Jocie...she's quite the helper.

Yesterday I was sewing a cover for Miles' changing pad and I sliced my fingernail down the middle. Dang, domestication.

Anyway, I've been careful to try not to snag the nail on things because it hurts.

Today I took the kids to the mall so they could get the heck from under my feet enjoy an outing from the house.

The boys wanted to go to Gamestop so we let them go in while the "Girl Team" hung out in front of the store. As I was standing there I snagged my broken nail on my jacket and it ripped some more and began to bleed a little. I was being a baby and shaking off the pain when Jocie asked me if I hurt my nail again. I told her I did and continued to act pathetic about the pain. She unzipped a "secret" zipper on my purse and said, "Here, you can wrap it up in this. It should help."

It was totally a feminine pad.

Great.

Great Results!

BEFORE:



Randy's diet plan:

One cookie for Breakfast
One cookie for Lunch
And a sensible Dinner without a cookie.

AFTER:

MEDICINE.

WELCOME! Welcome! I want to show you something that I do everyday. ENJOY!


Miles has 3 breathing treatment medicines every morning and night. Plus 2 in the afternoon.

I pour meds in the nebulizer kit.

Then, he has his breathing treatments while he does The Vest. I usually just get him straight from the bed into doing The Vest & breathing treatments. The Vest takes 20 minutes so while he's doing that I get his medicines ready. Today I gave him a bath after The Vest because he was Uh, Stinky. Anyway, you can see how I make the medicine.

Here is where I keep most of the medicines & syringes.

OKay, first I put all the pills in this handy dandy pill cutter/crusher. I bought this at the drugstore after I had spent so many months trying to manually split pills. I was not very good at it. This thing was $5. I use it every day twice a day and it works like a dream. This little blue thing makes my job a little easier.

I close the lid then I twist back and forth several several times. It takes a while to crush this many pills.

Here's what it looks like all crushed up. I'm not sure why but I think this looks very pretty.

Now I add water so I can draw it up in a syringe.

Twirl all the medicines around to mix them up.

Now, pick out a syringe. It must have a red tip on it because it's what makes it fit in the g-tube. The blunt tip ones won't work. The red tips come off and on. After the matches are found then the medicine can be sucked up into the syringes.

Now I've got to get the laxative ready. First I get 8 ounces of warm water into a bottle.

This is miralax. This is a big bottle of it. I wish it worked better for Miles than it does. Miles takes an adult dose of this. Now, I've never used this myself, but I've heard from another adult that it really works. Miles just has a lot of trouble in this area of life.

I pour the Miralax in the bottle then stir it to make it dissolve.

I stir it all up to dissolve it.

Then I draw up any other liquid medications that need to be given.

Miles has a yucky toenail that needs medicine in the morning and the night. The doctor says its a fungus. I asked him how Miles got it and he said, "I don't know." Great answer. Randy promises that Miles hasn't been showering at the Y. I put the medicine on the Q-tip. We use A LOT of Q-tips. Then I stick the medicine on his toe.



This medicine is called Pittsburgh Paste. It helps keep the tissue around the g-button healthy. We use it twice a day. His insurance doesn't pay for this and it's $25 for this container but I totally think it's worth it. I heard about it from a mom on 5 minutes for Moms (parents with special needs kids.)

First I clean around the area with a Q-tip. Then I put the medicine around the g-button.

Here's all the medicine. Some are from the crushed pills and some are liquids that he takes.

This is the g-button closed. You have to open it before you put the medicine in.

Put the syringe in the g-button and push the medicine in.

More Medicine.

More Medicine.

One more...

All gone.

He has a daily "mini" enema. There will not be a demonstration on this particular medicine. I'm sure you understand. Again, he has issues in this area.

Now, remember that Miralax and water I made earlier? Now it's time to put it in a Bolus Feeding Tube and put it through the button.

Here he's getting the water.
I fill the bolus feeding tube with water, clamp it, place it in the g-button, unclamp it and give him the Miralax water.


Now I pour the rest of it in 2 ounces at a time.


After that we're on with the day.

I do all of this twice a day. Come wind, rain, hail or snow I have to do this twice a day. It doesn't matter if I'm too tired in the evening to do it. I have to or I'll wake up to my son having seizures. It's just a part of what I do. I'm the only one in our family that knows this schedule by heart. Randy does so very much for Miles, but he doesn't like doing the medicine at all. He usually straightens up the house for the evening while I'm getting this done. That in itself is a huge blessing!

So, that's it. That's the medicine schedule. I hope that was entertaining. It's a big part of my life.

I'll save medical equipment for another day. That should be interesting for you.

Birthday Plans

OKAY, for those that have gone before me I need your advice.

