Hello (2010) Goodbye (2009)

Tonight as we were driving back home from the dinner we just enjoyed with some friends, I couldn't help but think to myself that it was about that time in the evening where everyone else was probably getting ready to leave their homes to head out to a party, or to a bar downtown.

You know, to celebrate the New Year; inebriated style.

Oh the joys of parenthood. And getting old. And you know, not actually having any plans because you weren't invited to a party or planned to do something sans kids.

But that's okay! Instead I'll pull the blinds in Isaac's room at midnight and watch the fireworks atop Pikes Peak; if I can stay awake!

At any rate, I'd like to wish all my family and friends; near and far a very Happy New Year. I hope 2010 shines bright on you and yours and brings you much happiness and prosperity.

Catch ya on the flip side.....

To all my friends and family...

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.

W.C. Jones

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.

Harlan Miller

Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.

Dale Evans

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.

Agnes M. Pharo

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

Norman Vincent Peale

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.

W.T. Ellis

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!

Author Unknown

Merry Christmas Eve to All!

I saw this fun little Christmas related meme over here earlier this week and thought that it would be fun to fill out and share.

Merry Christmas Eve to All!

:: :: :: ::

Eggnog or hot chocolate? Definitely hot chocolate

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? Most are wrapped, some of the larger ones (think gifts for the kids that need assembling) are left unwrapped with a big bow on them.

Colored lights on a tree or white? We usually did all white, but I actually thought about doing colored lights this year. Maybe next .....

Do you hang mistletoe? No. But I should!

When do you put your decorations up? Typically the first weekend after Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite holiday dish? I don't have a particular favorite, I love it all!

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No we don't.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Our tree has a hodge-podge of various ornaments on it. Mostly ornaments we've collected over the years as gifts, some that the kids have made, some from our childhood. My favorite ornaments though are our collection of White House ornaments. One year we'll have an entire tree of nothing but White House ornaments, at least that's my goal. Oh! And we put red bows on our tree too with an angel on top.

Snow: love it or hate it? LOVE.

Can you ice skate? I've attempted ice skating only once in my life. I've never had any desire to try again...

What is your favorite holiday dessert? All the cookies!

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Driving around town looking at Christmas lights, baking Santa his chocolate chip cookies with the kids on Christmas Eve.

Candy canes: yum or yuck? Yum.

Favorite Christmas show? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Together Again

A week ago today before I stepped foot outside with the kids to shuttle them off to school, we told them that Dakota would not be home when they returned that afternoon. We made sure they said their good-bye's and then later that afternoon, while they were safely distracted at school, we took Dakota to the vet and let him go.

It's hard to believe that a week has passed already. It's hard to believe that just a short week later, we did it all over again.

But this time with Fargo.

With the kids in tow.

As the days passed since the second tumor surfaced, it was hard not to notice that it was getting larger. There were times when it seemed to be of a discomfort to him, but most of the time he just carried it around, with no concern at all except for what scraps you were going to feed him next.

Early Sunday afternoon he vomited up his breakfast. He then refused dinner. This behavior was something foreign to us because the dog loved to eat. On Monday he ate his breakfast but by mid-afternoon he had thrown it up. Monday evening brought more of the same, he didn't want to eat his dinner and surprised us again with two more piles of where he had gotten sick. We told ourselves that he had eaten something that made his stomach upset.

But I think we knew better.

This morning we made up some rice and soaked it in beef broth to give him for breakfast. We noticed that he was having a hard time expelling waste when he went out with Mickey. He was active and alert, his attitude never dimmed, so for sure he just had an upset stomach.

Deep down inside, I knew better.

By mid-morning he had thrown up the rice. On three different occasions. He was starting to look thin, and the tumor was turning purple from the inside where the skin was stretched to its limits.

We scheduled a vet appointment and took him in.

With the kids in tow.

The vet did an x-ray and discovered that he had a suspicious looking mass, most likely another tumor near the spleen. He also noticed that Fargo had another mass of some sort pushing down on his colon. The vet also suspected that the tumor bulging out from his back was going to ulcerate at any time. His findings weren't completely shocking to us, considering we knew just about two months ago that he had a very aggressive and fast paced type of cancer. It was then that we started to prepare to say our good-byes.

I just wasn't expecting it to be within a week of his brother.

But I think we knew better.

We're all going to miss you too buddy.

Well, except for Dakota.

I imagine that he was waiting for him with his tail wagging, happy to see his brother again.

Fargo 8/3/97 - 12/22/09

Out with the crazy

My house is quiet right now other than the constant hum of my laptop and the clock that's ticking nearby. Occasionally I hear the pitter patter of one of the dogs paws making their way across the hardwood floor. But for the most part it's quiet.

Although in my head things are different. I hear sounds of jets buzzing by, jackhammers tearing up pavement and maybe some fireworks going off in increments. My shoulders are tense, my chest burns when I breathe, my neck has a weird pull to it and my back. It's aching.

The last several months and weeks have been undoubtedly intense. And apparently quite stressful according to my body. What topped it all off though was the raging idiot who thought I cut him off then proceeded to scare the living poop out of me at about 85mph for about 5 miles of highway. Never in my life have I been a victim of road rage but on Wednesday afternoon? It was enough to send my heart into my throat and my fingers to dialing 9-1-1. All because this man thought I had done some injustice to him and his over-sized SUV.

Anyways.

We celebrated two birthday's yesterday; Keven Jr. turned seven and my father turned 74. We had a nice dinner together and then shared an ice cream cake and opened presents. Earlier in the day there was lots of running around like crazed fools trying to tie up loose ends for Keven Jr's birthday, with a little bit of Christmas shopping thrown in and an hour of 'fun-time' at Keven Jr's school holiday celebration. We made a stop by the vet to pick up Dakota's ashes. On Thursday night Isaac and his pre-school class put on a program for their parents and today I took six kids to the movie's in honor of the birthday boy.

The kids are now out of school until after the New Year.

I can't believe Christmas is next week.

I can't believe that 2009 is coming to a close.

I can't believe that my friends and family on the East Coast are buried in over a foot of snow!

I have plenty more to talk about but it'll have to wait until next time. My bed is calling me.

And Then There Were Two

I'm having a hard time sorting through all the emotions I'm feeling right now. Mostly I'm just in shock. And I'd be lying if I didn't say I was heartbroken. I can't even believe I'm pounding these thoughts out on my keyboard right now. I have no idea why things happen the way they do other than for reasons I cannot explain and right now? That's all I got to go off of. At some point I'll be able to put it all into words, words that make sense but right now I just can't. The thoughts, the memories....it's all just too fresh.

I've blogged several times over the last few weeks about Fargo and the tumors and the cancer and about how we've begun to prepare for his passing. We've talked to the kids. We've talked about what we are going to do when he does go and how long we are going to wait if it's taking a long time and physically taking a toll on him. We were as prepared as we ever could have been and literally just waiting. Waiting for the day to finally come.

I never in a million years imagined that Dakota (his brother) would go first; none of us did. And while I know we did the right thing by saying good-bye to him this afternoon, we will never forget him. He'll forever be in our hearts. He will forever be a part of our family.

Dakota 8/3/97 - 12/15/09

We're all going to miss you buddy.

Eight Months

Meet Kenzi. She's my great-niece.

Isn't she a doll? Like 'get this girl an agent quick!' kind of doll? She's not standing here posing for a photo shoot. Oh no she's not. She's standing here waiting for her daddy.

You see, her daddy has been overseas, on a ship for a eight months and the day had finally come for him to arrive back on US soil.

*Sigh*

When I saw my niece's updated photo album on Facebook earlier today it made me cry. I've been watching from behind my computer screen as she counted down the days for this very moment. The big day, the day that her husband was finally due home. The day that Kenzi's daddy was finally coming home. The day when they'd be a family of three again. I was so excited for her. For them.

A lot happens in eight months. A lot changes in eight months.

And then it just hit me. My niece has been a single parent for eight months. This precious little girl has been away from her daddy for eight months. To know that he was finally coming home safely? I just couldn't stop the flood of emotion.

And just in time for Christmas to boot.

I couldn't help but think though about all the families out there right now that are sending their loved ones overseas where they will spend the holiday away from their families. Or about those that are already overseas and have been away from their families for months, or maybe even for years, who too will spend the holiday on foreign soil. I just can't imagine. I hope they stay safe.

My niece is so lucky. And for that I'm grateful.

And to think that my family did this. To think that my mother and my siblings had to live day to day life without my dad around. Probably more often than not on a holiday or a special event. It's something I'll never experience but it makes me proud just the same.

The first thing she asked her daddy when she saw him was "can we get a puppy?" For being a month shy of two and a half I think she's already figured out how to win daddy over, don't you think?

How could she not win anybody over with that face!

Welcome home Scotty. We are glad to have you back.

Now get your butt to Colorado as soon as possible....

It's the most wonderful time of the year

The day after a snow storm rolls through is always the prettiest.

Well, I think so anyways.

The way the sky always seems to be the brightest shade of blue possible. The way the sunshine glimmers off the blanket of snow and sparkles like diamonds. I love the pine trees and how they look with globs of snow clinging to their needles the best. And it's always a mystery to see what Pikes Peak looks like after being under a cover of clouds for days. Sometimes it looks nothing like you expect it to, and other days it's absolutely breathtaking.

But again on most days, with or without snow, it's stunning.

I wanted to get out and take some photos of the snow when it started to fall a few days ago but the wind picked up and it was almost impossible to keep my camera and lens dry. And then the cold temperatures set in and really? I think my fingers probably would have froze to my equipment if I even gave it a go. Or fell off all together because they were so cold.

(It's -2 degrees out right now with a windchill of -14)

Crazy right?

In all my years of living in Colorado I don't recall it being this cold, for this long. It actually hurts to breathe when you go outside from inside. And I'm totally not kidding.

Luckily the cold temperatures aren't supposed to stick around for much longer and I can tell you now it's going to feel like a heatwave when we finally do get above freezing temperatures. Bring on the weekend temperature of 35 degrees! I'll pull out my swimsuit.

Oh. Well ........

Pardon my tangent there, I was talking about photos.

I did mange to take a few photos after all and well, here have a look:

PS: That vague white outline you see just above the trees starting on the left side of the photo going towards the center of the frame is Pikes Peak.

How many of you thought it was just clouds?

*Let it Snow*Let it Snow*Let it Snow*

It's been snowing now for a few days, at least I think anyways. The last four days or so have all blurred together but yes! We have snow! And as I write this right now it's still snowing. Another 4-8 inches expected overnight. And my word it is bone chilling cold.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

I got into a minor fender bender on my way to work this morning. Luckily I had already dropped the kids off at school and was alone, but even so - it wasn't bad. I was stopped at an intersection and a car coming down the hill behind me was going to fast and was having a hard time slowing down. I watched them through my rear view mirror zig zag back and forth until they finally came to a stop, sideways, up against the curb. In the process they tapped my rear passenger side bumper and lurched me forward just a slight bit. We got out, assessed the damage and went about our business. Thankfully there was absolutely no damage to my car, therefore no need to exchange important information.

I got lucky, don't you think?

In other news, Keven Jr. has bounced back quite nicely from his surgery last Thursday. We gave him a few rounds of pain medication (Tylenol w/codeine) but decided to stop giving it to him all together because he kept having weird reactions shortly after we gave it to him. Oh, which reminds me. I never continued on with the story.

DUH.

Let me do that now. Flashback to Thursday for a minute if you would.

After about an hour and a half or so of waiting and watching Dora, the doctor (did I mention that he was from New Zealand and had a really cool accent?) came in to tell us that the surgery went well and that they encountered everything they expected. He gave us instructions on what to do (and what not to do) over the course of the next several days and weeks and then he left. He told us that a nurse would be in shortly to take us back to where Keven Jr. was recovering. And sure enough that's what happened.

I walked back to recovery with the nurse and Keven Jr. was still sleeping. The nurse and I chit-chatted for about 25 minutes or so waiting for him to wake up and of course when he did finally wake up he was in pain. And confused and disorientated. Not too long afterwards he seemed to be handling everything okay so the nurse gave him a popsicle and some apple juice and took him off oxygen. And even though Keven Jr. had gotten quite a nice does of a pain medicine before coming out of surgery he was still complaining about being in pain so we contemplated giving him more pain medicine in his IV.

We opted to give him a dose of Tylenol w/codeine instead and that's when he scared the ever living poop out of me.

He got really pale. And then sort of became dazed, and I watched as his head tilted backwards onto his pillow and he closed his eyes. The nurse started calling his name to see if he'd respond and he wouldn't. It was almost as if he was trying to go back to sleep but then I watched the respiratory rate monitor go from a nice 98-100 to a 25-30.

His breathing was labored. So as you could imagine I sort of got a little concerned. The nurse did what she was supposed to do and turned the oxygen back on. Keven Jr. finally came around but because of this little stunt he had pulled, he was going to have to stay a little while longer to be monitored. And really?

I was okay with that.

I looked at the clock and noticed that it had been almost 2 hours since I left Keven and Isaac back in the hospital room. I asked the nurse if I could switch with him as I figured he was probably getting agitated that it was taking us so long to return. We did the switch (Keven Jr. had been asking about him and Isaac so I thought it would make him feel better) and eventually, once Keven Jr. was considered stable, they came to the hospital room to hang out.

We waited another 45 minutes and then they let us go home.

So. Back to the Tylenol w/codeine. He had another reaction at home similar to the one he had in the hospital the first time we gave it to him and then the second time? He had abdominal pain. We pulled out the Motrin and gave that to him instead, which really was fine because the boy hasn't been in pain AT ALL.

Which is wonderful if you ask me.

He went back to school today and I think is well on his way to being completely healed. Just in time for his seventh birthday, which is right around the corner I might add....

Now if only we could cure our dog.

More about that next time.

Winter Solitude

We've had quite a bit of snow already this winter. Actually it snowed as early as what would be considered our Fall so by now? We are pretty immune to it. And maybe a slight bit over it too if I'm being honest. But I enjoy it. To me there is just something about wool sweaters, big heavy coats, hats and mittens that make me fond of this time of year. Even the thought of a warm fire to sit next to is delightful.

When I woke up early this morning to let Fargo out, the snow was steadily coming down. The air was crisp and cold, the morning was still and silent as most people weren't even considering getting up at that hour. Even those early risers that head to church wouldn't have been up at that hour. Every single house had a billow of warm air coming from their chimneys as their thermostats were probably turned up to a comfortable temperature inside the house.

It was quiet.

And while I usually grumble about having to get up out of my warm bed to tend to the dogs at that time of day, I always enjoy the moment while I'm in it as much as I can. I think about how I heard an owl the other morning on a nearby roof-top, or back to a few nights ago when I heard a pack of coyotes catch their breakfast within close proximity to my house, then happened to see four or five of them run happily past at the intersecting street. If I was still asleep at that hour I would have missed it.

But most importantly, it was quiet.

I secretly look forward to each and every day.

Tying up Loose Ends

Okay so I know I owe everyone an explanation for this line of questioning, and I owe an update to this post, but I have to pause for a minute and ask yet another question.

Holiday cards! Who wants one? Better yet, who does them?

I try to do them every single year, the key word being 'try'. Usually I do manage to get them done however there for a few years you were lucky if you had received one by, oh, let's say February. I think I managed to get them all done and out in the mail last year before Christmas itself, which was huge, so you know: there is hope for me yet.

This year though I was thinking about tossing the idea to the curb all together. With all the stuff I've had going on with dogs and kids and work and you know LIFE, I'm just not sure I can get them completed in time.

But my inner self keeps screaming at me to come on! Where is the holiday spirit?

Okay, well I asked myself that, who cares to know?

So tell me, do you do holiday cards? Do you purchase them and then slave over writing something in each and everyone, and then address them and stamp them to mail them out? Or do you put together those cute little photo holiday cards on those nifty photo websites and mail those? Do you write a yearly holiday letter to go inside your cards? Or do you include an updated family photo? And I can't even fathom this idea (although I used to do it myself - you know my crafty-before-I-had-kids-and-tons-of-time-self) but do you hand make your holiday cards to send?

I'm dying to know people. I really am.

Leave me a comment and let me know if you'd like a holiday card from us here at And All The Jones Men. Your answer just might light that fire under my butt and push me to get them done and over with and mark them happily off my To-Do list.

With only 12 billion more 'to-do' things on my list to go....

First up? BUY HOLIDAY CARDS.

Surgery & Laughing Gas & Nurse Call-Buttons Oh My

I've been up since 3:45AM so needless to say I'm tired. I was going to post about Keven Jr's surgery and about how he laughed his butt silly while on the way to the operating room where he continued to laugh and laugh and laugh. Seriously, he had the whole room giggling and even though I knew what was about to happen, I was calm about it all. I couldn't get over how comical he was being. Laughing so hard he had tears streaming down his face.

And then he said that the bubble gum flavored laughing gas smelled like....carrots.

It took a little longer for him to fall asleep, compared to Isaac when he had his ear tube surgery. Once he was out, I kissed him on the cheek and headed back to our room where Keven and Isaac were patiently waiting.

The hardest part of it all?

Was watching Isaac bust out into tears because they were wheeling his big brother away to the operating room and his mother was going with him and he couldn't go.

It was so unfair he said.

Isaac got over it quickly and was happy to see me return only minutes later. He then happily accompanied me to the hospital cafeteria where we grabbed a small breakfast (and some M&M's) and then headed back to our room to eat. And wait.

And this is where the tale ends for now folks. My brain is mush. My eyes are heavy.

To be continued.

At a Loss

Question:

If your 4 year old child came home from school and told you that another kid asked them to show them your butt, what would you do?

To take it a step further, if it was actually your child that asked the other child to show them your butt, what would you do?

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how you'd handle each of the scenario's above.

That's all.

December 1

And just like that December is here. Christmas is literally weeks away, and so is Keven Jr's SEVENTH birthday. Oh and another important event, Keven Jr's having surgery. On Thursday.

It's going to be a busy month.

We started our Christmas shopping on Black Friday at 4:15AM in the morning. And yes, we took the kids with us. While we did manage to get a few things that we really were hoping to get, we didn't get everything. Which was fine, there was no way in the world that I was going to camp out overnight, in the cold, on the pavement out in front of Best Buy just to get the best deal of the day.

I might be a tad bit crazy but I know where to draw the line.

We shopped until we dropped knocking off quite a few things from our lists and then we headed home to nap. The kids were absolute troopers and for the most part behaved like they should have. And they didn't even protest when we told them to go straight to their rooms as soon as we got home to lay down. About two hours in to our naps, we were rustled awake by the serenade of doorbell dings. Shortly after that the kids were outside playing and the evening had begun.

On Saturday evening the Christmas tree went up, the lights were strung and the ornaments were placed meticulously on various branches. We left most of the tree trimming to the boys, hence why we found several groupings of ornaments on the same branch all around the tree. I didn't have the heart to switch things up so I left the ornaments how they placed them. They were so proud of their hard work.

As the evening went on more Christmas decorations went up and now? It's really beginning to look a lot like Christmas.