FUN

a challenging start

Oh my!! did our Pleasant Lake Camping trip start out with a HOOPLA!

Everyone was ahead of schedule
We checked in early
Started hooking up
Neither of us had the right plug for 50 amp service? OH brother.
Called camper sales- NOPE not one
Called the office at the campground- she giggled and said we could borrow 2 for the week! :-)
Sent the kids up on bikes to retrieve - only one came back!
One crashed, one was standing by.
I start to head to the crash site....and here come two on bikes....one skinned up and bearing miles of road rash. (Steve II)
I started examining the damage- thinking a little Neosporin and bandaids will do after some scrubbing up- and then he pops off his baseball hat! and says- "UM Mom- my head is bleeding too!" SURE WAS - with a 3 inch gaping split!!
VROOOM off to Express care for staples and glue!!

*note= Steve Sr had just tried to get RXs filled after his ENT appt on Friday to learn that when I changed positions/ entities within Foote, they cancelled by insurance and forgot to reactivate under my new cost center!! So I battled with them all afternoon and they told me we would get it settled on Monday! I said to the gal in HR- I have 3 boys and we are going camping- WHAT IF? WOW- a preminition, I guess.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

:>)

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:-)

Just a happy little post. Things seem a little normal again. (is that possible?)

Dad decided to go with frequent blood tests to check his PSA levels for now. If a change in the #s occurs- he will decide then on radiation. :-)

Christmas in July this weekend. Camping this weekend at my all time favorite aunt and uncle's. They have a farm and we all park in a circle in a big lot....and have a blast. Cousins I see a couple times a year (maybe) that grew up across the street from me. Loads of laughs. I am bringing Vodka Slush....YUM

Tonight is Big Brother a new favorite show of mine. SICK*O addicted to reality TV. LOL

Starting to get someone trained to do my job so I can move on. Got news my new pay and salary are now in effect. No more punching a clock. :-0 I will be done in my intake job on Aug 11. Only one more weekend and then only when others are off on vacation or in a pinch. One more week of vacation added.

Jake is done with band camp....no more lunch hour taxi runs. Until Aug 1st-driver's training starts.

Just wanted to let all my friend know I am back and feeling a little more like - ME!

Did you ever read this book to your kids ? We have had to purchase 3 or more copies of this book for Koda - as we wore the other copies out! If you add loads of emotion to the words and really play up the part....the kids would roar! we read this every night to Koda, then Jake and then Steve...they all loved it. (we acyaully ended up with 5 copies in all - I saved the first and the last!! )Oh the sweet memories this book brings to us all!! oh those days are gone all too fast!!

NOW- if you should ever run across this book when out shopping in the Little Golden Books section....would you PLEASE buy three copies as I would love to have one for each of them as graduation gifts!! :-) Planning to go search on line now.

WHEW!

Great news.

Dad 's got his results back last night.....his lymph nodes were negative. No cancer.
Now he has to make the decison whether or not he will choose to have the radiation. He follows up with the dr on Monday and they will go over all the options then. My oldest brother will join him at the appt.

He was so relieved and sounded so light hearted when he called last night!
Thank you to all of you -MY FRIENDS for all your thoughts, prayers and words of wisdom that helped us through one of the toughest times.

"Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life."

what a blur

*revised*

yep- blog slacker and RAK slacker.

been a little stressed and busy lately. I was north with my dad- they found more cancer which meant a BIG surgery. It was supposed to be a 1.5-3 hr surgery and he wound up in for 7.75 hrs! That is just plain nerve wracking sitting alone (although lots of people offered to join me for the wait, I declined all and just offered to make calls when we got news- hated to see anyone else sit in there all day and WAIT! ) Thank you - all of you for reminding me that you would have joined me had I allowed you to :-) Guess I was just expressing the scary feeling sitting there with NO NEWS and watching the room clear, hoping every call was for you with an update. in a waiting room watching people come and go - then my brother came and sat with me around 11am....at last someone to chat with to take my mind off from the wait. (I did get 3 chapter of Bungalow 2- new Danielle Steele cook read) It was a very long day! We had to be there at 530am- surgery started at 8am. He came home in less than 24 hrs...not sure it was a good idea but e is a MAN and let them know he was ready! ugh
No big results yet.....but they did take the lymph nodes for dissection too. Will keep you all posted.

Barton boys....the mad dash is still happening daily. Band camp run on my lunch hour....Steve and Koda ride bikes or walk for Steve's and soon will be driver's training too.

Otherwise- not much happening. Still in my old job-

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers....keep them coming as he is far from out of the woods. Now comes the determining if chemo and or radiation is the next step.

summer swim lessons

and she passed!! she loved it!! then she stole my raft...

this all happened yesterday!

today the summer storm took out my power. It was out from 430pm- till 830 tonight. Luckily we have a gas stove- so Steve could finish dinnner and then we basically enjoyed the outdoors until we got the power back. Our porch was a neighborhood hangout....kinda fun.

ugh- another week

who's your tiger? Steve decided Riley need to be the UN- official bat girl for the Tigers tonight while we were watching. After many attempsts she finally let me snap a pic. We took it for my dad....sending it his way! My Dad is a HUGE Tigers fan!!

(Don't look too close - her helmet is from the West Michigan White Caps game, not TIGERS )

Dad got his results back from his latest biopsy - NOT good. He goes on Friday for a meeting with the dr to talk about options. My brother is going to accompany him. I am going to patiently wait to hear from them from here.....hate the miles I have between myself and my family, especially in times like these. The talk is surgery and chemo with more tests to check to see if it has spread. Keep us in your prayers.

But on another Tigers note - those scratch off tix....if you have losers...send them in for the drawing! I talked my dad into it and he WON! FOR REAL, Beth :-) He won Tiger gear- very cool.

Here is the QUEEN !! She loves to be outdoors. A few nights this past week I have had to go out in my pjs to get her- she loves to crawl up in the lawn chair and go to sleep. I called and called her Thursday night and she would lift her head, loko at me, then lay back down and go to sleep. STINKER! Just like a kid!!

Nothing else too exciting going on.... The pool and the grill are getting used a lot. The garden isdoing GREAT! green beans, green peppers, tomatoes, banana peppers, corn and watermelon!

bummer

We bid, but were overbid by someone who offered FULL price on the house we were interested in. Oh well, there is a reason for it and somwhere is a new house for me. :-)

My lunch hour now consists of MOM'S TAXI. I drive home at 1015 grab Jake , pick up another kid, run to Parkside, drop them off for summer band camp and back to work. Today however, I tossed them out at Parkside and dashed to Target before going back....uhhhh HELLO...June 19th? The new Janet E book is released today and so was Bon Jovi's cd...yep- a quick $30 BUT well worth every cent. Love the cd and book BOTH!

Steve starts his band camp in just a couple weeks and Koda starts Driver's Training! The wheels will be smoking at lunch time for TAXI MOM!! (Thinking about checking the city bus schedule for the driver training kid? we'll see.)

AND I will start my new job. Effective 7-1-07 my new position, and pay scale will go in effect!! :-) Still in the same place, same people, I will just be working for Hospice instead of Home Health and no more speaking with every referral source! Don't get me wrong, I love my current job too, but the new one is working more indepentently. If you did not know....I am not keen on someone always over my shoulder watching me. LOL and one nurse in particular was a biggie ....I even caught her on my computer reading my email once. UGH.

Stay cool and enjoy summer.

happy father's day

What a weekend - in a flash!!
On our way home today a church on I 96 had an awesome quote.

Don't let your yesterday waste your today!!

loved it!! Sums it up completely. Hey Mom, a new quote we can use for our half empty friends! :-)

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

i love weekends like this

WOW! We have had a great weekend- we went back to house shopping - and oh my- I think we may have landed THE ONE !! guess what color the kitchen is? ahhh I will elaborate when we get closer. No more cursing my dream- and to those of you interested- it is in JPS district!! Not the neighbor to Beth - but still close enough for the kids to play / hang out!


kitchenfamily room in the basementliving roomlooking from the living room in to the kitchen- staitway to basement

I have tried some new recipes this weekend....and my family has been happy with fluffy full bellies all weekend. This one below is a new recipe I located online....I will share. And to be honest, cooking with beer scared me a wee bit ? but just like cooking with wine- the alcohol burns off during cooking so no big deal. Today I just put round steak (trimmed all the fat off) in the slow cooker on high with a bottle of BBQ sauce - as it cooked down and got tender I tore it apart with a fork and we had Beef BBQs. All 4 boys have been in awe this weekend...lol They even got a chocolate cream pie tonight for dessert- last night I made a weight watchers cream pie and they ate it but were not tickled by it. lol Of course no one passed either




My Kid's Favorite Pork Chops

Original recipe yield:6 servings

PREP TIME
20 Min

COOK TIME
1 Hr

READY IN
1 Hr 20 Min

6 pork chops ( I did 10 and used the same amt of beer and BBQ sauce) plenty
2 tablespoons steak seasoning
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
2 onions, sliced
DIRECTIONS
Sprinkle pork chops with steak seasoning. Brown both sides in skillet. After the pork chops have been browned, remove them from the pan.
Pour into skillet one can of beer. Stir around the beer until all the particles on the sides have been incorporated. Pour in barbecue sauce and place the pork chops back into the pan. Add onions and cover. Simmer on low for 1 to 2 hours.


Now back to the work week. No school - no activities. Jake will have band camp start Tues- Steve starts in July. Koda will take driver's training in July too, I think.

Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend.

YEAH Schools out!

