Scooby Snack Update!!

So, Reba asked what did Leo think. Leo thought at the first opportunity that they looked yummy. Hannah was holding Speckles yesterday morning and lunged at her and got her. His tooth must have hit her eye just right (... or maybe that's just wrong) and her eye popped out!!

After a few hours of wondering do we cut it off - leave it hanging - and consulting ER doctors and finally a vet (one of Hannah & Abe's friends mom is a vet) and she was going to take her in today and gas her and cut it off and stitch her eye shut - but thought this morning that she looked really good and we should leave well enough alone. We are going to let it shrivel up like an umbilical cord and fall off.

Hannah want's to know if anyone can sew a little hamster eye patch?

Meet Jen & Speckles

We have two new members of our family. Jen & Speckles

We have been fighting getting hamsters for quite sometime - there's something to be said about how kids are like wind & water - that after a time - they can wear you down!

Hannah did use her own money (We were not paying for rodents that we didn't want to begin with). So, she had won some tickets to a Britney Spears concert and when she found out that they cost $125 each!! She wasted no time having me find someone to purchase them. Suddenly she had all the money she needed for her new wards (dwarf hamsters). I am just hoping that they really are both females!! If not - well I hope you all have room in your hearts for new companions too!

One of our main concerns was the fact that Katie is a HUGE squirrel chaser!! What more could she ask for from the family than tasty morsels brought home for her!! I think she is truly smiling in this picture!! (THANKS MOM!!)

But, she was surprisingly gentle with them. Hannah even had Sepckles crawling on her belly at one point. Not sure I would leave her home to critter-sit for me - but I don't feel as if we purchased pill pockets (you know... little treats you use to give your dog medicine!! LOL)

But actually they are kind of cute watching them burrow around and hide food.

Blogs, Twitter and now Facebook.....

So first came the "Blog" and I will admit that we are not faithful bloggers - we try - but, oh well there you have it. I was hoping that Nate, now working nights, would kind of 'take over' and blog at least a little (although in his defense - he has been helping train a new tech the past few weeks). So, maybe he will see this and now step up (at least a little).

We both do "Twitter" Nate is 'mastrnater' and I am "zenfrogg' (if you tweet and care to follow)- our updates aren't much - but i do like following some things, currently fans of Big Brother 11 on CBS, and I love getting all the updates from the people that tweet about the live feeds that you can subscribe to - really - 24 feeds - just tweet 140 characters about it to me - and I will be living the life your not......just don't stop tweeting about it please!!

So the newest thing is FACEBOOK - ok - there is a lot going on here. I signed up for it over a year ago - only because a friend had a baby and wanted to see some pics of the cute little guy. And then promptly forgot about it. I would maybe post/ck that page once every four months or so... every now and then would get a random email - "so and so wants to be your friend".....hmmmm I'm having enough trouble keeping up with the blog.... So, Nate did one because, well, I don't know why - but then he started getting requests and so I started looking at mine a little more and actually finding people that I haven't thought about but fleetingly through the years - and found that it's kind of nice to see how they are doing and where they are.... so no promises - but we will see....

Photograpic evidence that Hannah has a brain!!

Okay, so this is the first image as it is coming down from the top of her skull - we liked this one because we were able to tell Hannah that she had a very small brain (LOL!!) just kidding

This one is a little further down, showing her the full size of her very LARGE brain!!

Now, this one is cool, because you can see her eyes.... and the very itsy, bitsy dot on the left (but right) eye is the one that scared us!!! But it's all good.

So, I did a little research on the drusen and what I understand is that the blind spots that it may cause (in almost 75% of cases of drusen) is peripheral blindness and there are special tests that they will do as she gets older to see how bad the blind spots are. But for now we are grateful it's not a tumor and we will take the blindspots!!

Enjoy the brains!!

Scary Days....

Hannah, Nate & I were all due for eye exams and I had made appts for the three of us at LensCrafters - nothing special needed - just an exam and new glasses for, at the very least, Nate and myself.