This Friday Jocie is having her birthday party. She's having a slumber party. I've never been in charge of a slumber party. I don't know what to expect or what to plan. She's invited the girls from her class to spend the night. That will be six girls. I want to plan but not over plan. They will be coming home with me after school and I will have them until 10:00 the next morning.


Her cake is going to look like a picture frame with stick figures in the picture that will look like the girls coming over. That should be really cute.

I need some help with the details and I don't want to spend a ton of money. Also, any ideas on what to do if someone feels left out or if someone wants to go home? This will be the first sleep over for almost everyone of them.

I want this to be special for them all, especially Jocie and I don't want to be miserable in the process. Is that too much to ask?

My Hidden Talent

Okay, here’s something about me that I don’t think you know.

It's pretty quirky cool.

I like to do surveys.

Yes, I like to do the little surveys that come in the mail and I always reveal too much information in them.

But, those aren’t the type of surveys I would like to talk about today.

I like to make up MY OWN surveys!

If I have to wait in the car while Randy goes into the store I just make up a survey to do while I wait. In restaurants I make up surveys to do. At the movies, in the car, at school, anywhere really, I like to make up surveys.

You may be asking, “What kind of surveys do you do?”

Thank you for asking. I would be happy to explain.

Here are a few examples of the surveys that I make up:

When in a fast food restaurant I prefer to sit where I can keep an eye on the drink machine. I like to see which soda gets the most refills. I don’t care what drink is picked first. I’m just interested in refills. The people that drink Dr. Pepper get the most refills. This is a long running survey and the results have continuously been the same.

Here’s another one. Have you ever seen the food stand when you come out of Lowe’s? They sell hotdogs, chips and drinks. They may sell other things, but I haven’t actually ever eaten anything from there. While in the car I’ve surveyed how many people stop at the stand verses how many people don’t stop there. The results were 1 in 5 groups stop to get something from the stand. That’s pretty amazing. That hotdog guy is making some cash. While doing the survey I noticed that if someone came out with a huge amount of stuff they never stopped. I guess they were focused on getting their loot to the car.

You want another one? Okay. I like to play “The Car Game.” I’ve played it since I was a little girl and my Grandma Jody got me started on it. (Probably where my passion for surveys began.) We would sit on her front porch on S. Mockingbird, pick a color of car and when our color would pass we would get a point. No doubt about it…the color WHITE always wins. If you choose to play this game your kids and you want to win…Pick White.

I also like to park my car near a busy street and tally up how many cars, trucks, suvs, motorcycles and “other” cars pass. This survey ends up differently depending on where I’m doing the survey. On the far north side there are more cars. Far south has a lot of SUVs’. Clyde is full of trucks. When I need a little break from the house I’ve been known to drive down the street a little bit and do this survey. This one is easy and doesn’t require a lot of thinking. I just make out my chart and then make tally marks when a car passes. It’s relaxing to me and it gets my mind off things.

At the movies 90% of the time when a man and woman go to the movies together the man sits closer to the aisle. I think it’s a protective thing. It really doesn’t make much sense other than that because who in the movies have to get up to go to the bathroom? Women.

There’s a sample of my surveys that I make up. I hope you enjoyed that detail of my life that not many people know. I have one year left at Hardin Simmons to get my degree in Sociology. I picked this major because of all the statistics….and because of all the SURVEYS!

Who's Up for a Triathlon?

DON'T STOP READING YET! :)

It's a Triathlon of Miniature Golf, Bowling & Skee Ball

It's going to be at Prime Time on February 7, 2009. It's totally free for your whole family. Who doesn't want to go to Prime Time for FREE?

It is the Joseph Thomas Memorial Foundation Triathlon. The family of Joseph Thomas family does this special event in memory of their son who died 2 years ago. I snagged this little excerpt from their website:
Hello, and thank you for taking time to come and visit our page. We lost our son Joseph in August 2007, and John and I made it our mission to carry on his name and legacy. In Feburary 2008, we had the first Annual Joseph Thomas Triathlon. It was a huge success, and thank you for coming out. If you missed it, we will be having another Feburary 7th, 2009.

Joseph was a special boy, his personality outshined his medical disabilities. He needed constant care, like most kids with special needs do; and we know first hand how hard that can be. With the foundation, John and I plan to help families who need medical equipment and/or medical needs. We feel we can use our knowledge as an outreach and help other families in need.

