Day On The Water

Something I really wanted to do this summer was to go camping with Jeff, Tyson and my parents up at our favorite point on West Sebois Lake. Unfortunately due to everything going on, this is most likely not going to happen, so we all agreed the next best thing would be to try and escape some of the heat in town by packing up a picnic lunch and head up with the kayaks for the day. The start of our trip did not go quite as smoothly as I had hoped because when my parents showed up with Tyson (he had slept over the night before) I knew something was not right by the look on my father's face as he was caring Tyson into the house. As soon as got into the door and saw me he started crying and screaming that his toe was gone. My mother explained that he had somehow gotten his foot caught in my father's truck seat and when he went to lift the seat, something caught his toenail and ripped it off. By the time I got him to calm down enough to let me take his shoe off, I could clearly see his toenail hanging by just a tiny piece of skin. Whatever had ripped it off had done it so fast that it took all the skin around his nail and almost to his knuckle with it. After some debating if he should be taken to the hospital, we finally decided on some Ibuprofen and a bandage, along with the magic Iron Man ice pack that makes everything better. Once he had calmed down, we returned to our plans of going up with the kayaks for the day. By the time we got to the water, he was already running around begging to go swimming. He may cry more when he sees his mommy, but he is still one very tough little boy! Once on the point, everyone but my dad (feeling very upset over Tyson's toe) went into the water for a swim. Jeff stayed in for about an hour and other then eating lunch, my mother, Tyson and I never came out of the water until it was time to head home. I really hope this is something we will be able to do again before Jeff heads off to Korea, but if not, at least we had one great day there.

Back to the knee doctor.....

Today I went back to my doctor to discuss the pain I have been having in my knee, along with the fact I sound like a walking bowl of Rice Krispies. Even though I am not thrilled about it, I was not surprised when he said he wanted to go in with a scope and possibly do a lateral release to try and finally put an end to this ongoing problem. We had discussed this possibility when he tried the steroid injections back in February, but actually being told your going to have to have another surgery is never easy, even if this will be the 17th time I have seen the inside of an OR. Even though this is a simple surgery and I have already gone through it back in High School, I have experienced first hand what can go wrong with a "simple" surgery. I have put together a photo album of my experiences with my knee over the past year. I STRONGLY suggest that if you have a weak stomach, DO NOT look. For those who do, maybe you will understand a little more what I have had to endure and why I am honestly scared to once again go under any kind of knife.


Click to view all the photos

My Grandfather's 90th Birthday Party!!!

On July 10th my Grampy turned 90 years old and to celebrate we planned a huge surprise party for him. How everyone was able to keep it a secret from him I still don't know. For over a month we planned everything, almost always he was just in the other room or obviously sitting right in front of us, watching whatever game he found on TV. After my mother and I finally got the guest list from my Nana, we went right to work sending out invitations to all of the people that love him. We sent out well over 50 invitations as well as having the party announced at church (My Nana made sure they were not there that day). I don't think there was one day that someone didn't ask if they could bring someone or invite someone they though we had overlooked. I think we were all a bit nervous not knowing just how many people were going to be there to celebrate his special day. So, we set off making to do lists for everyone in the family. Everything from decorations to food to the cake was assigned to someone in hopes of making it a bit easier. My mother and I started off with a trip to Bangor to pick up all the food, decorations and everything I though I needed for the cake. My mom, dad and sister made most of the food while I made 4 dozen brownies, 2 watermelon fruit bowls along with the cake. As soon as I found out we were going to be having a party for my Grampy, I told everyone that making the cake for him was something that I really wanted to do. I finally decided on making a hunting and fishing cake out of fondant, something that I have never worked with before. Once I got the design down on paper, I figured the actual making of the cake would be a breeze. I can not even begin to say just how wrong I was!! By the time I finally finished making 2 big batches of butter cream icing, 3 large batches of marshmallow fondant, two 12" cakes and 2 6" cakes it was almost midnight. After the cakes were finally cooled, I got them frosted and stacked around 2am. I figured the hard part was over and I would start putting the fondant on in the morning. After all I have watched hundreds of those cake shows and it looked so easy (Again insert wrongness here). I started at 9am Friday morning (party being on Saturday) decorating the cake. My first attempt at putting on fondant on the 6" cake when bad but I knew what I had done wrong. The second attempt, well that one put me on the couch in tears lol. I then began to panic thinking there was no way I was going to be able to figure out how to make this cake and he would not have anything to blow candles out on. So Jeff being loving and supportive ran to Lincoln for me to pick up pre-made fondant and more icing. While he was gone I went to work coloring and making the pieces to add to the cake.

