My Weekend

The tram ride in Keystone we went on.
The slides we rode down after the tram ride.

Me at Pirate's Cove in Rapid City.

Josh at Pirate's Cove.

Us having a great day together.

Josh and I went to Rapid City to have my lasik surgery on Friday. We went to the Black Hills Eye Institute for the procedure and I have to say it went very well. Josh was able to watch the whole surgery outside the room on a tv monitor and a doctor was there to explain everything. Dr. Khachikian ended up removing the entire epithelium (the skin that covers the cornea.) When he was scraping some of the skin off, the rest of it came off too easily. They said that is why I was having such a hard time with my eye healing. The epithelium wasn't attached to the cornea like it should be. After they removed the skin, they lasered the cornea to smooth the surface so the epithelium will hopefully grow back and attach correctly. (Keep your fingers crossed for me please!)

I have to back up a bit. When I first got to the office, they did some paperwork and then gave me a Valium tablet to relax me. Then they had me go into a room with dim lights and soft music. I sat in a very nice massage chair that massages your body from the tips of your toes all the way up to the top of your head. I loved it!! Josh even snuck a couple minutes in the chair just to see what all the fuss was about. :)

After they had me relaxed a bit, they took me into the room for the lasik treatment. They had to put some things onto my eye lids to keep them open. All I could see during the treatment was a red blinking light with a bright white ring around it. Everything else was pitch black. (The lights were off.) I could see them do everything but my eye was kind of "dead" so I wasn't in any pain. Then they lasered it a couple times and I could smell smoke. Josh could actually see my eye smoking on the tv. Gross! Then when I was done, they put drops in my eyes, gave me some instructions on care, and sent me on my way with my nice shades that are in the pictures above.

I went back on Saturday morning for a post op appointment and am doing great. I have vision loss in my left eye and will for awhile. It should take 4-6 weeks to heal, maybe longer, since the entire epithelium was removed. I feel great. I have a burning feeling but after the drops are put in, it goes away. Dr. Khachikian said I am doing better than they thought so that is good.

Josh did treat me wonderful while in Rapid. After my surgery, we went to lunch at Red Lobster. Then we got my prescription and went to the motel. I took a two hour nap and then we went shopping. I found some great bargains. Then we went back to the motel because my eye was burning and my Tylenol with codeine had kicked in full force. I crashed until 8am Saturday morning. After my appointment we went to Pirate's Cove miniature golfing and then to lunch at the Mongolian Grill. Then we went to Keystone and rode the tram and slide. Then we went miniature golfing again there before heading home. My eye was getting irritated and I was exhausted. Overall, we had a great weekend and I had a lot of fun. I think Josh did too. We had a lot of laughs and it was fun to spend some time with just us on a mini-vacation.

A Picnic and Shopping

Dinosaur Park (Kylah, Carter, Kaitlin, Alayna)
Kaitlin, Carter, Alayna, Kylah

Keely, Carter, Grandma Susie, Kylah at the nursing home picnic Saturday.Our nephew Jayce is getting big.

On Saturday we went to the nursing home for their annual picnic and to visit with Grandma Susie. We had a nice time. The weather was perfect and the food was delicious! Earlier in the day we had been in Chadron and visited baby Jayce. He is so cute and getting big fast! Yesterday we went to Rapid and did some school shopping. We met Zeb, Rachael and Alayna up there and ate lunch at Red Lobster. It is my favorite restaurant and we all enjoyed ourselves! Later in the afternoon we took Alayna to Dinosaur Park before heading home. Alayna gets to stay with us for awhile. We are all having a great time with her. I keep laughing though because she keeps calling Josh- Uncle Chris. Alayna was just on a trip to see her Uncle Chris and so his name has stuck with her.

We had a very nice weekend and hope you did too!

Friday Evening Fishing

Josh and Carter with a Rock Bass. Fishing at Fort Robinson.

Braxton checking out the fish before Carter threw it back.

