Frakes Merry Christmas

The holidays have been super HAPPY here in the Frakes household.  The boys are truly blessed by so many loving family members!  They both got waaaayyyy too many gifts!  They sure are spoiled! 

Brody was especially FUN to watch this year because this was the first year he "got into" opening his own gifts!  He really let er' rip!  He tore into that paper like there was no tomorrow!  He loved discovering what was inside, however he hated giving up the gift after he opened it to go on to the next.  He still wanted to play with what he first opened!  It was so funny!  Then he would open the next gift and not want to part with it.  After all the running around from one event to the other, Monday morning, our first morning home, he was found sitting beside his toy box most of the day discovering all the fun new toys he received!  His toy box overflows and we even left a few presents at each of the places we went so that he would have toys to play with there next time!  Spoiled rotten is what he is!

Cole was so much of a joy this year!  He was truly into the whole "magic" of the season!  We had to bake cookies for Santa, we had to track him all evening long on Norad, and then he kept looking out the window for "red nose" blinking in the sky!  It was so cute.  I bubbled inside feeling his joy.  He was super excited for Santa to come.  It was such a magical night to live in his life!  I enjoyed being a part of it all!  He was so happy and full of joy it just tickled me to the core!

After opening presents at home we made the Journey in the snow out to Ferris to Grandma Jeans.  The whirl wind of kids invaded her house once again!  The older boys played well, the babies got into everything as usual, we laughed a lot, had a nice lunch and then the kids tore into the presents!  The Crayola presents were a hit with the boys.  They played with those things for a couple hours. It kept them entertained.  The babies napped and played.  It was such peaceful and relaxing way to spend our Christmas day!

The Day after Christmas we woke up and played at home for a bit.  The boys had fun discovering all the new toys they had from the day before.  We then loaded up and headed to Keith and Bev's.  Anna and I were in charge of the pizzeria so we whipped up some masterpieces that everyone would enjoy.  Beth and the boys came out and we all had a wonderful lunch and the kids had fun opening all their gifts.  Brody was so funny... he wanted to sit all alone down the hall to open his presents in private!  He made quite the mess!  It was soooo cute!

After an afternoon of lounging around the Frakes we headed into Carthage for a Taco feast at my Mom's house.  We had a taco buffet and opened gifts with Mom & Dennis.  It was so much fun!  The kids got spoiled rotten, of course, and so did we!  Cole finally got his Fushigi ball he wanted.  That darned thing is complicated.  It's hard for us adults to master.  I'm not sure how he will be able to do it?  He also got some games, and toys and we got some clothes, and money!  Oh I forgot to mention the gift from Dennis... booze!  Merry Christmas to us!!!!  I got some wine, Bill whiskey, and Shawn Beer!  How clever of him.  He also got us some lottery tickets, which we only won a little money on... bummer!

We all had a wonderful Christmas!  I am so happy we are truly blessed with the best family a person could ask for.  We love them all.

Hitting the hay!

Merry Christmas Everyone!  Santa has been here and I think he ate too many cookies to sleep... ha ha ha.  I have gotten a few things done around here today.  It feels nice to have been home lately and working around the house on things.  I can't wait for the boys to open their presents tomorrow and see how they like what we and Santa have gotten them.  It's such a magical day in the eyes of a kid.  Cole has been so happy today.  Making cookies with me, peeking out the windows, tracking Santa on NORAD on the computer, helping daddy wrap presents, he's just so happy and joyous to be a kid!  It's such a magical time in his life.  I sure remember the feelings all wrapped up into this time of year in my childhood.  I hope we've done enough to make special memories for him to last a lifetime. 

First and foremost we survived our trip to Peoria.  Brody got his MRI.  He had some trouble with the drugs.  They used Prophathol (SP?)  the Michael Jackson drug to put him to sleep.  It is a fast acting drug, fast to sleep, fast to wear off.  It has a few side effects, one being dropping blood pressure, and slowing breathing, or stopping it in some cases.  They got him to sleep, started on the MRI and he had a reaction.  They said his BP dropped, he jerked around and they kept giving him more meds to sleep, but he wouldn't stay out, so they had to start another IV and give him more drugs to put him out.  He finally got out 2 hours later.  He was like a drunken little thing.  He couldn't sit up.  Was giggly one second, whiny and fussy the next.  He was all bruised up.  Poor thing.  Good news is the test came back this week, and as far as they can tell he is just fine.  Nothing is showing up on the MRI for cranial pressure or abnormality of the brain. 

While we were in Peoria we saw the Avenue of Lights.  It was just amazing.  Beautiful displays and it started snowing and it was just the most perfect evening.  We hung out with Tiff, Hannah, and Maddox the entire time.  We went swimming and lounged in the hot tub.  It was just nice quality time, minus the 2 hour wait for our spaghetti the last night we ordered in! 

I am so ready to celebrate the holidays this year.  I am excited that Cole's so happy and excited about it all.  Makes me thrilled for him to enjoy this. 

Last night was my Birthday.  Mom, Dennis, Cole, Bill and I all went out to Keokuk to eat.  We were going to go to Luds, but they were closed.  We went to the Cellar, which is a fave of ours!  We all had quite the assortment of food.  Dennis got BBQ Ribs, they were YUMMY.  Bill got a steak, Cole mini corn dogs, mom a Cellar burger, I got an Iowa Chop. It was yummy.  We all kinda shared our food.  Yum..  Then we went and saw the synchronized house.  It is so neat, then off to Rand park to see the Christmas lights.  It was beautiful! 

I hope you all have a very safe holiday season.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.  I am hitting the hay!

