Halloween-a little belated....

(Gavin in Mommy's boots)
Before we get to Halloween, last week we had a snow storm that pretty much locked us in for 2 days. It was great and Gavin LOVED putting on his boots this year. He actually still tries to grab them and make us put them on him. The only problem is, he doesn't get how you put them on and curls up his toes so it is a STRUGGLE for us. Here are some pics of our little monkey enjoying it. Of course I also added in some pics of the dogs enjoying it too.

Here are some wonderful pics of our lovely pumpkins this year (please note the little pumpkin, it makes a cameo later on):Friday night we adults rang in Halloween at a party at my sister's. We had absolutely no fun, and were asleep by 8. Ha. We actually had a blast and ended up having a slumber party with a bunch of family at the Alexander casa. I think we finally went to bed about 2:30 am. I don't remember the last time I have stayed up that late!!! This first picture is hilarious, because I was in charge of doing my sister's makeup and while putting on false eyelashes- I GLUED HER EYE SHUT. HILARIOUS. Please also note my wonderful spooky appetizers I made for the party! The puking pumpkin and spider web bean dip. Yummy!

Halloween day was beautiful and Gavin had a wonderful time Trick or Treating. We did our neighborhood hay ride again and all of the kids had such a good time. Gavin was usually the last one to get to the door (out of about 15) and he was the 2nd to the youngest. So he got a lot of raves about what a cute little "monkey" he was.

Well how did your week go?

Lets see, my week started with me having my appendix removed bright and early Monday morning. Yea. Really, it was a joy. I do have to say though, I figured out what it was in about 30 minutes, with the last 25 of it bent over the counter googling "how do you know when you have an appendicitis?" or "what the f#$% is this pain in my right side?"

But lets back track, Sunday we had a lovely day that ended with us making breakfast for dinner. I encouraged Greg to make some Gluten Free waffles with our eggs and potatoes. I am not a waffle/pancake person so I had just a little bit of it- not bad just needed a lot of syrup. So about an hour later I just had a wave of pain come over me and not really let up. I honestly thought I was allergic to Gluten Free WAFFLES! Seriously, I did. After another 30 minutes it just was on one side and I was literally rolling around on the bed in agony. Greg came in and was like, "so what, you have a tummy ache or something, maybe you should try and poop." I then kindly asked him to go google appendix and where it is located. He just stood there, while I am withering in pain. I think I screamed a not very nice word and told him I needed to know now, not in an hour. When we figured it out, I said, "Greg call your Mom, have her get over here to watch Gavin." Once again he just kinda looked at me and then proceeded to call and CHIT CHAT for a few minutes and then ask her if she could come over. I think my husband thought I was full of shit until I started yelling and waving my arms around. Because man, that got him jumping.

After getting to the ER, explaining about 30 times what the problem was, I had the Doc tell me, he was just POSITIVE it was kidney stones. I just sat there and told him, well, that would be GREAT, because hopefully then I would not have to have surgery (maybe) and even if I did, it is an outpatient procedure. I have had kidney stones and I kept telling the doctor, well, it just does not feel the same way. But, hey, what do I know? Finally after 2 hours of being there, a new doctor came in to tell me, "yes, you have an appendicitis." I think my first question was, "well, if it hasn't burst, then just give me some pills and send me on my way." Santa Claus (seriously he looked just like him and had the jolly laugh) said, "well, that isn't going to happen, you are having surgery tonight or in the morning. HO ho ho to you." Well not that last part, but who knows, I was on drugs by then.

So long story short, they cut me open Monday morning and we were hoping to get out of there that afternoon/evening. We realized, oh maybe Tuesday afternoon when I WAS STILL THERE that maybe we pushed it a little too much. Because they just won't let you out if you are puking up everything. I did just love all the different nurses who would tell us one thing one minute and something way off the mark the next. Where they finally told me I needed to be breathing into this lung checker thingy and then just left it, didn't tell me how to check, what to do, how to measure. So that thing sat there for a full day and I still wasn't blowing what I should have been when I finally persuaded them that I was leaving. I REALLY LOVED that none of them could tell me why I was opened up on my left side when my appendix is on the right. One nurse actually went and checked a book to see where my appendix is, she wouldn't take my word for it. And she thought the doctor might have taken out the wrong one. Just wait on that a moment. It will come to you..........

