Vision: Create a current, ongoing and super funny blog to follow our family's daily/weekly...or even monthly journeys.
Reality: Too many kids.
October. That is the last update to the blog, so I will work from there on. Actually, over the span of those seven months our family has really had some hum dingers...but, as always, we find ourselves still grateful for all that good stuff that still surrounds us.
A little warning before we head onward: this blog will contain mushy, sentimental, and down-right God-praising moments.
So lets go back to the end of October, where we left off.
Silence is a VERY loud noise when you have three boys living with you. Actually, silence is loud if you JUST have Owen Hurtado living with you.
I would like to thank the artistic Mr. Hurtado for the opportunity to test and find out exactly what removes a Sharpie marker from skin and an antique maple wood table. Sir, you are too kind. Let's not do that again, for reals.
Naptime is one of of those God-given treats at our house. Owen is a great napper, too....unless he is trying to climb out of his crib and breaks an arm. Yep. Leave it to kid number cuatro. Funny thing is, he barely complained. He just came walking down the hall after we put him down for a nap and said, "my arm hurts mom"....but then went along looking for his brothers (and continuing his naptime escape plan). To just be sure, I had Dave take him to the doc's office where, lo and behold, he had a fractured arm.
He sure doesn't look like a kid in pain here, eh? More like, "hey Ryan and Ethan, bet you guys never did something THIS cool!"
The splint was a pain in the neck, then it was cast time. Owen PROMISED the doctor he would not get the case wet or do anything to compromise healing. The doctor obviously doesn't know that three year olds are total liars. Here is the deal being made.
And so it was just before Halloween that Owen got his beloved cast, but it didnt stop him from being the CUTEST garden gnome you have ever seen. :-)
And to round out Halloween...here is the whole clan all dolled up....
We have a tween "too cool to dress up but want to still look cute" kitty cat Katie, a Superman (but of course) Ryan, and a kick-butt ninja Ethan...and Owen the garden gnome. That beard lasted about two photos and was off for the rest of the time.
Ethan turned seven with a Lego birthday party and bowling. Super awesome Lego cake, check it out-
Ethan has such a sweet spark to him, he is my most sensitive (oops, but still super tough) boy and I have to admit he is the best back scratcher of them all.
Christmas time came and brought many parties, visitors, and lots of good times. We were non-stop for what seemed like a month or more, but its always such a great feeling.
pull off making "Beehler mashed potatoes" properly.
Pretty sure she didn't know what type of family she
got herself into here....lol
hold all the goodies, so we had to settle for
lining 'em up on the sofa.
He is telling Oscar something, but I wonder if Oscar
knows what liars three year olds are.
Ok Ok, but even if he fibs, how CUTE is he?
Owen was SO easy to please this year. Lollipops and gum. Oh to be three again.
Ok, so I am not divulging secrets here, but we just so happen to have the "S" man himself show up at OUR HOUSE on Christmas Eve...YES! He came in super early, thought he was being sneaky, but was spotted by the kids as he ran out the door. Doesn't get much better than that, folks. .jpg)
Owen looks to find where Santa raced off to.....
we were happy to have Ampy and Grandma here too this year!
Chaos!
Katie Rose turned 13 in December, and sometimes....if nobody is looking, she thinks I am still cool.
I am loving every moment with her because I know that all too soon she will be a busy teenager with much better things to do....but for now I will soak every bit of this up...and may even learn to take a good "selfie" as a result of my time with her. :-)
Speaking of cool mom and daughter times, I was able to take Katie to her first REAL concert....and it wasn't a teeny bopper one either...whoop! George Strait and Martina McBride came to Sacramento, and so off we went. Yee Haw!
Every once in awhile I want to give a shout out to my fab hubby. Nothing says sexy like a man and a vacuum cleaner. Love him!
So in November my six year term as Governing Board member for the kids school ended. Whew! That was a long and wild ride, but also such a fulfilling and educational experience for me. Dave was thrilled that I was not longer going to be away for board meetings or staff interviews, special ed meetings, etc. Done-Zo! This chick was gonna find fun things to do with my newly found "spare time".........
Enter The Challengers Little League.
Because, as everyone knows, I am ALL about baseball. Sure...ha ha ha.
Here is how to turn one into an accidental Baseball fan. Quick.
He wanted to play baseball like the other boys in town. But there
wasnt a team for him. Soooooooooooo, a friend of mine wanted
to start a Challengers team for children with disabilities. And he
needed a partner in crime. End. Of. Story.
Building a community and understanding that not everyone is the same, but that everyone
can be a friend.
gets HOT in the outfield sometimes. You just CANT teach kids this stuff....
So really I could go on forever about this team, about what it meant to me (and continues to mean), but for now I am going to just say that we have been lucky enough to be part of the beginning of something GREAT here in Dixon, not just a baseball team but a community of kids with special needs. This story is to be continued.....
