see it on 41's website.

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Fire-Rips-Through-Northland-Home/apDubnvRnkaJX5M3GMkz5A.cspx

2009-03-04T22:02:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Sara!

Today is Sara's 14th birthday.

We had a party at Grandma's tonight and
she will have a sleepover with her friends
Saturday and we'll go to Power Play on
Sunday.

Paul was at the fire station so we stopped
to see him on our way home.

Alex is trying out for the golf team at school

so the guys at the station were helping him

with his swing.

2009-02-26T15:11:00.000-06:00

I went and played with Ali & Lily again today.

Miss Lily slept the whole time that I was there

I think that Matt and Beth must be keeping her

up all night she was soooo tired! Ali and I had

a lot of things to do. We played with stickers,

colored, found her favorite mole card and

painted her toes. She was

even nice enough to clean out my purse for me.

She is such a little doll I just love playing

with her!

2009-02-22T20:49:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of Parcour videos of Eric

and Demian Friday night. Now I know why

they are so sore when they come home!

2009-02-22T14:12:00.000-06:00

2009-02-19T15:08:00.000-06:00

I got to babysit for Miss Lily again today while
Beth and Ali went to gymnastics. Lily is just
such a happy and content baby. She was very
smiley today. When Beth and Ali got home
I got to visit with Beth and play with Ali. She
is very silly. She had a nice lunch of popcorn,
bread and water, very low maintenance.
I had such a great time I am going back
tomorrow.

And the best news!
Jack pottied on the potty!!

What a weekend!

2009-02-16T20:47:00.000-06:00

We had a busy and fun filled weekend. I went back

to work and it was really busy! Wednesday I made

2 batches of fudge, Thursday 1 batch of fudge and

candy apples. Friday and Saturday we dipped flat

after flat of strawberries. It was really nice to get

back to work but after sitting around doing

nothing for a month I was wiped out!

The kids were out of school Friday and Monday

so Tina, Grandma, Carly, Tyler, Jessie and Jack

came to town. It was great to have them here and

I think everyone had a good time. Sunday I made

enchiladas and everyone came over. My camera

batteries died so I only got a few pictures.

Everyone finally got to go see Miss Lily. She

is doing much better and is about the

sweetest baby I've ever seen. There are

pictures on Beth's blog.

Ali and Jack make a great drum team.

I have a really cute video of Jack & Ali discussing

their drum playing but for some reason I can't

upload it. I'll try again later.

2009-02-10T14:45:00.000-06:00

I get to go back to work tomorrow!!

Par cour

2009-02-10T13:28:00.000-06:00

Eric and Demian have been taking par cour classes
for a couple of months now. They were both
promoted to the advanced class!!! I am so proud!
We now have proof that they are part monkey.
Here is a video...

Miss Lily

2009-02-06T21:49:00.000-06:00

Now that everyone is well I went over to
Matt & Beth's to meet Lily. I even got
to babysit for while Beth and Ali
were at gymnastics and Matt went to
the chiropractor. She is such
a little doll! She was awake the whole
time they were gone. I was talking to
her and she even smiled at me! She is
just so sweet! When Ali & Beth got home
Ali and I played for awhile she is so
cute!

On the mend...

2009-02-03T12:57:00.000-06:00

Everyone is well now except for Eric. I am
taking him back to the doctor at 3:15.

Two more #%$*!!!!

2009-01-29T15:05:00.001-06:00

Now Paul and Sara are sick!

I'm going to run away!

Another sick one...

2009-01-29T00:59:00.000-06:00

Eric woke up this morning with a temp
of 102 and Paul thinks that he is
starting to get sick too! At this rate
we are never going to get to see
Miss Lily.

Sick again...

2009-01-26T22:18:00.000-06:00

Alex and I got to spend some time at one of our
favorite hang outs today. Children's Mercy
Hospital. He has been having what we thought
was just asthma trouble since Saturday but he
was breathing well enough that we could handle it
at home. During the night last night he had to have
breathing treatments every 2 hours and was
complaining of chest pains so I called the asthma
clinic this morning and they were not in today so
we went to the ER. Being the great parents that
Paul and I are we never took his temperature.
It turns out that his temp was over 102 and he
has a virus. He never gets sick! Just has
asthma! At this point he is just sick with no
asthma trouble. His asthma doctor was in
meetings all day and got the message that we
were there and called us at home this evening.
He has stepped up a couple of his meds so his
asthma doesn't get worse.