The year is winding down...

We had a super productive last few weeks here.  I've been trying to clean this messy house, organize things up a bit, and keep it clean... with three messy boys here, it's almost impossible sometimes!  Throughout the cleaning and decluttering process we've also had some fun moments I'd like to share about. 

Last Wednesday December 8th was Cole's school Christmas Program.  It was such a nice short and sweet event!  I got the boys dressed up and we were ready to roll...

After the program we went to Bowen Diner and had supper.  It's one of our favorite places to go eat when we get to Bowen. Nothing beats a hunk of Pizza from the Jiffi stop, or a Tenderloin Basket from the Dairy Barn, but the Bowen Diner has Bill's all time fave... jalapeno poppers, and Cole's fave the Hamburger Pony! 

I finally got the photos from Thanksgiving off of my camera.  We had so much fun with the Agnews, and then we went to Grandma Jeans house where she had a mini "garage sale" set up for the guys to pick from.  She had clothes Grandpa had grown out of, or wasn't using anymore to give to the guys instead of taking them to the salvation army.  She had tons of socks, and some fun funky clothes.  The guys had fun digging through the treasures and then Grandma brought out the best yet, a pink mens dress shirt and GREEN dress pants.  Then we had to all have a fashion show with our new accessories!  It was a blast!

This weekend I finally got the Christmas Tree up!  I know, I am a bit behind the times, but I can't help it.  With so much going on it's just gotten pushed off.  It looks nice.  I love my new tree.  It's a bit fuller and rounder than our old one and about a foot taller.  It's gotten a hodge podge of decorations from all of Bill's as a kid, all of mine as a kid, and the boys ornaments. 

Thursday is Brody's MRI in Peoria.  I am taking him up there and then we are spending the night because I have my appointment with my psychologist first thing Friday morning.  I am nervous and excited all at the same time.  I hope it's not a hard thing to get through?  I want to pass with flying colors and be on my way to surgery ASAP!  As soon as the report gets in to my surgeons office, he will call me for my surgery date, which will be anywhere from 4-8 weeks from when they call me.  I am shooting for anywhere around Jan-Feb-March ?  I can't wait!!!!  However if I disappear and am not around after Friday, please come looking for me.  I have never been to a head Dr before, and what if they lock me up for good?!?!   

Please pray for my precious baby.  He's never been put to sleep before and I am a tad bit worried that everything goes okay.  I hope they figure something out with all these tests to explain to us if and why he's in so much pain.

The Christmas festivities will be here before we know it.  I can't even begin to think that far yet.  I still have a zillion presents to wrap!  Man, this is going to suck!!!! 

That time of year

I've just lived through another major hard week in my life.  Grandpa Trone passed away on Sunday November 28th at 1:45p.m.  He went so peacefully with all his loving family by his side.  He was in no pain, and I prayed for his comfort and easy transition into heaven.  I prayed for my Dad to meet him at the gates and welcome him.  Gramps would love that!  He loved my dad.  I thought I'd have a much harder time dealing with all this than I actually have.  My heart is broken that I won't have my Grandpa to go to anymore for questions and to talk to me.  He always gave good advice.  My soul is telling me to be grateful that he's passed on and is comfortable and no longer suffering with breathing and daily living.  As much as I want to be sad, I am happy that he's finally set free.  He can finally breathe, and finally do all the things he enjoys doing in heaven and not have any trouble doing it.  That brings me so much comfort knowing how truly happy and healthy he is now.  My heart just aches for my Grandma too.  She doesn't have anyone to take care of anymore.  She's all alone.  I know there has to be some sort of peace within her that she doesn't have to worry about Gramps anymore, but I also know her heart is broken because she's lost the love of her life.  She's lost her best friend.  The one person who's been with her the longest in this world is no longer by her side.  I feel awful for that. 

Grandpas service was really a wonderful celebration of his life.   All the daughters wrote out their favorite memories of them and Gramps and it was such a nice added personal touch.  My cousin Casey read all the memories and it was so comforting to hear happy stories of the past on such a sad day.  I pulled myself together and was able to sing his soul to heaven.  I sang "Wind Beneath My Wings"  and know with my whole heart he heard me.  He was my biggest fan.  He loved to come listen to me sing.  That was one of the final things he enjoyed doing when I worked coming to listen to me sing.  You know he was miserable when he stopped coming to hear me sing.  I sang his final song to him on his 80th Birthday, the day we burried him.  December 1, 2010.  Rest In Peace Grandpa Trone.  I will forever love you in my heart.  I will never forget all the wisdom you taught me. 

I have had such a busy few weeks, and the next are looking even busier.  Tuesday afternoon Cole has a check up in Hannibal for his ear tubes with Dr. Imhof. Tuesday night is Scouts.  Wednesday Cole has KidZone, then his Christmas Program at the School.  Thursday afternoon Brody has a Dr's appointment to get a physical done before they will do his MRI on Dec 16th.  Friday night I have a party in Farmington.  Saturday I have a party in Burnside.  Sometime in this mess I need to get my end of the year bookwork done up.  I also need to set up my new Christmas Tree, do my laundry and clean my kitchen.  My whole house could stand a good scrubbing, but I will do what needs it the most first!

Dr. Marshalls office called last week and I finally have my appointment set up with the shrink.  It's set for Dec 17th.  I am excited that I got this appointment before the first of the year.  If things keep on this track I should be set for surgery around Feb.  or March.  That will be fantastic. 

I have Christmas Presents to wrap up.  I also need to go over what I've bought for everyone and make sure I have everyone marked off my lists.  Busy busy busy!  It's such a busy time of year.