Waiting, Waiting, Waiting.....

It's been a long few days since getting the news of Cade's abnormal bloodwork. The pain in his leg is still there and he seems to be getting weaker and weaker, and more tired....listless.

After the bloodwork results they sent him for a Bone Scan on Tuesday...more waiting...anxiety....stress. Yesterday the results came in and weren't good.  They said an MRI had to be done to make sure they know what they're dealing with and if there's much damage to the bone (from the right knee down to the ankle).
   

 Sleeping it off after the Bone Scan!

Wake up little guy, wake up!
 

The poor little guy was admitted last night and awaken this morning at 6:00 to have the IV inserted for the MRI. He should be having the MRI as I type this. He was not happy :)  I'm sure the fact that he couldn't eat had something to do with it too...hehehe!

I must admit we did have a bit of relief from the stress when he woke up from the bone scan. He was a happy little "drunk" LOL!  He was swaying back and forth, humming, singing, just being silly and totally relaxed. Everyone was in stitches...hehehe! 

So, we sit here doing more waiting, waiting, waiting....and hopefully the MRI results won't take too long and the doctors will know how to treat him.  They think it's osteomyelitis....fancy name for bone infection...and that would mean staying in the hospital for a few days on IV antibiotics.  Hopefully they are dealing with a bone infection and nothing worse, that there is no damage to the leg bone and that it hasn't gone to his blood.

Only time will tell, and in the meantime we are waiting, waiting, waiting :)

On a happier note, Hailee and Hannah got to spend the night with us while mom and dad were at the hospital with Cade.  The girls had swimming lessons last night so we brought them there and a nice surprise was that mom, dad and Cade were able to come watch for a while.  Cade was able to get a pass for a few hours to leave the hospital...yeah!

This morning was a whirlwind getting the girls ready for school. I forgot how much "fun" it was to make lunches again LOL!  Grandpa drove them to their place to catch the school bus....they didn't want to get a ride to school, but wanted to see their friends on the bus :)

Counting down the minutes til the phone rings!

A couple hours later and just heard from our dear DIL.  It took Cade an hour to fall asleep after being sedated for the MRI. He just fought it.  Then she had to crawl into the machine with him when he woke up before it was done. Little stinker LOL! We should have results within the hour! Good thoughts please :)

Unbelievable!  This afternoon around 3:00 little Cade was discharged by a Medical Student....saying all the tests came back "okay". How can that be? What about the limp? What about the pain, the fatigue, the falling?? How can they say there's a blur near his ankle on the MRI, yet say it's due to him moving...and not check it out further?  Sigh.......

Our son and DIL are NOT happy. They let the staff know and were told one of the Peds will call them. So many questions, and no answers.  Can we blame it on hurried staff who wanted to just get home on a beautiful Friday afternoon, not giving the MRI results a second glance?

Hopefully they are right and whatever was bothering the little guy, is gone...for good!

Grandma Loves You
xoxoxoxo

School Days, School Days.....

Good old golden rules days.....Okay, okay, so I'm dating myself with that little jingle LOL, but all these decades later it is still appropriate. Although I'm not sure if they still have any Golden Rules now a days.

A cold, overcast Fall morning with frost in the air and two beautiful granddaughters dressed in their special "first day" outfits, filled with excitement for what this day, and year, will bring...old friends, new friends, new teachers, new classroom, new things to learn...it all adds up to growing up way too quickly :)

When our second GD, Hannah, was contemplating about not going to school a couple weeks ago I asked her that if she didn't go to school how would she learn all the things she needs to learn in life.  She looked at me with her innocent beautiful brown eyes and said "from you grandma". Plain and simple....she could learn everything she needs to know in life from me...grandma!  Everything is so simple in a child's eyes.

 

Okay folks....as you can see in the first picture, the

girls look cold...that's because it was cold. Back into

the house for warmer jackets!
  

I have to admit that when our three sons were young and in school I hated, yes hated, Labor Day weekend. I loved having our kids at home all summer and the thought of having to send them back to school in September made me very sad. Maybe it's the control freak in me....hehehe...but Labor Day weekends for me were full of hidden tears, no sleep, anxiety, restlessness...you name a negative response and I felt it all on those weekends. It's not quite as bad with the grandkids thank goodnes :)

Of course once a few days passed and we got back into the routine of lunches, homework, sports, earlier bedtimes, earlier wake times Labor Day weekend became a faint memory until the following year when it started all over again LOL!

