Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Where are we?  Well that's a very good question and it all depends ~ last week Av n I drove over to Indianapolis for the Olympic trails, this week I drove 5 of the divers from our club to Iowa City for a dive camp, next week the 4 of us + Emma are driving over to Missouri for Dive Zones, and depending on where Av places in Zones Southern Georgia could be in our future travels.  In addition to driving across the US the camps that Av is involved in are in full swing. I know that this summer is going to FLY by, but we still manage to have some time to chillax
Pool TIME with good friends!!
 
 Danny hanging with his good Bff Raymond
 Mother of the year award goes to ....... ME :(  Sorry Danny
 Fathers Day we even got Dan in the pool ~ look he can fly
 Unfortunately his son gets his sun burn ability from his dad.....after a short time in the sun Dan was fried and very uncomfortable for days
 
Av had me try body painting on her....my art isn't too shabby 
Danny Sporting his new shirt that Ms Emma's aunt made for him ~ all ready to go to his Orthopedic follow up
 Hips are good ~ here you can see his right hip gurdlestone procedure.  Where they cut off the femoral head and removed the socket due to his chronic hip dislocation.   Best decision was to due this for Danny....his pain is gone.  He even goes in the stander still so win win!!
 Check out all that hardware......he's my bionic boy
 Danny's been out of sorts lately and we can not put our fingers on to a good reason why
 We ran labs which were off but we really haven't found a solid reason as to why they were so off.  We did find a issue with his teeth so that bought him a ticket to the dentist this week to have it looked at more.
 Even with Dr K mucking with his mouth by removing the chipped tooth lodged in his gum Danny still managed to give a sass smirk.
We've gone to the Farmer's market
 I will hold your hand and be by your side. Your hand fits in mine as it will Always be a promise that you will not have to do it alone. I will be your voice, your eyes, your legs and show you the world, be your protector, and comforter. I chose you, in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality I'd find you and I'll always chose you. Thank you for being my Hero!! 
 Look how tall he is.  With his last set of xrays it looks as his growth plates have closed so he will not get much taller then what his is now
 We've been doing more prone "tummy" time with him.  It's not his favorite but ..... suck it up!!
 Cheering him on.....yes I'm a mean mom
 We went to the movies......wow, they have recliners now.  SWEET and Comfy
 The seating arrangement with a wheelchair isn't the best now with the recliners so Av n I had to sit behind these too clowns.  Someone please tell Danny it's summer and the winter hat and blankets can stay in the closet
 Tis the season for Family photos..... our preview outfits
 Can you tell how impressed he was?
 What a beautiful young lady
 He Cleans up pretty nice?
 Now the hard part....waiting to see what she captured.  I can't wait to see them!!!!!

So exciting that our good friend Nick's memory is staying alive....I started paying it forward with these cool cards his mom had made.  I'm sure he put a smile on someones face today at the cupcake store and Jimmy John's.
Off to Indy to see the Olympic Dive Trails.... what an amazing experience.
 of course we got stuck in some crappy traffic .... our 6hr trip ended up being 8
 We had a nice hotel room where we just relaxed and ordered room service
 So awesome!  To be in a building with some of the best of the best divers in the US.

 We met up with Av's coach, his wife, and their son
 Inspiring!
 Future!
 Walking billboard for team USA
I took a BIG step and got LASIK done on both my eyes.  I have to say I was freaking out!!!  This was a HUGE anxiety trigger for me.  I mean it's my eyes!!!  It went very well and I'm glad I did it, now I just wait for my eye to completely heal the next 2-3 weeks to see what the final results are.  I can see/read so much better, but my distance vision has blurred out more.  I've been told his is pretty normal and things should come back as my eyes heal and my brain adjusts to my "new" eyes.
Only Ms Emma would be enjoying watching my surgery ~ lol
You can tell how concerned he was
She taped it too.  Here is where they put the bracket in my eye holding it still while they cut the lens
This video shows a different holder in my eye, the flipping of the flap cut, the laser corrects the imperfections, and putting the flap back in place.
 The flap heals over within 48hrs, now isn't that amazing!  There is no touching the eye area for 3 days other then putting 3 different eye drops in my eye 4 times a day for the next 2 weeks.  3 days after the surgery I was on my way to Iowa driving the kids to camp.  The ride wasn't too bad I just had to stop here in there to put drops in my eyes.

Iowa City Bounty~
 Her dorm room
 She'll bleed black n gold ~ lol  Her heart continues to be a Hawkeye for her college choice.
 The whole crew is ready to get their dive on
 before the camp officially started they were all watching the Olympic dive trials
 Despite 3, yes 3 fire alarms over nite starting at 1am....they are look like they are still having a good time

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Bring on Summer

WOW!! 2 months have gone by since my last update, well I guess that's a good thing.  Means I didn't have tons to report.  Boring can be good......and today is an exceptional lazy day.
Last nite Av and I stayed up late, until 1am, as she is leaving at 2am over nite tonight for a DC/New York trip with her social studies teacher and 40 some other students.  I have to say I'm SO Jealous that she is going.  All of her site seeing ventures are on my bucket list.  I can't wait to hear about her trip when she gets back at the end of the week.  This is the first time for her flying (well she was an infant her first time) so she is excited and I am nervous, lol.  I would have LOVED to go as a chaperone.  Even though I have been kidding her and giving her a hard time about her NOT wanting me to go along, I know that my body would NOT be able to handle the fun filled hard core 4 day schedule .  MS really SUCKS!!  As I said the first day starts at 2am and once they get there it's GO TIME to fit as much in as they can.  They will be on the road by 6am and walking miles n miles n miles everyday and getting back to the hotel late at night.  Just enough time to crash, reboot to do it all over again.  They are going to the Arlington Cemetery, the Lone Solider, White House, Statue of Liberty, 9/11, Central Park, shopping in Time Square, see the Broadway show "Wicked", and many other stops along the way.  I hope it's a trip of life time for her, I know it would be for me, especially to go without parents at her age.
I can't believe that I now have a high schooler!!  Yeap, I'm in major denial!  Wasn't it just last year she was in preschool??  The 'ol saying is so true, it's over with in a blink of an eye.  I BLINKED and my baby is now a freshman.  I am SO PROUD of her !  For the last 3 years she's had straight A's while having a VERY FULL after school activity schedule and she also received high honor awards!  Now that she's a freshman, next year will also be her first year of diving for the High School.  I know we ~ coaches, parents, and classmates are looking forward to watching her dive at the high school level.  She has her mind set to crush the current school records and get to state her first year.


Next weekend Av n I are heading over to Indy for 2 days to watch the Olympic dive trials.  It's not that far and what an experience to watch.  We will see the Women and Men 3 meter synchro and 10 meter platform events.  I am hoping for a good time!  Av competed in Minneapolis for Dive Regionals and placed into Zones for both events the 1M and 3M, so the beginning of June we will be heading over to Columbia, MO for Zones.  Once again her summer is filled with trips, camps, and fun.  The last day of school was Thursday and this Monday she's off to the DC/New York trip, end of June she spends a week in Iowa for a dive camp, over the 4th spending 3 days with her boyfriends family up north, mid June is a week long Brigade camp, and if she should place in Nationals from Zones she has the opportunity of going to Moultrie, GA the first 2 weeks in August.  She has some decisions to make if she wants to go to Nationals this year.....her coach will not be able to attend do to a family wedding, it's an outdoors venue with not shelter and she doesn't like diving outdoors, plus if it rains....they still dive (what a safety concern on my part in addition to being outside in the HOT heat n sunshine all day which means Danny and I will not be able to attend).  She's work very hard to be where she is now so the decision will be up to her if she wants to pass this year.  This would be the year to skip as the next years it will be more crucial for her to BE THERE.  Av also has a few families that have been hiring her for babysitting and she's booking many of her free days with them.  Then summer.....is over for her has high school dive season starts the 2nd week of August already.  It will definitely go by fast!!
We had some great end of school year fun ~ Av and I got to march in the Memorial Day parade for Memorial Day which starts in downtown Menasha and goes to downtown Neenah.
After the parade Danny, Emma, myself and another band mom took ALL the uniforms to the laundromat to be cleaned.  Once they were smelling and looking good again we took them back to school so they are ready to go for next year.  Danny enjoyed being out and about for the day.  I think his favorite was watching all the kids walking the hallways when school was let out.  He just loves all the commotion ..... would be going into to 7th grade next year so this school is where he would have been going too :(