The trees and cat tails are made from gum paste, the deer, ok so those are plastic.

By the time he got home I felt as though I had accomplished something and was feeling a tiny bit better about having something finished for my Grampy. It was not until my Mother and sister came over to give me some emotional support that I finally got a cake covered. I have to say, covering the 12" cake was so much easier then the smaller one. After they left I went to work on rocks, the logs for the camp fire, the cooler and fishing gear. I was so stressed about not getting things finished that Jeff offered to make the boat for me. Now I love Jeff but he is the type of man that can not even draw a recognizable stick figure. I gave in and handed him a ball of fondant and told him to do what he could. If he messed it up, I would just make a new one. I was thrilled to see how good he did and with very little help, here is his boat.

Jeff's fondant boat.

After the little details were just about finished, it was time to stack the cakes and add the decorations around them. Cutting out the small hills and trees to go around the cakes took so much longer then expected, but once they were done and on the cake I was very happy with them. After the cakes were all done, I started adding the rocks, cat tails, lake, trees and other decorations. When it was just about finished I though of one more thing that I just had to add and off to work I went on making a container of worms. Anyone who knows my Grandfather knows how much he loves to go digging for worms. After that was finally finished and added to the cake it was 2am and I decided I was done.

My finished cake

The next morning however I decided to add the fish in the lake along with a green tent, just like the one my Grandparents use to go camping in. After the cake was officially dine it was time to make the watermelon fruit bowls, something else I had never done before. Finally we got everything and everyone up to the snowmobile club to get ready. After quickly assembling sandwiches, platters and getting out the drinks, it was time for the man of honer to arrive. I still can not believe that my Nana told him they were going to a Anniversary party for his friend there and he ran out that morning to buy a card, complete with a fresh 20$ bill.

My Grampy holding the Anniversary card walking into his surprise party.

Nana and Grampy with their kids. (My mom, Uncle Ted and Uncle Paul)

All the Grand kids and Great-Grand kids (the girl in the green shirt and the kids in front of her are not related but her youngest twins, Riven and Meadow are my cousin Brandon's babies.)

Me finally bring out the cake. I was begging him to blow out the candles, it was so heavy!!!

The funny part is, both my Nana and Grampy refused to let anyone cut into the cake to eat it. It was not until the next day that I found out that they went down to the local hardware store to buy cans of clear shellac to preserve the thing. My Nana said they want to keep it forever, or at least as long as their alive. I told them that it was creepy and I could always make them another one! If I have ever thought they would not eat it, I would have made it out of stiraphone. Thank goodness my cousin Kristen worked so hard at making 3 other cakes for people to eat and enjoy!!

Tyson and his Great Grampy
It really did turn out to be a wonderful day, and it made all the hard work and stress worth every second when my Grampy told us that night that it was truly the best day of his life. Later I made fun of my mom that the birth of his kids was second to his party, along with all the other parties she has thrown for him.

4th of July

This 4th of July we decided to skip out of Millinocket and finally go somewhere new to enjoy the festivities. This is something that we have wanted to do for the past few years but it seemed something always stopped our travels. This year with nothing holding us down, Jeff, Tyson and I, along with my parents, took a rode trip down to Old Orchard Beach. We woke up early, packed into my parents truck and headed down. The 3 and 1/2 hour drive went by very quickly (seeing as I slept most of the way) and upon our arrival we were greeted with a beach packed with people as far down the beach as we could see, along with a 110 degree sun beating down upon us. After we finally found a place to park, we packed up Tyson's bike trailer and headed down to try and stake out a spot upon the sand. After crawling around people, we finally found a great spot right next to the water. It was then when we realized that someone should have packed an umbrella. After about 30 minuets of letting Tyson swim and play in the sand, we decided that the nice shady picknic table we saw back by the truck would be a much better place to be sitting.

Tyson learning quickly that ocean water does not taste as good as the lake.


Another quick drink to wash the saltwater out of his mouth.

So we packed up the bike trailer and headed back to the grassy picknic area. There we all enjoyed a nice lunch and a much cooler place to just relax. We were there a bit over an hour and before long, Tyson was begging to go back in the ocean to swim.

Before heading to the beach, my mom suggested that we try and find a spot under the peir where it would be a little cooler, so off we went. I never imagined that so many other people would have had the same idea as her, but once again we were able to find the perfect spot. Large enough to spread out a blanket and some chairs, but close enough to hear the drama from our neighbors. Who know we would get a live soap opera showing while enjoying the beach. The first thing Tyson asked to do in our new spot was to get burried in the sand. He had so much fun but with the large amount of people walking around I was afraid he might get stepped on. After a few quick photos it was time to head back into the water.


