October Update

Nothing too new and exciting for the month of October. We stayed so busy with Tyler this month that I feel the month as FLOWN by... I'm in complete amazement that this week is November. It seems that as soon as Halloween hits, we are looking at Thanksgiving and sure enough Christmas is smacking us in the face.

It's sad because I seem to dread the hoopla of all the planning but I love spending the time with the family and off work. I *think* I even asked if we had to put a Christmas tree up this year and that is not like me at all... I definitely don't go all out but I do like to have a tree up and few decorations. With Todd being home, maybe I can get him to help with the tree more. HINT HINT... This is the first real year that Santa has been exposed. I think this will make planning and shopping much easier because we can buy from us and not us and SANTA. Deep down though, it makes me sad that we have passed the excitement of the Santa days. Oh well.... life moves on.

I said this would be an October update so sorry to get off topic...

All of Todd's labs this month have been stable. He struggled in September and October with getting his Chemo refilled in a timely manner and thus resulting in tiredness and a icky stomach. Funny that being off the chemo gives him an icky belly... Can't win for losing..

Fortunately, he has some amazing nausea medicine and a supportive wife... LOL... to allow him to take it easy those days. I could care less if he sleeps on the couch all day (well, not every day.) I have to give him huge PRAISE because he is doing very well as a 'house' dad. He does what he can do in a day and when he gets tired, he rests.

He has stayed busy taxi-ing Ty around as usual. Ty played baseball anywhere from 2-3 days a week and had guitar lessons. Ty also went to a 'cowboy' camp through boy scouts... I have to give a shout out to this Non-profit organization that works with children with all different types of backgrounds.... Southern Star Shining Ranch. Ty went with a few of his boy scouts and he said it was one of the best times of his life. They slept in a barn over the horses, had a horse to tend to all weekend, sat around campfires, did small group bible study and he did calf wrestling. Yes.. calf wrestling. He came home filthy, tired and super excited about his weekend! Of course, here are some pics.

Lots of horseback riding...

Day one of calf wrestling (below)

Yes... that is my 70lb son trying to bring down a 200lb calf. On the pic above, he is under the calf.

Looks like a guy who has worked hard....

We also took a short trip to Myrtle Beach for fall Break... The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed a family trip with some down time. Todd hadn't been to the beach this year so that was on his 'list'. We didn't spend much time on the beach but he said just seeing it and listening to the waves made him happy. Tyler enjoyed time playing and being a kid...

Don't ask about the hat and sometimes you just have to pick and choose your battles... :)

We did baseball, baseball and more baseball for the month of October. Tyler had a wonderful time on a losing team... They won their very last game and pretty much got smoked on all the other games. I kept asking him if he had fun and he said yes so I guess it was still a success. In addition, I met several great families and reconnected with other families Ty played ball with in years past. In fact, Ty is going to play basketball this month and most of the baseball boys will be on the same team. :) This is Ty's first go at basketball so this should be interesting, LOL...

I love love love this picture... <3

Yes, the kid next to Tyler is in the same age range...

The Sox... missing the Coach. The is after the last game that they won by 1. A nice way to end the season. A great group of boys!!!

Lastly to wrap up the month, we celebrated Halloween. As many of you know, our neighborhood does a huge extravaganza and there are 100's of kiddos begging for candy. I love the neighborhood fellowship and Todd hands out candy. Him and another dad, propped themselves in lawn chairs and gawked at costumes (and I think made fun of people because you know, they come out of the hills on halloween.) If you remember, Ty was a BANANA last year so to continue on with the goofiness, this year he was Ollie the Ostrich. Many people thought he was riding a turkey but he was really riding an Ostrich.. haha...

Thanks again for everyone's well wishes and support... Live sure is crazy sometimes.

KB

Family and such

So... I was raised in a very traditional family for most of my life and so was Todd. I say most of my life because my parents divorced when I was 18. Todd's parents are still together and have been for 43 years (can you say WOW.) I say all this because it seems there are more and more nontraditional families these days. So on this topic, I am pretty sheltered from the real world and I think Ty is too. As my work peeps say.. I'm a pretty straightforward realist to life. I call it like I see it. Well... I have been hit with a stick on the nontraditional family topic.

Family is not what it used to be. Who says a family has to consist of a Mom and a Dad? Some families have moms, some have just dads, some have only aunts and uncles and some have grandparents. And you know... there are some families that are so blended that you really don't know who is who.

I think we all need to take a quick look around at who we call family and embrace them. It really doesn't matter how they came into our lives but just that they are in our lives. Everyone, especially children, need a safe place to call 'home.' Also, if you know someone who has taken on others, take a moment to thank them because without them... who knows where those little people would be!

I found this quote while looking for something else but I thought it was cute to share:

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck