Tonya In Tucson: November 2012

It's been a rough and rocky few days in our house. We've been excited for and anticipating our Thanksgiving break pretty much since Fall break! The thought of having a whole FOUR days in a row off with nothing but relaxation and friends and feasting...well...thoughts like that make us giddy around these parts. I had everything planned. We collected our friends that are here without family and plotted the Mexican menu we are so fond of at these Thanksgiving gatherings. We grocery shopped and had it all ready to go. All that was left to do was the BIG house cleaning on Wednesday while the kids were at school so it was all gorgeous and shiny for Thursday's big gathering. We were giving thanks for the little things. For example...the orthodontist put Clara's braces back on again Tuesday afternoon. And also added a chain to the mix to start drawing in her side teeth to come up beside her front teeth (oh and...less than one week later...mission accomplished! It's AMAZING to see how fast teeth can be moved!). Getting all of this contraption put on is not a painful process. However...the pressure that results IS quite painful within about two hours of being installed. So we were grateful that 1) they put all that on towards the END of the day so she could sleep through the worst of the adjusting to it all. And 2) that they put in on TUESDAY so that she could hopefully eat at least SOME of the Thanksgiving meal on Thursday! Yes...it's the little things. And so...with a LONG list of house things to take care of the next day swirling through my head, I tucked Miss Clara into bed with her ibuprofen for her teeth and shortly thereafter tucked myself in so I'd be well rested to tackle the tasks of the next day. About 1 a.m. I hear Clara sputtering and coughing and I assume she is awake and miserable with her teeth and needing her next dose of ibuprofen. So I jump out of bed to get her some and find her on the floor in front of the toilet quite sick. I can't imagine where this has all come from. Poor baby. She was covered in vomit. As was her bathroom. And by covered, I mean the floor, the toilet, the shower doors, the side of the tub...well...you get the picture. If this is too much information, you should stop reading now. Because it gets worse. I realized I needed to get her cleaned up. But was trying to figure out how I would manage it since there was so much vomit between her and the tub. I started the water running, then told her to hold still while I went to her room to get some fresh clothes for her. I figured I would wipe down the bathroom while she was showering. I grabbed her pajamas and turned around to leave her room and THAT'S when I saw it. The whole wall there by the door of her bedroom....covered. The side of the dresser, her pictures, the wall, the carpet...absolutely covered. Apparently she woke from a dead sleep and didn't feel it coming on until it was all too late. She couldn't get the door open in time. And so...the wall became the target. All the way up to the ceiling. I kid you not. Three kids...16 years of parenting and we have NEVER seen the likes of a mess like this. I was so overwhelmed I wanted to cry. About that time, Chris got up to see if I needed any help...took one look at the room and set to work. We cleaned walls and floors and little girls. Door knobs, cabinetry, bathrooms. An hour later, we finally tucked an exhausted and shivering, clean little girl back into bed. Then put ourselves back to bed. For one whole hour, until it all started over again. Only this time...without the crazy, insane mess. Our sweet girl was throwing up for 10 hours straight. I felt so bad for her. She was so pitiful. My hands were full taking care of her. We worried all day and wondered if we were going to have to cancel Thanksgiving. But by that evening she seemed better, so we thoroughly disinfected (again) and went on with the party.

It was a LOVELY day with sweet friends. The Emch family joined us, along with our favorite and fabulous pediatrician. It was such a fun day! Clara was a bit puny and run down...but enjoyed playing with her best friend. She barely ate anything at all and was exhausted by the time it was all done. But it was fun!

On Friday, we woke up to quite a mess post Thanksgiving. Everyone was so worn out from running around with all the sickness that we just collapsed Thanksgiving night. Friday morning it looked like a frat party had happened in our kitchen overnight. It took a bit of washing and drying and putting away, but before long, all was restored to normal. That accomplished, we moved on to pulling out Christmas decorations to see what was going to work in this house and what will not. Most of it...will not! We just don't have as many walls here. And we don't have big mantles or staircases. We DO have a place for our tree. Although...when we set it up and plugged it in, only every other section seemed to want to light up. Nice! Despite our best trouble shooting, we could NOT figure it out. And so...on Saturday morning, Chris headed up to Walmart and just bought some lights that we could use to fill in the areas that refuse to light. In the end, it looks beautiful and you can't tell that big parts of it are burned out!

On Saturday, Ben and Clara and I headed over to the tennis courts at the high school to hit some balls while Chris and Max headed out for a nice ride on their road bikes. We played tennis for an hour and a half. It was fun, and a great workout chasing the balls everywhere. We all rotated in and out and took turns being ball boy...the morning was gloriously cool and sunny. Man, I love living in the desert! When our arms were all jello-like and worn out, we headed home. I was starving for some lunch. When we got it all ready, Ben decided not to join us. Said he wasn't feeling well. Well...just a few hours later, Ben was in the bathroom and I was grateful that he had passed on lunch. Poor kid had been hit with Clara's bug. He spent a miserable day and night and spent most of Sunday just achy and worn out and sleeping. He's home from school today...head still killing him...but we are hoping he will kick it and be back at school tomorrow...especially since it's a short day for them. As for me....I am the Lysol queen...just trying to get this under control. Hoping and praying noone else gets it. Especially ME!!!! And so...now you know what we are up to THIS week! Pray the bug stops here!

Long time...no post. I know, I know. I stink at this sometimes. Life is a whirlwind...what can I say? This post will be short and sweet. But at least there will BE a post, right?!

Here's what's been happening. First of all...I just looked back over my LAST post and saw all the gorgeous pics of my family enjoying Apache Lake, and I have to just say...that post MAKES ME SMILE!!!! I love seeing the gorgeous scenery and my sweet sister and the bright smiles on all the faces of the family I cherish. Especially the non smiley teenagers! It makes me SO happy to see that..so I'm beyond grateful for those pics!

Next...We've had visitors! Chris's dad and stepmother came from Montana and were here with us for three days. We had a great time seeing them, despite all the kiddo's very busy schedules. They headed out on Thursday afternoon and took a huge piece of my heart back with them. Max went with them to spend a couple of days there in Montana hunting. He didn't bag anything and will be home late, late tonight. I will be SOOO happy to have all of my kiddos back under the same roof.

I am looking forward to this week because it's Thanksgiving week, and therefore just a three day week at school! Woo hoo!!! There is SO much to cram in in those three days though. Clara has a huge spelling bee, Max has Spanish presentations and Ben has tests. Yikes! Add in the unexpected circumstance that I need to get Clara in for an x-ray because we think her wrist may be broken. Ugggh! I know you are asking..."WHAT HAPPENED???", and so...I will tell you. The little neighbor girl got a little too excited...tackled her with a linebacker quality shove and caught poor Clara totally off guard. Because she didn't see it coming, she did not dodge or brace for it and was sent airborn. She landed on the concrete, on her wrist, in a bit of an awkward position. 24 hours later, it hurts to move the wrist at all. And by dinner tonight we notice some bruising and swelling. We are hoping it is sprained...but having been down this road with her a few times now, we are realistic in acknowledging that we could be looking at her third break. This would be the first break on the right arm. Good...in that the left arm isn't compromised AGAIN. Bad in that she is right handed. I hope to know more about this tomorrow.

As for Thanksgiving...our wonderful friends, the Emch's are coming over to celebrate with us. Once again, we will be bagging tradition in favor of a fun fiesta theme. We will be having a taco bar, guacamole, salsa, white queso, refried beans, margaritas, and various yummy desserts! We are looking forward to being able to celebrate with dear friends and relish all we have to be thankful for this year. I am feeling more thankful this year I think, than any other year. Here are a few recent shots of things I can add to my incredibly long list of blessings I have been counting!

So thankful for friends, old and new, that made this Halloween SO much fun!!!

Thankful for a sunrise that will take your breath away.

Thankful for the opportunity to see...and photograph this VERY huge and cool owl I came across on my morning walk! Very surreal to watch him through the lens obviously watching me!

It's really and truly been another amazing month here in the desert. I love Arizona SO much. There will never be enough words to say or express it. My heart is SO at peace here. And each and every new day seems to dazzle me. I never know when or where it's going to happen, but without fail, there is a moment in each and every day that just steals my breath away and I marvel at the beauty that is right before me. Thankful, thankful, thankful.

And...because I have been SO delinquent...here are several miscellaneous photos from the Fall Break-ish period I thought I'd share with you! Enjoy!!!