Happy Holidays to you all! This Christmas season felt as if it came to soon, kept us without ideas for gifts, found it hard to feel the Christmas spirit, and will hopefully sneak out as quickly as it arrived. Anyone else find the season a little less spirited?
We have much to be thankful this holiday. Everyone in our immediate family is healthy and safe. Our extended family is spending the Christmas weekend in the GR area, all together - the cousins are in Heaven! The outlook for 2010 is promising - both business wise and personally.
Looking back at the year 2009 leaves smiles on our faces. T1 and T2 had great school years; T3 had his 1st year in preschool @ CMU; T4 grew and changed almost daily. The summer held an amazing adventure for our family. SASSY was boarded by all the McGuirk clan for 2 weeks in the Bahamas then 2 weeks touring the west coast of Florida from Marathon north to Clearwater Beach. Wonderful memories, lots of photos, laughs and fun water times.
Santa brought the kids wonderful gifts; Mommy and Daddy too.
This morning, the 26th, was quiet in the Dean household as I left for a run. With a light dusting of snow and fairly smooth roads, I took off through the subdivisions. Running in this area is nothing like running at home; not a "mount" to be found in Mount Pleasant. Here, though, in the south side of Rockford, I enjoyed quiet subdivisions with many hills to challenge me. Mostly the solitude was a welcome event; sure the air was a bit crisp, but we do live in Michigan and nothing I haven't endured before. A few sprints up and down some very steep "mounts" left me feeling as though someone was stepping on my chest. While catching my breath it was a great feeling to look back and realize just how steep that hill is! Knowing the family was warm and snuggled in their beds gave me even more of a push to keep going to my goal. Being able to survive 3 sprints up Ryan's Valley Hill made me feel as though I needed to push myself just a bit more. So 2 more subdivisions saw my tracks before deciding my legs were just a bit cold. Turning around to go back the way I came led me to pass that Ryan's Valley Subdivision once more. Should I? Sure why not; so yes I ran down the hill for one more sprint back up. 65 minutes later I walked into the house cold, sweaty, and feeling tough. Believe me that hill is intimidating! Bring on the Christmas cookies now! No, after that thrilling of a run the last thing I am putting in my mouth is unhealthy calories.
T1 and T2 are enjoying cousin time and T3 is doing his own version of walking on his toes and his cast. And T4 is commuting from big kid cousin time to hanging out close to mom.
Happy Holidays to everyone out there. 2010 promises to be a comeback for our Michigan economy - or so the economists say... we'll see.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Oh boy this is a first
Yes, this is our family's first broken bone. We've had lots of stitches and staples, but no broken bones till now. What happened, you ask? Boys! That's how! Boys are rough and touch and that's how it was. Ty was playing indoor football/wrestling with his brothers and cousins and was - yes you guessed it - he was on the bottom of the pile. Sunday, November 29, 2009 was quite an experience. The tibia and fibula on his left leg were broken. Clean break says the Dr. and doesn't look like it will effect his growth plate in the knee area. That was good news. Ty was able to have his leg straightened under lite anesthesia at CMCH, here in Mt. Pleasant, so that was good too - no surgery. His Dr. was wonderful and very calm. Like he does this every day. (Actually he does).
When we left the Hospital, Rick and I were, let's just say, a little worried and anxious about what the next 4 to 6 weeks would be like. The first day and night were, umm... eventful. Between keeping him comfortable with pain meds and ice packs and pillows and keeping the rest of the kids from crying along with him... it was an emotional night. But we made it through. The 2nd night we had to take him into his Dr @ 11pm to get the cast cut in order to allow for the swelling. He was in such intense piercing pain from the cast being so tight on his swollen leg. And he was able to let us know that very well! So with the cast cut, we had to be a little bit more careful with him until another cast was put on. He and we survived and inside of one week we became quite attune as to how to pick him up, bath him, get him on the toilet, get him comfortable when the pain comes in waves, etc. Amazing how quickly you are able to adapt to sudden changes in your daily routine. Adjusting it has been for mom too; not used to staying home all day, every day. Sure mom does not work a full time job outside the home, but running the home is a full time job which requires one to be on the go all week! Even so, here we are, one week later, had an x-ray to check the bones, and more cast material put on top of the old cast that was cut. It is blue. We go back next week for another x-ray. More good news!
He received something to smile about, today, during this healing adventure. A wheelchair. Now for most people having to sit in a wheelchair would be traumatic; but not a child, I guess! We were able to rent a small wheelchair for him to use around the house. Yesterday he was doing an Army crawl and not listening to mom about taking it easy; now he can move himself around without having to ask to be carried or being brave and crawling (although it is funny to watch). His temperment has been unbelieveable, I think, for a 4 yr old. Of course he spent most of last week on the couches and mom's bed, and we were very tight on the pain med schedule. But really, up to this point, he has been content reading books, drawing in those write on/wipe off learning books, playing cards and games, doing puzzles, eating in bed, and sure, watching cartoons. Here is a link to a 3 minute watching him learn to use his chair. Enjoy! I promise to provide weekly updates on his healing process and anything else to report.
< href="http://">
When we left the Hospital, Rick and I were, let's just say, a little worried and anxious about what the next 4 to 6 weeks would be like. The first day and night were, umm... eventful. Between keeping him comfortable with pain meds and ice packs and pillows and keeping the rest of the kids from crying along with him... it was an emotional night. But we made it through. The 2nd night we had to take him into his Dr @ 11pm to get the cast cut in order to allow for the swelling. He was in such intense piercing pain from the cast being so tight on his swollen leg. And he was able to let us know that very well! So with the cast cut, we had to be a little bit more careful with him until another cast was put on. He and we survived and inside of one week we became quite attune as to how to pick him up, bath him, get him on the toilet, get him comfortable when the pain comes in waves, etc. Amazing how quickly you are able to adapt to sudden changes in your daily routine. Adjusting it has been for mom too; not used to staying home all day, every day. Sure mom does not work a full time job outside the home, but running the home is a full time job which requires one to be on the go all week! Even so, here we are, one week later, had an x-ray to check the bones, and more cast material put on top of the old cast that was cut. It is blue. We go back next week for another x-ray. More good news!
He received something to smile about, today, during this healing adventure. A wheelchair. Now for most people having to sit in a wheelchair would be traumatic; but not a child, I guess! We were able to rent a small wheelchair for him to use around the house. Yesterday he was doing an Army crawl and not listening to mom about taking it easy; now he can move himself around without having to ask to be carried or being brave and crawling (although it is funny to watch). His temperment has been unbelieveable, I think, for a 4 yr old. Of course he spent most of last week on the couches and mom's bed, and we were very tight on the pain med schedule. But really, up to this point, he has been content reading books, drawing in those write on/wipe off learning books, playing cards and games, doing puzzles, eating in bed, and sure, watching cartoons. Here is a link to a 3 minute watching him learn to use his chair. Enjoy! I promise to provide weekly updates on his healing process and anything else to report.
< href="http://">
Friday, November 27, 2009
What are we thankful for
Thanksgiving this year we spent in Orlando. We left MI Sat, 11/21 for the week. Yes, we know that the holiday is about being thankful and spending time with family... and that's just what we did. We took time to spend together: some may think we were selfish, and maybe so.
We had great weather - not beach or swimming weather - but very comfortable. Disney was, of course, overwhelming for our kids. It was for us too! Our last visit to Mickey Mouse Land was in 2005, Ty was just 4 months old. For Rick and I, it seems as we age, the ability to tolerate crowds diminishes. Magic Kingdom was so crowded that I don't think any of us truly enjoyed the day! Truly! It took so long to get anywhere. Can you believe out of 3 days visiting 3 parks, we did not get ONE character signature? Really! The lines were out of control. No recession down here, that's for sure. The sad thing is that I don't think Ty and Taryn even understood where they were. These two do not sit and watch movies like Tom and Trevor did at these ages. The older two know almost every Disney character, but not the younger ones. Taryn only knows who DORA is... not any of the Disney princess. Sad, but true. Ty likes "cowboy" who is actually Woody from Toy Story. See, he doesn't even know.