I have some sort of a sinus thing going on
too. I think my head may explode.

The worst part is that we are all dieing to
go meet Lily Rhea. Hopefully we will all
be well soon...

Welcome Lily Rhea Vela!

2009-01-25T23:02:00.000-06:00

We are so glad that you're here. We can't
wait to come and meet you tomorrow!

Welcome Ariana Grace Johnson!

2009-01-22T16:13:00.001-06:00

We got a call from Melisa to let us know that
little Ariana arrived on Sunday morning.
She weighed in at 7lbs 2oz. Mom and baby
are home and doing good. Her big sisters
Rebecca and Ella and brother Ross are
quite pleased with her. I can't wait to go
up and see them!

Before and After

2009-01-22T15:57:00.000-06:00

I got my stitches out today!

My middle finger is numb but the Dr tells

me that it may take months but the feeling

will come back. For the next two weeks I

have to work on movement. Right now

I can't open or close my hand. Hopefully

things will go well, I am going stir crazy

not working!

Remington Pictures!!

2009-01-19T12:47:00.000-06:00

They got home from the hospital yesterday

and everyone is doing good. Emma is quite

proud to be a big sister!

He's Here!

2009-01-17T12:36:00.000-06:00

Remington Jay Anthony Foderberg
Has finally arrived! He was born on the 15th
at 9:00 am. They were expecting him to be
even bigger than his sister Emma (10lbs 9oz)
but he is just a runt weighing in at 8lbs 14oz.
He has allot of black hair and is VERY cute.
His big sister Emma is very proud of him and
likes to hold him. She worries allot when he
cries and explains to him that there is no reason
to cry because mom and dad are right here.
I was so excited to get to the hospital
and meet him that I forgot my camera, I'll
post pictures soon.

Now we are just waiting for Beth and Melisa!

Old and wounded but still fighting...

2009-01-12T22:25:00.000-06:00

Paul went to his first physical therapy appointment today. He is

doing allot better but still has a ways to go.

I had my hand surgery this morning. I was supposed to just have
conscious sedation but they said that I kept moving so they ended
up using general anesthesia. The mass was worse that they thought
it would be and higher on my finger so they had to go further. Now
I won't be able to use my hand at all for 10 days. Last time I could
use my fingers. It is allot more painful this time too!
IT REALLY SUCKS GETTING OLD!

Ramblings...

2009-01-09T23:46:00.000-06:00

When we went to Tina's house I only took one

picture. Of course it has Jack in it. He is such

a silly little guy, he reminds me so much of Eric

at that age. He is a wild man trying to keep up

with the big kids and wrestling with Eric then the

next minute he is a sweet little cuddle bug.

Sara has a sinus infection and didn't go to school

today. I took her to the doctor and she got

a steroid nasal spray and a decongestant.

She is staying at Grandma's tonight to help

take care of Sadie, she has an ear infection and

her tail is hurting her again so she thinks she

has to be held.

Paul hurt his back and is in allot of pain. He went

to corporate care (the joke dr) this morning and

they gave him celebrex and muscle relaxers which

did nothing for him. He couldn't get comfortable

sitting, standing or laying. He can't stand up without

his knees buckling and was in such severe pain

that I took him to his regular dr and he gave

him some stronger pain meds. I am keeping ice

packs on his back but he is still in allot of pain

so if he is not better I am going to take him to

the ER tomorrow. Neither place that he went

today took an x-ray or any thing and I have

never seen him in so much pain. I am really

worried about him.

My sister-in-law Michelle who is 9 months

pregnant was rear ended yesterday on her

way home from taking Emma to the dr.

Luckily she and Emma are ok. Michelle's dr

had her go into the hospital last night so they

could do a sonogram and monitor the baby for

4 hours. I think they are doing better than the

man that hit them. He saw that there was a toddler

in the backseat then Michelle stepped out of the

car and the man almost had a heart attack.

He called this morning to make sure that they

were both ok. Tina got rear ended a couple

of weeks ago, maybe I should warn the rest

of my sisters-in-law to stay home.

On a better note. Michelle is going in for

a scheduled c-section on Thursday!!!!!!!!!

I am having surgery on my hand Monday.

It is no big deal, I just have a mass at the

base of my middle finger on my right hand

that has to be removed. I have had it removed

once before. I will have to have my hand

wrapped in about 48 feet of padding for

10 days that's the biggest hassle.