Josh, Carter and I went out to the Grables to fish earlier tonight. We took the dogs so they could enjoy some outdoor time with us. We caught a few little bluegill, a rock bass, and one nice-sized blue gill. Carter had us laughing a lot with little stories and comments he made throughout the evening. At one point, he seriously looked up at Josh and said, "If we fall in the water, the first thing we need to do is save the worms!" He was so serious about it all. Josh said, "What about saving your mom or the dogs?" Carter said, "Nope Dad, we need to save the worms and poles and tackle first! Okay!?!"

Overall, we had a great night and it was so nice to get out for the evening. The girls were both staying over night with friends so it was just the three of us left at home.

Have a great weekend! We are going to do house stuff and a quick trip to Chadron tomorrow and then possibly go to the nursing home for a picnic they are having for family members to enjoy with the residents. We would love to go see Grandma Susie and enjoy some conversation with her. :) Then on Sunday we are going to Rapid City to go school shopping...

Thursday

We got the kids sent off to school this morning. Carter was ecstatic! He was bathed, clothed, and wanting to go to preschool at 7:18 a..m. Josh fed him breakfast and he waited impatiently until he could leave. We got to the school and took Carter to his room. He was happy and didn't have any problems with us leaving, which I knew he wouldn't. So, now Josh is off farming 'alone' and I am noticing a quieter house...

On a better note:

Yesterday I reached my 6 month mark on not smoking! It is a good feeling and something I am proud of.

I am going to head downstairs and start sorting through the girls' clothes so I know what we need for them when we go school shopping on Sunday. We are also going to put the girls in their own rooms downstairs so that is my project for the rest of the week and this weekend. Carter is pumped because we are putting the bunk beds in his room. Lately he has had an issue with all his spider man eyes on his sheets 'looking at him in a scary way' so I am thinking we will put different sheets on his bed.

School Daze...

School is back in session here. The girls were happy to go see their new teachers and friends who they've missed over the summer. Carter will start preschool tomorrow. Then he will attend the afternoon session four days a week starting on Monday. He can hardly contain himself. This morning he went with me to take Kaitlin and Kylah to school. He was very quiet on our way home. Then we got out of the durango and he SLAMMED his door. I asked what was wrong and he emotionally replied that EVERY ONE got to go to school today, except him! So I explained how it works and that he would start tomorrow with the rest of his class. Then he was okay after that.

I am probably the only mom in the entire town who didn't take a picture of their child(ren) on the first day of school this year. I am having some severe eye issues in the morning and often have to sit in a chair with drops in my eye for up to an hour or two to get it feeling okay and so I can actually see without squinting and having tears pour down my face. It gets frustrating. Anyways, this is why I didn't take a picture this morning. However, tomorrow when all three kids go to school, I will get a picture of them, even if one of my daycare kids have to take it.

It is chilly here today. The teachers were talking at the school how we all feel we lost a month of summer due to not actually having the super hot days like we are used to. I agreed with them. It's August and only in the 60s. Crazy. (But I love it!)

Have a great day. I will post pics soon of school.

Plans

We are having a great week. Carter is doing very well from his surgery. We got the kids' backpacks ready to go for school. Everything is labeled and ready to go for the first day of school next week. The girls start on Wednesday and Carter starts Thursday. We have one minor change this year... school begins at 8:15am instead of 8:30am. (Not a big deal to me at all.) So we will just heard the kids out the door a little earlier.

Tomorrow we are planning on putting stain on the front deck and then are heading to a wedding. I have a very close friend of mine getting married and we can't wait to go help celebrate! Congrats to Charlee and Calvin!

We are going to take the kids school shopping next weekend. I kind of want to take the kids to Watiki in Rapid but am not sure what will happen. We have yet to go there, so I thought it would be fun. Josh is pretty much done combining. He has worked some very long hours these past few weeks, but it was definitely worth it! One downfall right now is his back is "out" and he stands very crooked. For once it's not me hurting....knock on wood... but it is still tough to see him so uncomfortable. It is such a miserable feeling to have your back out. He doesn't complain much about it but I know he is in pain. So hopefully Monday evening after his chiropractor visit, he will get to feeling better.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Enjoy it before schedules begin again with the new school year. Wow, this summer flew by! Seems like yesterday was the last softball game of the season. =-(

Great Weekend and Carter's Surgery

We had a great weekend!! It was too wet for Josh to cut wheat so he got to go to Chadron with me and the kids both Saturday and Sunday to see family. My brother Jim, his wife Holly and their 3 kids were here, my sister Carol and her 3 kids, and Craig, Tara and their two kids were here as well. The only sibling who didn't make it to my parents was my brother Chuck and his wife Rachel. They are in Switzerland on vacation. (LUCKY THEM!!)

