This crazy Texas weather.
Last night we had some severe weather. Around 3:30ish I was woken up from the wind and rain. Randy and I jumped out of bed and looked out our windows. Oh boy was it bad. The trampoline was getting destroyed right before our eyes. When we were looking out all of a sudden we heard Ricky’s little voice saying “mommy”. That is when I knew it had to be loud. They sleep with a fan and music playing. I didn’t think you could hear but I obviously was wrong. We went upstairs to see the weather report. This storm had 80mph winds! I believe it too. A tornado hit in Carrollton a block away from where we use to live. Scary! Our backyard got all the damage. Here is the picture of the Trampoline…..
I haven’t touched it either. Randy said he would fix it when he gets home. Thank goodness. I don’t think I am strong enough to do it anyways. Here is a picture of our poor fence. The wind took down three sections! Randy said it looked weak anyways.
Randy is going to screw then in now. I really don’t want to have to spend any money on a new fence when it is new already!! I think we can fix it though. We’ll see. Did you notice a portion of the tree is missing too?!! Now here is a picture of our grill the was turned from the wind!!!!! It is suppose to lay on the bricks……
At least our front of our house is still there!!
Anyways, I thought it would be fun to show you how close that storm was. It did a lot of damage to other homes and businesses. At least we still have a home. I have to say that this storm was the first storm here in Texas that I was actually scared. I usually sleep through them. Not last night! Our boys have never been woken up either. I think Ricky thought we were having a tornado outside. It was sad but cute. Thank goodness we didn’t plant our little flowers we bought the other night. They would have been destroyed. I thought I would share a few photos!
Now that I have had a pity party, I am doing better. I have thought about the things going on and I need to let it go. Life is way too short to be brought down by these things. Thanks so much for all your comments. I really appreciate them. It’s fun to see who is still in contact. A BIG HUG for you!!!
We have a busy month. I can’t believe it is already April. It seems that we have every Saturday full with events. It is fun but tiring. Michael is having a great time with soccer. He missed last week because of me. I thought the game was at a different time. Oops. He was so sad the rest of the day. Now I am going to make sure we don’t do that again. I don’t think he will allow it either. Michael and I have been doing preschool. He is getting so smart. He knows how to count with some numbers. I know I didn’t know that until after Kindergarten. Kids these days are so much smarter that we were. I love it!
Ricky has been doing great in school. Here in Texas they have tests called the TAKS test. They do this so they know whether the kid is ready for the next level AND to grade the schools. The teachers take this very seriously. Ricky took a pre-test and got 100%! We were so proud. Then when he came home from school with the test results from the real test…. we really were proud. Ricky got 100%! This is on the reading. Ricky has always loved reading. Something I really have been working on myself. What a proud parent moment. Ricky sure is talented in many ways. I hope he keeps it up. Maybe he could show his brothers a few things!?
Cameron is having a great time at school. His teacher wrote a big note saying that Cameron said “help” at school! YEAH!!! HE also is trying to say “Elmo”. He says it pretty well too. His vocabulary is improving. I am just waiting for that moment when he and I can have a conversation. He is riding at Spirit Horse better. My friend Lisa came yesterday to walk with him so I can sit out. I am glad she came. Cameron did so well. He held on the reigns and everything. He even said a few words too! They enjoyed each other. Emily, his instructor, is unbelievable. She has such a calming presence. She is even good for Michael. She lets him ride at the end. I think it is good for Michael too. He is so so shy. I hope it gives him confidence so he won’t be so shy. Michael loves riding too. She shows him how to do a lot of things too. I am getting really comfortable around horses (ponies) too. I love them. I use to be scared. I think it was because I never gave them a chance. They are amazing animals. Cameron is so much fun. He sure has a personality. I’m sure glad he is ours.
Randy is doing good at work. He loves his job. Thank goodness. He also is playing football on Saturdays. He loves doing that too. He says he needs to get out and run. I thought that was so cute. What a boy in him. I don’t mind though. He needs to get rid of the energy somehow right? I am doing good now. I am keeping busy with stuff around the house. I am enjoying working out. My friend Valerie goes as well. It is nice to see her there. I also have been making new friends there. I met a neighbor there today. She just lives around the corner and has a boy a year older than Ricky. We even have a common friend too! This summer will be so much fun for my boys. They are going to have many play dates. Especially at the pool. I am getting so excited to go to Hawaii. We leave at the end of this month. Ricky has to stay here though. He is bummed he couldn’t stay in Utah. I told him we would go when school gets out. I’m excited to have some time with Randy without the kids. We need it. It’s hard when you don’t have any family around to help. Babysitting is so expensive now. I can’t believe how much we have to pay. It makes it hard to go on a date without spending at least $60. Ouch. We are trying to be creative now.
