Almost there!

I am actually on the downhill slide to the Garage Project! Brianne has been a big help. We went through and emptied 20 boxes yesterday! I have filled numerous boxes for the trash and good will. FYI, I have not gotten rid of anything meaningful of Kierra's. I have weatherproof boxes to store things in and keep them safe until the twins are older and can choose what they want. i am amazed at how much miscellaneous stuff we had out there. it helps that I am in a cleansing mood, so alot of things I used to think were worth saving, are now gone. It feels good and productive to finally tackle it all and get it done. I am pushing through the last of it over the next few days. the POD gets picked up Saturday. I am not sure what time, so Friday night is my cutoff to be done. I have been almost living out there, so it was not suprising to have over 300 emails to sort through! I will catch up on the kids and things soon, I promise!

Where did it go!?

Somewhere along the way I have lost an entire week! Brian and I were talking about my garage project and our upcoming trip. I fely confident that I would have no trouble getting it done in time because I still had 3 weeks. He informed me that it was only two weeks! I am not so confident and I have too much to do! So if you wonder what I am doing and why I am not online as much.. I am buried in my garage! It is going well and I have gotten alot done, but I still have alot more to do. So off I go to unbox, sort and declutter some more!

Tristan & Papa

Tristan & Papa
Originally uploaded by mommanana

Check out new pix in the gallery.. and check out Tristan's first blackeye! His eye met Hunter's knee while they were wrestling. Ice did nothing to keep it down. It was alot darker a week ago!

Foiled Again!

Okay.. the day after the "Pod" was delivered, Chad started dayshift 6 days a week. There went my sitter while I tackled the garage. The other night Bri came over to help me and guess what? It rained, not just a little, a full blown thunder storm with major lightening. She did help me go through and file a bunch of stuff in the office, so it wasn't a total loss.
Today I had Chad take the twins to daycare. I was ready to "git er done!" and guess what.. it is POURING! The dam has burst and I am foiled once again! I am going to get out there and pick my way through what I can, but it would be soooo much easier to move the big stuff out of my way!! I am not sure why I am running into so many obstacles with this project, but I am determined to forge ahead! Wish me luck!

Bears & Mook

There are times when the mornings aren't so rushed that we get to enjoy the kids more than usual. They like to climb up on our bed and we catch their toes and do the "This Little Piggy" rhyme and tickle their toes. Hunter even joins in the ruckus. They giggle and wriggle and it is the best music to start the day. Then they demand their bears & mook. The bears are vitamins, similar to gummy bears, but from the health store so they are more vitamin than candy. The mook is their pediasure. They can say "milk", but it has always been mook, so mook it is. They were very persistent this morning and I asked them.. "Who is going to fix ME breakfast?" and Alexa answered.. "You are!" Then I asked.."Well, where is my coffee?" and Tristan piped in.. "In the kitchen!" They are getting too quick and too smart! You can't get much past them anymore!

He's Alive..

and that's good enough for me. We don't know where, but it is something to know he has been heard from. He spoke with one of my other brothers by phone. (Not on purpose.. he called my parents and the "other brother" answered, my parents are out of town.) They don't get along so the conversation wasn't pleasant or informative, but I will take what I can get. I am hoping for a more reliable and informative contact with someone else at some point, but beggars can't be choosers. It sucks to have such a dysfunctional family! We won't even go there today, I don't have that much time to blog!

Roy Albert Blomgren II

This is my baby brother. He has always been a wanderer. He goes his own way and does his own thing. But this time feels different. No one in our family has heard from him since the end of July. That isn't all that unusual. A close friend of his had expected him in Alabama over 3 weeks ago to work for him. Roy Albert has always kept in touch with this friend. He never showed up and hasn't been heard from. He travels on his black Harley motorcycle and was last seen in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. How do you find someone if they have a habit of not wanting to be found? Adults aren't looked for as a missing person unless they have a mental illness or foul play is suspected. So Bro.. where are you?? And more important than that.. Are you okay??

Alexa before surgery 9.10.08

Alexa before surgery 9.10.08
Originally uploaded by mommanana

Alexa had her ear tubes replaced and her adenoids taken out on Wednesday. She did great and is doing well. She didn't like being on liquids the first day, she kept asking for food even after having popsicles, sherbert, and jello. She went back to regular food last night and isn't complaining of pain. She has been a little more needy than usual, but that is better than being cranky! We are sticking close to home through the weekend and should be back to our normal routine by Monday.

Alexa and her babies 9.6.08

Alexa and her babies 9.6.08
Originally uploaded by mommanana

Alexa has really been into playing with her dolls lately. She changes them into pajamas at night and into play clothes in the morning. Yesterday all the kids got up VERY early so I put in a movie for them while I fixed breakfast and got the day started. Here she was getting them ready to watch the movie with her. it is so cute. She is quite the little Mommy.

Why did I save that?!

Have you ever saved something, (or several things!) and later wondered, "What was I thinking? Why did I save that?" I went through several bags and boxes in my bedroom and closet yesterday and wondered that with almost everything I found. I reorganized the shelves in my closet as well as the small bookcase in our bedroom too. I had just piled things up until I had time to go through it all. I decided yesterday was time! I have one completely clean and organized room in my house, our master bedroom. There is a chance it will stay that way awhile. The odds are better than they are with all the other rooms in the house which I seem to be cleaning constantly! I have been cleaning and downsizing the kids toys and clothes in their rooms over the past week. I have Alexa's room to do today. My Dr. changed some of my medications and I have more energy than I have had in months, so I am taking advantage of it while it lasts! I am gearing up to work on the garage and am sure to ask myself why I have saved all that stuff!

The POD Project

I have put a plan into motion that should keep me pretty busy over the next few weeks. I had a "POD" delivered today. (a portable storage unit) It will be here until Oct. 4th, or less if I finish before then (haha). I am going to empty out and organize our garage. There isn't any room to do it any other way and it is more than a one day job. We have 2 garage door openers that have been out there a year and we can't get through the stuff to install them!
I still have the majority of Kierra's things from her apartment. I have gone through some of them, but most of them have been untouched. It has been almost 3 years, I will never get over losing her, but I am ready to get past holding onto the material things. I will keep what will mean something to the children, but most of it is just "stuff".
I am heading into the project with the attitude that if we haven't used alot of what is out there in the year plus that we have lived here, then we don't need it and won't miss it! There will be alot of donations made to Goodwill, Salvation Army, Local Shelters, etc.
My deadline is the 4th, then Brian & I are escaping the 5th-12th of October. I figured that would prevent me from procrastinating!

Recent Randy update from Greta

(For the address and room number please email me or leave a comment and I will send it to you. Thanks! MJ)


Randy was transferred back to Heartland Rehab Wednesday night. He had a blood infection and they did a heart test Wednesday and it did not affect the heart or valves. He has another 10 days of IV antibiotics and he should be done. He is feeling much better. He is ready for the therapy part so he can come home. His mind is in the right direction for the final stage of his recovery. Thanks to all of you for your support through this. If it weren't for you all where would we be? Randy loves the company and it brightens his day when he gets a visit. There are no set visiting hours. Please pass the news on to those I might not have gotten here. Thanks! Greta

Heidi's Wedding Flowers

Heidi's Wedding Flowers
Originally uploaded by mommanana

These are the flowers I did for Heidi's wedding. Greta & I got there Friday night (I beaded pillows, bags, & baskets all the way there!) and worked through the night and straight into the 2:00 wedding on Saturday to help pull it off. It was beautiful and she was happy.. that is what it was all about. Greta & I crashed at 11 pm Saturday, got up Sunday, packed, loaded, and headed home!

Randy didn't transfer

Randy is still at Shands.. he has a more serious blood infection than they first thought. They want to run more tests to be sure his heart valves haven't been damaged. I will update as I get the info. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Guess what I found?!

I have been rooting through things looking for a heart hole punch I have misplaced. I have been looking through things I have looked through numerous times. But tonight I emptied a small hallmark bag with some recipe cards and odds & ends in it, and there, mixed in with those common, unimportant things, I found a small photo book I lost over 3 years ago! The last pictures in it are of Hunter Dec. '04 and the twins 1 year pix Feb. of '05. I am so excited. There are pix in there that I don't have on my PC or anywhere else.. I will have to scan and post them when I get a chance. (Probably sometime next week!)
I haven't found what I was looking for, but this was so much better! I am trying to get things packed for a trip to NC with Greta to make her & Randy's neice's wedding as special as we can last minute. We leave tomorrow afternoon, wedding Saturday, head home Sunday. It will be crazy, but it will be a good kind of crazy. I don't know if I will have time or access to get online, so if all else fails I will catch up late Sunday night.

More Wall Words..

I put up some more "wall words" today. I put these two in our bedroom;

"Real Love Stories never have endings." (in the corner near my reading chair)
"Holding you, I hold Everything." (on a blank wall on my side of the bed)

Then I put this one in our bathroom over our big garden jacuzzi tub;

"Together, a great place to be."

