Another Post of "Not Much Going On"

It's been over a week since I've last posted anything. Truthfully, there isn't much to say...which isn't bad necessarily. Here are just a few things bouncing around in my head (which can be a scary place to be)....

-Lee working from 6:00pm-3:00am This really sucks. The good thing for him, he comes home, takes a shower and manages to fall asleep right away. The bad part..me keeping quiet in the house WHILE he is sleeping, from the time I am awake until he wakes up. Our house is a Tri-Level, which means, there are 3 levels. Somehow with all of these levels, we can hear EVERYTHING that goes on in the entire house from our bedroom. He wakes up around noon or so. No house cleaning for me.

-No cleaning house while Lee is asleep For all of those who know me REALLY well, yes, this is a problem. I am someone who likes to start her day waking up, taking a shower, getting the kids off to school, and then clean. I'm having issues with this being that I have to be quiet during my whole morning, and early afternoon. Laundry is also something that can't be done, because I have a buzzer that goes off when the washer is done. No, there is no turn off switch, and Lee doesn't want to mess around with the wiring on the washer. So, I'm having issues getting motivated in the middle of the afternoon to clean house.

-Our house has been a bit messy Yes, this is a problem for me, because a clean house keeps my small anxiety issues in check and..I'm a happier person when the house is clean.

-Hope's Allergies I have allergies. I have had them since I was in the 5th Grade. I remember it like it was yesterday. The lawn was just mowed, I was doing cartwheels on the grass, my eyes itched, I itched them, one of my eyes nearly swelled shut. I am now an adult, same problem, only with sneezing, and other stuff. I don't like taking allergy medicines because I get forgetful. Amongst other things. Think dumb blonde syndrome.

Raising a Teenage Boy Enough Said. I love my boys. I love my boys.

7 year old on steroids because of his asthma Again, no comment. I love him, and happy he is who he is. I just wish he could be himself without being angry (side effect from steroid inhalers).

Netflix Love, Love, LOVE Netflix. Lee signed us up. Lee has no time to choose movies for us to watch. Delegated this to his wife. Ha! Ha! Ha! 2 Chick flicks came in one week!! Yay ME!

Being Married for 18 Years You would think this would be at the top of my list. It will be in a few days. May 4th to be exact. I will post something special for this on Monday-if my scanner will cooperate with me. 18 years kind of goes by fast, but if you look back on your married 18 year life together, it kind of isn't.

This Swine Flu Thing Am I nervous about it, Yes!! Do I want to place my family in a plastic bubble until this passes, Absolutely! Will I? No. Raising a child (Mason), who doesn't have a Spleen (something very important for our immune systems), scares the living crap (yes, I said crap) out of me. I've been reading about the symptoms of the Swine Flu, and the funny thing about it...Mac had almost every single symptom when he had the flu in March. And it was just the flu.

Well, that's about all. I have no pictures for you because I pushed a button on my camera when I was in Yakima. It's taking really bad pictures, but I am messing around with the camera, and I think I found my problem. So, I haven't been taking pictures. The sun has been out lately, which in the Puget Sound area, is really, really, good.

Science Project Part 2

Mac and I looked at his grades online this morning (gotta lOvE Skyward).....and he got an A on his Science Project!! He was very proud (and relieved). I told him congratulations (I'm so proud of him too). He told me I could write this little information on the blog. It's not often that he says that. He often makes fun of me with my blogging. Everytime I take a picture he asks in a sarcastic tone "are you going to put this on your BLOG Mom". It's usually, yes.
Way to Go Mac!

Easter Eggs!

In the past.....dying Easter Eggs wasn't always fun. There has always been an issue with patience, and, waiting for the eggs to turn color. Then, after the first 2 batches, I was left to finish the eggs, by myself. It didn't matter how many stickers there were to put on the eggs afterwards, or what cool egg dying kit I bought-I was always left behind to finish the task. Mac enjoyed coloring eggs, up until last year. He just lost interest, it was bound to happen, he is 13 years old after all. This year, Mason totally got into dying eggs.

This was batch #1. The waiting was killing him. I got these green plastic egg grabber things. They worked really well, and Mason didn't touch one egg with his fingers.

Mason with his favorite color, green. He could have dyed 6 dozen eggs. But, I only boiled 2 dozen.

Lee came home during the process. Mason said "Hey Dad! Why don't you come and join us." Lee told him "Why don't you ask your Mom about Dad coloring Easter eggs." Dad doesn't color Easter eggs. His job was to carve pumpkins at Halloween. That was the deal. But he came over to take a picture with Mason.

Can I tell you how much I LOVE these little egg shaped plastic cups for dying eggs? They are perfect!

All Done! This is what he did when he was finished. It was funny.

And this is what we ended up with. Aren't they pretty? We hope all of you have a Happy Easter!