Well right now things are going ok. I went to my pain doctor last week. I asked him how I can get off my pain meds. He gave me this medicine that is used normally for high blood pressure, but can also be used to help me. It is a sedative. This was the Thursday right before Easter. Randy and I decided that this would be a great weekend to get off since he had Friday off for Good Friday. Needless to say, I did. I practically slept all Easter weekend. Sweet Randy took care of the boys for me. Easter Sunday I managed to go to Church. I had to walk out at Sacrament meeting to take care of Cameron since I was falling asleep. It wasn’t because the speakers were boring, it was because of the medicine I was on. We made it home to do a very fun easter egg hunt with Ricky and Michael. We bought eggs that had stickers for a clue to where the other egg was hidden. There was 32 eggs hidden all around the house. We hid the eggs the night before luckily. I was so surprised how much fun it was. The boys were so worn out from running up and down the stairs to find the eggs. Randy was sneaky and hid the eggs up and down. It was a blast watching them. I have to give Randy credit too. He also made dinner. We had a spiral sliced ham, homemade rolls, corn, and REAL mashed potatoes. It was fabulous. I fell asleep after the egg hunt and slept until dinner. Randy made the whole thing! I love him so much. Back to my pity party story. So this was day three with no pain medicine and on the sedative. I had to be ready for Monday because then it is my turn to get the boys ready for school and do our daily routine. I chose not to take the sedative so I could be function able. Well… I still wasn’t. I couldn’t sleep and I was in pain. I took ibuprofen but that only took care of some of the aches. It was like I had the flu without the flu. My body just ached real bad. This is what a withdrawal is. I recall last summer when I tried to get off then, I hurt my back. Withdrawals are so nasty. I feel for anyone else having to go through this. I ended up calling my doctor to see what he recommended me to take half of a half pill. Basically 1/4 of what I was taking awhile back. I am now on 2.5mg once a day. It is so weird how much that makes a difference. Just as I thought things were ok, my tooth started to hurt. We all know what that means… root canal. Long story short I went to the dentist and sure enough I need a root canal plus other stuff done. I have periodontal disease, and a few decay spots that need to be treated and some fillings and crowns that are cracked and need to be replaced!!!! I give up. I am so tired of having problems. I know that my teeth could be worse considering what they went through, but still. We have shelled out so much money in medical just these first few months of the year. I am nervous how we are going to keep making it, but I have to have faith. I know the Lord will provide a way. He always does. It’s just discouraging. I’m sure you can relate. I just want a break for once. It can be someone else’s turn. I don’t wish it on anyone else though. See my problem? Enough with the pity party. I am still doing great besides my mouth now. My eyes are slowly getting better. It just takes time to heal them. I have decided that I am going to try and grow my hair out to see what it would look like. If it starts to go straight, I am cutting it!! Just kidding. I will probably still grow it out.
This month (well next month April) our area is having a huge huge garage sale. We are going to take part in it. So many people from all around come. There is hardly any parking anywhere. It is fun. Well we are trying to go through our stuff to sell. We really need money for the bills that are coming in like crazy. We are hoping to sell Randy’s car as well. He is looking to get a Toyota Corolla. I think that would be so cool for him. His Honda is really old. They say they last forever though. I hope we can sell everything. Pray we do.
The boys are doing great. We started Spirit Horse Therapy for Cameron. It is so good for him. He has become a little (ok, a lot) aggressive. I’m not sure what it is. I know this will work though. You should check it out at: http://www.spirithorsetherapy.com The owner is Charles Fletcher. He is the greatest guy. He has such love for the little ones and his ponies. Cameron is riding on Snowflake. She is the sweetest thing. She is so calm and patient with him. His instructor is Emily. I love her. She is so good to him. It takes patience to work with him.
Needless to say my life is good, but frustrating at sometimes. I just need a break sometimes.
I am finally home. I (Becca) spent about 14 days in Utah. As Randy posted, I went for my check-ups. Everything is great! I did get my port taken out. OUCH!!!!!!!!!! I really mean OUCH! It wasn’t even the action of pulling out the port, it was the numbing that hurt so bad. The doctor stuck me with the needle over and over again. Oh did I mention over and over again! It felt like he was cutting my skin although he wasn’t. I was screaming so hard. The doc just kept saying that it would be over in just a minute. I was ready to punch him. Really I was. My dad was over on the chair just laughing. I guess I was clinching my toes and moving them really fast back and forth. I guess it would look funny too. The whole thing only lasted 10 minutes. It was crazy. I really don’t think the doctor new how painful it is. I bet he hasn’t had one done to him. I know he is a good doctor, but I think he has been doing it too long. If you know what I mean. At least I don’t ever have to see him again. My dad still laughs when I tell the story. I am glad my dad was there.
As Randy said, I am getting off my pain meds. I hopefully only have one or two more weeks. I see the doctor on Thursday. Now onto the eye episode. I have Dry Eye Syndrome. Very badly too. I have been on a eye steroid and several eye drops. I have good days and bad days. I just went yesterday to get them checked. Not good. They are on fire. He gave me another steroid and some more drops. I just can’t wait to have it all fixed. I guess I am too impatient. I’m just tired of having problems. (Pity me). Ok, now I am fine. Just had to complain.
When I went to Utah, I helped my sister out. She had surgery and couldn’t take care of her house and kids. I felt like she helped me out so much during my time there, that this was the least I could do. It was nice to be on the giving end for once. I loved it. I helped her out a lot too. She had me bringing stuff up from her basement and taking stuff down. Things that I thought I couldn’t do, I did. Boy though, when the day was done I was dead tired. She wore me out. In a good way though. I totally enjoyed the time we had together. I love my nieces and nephews. Michael and Cameron loved it. Michael was spoiled and slept in the bed with me. Lucky kid. I know that I would have gotten more sleep without him there, but he really loved it. The sacrifices we do for our kids.
While I was there my Uncle Craig came to visit. Also my Grandma and Grandpa Layton. He lives with them for now. I was so excited. He is my Uncle that has a life story that is harsh. He has been in trouble since he was a kid. He says now that he has played for 50yrs, He was going to settle down. He started going to church (sacrament and Sunday school). He also got a great job. He is doing so good. I am so proud of him. His Bishop has him speaking with some adults and now with the youth. I really think that he may turn he life around. This is so good for him. I took a picture of him with Cameron. Cameron loves him. He must be good then!
Ricky finished basketball. He got to meet the mascot of the Mavericks, who signed his jersey. He loved it. Now it is Michaels turn. Michael started soccer. He was born to play soccer. This kid gets in there and gets the ball for him or his teammates. He is good at passing the ball and scoring a goal! He scored two goals at the game right before we flew out. His coach, Becca, loves him. All the parents and his coach think he has played before. I love it. Michael is so happy. As a parent it feels good when your kids are good at sports. Ricky is great at everything he tries and now Michael is. I love it!!!! I love my boys. They sure keep me going. Cameron is doing great in school. The teacher sent home a note saying that a lot of the teacher in the school stop by in morning to say hi to Cameron. I’m sure Cameron loves it. He is going to do great in school. He has learned a lot of signs. He also has learned to play on the playground as well. He hasn’t perfected it, but he is trying.
Randy has started playing in a flag football team. He is loving it! He played football for High School so he really feels like he is a kid again. We watched him play. It was cute. WE cheered him on. His team is really good. I’m glad him is able to play some sports. He plays basketball every Tuesday night with the men at church and with our neighbor. He says it makes him feel like he can get some cardio in. He looks good.
Me, well I am enjoying the new desk/scrapbook table Randy built for me while I was gone. I usually never get surprised, but this time he did it!!! I love it. It has laminate counter tops that looks like granite and lots of cabinet space. I am really impressed with the whole thing. It makes the room not so messy looking. I’m also working out at a gym now. It is the Lady’s of America Gum. I love it! I try to go every morning. I really feel like I am getting stronger. I need to look good for our trip to Hawaii! I can’t wait!!
It’s been a long time since I have posted! (Randy). Becca and the two boys are in Utah for her quarterly checkup. She took Michael & Cameron with her to spend time with the Grandparents and their cousins. Ricky stayed back with me to take care of the house and go to school. At least he is doing well with the school part 🙂 It’s one big holiday for him.
Becca got the results back from this round and all is well. They are pleased with her recovery thus far. They removed the port out of her chest and sent it home with her… awesome! She is doing well getting off of the pain medications, as well as the other meds. They keep telling us it will take time, so we are being patient. She continues to work wonders and do more than anyone thought possible this soon. Becca has a strong testimony of prayer & faith.
All in all, things are going good. We are keeping busy and trying to be the best parents we can. Thank you all for keeping in touch with our family.
