Update on John Robert's Burn

John Robert went to the burn center at Johns Hopkins this morning for a scheduled debridement of the burn on his palm. Even though it was "only" 2nd degree they wanted to open it up, drain it and cut away some skin because being on his palm and being a growing boy they wanted to make sure it would have a chance to heal with the skin loose. He was holding his fist closed before and they didn't want it to heal that way. It sounds painful but according to Mommy & Daddy there was not a single tear shed. He even said "thank you". The people there are trained to work with children and also gave him a small dose of oxycodine ahead of time . We feared he would spend the rest of the summer with a bandage but were told today it should be healed in two weeks so that he can get back to the sand box and swimming pool. He has broken blisters on the tips of the fingers of the other hand and it doesn't seem to bother him in the least.

His appetite is still off because of the hand foot and mouth disease which it looks like Wyatt and another cousin also now have. I feel drained. This little boy just amazes me. Mommy knitted up this dinosaur for him with a "boo boo" in the same place as his.

John Robert Scared the Crap out of All of Us

I have plenty of pictures to post of our week end in Ohio but I just don't feel like posting happy times right now.

We were all in Ohio. Celebrating Ella & Samantha's birthdays and having my brothers and sisters meeting Lily for the first time. We wanted to host something so we rented a cabin in a KOA campground. My brothers & their wives each own campers so they got sights in the same park. Swimming, fishing, playgrounds and cooking outside. Fun times.

Shawn had to work at the last minute so Jen & her kids came with Tom & I. Thomas, Natalie & the girls would be there on Saturday. Saturday evening came and everyone came together for a celebration, cooking and eating outside. Everything was going great, playing with squirt guns and chasing each other around the camp sight and then the storm hit. We ran around like wild people trying to get everything into the campers out of the rain. Then it was decided that it was safe to play in the rain and the squirt guns came back out and so did the hose. I watched from inside and at one point I even had Jennifer yell outside to the kids not to run around the campfire. A little while later I figured I should go out and take some pictures, the kids were having a great time.

I stepped out the door and took a couple of pictures and to my horror I saw John Robert running around the fire pit. I knew he would fall and could do nothing to stop him. I screamed and time stood still. I'm crying now as I type this and that picture of him falling into the fire is stuck in my brain. My brother was to him within seconds and my sister in law had him hosed down at the same time. My heart stood still. I always thought I would be good in a crisis but I feel like I froze for a couple of very important seconds. I scooped him up and took him inside and stripped off his clothes asking him where it hurt. He said only his hands so I rinsed them in cold water and he kept saying "thank you". We realized that it wasn't as bad as it looked or could have been. He ended up with second degree burns on his hands and first degree on his belly. When I was rocking him later he kept telling me "sorry". He is such a sweet boy.

He has since been to Patient First and his pediatrician and they have decided he needs some treatment on his right hand at the burn center just because they want to be sure it heals correctly for a growing boy.

Oh ya and on top of that Sami passed on hand, foot & mouth disease that she got somewhere in KY during her visit. He had a 102 temp and had an episode of diarrhea in his big boy underwear while he was at the clinic on post (that the hazmat team had to clean up). Our big boy just keeps on smiling!

A Week with Just Two Grandchildren

So this is our last week with the girls on vacation. As a matter of fact tomorrow we are all going camping in Ohio to see Wyatt and meet Thomas, Natalie & the girls half way on their trip back from Kentucky. All of the grandchildren will be together again if just for a couple of days. Our Little Cupcake is getting soooo big. She is 7 weeks old already and up to 10 pounds. She loves to be held and look at that smile!

We have a state park close by with a beach and have been wanting to take Jack. We had to cancel three times last week so when the weather reports came out that there would be scattered thunderstorms we almost cancelled again. So glad we decided to go and the weather held out and there weren't very many people there at all.

Tom still had to take his walk

and I had to stay in touch

Jack found this feather and kept yelling "here seagulls up in the sky", trying to give it back to them. He talks and talks and talks! We had a great day.




Our dogs kept us busy this week, We had Minnie Mouse get her summer hair cut, poor baby, now she looks like a rat. Brutus had to go to the vet because he was whining and was having a hard time walking. After $60 they decided he strained a muscle and put him on a pain reliever. He seemed fine by the time he got home from the dr.

I just had to post a picture of Tom's new "grill". He blew up our big one a couple of years ago and we have all been wanting to get him a new one. He has been fighting it, even taking meat across the street to Thomas' grill to cook. He came across this one on clearance and remembers my brothers having one for camping so he had to have it. He's been cooking our dinners all week.
We're having Jen , Shawn & Jack over for some London Broil tonight.

We wanted to do one more thing before our camping trip so we decided to go to Wilmington, DE where they have a small Natural History Museum. It took us longer than we thought to get there, about an hour, and Jack talked the whole way there.

