A little bit of everything...

Well this is the second time I'm writing all of this...I was talking to Jason and I apparently hit something on my keyboard and it erased everything I had written...not the first time it's happened, and it's quite annoying. And I don't even know which combination of buttons I hit that erases everything, but I sure do a good job of it...So, I'll try and write with the same enthusiasm as I had before...

Hey everyone,

I just noticed I currently have 118 profile views on my blog, which is pretty cool! It's nice knowing that when I send the link to come and read it, you all actually do! Thank you, I appreciate it. Sure, I love to write and post pictures, but you're the reason I do it...so knowing that you're not completely bored with me yet helps! lol

Most importantly, my dad is doing much better. Thank you to those of you that kept him in your prayers. He's eating much better now, and because of that, he feels stronger. He was having trouble eating and keeping anything down because he was so nauseated from his medicine. He was put on three different medications (asacol, prednisone, and levaquin). His doctor also gave him a medicine to help him with the nausea, but I never found out the name of that one. The technical name for what he he has is ulcerative colitis. Translation: bunch of ulcers in his colon. The main thing is, he's able to keep food down now. He went back to work this past Wednesday, and as far as I know, he's still doing fine. I called him on my break a few days ago and said, "I just want to go home!" and he said, "And I just want to go to work!" Funny how that works, isn't it? lol

I had yesterday and today off, which I'll get to a little later.

We had the kids last weekend and we had so much fun! There was this gospel event in Jacksonville (the town I work in) at Nicholas Park that Grandma Stella wanted to go to. So on Saturday around noon, we left with the kids to Nicholas Park. Neither one of us had ever been there, and we went by directions that grandma got from one of the men she spoke with on the phone from the park district. Unfortunately, we were given wrong directions...he directed us to Lake Jacksonville, which was about 14 miles OUT OF OUR WAY! So much for that. While we were heading in the opposite direction, we did find a little pumpkin patch that we decided we'd come back to...once we knew where we were supposed to go (we called someone else), the pumpkin patch wasn't very far away. We arrived at Nicholas Park and the kids immediately went crazy because it's a huge park. We went inside and listened to the gospel singers for a little bit. The kids enjoyed that more than I thought they would. We ate lunch there...they had homemade chili and hotdogs and some other various things. Shawn had his bowl of chili and at least half of my bowl. The singers were telling the audience to shout out "amen" at certain parts of the song, and to wave our hands in the air and clap and sing along. The kids were waving their hands in the air and shouting amen and clapping...it was so cute. It would have made Grandma Kelly proud. Anyway, after we ate, we let them go play outside in the park. We were running around after them for nearly two hours when Luke decided we needed a potty break. We all decided just to leave and go get pumpkins after that because it was already 4:00. We went back to the pumpkin patch and let them look around at the pumpkins for a bit. I got them one baby pumpkin each, a medium-sized pumpkin each (to paint) and the one big pumpkin for Jason to carve. They had a duck race and got to see and feed some fish in a little pond they had. Grandma and I were exhausted, so we rounded the kids and their pumpkins and headed for home...which where we were was a good 45 minutes away.

Before we did all our activities that day, we went to Walmart to get a few things. While we were there, I asked the kids if they had ever made their own pizza before. They hadn't and thought it would be fun to make one, so I bought everything to make some homemade pizza. When we got home, we all deemed it necessary for the kids to take a nap before dinner and all of the pumkin activities. When they woke up, they all teamed up and wanted to make pizza's...which I originally told them we'd have for lunch the next day...but they really wanted to make them, so I caved. They thought it was so cool to make their own pizza.

After dinner, we let them sit at the table and paint their pumpkins. Unfotunately, we didn't get the right kind of paint (which will be evident in the pictures), so the paint just kept coming right off the pumpkin. But they're kids, so they didn't care and had fun anyway. After they were done, one by one, I gave them baths...the other two kids that weren't taking a bath at that moment, was watching Jason carve their big pumpkin. In the carving kit we bought, they had some carving ideas and Jason told them we'd vote on which one to carve. Well, they actually all agreed on the same one. So, it took him about an hour to carve it, but it turned out so cool. The kids loved it. Then...it was bedtime. Finally. I was exhausted.