I am happy to say that Tom, Trevor, Ty and I visited the Hall of Presidents. This is an awesome experience. For anyone who has not visited this exhibit, the Presidents who are shown at the end of the program are wax figures. Many of them speak and in unbelievably accurate voices and let's just say unbelievably life like. Even Barak was there, speaking to us. I was proud to look over at each of their faces to see them completely engrossed in the spectacle. We talked about the exhibit after it was over and I was so glad they let me take them to see it. Another "must do" at Magic Kingdom is It's a Small World. This ride was fun for the older boys as I made them guess each country or region they saw as we toured this uniquely touching display of reality. Of course, Ty said "this is boring" about the dancing children in costume. Ha!
Saturday evening we fly back home. This has been a bonding vacation for us... in that I mean, Taryn bonded (attached) to Rick and Ty bonded (attached) to Julie! When not asking for a toy or candy, at least one of the 4 was crying, sobbing, or just plain whining, I think maybe they had a good time? Unsure, really. Who did we take this trip for? Them or us? That is the question!
We did enjoy an amazing turkey dinner at our timeshare. Dad did all the cooking and we spent Thursday - low key - no park that day. We devoured Dad's dinner and each of us went around the table saying what we were thankful for. It was very memorable.
What was the best part of our vacation? The little times where we laughed, tackled, tickled, chased and laughed some more. Sure being away from our family felt a tug at our hearts, however, we take this trip about every other Thanksgiving to step back and enjoy "family" time. For that, I am thankful. Thank you God for all that I have and all that I take for granted. I am truly blessed.
We had great weather - not beach or swimming weather - but very comfortable. Disney was, of course, overwhelming for our kids. It was for us too! Our last visit to Mickey Mouse Land was in 2005, Ty was just 4 months old. For Rick and I, it seems as we age, the ability to tolerate crowds diminishes. Magic Kingdom was so crowded that I don't think any of us truly enjoyed the day! Truly! It took so long to get anywhere. Can you believe out of 3 days visiting 3 parks, we did not get ONE character signature? Really! The lines were out of control. No recession down here, that's for sure. The sad thing is that I don't think Ty and Taryn even understood where they were. These two do not sit and watch movies like Tom and Trevor did at these ages. The older two know almost every Disney character, but not the younger ones. Taryn only knows who DORA is... not any of the Disney princess. Sad, but true. Ty likes "cowboy" who is actually Woody from Toy Story. See, he doesn't even know.
I am happy to say that Tom, Trevor, Ty and I visited the Hall of Presidents. This is an awesome experience. For anyone who has not visited this exhibit, the Presidents who are shown at the end of the program are wax figures. Many of them speak and in unbelievably accurate voices and let's just say unbelievably life like. Even Barak was there, speaking to us. I was proud to look over at each of their faces to see them completely engrossed in the spectacle. We talked about the exhibit after it was over and I was so glad they let me take them to see it. Another "must do" at Magic Kingdom is It's a Small World. This ride was fun for the older boys as I made them guess each country or region they saw as we toured this uniquely touching display of reality. Of course, Ty said "this is boring" about the dancing children in costume. Ha!
Saturday evening we fly back home. This has been a bonding vacation for us... in that I mean, Taryn bonded (attached) to Rick and Ty bonded (attached) to Julie! When not asking for a toy or candy, at least one of the 4 was crying, sobbing, or just plain whining, I think maybe they had a good time? Unsure, really. Who did we take this trip for? Them or us? That is the question!
We did enjoy an amazing turkey dinner at our timeshare. Dad did all the cooking and we spent Thursday - low key - no park that day. We devoured Dad's dinner and each of us went around the table saying what we were thankful for. It was very memorable.
What was the best part of our vacation? The little times where we laughed, tackled, tickled, chased and laughed some more. Sure being away from our family felt a tug at our hearts, however, we take this trip about every other Thanksgiving to step back and enjoy "family" time. For that, I am thankful. Thank you God for all that I have and all that I take for granted. I am truly blessed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)