Candy, anyone?

Wednesday night we had our annual Trunk or Treat at our church. The kids had so much fun - there was so much work put into making it a fantastic evening for everyone. Of course, it was topped off with Trunk or Treating in the parking lot. Maximum candy with minimal effort...can't beat it!

Justin has been obsessed with making "fake blood" and insisted it be part of his costume this year. Yes, we are definitely passed the Star Wars superhero costumes.

Last night we had Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. Notice Madelyn is no longer Cinderella. Her Dad talked her into abandoning the Cinderella costume and being a little cheerleader instead. Naomi has this dazed look on her face because we had people in our driveway who were Trick or Treating at the time I snapped the picture. She was in awe the whole time with all of the costumes. She liked the candy part, but didn't like having to go up to a total stranger to get it or walk around strange looking people. She's a shy one, for sure!

Justin posing with his "stash" as he likes to call it!

After church today the kids laid out all of their candy and started trading with each other. A local dentist in town is offering to buy back candy for $1 per pound. Hmmm, sounds good to me!

Birthday poem

A friend sent me this poem today for my birthday:

This poem is nothing fancy.
You've always been like a little sister,
Wishing a healthy heart to your mister.
Have a cake that's healthy...sorta.
so it won't hurt your aorta!

Made my day...why can't I think of anything that clever? Thanks, Shellie!

Helping Hands

We have had so many people help us. I don't want to leave anyone out so I'm not going to try and list names. Anyone who has been to our house and seen the many, many trees we have knows what a big job we have every fall clearing leaves. They really started to fall last week so we hadn't really had a chance to get busy cleaning them up when Aaron ended up in the hospital. Last weekend our neighbors pitched in and got the leaves cleaned up. This week friends from church came over and cleaned up.

The clean-up project started at 1:00. It was pretty amazing to see how quickly the work got done with so many working. The missionaries from our church stopped by, in addition to some of the youth (giving up precious time while on fall break), and some of the youth leaders.

Taking a much needed break

What great teamwork!

Justin and his friend Tyler

This was my first time using the blower. It was pretty fun. I think I've found a new toy.

Taking it easy

Aaron has been a good boy this week. Yesterday his day was full with watching "How to Train Your Dragon", playing Candy Land and puzzles, going on a walk, and watching the kids play outside. He's always wanted to have some time at home to relax because we always seem to go out of town for vacations. While these weren't the circumstances we would have picked, he is trying to make the most of his time and enjoy hanging out with us.

Before and After

We thought we would post a couple of pictures taken of Aaron's heart in the Cath lab. He had 100% occlusion in the Left Anterior Descending Artery. A common nickname for this artery is the "Widow Maker". Thankfully, no one referred to it as that until after this procedure. The nurses and doctor reminded us several times in the hospital how lucky we are he is alive. We are definitely grateful for his quick response to the symptoms and for excellent medical care.

You can see the artery is now visible after being opened up by angioplasty and inserting a stent.

Aaron called me at 7:30 Sunday morning to inform me the doctor had been in and told him he could go home. He was hoping to be released Saturday, but they decided to keep him for another day for observation because he was starting some new medications. He will be off work for a couple of weeks and is supposed to take it easy during that time. He will have several doctor appointments in the next few weeks and will begin rehab soon. We are learning so much right now and trying to make changes at home that will help Aaron to stay with us for many years to come. Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and service to our family.

Update on Aaron

Here's a picture of Aaron taken shortly after I arrived at the hospital today. As I walk down the hallway in the Coronary ICU unit, I am still in shock we are even here. Aaron is so out of place. He's got to be at least 30 years younger than every other patient in there.

Aaron was in Phoenix for the first part of the week and was admitted to the hospital about 12 hours after he returned home. The kids have really missed their dad this week and were so excited to go see him at the hospital today. We were scheduled to leave on a family vacation for Disneyworld tomorrow and they are disappointed to have our vacation postponed, but happy to have their Dad in good health. We won't know if there was any damage to his heart for a few weeks, but we are praying it will be very minimal, if any at all.

At this point, Aaron is scheduled to be released tomorrow. The nurse warned me as I left tonight that there is a possibility he could have to stay another night if they start him on another medication tomorrow. He has threatened to sneak out if this is the case. I hope he's not looking to earn patient of the year award. He was asking to be released about an hour after his stent was put in.

News

I will post more soon, but just wanted to let family and friends know that Aaron suffered a heart attack at work today. It happened about an hour after lunch. He had just played basketball during lunch and sat down to eat when he experienced really bad chest pains and tingling in his left arm. A co-worker called 911 and he was taken into the hospital. One of the arteries on the left side of his heart was 100% occluded so a stent was put in. He looks much better now and is resting peacefully. He will probably be in the hospital for a few days and off work a couple of weeks while he recovers. Wish me luck trying to keep him down. We feel so grateful at this time for the love and support of family and friends.

Just another crafty Sunday

You can see these pictures were taken in the middle of window painting, but that's not what this post is about. It seems I am constantly cleaning up this table. It's where our kids create. I love that they love to create, but I don't love the mess. It is covered almost daily with scissors, crayons, paints, and the list goes on and on. While the mess drives me crazy, I have realized the importance of letting my kids make this daily mess. They usually spend time here while I'm on the other side of the counter cooking or cleaning. We are able to have time together while I'm accomplishing my chores and they are learning. Bruce sits in here almost every afternoon while I'm making dinner and writes his letters.

Naomi has already begun to join in the fun. She loves to color and would love to get her hands on some paint too!

Finished product: painted pinecones that they are planning to hang on the Christmas tree!

Justin wasn't into the painting scene. He instead made this handy little wallet (credit card pockets included) for his brother Bruce out of duct tape. He has been so into duct tape lately. I think he's gone through about three rolls in the past couple of months.

Progress

After nearly eight months of painting, I am thrilled to be nearing completion! Well, with the main floor at least! Last week, I had the pleasure of painting over this lovely painted flower swag looking thing. The windows are all painted now too which is awesome! They were such a pain with all of these grids that go on them.

Here's a look at the entry way walking in the front door. The color on top is the same color as the bottom, but at 50%. We're still planning to update some of the light fixtures and hardware in the house. Someday...

Here is a look down the hallway from the front door into our dinette. I still have seven more of these boxes to paint going up the stairs. I started with 30 or 31 so I think I can manage another seven. I love the warmness in our house from the new paint color. It's amazing what a little paint (or in this case a lot of paint) can do. It's been a slow process because I do most of the painting in the evenings after the kids are in bed or on Saturdays.

Got milk?

Our little girls love their milk and are very particular when it comes to how they like to drink it. Madelyn likes hers in a sippy and drinks it while rubbing her belly button.

Naomi will drink water out of a sippy, but refuses to drink milk out of anything but a bottle. None of our other kids have had a bottle this long. I guess we are a little more lax knowing that she is our last.

Flower Child

A few nights ago after bath, Naomi came in our room looking like this. She loves getting out bows, ribbons, etc. Justin and Elizabeth thought it would be funny to cover her head in them. She was so proud to be so beautiful!

View from the top of her head