Coby's School Adventures

Coby's class has been learning about history and how we all have a past. As part of learning about our past his teacher took them on a field trip to the cemetery down the road from the school. The kids got to look for names of families that have lived in the Sunnyslope area for years and look at the dates for how old some of the...headstones are.

Of course Coby and a few other boys were very excited to see any head stone that had any military mentioned on it.

Coby really like this one because it reminded him of the George Washington Monument.

This one had many of us puzzled, kids and parents. Now of us could figure out the star and what it meant. It's hard to see but each piece has a symbol but it's random things, we decided it may have been hobbies she had in her life. My mom always like to visits cemeteries. I guess this would be one reason why, interesting puzzle.

I got to help at Coby's Halloween Party. Coby's teacher had them all in groups of 3-4 kids and there were about 6 centers of activities. I had a really fun one of helping the kids wrap each other in TP as mummies. We were out in the hall so I didn't get to many pictures of the other centers, but here's a few of the groups....

Coby is the one with his arms out and you can almost make out the black nail polish... Daddy loved that lol. Darn I forgot to have them take my picture, I had fun decorating myself in TP. It was actually a lot of fun:)

Cora's School Adventures

Cora's 1st bus ride. The class went on a field trip to the Community College where they learned about trees.

Here she is building a habitat for a bear. She was wearing her favorite Halloween pants from last year and by the time she got home that day they had holes all the way up & down her legs:)
She also learned how to paint trees.

A few weeks later, they went to the Sunnyslope Fire department for tour.
The kids really liked learning about the trucks and seeing all the gear the firefighters wear. They had lots of fun passing the gear around and feeling how heavy it was.

Halloween Party! They had so much fun singing songs for the parents, doing fun centers for getting ready for the party and then finally eating the goodies.

Cora was a very beautiful kitty that kept sliding her make to her fore head, so when the mask came off the hair was crazy fun! And we can't have crazy hair without crazy eyes!





A few weeks ago she got her 1st massage. Just like her momma she has some nice sized knots in her neck. Kate is a good friend of mine who is a massage therapist and graciously showed me how to work the knots out.

PKD Walk in Seattle

On September 12th, we joined many others in "Walk For a Cure for PKD". It was a little chilly and damp but no actual rain while we were down there.

Before the walk they had snacks & displays for us to check out while visiting during check in. The kids had fun challenging the 'balloon artist' in making them fun things. Coby got a sword and Cora got a dog. Sandy had him make a motorcycle. It was pretty cool!

Getting geared up to walk.

Once we started to walk we all stayed pretty close together... for awhile. Scott was having a good time talking fishing with Brant and so they ended up a bit behind the rest of us. We all ended together though.

After the walk they had a Penny Dash 4 Kids (PKD). Coby and Cora ended up in different races because of age. Coby ran hard against some bigger kids, and Cora being the oldest & biggest in her race was so proud to win.

It was lots of fun! I'm sure we'll continue with this walk each year in support of finding a cure for PKD. It was bittersweet that Scott was able to walk in it at all this year. My My how far he has come in these few months.

Posting way late is better than never right.... I can't believe I'm just now getting the pictures on the computer so I can do this!

Follow Up w/ Dr. Newell

Today was the follow up appointment with Dr. Newell to make sure the shunt setting was still good and Scott is on track with recovery.

Most important thing we learned: We don't have to go back for 6 MONTHS!!!!

All went well! His shunt setting is to stay the same. The bubble is almost gone, with just a small amount by his left eye. The doctor said that it's fluid and muscle from the bone flap replacement surgery, which is why it's taking longer. He said that in a few months he expects it to be gone. It go faster, if Scott keeps pressure over the fluid. Back to the athletic cap in the evenings pulled down nice and low, for the authentic thug look :)

Scott got a Full Medical Release today! He now gets to work with Hillary at the Y to get on a stricter work out plan. YAY progression! They were very impressed to hear he does a 4 mile jog twice a week along with lifting and cardio at the Y.

Next Monday he has an appointment with the neurologist here in town. We were actually given some good question to direct to this doctor, so I'm looking forward to that... I wonder if when the doctors see Scott's name they think, 'Oh crap he has that wife who always comes with a list of questions!' Today Scott was making fun of me for having so many and I said, "Hey they are the ones who trained me to be like this!"

