Christmas Eve

Our neighbors invited us over for appetizers on Christmas Eve again. It was lovely to spend time with them. They have a tradition of placing luminaries all around our double culdesac but the last few years have been rainy, snowy, or windy, effectively canceling their plans. So this year, we were happily surprised by the site of more than 200 luminaries around the street. It was so pretty and people drove by all night long.

We realize we need to amp up our exterior decorations next year but since our house is behind three big trees, our icicle lights wouldn't be seen very well. So I found this picture online and think next year we should work WITH the trees, not against!

Hippy Chic: Joint Camp

In preparation for my hip surgery in January, Mark and I attended Joint Camp at the facility where I'll be having the surgery. The head nurse on the floor and the PT lead each spoke for about an hour and answered questions. Of the ten patients attending, I was the only one with brown hair and the only one having my hip done. The others were much older and were all having knees replaced.

We talked about pre-op stuff, exercises, medications, check in, anesthesia, PT, recovery, walkers, and how to get in and out of beds, chairs and cars. It was definitely worthwhile, and good for Mark to hear too so he knows more what to expect.

I was surprised to get confirmation that I will only have three PT visits at home after my surgery, while a knee patient receives daily therapy for two weeks, then 3x a week for two weeks, etc. Hips are so much easier to rehab apparently. I already know I will have a posterior approach incision roughly six inches long, and a spinal anesthesia instead of general - also for quicker recovery.

Still trying to line up friends to come and stay with us - to help with driving mostly, because Mark cannot do half days for a month until I get clearance to drive again. In hindsight, I wish I would have had this surgery before we moved away from San Antonio, but our new friends here in DFW are ready to help with meals and rides, etc. Hopefully, I'll be able to drive after four weeks, which is much better than the 6-8 weeks mentioned in some of the literature!

I'm registered at the hospital and have pre-op appointments set up with my PA and operating surgeon in the next few weeks. I got new pajama pants and slippers for Christmas for my recovery outfit. Nothing to do but wait!

American Girl Girls' Day

Sarah's friend Grace comes to Dallas every year to celebrate her birthday at the American Girl store. This year, Sarah and I stayed at the Galleria with Grace and her mom and had a lovely shopping day with the girls.

They had so much fun, we took their new dolls back to the store the next day so they could play on more of the activity sets. We dread the day the girls grow out of this...

Catch Up....

Has it really been more than three weeks since a blog post? Bad!

The first weekend of December turned into a weather fiasco dubbed #IceMageddon. It started to rain Thursday afternoon and kept on through the night. By the time we woke up Friday morning, there was snow on top of a thick layer of ice. Travel was treacherous enough that school was canceled. The rain/sleet/snow continued to fall on Friday and froze soon after, as from that point on, the temps stayed below freezing. Cub Scouts was cancelled. The choir performance at Barnes and Noble was cancelled. So was tennis and the Pinewood Derby workshop.

By Sunday, we all had cabin fever, and a soon-to-expire day pass for the Great Wolf Lodge. We ventured out carefully for the short drive to the indoor water park. Due to the road conditions, they had many cancellations and the park wasn't crowded at all. It was a great way to burn off the cooped-up energy. The temps did get above freezing for a couple hours in the late afternoon and we saw many mini avalanches of snow falling from the roof of the park, not quite as big as this video shows but this was taken at the GWL right before we got there!

All the thawing that occurred would just refreeze overnight. It was bad enough that school was canceled on Monday as well, so we were extra thankful that we got a day OUT of the house.

The following week, we played catch up at school, for PTA, Christmas shopping, grocery shopping ...

Sarah walked in the Flower Mound Christmas Parade with her Girl Scout troop again. It was still very chilly, so those that braved the weather got as much candy as they hauled in at Halloween!

She also got to sing with the choir during the PTA meeting. And Ethan displayed his Pet Parade project - a voluntary project showing the process of selecting a pet, care and maintenance, toys, food, etc. He selected a brown guinea pig (because we used to take care of Fudge - a class pet from Sarah's second grade teacher in SA).

Then came all the class parties at school. Ethan's was a madhouse - there were more activities that we had time to do, but I'm sure the kids enjoyed the frenetic pace.

I helped plan the party for Sarah's class. Much more calmly, we finished the chalkboard picture frames that I had started the week before (painting two base coats and taking pictures of each kid). We also cut out snowflakes for the local hospital to use as tray favors.

Lucas' party was almost done by the time I could leave Sarah's party. But I did get to see him in a reindeer hat and try to eat a piece of licorice with no hands - made more difficult with the absence of his two front teeth!

One more half-day of school to get everything bought (and wrapped, dare I hope) before the kids are out for two weeks!