That finished off decorating our bedroom, I still have to decide if I want to do anything else in our bathroom.

Just a few little things, but it was productive not to just buy them, but to put them up!

Randy Update from Greta..

Randy was transferred to a Jacksonville Rehab Facility on Saturday, he wasn't feeling well, but it was chalked up to the transfer and he hadn't been feeling well for a while. Sunday night he was taken to Shands Jax after another day of not eating and not feeling well. Here is the recent update from Greta.



Randy is doing much better and will be transferred back to Heartland on Normandy Blvd tomorrow. (if you didn't get the room # via email.. call me, MJ) He had a blood infection which they are treating with antibiotics. They think it was caused by the pick line in his arm. They are looking at replaceing it. It has three ports so they can give iv fluids, meds, and pull blood. That way they do not have to keep sticking him. It has been in over six weeks. He is also getting over a cold, not pnemonia thank god.

I am going out of town this weekend for a very quick trip for Heidi's wedding in North Carolina. I will be leaving some time tomorrow and returning on sunday. for those of you who are in town if you get a chance to stop by Heartland and see Randy I would appreciate it. Jennifer is staying behind to look after her dad so I can be with Heidi.

Randy's attidude has improved greatly and he is ready for the challange of physical therapy so he can go home. It has taken some talking to get him where is is mentally. He made phone calls to all his brothers and sisters last night and it was great seeing the smile on his face being able to communicate with them.

Our love to you all and thank you so much for all the prayers and support. It has been the only thing that has helped me keep my sanity.

Whispers

Whispers
Originally uploaded by mommanana

This is for my hubby.. who works harder and longer than he should. After one of his long days he took over with the kids, let me hide in our room to watch a food network show I wanted to see, AND put them to bed while I took a long bubble bath. That is better than a dozen roses!!

Okay Mada.. hmmm, hi there, I got it!

Yesterday was the "anniversary" of Mada's passing. Strange how I hesitate to call it Mada's death. Yet with Kierra it is a death, a killing, so to say she "passed" seems trivial to me. But Mada did not "die" in the real sense of that word. At least she didn't think of it that way. She had more faith than the holiest of preachers. She did not fear dying. She looked forward to heaven. She would have made one hell of a Televangelist!
I digress.. what I meant to talk about was when I spoke to Nancy yesterday morning we talked about the "messages" we get from our girls. I had left Nancy a voice mail the night before because a commercial came on TV. It not only played the song "I Can Only Imagine", (which is one of the songs Mada chose for her own funeral) but the CD they were selling was titled that as well. The CD was full of songs of faith. Mada's message to me was two-fold.. Hey MJ.. call my Mom.. and by the way.. here's your sign! Similar to when she met Cher in person. Mada gave her a bible. Cher thanked her and admitted she didn't have one of those. Mada's mission wasn't just to meet her favorite singer, it was to give her a taste of faith.
That commercial was Mada's version of giving me a bible. No I did not order the CD.. Keep working at it Mada.. maybe someday. That song came to me several times the morning Kierra was killed. No matter what station we turned it to, that song came on. Lisa & I commented on Mada saying hello because we were camping without her. Now I know it was Mada reminding me she was there, maybe to let me know she was there when Kie got there.. if indeed there is a Heaven.
Wow, I digress again.. not everyone believes in those kinds of messages, or any messages from the ones we have loved and lost. Whatever works for you. I have experienced it even before we lost Kierra, so I have my own opinions and beliefs. I told Nancy that I am sometimes a bit resentful of how strong & clear Kierra's messages can be to others. I get them , but not as much as I would like sometimes. I see solitary dragonflies often, at the strangest of places. One flew in to the office where Alexa has speech therapy when we walked in the other day. It was huge, and would not leave no matter how hard we all tried to coax it back out the door. Anyway.. those are the coincidences that soothe me. That no matter how chaotic I am feeling.. that will bring me a moment of "hmm.. hi there.. got it."
So take a moment now & then to notice those moments. You never know who is trying to say hello!

Randy is one step closer to home.. literally!

Randy has been transferred to a facility in Jacksonville! He moved yesterday. I don't have all the info yet, but will email it out when I get it. It will take a few days for him to adjust, but I know any visitors will be welcomed and are much needed to get him back on track. Change is hard and his road to recovery is still a long one. Everyone's prayers and support have been a big help and are still needed. Greta can only do so much. There isn't AMS staff in Jacksonville and Randy definitely does better when he is not alone. So if you have any time to give, let us know.