Added to the anxiety of this weekend for me was a phone call last night saying our Grandson was in the ER waiting to see a doctor about some problems he's had the last few days....swollen knee, spiking fever, paleness and falling because his right leg would give out. I bet any parent or grandparent reading this is letting their mind race to exactly where mine has been racing too all night.  Sigh.....

After many hours and many tests the verdict is he has to see the Pediatrician this afternoon as a couple abnormalities showed up in his blood work showing inflammation. I'm trying to be positive and hopefully it's something as simple as an infection that can be taken care of with medication. If it's something more serious we will deal with it as families do...with lots of love and support.

Our DIL dropped him off this morning while she ran some errands and he came running up to me at the back door, the biggest smile on his face, and all I did was worry that his leg may give out and he could fall in the driveway :(  Stop it brain, stop it!
 

Our little guy doing one of his most
favorite things....Eating!

   

Another favorite thing to do....

fill up grandpa's jar with tea bags!

He's gone to the dump with grandpa at the moment to unload a bunch of junk we cleared from the garage over the weekend....second trip LOL!  Hopefully in the next decade we will get our two car garage cleared of all the junk that hubby was asking himself all weekend..."why on earth did I save this for all these years?" LOL!

Time to bake the pizza-pan oatmeal cookie that has become a tradition for the GD's first day of school. Cade wants to help so he can add the flour/oatmeal and then sprinkle the mini chocolate chips around the edge of the "cookie". The little bum said that grandpa and I couldn't have any when we bring it over...hehehe!
 

"Cheese"
Or should we say "chocolate chips" LOL!
It all tastes better with a little help from little hands! 
  

When can we have a piece?

   

 

Hey, we can't forget little brother....after all
he did help make it!

 

Oh, by the way...Cade did change his mind

about grandma and grandpa having a piece of cookie LOL!

    
We have two things to look forward to this afternoon....seeing the girls after school to hear all about their first day, and anxiously waiting to hear what the Ped says about Cade. Wish us luck!

Update:  Just got off the phone with our DIL. Cade is going for a bone scan tomorrow morning. The Ped feels it may be a bone infection as the fever he had last week had no other symptoms, and he is limping a bit. She said his femur above his right knee is very tender. So, keeping our fingers crossed that all turns out well :)

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Happy Half Birthday To You....

Happy Half Birthday to you,
Happy Half Birthday dear Hannah,
Happy Half Birthday to you :)

Yes, another tradition this grandma started when our first granddaughter Hailee was born.  We just HAVE to celebrate their half birthdays. I mean really...does anyone need another excuse to have more cake? LOL!

I usually make just half a cake for these "special" occasions and decorate it, however in this instance, it's a Jello "Cake"...hehehe!  Hannah is really not into cake, if you can believe a five year old not liking cake, but she really loves jello.
 

Just look at that smile!
Someone is growing up waaaaay too
fast for my liking! 

       

Not only is she at her halfway mark between being five and six today....and most definitely needed to have it celebrated with green jello and the half birthday song....but she is going into Kindergarten on Tuesday! As I said....growing up way too fast.  Hopefully she will always love to celebrate her half birthday though for many years to come :)

I must say, it didn't last long once we all got into it, and as you can see, Hannah made sure every last bit was gone LOL!
  

    Can we say yummy?

  
As it was raining today....rain on Labor Day weekend, imagine that LOL....and both our little Sparkles and her brother Mylo (who owns our son/DIL/GK's) were in the backyard playing during our visit, they were completely soaked/muddy from top to bottom...hehehe...kind of cute actually. They looked like they'd been living on the streets for months.

We have a "wild" back corner of the yard that has huge brush piles/trees and has been left to go wild for bird/small animals. There's a path all around the wild area that is just dark earth which equals mud when it rains.  We're going to get some wood chips soon to lay down in the hopes of keeping both dogs and kids clean!
 

Bare earth, running dogs, add a bit

of rain and it equals a big mess!

Hopefully the woodchips will be coming soon!
 