I've emailed the Mom back and forth and she seems so friendly! She told me to invite, invite & invite so I'm inviting you! She said that the more kids the better. She's hoping for at least 200 kids this year! I think it's going to be a lot of fun & everyone gets a t-shirt. We're going. I've already registered. You will need to register by Feb 1. You can do that at If you have any questions you can email the mom at erin@josephthomasfoundation.org or you can ask me and I'll ask her if you want me to. Here's the flyer:

Furniture Pictures

White Couches + Five Kids= Gray Couches

Randy got it in his head that we could stain our leather furniture with leather dye. What can I say? He's the man. He searched on how to do it. He found a place to sell it to us in bulk and then he conned me into working for at least 30 hours to stain the furniture. It totally worked. I can only hope that I didn't loose vital brain cells in the process. That stuff is toxic! Still, the couches came out really nice. One problem though. I did put a coat of sealer on it, but I need to put another one on there. It doesn't come off on you, that is unless you're wet or you drool while you're snoozing on it. Melody has taken a couple of naps on the couch and woken up with a splotchy tan. Sorry Mella. Also, Spencer was running around after a shower and he plopped on the couch. He jumped back off it and he had stain from top to bottom. I gotta get that other coat on it.

This isn't actually the first time we've done something crazy with our furniture before. Our last set that we had also was mainly white. It was made of cloth and it had blue and green stripes on it. We had it when the boys were really little. It was so gross! Randy and my little brother took that thing outside and Randy did his magic on it. He got a five gallon bucket, mixed water and blue Rit dye and used his spray rig to dye the whole couch. The thing looked great! What can I say? He's got skills.

BEFORE PICTURES










AFTER PICTURES
I'm not sure why the seats in the pictures look lighter than the tops of the couches. They don't look like that in my living room. It must be a flash thing on the camera. That's why I gave you a close up on the arm of the chair so you could see that the color is right. Also, the pictures look a little splotchy. It doesn't really look like that. I don't like how the pictures came out, but you get the point. I think I'l try to take them in the evening. The lighting will be better. Anyway, it's a great set of furniture. The color was just wrong for our house. I'm pleased with how it came out.

Not this Time.

After listening to Brenda last night I'm thinking I won't do the mom igroup. She was talking about how there are so many good things to do that end up being distractions. She recommended us doing a few great things instead of a lot of good things. During the day I've got a few great things going. I've got Miles that needs some great care. Also, my book is on a roll so that's something great I need to invest my time in.

I did just get an idea on how I could encourage the moms without having the igroup.

I'll have to pray and ask if it's a good idea or a great idea.

iGroup

I've been thinking again about doing an iGroup in my home for young Moms. We would still have our life group that we have now. It's on Wednesday nights. I'm thinking the iGroup would be during the morning one day a week. It would not be for Moms like me or Fran or Pam...you know, with older kids. It would be for moms that are staying home with kids about ages 3 and under. I was thinking that it would be a place where they would of course be able to bring their kids and I would talk about different things each week. The lessons would be on having a purpose during your day instead of just letting the day happen to you. Also, I would talk about organized grocery shopping. Another lesson would be about finding fulfillment in what you're doing so when your husband comes home you're not dying for his attention. You know, stuff like that. It would also be a time for them to hang out with each other and talk about things they can all relate to. I really wanted to do it last semester. I'm so glad I didn't because Miles was so crazy sick that I would have had to cancel every other week. I really want to pour into these women and encourage them to be the best wife and mom they can be. I feel like this is an area that I've had success in and I would like to mentor those women in a time where they would thrive with encouragement.

Do you think there is a need for such a group. I'm not just looking for something to do if you know what I mean!

Also, who are some people we know that have kids this age. I have a list going, but there's several people I don't know. (Age three is not a cut off age. I was just meaning young kids.)


An alternative to this idea is to pick about three women and not make it an igroup but just take one day a week and meet with them on my own time. I could pour into them without making it a church thing. The problem with this of course is that if I don't have a set time and date then I more than likely will not ever get to it. I have lots of good ideas and intentions that I don't actually ever follow through on because life gets in the way.

Please give me some feedback on this idea. I have a heart to do it, but also, I don't want to mess around with anything that's not a Now idea. Of course I would like it to be fruitful.

FYI

“She was acting so retarded!”

“Oh my gosh, that’s so retarded!”

“I can’t believe I did that! I’m so retarded.”

FYI…my son is retarded. I mean actually retarded.

The definition of retarded is: delay or hold back in terms of progress, development or accomplishment. Also, a mentally handicapped person.

Yep, my son is retarded.

Do you remember when you were pregnant and previously you didn’t know or see anyone pregnant but then all the sudden everywhere you looked you saw pregnant people? Well, before I had a son that was retarded I never thought much of the word. I was actually a sayer of the retarded word.

Do not take this as condemnation. Take it as education.

Oh my gosh! People say things and people are retarded ALL THE TIME around me and I just want to yell and say, “Um, my son is retarded! Did you mean that you’re acting retarded like my son is acting retarded?”