Sunday wasn't very eventfull. We went outside and took some pictures, but other than that, we didn't do too much. I had to work Monday through Wednesday...which leads me to my two days off. Yesterday was rather boring...it was cold and rainy outside, so it was one of those days you just wanna stay in bed all day. I felt very lazy most of the day. Early evening, Jason and I went upstairs and started rearranging our room a bit. We moved a few things around, re-organized some of our boxes...which let us be able to get rid of a few boxes. We bought a maroon area rug...we doubled the floor space, it looks really nice up there.

Today was a good day. Still cold and rainy outside...but still a good day. I've been reading books by an author named Debbie Macomber, which is an author my mom turned me on to. I had read a series or two of her books and decided to see what else I'd be interested in. I came across a book I really want called Twenty Wishes. Right now it's only hardcover. I did a little research and realized that book is #4 in a series called Blossom Street. So, naturally, I wanted to get all of them. Jason mentioned a used bookstore in Havana called The Neverending Story...he also mentioned he could get some books free because he gave the book store a bunch of books he didn't want anymore. So, he gave the store a call and he had 12 free books. So, we made a trip to Havana and I was able to get six books. He didn't find anything he was looking for...but the book store was awesome. When we first walked in, there was a sign that read, "Two cats on this premisis." I thought, "Yes! Cats! I like this place already!" They had two rooms...one was full of books and the other was full of nicknack type things...cards, candles, calanders, etc. I was able to get the first two books of Blossom Street, and the first two and #4 of the Navy series, and a Christmas-ish book called The Snow Bride. I called my mom and told her and she has the Blossom Street series, except for the latest release, which is the one I was looking for, Twenty Wishes. So, at least I can read the third one that I wasn't able to find at the bookstore. My mom had never read the Navy Series, so I finally get to let her borrow some of my books, versus me always borrowing her books. lol The cats in there were HUGE! They were so adorable, though. The girl was white and the boy was black and gray. They were chasing each other through the bookshelves, knocking stuff over...I bet they're fun to clean up after. lol The white cat was really attached to me. She kept coming up to me meowing and climbing on me when I was knelt down looking for books. She was so cute.

After the bookstore, we stopped for a quick lunch and headed home. I decided to start reading the Navy series...and I'm liking it so far.

By the way... I have a TON of really cute pictures I want you all to see...the post before this, you'll see a big picture of Luke with a pumpkin...click on it. It will take you to a new page on Photobucket's website and it will have all of the pictures there for you to see. If you want to see one bigger, just click on it. There are 6 pages of pictures...there are a lot of good ones, so please go take a look!

Thank you all for reading...I'm tired of typing now and I want to get back to my book! I love you all and until next time...

Take care,
Cole xoxox

Fall is here!

Photobucket Album

My dad

Well, most of you are probably aware that my dad is at St. Anthony's Hospital right now. I know he hasn't been feeling well for the past few weeks. When he told me that he was coming home to go to the doctor, I really knew that he felt bad because my dad doesn't like going to the doctor, and usually my mom and I have to push him to go when he's sick. He's always working so much and just doesn't go. The past week, I knew he was feeling pretty bad because I could hear it in his voice when I'd call him.

So he went to the doctor on Tuesday and they did four tests. At that point in time, they thought he may have food poisoning. The doctor gave him something to help him feel a little better until they got the test results back and found out what was wrong. My dad has been calling to see about his test results and only one has come back so far. They tested him for E Coli and he doesn't have that. His doctor told him that if he didn't feel any better by morning (this morning) to go to the ER because he'd be dehydrated. So... I called this morning and around 11:00'ish, my mom took my dad to St. Anthony's. Since then, they've done more tests. They thought he may have mononucleosis, but the test came back for that and he doesn't have mono. They did a cat scan on his stomach. They found a spot on his liver, so apparently they're doing more testing to see what that is about. They've got a GI specialist coming in tomorrow morning to do a colonoscopy (I don't know if I spelled that right) to check his colon (obviously, lol). So, all he can eat is jello and all he can drink is white soda. My mom said that he's been sleeping a lot since he got home on Tuesday. They've re-hydrated him. And he's finally in a room, which is actually a private room. A few hours ago, he finally got to go outside and smoke, so I know that made him happy. lol My mom brought up his computer to keep him busy, but he doesn't have an internet connection in his room, so he's bummed about that.

