Life is Nuts!

The end of Summer is here (even cheer has begun!).  And yes- for once I’m very, very ready for it!  Usually I’m not at ALL. But my kids have been out of school for 5 months now and it’s time..... F I V E months y’all....

Here’s the latest school update: It’s part time at first-which makes no sense and makes me (and most families here) mad- but at least we are trying to get things moving, I guess.  Basically, Bixby School District has decided that we need to stagger our return while also teaching everyone how to utilize “Virtual-Learning” in case it comes down to that.  So- the Super Intendant said we will do it like this:  Half the school (Team Blue- us) will go to school August 17th- August 20th. They will have 4 days to get to know their teachers and their teachers will also asses where they are academically. On the 5th day, they will have a day of “Virtual Learning” so that they all know what to do with that.  The next week, my kids will be off school and it will be Team Red’s turn to do what team Blue did the week before. The 3rd week both Team Red and Team Blue will ALL be doing Virtual Learning at home for 5 whole days so that everyone gets really familiar with it.  Supposedly this is to ensure that if Covid gets really bad again and we are forced to close down, we all know exactly how to deal with it, and it all goes smoothly.  BUT- we won’t know what happens during our 4th week UNTIL Labor Day weekend.  At that time they will see what our State Numbers are and decide where to go from there.  Make sense??  It’s all just a huge headache.  Originally they said we could start school as normal.  Then they changed their minds and did this 2 weeks later.  And it’s all just really annoying because the KIDS NEED SCHOOL for a zillion different reasons.  They do NOT learn well staring at a screen.  Last Spring, Piper did OK but it was a fight Every. Single. Day. with Lucy.  Tears and yelling and fighting and anger.  This is going to be so much worse because THIS time she is expected to have school 5 hours a day on line.  I have to facilitate this.  I have to do 4 hours with Piper and 5 hours with Lucy.  And Lucy needs to re-learn multiplication facts, practice her cursive, re-learn the start of fractions, learn how to research and write a book report, learn how to do science, etc.  All of this was what she was supposed to learn at the end of last year and wasn’t able to finish.  This year it’s actually GRADED.  I honestly don’t know how I will do it.  And Sully? Ok, that’s a joke to make that Tasmanian Devil sit in front of a screen to “learn.” He HATES educational shows- how will I make him do actual work?  He will not learn what he needs to know for Kindergarten! I haven’t been successful in teaching him anything SO FAR, so how will it be different in a month?  It WON’T BE!  I was soooo excited that he got into Pre-K at Bixby (yay for another Spartan in the house!), but now I’m finding out he needs to do it online too? Yeah right.... So...if you’re reading this and you’re the praying type.... would you mind praying that after Labor Day we can get these kids back in school?  I don’t know how to handle homeschooling them.  I truly don’t.  They will fall so much further behind if it’s up to me and I’m truly terrified.  And let’s not even get into the social aspect of it all.... :( So any and all prayers are needed!

Now. Onto a much better topic-thank goodness.  We went camping!  We never go Summer camping here in Oklahoma because July and August are hotter than the surface of the Sun, but we braved it and went.  The daily pool trips are nice and all, but I was about to have a mental breakdown being cooped up at home.  I need some adventure to survive.  That, and I kept getting sucked into all the insane politics happening in the world right now and I just really needed a break.  PLUS I was suddenly scheduled to get surgery in a few days (more on that in a bit).  So I just needed a getaway In a bad way.  I did some research and found a new camping spot in Oklahoma called Lake Tenkiller!We completely unplugged (ok, except when taking pics) and relaxed. Even though it was hot, the lake gave us reprieve from the sun and we’d swim and jump off rocks the entire day. Safe to say it’s definitely our favorite camping spot yet!

On top of rock jumping, we wanted to catch dinner at least once! So we fished a lot and we all caught teeny, tiny largemouth bass I think I caught the smallest- it was only 2 inches long! (Not pictured). And other junk fish you can’t eat- but we tried! Oh, and one time it started pouring rain while we swam and it felt so good to swim in a lake under warm rain! It was just the get-away I needed! The girls had NO FEAR jumping off those big rocks and after the first day when we spent 6 whole hours rock jumping Lucy said “this was the best day IN MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE. Like, it was better than any day I have ever lived before.” :) P.S. If you’re wondering how we survived the 80 degree nights, it was because we camped at an RV spot where we could plug fans into an electrical outlet to keep us cool at night.

I also learned that Oklahoma has more lakes than any other state in the U.S.! I knew we had a lot but didn’t know we had 200! We’ve only camped at 3 of them- can’t wait to start exploring more now that the kids are older!

 

Doesn’t it look like Piper is walking on water in the picture above?? How cool is that?

It was truly a WONDERFUL weekend.  I’m so thankful that Shawn always says YES to my ideas, even when I give him zero notice!

The weekend before was ALSO amazing because Shawn and I snuck away to go get Couple’s Massages!  It was so nice and relaxing.  It was a very late Anniversary celebration for us.  We wanted to do it weeks ago right after we were all the way done moving in because we were so sore and stiff from the move, but everywhere was booked for weeks!  So even though we weren’t quite as sore by the time we got the massages, they still felt so heavenly and we both had so many kinks and knots to work out!  The babysitter we hired, Jillian, was Piper’s “High-school Helper” from school this past year and she leapt into her arms when she got here.  It was adorable.

Now... here’s something I feel is worth blogging about because sometimes the sad stuff needs to be remembered so we can learn from it, right? Nine is a tricky age.... it’s the age where kids haven’t TOTALLY outgrown “little kid stuff” but are also starting to like “older kid stuff” more and more (AKA teenage stuff). They are still so young, but desperately want to be older so they sometimes ACT older.... Suffice it to say, my 9 year old is going through some growing pains... She’s just having a tough couple of weeks/months- mostly with a little girl who has been her “BFF” for 2 years but “doesn’t want to be” anymore :( These little 9-year-old heartaches were made worse when her little sister had a sleepover and wanted nothing to do with Lucy- I can relate to that as a child *Cough*Coley*Cough* ;-) So I decided while Piper was busy with her friend, a little one-on-one date with Lu might be just what she/we needed. And... my wannabe teen chose to go to Build-A-Bear. We spent a few hours at the dreaded mall ( my LEAST favorite place on the planet) trying on perfumes, looking at expensive diamonds we could never afford, trying samples, and building LOTS of bears! (She insisted her brother and sister needed some too!). She chattered non-stop, we blasted TSwift in the car, we talked about everything and nothing; I actually had FUN with my daughter and she wasn’t in a sulky/sullen mood! So while growing up is going be tough, and broken crayons will be replaced by broken hearts, at least I know I’ll have these sweet days where all we need are some stolen moments to ourselves to smile, reset and heal. #MyLittleLu #MommyDaughterDates #YesWeWoreMasks(CalmDown)

 Speaking of Mother/Daughter time (although this was a completely separate week)....we had what has now become our annual “Summer Time Girls’ Night” (according to them). It was a week when Shawn left and they like to do it when he is out of town :) As they get older, it gets more fun for me every year. Love these girlies!

 All these feel good moments have been great for me because I won’t get to do anymore of these things for awhile....My Summer fun is over :( Remember when I mentioned surgery above?  Well... yeah.  I just had a hysterectomy :( I didn’t even know for sure it was going to be happening because of Covid. They scheduled me just 1 week before it!  I found out on a Thursday and then had it done 7 days later. I mean, I knew it was going to happen eventually.  I was thinking about getting everything done in March because I got ultrasounds done that showed fibroids. But then all the hospitals shut down. When they opened back up and we started talking about it again the doctor said they can only schedule patients 14 days out (once again, due to Covid rules). I didn’t want to do it at the beginning of Summer so I held off.  On July 23rd I went back to the doctor for a follow-up and she reminded me that if I wanted it done, I needed to do it sooner rather than later; she suspects hospitals will shut down again soon so it was important to get it done now, while I can.  Out of the 14 days we had to schedule it, she was only available on 2 different days so I really had no choice!  It forced me to go through with it though and I think that’s a good thing since I was so nervous and wishy-washy over it; it scared me!

I had 4 fibroids and they needed to come out. Plus I have all the symptoms of endometriosis which is SO painful. I’ve been having so much pain for the past 5 years that I just decided to get everything out and be pain free!! It’s seriously been awful- especially the last 2 years.  I know I’m only 33, but the pain actually started before Sully was born.  And it took us almost a year to get pregnant with him, which explains some things.  I was tired of all the heavy cramping all month long, the EXTRA heavy periods, the pain that was present more often than not.  I needed it.  But since Covid happened, Shawn couldn’t be with me.  Yep.  I was all alone.  He checked me into the hospital and then had to leave.  I bawled my eyes out.  I didn’t want him to go.  I wanted him right there with me when they wheeled me away and there to hold my hand when I woke up- he is my comforter and maybe people think it’s silly, but it HURT to watch him leave, even though he had no choice.  I was a wreck.  I hate EVERYTHING about this STUPID Corona Virus.  But, you already know how I feel about that.  However, a huge surgery that was a terrified about getting was made worse because I had to be completely alone.  And that’s just sad :(

I had to take some “calm-down” medicine before surgery because I couldn’t stop crying and the nurses felt bad for me.  I was literally trembling.  I don’t remember waking up, to be honest; I don’t really remember much of that day at all.  I know I slept almost the entire day- even when they made me stand up and move to another chair to eat my dinner (they wanted my legs to get some movement) I fell asleep sitting straight up over my dinner, plate, haha!  But the next morning when my doctor came and talked to me, I took notes so I wouldn’t forget!  If you’re squeamish, don’t read the next part.  She said the surgery was textbook- nothing went wrong or complicated it at all (answered prayers!). She removed my fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix (kept my ovaries for health reasons- I’m so thankful- I kept praying that I could keep both ovaries but you never know for sure until you’re inside to know if you can.  Ovaries are good for hormones and even your heart!). She added a few “special” stitches that will help hold my bladder in place so that it won’t prolapse now that there is no cervix there to hold it in place. There were visible fibroids and visible spots that suggest mild endometriosis but everything is going to the lab where they will tell me exactly what it all was. It could have been adenomyosis (where cells similar to the endometrium are embedded into the muscular layers of the uterus and cause lots of pain), and there might be small fibroids embedded in the walls of the uterus as well. I will know in about a week. 

All in all, I’m feeling ok. Just very crampy both in front and back (which is the only way I can describe it, even though I don’t have anymore organs that cramp!) and very tired. My incisions are very small- it was mostly done laproscopically, so there are 3 tiny slits in my belly and even though they’re no more than a centimeter in size, they are radiating a good deal of pain!  I guess because of how deep they are.  I also feel like there is a watermelon in my pelvis, which is strange since I had organs REMOVED, not added, but all in all, I’m doing well. And I am just so relieved everything went well!🙏🏼 Recovery is going to be long- 6 weeks with limited movement, but Shawn is the best helper/nurse so we will get through it!  My Mom is getting me a MAID!!!! I cannot wait.  My friend gave me a Door Dash gift card for dinner one night, another friend said she will send a pizza over this week for dinner, and the kids have all been great and promised to help Daddy and Mommy more than usual.... We will see if they hold up their end of the deal ;-) It will all be over soon! I don’t think I will miss my uterus- some women are really in mourning after a hysterectomy.  I’m not, because we knew we were done having kids and I have always been very confident about that.  Emotionally, spiritually, and physically we knew we were finished and our family is complete.  And although my uterus held my 3 precious babies, to me, it was just an organ.  Maybe someday I’ll feel an inkling of the feelings I’ve read about that can accompany a hysterectomy, but as of now I do not have any feelings of loss over this surgery.

Anywhoooo...... Camping was fantastic, Covid is the DEVIL, surgery is painful, school is almost here.....The end is near, my friends.  We can do it! 

I’ll close with one final picture and quote fr Pipes.... THIS is something that will make you smile, guaranteed! In one long sentence this girl said: Someday when I grow up I want to meet a man and fall in love and get married and move to a farm and have lots of children and also goats and horses and chickens and pigs and I’m gonna make my children do a TON of chores EXCEPT scrub the pigs. I want to be the one to scrub all the piggies myself!

And that, my friends, is my Sugar Pi. She’s the best! 

This Land was Made for You and Me

It came and went.  The 4th of July.  I can’t believe Summer is MORE than halfway over!  This Spring when the kids were home went by ever-so-slowly....but the actual Summer is FLYING! I guess when we were in quarantine and home-schooling and EVERYTHING was shut down is why those 8 weeks moved slow as molasses.  But now that it’s hot everyday and pools and parks are open, the Summer is zipping by faster than I can even keep up with.  We’ve been in Summer for 8 weeks and we only have 5 1/2 weeks left.  Yes, we are so lucky that school ended 2 weeks earlier than normal to add more Summer days, but it actually feels like it’s been a shorter season than normal.  I have no idea how that is even possible!

The 4th of July is always a reminder that we’ve reached the peak of Summer and now it’s time to come down.  School starts Augusta 13th (YES! They voted on opening as normal!!! WOOOO-HOOO!!!!!) and that is in 38 days!  Can you even believe it? Aye-aye-aye! 

BUT! The point of this post is to high-light the 4th of July so that’s what I’ll do.

First off, our neighborhood is the PLACE TO BE on July 4th.  It is so much fun!  It all started out with a 9:30am parade.  We were told to decorate bikes, wagons, strollers, anything we wanted in Red, White, and Blue for the parade and the policemen led it, while the firemen were the caboose.  The kids loved it!  There are like 8,000 kids in our neighborhood so this parade was LEGIT.  It’s more like a small city than a neighborhood, to be honest.  

Anyway, everyone received popsicles at the end.  We then came home and watched the Sandlot (tradition) while I prepped dinner for later (marinades, salsa, guacamole, jello etc.) and then headed down to the pool for a few hours.  We played patriotic music and met new neighbors we haven't talked to yet.  Almost everyone at the pool was wearing some sort of patriotic swim suit or outfit and everyone was just HAPPY.  It was so nice to be surrounded by people who were smiling and being friendly and excited for the night’s festivities.  For the first time in a long time we didn’t hear about protests and brutality.  We didn’t mention rallies or politics.  We were unified in our love for America and just glad to be celebrating.  After dinner we did our own fireworks.  The kids just love fireworks so there is really no explaining on that.  We laughed and squealed and ran around the yard having fun.  Suddenly a HUGE pop-up storm moved in and the sky opened up faster than we could even get our fireworks all picked up.  It rained for about 20 minutes but it was still so hot outside so instead of going inside to wait it out, we all just danced in the rain.  It was the best 20 minutes!  All of us just dancing to good songs about America- Shawn and I teaching the kids some dance moves that embarrassed Lucy but had Sully and Piper enthusiastically trying to do themselves. When the rain passed there was a huge beautiful rainbow- it was so perfect for America’s birthday :). 

We finished up our fireworks and headed over to one of our neighborhood ponds (we have a lot of them) to watch the firework show.  They bought $5,000 worth of huge fireworks.  It was AMAZING! It was about 45 minutes long and the order they had them in was definitely well-planned out.  It was a just as big as any city fireworks' show and we were able to watch it from such a close distance.  Once again, we listened to songs like God Bless the U.S.A., America the Beautiful, The Star Spangled Banner, etc.  There was that prideful feeling I seem to get every year when I watch the fireworks' shows.  Not the bad kind of pride- but pride in my country.  The feeling of love for where I live.  Counting my blessings and looking all around me and realizing how grateful I was to be right there, in that moment with good people who love America too.  Shawn and I said over and over how glad we were to live where we live- for my kids to get to run around and watch a magnificent firework show with all their friends.  Some adult was handing out glo-sticks to them all while they danced around waving for them and played tag and ate red, white and blue treats.  Adults were sharing blankets and chairs with whoever needed one.  People were laughing and care-free and just enjoying watching the most beautiful fireworks right in front of a HUGE full moon.  It was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits a bit after the horrible few months we’ve had across the nation.  It was so good to be reminded that we can come together as we celebrate living in the greatest country in the world and we can all love each other no matter what. In all honesty, there hasn’t been much strife in my safe little community of Jenks.  We’ve all watched from afar as the country has divided itself (again) and looted and rioted and we have all hung our heads in sadness but not participated in the riff-raff.  It’s been terrible.  But July 4th was a night we didn’t want to think about any of that.  

We wanted to honor the good that remains in this country, pay tribute to all those on the front-lines and show respect for those that fought and died for our freedom. I think we accomplished just that.