Fall

The first day of Fall has come and we are still waiting for the triple digit heat to go away.  Owen is officially on Fall Break for the next two weeks, but he never really goes to school too much anyway.  We started Homebound school and his 1st grade teacher comes in the afternoons and he is doing so great with it.  He just goes to school for socialization when he is up for it.

I have been so busy every day that I barely even have a chance to login to FB and check on my people.  There is an hour of calm when Logi naps in the morning and I race around the house as fast as I can getting as much done as possible.  Right now is "nap time' even though he is crawling around the computer chair trying to get his hands on everything he can.  He is such an inquisitive little monkey.

This past weekend was busy.  First we crashed Daddy's work party at the bowling alley and Owen kicked Daddy's butt (or at least we let him believe he did).

Kam and I observed and chatted about Homecoming... to go, or not to go?  A few of her friends decided to go, but the majority bowed out this year.  I promised her I'd spend that money on new boots and make up instead... she was happy to bow out as well.

She ditched the Homecoming game and we went to Grandma Monica's surprise birthday party at San Tan Flats.  It was a fun night with live music and some dancing may have taken place.  The cousins had fun, but by 9pm they were all super tired.  Happy Birthday Monica!

Lucy was baptized on Saturday and so we went to celebrate her day!  We had cupcakes and candy afterwards and the kids played in the cultural hall.

Sunday we had a total down day.  Owen has been feeling lazy and tired lately.  His BNP (heart failure number) has been increasing over the past few weeks and we have been chasing his rejection med levels.  We are the lab at least once or twice a week and I am hoping things level out soon.  Owen has a biopsy at Stanford on the 13th of this month so I'm anxious to see how things are going.

Today is October 1st, so my kids are wanting to get all our spooky decorations out and get into the Halloween spirit.  I think it's time to buy a few pumpkin spice candles as well.  Owen was so excited to be Kylo Ren for Halloween, but the excitement wore off before October 1st.  Now we are onto the next big costume.  I'm sure he'll change his mind about 10 more times before the 31st. Whatever this boy wants... he is passionate about Halloween. :)

HAPPY FALL!!!

20Year Reunion

This weekend was Carson's 20 year High School Reunion. Yes.. the hubs is getting old!  C grew up in Thatcher and was in a huge graduating class of 69 (or something close to it).  He and his siblings talk about their childhood all the time so it's fun to visit and see what it's all about. My kids loved seeing his old schools, where Daddy grew up and C liked reminiscing.  Owen may have said "Dad... I feel REALLY bad for you..." (Owen is my city slicker).

On Friday evening, before we started our road trip, C got out his big box of High School stuff and looked for pictures to send in for the Reunion slide show.  This, my friends, is where Owen gets his good looks and charm...  Daddy (circa 1980 something)... Owen  2015).

This was Carson at High School Graduation.  I was trying to find his College graduation photos, but that will be another day.

The Reunion festivities started on Friday for the Homecoming game and parade.. we missed out on that.  We headed up early Saturday morning for the family Picnic on Mount Graham (the 2nd largest mountain in AZ.. nerd knowledge).

If there were awards... Carson would have won for having the youngest child and also for looking totally different from what he did in HS.  :)

Owen made friends and played bean bag toss games.  He just walked up to strange kids and said "Hi.  I'm Owen.  Want to play?"  He is my super social boy.  Notice I have no pics of Kam because she was all red eyed and puffy from allergies.  She does not love the great outdoors.  Ok.. neither of these kiddos do.  It started drizzling rain just around the time of lunch.  They grabbed food and made a beeline to the car for shelter and heat.  They stayed in the car for the next 90 minutes.. no joke.

Carson and I were social and it was great meeting his old HS friends  After a long afternoon on the mountain, we headed down to our hotel and grabbed the kids some KFC for dinner.  We had an adults only dinner that evening.  Kam was a gem and watched the boys, and I only had to leave the restaurant once to clean up vomit in the hotel room.  It was a success and we had a great time!

Kam got shotgun in the car on the way home so I was stuck in the back.. bored.. with no 4G.  What's a mom to do besides take a nap.

Wishful thinking.. but I had fun with the boys.  Logan actually figured out how to play peek a boo and kept lifting the blanket up over his face and laughing.  It's the little things.

It was a fun weekend getaway. Carson had a great time with classmates and I had fun mingling with adults.  So many of his classmates knew about Owen and follow along his journey so that was super awesome to hear.  My kids got a little small town exposure and we are happy to be back home. 

End of Summer Happenings

How is it already past Labor Day?  So much has been going on and these three have been keeping me beyond busy.  We had such a great long weekend at home and did nothing but spend time together.  Carson and I even got out for a date night.

These boys keep me on my toes. Owen hasn't been to school in forever.  It's either a headache from what I assume is low BP, or his tummy aches, or he just feels overall pretty weak and exhausted.  I have no idea what to do most days, but figure that I just have to find a happy medium with him.  I trust him when he says he feels crummy, but don't let him get away with just playing video games all day.  You don't feel well enough to go to school.. then we will sit on the couch together and do all your makeup work. :)  His homebound hours were finally approved through the district so his teacher will start coming next week in the afternoons.  I am hopeful he will be back at school Monday as well, just for a couple hours at least. 

Kam has been busy in High School.  She works super hard at school and loves to hang out with her friends on the weekends.  I love hearing all the details of her high school day.  Do I dare admit that I am getting more comfortable with her in the drivers seat too?   I may also count down the hours until she is home from school because this happens most afternoons... 

She even  bakes brownies for us after school.  I think we'll keep her!

Owen had cardio clinic and echo this morning.  His SVC is showing more narrowing but they weren't overly concerned.. we will just address it during his next biopsy/cath in October.  His labs came back and I got a text from the team that his BNP (heart failure) was "in the 2000 range'.  I have no idea how high, but it is trending up from 1300, to 1600, and now 2000's.  I guess all we can do is keep an eye on it.  Normal is under 100, just for reference. 

We didn't mess with his meds.  He is almost off of the steroids and he is on his full doses of heart failure medications.  His BP is lower than I like to see (80/55 on average), but he seems to tolerate it okay.  I noticed his energy level is not great, but that could be from the tummy aches maybe?  I don't know. 

We went to PT at the gym after clinic but not before stopping for his lunch of choice ... broccoli cheddar soup at the deli.  It was a long morning and both boys were exhausted. 

I have been doing lots of fall cleaning and decluttering around the house.  I am addicted to selling things we don't need on FB yardsale groups.  I love that people just come by and bring me cash for stuff  laying around the house.  I also got huge bags of clothes for Logan.. $20 and he is set on winter clothes.  Now if we could just see some cooler temps...the triple digits are getting old.  Happy end of Summer.