I will be MIA for a while

Tomorrow morning my dear hubby will be having a rod implanted in his spine.

You might remember that he has been having some issues with numbness in his legs, pain in his back and neck. After many tests and several trips to a variety of specialists the diagnosis is a broken disk, with a piece that has chipped off and is rubbing his syatic (??) nerve.

We are thankful to have answers as to why things have been happening, now we need to get it fixed. After a few days in the hospital he will spend a month doing a whole lot of nuthin'. Then 3 more months to complete the healing.

A little background for those who are unaware, my husband has had repeated health issues that forced him to retire 6 years ago at an early age and has continued to have health related issues. He has limited use of his right leg and it continues to deteriorate. The spine specialist told us that if left untreated he could completely lose use of his foot/leg sooner than we are prepared for (who can prepare for that?). We took his advice and scheduled this surgery as soon as we could.

This has been our life for over 6 years, it is something we live with and do so without complaining. We are looking at this latest complication as just another necessary thing to deal with and not put off, and so we shall. We are doing all we can to postpone what we know we will have to deal with at some point.

Between working full time, caring for dear hubby and my momma there will not be much time to be online. One good thing, the hospital where my hubby will be and the nursing home where my momma lives are in the same town, less than a half mile away from each other. A 25 minute drive from our teeny tiny little town. I usually spend Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday after church with momma as well as one other evening. This week she will be totally confused by the scheduling changes, but I will still manage to get a few visits in.

So...there you go...a speed bump in life...I'll be back...

My husband collects rocks....

no kidding, he really does....I think he inherited rock gathering from his dad...you see, it is like this....Ed grew up in a teeny-er tiny-er coastal town than we currently live in...Yachats...(pronouced....Ya...HOTS), as a family they spent alot of time on the beach...and my father-in-law couldn't walk past an agate or pretty rock without picking it up, taking it home and putting it in one of his many rock polishers.

We too live near the Southern Oregon beach and without fail my husband has a plastic bag in his pocket even if he THINKS he might be near an agate bed! My kids roll their eyes, but it matters not to hubby.

Now the grandkids...they all think this is so cool...being encouraged to stuff their pockets full of rocks, or being allowed to carry Gpa's bucket (at least until it gets heavy!) on those more serious rock picking trips where heads are slanted downwards and all eyes are on the look out.

When my father-in-law died hubby lugged home all the polisher equipment and set up his own little rock polishing area. Day after day, night after night our house was rockin' ....24/7 for days and days. The end result were beautiful agates and shiny rocks that multiplied in our basement, 5 gallon bucketful after 5 gallon bucketful...of rocks.

This past weekend he drilled a hole through his bowling ball (that has been in the basement keeping the rocks company for years!) and I put together this gurgling fountain. You can't really see the water coming out of the top, but it does...and then flows down the ball and onto the agates, drips into the planter where the fountain pump is. We really like how it turned out. I love the sound of water. The Koi pond and now the BB fountain offer soothing sounds in our backyard.

More rocks and agates are being used around the Koi pond..pics will be posted, but it is no ways near done...

Home Sweet Home

is it any wonder I love pulling into the driveway each day after work? The window above the driveway is My Creative Mind, isn't that a beautiful view inside and out! Even Akria comes to greet me each day, he is such a momma's kitty!The St. John's Wort is coming up, but most likely will be a project for next spring as we have just found out Ed has a BROKEN disk in his lower back which will require surgery...go figure, at least now we know what has been bothering his legs and back this summer.

Tonight we are finally painting our bedroom, at least getting a start on it, priming over the stenciling, so...once again My Creative Mind is put at the bottom of the list.

Our Version

Each of these cakes were said to be rather hard on the Family Fun website...we found them nothing but FUN to do!! But then Angela and I always have fun when together doing something for the kids, nothing like a mom and a gma to bend over backwards for these awesome kids.

Jewel rings, candy necklaces, gold coins

what more could a bunch of kids wish for in a Treasure Chest?
Albert sporting the Beav's National Championship T-shirt and guarding the bounty!

We forgot to add the Lego pirates, but no big deal...the ship was a hit, and all the other moms were very impressed....I think we do the bestest bday cakes in town, and I think Angela puts on the bestest bday parties in town!!! I don't remember putting as much work into bday parties as she does...Ed always did a terrific cake, but then he was a baker/cake decorator for years - as far as a party, we just rented the roller rink and let them all wear themselves out!!!

That is WAAAAAY too much credit!!!!

The Pirate Cake pictures in my last post are NOT cakes that we have made, they are from the Family Fun website, where we find all kinds of fun cake patterns for the kids' birthdays and other celebrations. We are creating our own versions on Saturday morning (party at 4:30 p.m.), and yes I will post pictures next week at some point.

LJ, you hit the nail on the head, it is a pirate party for Tristan, he has been nutzo about pirates and totally went gaga in Disneyland at the gift shop that featured Pirates of the Caribbean!!! The down side was that ride was shut down while we were there...oh well...

Bday Cake...pics for my sister....Exotic S'mores

Here are the two cakes Tristan asked us to make for his Bday party on Saturday...As I was walking through Wal-mart with the list of "treasure" and crossing each item off (gold coins, candy necklaces, etc etc) and adding it up in my head I was sure this would be the year of the expensive bday cake...sure enough I do believe someone will be digging into his college fund to pay for these cakes...but he is worth every penny...all 11 years worth!

EXOTIC S'MORES

So, this is the deal...nothing is like it used to be....

no simple graham cracker, Hershey's chocolate and toasted marshmellow S'mores for our gang..no siree bub...you gotta have a variety, a choice, a favorite to enjoy with your carefully bronzed marshmellow...so, we leave the Hershey's chocolate for the unadventuresome (that would be David!!) and daring to let our tastebuds shout with delight we replace said Hershey's with a York Peppermint Patty, or maybe a bitesize 3 Musketeers. Like Snickers, Ed does too! How about a Kraft Caramel square, yummy!!! Let your imagination run wild, be patient, it takes a little bit longer to let the candy bars melt, but ooooh it is worth it...enjoy an Exotic S'more, affectionately named by Rex. *Disclaimer...I will NOT be held responsible for the deal on anyone's scales moving upward.

Happy Independance Day!!

I really wanted to post pics of the fireworks display at Disneyland but I had my camera set wrong and not one pic turned out, drats...so put on your imagination caps and think of Tinkerbell flying high above, wand in hand, setting off the most wonderful sparks, and flashes, and boom-bang-pop...yes!!! yes!!! you got it, see, no pictures needed!

Last night we had a wonderful storm full of lightening and loud thunder. We kinda figured it was pretty close but did not realize HOW close until the fire alarm (volunteer fire dept) sounded at 4 a.m. There was a strike about a mile from our house, just down the hill from our kids' place. Albert did not respond to the call since he was just about to leave for work and isn't on the beefed up coverage schedule they have this holiday. No one injured, no damage beyond a tree that will be a great topic of show and tell for some kids at the community swimming pool this summer.

We were suppose to have nice sunny days this week, including today...but with the storm last night we knew that our 4th celebration plans would need to be adjusted. So, we are back to our original plan of BBQ at our house, then everyone will head out to Bullards State Park in Bandon (20 minutes away), where we will sit and watch as the annual fireworks display is shot out over the water, oh it is beautiful!!! Each year I stuff a couple of kleenex's in my pocket knowing I will be overcome with emotion, this year I will also be remembering so many of our loved ones who have passed on in the last couple of years, including my father, a good friend Bob and of course PFC Tommy Tucker.

We have been in the kitchen this morning, Ed is preparing to BBQ 2 chickens: one with a can of Coors in the belly and a potato in the neck....the other will have Mt. Dew and a lemon. We were introduced to this way of BBQ'ing chicken as "Beer in the Butt" only I can't call it that with the grandkids around so it is "canned chicken". Just trying to keep everyone happy. I just pulled the "crust" out of the oven for Fruit Pizza, crust done the easy way...a tube of store bought cookie dough flattened--will leave the toppings for Katie to put on when she arrives. Pasta has been cooked and is cooling down for a pasta salad. Beans are in the pan ready for the heat to be turned on under them. Veggies need to be cleaned and cut up, but I am taking a break! Decided to pack up the "Exotic S'more" stuff and will take that along with us so we can have s'mores while watching the fireworks.

Rex will miss out on his exotic s'mores...oh well, that is what happens when you take an 11 day trip with the honor students from school...I think he is getting the better end of the deal anyway, I believe they will be at Mt. Rushmore today and tonight!!! Wow! what an experience!!

Nothing quilty going on here, while planting Blue Star Creeper I kinked my neck and it still is stiff, so NOTHING going on that requires moving my neck or looking down, currently it is just not bending at all.

Happy 4th to all, no matter where you are, no matter how you celebrate.

I will close with a couple of pictures taken a couple of years ago on the 4th of July at Bullards State Park, it is beautiful there. OK, well, maybe I won't! Seems blogger is not upload-friendly today.

Reason Why I Couldn't Be in My Creative Mind This Weekend

It was just too beautiful of a weekend to be inside. Saturday morning I tackled the pond...got the Koi transferred and now all fish are in the same pond. Ed worked on getting the courtyard path planted with Blue Star Creeper, then we both did this and that and that and this around the yard. The sun was out and so were we.