We all ate tons of food, laughed a lot, spent time with the nieces and nephews, and just plain enjoyed some relaxation time. I loved it! Josh and I even got to squeeze in a movie with Jim and Holly and two of my our nieces- Hannah and Abbi. We went to see The Proposal. Very good movie in my opinion. The men didn't like it as well (of course it's more of a chick flick) but we still had fun.

This morning Carter had his surgery. We got to the hospital at 7;15a.m. and Carter went into surgery at 10a.m. The he was awake within 30 minutes and back into his room. (And yes, it was hard for me to watch Josh hand him over to the nurses at the operating doors, but we did well and knew he would be okay.) We lucked out actually because Carter fell asleep at 8a.m. until they came to get him for his surgery so Josh slept and watched t.v. and I read my book. I am reading 'Barefoot" by Elin Hilderbrand and it is wonderful for any of you book readers out there!

Once Carter was able to eat and drink some juice we were able to leave. We left a little before noon and headed for Chinese at Carter's request. We got it "to go" and grabbed the girls real quick and headed home. It has been a great afternoon and Carter acts like he is 100%. I mowed the neighbor's yard this evening and he ran and rolled around with the girls so I know he is feeling good.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Kylah at the fair with a goat. (She ate a blue snow cone right before this.)Carter's first dentist appointment on Tuesday. NO CAVITIES!
Temperance Ann was born July 29. She weighed 8 lb 2 oz and was 19 3/4 inches.
She is our niece. Congrats to Josh's brother Chris and his wife Kortney!

We have had a busy week. Tuesday was dentist day for Carter and Kaitlin. Neither have cavities so I was very pleased. After their appts we went to Chadron State Park and played for awhile. I will post pics soon. Then we came back to Chadron and ate Chinese for supper. We stopped and saw Tara, Craig, Brooklynn, and Jayce before heading to the movie. We saw G-Force and the kids loved it! Then we headed home in a lightning storm.

Last night we went to Chadron for our dogs to get their rabies shots and then went to the fair grounds to watch the Tough Truck Contest. We had a great time. Then we took the kids through the different buildings looking at the 4-H work. Then we headed to see the animals. There was a goat there that REALLY like Kylah and my niece Brooklynn. He was a friendly little thing that would stand up on the fence and just wait for the kids to pet him. Too cute!

Have a great week! And BTW...it's Thankful Thursday. Here are my top five thankfuls this week.

1. The healthy delivery of our new niece Temperance Ann.

2. Getting to see Brooklynn and Jayce at the fair.

3. Seeing the smiles on my kids' faces when we went to Chadron State Park.

4. My eye doctor in Rapid City.

5. Our family and friends!

Our Weekend

Our weekend flew right by. This time it seemed to go faster than the others. On Saturday, Josh combined north of town so the kids and I joined some friends and headed to Harrison. We went to the hog wrestling at their fair. The kids sat up front and were splashed by mud. They loved it!! Then we went to Jory Bob's and ate in the beer garden. They served a tasty meal of shredded pork, green beans, salad, watermelon, chips, and a drink. It was delicious! Then we headed home before all the "drunks" showed up since I had my kids with me. I do not like children in bars so we left before 9pm.

Yesterday we went to church. Then we came home and grilled steaks and garlic bread on the grill. Yum!! Rachael and Alayna spent the afternoon with us until they had to go back home. We got Josh moved to a new location to cut more wheat. Then Rachael and Alayna headed home so I squeezed in an hour nap before getting some laundry and dishes done. Then last night I went on a bike ride to Ft. Rob and back.