Anyway, I couldn't see sending Mylo home the way he was and Sparkles most certainly was NOT coming into the house looking like she did, so I thew both muddy little dogs in the tub and scrubbed/bathed/rinsed/conditioned each until they sparkled! Nothing smells as good as a dog freshly washed with Pantene shampoo LOL!

Once dry the little family packed up dog, kids and off they all went for various sleepovers tonight. One going to a friends, the other having a couple friends in for a sleepover...all such fun at that age.  This grandma and grandpa can now have a nice quiet evening :)  Well, not before grandma has a shower. Those dogs really do get a person wet while bathing them LOL!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Shhhh....what's that I hear?

What? Nothing you say?  I hear nothing?  Yup LOL, that's exactly what I hear right now.  We did have a whirlwind weekend with two of the GK's, Hannah and Cade.  Big sister Hailee spent Thursday and overnight with us, then we switched over for the other two while Hailee went to her BFF's for the weekend, and is on her way as I type, to a friend's birthday party :)

We didn't really have anything planned for the weekend but we sure managed to keep busy. Between riding bikes, playing dress up with old Halloween costumes, stripping down and playing in the dog's pool...again LOL, watching movies, eating and sleeping, the time just flew.
  

 

Mooooo....this Halloween costume has been
around a very long time and has been put to
good use...not only on October 31st of each year!
 

It's getting harder and harder for the girls
to fit into this Unicorn costume...but they
keep figuring out ways to do it LOL!
     

In between all the regular stuff we managed to get to a local conservation park and went through 3 loaves of bread...whole wheat of course....while feeding the ducks, geese, the gulls, and even the odd slice being munched on by the two legged human kids LOL!
   

Watch those fingers Hannah LOL!

  

Can I have a piece Grandma?

That question is why we always buy fresh

whole wheat bread to feed the ducks LOL!

Don't lean over too far!!
 

We had a ball and both kids were right into it. Our brave Hannah even fed a few Canadian Geese right from her hand. Not without being warned beforehand to make sure the pieces of bread she was offering them were much longer than normal size LOL!  Cade got ohhhhhhh so close, but ended up dropping the bread and pulling his little hand back...hehehe...much preferring to throw the bread away from him :)
    

A visit to feed the ducks is not complete unless they get

to play at the playground on the grounds!

 

 

As usual, pancakes were on the menu for breakfast yesterday....blue pancakes this time...and grandma finally got smart this weekend and made enough so I wouldn't have to make more from scratch this morning!  Just removed the extra from the fridge and heated in the microwave.  See, there is an advantage to getting "old" and wiser :)

Don't worry mom, it's only a butter knife :)

   

  Hey, where's my knife??
 

Grandpa packed up the bikes, suitcases, dog and drove them home around 12:30 so all is quiet. Seems strange somehow that I can still hear their chattering in the bedroom and their giggles as even the silliest little thing makes them laugh...and makes us laugh too :)

If any grandparents (or parents) out there want to get something great

for a small grandchild that will greatly help when they start riding

a two wheel bike....get the Strider bike! It's the next best thing

since sliced bread....geez, I'm sounding like my mother with that

statement LOL!  But really, there are no wheels, the child just pushes

themselves along and eventually can coast with both feet up.

They get total balance control and won't need training wheels when

moved up to a regular two wheel bike!

Cade won't be 3 til the end of October, yet he can keep up with
his sisters as he pushes and coasts on his Strider!

Five year old Hannah will not be showed up. She

gave up her training wheels a couple weeks ago

and has quickly become a pro with her bike!

You go girl!!

   

One more week to go before school starts, then our visits will be fewer and further between. However, they do start swimming lessons again this Thursday, so grandma and grandpa will be there with the usual sandwich/snacks/drinks to watch, wave, smile and just plain enjoy more great memory making time.

Grandma loves you

xoxoxoxo

Must Love Surprises....

As anyone who lives close to their grandkids knows, we must always be prepared for surprises LOL!  One never knows what the day will bring, so that's my excuse for not planning anything...except drs appointments of course.

Yesterday morning I drove to town for a few things and picked up some produce for our dear DIL as well.  When I stopped to drop it off, our DIL's little niece came running to the door and asked if she and Hannah (GD#2) could come to my house for a visit!  To say I was a bit shocked would be an understatement, but at the same time thought it would be fun.  She is 3 days younger than our Hannah, and a real sweetheart, but this was the first time she asked directly to come over for a visit! 

I figured two of them together is better than only one....hehehe....so as she went running to the bedroom to ask Hannah if she wanted to come (just guess what Hannah's answer was) our little GS Cade started crying and fussing, grabbing mom's leg and sobbing "I want to go to Mama's house...I want to go to Mama's house"....Mama is what he calls me, and Bumpa is what he calls Grandpa...too cute. I hope he keeps it up :)

Anyway, I can only fit two booster seats in our back seat, so our DIL's wonderful dad (Pepere to the GK's) drove Cade over in another vehicle, and I took both girls.  I threw out a crazy question about what the girls wanted for lunch, as the unanimous, and only, reply was "Kraft Dinner"...a delicacy as far as Hannah is concerned, and she will take any opportunity to have it as it's VERY seldom served at home LOL!

The kids were very happy with two bowls each and then Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen (which grandpa always has on hand in our freezer) for dessert.  Our DIL said she would pick them up at 2:30 so we went outside to pet the goldfish in one of my backyard ponds...but not before the girls decided to refill the dog's little pool, then get in themselves to soak their feet LOL!  Cade decided he had to cool off as well so went in with his long pants, which got soaked but dried quickly in the breeze.

When our DIL arrived with our oldest GD and her best friend, they figured they should get their feet wet as well LOL!  Oh to be young again and see things from a completely different perspective than grandma, who knew the water was way too cold for her own arthritic feet...but sure had fun as I enjoyed hearing the ohhh's and ahhhh's of shivering grandkids, cousins and friends as they sat around that tiny dog pool and soaked their feet :)

Ahhhhhhh....memories!

 
Grandma Loves You
xoxoxoxo

Monday, Monday....

Normally people don't like to think about Mondays (as I didn't when I worked in the real world)....getting back to work, school, obligations, appointments, counting down the minutes until the following Friday when you can block your work-world out for another two days.  I, on the other hand, appreciate Monday. It's usually a quiet time for me these days after a busy weekend like this past weekend, and I enjoy the peace and quiet to catch up with routines and go over the great memories that were created the previous two days (usually with the grandkids)...or, to just sit and relax.

As I said in my last post, I went on a shopping trip to Toronto. We all had a wonderful time...lots of shopping til we dropped, lots of good food (that we didn't have to cook, which always tastes better) and lots of laughs that make me smile today as I think of the reasons for those laughs :)

We were also lucky enough to get my middle son to meet us for lunch on the way through his city.  More good laughs and good food :) It's always great to see him whenever I can! He'll be back to teaching in a couple weeks, so no doubt his Mondays won't be something he looks forward to either LOL!

However, there's nothing better (said while apologizing to hubby) than being greeted as you get out of the car with grandkids running towards you at full speed with dancing eyes, ear to ear smiles on their faces, jumping into your arms with hugs, kisses and giggles, and asking if you are going to stay for a while. All at the same time asking if you can watch, as they run for their bikes to show you they can now ride without training wheels!  Wow, did that happen in just two days?  As I said, there's nothing better :)

In fact, maybe I should go away more often so I can enjoy those welcomes when I get home LOL!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Almost School Time......

At the beginning of the summer I told our two GD's that Grandpa and I would take them, each by themselves, for a sleepover and dinner out before they went back to school.  Well, with only two weeks to go, and a very busy summer behind us, I figured we'd better make good on that promise.  So, this past Wednesday was to be Hailee's day/night with us, then her younger sister Hannah was to have yesterday and last night.

                                          Again...ignore the date. These pics were all taken

this July on our way to our son's wedding!

In the back of my mind I knew Hannah wouldn't take too well to having Hailee here by herself, especially when she was supposed to stay with Memere (DIL's mom), but Memere was camping all week and wasn't coming home until yesterday. Something we didn't know until after our sleepover plans were already made.

The waterworks started with Hannah so I took Hailee into the bedroom to try and reason with her about letting Hannah share her day/night with her, and then instead of Hannah staying here on Thursday, Hailee could have two sleepovers, last night being alone.  That didn't go over very well either, but she finally agreed after mom talked to her too. We told her she was being very nice for sharing her night, and she worked it for all it's worth LOL!

