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.