5 inches of rain!

http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/selah-clanton-zephyrhills-fl/ the answer is true!  Thank for your vote!


Rainy weekend here.  We got 1.75 inches of rain last night and 3.5 inches today, over 5 inches in an 18 hour period.  I love it and so does my garden!  We are going to start harvesting some thing today:)  I'm cutting some lettuce for the nurse and some collards for us.    I love rain, it just refreshes me.  I think rainy days are cozy not depressing at all.  We seem to get a lot of rain which is fine with me
When we first moved here, we were in a drought and our old well was bringing out dirt when we turned on the facets.  We had a new well put in, a much deeper one and the rains came:)  It's interesting to live with well water, we had to have a system put in to purify the water.  The water was fine just too much iron. 

The boys and I saw The new Muppets movie last night, it was cute.  Muppet movies are some of my favorite movies, Kermit & Miss Piggy are my favs  We were the ONLY ones in the late showing for the Muppets, guess it was not the cool movie to see.  I want to see the movie "God's not Dead" but it is not showing in our small town.  We may go and see it next week.    Honestly I like very lite movies, that are funny.  I have more than enough drama in my own life to go and pay money to see make believe drama! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Merry go Round

http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/selah-clanton-zephyrhills-fl/
the extra vote answer is DEEP DISH - as in steering NOT pizza. 
And YES you can vote DAILY
YES you can vote from any country!
Thank you so much!!!!!

Jon had a bunch of doctor appointments this week.  He had several heart tests done on him, nothing invasive, just a stress test, nuclear stress test, EKG and a sonogram of his heart.  All were great, no issues.  Jon's family history with heart disease is just awful so he has always been careful and is an avid exerciser.  He also has watched his fat intake since before we were married.  I remember him eating a Lean Cuisine when we were dating.  (we'd never eat something like that now LOL!)

Now we still watch our fat intake but we are a bit more concerned about eating organically   When we were younger, I ignored his healthy food habits but as I got older, I realized I'd better follow his lead!  I always say if I wasn't married to Jon, I'd be about 600 pounds.  He is such a healthy eater, he has won me over BUT I still have to have my fried chicken every now and then! 

He went to the dermatologist this morning and had to have a precancerous growth burned off his ear.  Jon is also such the careful one with wearing hats, long sleeves, sunscreen while I am NOT!  I still like to get sun still thinking I might ONE day have a tan LOL!~   But somehow he had a little place on him.  I was surprised. 

Anyhow I'm making sure he sees the doctors too, it's been two years since we had gone to a doctor for anything so we're making up for it. 

Tuesday morning is my "big" day, to have the biopsy done of my thyroid.  The doctor tried to reassure me that most are non cancer.  For me, everyone I know who has had a biopsy, it has been cancer.....  maybe I'll be lucky and not have to deal with that, I sure hope so. 

After Jon's little procedure, we took our van in for a oil change and to have the back up camera replaced.  Where we go is right near a mall, so we took the kids too.  We all had a great time.  Sam loved the merry-go-round, I think he needs his own one. I did some more clothes shopping, which is really not me at all but I just have to blame it on the fact it is spring, almost Easter and everyone has grown!  Yesterday I had gotten Sarah's, Sam's, Shad's, Steve's and my Easter outfit.  Today I found Selah's and it is perfect and comfy, can't have a dress with a big bow to bother her.  I also found me a few things too LOL! 



                                                                         

      

Sam and daddy....

 

 

 

 

 

 

this picture is the calm before the storm....

 

 

 

 

 

the storm!

 

they were going so fast, I couldn't watch them!  Sarah loved it

 

 

Look at Sarah's pretty hair and she had on the cutest outfit, a little Sailor long shirt with leggings to match.  I should have taken a better picture of her!

 

 

 

fun times!

 

 

 

 

Here is a sweet picture of Sam from the other night.  He loves listening to his Ipod! 

 

 

And here are the little sisters!

they both got "fixed" last week- neutered/spayed whatever you call it

they did great.  For the first time I was given take home meds and it really seemed to help them just bounce back, we love that they are usually up and running, sweet babies!

 

they love each other AND my bed!

 

I have to say we have enjoyed these little girls! What good kittens they've been, hardly any trouble and so sweet.

 

 

http://reflectionsofaphilalethist.blogspot.com/

 

A really close friend of mine has started a blog.  This friend is really smart and I love his/her ideas.  The writer is remaining anonymous at this time.  So I won't let the 'cat out of the bag" but I think it will be an interesting, thought provoking blog!  Go visit it!

