What a Week...

Life is full of moments that must be flexible. The plan was for Hayden to take part of his spring break, ride the train to Michigan Wednesday, March 27th, the Ropers pick him up and he visit them. The Ropers would leave Michigan Saturday, March 30th with Hayden in tow and come to Kentucky for part of their spring break. The Roper's, Claude and I and Hayden would attend Easter services Sunday morning, Hayden's family would join us in the afternoon for a meal and visit. They would take Hayden home with them and he would ride the bus back to Chicago on Monday, April 1st. That is a very good plan. However...

Hayden got to the Ropers home and then came down with whatever went through the Roper home before Hayden arrived. He was not well enough to drive down on Saturday. So, the Roper's stayed home with plans to begin their trip on Sunday. This would give Hayden a day to recoup. However, it meant Hayden would only be here Sunday afternoon and leave Monday on a bus ride while he was still trying to build strength. 

On to plan C. The Ropers did leave Sunday morning and drove Hayden to Chicago to his dorm. Then they drove to Kentucky arriving about 5:30pm. Whew!! The little great grandmonsters were ready to be out of the car and play in the back yard. Claude and I had pulled the toys out in the shed. They knew the drill from their Thanksgiving visit and went right into the shed to pick out the toys they would play with. 

Raelyn fixed my hair when we got inside. 

Kennedi made friends with her great grampa. 

Play Doh was really used this visit. We kept the tub in the house and it was pulled out on multiple occasions. The longest they ever played with anything was with the Play Doh. 

Katelyn played the piano and Joel tried to help her a bit. 

Monday, April 1st, we would have a little outside time in the morning. Rainstorms and severe weather was on the way. Our day was filled with learning about Claude's new watch, Play Doh, outside time, more beauty shop, learning to roll down hills, coloring Easter eggs and hiding them, traumatizing great Grampa with our stylin', and more coloring. Raelyn figured out how to decorate pictures with my cellphone. I quickly learned to take two pictures. One I could have and one Raelyn could color on. Raelyn taught Emelia how to do this and they enjoyed creating artwork on their pictures. 

Tuesday, April 2nd, was a rainy yucky day. Lots of very bad weather around us. We were blessed it wasn't on us. University of Kentucky shut down. The Library in Scott County shut down. Tornados were confirmed in four locations near us. So, all day was spent inside. Hence, fewer pictures. Kennedi is learning to play with the rocking horse. My new set of reader's arrived in the mail. We gave them a good trying out. We had Frank's Donuts for breakfast. Grilled cheese for lunch. Pizza for dinner. It was a good day despite the weather. I was grateful we brought in extra toys from the shed so there was plenty to play with inside.

Wednesday, April 3rd, was another cold day with rain at times. The kids got a little outside time but not much. We gave the three oldest their Pinocchio's we bought them in Florence, Italy. The author of Pinocchio is from Florence and you find Pinochio's all over the place. Raelyn and Emelia decorated cupcakes. Grampa introduced Raelyn to Blood Oranges.

In the evening, Kennedi decided to take up residence on great Grampa Claude. This series of pictures are their bit of time together and the fall of the remotes. Kennedi looks like she is trying to communicate to Claude she has a plan of what to play. Then she surveys the basket with the remotes. There were four in there. By the time she was through, all four were on the ground. Poor Grampa Claude had to reset his sound bar after this interchange. Small price to pay for a little great grandmonster time. 

Thursday, April 4th, would be the day to return home for the Roper family. Raelyn reminded us that we needed to do Pee Pee Bear. This little bear was purchased in Xian, China and is made of terra cotta like the terra cotta warriors. The little guy always brings giggles to the kids. We would go to KFC for lunch before the Ropers left town. 

Friday, April 5th, I would finally get the MRI on my right shoulder. Because we are aging and both a bit broken, we were ready for rest after family left. We actually slept really late this day. It was a good thing to do. 

My appointment was to be at the hospital by 1:15pm for a 1:30pm MRI. We sat in the waiting room for a good while. But the MRI went fairly quickly. I am a bit claustrophobic. The had me put my shoulder into a hard plastic cuff that fit over my shoulder. Agony to pull up and onto that shoulder. Once I was set up, the table moved into the MRI machine. It is a little tunnel and I was in from my waist up. To deal with this tiny space, I simply closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep again. Since I slept late in the morning, I was really not sleepy. So, I tried to think of things and get my mind relaxed and concentrate on not moving a muscle except to breathe. I was supposed to hear soothing music. Over the noise of the MRI machine, that was not really possible. Occasionally the tech would say something to me letting me know how things were progressing. The volume must have been turned up so you could possibly hear the music. Her voice was sharp and loud and it all ran together. Never really knew what she was saying until the end and she said something like two more things to take. When I was finally out of the MRI machine, she was very appreciative of how still I was able to be. Hallelujah. She said she got really good pictures. I was given a CD with all the pictures to take to the surgeon. 

Claude was surprised at how quickly I returned. We gathered up and headed into the sprinkles outside to Bojangles. We had neither eaten at all and this seemed like a nice brunch for us. As we waited in the drive-thru another car pulled up beside us. The passenger, a nice lady, came around to my window and handed us this little duck. This is a Jeep thing. It is not uncommon to come out of shopping or dinner and find that another Jeep driver had placed a Jeep on your windshield. This one was particularly cute and is the color of Claude's Jeep. It was a little dragon duck. 

This weekend, Saturday, April 6th, and Sunday, April 7th, will be General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would do laundry through the day Saturday. Claude and I would gather the toys from the house and collect them in the dining room. Claude cleaned the kitchen. We started putting things back out and in their places as we live. This takes a bit of time. I would get this Blog updated. All these things are done between sessions of conference. 

The Young Women at Church had a fundraiser for camp this year. They made cinnamon rolls. We purchased a dozen for $13. They were delivered just before the 1st session of conference. Claude put them on the stove to rise. Between the 1st and 2nd session of conference, I baked and iced them. Before the 2nd session started, we each ate a cinnamon roll. As I finished mine, I said to Claude, "I don't think one will be enough." Claude replied, "I don't think a dozen will be enough!" These were yummy and we are very grateful to the enterprising Young Women in our ward. 

When we watch General Conference, I usually pull out a spiral notebook and make note of who spoke and some thoughts they shared that touched my heart. This time, I found it difficult because I can't get my right arm to reach to the top of the page to write. I have to lift it with my left arm to get it in place. I realized I was not going to get the entire thought that I wanted to remember. The beauty of all things digital is that these talks will soon be on the Gospel Library app. I had a whisper from the Holy Ghost that told me not to worry about getting the entire thought. Write words or a part of the thought, then put three dots at the end. That will be my clue as I re-read these talks to mark that thought and attach key words to find it again. I love General Conference.

What a week! Parenting is definitely something to be done when you are younger. Claude and I are still a bit broken and we wear out much more easily. Chocolate milk is loved by all generations. Thank heavens we bought Pee Pee Bear. Our backyard is perfect for little ones to play in. I need to buy more Play Doh. Hoping I hear from Dr. Lyon next week about seeing a surgeon. Love watching General Conference with my hubby. Such a full week.