Before we left for Speech Therapy yesterday morning Scott was saying how much he'd rather not go...but go we did. He had a great therapy. As Scott was working, we were asked if we would like to meet a patient that is currently at the rehab center. She said he was in a similar situation and that they would like to meet us. Of course she knows Scott & I really well, and knew we would love it or she would have never asked either of us.
Once his appointment was over we met with this couple. It was exciting to see that it was someone we already knew about. He actually preformed the knee replacement surgery on Scott's left knee 14 years ago.
It was an amazing experience for us all.

It seems like every time I start to get weighted down by life, something brings me back and that's what this was for me. I'm sure it was something different for each of the 4 of us. But in the end it is hope for us all. Hope that we can continue to move forward, whatever forward brings.

Jogging

Scott went jogging for the 1st time since April yesterday!

He's feeling it today but it sure was worth it to say he's jogging again. Yay for once he'll enjoy going to yoga in the morning :)

Other than that life is pretty much the same. Moving from one task to the next each day, which translates into, Scott being stuck running around with me all the time. He says he doesn't mind, which is good... I'm kind of enjoying him having a taste of what life is like for me when the kids are in school :)

Randomness

Last week Scott and I went to a stroke support group. He wasn't very excited about going but it was very helpful for me. They had speaker come in and talk about health insurance and medicare. Although Scott has great insurance, I do not. So I will share some info I got.
If you live in Washington and have to get health insurance outside of work you can there's a group that will help you for FREE! SHIBA (Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisers) they will look at all plans in Washington and help you get what's best for your needs. they also help with prescription drug programs if your on a bunch of meds. ALSO if you know anyone who has Medicare, give them this info and have them look at their plan between Nov 15th -Dec 31st. Come Jan 1 they will be locked into whatever they have for the year.... I learned so much about the system it was amazing. I'm going to make sure my grandma gets with an advisor to make sure she knows what she has.... Sorry for the rant...here's the info:
SHIBA: 1-800-562-6900 OR http://www.insurance.wa.gov/

Scott's doing so well with the shunt setting being changed. The extra fluid on the outside of the bone flap is finally going and staying down! He's finally back in the pool and lifting weights. With the kids in school now were pretty much running from morning til night too. So life on the road to recovery is GOOD :)

another day @ Cherry Hill

What fun having multiple appointments in one day all spread out...

Scott had a shuntogram to test how the shunt is working. He came back saying "I never want to do that again! They shaved the back of my head and stuck a 4 inch needle in it!"

They have to inject gamaradiation into the shunt and watch the flow. They were nice enough to numb the spot 1st, which felt like ice cold water being injected into his head. After that was the 4 inch needle with the gamaradiation. Followed up with the pain & heartache of laying in the fetal position. (wow it's really fun to write this together while chilling waiting for the next appointment). The only thing to the pass the time was watching a small computer screen on the other side of the room to see the super slow drain of the shunt... now is the fun of guessing what that means, will it be turned up or replaced... no bets please, you'll have the answer if you keep reading lol.

After that he was lucky enough to have his CT done early. YAY one procedure in this hospital he likes. It's fast and easy. Lay down on the board have a camera circle your head for a few minute, get up and your done. Nice and Easy! The lady was laughing when she took him back and we were joking about how much he likes to have a CT.

This appointment with Dr. Newell was a good one. They talked with us a bit, turned the shunt from a 1.5 flow to a 0.5 flow. We go back in about 6 weeks to check if the flow needs to be changed again. He does have to wear a fun athletic cap to keep pressure on the outside of his skull. It will force the fluid through the shunt and allow the skin to tighten. Mostly he needs to wear it when he's laying down.

Good & Humbling Day

Today was an interesting day. Scott was able to change the battery on the truck and get it running so he decided why not drive? When we were in the hospital I had been told that his license was revoked and Dr. Newell would have to have change that. At the beginning of August, I asked about it and found out that this is not true. He never actually had a seizure so he is fine to drive when he felt ready (I forgot to report that with all the other we learned that day).
He felt ready today, so off we went over to Walmart and off to Cascade.

The volunteering at the Y mixed with working out is helping build stamina for getting back to work, but it is a long road ahead of him to get back to working full-time.

On to the humbling part. While visiting at Cascade, we found out that another auto body painter in the Valley had a brain aneurysm recently. The little they know is that he is not doing well at all. It was shocking to stand there and hear that someone so close to Scott's situation and younger had something so similar!
It's so easy to get wrapped up in the pile of To-Do's. To let negative thoughts take over. But we always seem to get the wake up call when we need it that life could be Much Worse!

I'm not sure how much I'll be posting in the next few days, because we have a fun weekend coming: Saturday I have a fitness training. Sunday we are all participating in a walk for PKD (for more info go to www.pkdcure.org/betsyfarmer ) Then on Monday is follow up appointment for the VP shunt.

First day of School

Cora was excited to go to school. Coby not so much.

He did have fun posing for pictures before we left for school.

I just love Cora's style. She can wear anything & make it look cute! She decide that pink boots were the way to go this year.

Once we got to school, Coby went right out to find his friends and catch up on the summer happenings.

Coby's thoughts on the first week: It was OK.

Cora went to class to get settled in. Cora's thoughts on the 1st week were a little differant:

1st night while in bed she said, "I just don't think I should go back to school. There are 19 kids in my class and I can only handle 10 like I had in preschool."

The ride home from school on the 2nd day, "It was no fun! I really don't think we should have to go to school after preschool!" Coby said, "But Cora you have to go to college to get a job." Cora answers, "No I think that after preschool you should be done!"

Ride home on Friday the 3rd day of kindergarten, "I had so much fun today. We listened to books, had nap time, and free time. We even got to watch a movie."

WOW it only took 3 days of being in public school for her to realize Friday is the best day of the week!

Visit to The Museum of Flight in August

Coby & Cora loved that one of the 1st planes they saw looked just like Jetfire from Transformers 2 Revenge of the fallen.

They each got to sit in 2 different planes and learn what it takes to fly.

We got to go into the 1st jet Air Force One and the Concorde.

Coby's Baptism

On July 31, 2010 Coby was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-Day Saints. Scott was able to do the baptism with little problems.

It wasn't until the next day that I understood the comments of how exciting it was that Scott was able to baptize Coby. My thoughts kept going to, why wouldn't he? He's come so far in these last few weeks. On Sunday it hit me that he was very close to not being here at all only a few months before.

Coby wasn't going to let a broken arm stop him from anything. He had such a great attitude about having to deal with a cast.

Diane's Birthday Fun!

Cake For Breakfast! What a great start to a great Birthday!

I had a much better birthday this year than Scott and he reminded me of that a few times lol.

Kate was looking for a reason to have a party and with my birthday being on a Friday, she threw me a party. We had so much fun playing in the pool and eating super tasty food!

This is a picture of the cake Scott bought me. When I found out that Kate was making tasty treats and a cake for the party we decided that starting the party early at home was a great idea. When I had them take this picture I realized the camera was blinking low battery. I was so smart and charged it...which is where it stayed all night.

Picture this cake twice the size and that's what we had for the party:)

Scott took me to lunch at Denny's for a Free Birthday Grand Slam. I love Grand Slams! I've been thinking... maybe this year I'll find all the free things you can get for your birthday and next year have a day of free fun...

I finally got the summer pictures on the computer... one step closer to getting them posted!

I think the words insurance and social security are now on my naughty words list lol! I have spent hours, days, weeks, months dealing with them and I don't care to do it any more... But I will because I must.
Ok ok my rant is over... The kids are back to school tomorrow and Scott and I are going to work together. What Scott's going to work, well kind of... I have a project at the Y that I get paid for, he on the other hand just gets to volunteer :) We're both looking forward to having a project to do while the kids are at school this week. We'll deal with next week and what fun that brings next week.

I hope to get some fun pictures on here soon...

Home Again

We've actually been home since Sunday, I just have had a pile of things to work on...what fun!

Since we've been home:
Scott is feeling better but pain is still an issue. He went to Speech on Tuesday and the tremor is pretty much gone. I had noticed that in the last month it was only noticeable when he was in deep concentration. After 1 &1/2 hours of ST it didn't show up. YAY!

The kids are getting ready for school to start. We went for the root beer social last night to meet teachers and drop off supplies. They are really excited to start next Wednesday...so are the parents.

BoogZ is back from his amazing vacation! He got to go horse back riding and made lots of new friends! How does a dog ride a horse? Well I don't have pictures but he ran along for the 1st little bit and then when he was all tuckered out Kathy had a sling that held him close to her. He slept while riding a horse! When we take him out for a visit we'll have to get pictures.

Scott endured a ladies movie night on Tuesday. Kailey is headed to college next week so Allie, Whit, Kailey and Lauren came to watch 'The back Up Plan'. We had a great time...even Scott thought the movie was pretty hilarious.