And so life keeps tickin' away, doctors appointments for the kids, the crazy mornings getting everyone out to school with lunches packed, permission slips signed, and both shoes on their feet. We think about the books we need to return to the library, the phone calls we never returned, the shopping list that keeps getting longer, and that never ending pile of laundry on the couch that needs folding. And what the heck to make for dinner tonight....
The phone rings. It's my doctor. The lab results are back. I have melanoma.
What???
Wait.
What???????!!!!!!!!!
And in that very moment, the world stops. My head begins to spin with thoughts of not even my own future but the future of my family. I want to cry, I want to scream. I go back to our bedroom where Dave happens to be. By the grace of God, that day the kids are at school and Dave is home. SOMEONE knew I would need him to be home. We both cry.
Being the Type A personality that I am, my instant thought is to run to Google. Read about it, find the secret recipe, learn how to make the perfect smoothie and beat it. Something. Find something.
Learn how to live.
However, I know better. I know that if I open up to the internet and all of the (mis)information it has I will sink deeper into my own confusion and fear. I vow to make this about my own battle, not the ones on the internet. To this day I have not Googled melanoma. Because I know this much ; it is a bad type of cancer.
I also know that, if caught early, the prognosis is good, especially in this day and age of modern medicine.
But I just want my mom right now. Badly. I want to curl up in a fetal position and cry my heart out to her.
The next few weeks are filled with anxiety, prayer, and...oddly enough, thankfulness. Thankfulness that I have been able to be home with my kids all these years, that my husband and I made that agreement years ago when we married that we would make it work off just one income so I could do things like be involved int their school, and be home for them. And start little baseball teams for children with disabilities. ALL great things...all things that are still to be thankful for, although temporarily covered up in frantic thoughts and confusion. God is great all of the time. But sometimes, He confuses me.
Fast forward two weeks after diagnosis. I am at the BEST melanoma surgery center around, UCSF. I am in great hands, and the surgeon was able to get clean margins, meaning there is no lymph node involvement and I am considered "surgically cured". I am still, however, under close watch because after having one melanoma I am at higher risk for having another.
I texted this picture to Katie right as I was going in for surgery....it's my "look, I am not nervous at all, honey" face.
patient ID these days. Dang, I think this nurse asked
me like 389 times what my name and DOB were. Here
she is checking my bracelet.....again.
The leftover result. Big incision. Darn, my leg modeling days are over.
Pale is the new tan, folks. For reals.
I don't want to spend too much time on this subject because it does have a happy ending. But I can also say that there are many resonating affects, good and bad, of hearing such news. I am grateful for this challenge, as I have been for others, because I honestly feel that I am a better, stronger person because of it. My most challenging and painful moments have brought me down paths I would never have chosen, but in the end have brought me to people I would have never met, opened my eyes to opportunities I would have overlooked, and enriched my life so much more. Thank GOD for His power, knowledge, and guidance, and just another nod to the old saying ,"if you ever want to see God laugh, just show him your plans".
On to some more happy times.
I have always wanted to go to Washington DC. I never got to go with my middle school class so when it was time for Katie's class to go, I jumped on the opportunity. In a nutshell, here is my outtake of the whole experience:
1. I did this for the experience with my daughter.
2. Traveling with a group of 38 slows you down.
3. Traveling with a group of 38 slows you down.
4. Washington DC is HOT and HUMID
5. Walking everywhere to save money on transportation, but see #4 as to why that isn't a good idea.
6. Yes, Traveling with a group of 38 slows you down.
So, all in all it was a good experience. But....I will consider this a "cross it off my bucket list" and would not be sad to never go back.
And finally, some random photos and memories that dont really go together but should not be forgotten.
Easter: Want to see what a three year olds face looks like when the Easter Bunny himself comes to the door?
We had a great Easter with my Aunt BK and cousins...out on the farm where I grew up is truly my happy place.
Look at ALLLLLL those kids....lol
A moment with Ethan. Because we are just so silly.
Ampy practicing a little batting with Ethan
All my dudes. How I love 'em.
both of them. And the "look" that goes along with it.....
perfected the "library voice" tho.
proud with overcoming his fear of the ball. He even took a ball to the noggin and got back on
the field to finish his game!
We are so blessed to have Tita and Abuelo living close by so we can see them on Sundays. I wanted to snap a photo of the kids eating at the table where tita makes her yummy dinner every week.
Sometimes your younger, pesky brother can turn into a true superhero when he races to the freezer to get you a cold pack (well, a frozen uncrustable sandwich is the furthest he could reach) to help your sore foot.
Owen: "mommy, I love Jesus, does that make you happy?'
Me: "of course it makes me happy, bud"
(silence.....then a few seconds later....)
Owen: "um, ok. because mom, I had a little accident with my
strawberries I picked from the garden and daddys handsome
spray (cologne) all over your carpet, but I love Jesus, so are you
still happy?"
Out of the mouths of babes. I couldn't make this stuff up, I swear.
Our family holiday photo, 2012
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