 

 

I want to write an anonymous blog so bad.  You have NO idea!  Cause if I wrote exactly what I WANT to write about, I'd probably have no friends left.  I'd probably have 5 million hits but no friends - I think I'd better stick with having friends!   I don't want to write anything mean, don't get me wrong, just very honest and what I really think about a lot of things....

 

Tonight I have a date with TWO men, Steve & Shad, we are going to the movies and Jon is going to watch the little ones.  He's not too keen on watching The Muppets ( that I love!) We also want to go see "God's Not Dead!"  Maybe we'll see that tomorrow.  I LOVE going to a movie, something about a theater and the popcorn.....I just love it!

 

Have a great weekend!  Thanks for your prayers, thoughts and votes:)

 

We need 30,000 votes!

http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/selah-clanton-zephyrhills-fl/  the answer is true uptil midnight tonight

Thank you for voting.....it overwhelms me so I appreciate anyone who takes the time to vote! 

This week has been so busy for me, I've gotten so much done but have so much left undone.  I am just feeling soooo overwhelmed again.  I've ran all week and yet need another week to catch up from this week.

As far as the contest goes....thank you all!  I think we need to be around 30,000 to have hopes of winning.  You all have done so much, but we have a long way to go.  Thank you for all your efforts.  We were on two tv stations in this area and I think we are in the local paper today, I've not had a chance to get one.  Voting goes on till May 9th or so so we have plenty of time to  build up. 


Today was another crazy long day for me.  One thing I had to do was go to the foot doctor.  The day before we left for NY (when the accident happened) I had major foot surgery both cutting surgery and laser surgery.  Things had been fine until just recently.  So today I thought I'd have to have the laser again and let me tell you that HURT the first time I had so I was NOT looking forward to it.  However he scrapped my foot and put something on it, which was much better.  I have some type of werid planter's wart (I know I spelled it wrong, it's too late to look up)   It looks like a little piece of a pencil head or something like that.  The first time I went to this guy, it was my THRID surgery in just a few weeks time as I had something resting on a nerve, and there is nothing like nerve pain!  He extracted something that looked just like a big molar.  I never got the pathology report back since we were in NY and things were so crazy.  So I asked him today and he remembered it since he'd never seen anything like that, he told me it was also classified as a planter's wart.  But it looked just like a molar!  He said he hadn't forgotten that LOL

I'm too tired to get really deep but this was the first time I was back in his examining  room  since the accident.  The last time I was in there, was the day before we left for NY and I brought Selah with me.  She was so cute, I even remember the outfit she was wearing......  She sat and watched me scream.  She even laughed some.  When I walked in, everything was in the same spot, including the chair she set in.  The surgery was just 6 days before the accident.....  the last time I went somewhere with just me and Selah.  Everything brings back memories to me!

How do some parents stand it?  We only had Selah for 13 weeks before the accident happened and it feels like EVERYTHING I do, reminds me of "BEFORE"   What if we'd had her the whole 7 years and then the accident happened?  How do they stand it?  Just the little time we had before is so poignant for me. Every little thing, every place.....

Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and votes....one day I'll actually write a real blog post.  I have some really funny stories to share, just some off the wall things that have happened to us lately.  Maybe this weekend I can catch my breath. 

News Interviews

Crazy busy day again......
http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/selah-clanton-zephyrhills-fl/  real quick...the answer is 79-how many medals.....


here is the interview from last night
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/zephyrhills/2014/03/26/zephyrhills-family-wheelchair-van-vegetative-state-disability/6897529/
After the long day I had, I can't believe I was even coherent!

Today I had a call from Bay News 9 and they also came and interviewed us:)   I was a bit more coherent today, than last night but I don't see that link up yet.


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Today was spent in arranging all the appointments/tests that the GI specialist wants the kids to have done!. My "to do" list continues to grow, as soon as I get one thing marked off two more have taken its' place.  There truly seems to be no end in sight.  My goal is to have everything done/scheduled/filled out/sent in etc...by May 1st.....Please don't hold your breath cause I sure ain't:)    Between the church and our family, from setting up appointments to doing college scholarship paperwork....I don't know f i'm coming or going!    Having 5 kids at so many different stages of life is not the easiest thing in the world!!!

So just when we think things are perfect with Selah she does something different.  There was some info our new neuro wanted me to get from NY so I had called the doctor that handled most of her care there.  I went outside to talk and was telling her all the good things Selah has been doing, walk back inside and Selah's heart rate is 160!  YIKES!  BUT the funny/good thing is that she is not storming at all.  She's not upset, not red or sweaty.  So we really do not know what to think.  She calmed down to the 120's and I asked the nurse to put her in her stander and her heart rate returned to near normal.  We are going to have the company that supplies her machine that measures her heart rate and oxygen level to come out and look at the machine to ensure it is measuring correctly.  The nurse did count and her heart rate was high today and her blood pressure low for a short time.  But she seems absolutely fine now.