So I am free, back at home, since Wednesday late afternoon. Yes, home sweet home. Oh wait, I forgot I live with the child that does not want to sleep anymore. Because everyone wants to be up for 2 hours in the middle of the night. Right? And naps? What are those? I want to be awake all day just to terrorize my parents at 6 - because you can't lay me down then... I swear, maybe I faked this whole thing just to have a few days of quiet in a bustling hospital that thinks people have 2 appendixes and love to wake you up every 2 hours to remind me that my oxygen was low. I will say, I got the most attention on my last day there by a nurse in training. Granted she came in about 10 minutes after another nurse left to recheck all my vitals, she then proceeded to do a VERY THOROUGH exam. Hello, she lifted UP MY BOOBS to listen to my lungs. Then took off my socks to check my circulation and a few other things. She did more than any of the docs and nurses put together. She was the best though- I must have been "her" patient for the day, because when I needed something she got it, it was like having a doting grandma with you. Yet she was about my age, Chinese and English is not her first language. She was the one that tried to rat me out to the doctor about the breathing tube, but I forgive her. And for her feeling me up. It goes with the territory.

And yes, this was at "Death Valley" I think we have definitely ruled out having another child there.

Thinking....

I am sitting here thinking of what to write. Do I start off with how stinking adorable my son is, while he sits next to me playing so quietly with his Play-doh. How he stacks the tubs, or how he takes out a color, gives it to me and assumes I will make balls for him to put into his tupperware. How besides going outside this is his new favorite thing. He can spend an hour sitting at the table playing and when you put it away he cries and throws a fit. Or how when playing with Daddy, Greg got upset because, GOD FORBID, A TODDLER COMBINES TWO OF THE COLORS. I had to have a little talk with Greg after that, and remind him. THIS IS GAVIN'S TOYS, NOT YOURS. He can do with it what he wants..... Sheesh.

Or maybe I will talk about the lovely weekend I had with my hubby and baby. That started on Friday with my heading to the Zoo with Grandma and Aunt Jenny. How Gavin could finally see all the animals and say goodbye to them as we walked by. How he loved to run around and didn't even get frightened of the Peacock as it strutted in front of him. He was wonderful and we had such a good day. And how we made it back to the Zoo yesterday with his cousins, Uncle Tony and Grammy. How he loved holding hands with the big kids and once again would not eat a single spoonful of ice cream.

Or should I talk about our "watch dogs" and how I am trading them in for a chihuahua or something a little more barky. Heather was in town and was staying the night with us Saturday night. We left the front door open a light on and told her to just head on in when she got here. Well, she came in the house, into our bedroom and did a flying leap right into our bed WITHOUT EITHER DOG BARKING OR GETTING UP. Seriously, what kind of watch dogs do we have? RIDICULOUS.

We spent all of Sunday in the pools, playing and sleeping. We had a lot of family time, not just with us, but with the Grandparents also. It was a nice and mellow weekend and those are few and far between. It was the kind of weekend that you want to never end. How on Sunday I woke up at 7:20am and Greg said, "honey don't go back to bed, come and sit with me and relax." And I did, while my son and Auntie Heather slept until 8.

My son trying to drink like a dog off the patio floor after Elvis knocked over Grandma's Margarita.

He slept VERY WELL that night!

Or should I talk about how every time a motorcycle drives by, Gavin will stop and stare, point and say "Papa". He thinks every person on a motorcycle is Papa Jerry. Or if he sees one in a parking lot we have to stop and check it out.

Are these not THE cutest footie pjs ever? I can't wait for winter!

Or should I bring up that I mowed our leech field for THE FIRST TIME EVER on Saturday? Granted we have a rider now and I had Gavin on my lap the entire time. It was so fun, seriously, it was. It was our poop field, so I wasn't worried how I needed to make the lines straight, or look out for the sprinkler heads. Just don't ask Greg about the ONE ROCK I drove over WITH THE BRAND NEW BLADES. Oh the horror.

Or maybe talk about the gorgeous sunsets we have been seeing out of our backyard. I love my life.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Well ok, maybe not snow, just HAIL! Oh the joy of living in Colorado. Our funky weather..... Sunday we had some serious hail, rain and of course the lovely thunder, lightening and tornado watch. We were in the thick of things. Here are some pics of our lovely "snow" that pelted the crap out of our trees, my beautiful flowers, our roof, etc.

Gavin and I were taking a shower, when all of the sudden, he looked up at the ceiling and started pointing up and laughing. Greg came in then and said, "WE HAVE GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL COMING DOWN." Then ran out again. A few minutes later he came in to to get Gavin and I hopped out and saw it, I honestly didn't think they were that big. They were. I hopped back in to finish showering and Greg came back in and said, "Um, honey, maybe you should get out now, we are in a tornado warning." I quickly got out, got dressed and then proceeded to go outside and snap pictures of all our "snow".

Sunday was also Papa's (Jerry) birthday, so after "the eye of the storm" passed us, we had the Kunz's and Horkin's over for dinner. Jerry made a lot of snow balls for Gavin to play with and throw to Crash. It was very comical to see him outside in his sandals and shorts among the snowballs. He had a ball and so did the birthday boy.

We are getting some more rain now as I type. Greg is beyond sick of this weather, with the mess it has made of our yard and our basement doing a little flooding. They say that this is the last of the storms for some time. 9 days straight of this! I do not live in Washington! On another note though, everything looks very green!

Guilty Pleasures

Top Ten Guilty Pleasures:

10. Chips & queso from Illegal Pete's
9. Britney Spears new CD (I can't believe I am admitting this!)
8. Vampire movies
7. Margaritas in the sun
6. Warm cookies straight out of the oven
5. Rock of Love (All 3, + spin offs)
4. A good massage, so good that I wake myself up because I was snoring and there is drool on the pillow.
3. The smell of my son when he gets out of the shower.
2. Gossip (I love reading Perezhilton.com)
1. A day of napping and snuggling with my boys in the rain.

I started thinking about doing this last night while I was trying to sleep. Every day I will do a top 5 or 10 for all the boys (or men) in my home.......
***Update*** My husband just said he read this and not one thing was about him. I said, "well, I am doing your own personal top 10things I love ABOUT YOU and only you."

Painting, And Carpet, And Cleaning Oh MY!

The painting and carpet is finally done. Well, lets be honest- the painting that we had planned to do. Now of course we are in the mode to do the bathrooms, kitchen, etc. But now maybe only one room at a time. Instead of, lets pull up the carpet, paint the entire living room, hallways and our bedroom, change out all light switches, outlets, beezwax the baseboards, clean the light fixtures, blinds and windows, all in a weekend. Seriously, I think we may have pushed it a little. I don't think we thought about how the dogs or Gavin could not be downstairs walking with the tack strips. Trying to keep Gavin cooped up into one room is NOT FUN. The boy needs his space. But in the end, the paint looks great and the new carpet is wonderful, hides everything! I absolutely love my orange walls, they actually make the room come together. I have posted some pics of before and after, what a little paint does for a room! This is our bedroom, pics before, during and after.

The Living Room (With of course pics of Gavin on the VERY TALL ladder, which he was fascinated with and kept trying to climb):

These 2 pics just make me laugh, the one of Greg was taken at about midnight after we had been out for dinner and drinks- but alas, came home to do some more work! The other picture is our dining room, where everything was stashed, it was packed full of crap!

This past weekend we went up to a cabin outside of Jefferson (near South Park) with Mom, Marv and the Alexander's. It was a lot of fun, not such great weather, but we managed to do some rock climbing, jumping on the tramp, running around!

And of course we colored some eggs and ate a ton of chocolate and jelly beans. Gavin was so sick of me putting those ears on him that he has tried numerous times to throw them away. Granted right now, he tries to throw everything in the trash, but especially those darn ears! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!