Kaya was on cloud nine to hit the local 4 H fair last night. We try to take her once a year to see the animals etc. I'm very happy that we have a kid that is happy to see the animals and have a dollar ice cream cone..not ride rides, spend money and play games. That kind of stuff eats money up like crazy and I honestly don't know how some people spend money like that!!
We had to start at her fave two barns..goats and chickens/rabbits then work around the fair grounds. She has to look at every single animal, speak to them etc. She loved her free recycled pig flashlight they gave out at the Recycle Booth. She cracks me up. She goes "This is a trash pig. It's made from recycled plastic jugs we recycle!" Glad she's putting two and two together.
A chocolate chip ice cream cone was a nice treat while walking around. How she manages to eat it while drinking a lemon shake up with her Dad..lol..cracks me up.
She still swears that she saw a horse last year with no bottom. I told her AGAIN that the horse had it's head down and it's bottom against the stall door. She swears it was "awesomely weird" and that it had no head! LOL
Love our crazy silly girl :)
Kaya Rain
Our beautiful daughter.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Nervous day...
Today Steve goes for his yearly MRI. It takes 3 hrs plus prep etc for the whole MRI. He has to be iv'd half way through to do the dye contrast. Makes a long 3 plus hrs of me sitting there..but even harder on Steve as he has to be in the machine. He'll take a medicine before it to help him relax but it's not been a success before so they are trying a higher dose today.
I wish I could take some of the anxiety away for him. He stresses for weeks before the appointment and the day of the appointment it's almost like he could jump out of his skin. I always feel bad for him because I really do not know how he feels.
Even though I worry about today's appointment mainly because of Steve's anxiety I worry more about the appointment on the 19th because at that appointment his Dr will tell us how his MS is going, how it has progressed or stayed the same and give us some answers for the horrible headaches and leg cramps that are more frequent now.
Steve always worries too about the financial side and they didn't help any when they called yesterday to remind us to have "$864 dollars to get into the MRI". We have it covered but it still stresses Steve out because he feels we are constantly paying medical bills. I keep telling him to see the light at the end of the tunnel...the medical bills are so much because he was trying to get diagnosed a year ago, that he had a hospital stay etc and that hopefully now that we have answers and a name to the problem we can move forward with no hospital stays etc. But it always eats away at him that we have to pay out so much.
I can say some in the support situation has improved somewhat on his family's side but all one can do is hang in there and hope that people take a hard look at the situation and themselves and keep moving forward.
Kaya is excited to spend the afternoon with her Uncle lol They are two peas in a pod. :)
Update: Scan went really well :) Valium 10mg and a new style of face mask worked miracles! He even slept on the table lol Much nicer than it was when he went last time :) :)
I wish I could take some of the anxiety away for him. He stresses for weeks before the appointment and the day of the appointment it's almost like he could jump out of his skin. I always feel bad for him because I really do not know how he feels.
Even though I worry about today's appointment mainly because of Steve's anxiety I worry more about the appointment on the 19th because at that appointment his Dr will tell us how his MS is going, how it has progressed or stayed the same and give us some answers for the horrible headaches and leg cramps that are more frequent now.
Steve always worries too about the financial side and they didn't help any when they called yesterday to remind us to have "$864 dollars to get into the MRI". We have it covered but it still stresses Steve out because he feels we are constantly paying medical bills. I keep telling him to see the light at the end of the tunnel...the medical bills are so much because he was trying to get diagnosed a year ago, that he had a hospital stay etc and that hopefully now that we have answers and a name to the problem we can move forward with no hospital stays etc. But it always eats away at him that we have to pay out so much.
I can say some in the support situation has improved somewhat on his family's side but all one can do is hang in there and hope that people take a hard look at the situation and themselves and keep moving forward.
Kaya is excited to spend the afternoon with her Uncle lol They are two peas in a pod. :)
Update: Scan went really well :) Valium 10mg and a new style of face mask worked miracles! He even slept on the table lol Much nicer than it was when he went last time :) :)
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Busy holiday!!