He really did have fun being covered in sand, I just didn't have time to get a good smile.


Even though the water was quite chilly, he had a blast. I have never seen him stay in cold water that long, but I am glad he had fun. After a few hours the beach finally started to clear out slightly and we were able to move to the edge of the pier where we were still in the shade, but right out next to where they would be shooting off the fireworks.

Photos from the rest of our day

The ferris wheel


Amazing fireworks

It really was a great day and I hope that we will be able to do it again next year. That is if we are home from Korea by the 4th.

So behind, again!

Ok so time to play catch up once again. I am trying so hard to keep this blog updated, but life keeps us busy. Ok so let me start where I left off, or at least where I think I did. Tyson's last test to try to determine what is causing his headaches was the sleep study his neurologist ordered. After a lot of waiting and many, many phone calls we finally got the results. Everything was perfectly normal, crossing off our last grasp to find a reason for his suffering, or at least this is what we believed. Through some strong recommendations from our friends, Jeff and I decided to take Tyson to our local chiropractor. His first visit started off with a long list of questions, paperwork and a physical exam. It did not take long for the doctor to find what he believes is the cause to his migraines. To quote his medical terms, Tyson's head is literally not on straight. He believes that sometime during Tyson's semi traumatic delivery, the pushing and pulling on his head and neck to welcome him into the world, misaligned his neck from the base of his skull. When he had Tyson stand straight up and look forward, from the back you can quite easily see that one of Tyson's ears is much lower then the other. The doctor explained that once Tyson became mobile, most likely learned to walk and run with his head tilted slightly. I asked him why we hadn't noticed it and he reassured us that it is such a slight tilt of his head, unless we were looking for it we would not see it. When he is running around or looking down (coloring, reading, or doing schoolwork) he is putting pressure on everything that supports his head, causing the headaches. Depending on how much pressure is placed on the nerves, muscles and such determines how bad his headache. He assured us that he strongly believes that with a few visits a week for about 6 weeks, he should see a remarkable difference in his pain. Hopefully he will for the first time in almost 2 years, be headache free!!! His first adjustment went well, but he was a bit uncomfortable. He had been having a headache for almost 3 days in a row and having and adjustment with a headache left him a bit stiff and not feeling 100%, I am thrilled to say that since that last headache finally went away, he has not complained of another. I am not saying just yet it is because of the adjustments, but I am crossing my fingers and praying to God this helps. I will admit that after we left the doctors office on that first visit, I did break down and cry. I was just amazed that in a few months time we went from one doctor telling us Tyson showed every signs of having a brain tumor or hydrocephalus to he just needs some simple adjustments. I am so thankful to God that we have fond what may be an answer to everything and that it is so simple to correct. I can not help but to feel so guilty for all the tests we had to put him through. The CT scans, MRI's, being sedated, the EEGs EKGs and his uncomfortable night at the sleep study. I know they were necessary to rule out anything more serious, but I just wish that somewhere along the lines his pediatrician would have made the suggestion of taking him to see a chiropractor to see if he could help. The months of pain we could have saved him, all the medication he would not have had to be given and the many, many nights he could have slept peacefully. I am doing my best to put that all behind me and just look at the blessing we have in front of us and the possibility of finally making him better.

Tyson's Sleep Study

Tyson's last test that his Neurologist ordered was a sleep study. I am still waiting on the results, no surprise there, but I think it went well. Before arriving at the sleep clinic, Tyson and I decided to do some shopping and go out to dinner. He was so cute, when we walked into Ruby Tuesday's he went right up to the hostess and asked for a table for 2. He then told everyone he was "taking his mommy on a date". He was trying his very best to act all grown up, even ordered what he wanted to eat all on his own. After dinner we drove over to the sleep clinic (around 7pm) and as soon as we walked in the nurse asked Tyson to get his pj's on. He was very excited to show everyone his new Iron Man pjs, so getting him ready for bed was very easy. After he was all set and his teeth were brushed, it was time to start hooking him up to everything. They started with the wires on his head and he was happy to have it done because once again he had a pink wire. After his head was done they moved on to the rest of his get up. I was sure he might start to object to everything that the nurse was putting on him, but he never complained once. In fact instead of complaining he had a million questions. He wanted to know what everything was, how it worked and what it was going to "watch him do". After he was all hooked up, he decided that he had to potty one last time. He was more excited to walk around and show anyone he could find what he looked like rather then have to potty. After his little walk around the clinic, it was finally time for him to go to bed. He was so excited when his nurse turned on cartoons for him to watch before he fell asleep. He was so funny laying there in bed trying to figure out how the nurse could hear everything he said to her without having to yell. After about an hour he was finally tired enough to snuggle in and go to bed. It was a bit strange for me going to bed so early so I ended up staring at the wall for quite some time. A few times I noticed a red light flashing along with a small alarm going off so I asked his nurse what it was. She informed me that it would go off every time he stopped breathing. I was surprised to see how often it went off, but once he seemed to go into a deep sleep it didn't go off nearly as often. It took me a long time to fall asleep and our 5am wake up call came before I knew it. Tyson was very excited when they took everything off and he was able to take a shower there. Even though he slept almost all night, he was sound asleep shortly after we started driving home.
I will post his results, as soon as I actually get them, but here are a few photos from his night at the sleep clinic.

Just as the nurse was getting started.


All hooked up and ready for bed



I am so proud of him for being so good with all that stuff on him.

Tyson's Graduation

I know I am really behind in my blog, but here are some photos from Tyson's Graduation from Mother Goose Preschool. Technically he would have returned there in the fall because he is not old enough to go to Kindergarden, but because we are moving to Korea, this was his last year there.





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After Graduation we went to Zoe Beth's house for a little party. Before we left Tyson had decided that he needed to bring Zoe flowers and proceeded to remove one pink and one purple flower out of my Mother's Day arrangement for her. Oh well, I know how much he likes Zoe and how much she would love the flowers, so I was ok with it. Everyone though it was very cute when I told them where the flowers came from.


I have a few special photos I will add soon......

Yard Sales

One of my most favorite things to do during the summer is to go to Yard Sales. I know most people look at it as buying someone junk, but if you hit the right ones you can really find some great stuff. This year I set off on my Yard Sale quest to try and find Tyson a larger bike. His is way too small for him but I really didn't want to have to go to the store and spend 100$ for another bike that would only last him a year or two.
This year Jeff actually promised me that if he had nothing else to do, (sleep, watch TV or find just about anything else to keep him busy) he would actually get up early and go to a few Yard Sales with me. The first few weekends we went, we really didn't find much of anything. Tyson found a few toys he liked, but nothing really big. The third weekend I drug Jeff out of bed to go, he was less then excited. He has even turned my yard sailing loving Tyson into a hater. When I woke Tyson up to get ready he told me "You know you can always go by yourself." After a few moments of convincing them that they really would love to go with me, they finally got ready and we headed out. The first few again were nothing we wanted, but then at last we found one that had just what I was looking for. A new bike for Tyson!!! It had some rust on it, the seat was ripped and one of the tires was broken, but I knew with some spray paint, a new seat and a little work it would look great, so for 10$ Tyson got his new bike! We also managed to pick up a really cute doll for my nieces to play with when they come up, along with another elephant for Tyson's room, all for around 12$. Here are some before and after pics. of his new big boy bike.





As you can see Tyson is very happy with his new bike!!

The next weekend, while Jeff was conveniently at work, Tyson and I decided to go to a few Yard Sales on our own. Most of them were again a flop, but at one I managed to get Tyson a new Jon Deer riding tractor and a new turtle night light, all for 7$ The tractor also needed a little work but with the help of my dad it is now one of Tyson's favorite toys. I will post photos of Tyson's new tractor soon.


Hopefully now both Jeff and Tyson will go willingly with me to any and all Yard Sales of my choosing. (I really doubt it though)

Project Kermit.......

Project relocate Kermit was a little project of mine to remove and relocate 3 very loud and annoying tree frogs from Tyson's pool. The first few days after they showed up I actually enjoyed listening to them chirp, croke, sing or what ever you want to call the noise they make. Anyway by around day 3 of them being directly outside of my bedroom window, I decided enough was enough and they had to go. The first night I decided they would be better off singing at Jerry Pond rather then my backyard, I managed to catch this little guy. He was sitting on the side of Tyson's pool and was more interested in what I am guessing was his soon to be girlfriend sitting across from him to even notice me.



I was able to catch him quite easily and put him in a box (yes with wholes) and wait for my Mom to help hold him until we got to Jerry Pond. There he was able to find a nice new home right next to the water and a lovely row of trees.

The second one was nabbed the next day, with the help of Tyson. Thankfully it was rainy and cold so he was in no mood to hop away and went into the box quite nicely. Because Tyson was actually awake for this one, he had to bring it inside to play with for a bit before we could bring him/her to Jerry Pond to join it's friend.





Once Tyson finally decided he was ready to go to his new home, we got in my mom's car and drove him down. I decided since my mom had helped move the first one, she should be there for the relocation of the rest that followed.


Tyson holding onto him nice and tight for the ride.

Once we arrived at Jerry Pond, Tyson took it upon himself to make sure the little frog found his way safely up a tree. I am sure the "help" from Tyson into said tree was way more tramatic for the little frog then the move itself.







Sadly I have no photos of the 3rd and finally frog to make it's way from my backyard to it's new relocated home. I am sure just by his large size that he/she was most likely the source of the majority of the noise. Anyway I am happy to report that as of now there are no frogs keeping me up all night.

(No frogs were harmed in the Kermit Relocation Program)

Baby teeth.

I was shocked a last month when I found that Tyson had two loose teeth. Because I have never heard of a 4 year old loosing baby teeth, I made a dentist appointment for him for the very next day. I though that he must have hit his mouth playing and never told me. The next day his dentist decided it would be a good idea to take a full round of x-rays to determine if his roots were dissolved or if his teeth were loose due to an injury. When the x-rays came back I was completely taken back when we saw that not only were his two bottom teeth loose because the roots were almost gone, but so were 4 other teeth. All four on the bottom along with his two top teeth are all ready to come out. When I asked his dentist if this was going to be a problem because of his young age I was reassured that it was completely normal. Because Tyson had cut his teeth so early on (three teeth at 3 months old) they would fall out early as well. I told the dentist that I was not ready for my baby to start loosing his teeth and she laughed and informed me that it would not cause him to graduate High School and leave home any sooner. True as this was, it's still I'm still sad to see him growing up so fast.
Tyson lost his first tooth (bottom left) on May 17th. We were sitting on the chair watching The Backyardardigans when I noticed his tooth was ready to come out. I told him that it was bleeding a tiny bit and that I was going to hold a piece of paper towel on it. While he was watching his cartoon, I slowly pulled his tooth forward until It finally popped right out. Tyson had no idea that I had even pulled his tooth until I finally held it up to show him. He was so excited and immediately wanted to call his Daddy. He was at school working when I pulled his tooth. For some reason the wiggling and loosing of teeth really makes Daddy squeamish so I guess that's another job left up to me, not that I mind at all. As soon as we got off the phone with Daddy, Tyson started begging me to walk down to his Nannie and Papa's house to show them. So at 8:00 I snuggled him up in this stroller and off we went. He was so cute trying to smile to get them to notice that his tooth was gone. They were both very excited for him, along with a little sad that he was already loosing his baby teeth. That night when we got home he was very excited about putting his little "treasure" under his pillow for the tooth fairy to come. He had so many ideas as to what she would bring him. At 5:45am, Tyson came running into our room to show me what the tooth fairy had left for him. Daddy was already at work so he got a nice phone call before classes started. The tooth fairy left Tyson 4 dollars and two cars. I told him that because this was his first tooth, the gift that she left would be a bit bigger then it will be for any future teeth lost. He was still very excited and said that he could not wait to loose more teeth. Little did I know how short of a wait that would be.

On June 7th, again while watching cartoons, Tyson lost his second baby tooth (bottom right). This time I used a washcloth to get a better hold on his tiny tooth. Even though this one came out a little bit harder then the first, he still had no idea that I had pulled it. When I held this one up he was a little more surprised to see his tooth in my hand. Although this one bleed a bit more, he didn't seem to mind at all. That night he slept in my bed and we forgot to leave his tooth under his pillow. He was so funny when he woke up and looked for his surprise. He told me that the tooth fairy must not have been able to find him since he was in my room. So last night we put him to bed in his own room and checked multiple times that his tooth was safely tucked under his pillow. This time Daddy helped me to make the exchange while he slept. It was a good thing he was there because he started to wake up. Finally I went to bed, expecting another early morning with him coming in to show me what the fairy had left him. We never even made it until morning, Tyson decided to wake up a 3am to see if she had already snuck into his room. Sure enough she had and this time she left him 2$ and a little light up glow stick ball. Thankfully I always have little treats hidden away in a closet for such occasions.

So now the wait is on for the other 4 loose teeth to decide when it is there time to come out. Poor kid is not going to have any teeth at all to eat with. Looks like not corn on the cob for him this summer.


With all his Baby Teeth.


Right After he lost his first tooth.


Happy his tooth is safe under his pillow.


Right after he lost his 2nd tooth.