What a rough day.

My Mom called me this morning to let me know that she was bringing my Dad into the Emergency Room. She told me last night that he had been having some problems over the past few days where he would be walking and then feel weak, dizzy and start sweating and have chest pain. However, he is a very stubborn man and kept saying nothing was wrong. Finally this morning my mom convinced him to let her drive him into the ER. They got there and they of course took him right in once he said chest pain and within 30 minutes had an IV going and EKG done. They then said that it looked like he did have a heart attack and they were going to do Catheterization to see what was going on, what happened and where to go from there. They brought him to the Cath Lab around 2 to start the test. This is the point that I went to Waterbury to get my sister from work (she did not know he was there yet) and we arrived at the hospital as they were finishing the test (Thanks to Tom, Sue, Linds and everybody for helping with the kids!). The Doctor came out and let us know the results. They weren't too good.
When they did the Catheterization they found that all three arteries going into the heart had blockage. One was 90%, one was 80% and one was 60% blocked. They put two stints in the really blocked arteries and will try to use medication to help with the other blockage. It was not a small heart attack like they originally thought. His heart has suffered 15% permanent damage and he is going to have to do Cardiac Rehab. The only reason they did not do Bypass surgery was because you can only do it once and he is still young (53) so if they do it now and things don't improve he can't have it done again. Whereas if they do the stints combined with meds and life changes they may be able to control it for a little while longer and they could always go back and do bypass if nothing changes or gets better.
Once he was up in his room he seemed to be doing okay. I think this might be the wake up call he (and maybe some others) needed to change things and make healthier choices for himself. It has been a tough few years and this just added to it! He will stay in the hospital until Sunday Morning at least. They want to make sure everything is going okay and they started him on 4 new medications so they want to see how he does on those before they let him go home. He of course was ready to leave there as soon as he left the Cath Lab.
I am now just waiting for my hubby to get home from work so I can hug him and tell him how much I love him and appreciate him. Then off to bed and here's hoping tomorrow's nice weather brings a better day.

A little something.

So I am stealing this from a friend's blog (Thanks Jen!) because I thought it looked like fun to play along!

Something I want:

A new bathroom! I would love to have a Jacuzzi tub and an amazing showerhead that you can just stand under and it melts away the stress of the day!

Something I need:

A Haircut! My hair has not been cut in almost two years. Sad to say and it really needs to be healthy again. I am almost not feeling the least bit feminine with my Groucho Marx eyebrows and my long scraggly hair.

Something I am looking forward to:

gsome alone time with my hubby. We have not had a date night in a while and it is affecting our moods with each other. Sometimes I feel like we are just living two seperate lives under one roof. I barely even see him between Wednesday afternoon and Sunday night!

Something I am doing tomorrow:

Going to ceramics. It has been difficult to do with my hands being so sore, but just to get out of the house is really nice!

Something I am doing next week:

Maddi's second birthday party! It is on Sunday-technically next week right? The kids are looking forward to seeing her and telling her Happy Birthday and I cannot believe that Maddi has grown up so quickly it seems, that means Riley is not far behind!!

Something I am doing next month:

Getting ready for back to school. I can't believe it is that time of year already. Aiden has been asking me everyday, really I am NOT joking, when school starts again. So we will be doing back to school shopping and re-shifting our schedules back to that of the school year to prepare him (and me) for the change in our routine.

Something I wish I could do:

Carpentry. Sounds odd, but I would love to be able to build my own stuff when and where I wanted it. Creating something is the greatest form of satisfaction and I would love to be able to do it on my own!

Lake Monsters!

I was lucky enough to win Lake Monsters tickets from MP103 on Facebook and we decided to go and see them play. We were wondering how the day would go because Riley had his surgery Yesterday morning for his tubes and to have his Adenoids taken out. The surgery went well and Riley recovered very well. He took a 3.5 hour nap (we ALL did) and was back to being a crazy little boy by dinnertime so we all got in the van and went to the cafe and had pizza. Our friend Gabe went to the game with us and it was a lot of fun! I had never been to a game here and this would be the kids first time going as well. It was a beautiful summer night, finally one WITHOUT rain! We got to see Champ come out and do his dancing antics and the game was really great, lots of action! Here are some pictures of the fun!

Our little visitor

This was our little Turkey friend that decided to visit yesterday! It kind of wandered around for a while and then decided to cross the road.

Riley's new.....bed?

While we were at Heather's party Riley discovered the cat bed. Who knew it was so comfortable. He laid in it for about 30 minutes and then kept going back and laying in it throughout the day.

And of course Aiden and Calleigh caught on and decided they were going to do it too!

Heather's 30th B-Day BBQ

Our friend Heather turned 30 on Friday and her and her family held a BBQ on Saturday for her. We haven't seen them in a while so it was really nice to get out and see their family and just have a good time. The kids got to play on a slip and slide and that filled in a bulk of the time, they played on it for quite a while!

Fourth of July pictures

Not too many of these, but we did get a couple of pictures of the kids playing while we were waiting for the parade.

I now have my camera back!

I have my camera back from it's many borrowers and I am excited to post lots of pictures and fun stuff, so there will be several posts with lots of pics! The first one is of some Father's Day stuff we did for Wesley, I know it's old news now but the kids were so excited about the banner and stuff I had to post the pics. They worked very hard on coloring, cutting and gluing everything together!

This was the hammock we got Daddy....it has already gotten some use :)

Quick update!

It has been a while since I have written anything. Almost too long.
Things have been very busy here and we have also been just trying to enjoy spending our time together as a family. Almost getting to know each other again.
The weather here has been very gray and rainy and it just makes you feel so blah. You can only do so much in the house and with limited resources we cannot go many places or do much outside of the house either. So the kids have been climbing the walls and itching to get out and do things. They are also very excited about Daddy being home more, although they don't always show it to him.
I think Wesley finds it frustrating, as would I. To be excited to be home and to just want to have that time with them and then they argue and fight and do the exact opposite of what you would like them to do. Yes, I know that is what kids do and that we have many many more years of the same kind of thing ahead of us. However, we would like to have just one day where all three kids are happy and cooperating with us. LOL!
We have Riley's tube/adenoid surgery coming up a week from today and I am more nervous about it this time around. When he had it done a year ago he didn't really know what was going on and he went in with the nurse without any problem. This time I will be going into the OR with him to hold him while they put him under. Mainly because he is much more attached to me now and I cannot even leave the kitchen without him looking for me. I am fully prepared that it will be very tough to be holding him while they give him the anesthesia, but I would rather be there and know he is okay than out in the waiting room and worrying. I have to leave as soon as he goes under, but it is a very quick procedure and he won't be there long. With all that we have been through with him I think (and hope) I can handle it!
Aiden and Calleigh are doing great. Aiden is enjoying the summer (at least the joke of a summer we are having), but he asks me almost every day when he starts school again. He loves being in school and I and SO thankful for that. He has been doing many projects and keeping a journal this summer. He is such a creative child and makes things out of thin air and don't always make sense to me but they do to him and he has fun. He has caught many many bugs/animals. He has had a toad, a newt, a caterpillar that turned itself into a cocoon and most recently a really ugly beetle that has to stay in the garage or breezeway because I am petrified of it making its way out of it's cage in the house!
Calleigh is having a tough couple of weeks. Her new nickname has become Miss Attitude. She is (or thinks she is) quite the boss lately. She even thinks she can boss me around. She is oh so mistaken on that note. Her school has been closed since the 3rd of July so she has not been able to be around all of her friends or get a break from all of us! She goes back Wednesday though and I know it sounds horrible to say, but Mommy is happy :)
Wes has been on the job hunt like I said. It has been difficult, but he is still on the search. There are not many advertised in VT, but there are several out of state. We have contemplated it. I just love having him home more and seeing him happy knowing that he will soon be doing what he worked so hard for.
So that is my update for now. I hope to get my camera back from my Mom soon and write some more and keep more updated.

The Fourth of July and what does that mean?

I am sitting here with a thought today. My six year old asked me a question, imagine that....a six year old with a question. The question was "Why is the fourth of July so special Mommy? Why do we have so much fun and special stuff?". I started to speak, but then stopped. I was going to give my standard "historical" explanation and reasoning as to why we celebrate the day and what makes it so important. Instead I asked him why he thought the day was so special and what it meant to him. The following made tears well up in my eyes and a pride swell that I didn't think could have gotten any bigger. We do have so much to be thankful for and no matter where we are at in history (because it is all truly history from the moment that it passes you by) we are making a difference by what we do or don't do. Of course Aiden's description isn't "historically accurate". However, it was heartfelt, true and prideful. Three things that I think people do take for granted as we live each day. Things change so rapidly and remembering to look back at how we got where we are is so important on weekends like this. I love the BBQ's and the family time and just the general camaraderie that seems to appear after lacking in the day to day grind, but Aiden's description has brought me back to celebrating the essence of the day and not just the food and family and friends. I thought coming from a six year old the following was so eloquent and more truer words couldn't have been spoken...by anyone.

"Mommy, I think that we have a special day for all of us. I think that we have to celebrate why we can live in America. You know, for all the people that fight in the war; the soldier people; and the cops and fire people and ambulance people that help us be safe and let us do the things we want to do. I like it when we can have the flags on the poles and it looks really nice Mommy." Then he paused and looked out the window for a moment and then turns around and said

"Isn't America great Mommy". I very softly said "Yes Aiden, it is great."