We had the family get together on the 4th and thought our holiday plans were done. Not so!! Our neighbors invited us over on Friday night for a cookout. The kids swam, jumped, played on the swing set and we were treated to one incredible meal!! A friend of our friends is from Australia and he did the cooking. Excellent food and I also picked up a new recipe. I tried the quinoa salad at the cookout and it was awesome. So I googled the recipe and will be giving it a try! Kaya even liked it. I'll attach the recipe to the end of the post. We had a really good time, one of the women introduced herself to me because she thought I looked familiar (lol) and come to find out she grew up in the same small area I did and we actually knew alot of the same people. We had a really great time. Got home and let Kaya watch her fireworks. We did all fountains this year and she LOVED them!! She oohed and aahed over every single one :)
Today we headed out to the Farmer's Market and caught a great deal. 12 ears of corn, 6 cucumbers, 2 LARGE zucchini, bundle of carrots and two GIANT onions all for only 6 bucks!! Kaya liked picking out the zucchini (which she calls zikini) and the carrots. She got her free book and we checked out the booths..heading out just as it started to rain. With no agenda or time schedule today we cut back through the country and ended up in my small town and had a blast at the Festival. We ate lunch, browsed the booths, let Kaya ride rides and then headed home.
At 6 this evening we wrapped up our holiday gatherings by meeting at my cousin's place for a cookout, play on the waterslide and swing set and lots of fun. We had a great time. Kaya was out cold by the time we got home, changed her and turned the light off :)
I've made an Elvis Presley cake and four jello cakes the last 3 days lol Every party has liked the cakes so that was a success.
Very thankful to have good friends, good family and good times...as well as all the freedoms that we enjoy this holiday season.
recipe link:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/04/mediterranean-quinoa-salad.html
Today we headed out to the Farmer's Market and caught a great deal. 12 ears of corn, 6 cucumbers, 2 LARGE zucchini, bundle of carrots and two GIANT onions all for only 6 bucks!! Kaya liked picking out the zucchini (which she calls zikini) and the carrots. She got her free book and we checked out the booths..heading out just as it started to rain. With no agenda or time schedule today we cut back through the country and ended up in my small town and had a blast at the Festival. We ate lunch, browsed the booths, let Kaya ride rides and then headed home.
At 6 this evening we wrapped up our holiday gatherings by meeting at my cousin's place for a cookout, play on the waterslide and swing set and lots of fun. We had a great time. Kaya was out cold by the time we got home, changed her and turned the light off :)
I've made an Elvis Presley cake and four jello cakes the last 3 days lol Every party has liked the cakes so that was a success.
Very thankful to have good friends, good family and good times...as well as all the freedoms that we enjoy this holiday season.
recipe link:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/04/mediterranean-quinoa-salad.html
Friday, July 5, 2013
We predicted....
We predicted our first ripe tomato would be ready by the 4th of July and we were right on!! Steve went out to check the garden yesterday and not only did he find more beans ready to pick this weekend but he found the first ripe tomato along with several more that will be ripe in a matter of days!!! :) Kaya was so excited she wanted to eat it last night lol but managed to wait until today. The child can eat her weight in tomatoes. I can't complain..they are healthy, she doesn't salt them and they are low cal!
The garden is busting and growing like crazy. Hate the rain as far as mowing, swimming etc but love how it's helped the garden. You can water from tap water but nothing is like rain water. Our last bed we planted late.. tomatoes, chilies, jalepenos, corn and squash. That will be the bed we will have to see if it beats the fall cool temps. But we are trying to stagger out veggies and see how late we can go. We also will have the seed rack indoors with lights etc that we can transplant them to.
Sooo summer has officially began at the Hacienda :) Tomatoes, green beans ...sun, swimming, laughter and love. Can't complain about any of that :)
The garden is busting and growing like crazy. Hate the rain as far as mowing, swimming etc but love how it's helped the garden. You can water from tap water but nothing is like rain water. Our last bed we planted late.. tomatoes, chilies, jalepenos, corn and squash. That will be the bed we will have to see if it beats the fall cool temps. But we are trying to stagger out veggies and see how late we can go. We also will have the seed rack indoors with lights etc that we can transplant them to.
