Greg's surgery

Well, I am currently sitting in a chair in Greg's hospital room updating this blog. Greg's surgery was at 7:30 a.m. this morning and took less than 2 hours to complete, which was less than the time they had told me to expect.

The doctor was able to relieve the compresion of his vertebrae, release the nerves, fuse the bone together, and place a cage in between the L3 and L4 vertebrae. The doctor said the surgery went as well as it could have gone. Now, we are just waiting for the anesthesia to wear out of his system. He is really sleeping hard at times and says he feels "loopy" when he is awake!

Well, that is all for now! The kids are with Granny this weekend and I don't think they even realize what is going on with their dad.

Life

Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything, so I guess we are just ready for an update. School is back in session and all three kids are doing very well. Morgan is in 6th grade and has adjusted to the increase in homework well. Maggie is in 4th grade and she is loving it. Marshall is in 1st grade and loves to do his math homework! Every year I worry that he will show his argumentative side to his teacher, but so far he has managed to keep that personality trait in check at school. His teacher called the other night to say that he is doing well and she has no concerns!

The kids have already started their school year activities. Morgan and Marshall go to school by 7 a.m. everyday for either open gym or "Rowdy Redbirds" basketball fundamentals. Maggie has her tap/jazz/gymnastic class on Monday nights. She loves her class! This will be her 7th year at Meri's Dance Studio. It just seems like yesterday that she began! Morgan is busy in Boy Scouts and Marshall finally got to join Cub Scouts. We haven't really started activities yet, but he is proud to be a Scout like his brother!

Greg is going to have spinal fusion surgery on October 2, so please pray for his speedy recovery! His back pain has been pretty bad for a couple of years and he was getting epidural shots for them, but they had stopped working, so we went to see a surgeon and surgery is the only way to get his pain under control at this point. So, we are very hopeful that this is going to help him and that he will be pain free following surgery!

Other than that, just regular stuff going on. We have a Parent/Teacher Organization Family Fund Day tomorrow and it looks as if the weather is going to be beautiful for it!

That is all for now!

The Summer Wrap Up

Well...it seems as though the summer has flown by! We have been so terribly busy this summer, that it feels like May was just last week....and the kids go back to school next week! Marshall had his 7th birthday at the beginning of the month! It is hard to believe that my baby is now 7 years old. For some reason, seven just seems like such a grown up age, and we all know that Marshall is like a grown up little man anyhow!

Marshall had our friends', the Lewises, boys over for his birthday. They played together that afternoon at daycare and then headed to our house for pizza and the Wii. They had a blast! Our birthday parties are never very preplanned! Normally, the spur of the moment is how they come about! The next day, my friend Deanna and her three boys went with me and the kids to see G-Force and eat at Burger King. One of her sons' birthday was that day! Marshall had been dying to see the movie ever since the previews began playing on TV.

The Saturday after Marshall's birthday, Greg and I went out for dinner to celebrate our 12th anniversary, which was a couple of weeks earlier, with our friends the McFees! We headed to Texas Roadhouse, which is one of our favorite spots to eat out. All four of us were miserably full by the time we left!

Next Wednesday is the kids' first day of school! I think that Morgan is at least ready to go back, but Marshall and Maggie both claim they are not! They will be fine once they get there, they are just not ready to admit to it!

Adult softball will wrap up in two weeks which will be nice since the kids will already be in school! I'm not liking the fact that I will have to play softball on "school" nights, but just a couple of weeks and we will be done! I do enjoy playing, but am not sure that I am going to have time in the schedule for it next year!

We are ready to return to the "normal" life we have the other nine months of the year right now. This summer, it feels like we have just not been home very much! The homebody in me is ready to be in my house!

Adult softball

This marks the third year that I have played in an adult co-ed slow pitch softball league and the second for Greg, although he has just played one game so far this summer and it looks like he is done since he hurt his back! We are having a good time and winning some games, but the average age of most of the teams that we play is much younger than the average age of our team and at this stage of life, that has a huge impact on the outcome of the game! Oh well, we do have fun and I love to play softball. That is what counts!

ASA National Softball Tournament

Earlier in the summer, Morgan's basketball coach invited him to play in the ASA (Amateur Softball Association) National Tournament on a 10 & under team in Mankato, MN the first weekend of August. So, this past weekend, the kids and I headed north to the tournament with the team! Greg wasn't able to go since he is currently finishing up an elementary school that will be used this school year. This is his BUSY time!

Morgan left with our friends Alan and Angel on Thursday afternoon and then Maggie and Marshall and I headed up Friday morning. His first game was on Friday at 1:30. We got there in the middle of the first game, which they won 15-0 against a team from MN. He got a hit his first time at bat! Then, the team played at 3:30. They won that game 9-0.

When we got to the hotel, the kids were quite excited to get to the pool and hot tub. They spent a couple of hours swimming, then we headed to get something to eat and to bed since Morgan had to play ball the next morning.

On Saturday, Morgan's team won their first game 9-0 and their second game 12-0. That put them in the championship game of the tournament on Sunday morning. Saturday evening, we spent swimming in the hotel pool and washing Morgan's ball uniform for Sunday morning. We ordered Domino's pizza and went to bed EXHAUSTED! Swimming sure does wear kids out!

Sunday morning, we got up and headed to the ball field for the championship game. The championship game proved to be the toughest game for the team of the tournament. There were some awesome plays made by the boys and we won 12-2. The NW Royals (the team) won the tournament and we headed home!

We got home Sunday night at 8:00 pm. We had a great time and enjoyed our trip to MN!

Maggie's self portrait!

Marshall hanging out behind the team dugout

Morgan in the "ready" position in left field

The boys in the dugout giving Jacob chest bumps.....

Maggie and Morgan with Austin and Abby in the pool.

Marshall playing with the boys in the pool.

Maggie pausing for a poolside shot!

Morgan playing with the boys.

The team huddle after their Saturday afternoon win.

Maggie's picture of me Saturday afternoon......notice that we are dressed in sweatshirts for Saturday. It was COLD!

Maggie lounging at the game Saturday afternoon. Abby is in the background asleep under a blanket!

Marshall watching the game from a picnic table. Doesn't he look cool!

Morgan on 2nd base ready for the "steal".

Ready to go Saturday morning. Notice the long sleeves. It looked beautiful, but was rather chilly!

Getting instructions from coach after the games on Friday!

Down and ready to play!

At bat Friday afternoon.

Getting ready to run on first base!

The weenie roast

A couple of weekends ago, we headed to our friends', Eric and Deanna, house for a night of campfire and weenie roast. While the adults visited around the campfire, the kids ran around playing, riding bikes and just generally playing. We roasted hot dogs and later on marshmallows for s'mores. Yummy!

The Farrell, Lewis, Rhoades, and Hisel kids at our campfire/weenie roast.

Princess--the new kitten

A couple of weeks ago, as I headed out to mow, I heard a "mewing" sound. After a little bit of investigation, I discovered a kitten in a tube of PVC pipe out by our shed. I brought the kitten in (we have a dog that kills cats) and put her in the garage. Very quickly, the kids decided that we needed the kitten, whom Marshall named Princess and quickly claimed as his own, in the house to play with our other cat Hershey. Greg wasn't hip on the idea and neither was Hershey, but in the time since, both have come to tolerate if not love the little kitten! Below are some pictures!

Marshall and I holding Princess after her bath.....she was loving being wrapped in the towel and held!

My princess holding Princess!

Princess' "daddy". He is quite proud to be a pet owner and is doing a good job of taking care of her!