(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Good Medicine

It is uplifting for a grandma's melancholy heart to have such a cheerful, adorably cute-- and quite insistent! --helper... 
(He pushed and pulled on my legs until I picked him up to let him in on the action.)

And so great to have my kitchen used in one of the ways it was intended, even though baking with grandchildren seemed so far away when it was designed!

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

We had a baseball tournament break after the trip to Pullman.  It was perfectly timed... The weekend of GrandPrince's birthday was free of baseball, and open for partying!

In add to the fun, Princess Bossy flew in from her state far away to attend...and stay for a good visit.  Unfortunately, Prince Helium had to stay home and work, so we missed him.  

Also, unfortunately, but not as much, the princess' flight was supposed to arrive the night before the party day, but the airline cancelled the flight that day!!  Instead, she had to rebook for party day, and I was picking her up at the airport just as the party began, so we were a bit late.  We were glad that the important festivity events, like cake and presents, waited until after our arrival.



The little man loved his party and appreciated each one of his gifts.  Since one of his first words was "fish," and he was excited by anything fishy, his cake was a shark, with cupcakes on the side, decorated as colorful, littler fishes. 

Sassy and Steadfast also celebrated their wedding anniversary that weekend, and, of course, Bossy and Helium did the same 19 days later.  Can you believe it's been 3 years since the 2 weddings?!

Princess Bossy was on the porch for a phone call from
her hubby.  It turned into a terrific, through-the-glass game.
You may be wondering what's on his Onesie...
Princess Artiste and her boyfriend took photos of themselves
 and transferred them onto the shirt for his bday gift. -- The front
shows them with their eyes covered, the back has them uncovered.
"Peek-a-Boo!"  So cute.

❤

Write31days.com

Disappearing Posts

You may notice that a couple of my previous posts and some photos have been deleted.  I wanted to explain that the young parents decided they'd rather not have baby pics on the internet, so I have removed all but 1 post with only indirect or distant shots. (If that doesn't meet their approval, I'll remove it, too.)  I love sharing him with you, but not at the expense of their wishes, privacy, and his safety, as well as relationships with other family members.  

So...

POOF!  

....Problem solved.  :-)

I Didn't Know my Rope was Elastic

I guess it's a good thing, but I wish it didn't have to be...

You may have noticed that I've been running quite behind on posting to my blog. It's been the usual busy here lately with work on the garage addition, the baby's arrival, visitors from afar, and the kids' sports and work activities... and then some.  

When the baby was just a couple of weeks old (he's already a month!), he had his 2-week check up (at which he was already a full pound over his birth weight).  Also, his mama needed to check in with the surgeon and her midwife, which resulted in my accompanying them to 3 different appointments that week.  The last of those was on the Friday morning before Princess Eager's first ever soccer tournament game.  The timing was just right to come home from the doctor appointment and get the mommy settled, before zooming off to the tourny in mid-afternoon.

I'd been looking forward to that particular weekend for months, as there was a special celebration for my aunt and uncle's golden wedding anniversary.  But things had gotten complicated! 

Princess Eager's tournament (1 game on Friday and 2 on Saturday) was the first addition to the schedule, followed by a tournament planned as a special treat by Prince Go-for-It's school baseball coach for the 9th graders who'd played together in the spring (2 games on Saturday and 1 on Sunday).  Both tournaments were an hour's drive away... In different directions, of course.   

Thankfully, Princess Artiste had a day off work that Saturday, and volunteered to miss the anniversary party to chauffeur Eager to her games, and to be her cheering section.  Prince Inventive, Prince CuddleBunny, and I took Go-for-It to his Saturday morning game, and Inventive stayed to watch the end before leaving for work, while Hubby, the youngest prince, and I drove out to enjoy the special anniversary.  After the party, Hubby, CuddleBunny, and I watched the end of Go-for-It's 2nd game of the day, before all 4 of us headed for home.  

Are you following?  I told you it got complicated, and I had been somewhat stressed during the week, making the calculations to be sure everyone got where they needed to safely and on time, with rides to and from, and family fans to support the athletes.

The weekend appeared to be nicely under control, and in the home stretch, when Hubby was overtaken by sickness on our way home.  Soon after we arrived, he fell into bed with nausea, body aches, chills, and a fever.  I tried to tend to him while also keeping him isolated, hoping the sickness wouldn't spread, and, exhausted, felt that I was at the end of my rope.  

By morning, I felt very achy, too, and also nauseous, so the end of my rope had extended.  --But Prince Go-for-It had more baseball to play, and none of our younger drivers in the family were available to transport him.  We split duties.  I drove him to his game and back, and crashed into bed while Hubby got up to take him to a baseball team try-out that evening.

Sickness was not exactly the cherry on the cake of our weekend... and also not where my rope quit stretching.  Sunday night I got an email from my sister that my mom had experienced some confusion during the day, and even though it seemed to have resolved, she was taking her to the ER.  It was best to have her checked out for stroke or infection.  We thought it likely that even though she thoroughly enjoyed both, she was maybe just tired from attending the anniversary party the day before, and from hosting my brother and sister-in-law who had stayed with them while visiting from out of state.  

We were not prepared for the doctor's discovery ... a large brain tumor.

Life can change in an instant.  Things like keeping up with blogs take a position even lower than before.  Time with the people in our lives is so precious.  

I am happy to say our 82-year-old mom came through brain surgery like a champ holding onto her determination to "live 'til 100!"  Because it was in her right frontal lobe, the left frontal lobe took right over so she didn't lose any function.  Medical science and the human brain are amazing things, as is the power of so many prayers sent up on her behalf.  

I can't give in to the feeling that my rope's end is met.  Among lots of emotions, I'm torn.  When I'm home, I feel I should drop everything to be with my parents and join my overstressed sister in helping them, but when I'm away for hours or days, things and people suffer at home.  -It's certainly not all about me. 

The surgery was one big hurdle leapt, but we don't yet have enough information on the cancer to know what lies ahead.  God knows, and we rest in that assurance... and welcome prayers for our parents during this challenging and frightening new journey upon which they've suddenly found themselves.

Best Laid Plans

The baby prince let it be known early on that he was not bound by anyone's schedule!

He was due in early July or mid-July, depending on whether you believed LMP dates and the mid-point ultrasound, or the early ultrasound.  So Princess Bossy, figuring he'd make his appearance by sometime in between, scheduled her visit for a "safe" distance after the later due date.

But as she arrived via airplane, he was arriving via C-section.


Princesses Artiste and Eager did chauffeuring duties, and the 3 princesses and Bossy's mother-in-law, who came along to get to know the family better, came by the hospital on the way home... just after Princess Sassy and the baby were settled into their hospital room.

Not only had I planned to have the house sparkling (I can dream), the larders full, and all sorts of things organized and planned before our guests arrived... which couldn't happen since I was out of the house for the 2 full days before they came... but Princess Bossy had also planned to host a shower for her sister and new nephew.  That just wasn't going to work, since Princess Sassy was still in the hospital on the appointed day. 



Plan B was proposed by the new mommy.  Princess Bossy, her mother-in-law, the photographer (Prince Cuddle Bunny), and I sat in the hospital room that day, and the shower guests were invited to stop by.  This gave those who wanted to the opportunity to see the baby and Princess Bossy during her short visit home.   (My brother-in-law also took wonderful photos, some of which are mixed in with CuddleBunny's here.)

4 generations: Mama watches as Grandma introduces
the new prince to his Great Grandpa

The shower decorations didn't go to waste, as they welcomed the new family home and celebrated a big family dinner later that day.

Celebrating Additions

...No, not the garage addition yet.

...No, not the grandbaby yet... or, specifically, not his arrival.

Terrible phone photo
of the happy newlyweds

But we did gain a brother-in-law and a grand-niece so far this week!!  Wonderful blessings, and we hope our grandson joins the party soon.  

--Very soon, and his mama would sure agree!  Especially with 90 degree temperatures here this week.










Actually, we did celebrate the baby last weekend, as well as his daddy's new degree. 

Prince Steadfast's degree completions always seem to be a bit overshadowed.  When he got his Associate in Arts degree, we were in major wedding planning mode.  Now, after 2 years of intense dedication, the accomplishment of his Associate in Science - Transfer Track 2 for Engineering was almost lost in baby preparations.  

Not wanting to let that slip by unrecognized after all of his hard work, we celebrated both important events with a combination graduation party/baby shower.

Grad cap cupcakes.. (made with mini Reeses cups
and Ghirardelli squares)

...and pacifier cupcakes (large Lifesavers and jelly beans).
All by our cupcake aficionado,  Princess Eager

Baby is growing & growing!
Princess Sassy bought a new
dress the week before,
but by party time it was too small,
so she had to find something else
at the last minute.

The cutest thing ever?  After the party, Steadfast had the help of one his best friends in trying to figure out the MobyWrap baby carrier.  ;-)

Uh-oh...

Princess Sassy is looking like this these days...

Last week, actually

And the countdown-to-Baby chain is getting short!















But the garage space?  Not quite what you'd call ready and waiting.  


The siding guys I thought were coming (and finishing) in March, actually started closer to May, and their schedule is hit and miss.  

It really did look just like this the day we visited
Northwest Door,
but I found this image here

We have beautiful new (aluminum) carriage-style garage doors, manufactured locally by Northwest Door.   We were able to visit the factory where they were made and get a close up look at our options.  

These doors have a powder-coated finish that has an amazingly real-looking, faux wood pattern. These were not inexpensive, but they are very high quality, and just the wooden, carriage-door look Hubby dreamed of, without any of the upkeep required by wood. Even though our front door is Douglas Fir and they offer a fir option, we chose the deeper colored "Dark Cherry" finish, because our front door is already darkened past the color of the fir sample, and the southern exposure on the garage doors would make them look even lighter.

Hubby devised a roof detail to bring better focus to them, and to add interest to the tall front of the garage.  

The interior is mostly framed, with a bit more to go where we want to drop the ceilings in the hallway.  


I'm installing outlet and switch boxes, so wiring can start.

We'd planned to heat this space with a picturesque, but also practical, gas stove.  But our most recent big decision is to use a "mini split" heat pump instead.  It will mount on the wall, near the ceiling.  These are ductless

image source

and will cost about half the price of the gas stove, plus the benefit of also providing air conditioning when needed.  They are supposed to be extremely efficient and quiet.



Poor Hubby has spent almost every spare moment of the last 20 months, working away, and the nesting princess is getting antsy. We're back to the building construction phrase this control-freak, deadline-oriented, soon-to-be grandma hates: "It'll be done when it gets done."  ;-)