Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Spelunking

We have recently rediscovered a backyard treasure. Palo Duro Canyon is only about 40 minutes from our house, but I could count on one hand the number of times Kev and I have been in the last eleven years. Not so anymore! The past 2 Saturdays the weather has been fabulous and we have loaded up a picinic lunch, kiddos, backpacks, hiking shoes, and sunscreen and headed out for adventure!

Week 1: there has been way more water than we have seen in the canyon before, probably because we've had so much snow around here. We had a great lunch, then set off on a leisurely hike. We stumbled across a little beaver dam and the kids had a blast throwing rocks into the stream....until Boaz pooped in his pants and we decided to call it a day!

Picinic Fun

The water was all the way over the road

On the trail


Funny B

The little dam and stream

Hey there Bo!

Babies LOVE dirt!

Having a blast!

After the Great Poop Disaster...next time I'll know to bring extra clothes!



Take Two: Notice we are sans-Holland this week. The trail was a little rougher, but the big kids were tough and did awesome!


Gearing up after lunch

B conquering the mini-mountain

Little boy, big cliff

The mouth of the big cave

Journey to the center of the Earth...okay not really

Very cool!


Tight squeeze

Made it out!

View from the top

My crew

She's glad to be at the bottom!

Time to cool off...for real. That water was chilly!

River Rats

Proud Papa

Monday, February 22, 2010

A Few Tonsillectomy Factoids....

In the unlikely event that someone out there in the wide blue internet yonder is like me and googles something like, "What to expect after an adult tonsillectomy" the day before their surgery is scheduled, I want to put this out *there*.

First of all, yes it does TOTALLY SUCK. The first few days were not all that bad, though. As long as you have good drugs anyway. And if you have 3 kids, farm them out to whoever will take them, for as long as they will take them!!! Around day 5, when the disgusting white scabs start to slither their way down to your otherwise completely empty stomach, you will start to get horribly nauseated (especially if your mother has tried to force feed you vanilla Ensure) and you will begin puking your toenails up. I say your toenails because the Ensure will have long since disappeared having been gobbled up by your famished system and there will be ABSOLUTELY NOTHING else for your stomach to offer...other than said toenails. Oh yeah, and the pain from the acid accompanying the toenails will be pretty much unbearable on your ravaged throat.

On day 6, you will sob uncontrollably to your husband because the pain is bad, but worse is how UNBELIEVABLY STARVING you are...in between the bouts of nausea anyway. You will crave chips and queso like crazy, but will barely be able to swallow one spoonful of jello. You will also have absolutely ZERO energy for anything except thinking about food.

On day 7, you will have to somehow manage to get into the shower to wash the vomit out of your hair because you have to go see the Sadist who did this to you. I recommend putting a stool in the shower so that you can sit down because not only will the heat make you incredibly dizzy, it will take at least 45 minutes for you to wash your hair. Oh, and you better start early because after the marathon shower you will have to lie down for about an hour and a half. If you have long hair like me, it will probably still be wet and you will need your mother to dry it for you. Keep the stool handy! Your mother is probably shorter than you so you'll have to sit on it! Have your husband drive you because there is NO WAY IN HELL you should operate anything more complicated than a toilet with how many drugs you've been on. Oh, he'll most likely have to dress you as well.

When you are sitting in the waiting room at the Sadist's office, try not to be discouraged by the 2 year old running around the place. You know, the 2 year old who had her surgery a hour before you had yours. Just remember that oh so UNhelpful sage wisdome, "It's much harder on adults than it is on kids."

And when you step on the scale, try real hard not to cry when you find out you've lost 12 pounds and now weigh less than you did in middle school. If your heart rate is 140 bpm, just remember it's because you are knocking on death's door with your dehydrated, starving, pathetically weak body.

Also, try not to cry too hard in front of the Sadist. Especially when he asks you to open up "a little wider" so that he can use the frightening metal vacuum to scrape some of the thick white horriblness from your throat. "It will help you feel better".

Only 3 more LONG days until day 10, when inexplicably you are actually able to hold a toothbrush! And your baby comes home! And while you can't pick her up, you can at least follow her around from room to room. Because while you were feeling like absolute S**T, she decided to learn how to walk for the first time. And at this point, you will probably be able to go 5 hours without the narcotics. IF you can do that, you might even be able to start pooping again! Assuming you can now manage the whole cup of jello instead of just one spoonful and there is actually something TO poop.

By week 2, you should feel a little more normal. But I'm here to tell you what no one else told me, it's a whole new normal! You will pretty much have to relearn how to swallow. Otherwise, whatever liquid you were attempting will most certainly come out your nose. Not so bad if its water. Anything else and it will feel like battery acid in your sinuses. But I'm getting ahead of myself! You won't be drinking anything except water for the next few weeks at least! Just a tip...don't try wine. You also may experience a lisp. And anything sweet will taste completely bland. And don't even attempt to blow up a balloon for your kids...it's impossible.

If you happen to be a fitness instructor or you work out on a regular basis, you may think before surgery, "oh, I bet I'll be back in about 2 weeks". You won't. It will be at least a month before any exercise beyond walking to the refrigerator is even an option. But the good news is, you'll be making that walk quite a bit! Because at this point, you'll be eating every 20 minutes! And those 12 pounds you lost? They'll be back in no time! They may even bring a few friends along :)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Girl Time!

Bronwyn and I had a fantastic weekend spending time with each other and hanging out with our dear friends who moved to Houston. The Newcombs lived right behind us up until a year and a half ago, and they were the BEST neighbors you could ever hope for. Lisa and I became friends right away, and while my then 2 year old Miss B loves all three of their children, she and their middle child Landon are like little soul mates. I have never once heard them even bicker. Now, he is 2 years older than her, but they get along wonderfully and they play hard together. Kevin has joked that we need to draw up an arranged marriage contract! Not a bad idea. You'll see in the pics he's quite a cutey!

On the plane. This is the first plane ride she remembers.

Bosom Buddies!

This is at the Chilren's Museum. It was AMAZING! There was a whole exhibit called "Kidtropolis" which mimicked a little city. Here is B in the forensics lab.


In the back of the squad car...uh oh, I don't like this trend!

On the climbing wall.

News Room

This was a HUGE robot made entirely of telephone!

The Scientist



On Sunday the weather was SUPERB, so we headed to Galveston for some beach fun. This was the first time for Bronwyn to see the ocean!



The hunt for seashells was ON!

Beach Babes

She had such a blast...and was such a MESS!

Squishy



It just so happened to be the Sunday before Fat Tuesday...which is apparently a really big deal in Galveston. So we were parked in the perfect spot to see a Dog Parade and a Children's Parade. You cannot believe how many Mardi Gras beads we came home with!

What the??

My girl!

"We want some BEADS!!"

Counting the Loot

Creepy!!


All in all it was a fabulous weekend! I got some much needed one on one with my B, and loved every minute with my dear friends. Thanks Newcombs...we miss you!!!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

What the heck, it's February??

I can't believe I missed over a month on here! Lots of goings on the in the Wright Fam. Here's a little catch up.


Lately a favorite past time around here has been showers. I guess maybe because they are warm! It's been snowy and chilly in these parts and there's not a whole lot to do outside except bundle up to play in the snow. This is how the kids, Boaz especially, like to warm up afterward. Holland decided to join him here.


How could I have forgotten to post Christmas pics?! Here is 'the Night before' at our house.

Ha-Hay got a baby that tasted yummy apparently.


Happy boy. This was a light saber.

Even 6 year olds love to play with the wrapping.

Christmas Morn.

He matches his gator!

Little cash register.

After presents and blueberry pancakes, the perfect Christmas Day includes some serious snow play.


Testing out the new ride.


So, it was one of the best Christmases I can ever remember. We had a fabulous time with our family and there was snow on the ground. My dad came in town a few days later and we went out for our tradition of an incredible meal, grown ups only, and also had another Christmas for the kids. Unfortunately, such a great Holiday was follwed by tonsillectomy HELL for me! I had my horribly diseased tonsils removed on December 30th. Oh yeah, THAT's why I haven't blogged in FOREVER!!

A glimpse of the grossness that was my throat. This is as far as I could possibly open my mouth, otherwise I would have gotten a better shot of the full horror. Thank you God for our families and our Tribe!! There is NO WAY I could have gotten through those first couple of weeks without them!!!

And of course, my wonderful husband was a brave soul and found fun things like ice skating to do with the kiddos while I was either drugged up asleep on the couch or crying from the pain of puking my guts up. Good times.



My first 'meal' out came a few weeks later. I had been craving chips and queso like mad, so we hit Ruby Tequilas for kids eat free night. I managed a couple of chips, but ate an entire enhilada. Go me!

It's really hard to get 3 kids to pose!

The biggest thing I missed during my recovery is that Holland finally decided to walk! Figures. Look at her go!!


The end of January brought us a whole foot of snow!! WOO HOO!!! School cancelled for 2 days and the fun was on! Chile, sledding, movies, and one extremely dirty house!



It takes about 15 minutes to get him completely bundled up and he lasts about 5 minutes outside. Boy does NOT like to be cold!


He much prefers to run around in his underwear in the warm house. Just one of the many interesting ways he finds to entertain himself.


Don't think we'll be using our shop for awhile! That might be there til June!


Bronwyn is our little Polar Bear. She can stay outside in the snow for literally HOURS! She's gonna make an awesome snow boarder!

My favorite shot. Well, hello middle of February! There's still snow on the ground!