If I hear something like that on tv or a movie I don’t really get offended. I know it’s a part of our language. I’m not an idiot. I know what they mean. I understand that they don’t have a particular retarded person in mind when they’re saying it. I know they just mean silly, stupid or ignorant. I know the word is just being used for another word. My point is that the “other” word should be used instead of using retarded. However, it does baffle me when people are talking to me and know my personal situation and still use the word retarded in a negative way.

Only one time have I called a person on using the “R” word. I will protect my dear friend by not mentioning her name on here. I only told her because I actually love her so much and I trusted that she would understand where I was coming from. She used to say it all the time. And I mean all the time. I tried to get over it on my own, but it would make me crazy every time she would say it so I maturely confronted her about it, and she’s only slipped one time after that and immediately she caught herself and apologized. I’m actually very thankful and impressed with her thoughtfulness to change her vocabulary so quickly, at least around me anyway.

Something that I need to stop saying is, “That’s so gay.” Now I know this could be a little controversial since this sort of implies that I’m saying that like people that are retarded can’t help being retarded neither can gay people help being gay. I’m not saying that and I’m not, not saying that. What I am saying is that using the statement “That’s so gay” is rude and unnecessary. If Randy has on a shirt that makes his tall, thin body look feminine then I can just tell him that the shirt doesn’t look good on him because it looks too feminine. That way I’m not putting anyone else down to tell Randy that I don’t like a particular shirt.

Do I want you to be edgy with what you say around me?
No.
Am I being too easily offended at what others say?
No.
Do I want you to stop saying the word retarded?
It would be nice, but it’s not a requirement for our relationship.
Do I want you to stop and think about what I’m saying?
Yes.
Do I want you to change your mind and stop being retarded... I mean offensive?
Yes, that would be nice.

What's in your shower?

I buy pricey shampoo & conditioner for myself at the grocery store. Not only does Randy not enjoy expensive shampoo, but he actually doesn’t like to use it. He thinks it’s a waste for him. So for him I always buy the cheap stuff. I always change the scents that I buy for him, but it’s always the same brand. Today it’s a tangerine scent. Now, he doesn’t use conditioner, but the girls like to take a bath in our tub so I have the matching conditioner in there for them. Miles has his own shampoo and conditioner in our bathroom as well. He had some birthday money and since he has the best hair ever and he didn’t ask me for a new remote control car I bought him shampoo and conditioner at the salon. I will admit that I’ve used it a time or two, but really it’s his and he’s the main user. Then I also have a body wash on every shelf of my shower from every secret sister I’ve ever had. Plus, I have my signature scent of Peppermint Twist in there. For as long as I’ve showered with Randy he’s never been a body wash guy. That was UNTIL around Christmas when someone mysteriously dropped a full bottle of AXE Revitalizing Shower Gel for Men in our front yard. He brought it in and asked if I had bought it. I told him that I didn’t buy it, but the commercial I saw for the product all but guarantees if you use it that you get to have sex. He’s been a faithful shower gel user since then. Then we also have shaving cream for me and some for Randy. The problem is that I actually have a couple of empty cans of mine in the shower. Once one is empty I forget by the time that I get out of the shower. I guess I’m so focused on drying off that I don’t think about throwing away the can. Today when I was in the shower I had enough of mine to shave one leg but I ran out so I had to use Randy’s shaving cream on the other leg. Now I smell like a Lavender Man. Anyway, add a couple of razors and a meshy scrubber and that’s what in my shower.

And the winner is...

The contest is over. There can only be one winner and the winner is... Well, let's not rush it. I'll get to that in a minute.

First I would like to say that the machine is working very well. I know this because the amount of mucus that is coming from Miles' little body is shocking! The Vest has been called the "Snot Shaker" at our house. It's not great to take him places for 2 hours after he's used the machine because snot goes everywhere! I'm very impressed.

Anyway, on with the winner!

Congratulations to...















AMANDA CHAVEZ!!!!!!

Her guess was $15,000.
Very close my friend!

The total, as told to me by the nurse is $17,000.
Randy's been calling it a compact car.
$17,000 to shake the snot out of Mile's lungs.
Impressive!
I'm so thankful.

So, what has she won folks?

(THIS IS WHERE THE PICTURE WOULDN'T LOAD)



She's won a lovely bag from Bath and Body Works. How they upsold me on the bag I'll never know. Also, Amanda gets a cool "Cereal to Go" cup. It keeps the milk cold and the cereal dry. It also comes with a spoon. This was Miles' Christmas present from Joey, but Miles isn't a big cereal on the go eater. She also wins a cinnamon candle (just in case Francesca was going to win.) She also gets my personal favorite body wash from Bath & Body Works. It's Twisted Peppermint. She will also receive matching lotion. And, because the winner was AMANDA I added some office supplies to the pile. She likes office supplies!

So, thanks for playing!
Maybe next time you can be the winner on GUESS HOW MUCH THEY CHARGE FOR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT!