Tonight's Schedule Includes....

After the last week of run, run, run, and hurt, hurt, hurt, and work, work, work, we are taking tonight off to cheer, yell, scream and (shop for grandkids!)!!


Betcha can't guess where we are going tonight??


Need a little hint?.....

Okay, if you didn't get it from that one, let's try a bigger hint....

Now, if you don't know we are going to the Phoenix Suns Home Opener Game tonight, then you are not the b-ball fan I thought you were! This is when I wish our boys lived here. I'm not the fan Blaine is, but I try... See, it works like this.....

Blaine loves the Suns. -- I like to go to the games and buy things for the grands.

Blaine loves to watch the Suns on t.v. -- I bother him with dumb questions while he tries to concentrate on the game. (Good thing he has DVR and can rewind!)

Blaine loves to talk about the Suns games. -- I pretend to know what he's talking about.

Blaine loves to wear his Suns hat. -- I love to make my hubby happy!

Ramblings of a Crazy Grandma

The past few days have been sort of a blur. I guess vicodin does that to you huh? Oh well. At least I have the pictures to show me what I missed! I know I am biased, but we DO have the cutest grandkids ever!

As if we didn't have enough medical drama in our lives right now, my youngest brother stuck his hand where it didn't belong and ended up with a mangled hand. He broke his thumb, two fingers, lost the tip of his pinky finger and got a whole lot of stitches. He is supposed to see an ortho this week to see what they can do to make sure he retains the use of his hand so we will see how that works out. In the meantime, I told him he should volunteer to be the safety representative at his job since he's off work for awhile.

Bryce is in surgery as I type. Apparently with the meningitis and the treatment for it, they say it will be easier on Bryce to replace the plate that they put in a few weeks ago. On a normal child the treatment would include about 10 weeks of steroids, but since Bryce is autistic, you can't reason with him and expect him to understand that he has to stay still and stay calm. He is certainly a trooper though!

Wade is starting chemo this week. He is not doing very well at all and seems to be going downhill rapidly. I hope the chemo will help with that, but the outlook is still grim. Please keep them in your prayers.

The weather has been absolutely perfect this week! This is why we live in Arizona! Blaine is gearing up to take the scouts hiking next month and had me order him a backpack online the other night. I don't know who will crash first, the boys or him! I'm not so sure his ankle is up to hiking with all the metal in it, but he assures me he can do it. I think he should take his horse, but that wouldn't really be fair now would it? At least I don't have to go! I much prefer spending time with Masiu so his dad can go camping than going camping with the scouts!

I am gearing up to get the recharter for scouts done. Every year we have to re-register all the scouts, leaders, committee members, etc. in all levels of our ward. So I have to have all the information for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and Venturing Scouts as well as all their leaders. Gathering the information isn't too hard, but getting people to fill out registration forms and return them to me on time is a definate challenge!

I booked our flight for Thanksgiving yesterday. We figured it out and it will be cheaper for us to fly to Denver and hitch a ride with Travis and Robin than it would be to drive our truck to Wyoming and back. Not to mention that there are several mountain passes between here and there that you can bet will be covered in snow! I know we know how to drive in snow, but why do it if you don't have to!

Travis is going to try and go back up the mountain this week to shoot an elk and fill their freezer. I hope he can get one! I know he really wanted Blaine to be able to go hunting with him, but maybe next year. We will have to save up our pennies for an out of state hunting trip! Those licenses are mega bucks!

Robin over-did things this week as well. She decided to paint about every room in their house and move furniture etc. so her back was out all weekend and she was miserable. Luckily Travis came home and took care of her and the kids! She is feeling better now (vicodin to the rescue once more!) and looking for more things to do that she shouldn't be doing!

Kolby has been learning to read! He read to us on the phone the other day and it was great! We are so excited to see him next month!

Baylee hasn't felt very well the last couple of days. She ate a bunch of spicy chips with her daddy the other night and it sort of upset her tummy. She seems to be better now!
Taylor is making her mom crazy with the multiple personalities of a two year old. She is all lovey dovey one minute and screaming the next! She has also seemed to acquire an aversion to wearing clothes lately. She is naked in most of the videos and pictures we've been getting.

Abbie is still adamant that once her daddy builds a fence, she can get a puppy. Her parents, on the other hand, are just as adamant that there will be no puppy at the Stucki household. We will see how that turns out.

Kallie has been grumpy most of this week. Between telling her mom not to talk to her, to locking her out of her play house, she has been a bear. She was also found standing on the kitchen counter trying to get smarties out of the cupboard! What a little monkey! She can get into anything in a split second. Like markers! And I love her excuse..."because yeah".

Even though it's been a challenging week for the parents, we are still so happy that all our grands are learning and growing as they should. We feel very blessed to have each and every one of them in our lives! While they can each be naughty, they sure are CUTE while they do it!

Until next time.... keep your face to the sun and bloom where you're planted!!

Sunday Round Up

This has been a busy weekend (and painful). On Friday, I had some oral surgery done. While the last couple of days have been hell, I think it's good to get it all over with at once and then you concentrate on healing... I will have to learn to talk without a lisp, but for now, I'm just concentrating on keeping the pain to a dull roar. I've been eating a lot of pudding, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and a couple of fudgecicles! Blaine said he doesn't like it when I take vicodin. He says it makes me way loopy and I have nightmares. He said I tried to kick him and stuff, but I think he's making it up! I don't let him stop me though. I take whatever makes it stop hurting!

Amber got home from camping and brought her war wounds with her. She saw a black widow in the bathroom and freaked out and ended up twisting her knee and her ankle. She has a very vivid fear of spiders! Then last night, while they were down on the beach at a bonfire with a bunch of other kids, she got stung by a scorpion on her other knee! She attracts bad luck!

Travis got home from hunting, but didn't fill his tag. He said he had a good shot, but the scope came loose on the rifle at some point during the ride and the sight was off. Bummer! Robin went overboard while he was gone and did a bunch of painting and moving furniture. Now her back is hurting pretty bad and she is down for a few days while it heals.

The grands are all great. They were very glad to have their daddy home again after a week!
I'm sure Baylee is the happiest of all. She told her mom the other day that she didn't want to live with her any more and was going to move away. All because Robin wouldn't take a toy away from Taylor that Baylee wanted to play with! What a drama queen!

Karlo and Tama are down to one vehicle again. This time they are down to the Buick. Karlo thinks something is wrong with the fuel pump or fuel filter. He will have to find the time to dig into it and get it fixed soon. They finally sold the two trailers that have been decorating their backyard! Now they will have to build a fence to block off the alleyway.

Abbie said once they get a fence all they need is a pooper scooper and she can get a puppy! I think it will take more convincing than that to talk her parents into a dog!

Kallie has had a pretty grumpy weekend as well. She told her mom on Friday, "Mom, don't talk to me, I'm grumpy." and then later in the day, she went on the porch into her playhouse and told her mom, "I locked my door so you can't come in my house, mom."

These kids crack me up! I am so thankful for the technology we have today that we are able to see our grandkids every day, talk to them whenever they want, and be a part of their daily adventures even though we live over 1,000 miles away from them! Verizon is truly a gift to grandparents!!

Our little Tongan grandbaby, Masiu, has been sick this week. He has a lot of trouble with upper respiritory problems and he is wheezing pretty bad this weekend. He was a good boy at church today though. Sat on my lap, played with my toys and smiled at papa all through Sunday School! He is so cuddly when he wants to be! He is crawling all over now and pulling himself up on the furniture. He will be walking before we know it!

I will post some pictures tomorrow. I'm not up to it tonight. My drugs are starting to kick in so I think I will go and enjoy the 'trip'.....

later.....

Ramblings for the Week

This week has been pretty busy but not too interesting.
Work has been humming along at a frantic pace. Busy Busy Busy!

Home has been pretty sluggish due to the fact that I let a couple of my neices talk me into reading the Twilight saga and now I can't get anything else done! I'm about halfway through the third book and there are four in the series, so I'm hoping to be back to normal soon! I am becoming very sleep deprived!

The grands are all doing wonderfully! You wouldn't even know that two of our girls had surgery just a couple weeks ago! They didn't let it slow them down at all!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! This is why we love living in Arizona!! The nine months of perfect more than make up for the three months of sweltering heat!

Update on the fam this week includes:

Kallie asked her mom today who colored on the carpet and Tama told her she didn't know what she was talking about so Kallie asked again and so Tama said, I don't know. Did you or your sister color on the carpet? Kallie said, "Yeah, my sister did it". She is too funny.

Abbie, always the drama queen, was riding her bike this week and it began to tip over. So she jumped off and landed upright on her feet. But she started to cry anyway. Her mom asked her why she was crying, she was just fine and did a beautiful dismount. Abbie said, "Yeah, but my heart hurts". Her heart was racing from the adreniline rush of almost wrecking! What a goof!!

Taylor has been running around naked this week and we've gotten a couple cute videos of her naked little tush! She is a wild girl!

Baylee is healing well from getting her tonsils out and has been playing with Boots. She is having some tummy troubles this week, but I think her mom has figured out a good solution for her.