The info I got from our sweet doctor in NY was about Selah's PH level when she arrived in the ER.  The PH level that they want to see is 7.0, Selah's was 6.98......it makes a huge difference.    For a long time I had wondered WHY the ER doctors worked so hard and gave her FOUR shots to her heart. (at the time we wanted them to fight!!)   Of course I didn't understand at the time of the accident what kind of damage could happen but I do now.  So once I understood everything, I had to wonder why the doctors knowing how bad brain damage could be would keep working on her.  NOW I truly understand why, she was so close....  There are other factors that can foretell the outcome of a near drowning but the PH is a big one.  So my heart just broke all over again at what "might have been"  Maybe if she'd gotten there 2 minutes sooner....she was so close to having a good number.   I don't read alot on the internet about near drownings.  The only things I look into are CURES, things we can try, studies, therapies etc.....I dont' get into the groups, I don't really want to hear alot of stories, I"m living my own story and that is hard enough.  But I researched things a little and it just broke my heart all over again.

Every now and then for a minute or two I dream of how our life would be 'if only"   Would I appreciate it like I think I would?  Of course I think I'd appreciate the heck out of it.  Oh God, I can just imagine, Selah right up in the middle of everything....making a mess with her toys, wanting to stay outside and play, looking at herself in the mirror with her new dress on...grabbing a piece of pizza....laughing ...

Hearing the numbers, reading the various reports, it just hurt me all over again.  Didn't expect that, it came out of nowhere, I was just curious and getting the info for the doctor.

I am thankful for so much with  Selah, so thankful that she is very stable overall and coming off of meds.  I'm thankful that she seems very content.  I'm thankful for all the people in her life that are helping us to give her the very best life possible.....I am thankful that we still have her with us...I just can't help wanting her back to us 100%.  Thank you for all the prayers you have prayed for her, please keep praying.......

What A Day!

My FB post.....

WHAT a DAY! Three kids in to see the new GI (love the doctor-thanks Tammy for the info on her!) Had to sit between Sam and Sarah in the van for an hour plus as he likes to pull her hair and she cries like a girl LOL! (...sibling rivalry at its' best! I could make a joke if I wasn't so wasted about blind kids pulling each others hair-it's just funny) Got home, picked up Shad got all new meds, took him to piano lessons, got home had new "brain trauma therapist" for Selah, Steve left for his piano lessons  in the middle of cooking supper, get call from Ch 10 wanting to do an interview about the van contest. I have the WORST ever hair cut of my life, Jon had a problem at the prison, couldn't leave, Probably the worst tv interview of my life. I couldn't get my thoughts together, kittens running all around...children squealing...it was just crazy LOL Finally got everything done, it's 10pm and I'm trying to vote I have no idea what the answer is for the extra vote (it's Horizontal Steering Column  thanks Betty!!!)    Thank you all for voting. I have never been so tired in a long time. What a day!

 

http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/selah-clanton-zephyrhills-fl/  the answer for the next two hours for the extra vote is....Horizontal Steering Column

 

Lisa Buie wrote an article for the Tampa Times about us:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/zephyrhills-family-in-online-contest-to-win-wheelchair-accessible-vehicle/2171805  she shared about the two other families from our area who are also in the contest.  I've not looked on the contest pages to see other families as I never want to feel I'm competing against someone else because I think if they are in the contest, they have a big need also.  NO ONE plans on getting a debilitating illness, or having an accident or having a child born with a special need.......NO ONE can be prepared for all the hardships that come along with that problem.  Just reading about the other two families in our area, is hard for me as we all need a handicapped accessible vehicle.   No one's need is greater than another's and most folks can't afford such a vehicle on their own.  We looked at some, brand new around $60,000....used with over 100,000 miles on it about $30,000!  I've never spent $30,000 for a brand new vehicle, much less one with so many miles on it!  I'm leery of buying a used one since there are so many parts that can go wrong AND you do not want to be stuck on the side of a road with an old broke down van and a handicapped child (or in my case CHILDREN!)  .  I'm certainly not an ungrateful person LOL  one of our van has over 130,000 miles on it and is 14 years old BUT we don't drive that car out of town!!!  Our new van is much nicer and we looked into refurbishing it into an handicapped accessible van BUT we would lose too many seats and there are 7 of us, 8 if you include the nurse.....so that wouldn't work out since we have so many people and we need one car we can get everyone out of town in in case of an emergency (like a hurricane -we live in Florida- and would have to evacuate Selah since we live out in the country)   or like today with 3 kids and 3 adults going 1.5 hours away to a doctor's appointment. Plus it was very expensive to do that.    Anyhow....the way I look at it, God provides for us, whether it is through a contest or through the ability to make money needed for what Selah needs or through a gift...whatever way it comes, when we absolutely NEED it, it will be there.....