This morning I had to go to the dentist. I had a filling replaced that had fallen out and some other work done. I went to Dr. Anderson here in town and I really liked him.

I am off to the garden now. We have seen so many snakes this summer it's ridiculous. AND Deb, if you read this...Kaitlin and Kalen saw a snake and three babies last night by your back fence. They screamed and ran so who knows where the snakes headed to. Ughhh...I dread garden work this summer just for the fact I have seen SO MANY snakes.

Have a great Monday!

Golf Tournament

Kylah (middle) with her 2nd Place Medal.

Kaitlin (far right) with her First Place Medal. The girls had a mini golf tournament yesterday here at our golf course. They both had a lot of fun and were excited to win medals. Kaitlin took 1st place with a 26 in 3 holes and Kylah had a 42 (if I remember right) on two holes.

Hope you all have a great weekend! We have our Bible School program tonight at our church at 7pm. Josh is back in the combine now that the fields are drying up. We are enjoying our nice semi-cool day. We got the yards mowed...Kait saw a snake at the neighbor's when she was mowing. Our dog Braxton took care of it for us. Yuck!! I am off to read a couple chapters in my book. :)

Surgeries....Surgeries....

Just thought I would give a quick update on our family...

I have to have eye surgery on August 28 in Rapid City. I went to see a cornea specialist on Tuesday. His name is Dr. Khachikian. He went ahead and inserted a plug into my tear duct to help keep some tears in my eye since it dries out so fast. He said they will do the laser surgery to laser out the scarring in my eye and then it should hopefully heal correctly so I won't have continuous eye troubles.

Carter is having surgery on August 10. He has to have his urethra dilated. I took him to see a doctor from Rapid in Chadron a week or so ago. He has had numerous wetting accidents so I went to see what the problem was. He doesn't empty his bladder completely when he has to go potty. They did a bladder scan on him after he went to the bathroom and he still had 50 cc's of urine. Dr. Wallers told us that after Carter has his surgery, it should help him with his accidents and get him out of a pull-up at night.

Not much else is going on. Josh is keeping busy with combining when the weather is good. He loves it and stays busy. The girls are currently at a golf tournament here in town. It started at 8am. I bet they are having a great time. :) ***Kylah just got home and she got 2nd place in the tournament. She golfed a 42 in two holes. She says she had a blast!!

Lake Fun With the Cousins

A little over a week ago Kaitlin, Kylah, and Carter went to stay with their cousins in Sidney. During their stay, they spent a day at the lake. Here are some pictures. They had a ton of fun! Mitch and Carter
Kaitlin, Aunt Carol, Kylah

Abbi, Carter, Kylah

Mitch and Kylah tubing.

Kaitlin and Maddison.

Carter warming up.

Friday?!!??

I am a day off...

I didn't work Monday because the kids had appointments. I woke up this morning thinking today was Thursday. Then a daycare mom said, "TGIF!" before walking out my front door on her way to work. Then it hit me that my weekend is closer than I thought. =-)

We have had a nice week. Josh has been out in the combine every possible moment getting the wheat cut. The kids and I meet him in the evenings sometimes to join in on the fun. Last night we stayed home because they were moving to a different location. Josh is keeping busy with the fields and is very serious on pleasing everyone he is doing business with. I am glad he has a great work ethic and is such a hard, strong-willed worker. We are proud of him!

The girls have some plans this weekend. Kylah is going to a going away pool party for one of her classmates that is moving at the beginning of August. We will miss her friend! Kaitlin has volleyball camp on Sunday at the high school. This is her second volleyball camp. She went to one in Sidney last summer with her cousins and really enjoyed it.

I went on a bike ride with Kaitlin and a couple friends last night to Ft. Robinson and back on the trail. It was such a nice evening to be out and about. It was a great workout and I sure feel it today in my legs! No pain, no gain! Right!!??

Hope you have a great weekend. I was hoping to get to the lake sometime but am betting that won't happen until harvest season is over. That's okay...there's always plenty to do.

Picnic

This evening the Crawford baseball, softball, and t-ball players, coaches, and parents met up at the park for a great meal and some ball-playing. We grilled burgers and hot dogs, had some tasty salads, and of course some delicious desserts. After we ate, the boys played on one field and us parents of the Freshman team played our daughters. IT WAS A LOT OF FUN! We had a lot of laughs and the kids had to tease us about being so old, (even though we beat them by a lot of runs.) We had so much fun and I am already sore. Miss Kayla struck me out on the first time up to bat. Then I did manage two singles and a double before the game was over. I hope we do this again next year! Below are pictures of the evening.

Bryttnee catching.
Skye
Myself and Mandy in outfield. Kylah on 1st. (She played even though she is in the Pixie League.)

Mikayla

Kalen

Mike

Part of our beautiful cheering squad-Phae and Kendall!

Carter after the game.

Very Fulfilled Weekend

JAYCE AND ME BROOKLYNN, TARA, FATHER, JAYCE, CRAIG AT THE BAPTISM.

BAPTISM

BROOKLYNN AND KYLAH IN THE SANDBOX.

JAYCE AND KYLAH AT BABY SHOWER.

JAYCE'S BIG SUGAR COOKIE.

AUNT CAROL AND JAYCE AT MY B-DAY PARTY.

JOSH GRILLING THE KABOBS.

GRANDPA GARY ENJOYING THE MEAL.

CARTER AND BROOKLYNN IN THEIR CARS.

MY AWESOME DIRT CAKE TARA MADE ME.

THE KABOBS-*FANTASTIC*

FRIDAY- Friday evening Josh threw a 30th surprise birthday party for me at my mom and dad's house in Chadron. He grilled kabobs and had planned out different foods for my family to bring. It was a lot of fun and I loved spending time with my family. After supper, Josh took me to Prairie Wind Casino. We gambled a couple of hours with not big wins, however, we still came home with money in our pockets.

SATURDAY-Saturday morning Josh dropped my sister Carol and I off at Ft. Rob to walk the trail back into town. We had a good walk and talk before our busy day started. After our walk, we went to Angela's Eatery in Chadron and threw a baby shower for our sister-in-law Tara and our nephew Jayce. We had a great time and hope everyone else did as well. Then that evening we had Jayce's baptism and a dinner afterwards at his house. I felt very fortunate to be there to help celebrate.

SUNDAY-Our company had all went home Saturday evening so Josh and Carter headed out to farm and combine while the girls and I had other plans. We went for a morning bike ride. Then we went to Chadron birthday shopping for Josh's birthday. (It is today.) Then we came back and took lunch out to Josh and Carter. I brought Carter back to town with us because he was exhausted. Then the girls went swimming. Carter and I shared an afternoon nap and then Josh got home because he was rained out from combining. The highlight of my day was when Josh took me to the shooting range to shoot his bow. We had a lot of fun. Kylah and Carter played in the dirt piles behind us (Kait was with a friend) and Josh re-taught me how to shoot a bow. I used to do archery a lot when I was younger because my friend's dad took us out all the time, but that was 15 years ago... I didn't get a bulls-eye but did hit the target a few times...so maybe next time!

Today I don't have daycare because my kids have appointments in Chadron. Have a great day!

This Week

We have had a busy week. Josh and I recently purchased a tractor and a combine for him to do some harvesting since he has been laid off. Today is officially the first day of wheat harvest for him and he is overly excited about it. I have been hoping and praying a lot this summer that God would lead us in the right direction and I feel he has. Josh is triumphant to make this work out and I wish him the best and plan on helping in any way I can to support him.

On another note: yesterday was my 30th birthday and I am officially out of my 20s. :( I took this birthday pretty hard but am only going to pout about it through the weekend. Then I will be okay (I think). Josh and I went out to dinner and had a couple of drinks. It was a relaxing evening and I really enjoyed it. Thanks Josh!

Tonight my sister and her kids are coming up to stay the night with us. She is also bringing our kids home after being with them for the week. We have our nephew's baby shower tomorrow that we are giving and then his baptism is tomorrow night. So...A BUSY DAY FOR US! It should be a lot of fun.