Sooo summer has officially began at the Hacienda :) Tomatoes, green beans ...sun, swimming, laughter and love. Can't complain about any of that :)
Family cookout..the 4th and lots of fun
 |
| What better way to celebrate the 4th of July..Independence Day..than feeling free and running wild in the front yard at a family cookout :) We gathered today on the family farm of my Mom's family and had a huge cookout and tons of fun. The kitchen tables were stuffed with good food....sausages/hotdogs/hamburgers/red hotdogs grilled, veggie salad,deviled eggs,mac n cheese, chips, baked beans, cheesy potatoes with bacon,lil smokies, and corn. |
Kaya helped me make these tasty desserts. Patriotic jello cake with strawberries and blueberries. Elvis Presley cake on the right. She had a hard time resisting snagging a berry :)
All of us gathered today and had a blast. The kids ran their legs off, played with the dogs, laughed, shared toys and hit the jello cake hard LOL
I absolutely love family time. There is nothing better than catching up with everyone, the laughs, hearing the kiddos giggle and hug. I realized yesterday coming home how truly blessed I am. I was raised in a close family and in many ways we are still very close. Do I get upset from time to time because noone visits me..yes..but I've also learned that when we need each other we are there for each other and we try hard to all get together in one location as often as we can.
I looked at the people sitting around the table and I realized how much of me is made up of those people!! The strong work ethic, the big hearts, the loud laughs, and the ability no matter what life tosses at them to try to always see the up side. I've been so lucky to have been a witness to that all my life and I've always tried hard to maintain those ethics in my own life.
I see my aunties strong hands from working right along with the men but even stronger arms from always hugging on us kids. How we are not "this person's kid" but we were more communal kids lol as in every one helped with each others kids.....if my aunt got onto me I knew she meant it..and I knew not to push her!!! I see my uncles tanned arms from being in the fields and dirty workboots from their day jobs. My cousins who seems like not that long ago we were all learning to ride bikes and play in the barn....now raising their own kids and grew into good men and women.
I also see a group of people that have never had it super easy. Who've worked for everything they've ever had. Who all at some point in there life faced the reality of losing it all..whether it be the farm because the plant shut down and farm payments were getting harder to make...to cousins that have buried their tiny babies, to health problems that would have slowed others down....but they all have survived. They are strong people. I'm very proud of where I came from, who I am. I've never felt embarrassed to be an educated pumpkin bumpkin lol and I've never been ashamed of my family. We may live different lives, raise/have raised our kids differently, view politics and religion from different view points, and we may have at some point bumped heads...but we all honestly truly love each other.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Picking your battles
With your child you realize quickly that you either battle over every little thing or you realize that your child is not a mini me. She will have different ideas, different outlooks on life and different ways of doing things. My job is to guide her to be the best she can be, to be happy and to be moral and just..but not to be me identically. My Mom always said "Hair can be undyed, grown out and cut. Life is too short to focus on the small battles when big battles exist right around the corner. Build a foundation of trust and stability with your children over the little battles and when times comes for the big battles they may see things more your way." Mom never stressed if Jonus cut his hair into a mohawk, dyed it green or when he got a libre piercing. In turn I can say that when the big fights in life came up...staying out late, doing things he shouldn't have...he was more apt to see Mom's side of the argument because he knew if Mom was standing up about something..it had to be serious. So I try to keep that in mind with my own kid. Not always easy when you think "Why do you not do it the way I do it???"...but that is life.
With your husband you realize that you are blending two lives together. You cannot make him into you or you into him. You married him because you love him for him..for his quirks and his whole self. In turn he married you for the same reason. Once married you find out that he leaves his dirty clothes in the closet floor, seems to forget his cereal bowls under the computer desk and has a tendency to leave the screen open on the front door with the ac on (LMBO...all my little pet peeves lol) but in the big picture : he gathers up his dishes and does the dishes without griping, he lets me sit the ac in the bedroom to how I like it even if he's freezing, and he does laundry from time to time. So why waste happy time fighting over little battles. I may be right (and lets face it women..wives are always right LMBO j/k j/k) but there are things he is right on about me that he lets go. Yes, I have to tuck the blankets under my feet every night pulling all the blanket loose, I have to have the toilet paper roll turned paper over the top, I can't stand things not in the exact spot I've always had them lmbo but he loves me for all of me. So I pick my battles wisely.
With family this has been a big issue. I've learned I cannot make them change if they see nothing wrong, I cannot make them fix things they think are not broken, I cannot make them NOT ignore us or treat us differently. I cannot make them stop thinking selfishly only of themselves or their issues. All I can do is know in my heart and soul I am trying to do the right things by my little family and that I treat everyone the same. I can battle on and on or I can have my peace..and let them live their life and pay the consequences. Sowing a bitter, selfish seed will make you reap a bitter, bad crop. But it's their crop NOT mine. So I let it go. I don't lose myself, I don't fight and do the drama. I speak my peace and live my life. If they go months (which one had went nearly a month..texted Steve but hadn't spoke to me) without speaking or seeing us..or realize that they have only saw Kaya twice the whole year..then they can deal with it. I cannot control others but I can control myself. I will not allow their chaos, their unhappiness to spill into my life :)
True peace isn't perfection and complete control and stillness. It's having a happy heart and soul, being content with what you have and where you are and realizing today may be some stress but you can deal with it and move on. It's knowing that you strive for better no matter what but at the end of the day life is GOOD!!!
5 yr checkup
Miss Kaya had her five year checkup yesterday. We normally do it the week of her bday but our drs offices moved and combined with another so the first opening was yesterday. Can say I like the new office and the drs staff. She kept some of her old and they added in the existing staff..very nice, down to earth nurses etc. Always nice when the nurse has kids as well. Makes it much easier to address concerns etc. Our pediatrician is wonderful and has a young child as well. She use to be a preschool teacher and decided to go back to school to be a dr. So she has alot of interesting info.
Kaya loved the new office and staff and it made the appointment even easier.
Stats:
height: 46 inches
weight: 54 lbs
Dr B said she was one healthy, flexible/agile girl. She passed her eye test and her hearing test (she did have an issue with one tone, nothing serious but they noted it to keep an eye on it). She did great on her paperwork etc. She was very happy that Kaya is a milk and water drinker and said to have more water during the day. She talked about healthy snacks and limiting snacks. Kaya is a great eater but our big thing we deal with is she doesn't want to eat breakfast till she's been out of bed for awhile. That sets off her whole days schedule then she wants to snack after supper. So we are going to approach it in a different light and see how it works. Kaya is very lucky that she is so dang tall (a normal five year old girl is only 40 to 42 inches tall!!! Kaya's height is more on track with a 9 yr old!!!! girl). But a clean bill of health all around, assurance we were doing a good job etc.
We talked to the dr about Kaya's stubbornness about taking things from her mind to paper. She will write, doodle etc until we have her sit down to do her "homework" then after 5 minutes she's done and can't do it or doesn't want to do it. The dr said all kids go through stages with things and probably Kaya feels nervous and afraid of messing up so she just stops doing it.
We had a discussion about preschool and options as well as school in general.
All in all a good appointment, good results but she had to have 3 LARGE boosters in her legs. She was not happy that she got only 2 stickers lol when the old office use to give her a sucker, sticker and a toy lol We explained to her that all offices do things differently and praised her for being brave for such big shots. All 3 were in her legs so she's a bit stiff legged today but feeling ok.
We treated her to lots of park time (which also was good to use her legs and keep them from being so sore) and an icecream from Jiffy Treat. Then home to play more.
Kaya loved the new office and staff and it made the appointment even easier.
Stats:
height: 46 inches
weight: 54 lbs
Dr B said she was one healthy, flexible/agile girl. She passed her eye test and her hearing test (she did have an issue with one tone, nothing serious but they noted it to keep an eye on it). She did great on her paperwork etc. She was very happy that Kaya is a milk and water drinker and said to have more water during the day. She talked about healthy snacks and limiting snacks. Kaya is a great eater but our big thing we deal with is she doesn't want to eat breakfast till she's been out of bed for awhile. That sets off her whole days schedule then she wants to snack after supper. So we are going to approach it in a different light and see how it works. Kaya is very lucky that she is so dang tall (a normal five year old girl is only 40 to 42 inches tall!!! Kaya's height is more on track with a 9 yr old!!!! girl). But a clean bill of health all around, assurance we were doing a good job etc.
We talked to the dr about Kaya's stubbornness about taking things from her mind to paper. She will write, doodle etc until we have her sit down to do her "homework" then after 5 minutes she's done and can't do it or doesn't want to do it. The dr said all kids go through stages with things and probably Kaya feels nervous and afraid of messing up so she just stops doing it.
We had a discussion about preschool and options as well as school in general.
All in all a good appointment, good results but she had to have 3 LARGE boosters in her legs. She was not happy that she got only 2 stickers lol when the old office use to give her a sucker, sticker and a toy lol We explained to her that all offices do things differently and praised her for being brave for such big shots. All 3 were in her legs so she's a bit stiff legged today but feeling ok.
We treated her to lots of park time (which also was good to use her legs and keep them from being so sore) and an icecream from Jiffy Treat. Then home to play more.
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