 

So thank you all so much for voting and it warms my heart that people take the time to do it.  It was so sweet of Denise who nominated us and did all the leg work for me also.  So just that kind of support is absolutely amazing whether we win one of the vans or not!   I want to keep my heart in the right place and not worry about this!  But I do appreciate your votes:)

 

BTW, Miss Selah is doing really good.  She is adjusting well to being off the meds, I was worried but I think she is going to make it without them.  I am just over the moon happy with the new GI we saw today.  We now have a great GI doctor, neurologist and pulmologist and the BEST pediatrician anywhere to be found:)  They are all team players and committed to keeping Selah healthy, along with our full time nurses.  The doctors are accessible and able to think outside the box!  I am thrilled and it makes our lives so much easier to have such great doctors/nurses in our lives!!!!!  It took us awhile to get to the right ones, but what a blessing that we have been able to find them.  Those 3 areas, GI, neuro and pul are the three areas, that we focus on with Selah, being all on board together is fantastic!  I'm feeling very blessed tonight and believing this will be the key that will keep Selah healthy and out of the hospital (11 months without going in)

 

Also got lots of answers on Sam and Sarah and new info.  I'll go into all that tomorrow cause I truly need to crash now!!! 

 

Thank you all for your encouragement!!!!!!!!

I can have worms, I can have ticks but I can NOT have a bad haircut!

http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/selah-clanton-zephyrhills-fl/
please go and vote and share......
the answer today is ZERO EFFERT STEERING! 
thanks!

All is good here, just been running all day long.  Got some funny things to share, maybe tomorrow?  Tomorrow is a bit crazy too....taking all three little ones to the GI .... should be fun.  Each child will have a primary caregiver with them LOL.  Aaron our nurse/monk will have Selah, I'll have Sarah and Steve will have Sam.  I have never tried to take all three of them to the doctor at once, I'm sure I'll have something funny to share.....no doubt!

Last week I got the hair cut from hell....at first I thought I was just so uncool that I wasn't styling it right....then I hoped that my hair was just "in shock"....NOPE it is a god awful hair cut.  I tried several days to deal with it but today had to call the shop and complain.  I've been going there for years.  The manager fixed my do that looked quite a bit like a "mullet" by cutting my hair very very very short.  I am sick and considering a wig!  The shop gave me all kinds of products to use on my hair to help it to grow and the manager will trim it and work on it for free until we can get it back to normal.  It is awful, just awful and I do know in the scheme of all the world's suffering that my bad hair cut is not a big deal but it actually made me cry today.  I told our nurse and physical therapist as I left for the salon "I can have worms, I can have ticks  BUT I can NOT have a bad haircut!   Southern girls from the 80's have a thing about their hair! 

Anyhow it is a zoo at my house today and tomorrow....crazy times!  Just got too much going on.

Thanks for your prayers and vote! 

CMA Christian Motorcyclists Association

We had a great day with the Christian Motorcyclist Association  CMA.  I had ran to the store and was coming back when I saw all these motorcycles turn into our church's parking lot.  It was fun to see:)   So the place was packed, the service was rocking and we had a huge luncheon!  We had food left over, everyone ate, sat around and talked.  It was nice. 

I am exhausted but in a good way:)  So I don't have much to say tonight

Just wanted to remind you to vote-we're at 2,928, would love to see us go over 3000 tonight.  The answer to the extra vote question is FALSE! 
http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/selah-clanton-zephyrhills-fl/
Please go and vote!

Selah has done better the last 24 hours in keeping her heart rate in normal range.  Everything else is perfect with her. Thanks for your prayers, I'd be very happy if she could stay off this drug!  I was beginning to think she'd have to go back on but maybe not!

Oh and if you ever wonder about my neck/shoulder/back pain....it is still very much here!  Today I'm so sore it is pathetic!   And on top of the normal pain, I weeded the garden last evening so my hamstrings HURT!  Standing is not bad, sitting is fine but getting to either position is a killer!   But at least that will go away.  I have no idea what to think about my neck issues........

Anyhow hope you have a good close to your weekend and a great start to your week!

I included some pictures from today, of course my blog is acting up!!!!

 

the bikes

Guy leading worship

Guy, Sam and Rodney

 

see my baby girl in her biker outfit!