Happy Birthday Roger

Happy birthday Roger! He is number 8 in this picture. His wife Krista is in the striped shirt and their boys Rodney (black shirt) and Skyler (blue shirt). We celebrated last night with grilled pork chops and mashed potatoes. It was good.

Those Aren't Your Daddy's Horseshoes

Grandpa bought the kids a horseshoe game. They are the size of, I don't know what. Krista said they look like toilet seats. I guess that's about right. It was funny because they were so light you had to aim well and hope the wind didn't blow too hard.

Roger was confused. Your playing horseshoes, not football.

Here's Grandpa explaining the scoring. If you are within 1 toilet seat that's 1 point. If you hit the stick you get to use the indoor potty instead of the outhouse. Oklahoma rules.

Watching them play reminded me of a game Roger and I played when we were young. Do you remember Lawn Darts?
OH MY GOSH!!! I remember playing in our front yard. Who invented this game? Here, take this plastic circle and these GIGANTIC 12 INCH LONG DARTS WITH SHARP WEIGHTED POINTS over there and we'll take turns throwing them at each other. What could possible go wrong? I can't believe this game actually exists. We didn't think anything was wrong with it. Roger said he got hit in the chest with one. My Dad said I hit someone with one but wasn't sure if it was Roger or not.

Thank goodness the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned them. Too bad no one figured out they were dangerous before they were put on the market. Who in their right mind could have thought that this was a good idea? Just in case you can't read the warning, it says "Pointed, metal lawn darts may cause serious or fatal injury. Parents are urged to discard or destroy them immediately."

Just in case you were curious, no one was injured today playing horseshoes.

Sunday Afternoon At Grandma and Grandpa's House

Grandpa bought a bunch of toys for the boys to play with. Skyler was the only one who could hula hoop and he wanted to be sure that everyone knew it.

Grandma made potato salad, baked beans and watermelon. Grandpa grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. It was all good. Here is Grandma and Rodney laughing at something funny.
Grandpa kept taking Jackson's pacifier. He would ask for it and would let him keep it but not for long. Krista was just a witness. She would never take it away.

Krista and Jackson. Jackson was "mowing" the patio. It a previous life it was a bubble mower.

I'm not sure if Jackson was surrendering or showing me his hands were dirty.

This is like a where's Waldo? kind of thing. He blends in with the grass almost as well as he blends in with the green walls in the house.

Jarrett loved the balls. Just beware when he throws it to you.

Take That, Roger!

It took me a while but I beat Roger on the Wii Fit Hula Hoop. I came close several times but I finally did it. He only gets to use the Wii every once in a while but he is pretty good at it. I have to take those small victories as they come.
Just in case you were wondering, I do not plan on posting any videos of me doing this. I'm pretty sure I look goofy while doing it.

Happy Birthday Rodney

Rodney is officially a teenager. Monday he turned 13. Lets all welcome Roger and Krista to the land of parents with teenagers. Good luck to them. As you can see Skyler is doing well. He is always ready for a picture.

We celebrated by having pizza, except for Jarrett. He celebrated with macaroni and cheese. Here is Matt, Jackson and Jarrett.

Grandpa is usually ready for a picture too.

Grandma tells a story to Krista and Roger. Chris was there also but I didn't post his picture because all you would see is hair. Just kidding. I'll post pictures of him next.

What's my name again?

The top 10 names I use for Jackson instead of his name:

10. Roger
9. Chris
8. Jarrett Kyle
7. Little Mary Sunshine
6. Honey Bunches Of Oats
5. Little Fart
4. Little Bugger
3. Pumpkin Baby
2. Sweet Baby
1. Baby

Then again I find myself saying Jackson Matthew a lot so who knows. I showed this to Chris and he would add Chunky Baby to the list. He asked me why I would call Jackson Roger and I told him I don't remember calling Jackson Roger (I was running out of nicknames) but I know I've called Chris Roger before. You know when you're not really paying attention to someone and they are just bothering you? I guess I reverted back to my youth when I told him to stop it and who use to bother me? Roger.

The Family Who Wii's together . . .

Wii all met at my parents house Sunday afternoon for lunch and video games. Here is Skyler doing a Fit game. It is a spectator sport. Roger, Jackson and Rodney just to name a few.

Rodney, Grandma and Grandpa look on as Skyler works out. If you don't recognize the room it is the basement. They remodeled again. At least it isn't bright yellow.

Krista doing the ski jump.

Roger doing the ski jump too.

We had 2 Wii's going at the same time and we just migrated back and forth to watch whoever was Wii-ing at the time. Here is Krista, Grandma and Grandpa.Here is Skyler again. I think he is boxing. I'm not sure.

Skyler seems to be doing well. He has only been back at school for 3 days. They asked me if I wanted to give him his insulin shot and I said no thanks.

