Fabulous Florida

What a wonderful trip I had last weekend to see Sharon in Florida with just the girls, Emily and Lauren and my mom. Little Ben stayed in St. louis with daddy and much help from family to care for him in my absence. He actually survived without me proving many wrong. We flew down on Thursday and went to SeaWorld on Friday. Mom had a motorized scooter but after one too many close calls running over small children, we opted for a regular wheelchair instead. It was better exercise for me anyway. She thoroughly enjoyed the whale and dolphin shows and loved seeing us feed the sharks and pet the rays. Sharon and I enjoyed plenty of good ole complimentary AB products to get us through the day. I had not seen my mom have that much energy in so many years, it was such a blessing and joy to have her spend that time with us. We went down to Naples Beach on saturday and actually met a family from church who have a daughter in Emily's class and were on Marco Island for the week. Their daughter did not know we were coming and the look on her face when Em walked up to her on the beach was priceless.
On sunday we had to take mom back down to Naples to see the sunset from the pier and she wanted to watch the girls play in the ocean and on the beach. She said she envied me so much being able to walk in the sand while the watch washed up on my feet. We had a terrific meal and the next day I took the girls swimming and we headed back to the airport.
I am so lucky to be able to travel with my kids and both my parents. When I was pregnant with Ben, Dad and I drove all the way to Ft. Myers and stayed for 2 weeks. Dad came with us on almost all of our camping trips this summer and I am so thankful to witness the relationships form between my parents and my children, especially since I have next to no memories of grandparents from either side. It just takes me back to my childhood to see Dad telling stories, playing games and watching airplanes. I have so many memories of him doing the same things with me. My kids have the same awe and wonder as I did for my whole childhood. I love to see mom hug and hold Lauren for long periods of time because that is what my memory is full of. Mom would sit on her big rocker and just hold me. I also see her spoiling my kids to death just like she did with Jackie (just kidding Jax). Emily asked me why I always hold Grandma's hand, whether it be at church or walking around, like a little kid and I told her I am never too old to hold hands with my mom and dad because some day those hands will not be there to hold, except in my heart. I made her promise to never get too old to hold my hand and with the sass of a 6 year old she replied," I'll think about it."
I will post pics from the trip as soon as I can find the computer cord for my camera.

Wonderful night

I have to talk about how happy I was to go to work last night. I had been cancelled quite a bit lately and when I do work it has not been on my floor and I get shipped all over the hospital. Last night I was able to work on my general surgical floor and I had a wonderful group of patients. My favorite was Timmy. He is a 54 year old with down's syndrome. Had the biggest smile on his face when I came in. He had bladder surgery yesterday and had a large catheter coming out of him to drain his urine. He also had an iv so unfortunately we had to restrain him. We tried not to but it could be really damaging to him if he pulled his catheter out. We used these very large mittens that are soft and don't let you grab anything, kind of like boxing gloves. Everytime I walked past he was sitting up and would say "Hey miss, can you come in here. I can't get these off." I would remind him that we can't take them off but he was like a child."But but but pllleeeaaassseee! I don't like them." He was just kicking and squirming for the whole time I was there doing every thing he could to wiggle his hands out. I gave him a sleeping pill hoping it would get him to just go to bed but nothing worked. I finally had time and closed the door, turned out the light, fed him some pudding and rubbed his head until his eyes were just about shut. Then he got the most angelic sleepy look on his face and said "night night mommy"
His mom was dead and all he had was one brother and his wife but they had a brand new baby and with his infection, could not come see him. It was the sweetest thing and as I was rubbing his head I just kept seeing the face of God in him. Really neat moment for me and I am glad I had the time to do it. Of course just like with my own kids, just as soon as I thought he was totally asleep, I slowly turned around to walk out the door and he popped up and said "Hey miss, could you take these things off my hands." Of course he had a huge smile on his face. there is definately a special place in heaven for these angels with down's. Hearts of gold for sure!

What a day!

I just cannot believe what an awesome day I had. I slept very well after a much needed date night last night with hubby. I woke up with an abundance of energy and went to Quail Ridge Park and walked for 4 miles up hills (both ways) and was listening to David Kauffman on my ipod. The fog was so thick but you could tell the sky was crystal blue above it. I felt like I was the only one there. The meadows were so grown up and fields of wheat were yellow. It was amazing and I felt like it was just me and the big guy upstairs.
Then came playing outside with the kids and accumulating several more bruises to my shins from Emily making me be the goalie. Ben and I had some hammock time and the weather was just too perfect to get anything accomplished inside. Jackie and Dan made us lunch. I got a nap which is always a good thing.
Then it was off to 6flags for Emily and I. We never get to do the rollercoasters with lauren and ben around so off we went in the evening to enjoy Fright Fest! It was awesome. She was brave enough to ride the front seat of the infamous screaming eagle roller coasther and they turn off all the lights at night to make it scarier. I was about to cry! We of course had to do it 2 more times. We did a haunted hayride and guys were chasing us with chainsaws. she was crackin up and asked "why do those guys have lawnmowers?" Even the spurting blood and eyeballs falling out did not phase her a bit! Then we went to watch a show in the theater and she was so excited because she said it would be just like the shows I go to with Jackie at the Fox downtown. It was great. It had ghouls singing and dancing with a great little story line. They even had a girl singing a Hanna Montana song which of course made her day. Like five times during our time, Emily would turn to me and say "thanks so much mom." Gosh, i really miss her. Between school and soccer and sleepovers I never get to see her. I am just so glad I make time for just us because when I do see her I usually am just nagging her to do her homework, put away her stuff or eat her dinner. This was just pure fun and time to reconnect. We were driving on this beautiful rode on hwy 109 up and down hills and the leaves were starting to change against the blue sky. I was telling her how there were people who did not believe that God is real. She wanted to know how those people believe that we came on earth. Then I told her about the big bang theory. She asked how I know that God is real. I told her to look out the window and see the amazing colors and beauty. I told her that when I see she and Lauren playing and coloring and Emily reading to her then i know God is real. I told her when we are really scared about something and we pray for peace and comfort that I know God is real. Then she reminded me of a time over memorial day this year we were rushing back from a camping trip to beat a storm but got caught right up in it and saw a funnel cloud nearby and hail started falling and we both started saying Hail Marys together loud amidst our tears because we were so scared. She said God must be real because he made us feel better during that storm.
I think of how lonely the life must be without faith or believe in a spiritual being. How sad if this was it. No hope to see loved ones in the next life, no one to ask for help or love when others don't care or want to listen. No one to share life's hardships or joys with when you are by yourself. I am so thankful for the gift of faith in my life. I pray that everyone may find peace and hope in their lives.