Nate, now working nights, decided that he would take Hannah up on Wed afternoon so that we could go together on Saturday and be able to go without the kids (much easier to pick out new frames when not having to deal with restless kids....)

Now, the optometrist there, after looking at Hannah's eyes, diagnosed her with "papilledema" and said that we should take her to see an ophthalmologist and that there might be a CT or MRI ordered. Hmmmmm, sounds ominous. And, as much as I like the internet - it can be a dangerous thing in supplying too much information. Papilledema is inflammation of the optical nerve. Papilledema secondary to "something" else. The #1 "something" else is a brain tumor. YIKES!!!

First thing Thursday I'm on the phone with ophthalmologist!! They got her in that afternoon. Dr. Miller was great and said after doing an exam that he thought that it was not the correct diagnosis. That there was something there, but he wasn't convinced that it was papiledema. He also said that her left eye looked fine, but her right eye was a little off. A most peoples optic nerves have a cup-like shape to them, Hannah's right one is flat. This could be normal, but it could be caused by something as well. He wanted to do the CT just to be safe sure and to give us peace of mind. (We wanted peace of mind!!!) The CT was sched for 4:00 on Friday. But we felt much better upon leaving the office.

CT on Friday was rather uneventful and maybe took 10 minutes for the actual test to be performed.

Now, as I work in a Dr's office, we have access to the films from the local imaging company's around, I was able to look for the report. There was nothing there on Saturday morning. Saturday evening, Hannah wanted to "see" her brain. So, we went to the office Saturday night to look at her brain (and see if the report was there!!!) Alas, there was no report, but there was a brain!! As we scrolled through the images, we noticed that there was a 17mm "dot" behind her right eye measured out by the radiologist. YIKES (again)!!!

No report on Sunday either....... just wait and try not to freak (damned near impossible!!)

Monday, Dr. Miller calls at like 8:30 in the morning and first thing says "Good news!! No tumor!! (YAY!!!) What she does have is Optic Nerve Head Drusen on both eyes. " He said it's kind of like "warts". Calcification's really. There is no treatment currently for this and most likely will not cause any problems. Possibly some "blind spots" in the future, but that's not 100% for sure. He wanted to see her in six months, and wanted to make sure that we/she knows what it is, as in the future, when she has eye exams, he said that any eye Dr worth a damn would be concerned and order a CT/MRI, and that would not be necessary.

Sorry it's so long, but really - how do you explain it all. Sorry we didn't tell everyone - but why share the worry when we don't know what to worry about - but now you know!! And we are a much relieved household with just a few more greys!!! We are thankful and try not to cringe too much (at least for a week) when the kids start fighting!!!

Love to you all!! (I will take pics of Hannah's brain with the cell and post them soon!!)

Summer Camp

We dropped Abe off at Camp Winona this past Sunday. It was soooo hot. The thermometer in the car on the way over:
Here's a great pic of Abe and Nate for Father's Day

This is his third summer going there and he always has a great time. And we always look forward to his notes home. (However brief they are!!) This is also his third year in the same cabin "Panther". This picture here is of his cabin mates for this year.
They post new pictures of the campers each day. If there any really great ones of Abe I will post them.

My Finger, The Light Saber

So, about two months ago I got the middle three fingers of my right hand cought in a door at work. It hurt. A lot. I couldn't say anything but one word for about five minutes and that word is not repeatable here, or anywhere else for that matter. Once I got my wits back about me I thought, "Wow, the next time the kids do that I will be a bit more sympathetic." It's been a long time since I slammed body parts in doors.

So within the next few days my middle finger turned black and really ugly. The kids teased me and wouldn't kiss it or anything.

Well, Wednesday night - the nail finally fell off.... Hannah didn't want to see it and since she's in New York - she's really missing out. So, I wanted to post a picture of it - but it's really hard to take a photo of your own right hand....and now I give you, My Finger, The Light Saber.....

(Abe likes it when you click on the pic and make it really BIG!!)