I coordinated the 8th grade end of year dance.  What a great time it was!!  I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but I got many great reviews from parents, students, and teachers.   Here's some of our decorations and fun

Unfortunately before heading over to set up for the dance I headed over to say my final good byes to our dear friend Nick.  His passing was sudden and unexpected, he had a shunt malfunction while at school.  He is a true hero and gave the ultimate gift of organ donation..... he was able to donate his corneas, kidneys, and heart. Nick was a great friend of ours, we are blessed to have hung out with him and made some wonderful memories.  Until we meet again sweet Nick.....
 Nick and his awesome Momma at our pool party
 Nick, his brother Raymond with Momma and Papa
 3 Musketeers!!

We've packed lots of fun in the last few days already ~
Boating, tubing and wake boarding
 Hide everything white.....nothing is safe!!!  Tiedye
 I have found some time to sit back relax and smell the amazing Lilacs in the backyard
 Av got a new bike so she has been biking around town
 We went to the ball diamond to watch Av's boyfriend Plaaaaaaaaaay Ball
 Stopped to enjoy the beautiful double rainbow ~
Went to Ms Emma's Bridal Shower
Got to celebrate Ms Aleana's daughters first bday

Danny has been pretty good lately.  He went down to CHOW for the day to have a bronc done in hopes they could figure out this extra fluid his been hanging onto in/around his right lung since November.  Unfortunately they didn't find any answers for us.  Once his Pulmnologist returns back to the office I'll have to a pick her brain as to what the next step may be.  
 Yeap still has significant temp issues
 Ms Emma came with us to when Danny had his Bronc done.
 I have to say it was one of the quickest turn arounds for surgery.....in and out the same day ~ unheard of for Danny in the same day and we did it in matter of a few hours.
He has been experiencing more neuro's lately and I haven't put my finger on as to why.  He continues to stump me and physicians......he's lucky he's so darn cute!!  We are on the look out for another nurse to come hang out with him as another nurse is leaving.  We are very sad that she is leaving, but we are happy for her next adventures.
Very exciting that Danny got a new van to cruise the town in ~
 Danny watched our good friend Calico paint pin-stripping on
 When out n about we don't need to worry about bad weather and bugs with his new tent
 A boy and his pups
 Yes he's always on the move!!
 Hot tubbing it
Danny's runner Ms Annie continues to send him wonderful medals from her races :)

 It's time to GO RACING!!  Race season is upon us ~ if you're ever looking for something to do Saturday evenings....stop on out to WIR in Kaukauna.  Av and I went out the first day of racing in hopes to send Dan some good luck
 Helping Dad stage the car
Burn out!

Hot Diggity ~

We are gardeners this year again.  Dan planted a FULL garden with 2 rows snap peas, 24 tomato plants, 2 zucchini, yellow squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, 6 green peppers, rhubarb, 12 strawberries, 2 cucumbers, 3 pickling cucumbers, 2 acorn squash, 2 rows sweet corn, 3 klorabi, and a variety of 8 different HOT peppers.  Bring on harvest time.....I see alot of canning in my future!

Thanks for stopping by to check on us!  I hope you all have a safe, healthy, and happy summer!