What a week- nope not lost- just busy and not bloggin.
My bloggin usually happens in the evenings- and this past week so nice outside- just no time to blog! :-)
Week recap- lots of field trips, high school EXAMS, work is crazy!
I accepted a new position within the company.
I recently received 2 RAKS - a good summer bookand a photo envelope , and a goodie envelope full of fun scrapbook accessories, keychain photo album, note cards- SWEET, thanks ladies.
Now, to get the summer plans rolling- off to summer boarding school for boys!!
(ok, so just wishin that on some days)

Jakob- summer band camp - M-F 11-12 June 12- July 19
Steve - summer band camp M-Th 10-3 July
Dakoda- driver's training July - $400 (it was free 100 yrs ago when I took it)

Making plans for the girls getaway with Mom and my sis in law, Barb! ( maybe Bill's new friend too??) Shipshewana or BUST

what a weekend

Started with a day off from work! ahh!! Beth and I both took a day off...and we went to breakfast followed an awesome - totally relaxing pedicure. You sit in a chair that massages your back (kneading!) while they are massaging your piggies. I think I have a new addiction!!

Steve took Friday off too- so when the kids got home from school- we headed NORTH!!

Friday night we took the kids swimming IN Lake Michigan. Sunset pic of he and I

Frozen Steve

Friday - Sunset in Grand Haven

Sat- More swimming with friends. Spent the afternoon with Michelle and her family.

King Steve

King Jake

Saturday we went to Michelle and Nelson's for a few hours- the kids had fun in the pool and we caught up on the latest and greatest!! :-) We decided to all to to the horse race track, Great Lakes Downs. They say it will close after this season so we wanted to check it out! It was great fun. Yes, I won some and lost some. and the kids loved to watch BUT they started to get CRAZY chasing me to the bid counter pushing $ at me asking me to bid on a # for them....I created MONSTERS! LOL Truly, it was under control but seemed a little creepy with a 14, 12 and 11 year old arguing over horses, jockeys and winnings...lol

This pic was so cute. I was packing my bag to get ready to head for home today- and Riley hopped in when I went to gather my stuff from the bathroom....Momma was not going to leave her behind!

Hope everyone had a great weekend

say cheese

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Is there really a puppy tooth fairy ?

• The tooth fairy is coming to the Barton's frequently this week. (Riley is the lucky girl)
• Dancing with the Stars - my favorite choreographer won! Julianne and Apolo (cute couple)
• American Idol - Jordin Sparks won- a young 17 yr old with a very powerful voice.
• I worked 48 hours so far this week- and I am sleepy tired
• Interviewing for two new positions within the company next week
• No firewarks tonight- postponed til tomorrow
• Thursday night Steve took our boys and Coutney to see Pirates #3. They loved it.
• I have the desire to create.

do what?

My trombone player- the future Parkside band member.

Jakob just had his first concert Thursday and he did a great job. He played the trombone all year and was hesitant to rejoin for 7th grade- but since the concert he has decided to continue on.

what's new?

Not a whole lot to report.....

Steve got off to camp on Monday- must have survived last night's storm- no calls.

Jake went back to school- still pretty tired- off to bed everynight waaay before bedtime.

Koda started his bands for braces- they started with just the back bands. Back on the 30th to get the rest? things are so different since when I had braces. (no, they were not made of slate as my kids asked!)

Steve Sr survived his 40th birthday.

Riley OH MY- I think she is going through the terrible twos. If there is something to get into she finds it....a royal stinker!! Tonight she got in my purse when I was in the kitchen and stole a CHECK! one I had voided, thankfully- BUT STILL. She loves the blowdryer...she runs when she hears it turn on and stands nearby on her hind feet- she loves it when you blow dry her belly.....ahhh warm! She has been sneaking out of the gate- so now she has to be a prisoner of a cable tie out! We tried to block every hole we could see and she still gets out- so the cable it is. Howver, now she sneaks out with the cable on and then is STUCK! Ugh, I cannot imagine starting over with kids at my age...she drives me nuts!!

ME I am looking forward to my weekend. A scrapbook day at Beth's- sounds so relaxing and fun. Love hanging out with you girls.....be inspired by all the craftiness.

Off to do some laundry- anxious to catch AI tonight- beth I do think 'your girl' will take it away- but last night I did vote- a couple times.....first time I actually voted...lol have you?

Happy day

Happy Mother's Day- my friends.
Hope everyone was able to enjoy a little R & R or even better- some royal treatment.

Had to share a couple cute shots I took today.

Busy Monday ahead of us .....

Koda get his braces on.
Jake goes back to school after his week off.
Steve heads off to camp in Battle Creek for one week.

Oh what a relaxing shot of Koda. Hammock, sunshine and jammin to his ipod w/ earbuds in.

I ran wild all day today getting everyone ready for the new week. Packing for Steve being away for a week.

Steve's 40th bday was cool. He said thank you to all for the wishes :-)

We spent the day running and shopping. Had pizza here with the kids, then went to the 740pm movie to see Delta Farce. It was ok, funny but not hilarious. We were home by 10 and then had his cake and ice cream. :-)