Alex made dinner tonight. He got a cooking

thingy for his Nintendo DS and it is really

cool. It has bunches of recipes to pick from

then it gives step by step instructions on

how to make it. He made pasta with garlic

and Italian parsley, a salad and garlic bread.

He did a really good job, it was quite tasty!

Demain and Eric had their par cour class

tonight so he got to try out Alex's dinner too.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T19:47:00.000-06:00

We all made it home from Decatur. Sara stayed in Springfield with our friends Melisa and Jeff and their 3 great kids! Melisa was Sara and Eric's preschool teacher and we liked her so much
we decided to keep her. Eric and Sara came back to KC on Wednesday with Jessica and Alex and I came home on Saturday.

Grandma had her surgery last Tuesday and did very well. It was a really neat procedure. Rather than doing a corneal transplant that can take up to a year for recovery they were able to just scrape the bad cells from the underside of her cornea and replace them with the good cells from the donor cornea. Since they did not have to use sutures she is already well on her way to recovery. The first 48 hours was pretty tough. They placed an air bubble under her cornea to hold the cells in place until they attached. (picture the bubble in a level) So to keep the air bubble in place she had to lay flat on her back and stare at the ceiling for 48 hours. She really did pretty good, she is not the best about letting someone else do things for her but managed to stay down. When we went to the doctor the day after her surgery all she could see with that eye were yellow blobs. At the doctor today she was able to see the doctors tie and make out a couple of letters on the eye chart! So things are going really well.

I really enjoyed spending time with Delores and Tina.

The kids go back to school tomorrow and I'm going back to work!!!!!

Northbound

2008-12-28T23:05:00.001-06:00

The kids and I are going to go up to Decatur, IL
tomorrow. Grandma Vela is having surgery on her
eye again so we will be there to help her and Aunt Tina.
I'll update as soon as we get home.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday!

2008-12-27T10:04:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Cash & Slade!!!!

You guys are so cute!
I wish we were
there to share your birthday's and
watch you eat your cake.
I'm so glad that your mom does such
a great job with her blog so I can know
you and watch you grow.

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T22:56:00.000-06:00

The kids and I went over to Grandma's house

at about 11:00. The kids got tons of stuff, portable DVD

players, PS2, wii and DS games, Legos, CD's and

Sara got guitar lessons and more.

Sara got this great new rain poncho from Aunt Gin.
It's really cute but she keeps running into
walls and stuff when she wears it.

Emma got a few presents too.

I think the piano was her favorite, it is
so cute and it turns out that she has a
natural talent for piano playing.
Jeff and Michelle are so lucky!

Emma didn't want to pose with the kids for a
picture so her dad threw her on the kids and
that was ok.

Sadie got lots of presents too. She loves to open
presents so we had quite a few for her to keep
her from taking the kids presents.

We left Grandma's and got over to Lolly & Dons

at about 5:00. We watched Christmas Vacation

it was really funny. I guess I am about the only

person that has not seen that movie. Then we

played a game called Apples to Apples we're going

to have to get that game it was a lot of fun.

Uncle Don made his famous chili but we had a

huge prime rib dinner at Grandma's right before

we got there.

Sara and Eric played a game of hide-n-seek with

Ava & AJ. They are the sweetest kids.

Demian in his new Star Wars voice morpher helmet.

He was really excited about it because he said that

he can start making prank phone calls again.

BEWARE!

Finally we went to the fire station to see daddy!

After hanging out with Paul for awhile we headed

home for bed. I don't think any of us will have

trouble sleeping tonight!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-25T22:38:00.000-06:00

We had Christmas at our house on

Christmas Eve because Paul was

at the fire station today.

Paul and the boys all got radio control

helicopters. It was rather dangerous

in the family room when they were

learning to fly them.

Sara got one of her favorite drinks in her

stocking.

Paul has been growing a moustache for a

few weeks now, isn't he cute!

Our Tree

2008-12-24T10:23:00.000-06:00

The kids put our tree up a few

weeks ago. Sara and Alex fluffed

up all of the branches and Eric

assembled it. He did such a great

job that he didn't even have to use all

of the branches in the box! I have always

used all of them what a fool! Eric and

Sara did the decorating and Eric decided

that we would use colored lights this

year rather than the clear ones.