Hannah, you lucked out, we tried to take different photos in different light - and it just didn't work. Too blurry or too washed out to appreciate the nastiness of my nail bed. You will have to look at it when you get home next week!!!!

Blast from the past.....

This past weekend we went to GATORLAND!! I have not been there in over 30 years. I remember photos of my brother and me from years past, just like the one of Hannah and Abe here. Gatorland has been there for about 60 years - and I think a lot of the gators in their big swamp are original residents!! THEY. ARE. HUGE. And very well fed.

Abe found one running loose and decided to catch it! Just kiddin'

Hannah on the other hand wasn't so lucky!
It is nesting season and all kinds of wild birds (herons of one sort or another seemed to be the main species) were either sitting on eggs - or keeping up with new hatchlings.
and usually, right under all of the nests was a gator waiting for mana from the sky....or a baby from the nest....luckily we didn't see any of that, although I don't think Hannah would mind. She is our resident ornithophobic!!

I am not sure if this picture will actually do the size of this gator justice. He was monsterous!!
And we all got a kick (even Hannah) out of the bird with his solar panels out!! There has also been some home improvements of sorts going on, too. And Nate's new job - but I am not going to post it all here - gotta spread it out so that when I post two or three days in a row you get all impressed and stuff!!!

The Boys of Summer

Well, here are the promised pictures and a video of Abe playing baseball. His team had a pretty good season. They only lost a couple of times and came in second place among the teams in their division. Abe showed himself to be a very good hitter. His hand eye coordination is excellent and he was directly responsible for multiple runs being scored via his batting prowess. Unfortunately the jury is still out on his fielding ability as he was mostly stuck out in right field and with this age of kids not many balls get hit to the outfield. In fact I do not recall one ball coming his way while he was out there. Oh well. He seemed to have a good time playing and it was fun watching - especially as we saw a great deal of progress in the team as a whole through the progression of the season. The first game was a bit painful - mostly for the players as quite a few of them were hit by pitches - but also for the spectators as the majority of runs were scored off of walks (and batters being hit!). However, as the season wore on the pitching got better and the games were much more exciting. So, enjoy the pics! Wish you could have been here!

So, Hollie is usually the one to post but she has been on me to also post and since it has been awhile I figured I would just do it. My intention had been to post pictures of Abe playing baseball but I forgot to bring the memory card to work and I did not want to wait any longer to post as I am sure that everyone is having withdrawals from our exciting blogs! So anyway the pics of Abe will have to wait for another post and everyone who reads this will have to make do with old pics that I have saved on my computer at work. (Its my lunch break so I'm not stealing any time!) I should post pictures of all the rain we are getting, but it would probably be lost on all the New Yorkers who follow this (all two of you anyway) - actually it may only be New Yorkers who follow this. Anyway, it has been raining non-stop here since Monday which is considerable for Florida. We actually have standing water in our back yard and back porch. That is a little disconcerting since we have never had a concern about flooding before now even with some of the tropical storms and hurricanes that have gone through. Might have to start sandbagging - I'll definitely post pictures of that if it happens. It's forcast to continue raining through the weekend so we shall see. Well, I suppose that I have blogged enough for one day so until next time (unless we float away) - Live long and prosper! Enjoy the random pics :) Notice they all have the sun shining in them - ever the optimist!

Night Out

Nate's work had their annual gala this past Saturday evening.

This is a big fund raiser for the agency and draws a bunch of people that have a whole lot more money than we do. As an example of this: A gentleman that was there said that the evening before there was a player, Al Harrington, from the NY Knicks at his home (and at the Gala on Saturday). They went to Wal-Mart at 4am to get plates and a football. (Evidently there was another sports person that had hit plates with a football as they were being flung in the air) and Al said that he could hit 4 out of 5. Story went that they couldn't find plates (at Wal-Mart? Really?) so, purchased hubcaps instead. Went to the parking lot and proceeded to make the bet: If Al hit 4/5 hubcaps this guy would donate $100,000 to Kids House - if he did not hit 4/5 hubcaps then ??? would donate $10,000. Oh well, he is NBA not NFL..........There were some other sports figures there - some baseball and basketball 'people' but none that I knew - which in their defence - isn't really saying much.

The theme of the gala is "Field of Dreams" and it a 'creative' black tie. So, you are supposed to do a sport-thing with your attire. Nate went as a surfer and wore a rash guard & sandals with his suit. I went as a 'runner'. I borrowed a marathon number from a friend of mine and got to wear sneakers!!! (Soooo much better than heels!)

Little Miss No Name

I went over and say LMNN a bit ago - She is just about the cutest thing!!! Here are a few more pics and a couple of vids. Any name suggestions -let us know (see post below) My personal fav is Caliana.

Just what we ordered......

The newest addition is finally here. Only 11 months (not counting the several months of attempts that didn't work with a different mare) our 'little black filly' joined us just after midnight today.



She doesn't have a name just yet - but has been lovingly called "Sassafrass" so far, as she has shown herself to be very inquisitive and friendly and sassy. Much to her first-time mothers dismay. (Although - for a first time mom - she has been very gracious in sharing her little girl with everyone.)

We believe that she will be black. So, we are taking suggestions on names. Most likely a name that will translate into Arabic well. We have thought about Midnight (Hannah's) as she will be black and was born just a few minutes after midnight. Another suggestion was Black Sabbath, again she will be black and was born on the Sabbath. I found the name Caliana (A Moorish Princess), and also variable spellings of Leila (Born at Night).

I will post some more pictures tomorrow when I have more time.

Innocence lost and found.

Yesterday, as Nate and I were out doing a little grocery shopping - we thought we would get a a book for Abe. The second in a series that he and Nate have been reading. We couldn't remember the author and really, the guy in the bookstore was clueless. So, reluctantly, we called Abe to ask him. Thinking this is it - the gig is up.

As soon as we walked in the door - "Did you get 'The Sea Monsters'?"

"No, they were out."

Disappointment, on both our parts.

Well, imaging our surprise to be woken-up this morning to Abe busting in the room "MOM! DAD! The Easter Bunny came! He got the book!!"

Amazement, on both our parts.

Weekend at Universal

We went to Universal Studios this weekend and had a blast!! Hannah (pre-ride photo) FINALLY went on the big coasters and The Incredible Hulk is now her favorite. She had a dream the other night that she fell off on one of the loops and landed on the concrete - but she was "okay", so I made her get back on (LOL!) She did not fall off today - and if she had, I really wouldn't have made her get back on.

We went back to the pool on Saturday afternoon and they have several games for the kids to play.

Abe, almost there! Red Light, Green Light

How many seconds did you beat Abe by in a scavenger hunt?

There is a Bocce Ball story - but will let the YellowBanana tell it!

And the one family photo in taken with an outstreched arm on the back of a rickshaw:

Various pics of painting

Here are a few pictures of all of the painting that we have been doing around the house. Nate and I have never really picked 'plain' colors when we paint. Our last master bedroom was painted 'School Bus Yellow' according to Larry!!! When we moved in here, we painted the walls "Gardinia" a creamy, off-white color. How we ended up with that, I really have no clue. I really wanted to repaint it - but that's a job and Nate always does the cutting in and there is A LOT of cutting in and I didn't think he would be up for it.

Well, several months ago he asked me what I thought about paiting downstairs and really putting some color on the walls. BOY OH BOY!! DO I!! Here's the living room:



And here is looking into the dining room:



Looking in to the kitchen (before the cabinets were painted):



And after they are painted:



and one last picture just to make your skin crawl - this is an 18gage needle:


We are out of town for the weekend - so I will break my streak!!

More fun than I wanted.....

Brace yourselves - two days in a row!!!!

So, Abe loves to fish. Has had some impressive catches the past several months in the small ponds around the golf course. Christmas day he cought a 22" large mouth.

Last night he asked his dad if they could go fishing around the golf course......

