HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Mike as Darth Maul on Friday for work. The funny thing about this is his co-workers harassed him for weeks because he never dresses up, and this year he was only one of 3 that dressed up. And the other 2 were very easy, small costumes!!

Josh as Darth Maul. Yes, we used chocolae kisses on both his and Mike's forheads to get the spikes!

OH NO! Yoda against Darth Maul!!

My Yoda!

Sweet little Morgan.

The last little while...

... has seen a lot of change....

...after being sick for quite a while, Mike's Uncle Brent (Denis' brother) died and we were able to attend the funeral. I don't know Brent and his family really well, but what I do know of them is they are hard working people who care about others more than themselves. Brent was in the service so we were able to witness the beautiful tribute that is given to 'fallen soldiers'...





... I would like to personally thank all the men and women who have risked their lives so that I can raise my children in a free country. And I hope that I will be able to do my part in keeping this country one that is under God, and indivisible in honor of all that have served...


... since we were in Idaho, let's we visited Grandma Mingo!!...

... 5 generation picture; Sharon , LaDonna holding Morgan , Michael and Colby ...

...Grandma Mingo holding Morgan for the first time. She was nervous that she would drop her with only her one arm, but she hasn't lost her touch!...

...5 generations.... amazing....

...I get to babysit Morgan now!! I can't get enough of her!

...Alex started middle school (7th grade) and is having a hard time being awake at 6:00 and ready for the bus by 7:00....
...he also has been diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. He has 'graduated' from the wheelchair and has been using a walker for a week and a half now! ...

...a few weekends ago, there was a special remembrance walk for those that have had children die. We met at the Larkin Cemetery downtown....

...Oakland and Darth Maul enjoyed the sunshine! (Cali is in the maroon shirt with Oakland and Kianna is in the white shirt with her little boy that Alex is sure they will name Darth Maul. They are due one day apart from each other!!)...

...after a talk and song, the group took a walk around the cemetery. It is a very impressive sight to see so many people who have lost a child...

... then we get a balloon, a blue one for our little boy. We each took turns writing a little note to Mac...

... and when his name is read amongst all the others, Cali and Josh release his balloon... we love you Baby Mac!

...and a Happy Halloween from Morgan...

... and Oakland....

...and Morgan and Oakland together! They're already best friends!!

... so there you have the last little while in pictures. Enjoy the next few months, and spend some extra time with your family. That's what I plan on doing!

Alex update

I have great news!! I see improvement in Alex!!

On Sunday we were at my brother's house for his birthday, and Alex found a toy gun that he wanted to borrow. Shaun (my brother) was quick on his feet and said, "Alex, if you walk to the front door with no help, I will GIVE you that gun!" Now back up a little bit, and Alex has been using the walker more than the wheelchair, but was still not walking by himself. After ten minutes of bribing and cajoling, Alex walked across the living room and to the front door with no help!! It was ugly, and he did stop and grab people along the way, but he did it!! I was so impressed!

I sent him to school yesterday with only the walker, and he made it through the whole day and when he came home he didn't complain about pain anymore than he had other days. This morning his knee was pretty stiff, but one thing I noticed was he was laying on his side when I went to wake him up. That's been unheard of since this whole thing began! He has been flat on his back with towels under his knee to keep it bent, and not moved from this position all night! Even when we tried to help roll him over, just to give him a different way to sleep, he couldn't do it because it hurt too bad. But last night he was able to roll onto his side, obviously with no help.

Thanks for everyone's prayers. I know we are being blessed with support from so many people. Thank you so much! His MRI is scheduled for October 29 - we'll find out much more then!!

Alex's Dr. appointment was yesterday

We had Al's appointment with an arthritis specialist yesterday and I thought I should share what happened.

His appointment lasted 3 hours, which was mostly in the exam. They were very thorough, which is very comforting to me. They didn't just check his knee, they checked his entire body down to his fingers and toes!! Because of the description I gave them of the onset of the stiffness and how it progressed, they are fairly sure he has arthritis. But because of the fall he had, they have scheduled an MRI just to rule out any injury. Thank goodness! I have been so worried that, yes he does have arthritis, but with an injury on top of it. So now hopefully we will be able to rule - or find - out any injury!!

Depending on what, if any damage they find in the MRI, will determine the time schedule a little on the treatment. For the arthritis it will be a steroid shot directly into his knee joint.

I made quite a fuss when they discussed the MRI not being until November, and I think they realized I'm not someone to mess with!! This is one time I don't care if they think I'm a wench... don't mess with my kids!!

I had to fill out quite a lengthy questionnaire, and it was interesting some of the questions; intolerant to cold and heat, sensitive touch (very ticklish)..... things I never would have put with an autoimmune problem. They even talked about his 'birthmark' saying they thought that was an autoimmune problem. Interesting, huh?

So, Alex is an autoimmune mess. Diabetes, Hypothyroidism, arthritis, vita... something, and something to do with intolerance to cold. Whew!! I'm just so glad to find out what is happening. I know this test is more for me than for Alex. He is such a brave little man, and I'm a wussy. I hate seeing him in pain, and not being able to do anything for him. It hurts to see his blood sugars so high because of the pain, and not being able to control them better. I hope for his sake, I learn my lesson in patience fast, so he doesn't need to suffer anymore.

Lunch Ladies... what the...????

Have you noticed that lunch ladies everywhere have a bad rep? Why is that? I honestly can say that I don't even remember the lunch ladies in my schools. I have a neighbor, who is a head lunch lady, that I think is absolutely amazing and quite adorable, actually. And 2 other neighbors who work in the lunch room as cashiers - again, not even close to the stereo-typical lunch ladies, but darling, with-it women.

But my kids... well, they have stories! They even remember one by name who used to yell "Turn your tray around!!" if they tried to eat food on the far side of their tray. Who does that? And this was in elementary school! And then there's Adam Sandler's song Lunch Lady Land that is hilarious, but I've never known any lunch lady that married the janitor Sloppy Joe. Actually, now that I think of it, I've never known a janitor named Sloppy Joe, either.

I bring up this random subject because I met an actual lunch lady today. Ewwww! She made shivers go down my spine. I had gone early to help sell t-shirts at an undisclosed school during the lunch hour. The lunch lady and all her helpers were holding a meeting. At first I thought all the helpers had special needs or something because she talked so demeaning to them, they had to have some kind of disability. I mean, you don't just talk to adults like they're 2 years old unless they have some kind of intellectual problem. Then I thought, "But you don't talk to ANYONE that way!"

She passed around pictures for them all to look at - each had 20 seconds then HAD to pass it on - and she timed them!! - then they were supposed to say what was wrong with each picture. I think everyone was afraid to say anything - another reason I thought they had special needs, because they all acted intimidated, but I would be too if I had to work for this woman! I didn't see any of the pictures because I was clear at the other end of the room, but she was repeating (very loudly) whatever the offense was in each picture and it was things like "this lid should be moved over 2 slots so it's directly above the correct pot," "the condiments aren't placed in alphabetical order," and "what the heck is this can of pineapple doing here?" (I don't know where the can of pineapple was, or where it was supposed to be and I don't think the helpers knew either, because none of them got that one right!) Then she said, and I'm not kidding, "I don't think you're dumb, but some of you have worked in 5 star kitchens before and you'd never know it by how this kitchen looks." Now if that's not bad enough, she then told them, while wagging her finger, that if she didn't get a 5 star kitchen because of them, they would all be very unhappy because she would be unhappy.

I had to leave at that point. I mean, come on people!! Lunch lady or not - you don't talk to anyone like that!!

I was gone 10 minutes max. When I got back to the cafeteria another mom had shown up to help with the t-shirt sales. The first thing she said to me was, "Oh my gosh! The lunch lady is a B------east!" (She wanted to say the other 'b word' but was nice enough not to.) She said that she made the helpers raise their hand if they wanted to keep their job. Of course, some of them thought she was just trying to make a point and didn't raise their hands, and then she got in their faces and said, "WHAT? You don't want to keep your job?"

At that point, we were frightened. We both had little kids with us that wanted a drink, and neither one of us dared to go buy a milk from the lunch lady. We did approach one of the helpers, but we were very timid about it and watched for a safe time to enter the 'danger zone.'

I'm sure if I got any closer, I would see that she had a huge mole with hair growing out of it. All I know is I've had my scare for the month. Beware of the lunch lady!!!