MaD TeA PArTy 2012

Please join me for a

MAd TeA PArTy hosted by the lovely

Vanessa from A Fanciful Twist!

There is sure to be tons of magical fun!

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Goose turned 12 yesterday!

This is a photo from her first birthday.

Such sweet memories!

Happy  Birthday Goose!!!!!!

We are so proud of the young woman you have become!!

We love you!!

Mom and Dad

crocheting and concussions

This is my latest creation.  I am in love with the colors! 

I can't wait to wear it this fall.

I have been crocheting like crazy and hope to show you what

I have been up to soon!

Now on to concussions.

On Saturday, Binky was on a metal fence with metal bars, like jail bars, and fell while still holding

onto the railing and slammed his face up against the bars.

His brow bones and the bones under his eyes hit the bars on both sides!

He was disoriented, terrible headache, seeing colors and dizzy when he walked.

He is still dizzy, has a headache and his face hurts!

And some bruising is starting to show.

We went to ER yesterday just to be safe.

Now we are home trying to rest and avoid stimulation.

Do you know how hard that is for a 10 year old boy?

If friends come over they always end up wrestling at some point.

So none of that for this first week!

No TV, video games, computer, wii, physical activity of any kind or reading!

Focusing his eyes at all hurts.

That is for the first week.

Next week we can ease into reading for short periods of time.

So I am reading to him now.

Which I do anyway.

And he is playing with is action figures.

Clone troopers, mostly.

Thank goodness for Star Wars!

knight's helmet

I am not sure why, but Binky decided he wanted to make his own knight's helmet.

He started with a basic sketch.

There are so many designs to choose from!

We did a little research online and found this site very helpful.

We started with cardboard, a stapler and tape.

He had to model his helmet, of course!

And pose with it!

Next, we covered the entire thing with foil.

And now we are working on covering it with paper maiche.

This will take several layers and several days to achieve the final look

he is going for.  I can't wait for the finished product!

I will post pics when we are finished!

So, I had the cancer removed from my arm last week.

It only took about 10 minutes.

Scrape, burn, scrape, burn, scrape, burn.

While I was there, I had one more mole removed to be biopsied.

And the results for that one are benign!!!!!

The doctor also made me feel better about the

upcoming surgery on my face.  I am scheduled for

August 21 at 10am.

Keeping busy with the kids helps keep me calm.

Being crafty, like with Binky's helmet, also is a big help.

How do you keep calm in times of stress?

d i v i n g

Goose learned to dive from the diving board this week!

She is very excited about it!

She has been on the diving board nonstop this week while

swimming with her friends.

I remember learning to dive. 

My grandfather taught me.

One of my favorite memories.

She's been swimming all week with her friends.

A different local pool each day.

We are lucky enough to have about 7 or 8 public pools in our area.

I took the girls yesterday

and found a nice spot to crochet in the shade.

Today is another day of diving for Goose

and a visit to the skate park for Binky and I.

He will be skateboarding and I

will be crocheting. 

Enjoy your summer day!

b r i d g e s !

I found this book at the library and brought it home

for Binky to look at.

He immediately started building the truss bridge

with popsicle sticks and glue.

This book is filled with information

about the first bridges and the evolution from wood to steel

bridges.   And there are lots of great little projects to

help understand how bridges are built. Daddy worked for a bit on the new Bay Bridge(from Oakland to San Francisco) being built right here in the Bay Area.  



Even Scratch the cat wanted to participate.

He loves to be in the middle of everything!

Is your cat like that?



The final touch was some silver spray paint.



The book suggests standing on your bridge to find the weak spots.

I think we will keep ours intact!

On another note, thank you for all the kind and supportive words!

I am over the initial shock of it all

and now I am just trying to keep busy until my surgeries and

enjoy the summer.

Thank you!



skin cancer

So... I have skin cancer.

I have one on my face and one on my arm.

They are both basal cell carcinoma.

The one on my arm is not very deep.  I am having it

removed July 12.

The one on my face is a different story.

I have had it for several years and that is not good.

It was just a flesh-colored bump with an indent in the center.

No strange color or texture.

I had no idea it could be skin cancer.

Basal cell invades other tissue under the skin so we won't

know where the cancer has travelled until they perform the surgery on

August 21.  It is a special surgery for skin cancer called

Mohs surgery.  Layers of skin are removed one at a time and checked by a

pathologist in the office until there are no more cancer cells

visible.  It can be an all day procedure.

But, there is a 99% or above success rate of removal.

I am terrified.

I am trying to stay upbeat.

I found out last Tuesday, my poor husband's birthday.

I got the call about an hour before his family was coming over to

celebrate.  It was not fun. 

So, for now I wait for my surgeries.

That will be the hard part.

Waiting...