The first "Big One" got away - then some old lady came out of her house, "You can't fish here." Blah, Blah, Blah - wanted to tell her to get a life..... so we moved on.

Nate caught the first one, not the biggest that's been caught, but, hey it's a fish and it's fun....

The best/worst one goes to Abe (of course)..... that included a trip to the local E.R. tons of lidocane and an 18gage needle...

Not the best pic (I was lucky to get this one, someone didn't want pics taken)....but you get the idea. FYI the method of choice for removing a hook from from soft squishy parts - numb with lots of lidocane and then run an 18 gage needle down the shaft of the hook to cover the barb and slide it out. If you don't know, 18g needles are HUGE!!! Honestly - wish I didn't have anything to post today!!!

Okay, we're losers in the "Blog" world

So, we are awful about postings. It always seems like there is something going on and just one more thing is too much. Reeb's says that hers never take her more than 15 min - but well, I just don't see it -

I've been wanting a nice pic of the four of us for the header - and getting the four of us together to take it - where one of us isn't grimy from fishing, painting, etc. - well and then having someone around to take it just never seems to fall in place.

This pic is from our curise last Sept - and I finally got it scanned at work. Yay!! Got the pic I wanted - well - then when I posted it - it was HUGE - so after another half-hour or so - I finally messed around with it to get it to a resonable size.

Abe has started baseball and he seems pretty excited about that - (I never realized that practice would be so long) - once he starts his games, we will have to keep you updated (get off the floor and stop laughing) on how his season goes. Hannah is not doing too much except reading! She is engrossed in the Twilight saga and is pretty much ignoring the rest of us. (At least it's not boys).

We have been painting like mad and will get some pics taken and posted soon. Told Nate that is his job.

So, now I've posted something anyway - and will try to be better......(again, off the floor)

Growing Pains

I swear, everyday, you can see the kids growing!! Hannah is now comparing her height to everyone around her. Last night we had dinner at my parents and my grandmother was there - and yes she is now taller than BG. (Hannah only looks shorter in the pic 'cuz she's a little in front of her & and BG has 'puffy' hair) It won't be long befor she is taller than me! Only 5" to go.

Abe is also growing by leaps and bounds and is happy to be tall enough (56"!) now to ride all of the roller coasters at the theme parks. He recently rode The Incredible Hulk and "Ice" from Dueling Dragons. He has been most impatinet about is getting back to Universal so that he can ride some of the others that they have. Hannah is a bit of a chicken when it comes to the coasters - but says that when we go back, maybe she'll give it a try. (I won't hold my breath!)

They are both eating like they have hollow legs!! I don't even want to know what it will be like over the next several years! And everytime I turn around - one of them come down for school in highwaters!!

As for the question of my morning/day not being complete if there is something that I don't do. I can't think of anything - although I do like my coffee in the morning. But I have to admit - if Nate is out of town (like now) I don't have coffee until I get to work.

GRAND OPENING

Welcome to our 5 star blog.

(hopefully!)

We have been 'shamed' by Hannah!

Who beat us to the blog world by starting her own!

"The Yellow Banana"*

this morning, because we were being too slow in publishing our family one. This has been stewing on the computer now for over a month. We were inspired by other blogger's in the family, and honestly, a bit intimidated! I would look at my SIL's and others and think "Okay, just how do you do this (or that!)". I would try this and that (basically - clicking this and that on the site) hoping that something would work......nothing was turning out like I thought I wanted it to.

So, in comes Little Miss Banana this morning, sees the new "Creative Croc" and I hear "I WANT ONE!" She came up with a name and went off to school. She was so excited to come home after school to work on it. By the time I got home an hour or so later - BAM! - she has her background and first posting almost done.

So, rather deflated, but not beaten (and with a bit of help from the "Banana") here we are!!!

I'm not promising daily updates - but at least we can post some family photos, that I will freely admit that we are horrible about mailing (snail or otherwise). So, that being said - welcome to

Chez Loucks

*(http://www.theyellobanana.blogspot.com/)