I think they did a pretty good job!
Paul has to be at the fire station tomorrow
so we are going to go to my mom's this
afternoon and I am making enchiladas.
We will eat early at mom's house then
have our Christmas at home tonight.
Tomorrow the kids and I are going to spend
the day at my mom's house then go to
Lolly & Don's in the evening.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Christmas Crafts

2008-12-24T09:06:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the kids and I went to

Aunt Michelle's day care and

made Christmas ornaments

with the kids. We had so

much fun that we forgot to

take a picture of the finished

product.

Carson was very serious about his work.

Anytime you can use glue is't going

to be a great day!

When we were done crafting we put

pictures of the kids on their ornaments

they were very pleased with their work.

I miss preschool!

Friday...

2008-12-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

TGIF!
It as been the longest week! We had a snow storm earlier this week and the kids were just sure that school was going to to be out. Much to their dismay school was not cancelled (we were the only district in that area that was not called.) It was so cold and yucky out and I didn't want Alex to walk to the bus stop and stand out in the cold and wind so I took him to school. It took me 45 minutes to drive him the mile to school, the roads were a mess. By the time I got back Sara and Eric had left and were at their bus stop (luckily I got there right as Eric was getting ready to make a snow angel) I picked them up and drove them to school, I tried to go up the hill by their school and got stuck behind another car that got stuck on the hill so we had to back down the hill and go around the back way I finally made it and about 1/2 block from the school a stinking school bus ran me into a ditch!!!!! Luckily I was able to get out. I was mad, that guy was just lucky that I was in my PJ's! By this time I was really mad that they had school. I finally made it back home and got dressed, went to work and was there for about 20 minutes and the school called to let me know that they were releasing at 10:45 because of the weather!!!!! JERKS!

Last night we were supposed to have an ice storm so the kids were once again on weather watch but it ended up warming up to 50 degrees and raining so they did have school today, it was only a half day though. Now they are out of school until 2009.

Things have also been crazy at work, which is really good but hectic. I have had to make caramel apples twice and fudge everyday. Today we had an order for 100 trays with 60 cookies each!!! That is 6000 cookies!!! There were 4 of us there and we baked and made platters all day long... We got over half of them done so hopefully they will be able to finish them for the Monday deadline. We had a crazy day in COOKIE HELL!

The rest of the weekend will be full of shopping and wrapping. I hope Paul and the kids don't expect allot of Christmas cookies.

Have a Great Weekend!

Alex

2008-12-12T08:30:00.000-06:00

UPDATE:
Alex is home and doing well. He is sore but has good pain meds and has been napping for most of the day. The Dr. said that the surgery went well and his breathing was good. He was very loopy for awhile. They did go ahead and use conscious sedation, the anesthesia doc thought it was better than putting a tube down his throat and irritating his airway. The dentist was the one that wanted to go with the general but the anesthesia doc felt that the other way was best. He was very loopy when I went into the recovery room to get him, he had a hard time walking. He should be doing a lot better tomorrow.

Alex went back for surgery about 7:45am. They decided to do general anesthesia rather than conscious sedation so they can protect his airway easier. He should be out of surgery in one hour then after he is in recovery for about another hour I can go back and see him. I'll update asap.

Alex

2008-12-11T20:15:00.000-06:00

Alex is having surgery in the morning. He is just having his wisdom teeth removed but because his asthma is so bad it has to be done in the hospital operating room with a full staff. He will have to have breathing treatments before and after. Hopefully all will go well and he won't have to stay overnight. I'll update tomorrow, keep him in your prayers.

Aunt Tina's

2008-12-04T16:48:00.001-06:00

The day after Thanksgiving we went

to Aunt Tina's house. We got to see

Grandma Tweety and had allot of

fun playing Rock Band.

Uncle Paul was a little slow putting

socks on.

Jack, Carli and Sara made a
gingerbread house. It turned out
really cute!

I love taking pictures of the
knuckleheads this way.

We had a great time as we always
do at Aunt Tina's we only wish
we could have stayed longer.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T15:57:00.000-06:00

We went over to my mom's for Thanksgiving.

Mom made a big dinner with all of our

favorites turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes,

candied yams, noodles and Sara made

her famous green bean casserole.

Sara also made a vegetable tray and a

meat and cheese tray.With all of the birthday parties lately

Emma has decided that when we

all get together it is a birthday

party. So we put a candle in the pie

and sang happy thanksgiving to Emma.