Sarah - Crohn's Update

After getting back from NJ, Sarah had an appointment with her gastro doctor. She feels so much better than she did a few months ago, and has lost a few pounds since being taken off steroids. The puffy cheeks are gone. She hasn't had tummy trouble in quite some time. We are very pleased and her doctor says we don't have to come back for three months! We will still have to do some blood work over Christmas break to check on anemia and other inflammatory markers, but overall, she's doing GREAT!

Thanksgiving in New Jersey

We headed to NJ to spend Thanksgiving with Mark's family this year. The kids had a great time connecting with cousins they hadn't seen in a long time!

Brittney and Mariah went with us to the Crayola Experience in Easton, PA. The kids got to name a crayon color and print a label, build a marker, and play with Model Magic - Crayola's version of Play-Doh.

They also got to color the old-fashioned way ...

And a new digital way!

They got to make hats ...

and mold their own crayons.

Super fun day!

We also visited Carlo's Bakery (the Westfield location). The original location is in Hoboken and was made famous by the TV show: Cake Boss.

We had the bonus pleasure of meeting William Michael Alboum, the first great-grandchild for Mark's parents, born to Mark's niece, Samara, on Nov. 24th. William is a wee but healthy peanut at just under six pounds. My smallest baby was 8 lbs. 3 oz.!

On Thanksgiving day, we gathered at Mary's house where 16 of the 22 cousins were present. SO AWESOME for my kids, who don't get much cousin time in Texas. A few even came to Grandma's on Friday to see us off to the airport!

Busy Scouts

Sarah's Girl Scout troop was at our house recently making tray favors for a local hospital. The hospital puts a favor on every tray at every meal! The girls made snowmen (and Elmos and Minions and other questionable characters) out of spoons, cotton balls, pipe cleaners and some craft supplies. 

The girls also made "SWAPS" to trade with other girl scouts at a Thanksgiving event.

Ethan's Cub Scout den went on a field trip to the library and participated in their Rockin' Readers program.

And we all went on the Cub Scout Family Campout at Rancho De La Roca in Aubrey, Texas. A beautiful weather weekend made it extra nice for hiking and other activities.

Hippy Chick: Things Have Changed And Not For The Better

It's been just over a year since we moved to the Dallas area. And it's been almost three years since I've seen my orthopedist about my hip. Recently, I've experiencing a lot more pain, sometimes shooting pain, and limping while walking, so I researched orthopedists in DFW. My new orthopedist, from Texas Hip and Knee, was recommended by the pediatric orthopedist that set Lucas' arm in the spring. Lucas' doctor's mother had her hip replaced by this doctor - so I figure seeing the orthopedist who did the hip of another orthopedist's mom is a good place to start!

I was so apprehensive about my appointment that the night before, I couldn't sleep. I worried that he would tell me I just needed to drop some weight and take some meds. I also worried about the other end of the spectrum, that he would tell me it was time for a replacement. My last doctor hoped that I could hold out until I was 50 ... surely it wouldn't need to happen at age 41.

I got to my appointment 15 minutes early, after an hour's drive into downtown Ft. Worth, only to have the receptionist tell me that I was A WEEK EARLY for my appointment. A WEEK EARLY!?!?

Somehow, the wait for the actual appointment wasn't as hard to bear. Guess I had spent all my energy on worrying the week prior. It was during this in-bewteen week that we took the kids to Yesterland Farm and I had a lot of difficulty walking on the uneven ground. I had to pass on the corn maze and wait on a bench. Towards the end of the day, I was limping from tree to picnic table to light post for the stability. I could barely take a step without wanting to cry. So this appointment was going to be what it was going to be. I certainly couldn't keep going the way things were.

At the real appointment, I had new x-rays done and the orthopedist was able to say within the first 30 seconds that I had bone on bone in the left hip socket which was creating bone spurs and causing the more intense pain. There was no cushion of cartilage like a healthy hip would have and he said there's no point in waiting to do a total hip replacement.

The next week went by in a blur as I called the insurance company for details and the nurse to schedule surgery. It looks like I will have the procedure on January 15th. I am to expect a two-night hospital stay, 2-4 weeks of a walker, and a cane after that. No driving for 6-8 weeks. In-home physical therapy. I am starting to plan the logistics of it all, lining up people who can come and stay, and be my legs, especially after Mark will have to go back to work.

Luckily we have found a good village of friends in DFW that will also be able to help drive kids to and fro, and step up to the PTA plate as necessary.

Lately, I have good days and bad days, but even my good days aren't pain-free and I guess that's part of the problem. So while I'm apprehensive about the surgery, I'm also ... excited isn't the right word... maybe hopeful?

To be continued...

One of those days....

After our trip to Yesterland Farm, Sarah was feeling run down and complained of a sore throat. By the time we got home, she had a fever of 102. Mark had to fly out for work, so a friend came over to stay with the boys while I took her to the kids' urgent care. Rapid strep came back negative, and I didn't see any mouth sores (Crohn's symptom) so she just had to wait it out. She spent two days home from school.

On Tuesday evening, there was a light rain which meant the boys' tennis lessons were cancelled. We ate an early dinner and got everyone in PJs by 6:30 pm! Mark was still out of town. Then Lucas came downstairs crying. At first, I couldn't understand what was wrong. But then he bawled out that there was a LEGO stuck in his ear! Sure enough, he had stuck a tiny little one-dot piece in there and couldn't get it out. It didn't hurt, but he was scared!

I took him into the bathroom and tried to use my tweezers to get it out but I couldn't grab it. After two tries, I didn't want to risk damaging his ear drum, so off we went back to urgent care...where the receptionist took one look at me and said "You look familiar."

Yeah. That's because I was here 48 hours ago with my daughter! The doctor on call heard me describe his ailment and I asked her if we were even in the right place. Did I need to go to the emergency room? Or to an ENT? She said they would try to remove it, and if they couldn't, he would have to sleep on it and we'd have to go see an ENT in the morning!

It took two people, but luckily they were able to get it out!

I think he learned his lesson, but who would have thought that age six, it was a lesson he still needed to learn?

Yesterland Farm

Bought a Groupon for a fun-looking family farm adventure in Canton, Texas, called Yesterland Farm. They had a corn maze, rides, animals, yummy food, photo ops, an apple cannon, pig races and more! It took almost two hours to get there but it was a beautiful fall day and we spent several hours at the farm. 

Lucas' lunch of chicken fingers and fries was served in this pressed cardboard bowl that looked a lot like a dog dish...and a lot like a sailor hat when turned upside down and worn on his head!

Towards the end of the day, we ran into our Flower Mound friends who also made the the drive to the farm because of the same Groupon! Last time we bumped into each other randomly at the Perot Museum. If we're going to have stalkers, they're the best kind! 

Halloween 2013

We attended one Trunk or Treat this year, the weekend before Halloween. Folks decorate their trunks and hand out candy in a parking lot. The kids had a good time and want to build something in OUR trunk next year. I'm sure Darth Van is up for the challenge.

Halloween night was a bust for trick-or-treaters at our house. Last year, I had about 30 kids. This year, the doorbell rang only six times. I guess that's the downside to living up a hill and on a double culdesac. The effort-to-candy ratio is much higher than on one of the main neighborhood streets with no backtracking necessary. All the boys wore the same costumes as last year. Only Sarah was something new - a pink leopard.

Anniversary

Mark and I celebrated 14 years of marriage today. We don't usually give big gifts on this day, but it would be nice to at least go out to dinner. Last year, he completely forgot, so I wasn't anticipating anything this year either. Mark was scheduled to be out of town the whole week anyways. After he realized what Wednesday was, he changed his plans and flew home Wednesday afternoon so we could go out to dinner. We got Jacob home from school at 4:30, we went to dinner at Texas Road House (the place where you can throw peanut shells on the floor) with all the kids. Had to be done by 6:45 because the kids had church school. So you can imagine my surprise when Mark pulls out a gift at the restaurant. 

When I opened it, I started to cry. My girlfriends would say "the romance isn't dead yet!" but I felt bad for not even getting him a card! It was a huge surprise. And then we finished up dinner and I took the kids to church while Mark headed back to the airport to fly out again that night. Crazy!!

Red Ribbon Week

At school, the kids celebrate Red Ribbon Week which is a national anti-drug and drug awareness campaign. Usually there are dress up days every day of the week. Once of the days this year was dress for what you wanted to be when you grew up. Sarah was a fashion designer (she wore a lot of accessories) and Ethan was a baseball player (at the last minute). Lucas dressed as a fireman and made the school Facebook page!

Sarah - Crohn's Update

Sarah had a gastro appointment today and we had mostly good news. She has gained 20 pounds since her procedures in June and looks a million times healthier. She was able to go off of two medicines - the steroid and the Prevacid. Hopefully, the bloating she has in her face and belly will go down a bit now. We still need to do blood work in a couple weeks to check on her anemia, but overall, we're happy with her progress!

She had some dry skin around her nostrils and around her mouth that was red and itchy. We're using topical creams at the moment and hopefully it will go away before a dermatologist appointment is necessary!

Cub Scouts - Fire Station and Bike Rally

Lucas' new Tiger den toured one of the fire stations in town. The boys are mostly six or seven years old, and they asked a surprising amount of questions! Like "where's your pole?" and "why don't you have a dog?" We got to see the inside of the station, the kitchen, the sleeping quarters and, of course, the fire engines!

From there we headed to Ethan's Bear den activity: a bike rally! There was an obstacle course to ride around ... 

A bike maintenance station, and a safety station where they learned about Rules of the Road and hand signals.

After everyone completed all the stations, there was a group ride to the nearest grocery store for ice cream! Beautiful, super fun day. The kids are still talking about it!