Mason's Pulmonary (Lung) Appointment

I know I have written about Mason and his 1 1/2 lungs. He ended up with 1 full lung and then 1/2 a lung after his Diaphram repair. One of the complications he faced while he was a baby (and one of the ones that almost killed him) was Pulmonary Hypertension. Usually, older people who smoke or have this and for them it gets worse. Pulmonary Hypertension is when the CO2 can't get out of your lungs. Mason had that. To treat it, he was on oxygen for a year 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and then on oxygen until he was almost 3 when he took naps and when he was sleeping. So, one of the doctors Mason has had to go see the most was Dr. Bonnie Ramsay in the Pulmonary Department of Seattle Childrens Hospital. She has been amazing, and has always been cautious when treating and figuring out treatment plans for him. In the past, we have had to go in for ECHO Cardiograms, 2 times a year, to look at his lungs and heart. Mason had some heart damage on his heart from his stomach pushing up against his heart when I was pregnant with him and until he had his surgery. The heart damage repaired itself within 1-2 years. This time however, she had him do a blowing test, to test his lung function.

This machine he blew into was hooked up to a computer monitor, and the monitor showed a bowling ball with pins. As he blew into this thing, the ball moved when he blew. The Respiratory Therapist put this nose pinching thing to plug his nose, so he wouldn't blow in, out, or through his nose. She then told him to breathe 2 small breaths and then a big one. He did and blew all of the pins down on the computer.

Mason watched what he was doing and really got into it. After round 1 of this test, she gave him an Inhaled steriod, something we are no strangers too. He then did the test again, and his numbers went up significantly. The prognosis: Reactive Airway Disease or Asthma. Are we shocked? No. Given his history. When he gets a cold, he wheezes. Then I give him Breathing Treatments with steroids, and if it's really bad, he gets to take an oral steriod in a syrup form. I know steriods have been getting a bad wrap from professional athletes. In Mason's case, they open up his bronchial tubes and help him breathe easier. I didn't know he had Asthma all the time, it certainly hasn't slowed him down any...at ALL. The side effect from the steriods-it makes him hyper and more active than his usual active self. Oh, and, he gets angry and mad. FUN!! We go back in 6 weeks for another test to see where his numbers are, to see if there is more improvement.

Oh, and he had to get another picture taken with Mickey Mouse......again. When we go to Childrens, I am reminded of how lucky we are to have such an amazing Hospital in "our backyard". I am so grateful to all of the Doctors, Nurses, Respiratory Therapists, Dieticians, X-Ray Technicans, Ultra Sound Techs, and other staff members who have taken care of Mason. I am also reminded of how blessed I am to have this highly active, little Red Headed Boy in our lives.

Mac's Science Project

Yes, the teenager is going to kill me for blogging this, especially this picture. He was being sarcastic, and he got caught! He never smiles like this. Mac had to do a Science Project. He had to actually do something over a period of time. He really wanted to do something he saw on Mythbusters, but only on a much, much, much, smaller scale. On Mythbusters, they had 4-5 different small greenhouses, and they grew plants and flowers in different types of environments. The environments were talking, rock music, yelling, classical music, and I believe nothing at all. So Mac choose to grow these plants from a seed and he grew them. 1 plant was exposed to rock music, another plant-some other type of music, and the 3rd plant he did nothing with (silence). Mac had to keep track of the plants growth by measuring them with a ruler, and I took pictures of them, each week.

He wrote his measurements down, he kept notes, and then when we had to put the Project together, he made a graph of the progress of the growth. The graph was the only thing he was really excited about doing. I made him write everything down (Hypothesis, Outcome, etc). I also made him type it all. It was so painful for me (the fastest typist) to watch my son, try to type all of this. I had to leave the house. So Mason and I did. 1 hour later (or so) he was done.

I'm really proud of Mac, because he did all of this with very, very little assistance from me. I "blew up" the titles for him. He cut everything out and mounted them on the black paper. He glued everything down with glue or Rubber Cement-I found it at a craft store and he had never used it before. They use glue sticks. Anyways. I think he got an "A"-we are waiting to see. He showed it at the Science Fair with the whole 7th Grade. It was interesting to see all of the different types of projects.

Happy Spring!

Spring Break for us was last week. Mac had a Science Project to finish before we left for Yakima. We ususally go every Spring Break. It's a nice break from the rain, because the sun is ususally out, in which this case, it was. We went for a long weekend instead of the whole week. We visited Grandma and Grandpa Parker, Uncle Sam and Aunt Andrea, the cousins, and sometimes we see friends. We also pop into Ellensburg to see Great Grandma Dawson (Hope's Grandma)-she just turned 92 yesterday. I always enjoy seeing and visiting with her. She's still sharp as a tack. The pics turned out blurry-I messed around with my camera and I need to change it back, somehow.

I didn't get any pics of the boys on the Farm or anything. I'm still not used to whipping my camera out and taking pics. The sun was out the whole time we were in Yakima. I had a chance to visit an old friend of mine, Trina. We grew up in the same neighborhood together, and I've known her since I was 7 years old. I had a blast catching up with her, and it was nice to talk to someone about things that happened when we were little kids, and teenagers.