Emma told Eric all about her

princesses.

Alex has learned to levitate.

Actually he was trying to put Emma's

tea cup down before I could get a

picture of him with it.

Zona Rosa gave out 1000 $25.00

gift cards at midnight. We decided

to open at 10:00pm because of all

the people in line. It was totally

crazy!!!!! There were thousands of

people waiting in line. We opened

the doors and had a line out the door

until we closed at 3:00am. We ran out of

hot chocolate, coffee, chai and tea. It

was allot of fun but next year Mary

and I will be more prepared to handle the

crowds.

The Porch Swing Inn

2008-11-22T12:01:00.000-06:00

Paul told me to have a bag packed

when he got home from work

on Friday. I wasn'y really sure if

he was going to toss me out or

take me somewhere. We went to a

wonderful Bed & Breakfast in

Parkville. We stayed in the Calamity

Jane Suite, it was very nice, there

was a fire place, a little

sitting room with red leather

furniture and a whirlpool tub!

I hope my skin will unprune

soon.

This is the spiral staircase that
led up to our attic hideaway.
I forgot to take my camera so
here are some pics of the room
their website.

Thanks to Grandma and Demain

for babysitting.

17 Years & The Circus

2008-11-18T19:35:00.000-06:00

Sunday was our 17th wedding anniversary and

Of course Paul was at the fire station. Sara's

friend Amanda (on the end) asked Sara to go

to the Shrine Circus with her. I asked

if there were any more tickets on sale and

Amanda's grandpa is a Shriner so he got us

into the show FREE! The kids look as

if they are being punished in the picture

but they did have a good time.

Oh yeah, check out Alex's hair, he

finally got it cut!

As for our anniversary Paul told me to

drop the kids off at my mom's and have

a bag packed when he gets home Friday.

I'm not sure if we are going together

somewhere or if he's just going to toss

me out...

Another Party!

2008-11-13T19:43:00.000-06:00

Today is my birthday so we went

to Grandma's house for another party.

Sara frosted my cake and Emma

and Eric decorated it for me. They

all did a great job!

Once again Emma set the candles

deep enough so that they would

not jump off of the cake.

Emma accidently got some frosting

on her fingers and had to lick it off

while decorating the cake. It is one

of the hazzards of the job.

(notice the face)

Emma even was kind enough to blow

the candles out for me. Twice.

I even got live music. Every time

he stopped playing Emma would yell

do it again!

Eric showed Emma how to "blow the

trumpet" and she did it! We were

all amazed that she was able to

make a sound.

Party Time

2008-11-09T15:01:00.000-06:00

We had Eric's party at Edge Gymnastics today.

We got a 30" pizza from Da Bronx and all the

kids had a great time.

Honor Roll

2008-11-08T12:04:00.000-06:00

Eric made the honor roll!!!!

Actually all three of the kids did.

How did Paul and I get smart kids?

Change is coming!!!

2008-11-04T22:59:00.000-06:00

OBAMA WINS!

The Party

2008-11-04T21:49:00.000-06:00

Tonight we had a small family party at Grandmas.

Grandma made Eric's favorite dinner, beef

stroganoff and cheesecake. Notice Jeff's

hand in front of Emma's mouth, she was

all ready to help Eric blow his cakes, some

people just don't appreciate good help.

Paul was at the fire station so we went to

see him before and after the party.

We will have a big party with all of

his friends on Sunday.

Twelve years ago today I didn't get to

vote but I did today and so far it's

looking good!

Candles round 2...

2008-11-04T21:31:00.001-06:00

We had to relight Eric's candles so Emma

could "blow cakes" too.

Happy 12th Birthday Eric!

2008-11-04T14:28:00.000-06:00

6 Months

18 Months

4 years

12 years

2008-11-01T14:51:00.000-05:00

A gift from my mom...

2008-11-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

My mom made me this cute little

man out of my favorite candy

PEEPS! I am so lucky!

It isin't as great if you don't know

the history behind it...

I HATE, HATE, HATE... peeps they

are the most nasty and disgusting

candy in the world and they were

in every Easter basket I got as a

child.

2008-10-31T22:01:00.000-05:00

Eric and Alex went trick or treating with

my friend Mary's son Matt while Mary and

I handed out candy. Eric and Matt

dressed up as girls (they were pretty cute)

and Alex was a scary fire fighter. Sara

stayed overnight at a friends house so

I didn't get any pics of her but she

dressed as a preppy girl. Paul is

working overtime so he won't be

home until Sunday.