I have a 3-day weekend coming up. On Monday I took the day off to get Carter in to see a specialist and Kylah has a dentist appointment. She has been complaining of a molar hurting so I thought she better get in to see somebody. We have heard great things about Dr. Lambert in Chadron so that is where we are going to go.

Not much else is going on that I can think of. The weather has been beautiful and I can't complain of our 75-85 degree days we have been having for July. It is wonderful and my garden loves the sunshine!

Have a safe and fun weekend!

Worldless Wednesday...Week 2

Tuesday Happenings

Hope you are all having a great day! Mine started off really well. I started having eye issues again yesterday. I went to the eye doctor and he put in a different kind of contact lense for me to wear for my eye to heal. It feels better and my eye quit watering. Yeah! I woke up this morning nervous it would be bad again (it seems to get bad when I am sleeping.) I woke up and it feels great! Anyways, Carter went with me to the appointment and then I left him with my brother to go feed horses. I went to my sister-in-laws Uppercase Living party. I ordered a really cute design. I can't wait to get it to put in my living room. The food and refreshments were delicious! Thanks Tara! I had a great time. :)

I have gotten a lot done today. The daycare kids and I were outside by 8:30a.m. in the garden. We weeded the whole potato and onion area, and a lot around the tomato plants. They all did a great job so we went and bought Bomb Pop popsicles afterwards to cool off. They are quite the helpers whenever anything in the garden needs done. We have a large garden so I take all the help I can get! We picked our first set of beans and peas. We cleaned them up and ate them. They were tasty. I was a little surprised to see them since there weren't any on Friday when we checked. Before long we will have buckets to pick.

Tonight I am planning on going to the movies. I really want to see My Sister's Keeper. I read the book awhile back and am anxious to see how the movie reflects on how the book was written. I have heard the movie isn't as good and I have heard it is good but has a different ending than the book. Hmmm.... I guess I will just have to go and see for myself. Josh was going to go with me but we have Carter so he is going to keep him home and told me to go with a friend.

The girls are in Sidney for the week visiting my sister and her family. They own the Radio Shack and Showtime Video. Kylah LOVES the video store. Her Aunt Carol lets her choose any movie to watch and then Kylah gets a bag of yummy popcorn to sit and eat. Kylah's favorite snack is popcorn so I know she is just loving it right now. Kaitlin has been going to basketball and volleyball camps a couple hours a day with her cousins and is having a lot of fun too. I miss them but know it's good to have them gone some during the year and they both love visiting our family in Sidney. Hopefully they will see Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rachel while they are there.

Have a great day!

Fur Trade Days & Carter's Birthday

We had a GREAT weekend! Yesterday was Carter's 4th birthday and Fur Trade Days in Chadron so we had a busy day. Instead of rambling on and on about it I am going to list our daily activities that we enjoyed. Hope you all had a great weekend as well! (Click below the twitter site at the side of the page to see a full slide show of our day.)

1. Went to Fur Trade Days parade.

2. Uncle Chuck, Aunt Rachel, the kids, Baby Jayce and I went to Flea Market.

3. Uncle Chuck, Aunt Rachel, the kids, and I went to the China House for lunch.

4. I took the kids to climb the rock wall downtown.

5. Had Carter's birthday party at my parent's house with family.

6. Josh, the kids, Brooklynn, and I went to the kid's waterpark carnival downtown.

7. Josh, the kids, and I went to Taco John's for supper.

8. We all went to Walmart for Carter to spend some of his birthday cash.

9. Went back to my parent's to pick up party leftovers.

10. Came home and the kids played with Carter's new toys until bedtime.

Brooklynn at the parade.
The Kids getting ready to go into the bounce house.
Carter ready to climb the rock wall.
The kids with their baby cousin Jayce.

HaPpY 4th BiRtHdAy CaRtEr!!!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY CARTER!

We are going to Chadron for Fur Trade Days and then maybe to the State Park for awhile. We will take pictures and post later. Carter's party is at my mom's at 3pm and he is bouncing off the walls this morning, he is so excited. Everyone have a great day and I will post pics soon!