My Boy....and his Kiddos

A week ago tonight, my son had his last surgery.  I mentioned earlier that he has suffered from a staph infection that was inhabiting the wires leading to his heart from the defibrillator.  That device was taken out a month ago and he's been on daily IV antibiotics for 4 weeks.  Last week, he and his bride were back in Houston to have another one put in.  It was quite a stress filled day, for his surgery was scheduled for 11am.  They didn't do the surgery until close to 9pm.  He layed in the pre-op room for 9 hours.....emergencies, tied up operating rooms........all the while he waited and waited....
This one has not been a walk in the park for him...a little "more" than we had anticipated but he is toughing it out and it turns out that MY heart is busting open because of all the pride it has in it these days for this young man.  One tough cookie!

(waiting to be released from hospital and giving all he's got for that smile!)

I must give kudos to his sweet wife too for she has pulled strength out of her pockets when I surely thought they should be dry.  She's beside him every second, taking care of him and loving him and for sure, making THIS mom so happy that he has her...

SOOOOOO.....while they were in Houston, I was at their house keeping two little girls until mom and dad could get back home.  It was Lilli's last week of school as well so we had "things" we had to do!  The first day she came home, she told me that she was a speaker at the Awards Ceremony and her teacher told her she needed to have nice clothes AND her hair fixed......UH-OH....YaYa doesn't know much about fixing little girls hair.  I raised 3 sons and we pretty much just combed hair with a wet rag!!!!!!

We (I) got up extra early to get her ready.  And look how cute she looked!

still had to wear uniform clothes but at least I got her in a skirt and a BOW in her hair!!!!

She did great with her speech and then was awarded a certificate for straight A's all year and another one for being a Terrific Kid!!

Meanwhile, while she was partying with her classmates, this one and I just hung out and shopped and read and cooked and ate lunch together!

Riding the bus to school on her last day...

After worry about my boy and keeping up with those girls for a week, this YaYa was tired!! Mah boyfriend and I spent the whole Memorial Day weekend doing NADA, NUTHIN, ZILCH!

You see that lonely lil raft in the pool?  I floated on that for prolly 6 hours each day...one day I took about 4 naps on it!!!!!

I came home to blooming gardenias that smell divine!

went a lil crazy with the aqua spray can of paint!

and did a whole lotta deck sitting!!!

Need to rest up for we leave for the BEACH in just a few weeks!!!!!!!

Baseball and Ballet!!!

Last weekend I was honored to be included in two very important activities with my grandchildren...number 2 and number 5 of the 6 we have!  Austin and Josey -- my oldest son's children.  We began the day at 7:30 am having team pics made of the Rebel baseball team.  Austin is 6 but on that baseball field, he looked like a 10 yr old.....he was serious about the game.  I only saw him doing a happy dance and a lil dabbin' once or twice!  His dad was a big time baseball player in school and now is a coach on the team.  Talk about deja vu....only yesterday it seems that my son's dad was the coach on HIS team....and once again, the circle of life hits home!

Like Father....Like Son.

Makes this ol' mom and YaYa pretty proud!!

Then in our baseball decorum, we headed out to our 3 yr old's first ballet recital!

SUCH a sweet family!!

SUCH a wonderful day!!

Then it was a drive back home for me to get ready to keep #2s kiddos for a week while he goes to Houston for his last surgery!!!  

Soon after, this family of 14 will be hitting the beach for a week of rest, play and recuperation for my boy..........WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

Bittersweet Memories Replaced with LOVE!!

This year Mothers Day fell on May 13, which is the day my mom made her walk into heaven....or purgatory, depending on what you believe and if you had known my mom....she may have needed to spend a little time 'reflecting' before she passed thru the pearly gates!!!!  Um....she's kinda where I got my c-r-a-z-y from!!!!  So as I do each year, I began the day thinking of her and that time in my life when I had to say goodbye, with a little melancholy.  But not for long because we had a magnificent day with a bright blue sky, crisp breezes and sunshine that shined so beautifully that it kinda took my breath away ..... as I sat on our deck at the lake enjoying this!!

I just wanted two fried eggs with two pieces of toast....and my boyfriend delivered!!

He not only cooked it and brought it out to me on one of my daddy's tv trays....but he pampered me ALL day long!  He dug some holes so I could plant some flowers, he did laundry, he worked on our sprinkler system AND he cooked fried fish and hush puppies for me for dinner!!

 

My middle boy and his family, as well as my baby boy and his family, came out to spend the day and enjoy fun times with YaYa...

Cap'n cooked burgers and fries, which as usual, were a bit hit with everbody!!

 

Swimming took up most of the day along with a nice boat ride!

My middle son...who has had some heart issues and has amazed me at how he has handled it all...his group gave me a most awesome gift

How true!!!!  He is a warrior and I'm his MOM!!!!  

 

So between spending an awesome day with most of my kids and grandkids (dallas bunch couldn't make it in this weekend) and being treated like royalty all day long on Sunday....I'd say that I couldn't have had a better Mother's Day!!

As I say so often on this blog.....I'm a lucky YaYa!!!  and MOM!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a Walk With Me....

Before our walk, let me take this minute to thank all of you for your sweet concerns and emails about my boy!  Makes my heart so warm...  Update:  he is having to give himself  IV antibiotics 3 times a day since he's been home...and until May 21. He left the hospital with a midline port in his arm and was instructed by Home Health Care on procedure for injections.  The meds make him sick for about an hour afterwards but OMG...he has been so strong and tough.

He goes back to Houston in about a week and a half to have another surgery to put another defibrillator back in.  Then, hopefully............he will be back to himself, getting stronger and continuing to make all of us laugh every dingle dangle time we're together!!!

 

Another catch up.....while I was away, sweet KATIEJANE celebrated her 5th birthday!!!!

So once home, we headed out to Chucky Cheese ~~her desire~~for a little mini celebration after the fact!

And now we get to Spring at the Lake!!!  Always my fave time of the year, for my love of gardening and digging in the dirt is well documented!  Best therapy for whatever ails ya!!  But because of some brutal back pain, I've not been able to play as much as I'd like, so mah boyfriend has been helping me a lot in getting my yard in shape.  He hopefully knows how much that means to me!

new addition to my flower bed...it's a concrete SophieJane!!!!!

the jasmine covering my pergola is in full bloom and smells like heaven....has made the whole street smell sweet!!!

a bottle tree that a good friend gave me...I've put glass bottles on it but they always fall off and break. So I had a string of colored lights that had burned out. I swiped the plastic colored balls off of that string and stuck them on the tips of the tree.  Worked perfectly and won't break!!!

 

On a spring morning, I watched this blue heron fly to my yard with a fish in his mouth. But of course, the minute I opened the door to get his pic, he flew!  Our lake house is so calming..so serene..our happy place!!

Hoping everyone is enjoying this beautiful spring time weather!!