Skyler may go home tomorrow

I just spoke to Krista and they hope to go home tomorrow. Skyler's blood sugar spiked over night so they are going to keep him for another day. Thanks to all who commented. If you haven't commented yet, please do so. Skyler is officially bored and wants to go home. Please pray that they will get his blood sugar under control and that they will be able to manage it once he is at home.

Here is a comment left by Roger on the last post:


Hi it's Roger. I wanted to stop by and say thank you to my sister Teresa to keeping everyone updated on her blog. The last few days have been very hard on us as a family, and it is nice to see that so many people are keeping us in mind. Some people have inquired as to what they can do. One thing is to post your words of encouragement and praise here. Skyler has been very brave and strong in these days in the hospital. His first day there they were drawing blood, checking his blood sugar and checking on him constantly and he did not complain once. I can tell now that he will meet this challenge and do well. Another way to help is to let people know what has happened to him, not to draw attention to him but to let people know what the warning signs are so that we can increase the chance that another child may get the help they need before it gets as bad as he was. One of the first sings is an increase in thirst and urination, looking back at the last 2 weeks we saw it but really didn't think anything of it and with a little education maybe we would of got the help for him before he got real bad. I recapped the day on my guilds forum (yes I play wow) and I will just post a link instead of posting it all here. http://www.stygianguild.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1454

Thank you everyone for your concern. :)Roger
January 16, 2009 12:42 AM

Comments for Skyler

I just spoke with Roger and Skyler is ready to get out of the hospital. He is feeling better and they are adjusting the insulin as needed with each meal. I appreciate all your prayers and would like to request that you leave some comments for Skyler. Roger would like to show him the blog and see that people are thinking of him. I know you're out there, my counter shows about 100 hits in the last couple of days. Please click just below this post on the word comments and a small form should pop up. You don't have to register to leave a comment but you can if you want. If you leave an anonymous comment you can put your name in the comments. I appreciate your participation! Thanks.

Another update on Skyler

I visited Skyler and he looks a lot better today. He was awake and even had a few smiles. They are working on getting the blood sugar under control. Roger was there . . .

as well as Krista (and Jackson). They have been learning a lot about everything they are going to have to do to take care of him when he gets home.

Rodney was there too after a long fun filled day at school (my words, not his).

Grandma was there but she left before I got out the camera. Roger and Krista's friend Christy was there also.

Just before I left Skyler's new best friend paid him a visit. She is in charge of all the games for the floor. She brought in a Nintendo 64 and some board games. He is very bored but seemed to be a little better after she visited. He is off the IV's and is ready to go home. If only the doctors were ready.

Skyler needs our prayers

My youngest nephew Skyler hadn't been feeling well lately. After several days of vomiting he started complaining of his chest hurting and having trouble breathing. My brother Roger and his wife Krista called for an ambulance and he was taken to Wesley Medical Center. Here he is in a picture with Matt and Jarrett. They checked his blood sugar at the hospital and it was 715. For those of you who don't know, that is pretty high. He is dehydrated and in PICU until they get his blood sugar under control. He will be on insulin 4 times a day and Roger and Krista will attend classes to learn how to deal with his diabetes. I visited him this evening and he just looks wore out. He has been trying to sleep most of the day and they are thinking that his blood sugar will be back to normal tomorrow. He hasn't eaten in a while and they won't let him eat until his blood sugar is lower.

Please pray for Skyler. He is a very sweet and loving kid. Please pray for Roger and Krista too because they will have to give him the injections and try to monitor his diet. I will be in touch with them tomorrow and I will post an update sometime tomorrow. Thank you.

Thanksgiving

As usual Thanksgiving dinner was at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa cut the turkey . . and Grandma did the rest.Here is Chris, Grandma and Grandpa eating dinner along with . . .

Matt and Jackson (Jarrett just ate black olives and then went to play downstairs).

Roger, Krista, Skyler and Rodney.

Grandma made cookies and she and Chris decorated them to look like turkeys. They were very cute and tasty. Here is Chris decorating cookies. He works in a bakery you know . . . washing dishes.

The only person we were missing was Ryan. We love you Ryan and we miss you.

Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa's

Sunday after church we went to my parents house for lunch and some flying. Grandma made spaghetti and Grandpa helped the boys fly airplanes. Here is my nephew Rodney enjoying lunch.
This is my youngest nephew Skyler (with Chris and his big hair in the back ground).
Grandpa and Jarrett putting together an airplane.

Jarrett and Grandpa repairing the airplane after a crash landing.
Matt (Daddy) and Jackson in his K-State best.
My brother Roger, his wife Krista and Chris.
Jackson enjoyed his lunch so much that his clean up ALMOST involved a hosing off in the back yard.
Grandma was so busy cooking and cleaning that I didn't take her picture. The boys had fun with their airplanes. Skyler got one of his stuck on the roof. He and Chris tried to get it down by throwing a ball at it but I think it was damaged in the process. Chris got his hair rebraided Sunday afternoon and even after telling him SEVERAL times to take pictures he didn't. Chris made an interception in one of his football games. I have it on tape and will try to get it on the blog as soon as I can figure out how.