Kolby is learning to read now and we got the cutest video of him reading! What a big boy he is! He loves school!

Travis is elk hunting this week. I hope he fills his tag. Robin had all three kids in bed with her the other night and woke up like a pretzel! She'll be glad when Travis gets home too!

Karlo and Tama have been having car troubles again this week. This time with the blazer. At least they got the trusty OLD buick running so Tama's not totally stranded!

Wade had his port put in this week and will be starting chemo next week. Keep them in your prayers please. Bryce had some tummy troubles this week too, but seems to be doing okay now. Steph is holding it all together and McKenna is being a big help!

Pictures will be posted as soon as I get a chance to get them onto my computer!

Until next time.... keep your face to the sun and bloom where you're planted!!

Wordless Wednesday on a Thursday!!

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

I got this cute poem on email this week and thought I would share:

A message every adult should read because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a prayer, and I knew that there was a God I could always talk to, and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each
other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give your time and money to help people who had nothing, and I learned that those who have something are supposed to give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good, and I learned that I am supposed to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you cared, and I wanted to do everything the best I could.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking."

Late Birthday Wishes

So last weekend was Blaine's birthday and neither one of us were home to celebrate. He turned the ripe old age of 48 years young!~ We have shared almost 30 years of those together.

He is my best friend, a wonderful husband, father and papa and our entire family is so blessed to have him! He is my provider, my guardian, my mechanic, my handyman, my landscaper, my bug killin' Phoenix Suns watchin' Mythbustin' horse ridin' cowboy!

I believe that to be such a great papa, he had to have first been a great dad. He is, he was, and he always will be. He became a father at the ripe old age of 18 and has never stopped working to make a good life for all three of our children, our two kids in law and our five perfect grandbabies (oh and for me too!).
He has always worked hard to give our kids more than he ever had. Not just the material stuff, (but there was never anything they needed that they didn't get) but the real life "stuff" that every kid needs. A loving home, the knowledge that he loved them no matter what, the example of a good work ethic, an example of what it is to be an good parent. All the good stuff that every child should have.

He honors his priesthood and we have all been blessed by his testimony and faith in our Father in Heaven. He also makes sure to give our grandkids all that same love and example and more.

He would do anything in the world to make sure that our grandkids know of his unconditional love for them.

He loves his kids and grandkids more than life. Nothing brightens his day more than a smile from his grandkids.

He has broad shoulders that bear the weight of all the bad things in life. All the trials, hardships, fears and challenges we have ever been through and have yet to endure.

He uses his faith, hard work and determination to get us through whatever we're facing. If every child had a dad and a papa like him the world would be a much better place! Happy Birthday with LOVE!!!

Time to Play Catch Up!!

Okay, so I've been a little busy this past couple of weeks! Sorry for neglecting the blog...
We've had a lot of medical stuff going on lately.
Bryce was back in the hospital with meningitis! They had him in the PICU for several days. He is home now and even went to school today!
Baylee had her tonsils out on the 7th. She did so good! What a tough little cowgirl she is!! She had them out in the morning and when I was getting ready for work, Robin texted me and said they had just taken her back. By the time I got to work, she was done and in recovery, and next thing I knew.... they were taking her home! I think she was in and out in like three hours!


She got home and slept on the couch most of the day and ate popcicles. She recovered so fast! She got to do lots of coloring, spend some quality time with daddy and mommy, eat lots of ice cream and pudding. Their new dog, Boots, made sure to stay very close to her the whole time. I think Boots has become more Baylee's dog than anyone elses.

A day or two before she had her tonsils out, Baylee found some scissors and proceeded to cut her bangs! They are now very VERY short!
And just the other day, Taylor did some hairstyling of her own!! She is now a little thinner on top as well!! Naughty girls....
At least Kolby still has his hair! He did, however, lose another tooth this week! I don't know how he can eat anything. He is missing 6 teeth! I told him he should be a hockey player for halloween, but he said he is going to be a robot.
Robin is ready for a vacation I'm sure! Too bad she can't send them all elk hunting with Travis next week!!
On Thursday, I flew to Idaho to help with Abbie while Kallie had her surgery. My boss got me a ticket with her frequent flyer miles. She is the BEST!!
On Friday, Kallie had her ovaries removed. They also took out her appendix, fixed her little umbilical hernia, and removed a couple of "adrenal rests". I had to look those up online. They are small tumors that could create problems later. They don't go looking for them, but if they see them, they take them out. Kallie also has a couple of small hernias they want to keep an eye on. So far, they are not worried about them, just something else to watch when it comes to Kallie!

