HOLY COW...

Am I far behind in blogging or WHAT? I got an email from an aunt of mine that said she missed hearing our stories. I went to my blog and realized it's been since before Thanksgiving that I wrote! I'll try to recap all the exciting stuff!

Let's see, December started off with a bang...Bubba was riding his scooter and fell and broke his leg. He couldn't walk for a few days, and was very crabby. We weren't sure what road they would take, and all I could envision was a cast to his hip on the airplane for Christmas. (Seriously, God had a plan when he gave me three boys and a Granny who is an orthopedic surgeon!) We got good news after going to Children's Hospital. It was a small break, that was clean cut, and not displaced. So, we didn't need a cast. The doctor told me just to limit Andy's activity and have him lay low for a week. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this doctor was a MALE doctor. Much easier said than done!

Fast forward eight days. Bubba goes to school one last time before Christmas for his class party. I had a hair cut, and color appointment to go to. Mothers intuition told me that something wasn't going to go quite right. I asked my hair dresser not to color my hair, and just to cut it, in case something happened to Bubba at school. Sure enough, 10 minutes after I walked out of the hair salon, I got a call from school saying he fell on the playground and hurt his leg again. I went to school, saw he wouldn't bare weight on it, and called Children's. They said to bring him right up. I had to call the elementary school, and have them send the older two boys to the office so I could pick them up early and get up to Children's. We went up there, and you'll never believe it. It was a "MIRACLE!" Bubba, who could not walk and cried the WHOLE way to the hospital, jumped out of his car seat and walked into the hospital himself. Seriously, you can imagine how stupid I felt!

Again, the doctor told me to lay low for a few days. When we got home, I was busy taking off Bubba's coat and washing his hands. I heard an awful scream. Johnny had taken his stocking off the fire place and the stocking holder came crashing down and sliced open his head. Blood was squirting EVERYWHERE! I may or may not have said something like, "Are you kidding me....You've got to be freaking kidding me!?" Once we had it cleaned up, and put pressure on it, it didn't look bad enough to need stitches. THANK GOODNESS!

On to Christmas. I was SO excited to go back to WI/MN for the Holidays. We all were. Couldn't wait for the snow, family, and friends. We flew out on Saturday the 16th and it all went well. Only one thing was missing....SNOW! We landed and the temps were in the 30's-40's the whole time we were home! On a good note, I saved a lot of money, and didn't have to buy all the winter gear for my boys for just 2 weeks.

While on our trip, I stayed with my sister Megan in New Prague for a few nights. My sister Ann Marie, cousin Kennedy, and Mom were waiting for us when we flew in. On Sunday, all the girls of the family went to the Mall of America bright and early. We made a trip to the American Girl Store, and the godmothers bought bitty babies for our goddaughters, and had lunch in the bistro! What a fun day!

We headed to La Crosse on Tuesday of that week. Wednesday and Thursday Curtis went to school with my mom and was loving it. Johnny helped my dad and worked a lot with him. They may have been spotted at Kwik Trip and Menards a few times as well. I got stuck with the "boobie" prize and we ran last minute errands, and wrapped presents. My cousin Callan came down to visit and we bonded as well. Right Cal?!?!?!?

Friday, December 23rd. My cousin Brigit called me while I was out at the mall trying to track down a certain Packer sweatshirt I was buying, wrapping, and putting under the tree from Erik to me. (Yes, this is how low I've sank). While talking to Brigit, she said, "We all are taking bets on which Curtis family member will get the stomach flu this year!" I chuckled and said, "Well, everyone's healthy...so not anyone in my family." (I forgot to knock on wood!)

I went back to the house, gathered up the kids, and went out to my in-laws house for our first Christmas celebration of the year. Erik left work early, and was on his way down. We were going to have a nice dinner, open presents, etc. That was until Curtis said, "My tummy hurts!" And it hit the fan...he was up all night and the whole next day with the stomach flu. Erik's Dad and Deb had to call his sister and tell her not to come for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, I went to my parents house, with Andy and Johnny. On Christmas Day, Erik went to his Mom and Tim's house with the other two boys as well. We took shifts, and cleaned a LOT! I was SO sad that this happened to Curtis AGAIN, and on such a fun year of his life! The same thing happened two years ago to Curtis and last year to his cousin Cullen.

Christmas ended up being good, but in a much different way. For the first time in my life, I didn't spend Christmas Eve with my parents and sisters. We stayed at Dan and Deb's house and had a nice, quiet Christmas morning. I was bummed to be missing out on all the celebrations, but enjoyed having a lazy day with just Curtis. I can't remember the last time I was able to relax, watch TV, read a book, and take a bath without ME being sick! So, Christmas might not have ended up how I wanted or envisioned it to...but it ended up working out OK. Only bummer is we missed out on spending time with a lot of different family members.

One more story... On our way home from MN today, we were all boarding the airplane and the Delta worker looked at me with my four boys and said, "Ma'am, you are out numbered, aren't you?" I told her I sure was. She shared with me that she had 3 girls and no boys. Then she said if I wanted to move to first class, she would up-grade me. I laughed and told her that was my "dream." She said she was serious. I politely said that's OK, I'm fine where I was at. As I walked away, she said, "Come back here if you change your mind." We walked towards the plane, and Erik turned to me and said, "Give me your bag, and go back up there and get your seat changed...you deserve it. Don't worry about us!"

That was all she wrote...I sat in First Class the whole way to Charlotte. Didn't hear a peep from anyone in my family. I had a nice big lunch with salad, chicken, fruit, and drinks. I read a paper, and a magazine. I even had time for a little nap. It was AMAZING! If this is any indication of how my 2012 is going to go...then I say BRING IT ON!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thanksgiving Celebration

Johnny was the main character in his classes Thanksgiving celebration play. I taped it, but it won't upload to this site good...so I'll just post pics instead.

I LOVE that his boots are on the wrong feet! Typical Kindergartner!

The Polar Express 2011

This past Saturday we drove up to the Smokey Mountain Railroad in Bryson City, NC to take a magic train ride on the Polar Express! We wanted to do this last year, but never got around to actually doing it because life got crazy in December. This year, I thought going in November would be less hectic. Curtis was suppose to have a baseball tourney that ended up being cancelled at the last minute, and we decided that if we don't book it now, we may never do it!
Here are the kids at the depot waiting to get on the train. They all had to wear their pj's just like in the book/movie. Bubba's face LIT up when he saw Santa. He was REALLY into him this year! In fact, all three boys are! Was a PERFECT year to do it!

All Aboard!

We were able to experience this with another family that we are good friends with! Made it even more fun for ALL of us!

The kids waiting for the train!

Curtis and his friend are in the same grade, and play on the same baseball team. Johnny and his friend are in the same class. Bubba thinks his little friend is his "BEST FRIEND" but that little boy might think differently! It's fun having a family with kids the same ages, and similar interests!

Getting ready to hop on the train!

They served Hot Coco, and Cookies made by Mrs. Claus, while they danced to the "Hot Chocolate" song in the aisles! (Author's note: It seems a certain SOMEONE can't seem to keep his eyes open while getting his picture taken. Due to the fact I didn't get nearly any good pics of him, I am posting all the ones I did get. Maybe he'll learn his lesson and start keeping them open!)

Yummy...Cookies!

Lefty, LOVING it!

Conductor punching kids tickets!

Oh my goodness...it's the NORTH POLE!

Santa and his elves were busy making toys in their workshop and the kids were yelling out the window to them!
Bubba was looking out the window like this during a lot of the ride. He was satisfied with watching the world pass by, and the cool air on his face!
On the way back to the depot, when we passed through the North Pole, Santa was missing. The elves were goofing around throwing presents all around the place. Bubba heard something...what was it?

It was SANTA CLAUS!

He had hopped on the train as we passed by!

They all got the "First Gift" of Christmas...

a bell from Santa's sleigh with the words, "The Polar Express" engraved on them!

So EXCITED!

On Sunday morning, we woke up and went on one of our favorite hikes up in the mountains!

It was a BEAUTIFUL fall day- 68 degrees!

We found lots of fun stuff to play in...

And ran wild with our friends in the woods! What a fun weekend to get us in the Holiday Spirit! You need something like that, when you live in the south and are SWEATING while you put up your Christmas lights!

Stay tuned for our Thanksgiving pics...and my FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR...BLACK FRIDAY! We'll be spending it with our friends from the Netherlands again. This year Lynne is a veteran and I think we'll be out shopping ALL NIGHT! She better get her running shoes laced up! We are about to have some FUN!

Breakfast Conversation...

Today, Curtis and Johnny were eating breakfast at the kitchen table, as I was packing their lunches behind the island. It was very quiet, and the lights were dimmed. All of a sudden I hear Johnny laugh and say, "Curtis, look, Uncle Corky's in the Newspaper!" Curtis looks over at the paper, and then at Johnny like he's an idiot and says, "That's not Uncle Corky, that's Uncle Jack!"

Makes Me Smile...

The night after I got back from Wisconsin, I ended up sitting in the Children's ER with Johnny till the wee hours of the morning. He's had some tummy trouble, but all tests came out normal. Anyways, thought I'd share this video. He looked at me and did this while I was watching the Packer/Viking game. I told him he HAD to do it again, so I could remember it forever! Enjoy!

Touched by an Angel...

My Grandma Curtis passed away peacefully on 11-11-11, at 10:07am CST. She was a wonderful woman who left a legacy behind. She had 7 children, all who are married. She also had 23 grandchildren who loved her very much, and 32 great-grandchildren and counting.

I learned that grandma was not doing so well on Monday night last week. After speaking to my husband Erik, we decided after he got home from work on Friday, I should fly up to visit with her. We booked my flight. On Tuesday, it sounded like the pneumonia and broken bones from the coughing was something that she wouldn't be able to recover from. I was glad I made the decision to fly up there.

On Wednesday, I was on my way to the YMCA, and got a text from my Dad that they were pulling out all the IV's and letting her body naturally go into the process of dying. There wasn't much more they could do for her. This left me with the hard decision of whether to wait till Friday night to see her then or to fly out Wed. After numerous texts to Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, I was feeling anxious about making a decision.

Finally, two cousins called after they left the hospital. One told me that she overheard someone saying "This is it" and she wanted to tell me. The other cousin called me and said, "You have to decide what you want to do. Do you want to fly up here for her funeral and pray for an hour with everyone...or do you want to fly up here and see her one last time while she is still coherent?" It was then, that I knew what I wanted to do. I called my husband at work, and he said he'd be home in two hours. I called Delta and switched my flight to 5pm.

As I raced around trying to get my house in order and packed my bags, I prayed that I made the right decision. My flights went very smooth, and I landed in Milwaukee to snow falling from the sky and freezing temps! BIG change from the 78 degree weather I left in NC!

Two of my cousins that I'm very close with picked me up from the airport and took me to the hospital. I walked in the room, and made it to the hospital in time to say my "goodbye" and let Grandma know I loved her, while she could still talk to me and understand me. It made the trip SO worth while. I got to spend Wednesday night, all day Thursday, and slept next to her Thursday night. On Thursday night, when I was with Grandma, I told her that I believed in heaven, but needed some sort of a concrete evidence that "heaven was for real." I explained to her that I was afraid to die, b/c of the unknown. I wanted her to give me just ONE sign before I died to let me know not to be scared of dying.

After I walked out of the room, I told some cousins, and Aunts/Uncles that when I was in there, I told Grandma I loved her. She then told me to come closer....closer.....and again closer. When I got close enough, I told them Grandma looked up at me and said, "You were ALWAYS my favorite!" This brought many laughs throughout the weekend. But, I'm telling you...that's my story and I'm sticking to it! (:

The one thing I love about our family, is even in sad times, we can always find things to laugh about together! It's part of what makes our family dynamic so special!

Another funny story from the weekend happened on Thursday. My cousins Christa, Erin, Bailey and I all left the hospital for a break. I asked Christa to pull into the cemetery where my Grandpa was buried. We all got out of the car, walked quietly over to the grave, and stood in a somewhat uncomfortable silence. After a few seconds, Christa said, "Come on Grandpa, come take her hand...she's ready. Don't let her suffer anymore." It was during this time, that I was reading the tombstone. On it was written three names: Grandma's, Grandpa's and another name I didn't recognize. I looked up at the three of them and said, "Grandma lost a baby?" My cousin Bailey jumped back and said "Are you serious?" I pointed to the third persons name on the tombstone "Nee Driscoll "with the date next to it. EVERYONE was rolling with laughter! I had NO idea that Nee Driscoll meant her maiden name, and the date was their wedding date. Bailey said she couldn't believe that "SHE WAS THE YOUNG ONE~!" Just to set the record straight...I did get a lot of crap for saying that all weekend. When I got home and told Erik, he didn't know what Nee Driscoll meant either. And HE has his PhD from Notre Dame! Grandma always said, "God made em' God matched em'!"

All week, Grandma had been mumbling to people 11-11-11. Each day, they would say, "No, it's November the 8th, or 9th and so on. Grandma had been on pain medication because of numerous bone breaks. On Thursday night, my cousin Courtney and my Aunt Colleen and I stayed in her room over night. Grandma was in a lot of pain around midnight/1:00am. The nurse came in and gave her medicine and she rested comfortably after that. In fact, she really didn't have any good nights, so I was anxious to fall asleep, expecting to be up a lot that night. I awoke at 5:30am, and Grandma had not moved a muscle all night, was resting peacefully, and wasn't coughing anymore. Courtney told me that at 4:00am when they came in to give her more medicine and to move her, she told them just to leave her. At 5:53am Grandma woke up and was restless. I texted my Dad and told him he should come to the hospital. The nurse came in with pain medicine and went to give it to her, and I thought I saw her head move in a "no" direction ever so slightly. I looked at my Aunt Colleen, and said, "I don't think she wants the medicine." Colleen bent over and asked Grandma, "Mom, do you want your pain medicine?" and Grandma slightly shook her head no. I looked at Colleen and Courtney, and said, "Grandma's the boss." So, Colleen, asked Grandma, "Mom, are you in pain?" To our surprise, she responded "NO!" She has now gone 6 hours with no medicine and wasn't in pain for the first time in well over a week!" Amazing!

About 10 minutes later, Grandma was trying to tell us something. I had noticed her breathing was still very regular, but more shallow than the night before. She had her eyes closed and said, "Up!" Then she said it again. I bent over and said, "That's right Grandma, you can go up...they are waiting for you!" Then she very sternly said, "No, HEAD UP!" Here I was looking for a sign of some sort, and she just wanted to be readjusted!

My Dad got to the hospital and Colleen and I left to go shower. We really weren't in a huge hurry. Aunt Colleen was just taking her sweet time....Ok maybe she told me she could have baked two dozen cookies by the time I was ready! We also went through Starbucks, to get a few coffees, and they screwed up on our order. At the checkout, the lady gave Colleen a "Free Coffee" coupon. Little did we know we would have to use it for a cup of coffee that never got drank. On our way back to the hospital, Courtney called and said, "Where are you? RUN!" I've never seen anyone sprint so fast and so light on their feet as my Aunt Colleen was that Friday in November....OK, maybe I'm lying a little. I might have heard Colleen moaning, "I don't run...this is why I walk every day...not RUN!" Even at a very stressful moment, we were able to laugh! Grandma would have loved it!

Grandma told the nurse that "this was it." My Dad, and four of his brothers and sisters were around her bed with her. Myself and numerous cousins were in the room as well. My Aunt Maureen, my Grandma's oldest child was in South Korea waiting for her daughter to give birth to another great-grandchild any day. My uncle Corky, Grandma's baby was in Uganda with my sister Ann Marie waiting to bring her daughter home that she is adopting. They have been in Uganda since October and were told that the judge wouldn't make his ruling till December 2nd and then they had to get a passport and a visa. Corky and AnnMarie were/are frustrated at how long, and slow the process is. Ann Marie has a 5 and 6 year old at home, that she is missing more than ever. Yet, through this whole ordeal, Corky stayed with Ann Marie. Neither of them having any idea when they would step foot again on US soil. (Some families have been over there for 8 months waiting for a passport from the Ugandan Embassy!) My Grandma told both her kids a few days earlier that they needed to stay put. They were bringing life into our family, as life was going out.

Thanks to Skype, Corky was able to be with Grandma on an iphone, and her eyes were focused on him as her time was nearing. Her breathing was getting more and more sparatic, and her color more and more grey. Corky, is the fire chief in the town they live in. Grandma use to always have the scanner going in her kitchen so she would never miss a beat of anything that was going on. As she was taking her final few breaths, the hospital started testing the fire alarm system. This made us all laugh, as it was the PERFECT way for her to go out. Some of us Grand-kids had put Christmas decorations up in the room, as it was her favorite holiday and always a very special time for our family. As grandma breathed in her last breath, Corky via Skype from Uganda said to her, "Your first order of business when you get up there is to get us a passport!" And just like that, her pulse stopped and so did her breathing.

All of a sudden, the garland that was hanging on the windows came crashing down and hit the Christmas tree box with a thud. All of us started laughing and I was certain it was her wings knocking it down as she flew up to be with our Grandfather.

We were all hugging, crying, texting, calling, and skyping people for a while. Twenty-seven minutes later, something that I will never forget happened. My Aunt Janet, Corky's wife, walked in the room, with tears running down her face and a huge smile. She walked over to my dad and I and said, "Terry, Katie...THEY GOT A PASSPORT!" Even after Grandma passed away, she was still taking care of her family. I looked up at my dad and said, "Heaven IS for real!" I got my sign.

Keep AnnMarie, her daughter, and Corky in your prayers. They are headed to the US Embassy on Wednesday morning for their Visa, and then hope to be on a plane back to the good ole' USA by 11:30pm Wednesday night.

I'm not one of those people who are going to preach to you about what you should or shouldn't believe in. One thing I do know for certain, is Ann Marie's daughter has a special guardian angel watching over her and I now believe that heaven is for real!

Halloween 2011

This year trick or treating was SO much more fun, because we actually had friends to hang out with and walk around the neighborhood!

I bet you all can't stand to look at this picture because Curtis is SO scary looking! Here are the Three Musketeers: A Black Kitty that says Meow and licks everyone he sees, a SCARY Werewolf, and a Beyblade Character.

MEOW!

They were way into it this year...running house to house~!

The loot!

The houses go all out here.

I called this house the Halloween Advent House...everyday in October they added something else to their front yard and the kids liked to drive by each week to see what was new! They liked the skeleton in the baby swing the best!

7lbs of candy each!

Mamma's got a BELLY ACHE!!!!!