Once mom left we all went to the Dollar Store for a whole bunch of stuff, especially things to paint. They do love to create with paint...boxes, canvasses, the kitchen table and themselves LOL! 

June 2009

 

For supper we went out to a local Italian restaurant and they both ate really well....knowing full well that ice cream came with each child's meal LOL! I wish adults could order children's meal...they were huge, and cheap...and no one is going to complain about getting a huge bowl of vanilla ice cream delivered to their table after they eat. At least I sure wouldn't LOL!

After bathtime we watched a movie...Matilda....and I had to comfort Hailee throughout the start of the movie as she doesn't like any kind of "violence, anger" etc in movies....and especially NO blood. I assured her that it had a very happy ending and she that there was NO blood in the whole movie. She has a very vivid imagination and easily gets nightmares when she sees things that upset her.  Hannah on the others hand will watch anything...Harry Potter, Avatar...you name it she loves it, no problems with dreams for that little one!

Bedtime was shared between Grandpa and myself.  Hailee slept with Grandpa and Hannah slept with me. It's so nice to have them sleepover now that they're older....they sleep through the night, so that means Gpa and I sleep through the night as well....and sleep we do! We've had many, many sleepless sleepovers in the last 7 years, but it's all good and has been more than worth it :)

There's nothing like having the warm body of a little child snuggled into your back all night long...oh, and we can't forget that both people only have half the bed because an 11 pound little dog, Sparkles, wouldn't share her half of the bed LOL!

Hailee went home for a couple hours yesterday morning so I could shower and get ready to head to town with her.  When I picked her up at 1:00, poor little Hannah got all upset and started to cry, reaching out for me....it broke my heart :(  But I knew she was going to spend the night with her other grandmother, so that eased my heart.....a tiny bit :)

As soon as we got into the car, Hailee said "grandma....I didn't have lunch you know" LOL!  Well, I hadn't eaten lunch either so asked her where she wanted to go....she's VERY fussy, so it's difficult to take her out to eat.  She wanted Subway so that's where we went first.  As we pulled into the parking lot at Subway, I hear Hailee in the back seat yelling..."grandma, there's a Bitter Bills"...a local ice cream shop.  So much for teaching kids to read....hehehe....she can read anything now!  I promised that if she ate her whole sub, she could have dessert....and low and behold, that's what we ended up doing.  The little stinker ate every crumb of her sub! 

After a couple 'taste tests' of various ice creams, she decided on Birthday Cake...and it really did taste like cake with icing on it! They can make just about anything these days. There was a time that you actually had to bake and decorate a cake to get that taste LOL!

She was supposed to sleep with me last night, but she chose to sleep with Grandpa for a second night. She LOVES to talk before she falls asleep (and usually does fall asleep halfway through a sentence) and she and grandpa have great talks. He has a sense of humor that she enjoys, and having been a teacher for almost 30 years, he loves to hear her stories....even when she tells huge stories and then says "it wasn't fake you know. It really happened!" LOL!

Next weekend our son and DIL are in a golf tournament and we were supposed to have all 3 kids for the weekend.  As it turns out Hailee has been invited to her BFF's house for the weekend, so we'll have Hannah and Cade.  Hannah will be happy as she and I can do something special, seeing as we didn't get a chance too this week....and Cade....well Cade is obsessed with his grandpa, so they won't have any problems killing time and keeping busy for 3 days :)

Tomorrow I'm heading to Toronto for a couple days with our DIL, her mom, and their good friend Carole. I don't need to shop for anything but I'm sure I'll be able to find a few outfits for the GD's to wear to school, and perhaps a surprise or two for little Cade :)  It will be nice to get away for a night and eat meals that I haven't had to cook!  Grandpa laughed this morning and said he was leaving today and not coming home until Monday LOL...knowing full well that at some point our son will be here over the weekend with all 3 kids!  Men....they can be great fathers, but they can't take a mother's place LOL!

So girls/Cade, grandma will see you on Sunday when we get back.  Be good for daddy and Grandpa. Don't give them too rough a time....hehehe!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo