quiet weekend...

wow...haven't had this quiet a weekend in a LOOOOONNNNGGGG time!!

we were planning to go to the lake with the kids friday morning, but after working late thursday night and not being ready friday morning ( laundry to be done, groceries to be bought...) we decided to have a weekend at home with the kids!! so friday i was inspired to "clean up" a bunch of stuff ( which is now 11:24pm sunday night ) and it's STILL not all done!! does anyone ever really catch up on their "to do" lists? man, i would love to do that some day!

anyway, friday was kind of a write-off as the kids and i actually stayed in our jammies until about 5pm ( i love those kind of days ) and then mike BBQ'd some yummy steaks with corn on the cob for supper and then we watched the original Willy Wonka movie for some more great birthday party ideas for miss courtney!!

saturday was a little more exciting for us all...we went out for dinner with our friends Nikki and John and their little girl (and also my little god-daughter) Taylor...we met up at Boston Pizza for some chow and then went to the movie theatre to see Spiderman 3!!! they came over after the movie for a little backyard bonfire at our house and the kids were playing 'pirates' and getting into all kinds of mischief...a fun night!

...miss courtney and miss talyor...

...taking in a little 'game time' before the show...

( sorry nikki that my kid kicked your kids butt just like i kicked yours at air hockey!

MOI HA HA....)
tee hee.

...boys being boys...

...and today, being sunday, i had to work. for a nice change i didn't have to close or pre-close tonight so i was off a little earlier than usual and actually got to get some bedtime kisses 'n cuddles from the kids!!

i was all inspired and motivated to do a layout today and i actually squeezed it into about a 1/2 hour play time right before i went to work...literally!

i mentioned a while back on my blog that i found this really fun and inspiring blog called

www.scrapjacked.blogspot.com

that i look at often to try and motivate myself...i seem to always be making projects and plans for my own classes and never really "PLAY" for myself anymore, so i like to to there and THINK of trying out there 'jacks' that they offer!! i entered a layout only one time before ( probably because the artist that they jacked was Heidi Swapp ) but none-the-less, i was motivated to use their sketch and did a pirate layout from courtney's birthday party last year...anyway, i entered it and it made it to the 10 finalists...WOW! i was impressed! i felt good about spending some time and effort into my own layout and i have wanted to enter several times since then but haven't found the time...

well, i really liked the 'jack' again this time, so i will post my entry in a few minutes...i'm trying again...and if anything, i am having fun with it and it's NO PRESSURE on me to play and make something fun!!

check back soon for a peek at it!!

( go to their above noted website so you can see their take on the original "scrapjack"..)

wish me luck!!

( and hey...try it sometime yourself...it's free and it's fun to do...especially if you're ever 'stuck' like i get sometimes )

:O)

birthday time

...we're getting to that time of year again when i am busy 'making things' for courtney's birthday party!!! she will be turning 9 on the 21st so we have been busy making our PLANS for her party that we're having on the 26th...and how will i EVER top last year's pirate party??? i guess by having a

WILLY WONKA

party!!!

good one courtney.

this was her choice theme for this year and after searching throughout winnipeg and also while we were in the States, i found NOTHING theme-wise for Mr. Wonka and his stupid chocolate factory....ugh. it's on to hand crafting everything again!!! don't get me wrong, i LOVE doing this kind of stuff, but with everything going on with grandpa and work and entertaining the kids all day, i feel like i am in a pinch now to be creative!!!

soooooo, we started my creative juices by watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the other night complete with Wonka candy for our treats! i had a notebook ready to take down some notes that i might be able to do something with and away we went!!!

( i know, i know, i'm such a geek )

...today i was inspired to make my own replica of the famous GOLDEN TICKET as her invitation...i pretty much copied the front of the movie one and wrote down all the details on the back of the ticket...thank goodness for gold scrapbook paper, ya know! { GIGGLE }

i then proceeded to buy around 20 BIG chocolate bars ( thanks to dollarama...) to take the wrappers off and make our own design for and stuff our golden tickets inside!!! i foam painted and stamped the fronts of the wrappers....whew. only 19 more to make....hahahahaha...

then we'll be off to hand deliver them to our family and friends....

...and speaking of birthdays...

YESTERDAY was my mom's special day!! Happy 64th mom!!! ( heeheehee )

I had my mom, airiel and grandma come over for a nice little lunch in the afternoon and we all had a good little visit, and it also gave everyone ah hour and a half break from the hospital!!!

i was babysitting my neighbor's little guy, and tyler's good friend, Jordan for a while in the afternoon too, so that's his cute little mug in there with the gang!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

( mom and grandma, our family angel...)

CHEERS!!!

grandpa update:

monday and tuesday were great days!!! we was up a few times both days and going for little hallway walks with his walker! i was there for his evening walk on monday night and he did about 300feet!! he's been SMILING and JOKING around...it's just wonderful to see him perk up a bit!! he's been working hard with his phys.therapist and is determined to go home with his loving wife! i think we are finally getting some progress, progress, progress!!!

i will be going up tomorrow morning to see him so i will try to get some new pic's then!

...well, off to work...

:O)

mail, mail, MAIL!!!

"YOU'VE GOT MAIL"

...i like how that sounds better when there's a postman standing at my door with a parcel!!!

i've been waiting for this parcel's arrival from Atlanta, Georgia with much excitement!

Thanks to COLLEEN from www.cupcakescrapshop.com i had ordered her monthly kits 3 months at a time and i just received June, July and August!!! we had some postal problems causing some delay on both our ends otherwise it would have come much sooner...but that's all good now because i have some new rockin' goodies to play with now!!!

{ GIGGLE }

i love all the unique products she puts together in her kits, and there's a lot of it that i can't get here, so it's very practical for me to 'look around' somewhere else for my own personal stash!!! she's home based as well and has a fantastic imagination for getting her kits together! i was showing it all off at my class here friday night ( that's when i got it all ) and i think that you, COLLEEN, are going to be getting more winnipeg orders very soon!!! heeheehee....

TeeHee...

can't wait to play with it all!

thanks so much colleen!! you're awesome smawsome!!!

and thanks to my little budding photographer, courtney, who very patiently took about 12 different silly pictures of me trying to get 'the right one' to show my excitement!

i think i'm gonna have to 'mega burn' the loser shots...good grief, did i really make all those goofy faces over SCRAPBOOKING STUFF???

( sigh )

the weekend

...it's sunday night, well in all honesty, it's 12:37am monday morning...

i just got home from work a half hour ago and need to unwind!

this is grandpa in his new room down in the rehabilitation ward. he is not happy there. and neither are we. he is finally getting his phs. therapy but the staff are just so rude and harsh. whatever happened to compassion in the nursing industry? would it really kill them to care a little? he's 86 years old for heavens sake and they hustle him around like he's in his 30's, and with no compression fracture in his spine either. i hate that hospital. no one seems to know what they're doing over there. careless mistakes and thoughtless words and expressions.

he's still on a minced diet and complains about that daily, and also on thickened beverages to help him swallow. that seems to be the only thing he's doing okay with...he wishes we could 'thicken' up some whiskey for him i'm sure!!!

{ GIGGLE }

this is going to be a very slow healing process, and as much as my grandma wishes she had all the answers and prognosis NOW, we are all going to have to go with him one day at a time. it is very sad watching her look after him as best she can while he's in the hospital and know that she'd sell her soul to bring him home with her, like it was before.

things are going to be different now for them.

i didn't get to go for a visit on friday as i was preparing my CRAZY house ( believe me ) for my class friday night. and i did a wedding (photography ) on saturday, so i went up to see him around supper time on saturday. this was taken then. he was pretty beat and tired by the time i saw him and wanted to go to bed. but the nurses had him sitting in a chair and said he can't go into his bed to sleep until they said so. ( about another hour ). since when do they dictate bedtimes??? if the guy is sore and tired and wants into his bed THEN HELP HIM!!! we are not allowed to move him ourselves as we don't know the proper way to move him without causing more damage....but i thought that was just awful.

HANG IN THERE GRANDPA!!!!

...despite all this commotion, my life at home of course still has it's demands and required attention to my family and my business!!! friday night i had a fun album altering class and since it is my mom's birthday on tuesday ( the 14th ) her good friend grace had brought along a birthday cake to have with our half time snack!!!

...and saturday night, after the wedding and my visit with grandpa, i met up with mike and the kids at our friends house for an evening BBQ and bonfire! they had rented a cool bouncer for all the kids to play in and they had a blast...and so did mike a few times too!!!

thanks linda and dave for a much needed fun night!!


...and this picture made me LMAO (laugh my ass off)...
i didn't see it until i downloaded the pic's tonight...so i'm sure it's good to guess that mike took it saturday night at the party...this is an unusual photo of courtney as she is quite the little 'picture perfect' poser for photos!!! the last time i saw a picture of her sticking out her tongue was when she was all dressed up as a little flowergirl! ( which is now my mousepad!! following this shot )

...and that's my weekend in a nutshell...

i must say that i am very GREEN WITH ENVY to my friend AMANDA who had tickets to see josh groban tonight...lucky ducky.

and also jealous of my kids and husband who are all sound asleep upstairs right now...and that's where i'm going now...

'nite all!

:O)

...got big

i have been feeling sooooo guilty these past days since we got home from the states with everything going on with my grandpa...i have been feeling like the kids have been 'pushed aside' with all the trips back and forth to the hospital and all the constant phone calls that they haven't had very much quality time with mike and i lately!

i asked them what they wanted to do today and they excitedly told me they wanted to go see

'tyler's geese'

..well, i was more than happy to accomodate their request! we bought our loaf of yummy bread for crumbs and grabbed my camera and off we went for a visit!

MAN, have they grown!

they are all mostly pretty full grown as far as a canadian goose looks...minus the fact that the little guys still have their sweet little 'peeps' while they feed!!! not as panicked and loud as when they were smaller, but it's still there!

they are also not quite as tall or well rounded as the adults yet.

we were VERY HAPPY to find ( after quite the hike to the other side of the park...whew! ) the little family of mom, dad and 5 babes greet us for some bread!

we knew it was them right away, well, besides the fact that this was the only 7 member family since we started our photo journaling, but the MOM has this white furry scar around the base of her neck that identifies the family right away...cheating, i know!

anyway...we were happy to see them as it's been about 4 weeks since we last had a visit!

just look how BIG THEY GOT!

( i'm sure people aren't the only ones who complain that their babies just 'grow too fast'... )

...i just love this little fuzzball...

he was before and remains STILL the little runt! we all called him 'Fuzzball' from the first time we saw him because that's what he looked like then...except yellow!

now, all his 'siblings' are pretty much smoothed out black in their necks and getting nice and plump ( NO HUNTING! ) but he's still a little behind in the 'feather department' and skrawny looking!!! ( sorry buddy! )

..it's hard to believe this was him just 5 weeks ago!!!

( pulled this out of his families archive for tyler! )

...and this was his family 5 weeks ago too...

i'm grateful for a fun couple hours hiking around the park with the kids today...we had fun together and saw lots of cool things there! ( besides the geese )

grandpa was moved down to a different ward this afternoon after his lunch. they put him in the rehabilitation ward, but i don't think he's ready for that yet, and neither do the nurses in that ward...he's supposed to be able to use his walker on his own and he can't even get in and out of bed, go to the bathroom, sit in his chair in his room or anything yet un-assisted. never mind go full force into physical therapy...i don't know what these guys at the hospital are thinking...( or smoking? )

we are sooooo disappointed in the care he is being given there. what can we do? mostly, this is why one of us is always there...so if he needs help we are there. he can press his 'help button' no problem, if he has 1/2 hour to wait to go to the bathroom...my grandma has been his own personal loving 'nurse'!!!!

oh well, i guess we'll just have to keep stickin' it out day by day...

thanks to everyone who have been commenting and sending me kind emails...i appreciate all your warm thoughts and e-hugs!!!

:O)

update AND new goodie pic's

...i took these pictures yesterday during one of my visits up at the hospital...

grandpa was having an okay day...he's been confined to his bed now for 2 full days and we are waiting patiently for the therapists to try and get him moving a bit with a walker...

"baby steps"

...today though he didn't have a great day.

he's been sleeping most of the time ( because i've been after grandma to stop waking him up when he's sleeping and leave him to his rest...!!:O) )

but he's been having a very hard time eating any food and cannot swallow it. they've put him on a 'minced diet' and no liquids...he's getting this syrup-like substance to drink to help it go down better....not fun.

grandma is holding up as one would expect...she's one tough bird!

i am worried about her own health as she refuses to leave him longer than enough time to grab something to eat. and then she stays until about 9-10pm and is back up when mom or i take her in the morning around 10am.

but there's absoluetly no arguing this matter with her.

we are all gonna take this one day at a time....

( 'night grandpa...luvs you! )

AND.....

as promised, here's a few photos of my new stock for the shop!!!

i have tons of other stuff too, but i thought i'd just show off this stuff!

this is some of the new LUV, ELSIE line by KI Memories that is real hot and cool and funky all in one...and in HUGE demand! i ordered everything but this is what i received...

this is BETTY...

...and TOBY...

...and ROXIE...

the papers across the top are FABRIC!!! too cool!

and here's some more goodies...

...beach stuff...

...and this was with TARA and MICHELLE N in mind...

...i'm off to catch some much needed ZZZzzzz's....

:O)

6 days, 3 boxes & 46 emails...

i have not fallen off the face of the earth...

my little '3 day' trip to the states with my family turned into 6 days.

i will try to just give you the highlites...

first day was great.

got to thief river falls, checked in to the seven clans waterpark and casino hotel, did a quick run to the new walmart in town for some water bottles and a li'l looksie and headed back for an evening in the waterpark with the kids. grandma and grandpa even came down and sat in some comfy loungers poolside to take it all in...

second day, after checking out and trying to load us all up into the van, i turned my head to find courtney and tyler scaling the brick wall along the side of the hotel!!!

once i quickly snapped a picture of my little daredevils, and proceeded to hold my breath til they got to the top as coming down from where they were by the sounds of their screaching mother didn't look like a very good idea...i gave the lecture to tyler that 'rock climbing' in his SANDALS wasn't very safe. ya think?

...on we went for breakfast in town and then on to grand forks. we went out for a nice family dinner here...

...where i indulged myself in a not-so-great order of steak and shrimp...but the company was most enjoyable! the next day was grandma and grandpa's 66th wedding anniversary so since we were to come home the next day, we decided to go out for a nice meal on our last night in the states together!

...OR SO WE THOUGHT...

on the thrid day, also G & G's anniversary, we checked out and headed over to the walmart supercentre to do a bit of shopping. i dropped everyone off right at the door, as i always did to make my grandpa's walking distance as little as possible, and went to park the car.

when i returned into the store, i found a small crowd of staff and shoppers surrounding my grandpa while he sat in a chair....right in between the entrace doors...not even in the store yet...

i bit my lip and hurried over to see what happended and a very frightened courtney run to inform me that grandpa had fallen down. he hurt his back, which was already a main source of his daily discomfort. he said he didn't feel right and that it felt like lightening in his back. we decided we better take him to the hospital to have him examined. he could barely walk and every little supported step he took made him cry out in pain.

it was so awful to see him like that and i felt so helpless.

...upon examination in the hospital we were informed that he had a compression fracture on one of his vertabrae....and a few other concerns that would include more testing. he was admitted and immediately put on a morphine IV to ease his pain. we made our arrangements to stay in another hotel for an undetermined amount of nights as we were in a wishy-washy whirlwind with the hospital news...

i was dealing with all the doctors and trying to offer as much support and comfort to my frantic grandma and make the best of our situation. i spent many hours in the hospital and the kids were back and forth to the hotel and hospital too.

after working all day on friday, mike drove out to the states to come and take the kids home to help ease our stress load. after a quick hour visit, including a stop at the hospital to see grandpa, he packed up the kids and went back home the same night.

some crummy anniversary day for my poor grandparents.

...i know my grandparents love each other like crazy (and drive each other just as crazy) and fact is that my grandma has definately been the 'doting wife' to him for many years now as his health is not as good as hers.
but being first hand at my grandparents side during this adventure and dealing with the medical staff, insurance company and hotel arrangements so they didn't need to worry about anything but getting better...i saw the utmost test of dedicated love and compassion my grandma has for my grandpa. i of course have always known it was there, i've seen it before, but this time is different.
he was hospitalized, medicated, helpless and dependant.
and she was terrified for him.
aside from having to leave to sleep and eat something, she was right there at his side from the moment she woke up to late in the evening when i would make her leave to come back to the hotel to sleep.

i have several pictures of this ordeal to 'scrapbook' but i have MANY pictures in my heart and mind that cannot be scrapbooked except from my own memory...

the hospial itself and the medical staff therein exceeded our expectations for his treatment.

i cannot say enough good about the care he received during his stay and the nursing staff and their extremely patient and caring attention they gave will always be most appreciated and respected. i was amazed by the helpful team of support and care, and quick and efficient way of help we were given through those 4 days there.

amazing.

we will be forever grateful to the american staff at ALTRU HOSPITAL!!!

...dr. sanjay...



...L nurse maggie and R nurse judy...
(i think grandpa's favorites...)

...august 5, coming home in my own transformed 'ambulance' for grandpa...

thank you AMERICA...

...when we arrived in winnipeg last night, i immediately took him to his choice hospital for his continued stay and care. once i handed over his copied chart i was given in the states, they had him admitted and he is now in his very own room, comfortable, ( as he can be ) and waiting to start some physio therapy tomorrow and possibly undergo a few more tests...

we will also be meeting with homecare for after he is released from the hospital.

...i HATE our health care system even more now that i have something to really compare it to.

they made him wait in agony sitting in a wheelchair for one hour in the waiting room before taking him in for an assesment. i told them we had just driven 4 hours ( inluding the border stop) with severe discomfort for him and that he was advised from the american hospital to have continued 24hour hospital care...

an hour later, he was finally assesed by the doctor and she looked at his chart she was given from the states and admitted him. 3 hours later, grandma and i left him sleeping comfortably in his own room in the EMERGENCY ward....no room for him in the ward yet! unbelievable.

he had 4 neighbors outside his room, all on beds lined up against the wall in the hallway...

we had one nurse who tried her busiest best to help us out, everyone else couldn't care a less and they sure showed it. rude. ignorant. and miserable. i wish i was a nurse to i could take care of him myself.

i didn't expect the same professional and out-of-their-way care he received in the states, but i sure didn't expect the poor, poor treatment he was given last night in our own hometown hospital. my grandma was once again a nervous wreck.

but he is now up in a comfortabe bed in his own room on the 3rd floor...i am about to go see him and 'check out' the care he is being given there....

whew...that's the update...and i guess i have to say 'so much for trying to be brief...'

in other news...

i came home to 46 emails (WOW) that i have also finished reading and also 3 boxes of new scrapbooking supplies for my shop!!! WAIT til you see....

i will snap a few pic's for you and post 'em tomorrow...gotta go up to visit grandpa right now and then have a quiet family night at home since we've been apart so much these last 6 days...

i CAN hint to you that i got some new LOVE, ELSIE stock in (love it) and lots of other fun, fun stuff...

...i'm off...

:O)