2008-10-28T18:39:00.000-05:00

Grandma went to California for a few

days so we stayed with Sadie and

Papa. Poor Sadie was so upset she

had a hard time relaxing.

Happy Birthday Jack!

2008-10-23T10:15:00.001-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Jack!

Grandma's Birthday Party

2008-10-23T07:18:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Grandma's birthday on Sunday the 19th

because the kids went to Worlds of Fun with

Demain Jesse and Carli on the 18th. I made spaghetti and

meat balls and here are the rest of the festivities...

Happy Birhtday to Aunt Lolly too! We Love You!

Emma (my niece) carefully placing the ABC

candles on Grandma's cupcakes. She placed the candles deep enough

so that they wouldn't fall out.

(notice the pink a candle)

We all sang Happy Birthday and Emma had

to "blow Grandma's cakes for her"
Just to make sure that it was done

correctly she had us relight the candles and
sing again so she could blow the cakes again.

What a good girl!

We always carve pumpkins on Grandma's

birthday. The boys used stencils

and Sara drew her own.

Notice Sadie sitting right there she was

very helpful! We had to put her on her leash

so she wouldn't eat pumpkin guts.

Emma giving Eric some much needed instruction.
She even entertained us with some of her scariest faces.

Emma's Pumpkin

I'm sure that you noticed that there are

no pics of Grandma, she is like me

she doesn't like pictures.

We got some exciting news from Jeff & Michelle

Emma's baby brother will be here on January 15th.

We will be getting 3 new

babies in the family about the same time.

Jeff & Michelle's, Matt & Beth's and

Melisa & Jeff's we can't wait to meet all of them!

Just a few of my favorite pictures...

2008-10-17T15:45:00.000-05:00

Sick and tired

2008-10-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

Another exciting week at the Vela house. All of the kids have been sick Alex is having asthma trouble and we had to cancel a camping trip because his pulmonary function is so low. We started him on a new drug three weeks ago he gets 3 injections of it every two weeks so hopefully it will start kicking in soon and we'll see some improvement.

Sara has been getting up every morning for 16 days with a terrible stomach ache then she vomits and feels better a few hours later. We took her to the Dr. 3 times and they did all kinds of blood work and found nothing so today we went to Children's Mercy to see a GI Dr. (He reminded me of the toad in the Frog & Toad books) He thinks that it is acid reflux and the reason that she pukes every morning is because when she lays down the acid seeps up into the esophagus and has created a hole (hence the pain.) He put her on Prevacid two times a day and Maalox at bed time and the hole should repair itself.

Eric has just got some kind of creeping crud and has been home from school for three days. I think that he is on the mend now and should go back to school on Monday.

Other than that we are GREAT!

A day in the life of a chocolateer

2008-10-14T18:50:00.000-05:00

Here is what I did today...

I made 6 batches of fudge.

First I weigh out all of the ingredients.
It takes about 45 minutes to cook,
After it reaches the correct temperature we pour it out

on a solid granite table and mix in the chocolate, marshmallows

and in this one peanut butter.

After it is all mixed it starts to set up as it cools and we

shape it into a log. Then I have to taste it to

make sure that it is good, it's rough but someone

has to do it. Thursday I will make 300 caramel

apples. I LOVE my job!

Puppy Abuse

2008-10-14T18:38:00.000-05:00

Poor Sadie, mom and dad and the kids all went shopping

and left her at home! She laid in the window and cried

until they came back.

The Pumpkin Patch and Vaughn's Orchard

2008-10-12T17:50:00.000-05:00

The kids and I went up to Weston to the Red Barn Farm. It turns out that

quite a few other people got the same great idea.

They were not happy about me making them pose with the pumpkins.

After the farm we went over to Vaughn's Orchard, the kids went

into the haunted barn then we had apple cider and cider doughnuts.

The kids with the "scary guy" outside of the Haunted Barn.

Paul was working overtime so we stopped to see him at the station on the way back to Grandma's to make apple crisp! YUM!

The Blogwagon

2008-10-12T11:17:00.000-05:00

I have decided after much thought to jump on the blogwagon. Can I keep up? Will I have anything interesting to say? Will I be better at this than scrapbooking? That is all yet to be seen. I wll do my best...