We're still here...but just barely

Hello people!!

It's time to put my BGP's on again. (Big girl panties) I've been thinking about this little blog a lot lately but I just haven't been able to do it. I've been overwhelmed and a bit sad. Not feeling the blog stuff. But here I am...

I do have very exciting news. Our passports have arrived!!!!! I think it's really crazy (and super exciting) that my two and five year old children have passports. So now we just need tickets.



James left for Germany on January 24th. And yes, he arrived safely. He's only started actually working the last few days. (he was getting paid though - no worries) So he's been sitting around watching movies mostly. Which really sucks if you think about it. If we'd been able to go in the beginning we could have done LOTS of sightseeing together. He'll be working 6 days a week by the time we arrive. Oh well! Next trip. He's good though. He's made some friends and done some sightseeing. They even tried to go see "The Hoff" (David Hasslehoff is really big there - I still haven't figured out why) a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, they didn't realized how long it would take to get there and they couldn't get in. They got t-shirts though. :)




Honestly, I would be lying if I said I was great. I'm overwhelmed. I feel like if I had tickets and a date on the calendar to mark off I'd be doing better. (or a dishwasher) As it is, I have no definite end in sight. I have an approximate time we are shooting for. (Well, that's great) I am planning to get tickets in two weeks so that'll hopefully make a big difference in my mental state.
But, next week I get a recharge! Carly's going to keep my kids and I'm going to get caught up on the house, get a massage, get my toes done, and go shopping. Wow. I should be much better by the end of next week.

I have been sewing a BUNCH! It seems to come in circles. One week I sew/craft and the next one I don't and am sad. It's weird really. I posted once about "sewing for sanity" and it turns out I wasn't too far off. So I actually have tons of projects I've finished up that I plan to share with you. (Not to mention the handmade christmas stuff I still haven't posted about) So keep your eyes peeled for that!

The kids....

(this is terrible of Fisher but I wanted you to see Piper's face - marker)

The kids are doing okay. They miss their daddy, of course. We have become experts at skyping though. They LOVE seeing him (and themselves) on the computer. Piper especially.

Fisher seems to be going in circles with me. When I'm more stable he's pretty well behaved. When I'm on the downward slope he's a complete turkey. Pushing every freaking button I have! I find this all really interesting actually - just how much we all feed off each other.

Piper can be summed up in 6 words. A. Cupcake. Baked. By. The. Devil. Fisher said it best the first week James was gone. We were in their bedroom getting everyone dressed and Piper was kinda being a pain. Fisher suddenly (and very wisely) says, "you know what's interesting...it's interesting that I used to be a giant pain in the butt all the time and now Piper is. It's like we've switched places." Yes, yes it is. You'd think I would have had even one day off in between with NOBODY being a pain. But no. It was the. same. day. Maybe even a little overlap where EVERYBODY was a pain. Piper still has the occasional sweet moment but mostly she's terribly two. And exhausting.

I'm going to update you a little bit on Mr. Bobbert today too. He's had a rough patch lately. We had to take him to the ER last weekend. He was in pain and his legs didn't seem to be working quite right. Well, after several x-rays they figured out why. He has what they call "significant bridging spondylosis of his vertebrae". That means his spine is starting to fuse. He's always been a bit hump backed. (genetics were not kind here) Well, that's just getting worse and the vertebrae are fusing together. Then they pinch his little spine making stuff not work correctly. (mostly just walking) They think we'll be able to manage this pretty well with arthritis medication to keep him from getting inflammed. Right now he's on steriods (for another week) and painkillers. He thinks this is great really. He gets a little bit of peanut butter (that's hiding a pill) twice a day. We'll keep the pain meds on hand for flare ups as well. Poor little dog. Here's the day we came home from the Dr.

He's doing pretty good now considering. Our biggest challenge has been keeping him from jumping. We have to lock him in the kitchen anytime we leave now so he can't jump/fall/hurt himself while we're gone.

So there you have it. That's what's happening. I really do have lots of things I can write about - I just have to be in a good frame of mind for it. So, keep your fingers crossed or send us good juju or whatever!

Love to you all!

JKFP and Bob