summer days

summer time in Arizona has definitely hit! with days in the high 90s and dare I say even in the 100s! we have already busted into the pool. londy is braver than I am. and kira will swim in the dead of winter! add a few friends, some yummy snacks and great music and I am content for the summer!

and for those of you who don’t know…I have the coolest dog in the whole world! not only is she my first born but she is soo great with londy! very protective and sweet with her! but the coolest thing she can do is fetch something from the bottom of the 6 foot pool! I mean what dog do you know that can hold her breath and get a diving ring?

waiting patiently to be told to

“go get it kira”…londy loves this and will play with her for hours! who needs a sibling when you have a dog right?  we are always up for swim parties! if you want to come play let me know…the pool is officially open!

Easter

with mom being in the hospital and the week being full of that kind of activity…the procrastinator that I am did not have time to run around and do  cute Easter activities. my mother was always amazing (and still is..even to us as we are adults!) at finding exactly the perfect little gifts for our baskets. first off not only were the baskets huge to begin with but were always overflowing with the neatest goodies. everything handpicked exactly for what each child would love most. adorable  stuffed bunnies with ribbons in their ears and wearing beautiful dresses. every knickknack embroidered or sewn in the right color or size for us. mom always was a great seamstress and made our Easter dresses as well. I am not near as talented as my mother! everything is store bought…a lot of times at the last minute. and I digress….

so Easter was a little different and a little sad this year but we still managed to celebrate both for the meaning of Easter and for the bunny meaning for londy.

aunt Gina's yummy cupcakes

the best craison salad… (I made this:)….mmmmm

 Easter dinner  from a kiddos perspective

with their loot after the hunt in Gina's beautiful backyard

mamacieta

Technorati Tags: medical,mom

always a photo op..waiting in trauma for tests

well if it’s not one thing its another right? mom had another weird brain episode this past Thursday. it had been 6 1/2years since her last symptoms to which she immediately received brain surgery. this time the symptoms were 10 times worse and all in one day! so away we went to the ER and after 7hrs and several million tests we are told the cyst, the size of my fist… is back and bigger than before. seriouslY? she had no vision on her left side, couldn’t speak right and kept running into stuff, throwing up, terrible headache…ya know, a good time?! so they admitted her and we waited two days for dr. spetzler (world renound brain surgeon) to fit her in his schedule.

londy taking up iv pole dancing

aunt jerri and I waited for the surgery to be done and after a few short hours were able to see a very lucid mom! we were not expecting that nor to expect how great she felt and the very next day they wanted to send her home! what? a two day stay after BRAIN SURGEREY? and wait…she is not on pain meds? huh? she must of been a pioneer kind-a-woman. cause this I have never seen. what a trooper. new technology made the surgery much quicker this time and less invasive than the last. lets just hope this surgery takes. you never want surgery but of your brain is the last spot you would want it! mentally I'm exhausted and certainly my poor writing skills are not going to make you see how scary this all could have been. she will recoup at home with someone by her side for a couple of weeks or more. thanks for all your prayers, calls and support. I'm ready for a healthy family! oh but did I mention once I brought her home last night I got the stomach flu? good times! sigh….

 

little londy lou

lately i have been feeling so blessed to have my little london!

she is such an amazing girl, sweet, sassy, fun, smart and wow…what a looker:)…i love how she uses her imagination so much. remindes me of when meg and i were younger. we would make up games for hours. londy is just the same. a few night ago she was getting out of the shower. brandon had her wrapped in a towel and he told her to wait for him to help her. she…being an impatient 4yr old. did not wait but stepped immediately out, tripping over the ledge and being wrapped llike a mummy in her towel. FELL FLAT ON HER FACE. let the screaming begin. i rush from the other room to see blood EVERYWHERE!  panic sets in, brandon is rinsing her mouth, i’ve got a cold rag and ice. 2hrs later the blood stopped and she has 4loose bottom teeth. grrr. good thing papa is a dentist and thinks she will be fine! still a possibility she will loose those teeth though! uhhhh moms not so happy bout that! but she was such a trooper. goose egg on leg from where she banged it on the shower ledge and a huge burn/bruise on her chin. she is tough just like me. that also means she is ornery and is gonna be a pain in my a** when she gets older:)

do you think this girl is all EYES AND EARS?

but for now…im loving every minute of her!…well except for the whinny- needy- won’t- stop- jibjabbin- in- the -car moments!

wedding, cancer and a sister

as a little girl you think your dad is the toughest, strongest guy around. for me that feeling has never gone away. my dad has always ran marathons, worked crazy overtime hours, put in years upon years of serving in the army reserves and definitely has the personality that fits his day job of being a cop. all in all he is one tough sun of a gun. I would not want to run into him in a dark alley,  and for a 60something guy he is freakishly strong.

my dad has issues with cancer..simply said, cancer likes him and he…is not so much a fan back. so when he called a few months ago saying he had his third type of cancer I was not surprised. he kicked the first two with surgeries but this cancer (throat) was gonna be a killer if he did not do chemo and radiation along with the surgery. it is a very difficult thing to watch your strong, independent, ornery old dad go through that. this week I was especially proud! his step-son-Justin was getting married and dad…of coarse was expected to be at all the festivities. man was he a trooper! third degree burns in his throat, not able to eat a thing in two months. the pain is incredible when lying down, let alone mingling and talking and trying to be sociable!

meg and  little step-bro Chris

my beloved sister meg came for the crazy week and we played as much as we could around her grad school papers, my working and all the wedding garb. we mostly visited with dad at the dinners and tried to keep his mind off the cancer!

me me and a  dad who was strugglin

tthe Beautiful bride misty and her daddy

the wedding was beautiful. misty and Justin looked amazing. the wedding was at the castle at Ashley manor…wow that place is gorgeous! Londy loved twirling with all the little girls and getting dressed up.

spinning endlessly with daddy

the bride and groom making their entrance

the rest of the week was a blur that I will show in photos.

 

sisters in black..how shocking

we did find time to go out with my nephew dusty who was in town for his vacation (different side of da family).

more black at rehearsal cowboy dinner

 

we ate at our favorite hot spots, saw a cute movie, meg finally met my cute girls from the salon and we managed to lay out a few times too! there was shopping at fashion square and giggling in  a Marshalls dressing room.  we almost wet our pants at the horrible dresses we tried on while trying to find something to wear to the wedding. just about everything was slutwear. cut way down to there and barely covering the other end. why we are so easily entertained at such things I can not say but it is a mighty good time for us butler girls:)

bro Jarrod trying to look taller next to us tall girls

Sunday I took her to the airport and immediately wished she could come back. I can not wait for the day to have her living close to me.  

great view from rustlers roost. they even have a slide Londy went down again and again right in the middle of the restaurant

and did I mention what a trooper Brandon was through all of this? lots of family time is always overkill for the person who is not blood related to these peeps. but man he holds his own! entertaining Londy and being there when he needs to be. but always giving meg and I time to do whatever our hearts desire. thanks for that babe;) UR THE BEST!