The End

Matt got back last night from his quick trip to Chicago.

Lots of information and new ideas for the business.

He was a bit lonely though, and ended up buying an iTouch during one of his evening walks.

Whoa!

Really?

Matt bought an Apple product?

He must have crossed over to the dark side.

There is simply no other explanation for such bizarre behavior.

WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO???

(I guarantee it is coming to an end if he buys a Subaru.)

Oh Yes I Did

I told Matt I wanted to get one of these. 

He said okay.

But evidently, he was being sarcastic.

Oops.

It's a boy!

Introducing...Bando. 

 12 weeks old. 6 lbs. All chihuahua.

He has been called Banjo by the original owners and the name stuck with the boys. 

But Talmage still has the lisps and intonations of speech of a typical 3 yr old, and "Banjo" comes out sounding more like "Bando".

And thus, a new name has been given.

We have 3 very happy, or should I say, overly ecstatic, little boys.

They ran around the yard with Bando for about two hours tonight. 

I'm not sure who was having more fun...the boys or the puppy!

 

To The Day- 30.June

Ten years ago, Matt graduated from dental school.

We knew we were headed to North Dakota for the next four years.

And that's about it.

***

These ten years have been way more adventurous than I could have ever imagined.

Lived in a tiny town in N.Dakota x 2 yrs.
Subzero winter.
Sascha the Basset Hound and Oskar the cat.
Sweet baby Kalvin born.
Move to Arizona and apartment living.
Hot weather.
Weekends four-wheeling Mexico's beaches.
Work as a Labor and Delivery unit nurse.
Buy a townhouse.
Lost pregnancy.
The intoxicating citrus blossoms at night.
Another lost pregnancy.
Another move while in Arizona, different town.
Rent a house.
Fish and shrimp tacos.
Buy a house.
Infertility.
Move to Montana.
Buy a dental practice.
Live in basement of business for 2 months.
Buy a house.
Morning sickness and gestational diabetes.
Vertigo and puking. And more puking.
Buy a condo unit to flip.
Xander joins our family, but decides he wants to stay in the ICU for a week before coming home.
Sell house and move back into basement of business (for a month-with 2 kids now).
Find a house to rent.
Sell the remodeled condo.
Buy some land.
At least three trips to the doctor (in as many months) for Xander to get stitches.
Feel strongly impressed to complete adoption paperwork.
Break ground for new house.
Talmage is born and we are asked to be his adoptive family.
Spells of vertigo.
Xander has his tonsils yanked.
Move into new house 15 months after start of build.
Walking with a cane. 
Living in Oregon x 2 months at my parent's house, recovering after major inner ear surgery.
Return to my new house that I don't remember the move into.
Buy the StrawHouse.
Xander breaks both bones in lower left arm-surgery x 2.
Scuba certification.
Hysterectomy.
 Move dental office to new location after extensive remodeling.
Service and scuba trip to Roatan.
Talmage gets his tonsils yanked.
Night of terror with Talmage hemorrhaging.
First official family trip-Mt. Rushmore.
Matt gets his tonsils yanked and "the works".
He also ends up hemorrhaging-Emergency surgery.
I vow that no one else in this family is allowed to have tonsils removed. Period.
Another birthday.

Ten years to the day we left Boston.

I haven't forgotten

I know what I said about turning Kalvin's bedroom into something worthy of an 8 yr old boy. 

In fact, I became inebriated by paint fumes after laboriously slaving in there for 3 days straight.

It gave me a headache so I stopped.

Well, that's one of the reasons...

We've had a bit of high drama around these parts lately.

Matt and the ENT decided it had been long enough.

The Tonsils needed to come out.

And the Adenoids. Along with work on the: Turbinates,Uvula, and Soft Palate.

Done on  Friday the 11th.

His birthday (stuck in bed) was the 14th.

Started working again Tuesday the 15th.

Without painkillers.

Followed by:

Bleeding...Multiple ER visits. And emergency surgery.

Over18 lbs lost.

***

Saturday-The boys hit Grandpa's ranch. Daddy on bedrest. 

Sunday-more bedrest.

Yesterday-My birthday.

 Matt still on bed/house arrest.

And a not-so-fun meeting for me--more yuck with an "issue" we've dealt with for the past year.

But Matt was finally able to eat some solid food!

Today (so far)-

Get the boys donuts for breakfast.

Take Kalvin to the office to hang for a bit.

Dropped Talmage off at preschool.

Took Xander to an audiology appt.

Couldn't get past the first test-the machine noted a problem-

He has an inner ear infection that couldn't be seen on a regular exam. He really is having trouble hearing.

Sent back to his pediatrician.

Prescription for antibiotics x 2 weeks, then will try the hearing evaluation again in another 3 months.

Took Xander to preschool for rest of the day.

Picked up Kalvin.

Drove home and raced around to clean up before visiting teachers arrived.

Looked outside and it's windy-won't be able to do any spraying in the yard.

Decided to sit down and check weather forecast on computer.

Got sidetracked.

Here I am.

Grandpa's Ranch

Talmage's paternal grandpa and his lovely wife invited us to spend the day at their ranch in Augusta.

We've been trying to go there since early May, but our weather has been so doggone stormy and wet...

This Saturday-perfect weather.

And when we got there?

I think I fell in love with the place

In oh-maybe like two seconds.

If not sooner.

And the boys were in seventh heaven from the get go. 

Bugs, flowers, rocks, dirt, hiding places, dangerously steep hills--

What's not to love?

And of course, 

A few ladybugs.

Bold and Beautiful

A beautiful and soothing green bedroom. 

But not for an 8.5 year old boy. 

Kalvin enjoys having a California King bed.

(NO-we did NOT buy it for him. He ended up with it by default!)

But it kind of kills any idea of cool bedding for a kid.

Have you ever tried finding fun bedding in Cal King size?

Yeah. It doesn't exist. 

Actually, finding Cal King bedding in general is a joke.

 But I digress...

So it's time for him to have a place he can call his own.

A real bedroom.

Something BOLD.

The boys are going on a father/son outing tonight for a few days.

Kalvin will have a new room when he gets back!   

Inspiration.

Hunchies

Kalmor Dental no longer gives out the bouncy balls it has become known for.

Instead, we have 5" nubby balls.

They are blown up for each kid on the the spot.

The 'nubbies' are a hit.

At least with our boys.

Ode

 

Twenty rhubarb stalks with the latest picking!

Decided to make a simple syrup for rhubarb spritzers. 

Pure heaven.

Then decided I had better dice and freeze some of the bounty.

Filled three bags with 2 cups rhubarb in each.

Then decided to have a second rhubarb spritzer.

Mmm...

And went back and looked at the plants after their thinning.

They don't look like they're missing much.

Sunday Walk (5.23)

Talmage found a bug.

Sweet Sink

traditional bathroom design by san francisco interior designer Nicole Hollis

I really like this sink.

Two Days

3 suitcases.
3 RedBox DVD's.
3 kids.
2000 miles.
First official family trip.



What's wrong with this picture?



I'm not sure which was more exciting--going to Wall Drug, or seeing a real Jackalope:



Nostalgia found. Minuteman missile station bunkers.




Door to underground missile control unit



A mere three inches of glass separates these three from an intercontinental ballistic missile.



The Badlands speak for themselves.





Crazy Horse



Reptile Gardens




Sturgis. The infamous Knuckle Saloon.



I have no idea.



Devil's Tower



And the boys admiring it while we took pictures



Random wildlife. The mountain goat was standing in an island in the road just outside Mt. Rushmore.
The longhorns were in a field just outside the Devil's Tower area.

Five Minutes

Then we shaved the 'hawks to match the rest of their #2 hair.

First Harvest

Made some rhubarb cake with these lovelies:




And combined these with shrimp, served over cheese grits:



These are the rhubarb plants, for those who wondered (the stalks are still fairly short-we're just starting around here):

Waterbed

Explains why our water pressure was lousy when we turned the sprinklers on for the summer.

Mama Bear

I sat in the car and waited for Kalvin to finish playing on the playground with his friends today. 

School was officially out for the day, and so was the sun. 

I read the mail. 

Soon a teacher was standing by my car, Kalvin at her side.

She said he couldn't play outside anymore if I sat in the car.

Evidently there was an attempted child abduction outside today. Yikes!!!

We sat down with the boys tonight.

Said a prayer.

And had a nice long talk with them about strangers.

I dreaded the talk. It makes me feel icky inside even thinking about stuff like that.

I love those three little boys so much. If anything ever happened to them...

Our three little musketeers were very attentive and really responded to what we were saying. They really seemed to grasp all that we talked about. 

If there was ever a time that I have prayed that they would really, really listen to their Dad and I, this was it.

I just hope that they never need to use this knowledge.

So anyone that ever even thinks of doing anything to one of these boys-

This Mama Bear is on the lookout!

Kid-isms

The boys have given us a few good laughs this week with their words and thoughts:

As I was taking Kalvin to school, he told me that

"I might have the best memory in the family. I'm like a camera!"

He then proceeded to show me by shutting his eyes as we passed a restaurant parking lot.

He said, "See-I remember that there are three red cars in that parking lot. And at least one of them was a truck!"

Xander pointed out a "Post Wagon Bug" that he saw.

(a VW bug)

Kalvin complained that he "only got TWO hours of sleep all night because of Talmage's crying".

(The night Mr T. hemorrhaged and we called 911. Kalvin didn't know we had 6 rescue workers at the house for over a half hour. He was asleep!)

And Talmage has said every night at bedtime this week that he is still hungry.

And so he's managed to eat another full meal before going to bed. 

Guess he's making up for not eating during his recovery...

I'm Frustrated

I can't talk particulars, but

I just want "IT" to be over.

The frustrations of IT ebb and flow.

Some days, weeks, or even for a month-nothing.

Then the drama comes back in full force.

There has been no resolve yet.

Just around and around we go with those involved.

I will say-

IT does not consume our lives minute to minute.

Rather, it has helped Matt and I gain new perspective-

Who we are.

How strong we can (have) be(come).

Only our family matters.

But 

IT has reared it's ugly head again this week.

I felt like I had accepted IT and whatever will be thrown at us.

Now I'm not so sure.

There is a new wrench in the works.

Everything we have done to try and bring resolve to the situation has essentially been thrown out the window.

What's going to happen?

IT only knows.

Life Is Good

Pic above taken by Xander. Pic below taken by Talmage.

We stopped at our property in Jefferson City tonight and let the boys hang run for a bit before going to dinner. It is just beautiful out there.

On the way out, we also stopped at this trestle 'bridge' and did some exploring...

The survey marker at the base of the trestle.

Talmage was rather timid about trying to walk across the cattle guard. Granted, his feet did fit between the bars...

I tried to capture the colors of the rust and metal. So neat-o in person.

The (still in biz) store across the street from Chubby's restaurant.

 

And three handsome, happy boys being smothered by one happy Mama.