This is a REAL clam shell and our 27 month old is 38 inches tall.
I was in charge of the little one. I don't really like this picture of me but it shocks me sometimes when I look at a picture of myself and could swear it was my mom and this is one of them. Oh, and look at the tights. Our little cupcake.

Did I mention that this was a small museum? This was a SMALL museum. When we got done and we did enjoy it we realized it wasn't even noon yet so Tom punched in zoo into the Garman and found out there was one three miles away so off we went.

Couldn't you just kiss those chubby little cheeks?

We're borrowing Thomas' truck for the camping trip and taking some more of Charlie & Michele's stuff to them that we had in the attic. We're also taking a lot of comfort stuff. We'll be staying in KOA park in a "rustic" cabin with no running water but with shower houses/bathrooms close by. My brothers and their wives are coming with their campers and it should be a great time. We're also having a cook out with the rest of my family that can make it to celebrate Ella & Sami's birthdays and to meet Lily. Look for a big post and lots of pictures next week!

A Week Without Ella

Home from our road trip and Tom had to make a trip to the doctor to treat his allergic reaction to the poison ivy he encountered in Charlie's yard. CoPay and two perscriptions and he's feeling much better.

and just one more little spider tatoo . .. Tom has been wanting to get something in rememberance of the baby Thomas & Natalie lost in the 11th week of her pregnancy 3 years ago and this simple little spider under Pops' loving arm was just the right thing.A quick trip to the Bouncy House for Jack & Pops with Uncle Tommy & cousin Sami. They all just love this place!Then it was time for Sami & her parents to meet Ella in KY for a week. We took her to DQ to get ice cream the night before, she wanted to use the spoon but she would not give up the cone.Jack spent the next night with us and whenever he does he has to take the dinosurs with him. You can hear him talking and playing but he always goes to sleep.Tom has been really enjoying the outdoors and goes on daily walks. He used to take Sami but with Jack & Lily visiting he took advantage and took them along.Lily was unimpressed and slept through the whole thing.Look at the treasures he found on their walk! Leaves and pine cones.

Jack loves the dogs so when we were cutting the watermelon for a cool snack it was a little soft and I was going to throw it away and he wanted to give it to Brutus. Why shouldn't a dog have a cool snack on a hot day?

Look what our littlest one can do now, SMILE and don't you just love her bows! Daddy and PaPa don't think she needs them and they mysteriously disappear when they are around.

Last but not least here is a picture of our very first Sweetie on her first birthday.

Today she turned SIX. Happy Birthday Sweetie, we miss you!

Road Trip

Tom and I went on a little road trip and it all started at our house on the FOURTH. Look at these beautiful grandchildren. It makes me tear up just looking at them.

We are so blessed! Wyatt 18 months, Ella almost SIX holding Lily 1 month, Jack 27 months & Sami 1 year.
Tom & I left with Ella the afternoon of the Fourth with Charlie, Michele & Wyatt to Ohio where we were able to see fireworks from their back yard. You won't see any pictures here from the rest of that day or the following day at Wyatt's first baseball game in Akron. I somehow deleted those pictures from my camera before I downloaded them. I hate being that old person who doesn't even know how to use their own electronics. They live in an old home and even though they have AC it gets hot upstairs so the next day Tom hung a ceiling fan in Wyatt's room & we cleared the brush from their yard where he got a fierce case of poison ivy as a souvenir.
We then set off to Louisville, KY to see another Minor League Baseball game. We love Minor League Baseball and have had season tickets to our local team since they started eight years ago. This one had a great play area too,


After a night in a hotel we went to our old stomping grounds near Ft. Knox to meet up with Ella's other Grandma, cousins & uncle and leave her for a couple of weeks. yes, WEEKS. We went to Kentucky Down Under where you can not only pet kangaroos & reptiles you can visit a cave. We had a great time but it was VERY hot and the girls were anxious to get back to "BaBa" s house to play.
and no Tom should probably not be carrying Ella on his shoulders but when Uncle Al picked up Sophia he had no choice. LOL

Tom & I stayed in Louisville again & had a great steak dinner at one of Jennifer's favorite steak houses so we HAD to text her a picture of our meal. The next morning we left for home via West Virginia on a leisurely pace. We stopped in the small town where his family is buried. After not much help from a call to his dad about the exact place he called his uncle in PA and he was very helpful and they chit chatted for awhile. Always too long in between calls. We stayed the night in WV and then spent the next day at the outlets in Hagerstown, I needed a new summer purse so Tom took me to the Coach store. We also got a bunch of other stuff we don't need.

We had the rest of the grandkids over for dinner when we got back. Lily is so alert now and Sami's walking gets better every day.

I realize there is only one picture of Jack but I'm saving them for my next post.

Stay Tuned.