Seattle Trip

We were up and at it pretty early this morning for Scott. He had to be at the hospital @9:45am for the staples to come out. His bubble doesn't seem to be much less to me and we asked about it. She said like always that it takes time, but they may have to change the settings on his next visit if it is still there by the 13th.

We decided to make the trip to Seattle worth it so we went to the Flight Museum.
Originally we were going to do a tour of Boeing, because Coby has been begging to see where grandpa works. Cora is not tall enough to tour the Everett Boeing plant. I told dad that Tara and the Farmer's went to the Flight Museum on Saturday and told us it is very cool. He said the kids would like the Flight Museum much better, I agree.

We spent about 2 & 1/2 hours there. Scott finally had to tell me to stop asking me if it was too much for him. I'm sure in the end it was a little too much, but he was ready to do something fun and different! He says it was worth it.

Well the family is here now for our big dinner. So I better get off to visit. How weird it's a Friday and we're all able to be here from well around the country...gotta love summer.

Care's Home

Life has been slow and steady these days. Scott hasn't done to much more than rest and try to control the pain he's having. The kids have been playing around here and enjoying being where they each can have a computer. It's pretty funny when they play webkinz or club penguin at the same time.

This morning we went to pick Care up at the airport and they could not stop talking. Scott was lucky he got to stay home and sleep lol.

On Friday morning he has an appointment to have the staples removed, and then he has a follow up appointment from this surgery on September 13th.

Off to take the kids to IHOP because they keep seeing the commercial of kids eat free 4-10pm and they love the International House of Pancakes. They decided it's a must that we go, and I have been putting them off far to long in their eyes.

Church Day

Scott was able to go to church today for sacrament, because he is feeling so good. Never fear I am keeping tabs on him and over doing it. After getting back to Nana's we, sat and chilled for the rest of the day. He did help with dinner... BBQ burgers, so tasty!

Out of the Hospital

Scott did so well with this surgery. He obviously has had pains, but other than that no problems. This morning his doctor let him decide if he leaves today or tomorrow. Of course he chose today. We are now sitting at my mom's watching Blue Crush. Ok so I'm watching it and typing, he is sleeping next to me. Everyone else went to Festival of the River in Arlington giving us a chance to adjust before kids are running crazy:)

Wow I'm must be really relieved that this is over because I honestly can't think right now.

The family is back and Coby got a cool chair that a lumberjack made at the lumberjack show. They had lots of fun and are super excited that we are home when they got here.

We are staying over on the west side for a while to hang out and be here when my sister Caroline comes on Wednesday. We have to go back and get the staples removed from the back of Scott's head and then it's another follow up appointment in 4-6 weeks. This time let's pray it's just a follow up appointment!

Scott has two new scars to add to his collection. The head one is almost like a horse shoe and the stomach is close to where the feeding tube was and is about and inch long. they had to go in at the stomach to place the end of the tube correctly.

Sleeping in the hospital

I think it's pretty easy to forget what sleeping in a hospital is like. At 2am Scott woke up with pain in his abs and head. He said it felt worse than anytime he's worked his abs to the point of pain. So he had a hard time getting back to sleep because of pain and "this room it so loud, the beeps and noises are annoying". Yay for meds though not long after getting some he slept fairly well.
By 6am the nurse was in to check him over, get him up and give pain meds, by the time she was done we were both wide a wake and waiting for the kitchen to open at 7am for him to get breakfast. Luckily we have a frig in our family room. I was able to save his milkshake last night and he had the other half of it while he waited for breakfast. What a room!

Micheal, who works closely with Dr. Newell was in this morning and very happy with the amount his 'bubble' has gone down. He said the more he sits up the faster it will go down, good old gravity. He ordered for PT and OT to come in. By 9am we had the PT here to take Scott on a walk. He was able to walk the whole hall and back without 'troubles' his gate/stride is very small again and he feels uneasy on his feet, but we're hoping he feels up to a walk later and will put on his shoes so he feels more comfortable.
OT came in just after lunch and really worked with him. He got up and dressed in his own clothes, ran through the morning routine and walked the hall with his shoes on.
The kids came later to visit with Suz and Whitney. They were able to stay for over 4 hours without the kids getting to restless because they had their own room to watch shows and play in. Once again being a VIP is AWESOME! But I don't recommend going the route we did to get this room :)