I've talked to my mom nearly ten times today, I think. Needless to say I'm worried, even though I'm trying not to let my dad hear that in my voice when I talk to him. I talked to my mom about 4:30...and as soon as I get news, I've been relaying it to Jason, who's been trying to comfort me. And finally I just started crying, and he grabbed my hand and looked at me and said, "If you need to go home, just let me know." I wanted to go home and see my dad. I called my mom first though, to see what her opinion was. She thought that things were okay for now and she said she'd call me if anything gets really serious, since we're the farthest away. But she didn't see a need right now. So, in a way, it made me feel better knowing that things are seeming to be okay. I just really hope they find out what's wrong with him soon so they can treat him and he can get out of the hospital.

So I'm trying to remain calm until we find out what's going on. It's almost 11:00pm and hopefully he's getting some sleep. I hope everyone is praying for him. It's difficult knowing that my grandma, brother, sister n law, nephew, aunt and uncle have all been up at the hospital today and I feel so far away that I couldn't be there. He knows that I love him and that I'm thinking about him, so I hope that's enough. I'm praying for you dad, I love you.

-Cole-

Fall is finally here!

I'm so excited that fall is here! I love all of the beautiful leaves turning red and orange. I love the cooler weather...it's hoodie season! I miss wearing my hoodies. Halloween is less than a month away and we're getting all three kids this year and I CANNOT wait.

I was talking with one of the pharmacists that I work for about having the kids for Halloween and costumes. Jasmine wants to be some sort of princess, Shawn wanted to be Lightening McQueen, and Luke would most likely want to be some sort of superhero, though he hadn't told me for sure. She had mentioned that she had some extra costumes from her kids that we could have. She said she had a Superman costume and some princess-like costumes. So, she brought them into me at work on Friday. Luke really loved the costume. It's a little big, but we may try and hem it up a little since it's ours to keep now.

On Saturday, we left around 9'ish and did a little bit of the Scenic Drive. It's basically town-wide yardsales. We went through Havana, Canton, Lewistown, Pekin, and then came home. I've never been to Lewistown, and I got to see the little computer shop that Jason did his internship at. I've been to Canton once, but this time he showed me his college. It's called Spoon River College. It was a lot bigger than I thought. It's kind of out in the middle of nowhere. I took a few pics of it. Jason got his associates in Computer Information Systems there. He got his associates in a year and a half...impressive, considering it takes most people at least 2 years.

When we got home, I took out the box my mom sent up that had Halloween decorations in it so the boys could help me decorate. They liked putting up the window clings. I don't think they've ever gotten to decorate with window clings before. Thanks mom for all the stuff. :)

After a little while, we went to Walmart to pick up Torrey (grandma's husband). We let Shawn look for a Halloween costume because once he saw Luke's Superman costume, he wanted to be Spiderman. So, we found him a Spiderman costume. We tried it on him earlier today and it fit him perfectly...he looked so adorable in it. We bought them some winter coats too. They're like the Carhart style. They were a little on the expensive side, but they look like they're made well. They had good insulation in them, they've got pockets and a hood. They both tried them on in the store and they didn't want to take them off. lol They wanted to wear them outside, but it was too hot to wear that thick of a coat. lol

Then we came home and made cupcakes. That was a lot of fun. I let them do a lot of it. When it came time to ice them, Shawn had already fallen asleep, so Luke and I iced them and decorated them. My mom sent up some Halloween cupcake holders (that had little pumpkin toothpick decorations), and we ran out of cupcake holders, so I just put the extra batter in a pan and made a little cake out of it. I let Shawn decorate the cake since he was asleep the night before. I let them take some of the cupcakes home that they made and we kept the cake and a few cupcakes here for us.

The weekend was a lot of fun, but it went by waaaay too fast. It's another long two weeks before we get to see them again. I figure the next weekend, instead of cupcakes, we'll make either caramel apples or apple crisp or something. Each weekend we have them, we'll do something a little special until Halloween. Did I mention that I'm REALLY excited? :) I hope you enjoy all of the pictures. I leave you with a few that I forgot to add to the cupcake pics...these are of Shawn icing the cake.

Love,
Cole