Kallie had to spend the night in the hospital so they could monitor her because of her heart history. She milked it for all it was worth! A friend of theirs stopped by and she looked at him and said, "hi, I'm sick". She was like a queen holding court most of the night! She loved all the attention.

Her attitude did come out a couple of times though! (Pause the music before you watch the video!)

Apparently, she did not want any food!

Abbie and I had a good time. I got to take her to school, we went to lunch and made cookies. It was a fun time all things considered.
A couple of funny things our two favorite two-year olds said this week:
Taylor came up to Robin and said, "Hi, how you doing, girl"... haha
And Kallie pointed to me and said to her mom, "Hey, Tama, is that your mom?"
Those two are a crack up!
I'll add more later this week, but the night is getting shorter and my eyes are getting heavier.
Later....

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ............................................

Kids say the darndest things

So Friday I got home early in the day (4:00 p.m.!) and just when I was setting up my computer to do some work, Stephanie called and said, "I have to take Wade to the hospital, can you come take the kids?" OF COURSE! So we haul out and get there in record time. Wade was sick all day and finally let Steph call the doc who told her to take him straight to the ER. So we went and gathered McKenna from the neighbor, picked Bryce up from his school and hung out at their house. McKenna is such a fun girl! She even got Uncle Blaine to watch Hannah Montana with her!

Steph came home about 10 and said they were keeping Wade overnight to try and find out what is wrong (besides the fact he has cancer). So we came home and made a plan to pick the kids up for the day the next morning.

Saturday, we got up and went to Wade and Stephs to gather up the kids. I also made Steph give me her laundry to take with me so I could do something for her. The kids were so good! We set up the computer for Bryce. He loves to play games on the computer. He was very cautious of Gypsy to start with, but they quickly became good friends. He is fascinated by the fish tank, but he likes to put things in with the fish. Like blocks (about 12), little plastic animals (a tiger and giraffe now reside in the tank) and just about anything else he can get in there before we can catch him! He ate several waffles, and learned that Aunt Kathy is more lax than his mom on the amount of chocolate milk he can have! I think he had fun out here!

We watched conference and played with the kids. McKenna is hysterical! She is quite the storyteller! Oh and I don't think I've ever met a bigger drama queen!! Every time she asked if we had something and we didn't, it was "that's sad..." said with a total ten year old attitude!

After conference we ventured to Wal-mart. We got our groceries, got Kenna a bead set to keep her busy, and got Bryce a little truck. They were very well behaved. The hospital decided to keep Wade another night and try to do some pain management so Steph called and said she would meet us at her house at bedtime. So we took the kids home later that night.

On the way to Mesa, Kenna was jabbering and I told her she should be a lawyer when she grows up cause she likes to debate and argue so much! She said, "No way. Lawyers are bad... no one likes them. I want to be an actress and singer and maybe someday I will play a lawyer in a movie." so I said, what about a doctor then? Again, "No way! They have to go to school way too long and see blood and sometimes get thrown up on!" We laughed all the way to their house! She also told us how lucky we are to live all the way out in Queen Creek and not in Mesa where it is so hot! yeah, it's all of about 15 miles away!

Switching gears now.... I was talking to Kallie and Abbie on speaker phone this week and I call Abbie "Peaches" as a nickname, and Kallie said, "I a peach, Mom a peach, Abbie a peach" I guess they should all be "Peaches".

I think Kallie needs to go back to speech therapy for some remedial help though. Lately she has been saying some things that could really make people wonder what goes on at the Stucki household. Her dad tells her to pull up her britches. But when Kallie says her britches are falling down, she doesn't quite get the "r" sound in there! Ooops! Then they were watching Space Chimps and again, she can't quite pronounce "Chimps" and says "Pimps". I'm not sure what a Space Pimp is but I hope his "b(r)itches" don't fall down....

Abbie is too funny too. She said she was going to marry her daddy but then said, "wait, he's married to mommy. I'll marry Papa instead". So then Kallie said she would marry grandma! Those girls keep you on your toes!

The Shoopman grands got a new puppy this weekend. It is an Australian Shepherd and they named him Boots. He looks like a good dog.

We have a lot going on this week. Tuesday Baylee is having her tonsils and adenoids out and Friday Kallie is having her ovaries and appendix out. Saturday is Blaine's 48th birthday, but we will both be gone. He will be in Tucson for a superintendent retreat and I will be in Idaho helping with Kallie.

Sorry no pictures today, but my kids are slacking on sending them to me! I guess they have a life or something....

Until next time.... keep your face to the sun and bloom where you're planted!!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY