Playing Catch Up Minus Photos!

This post is long over due. I'm trying something different this time out - no photos... just words and horrible punctuation (sorry, Francis - just look the other way ) and run on sentences etc. You'll soon realize why I post so many photos! Photos will return shortly, I promise!

The past 2 weeks were busy ones for me - taking me away from home and blog. I apologize to my online pals for not posting my absence beforehand. I'm so new at this "blog thing" that it never occurred to me that I would cause anyone any worry - I'll do better next time!

I took the JayBob to visit his auntie, Monkeys Jump, and her husband, Brian, in Saint Louis over the 4th of July. I thoroughly enjoyed giving him my undivided attention for 4 days. While he loves his little brothers, he also loves being an only child for a while. We took him to see the new Ice Age movie (awesome show and so funny) which he enjoyed immensely. He opted to purchase fireworks to do himself rather than go see "the big ones," which disappointed Gam's just a bit as I had heard St Louis has one of the best displays in the country. What is it about boys that causes them to revel in blowing things up?! Uncle Brian had more fun than anyone being the designated pyrotechnician - giggled like a little kid!! I challenge any city in the country to put on a better display than the one I saw on JayBob's face that evening - so little money for so many smiles :)

After returning home from Saint Louis, I left the next day to stay with Mom and Dad for a few days. They live about an hour and a half South of me so it was an easy drive through beautiful country scenery. I mentioned in a previous post that Daddy has been battling Colon Cancer for over 6 years now. While he has managed, for the most part, to not let the disease slow him down, he has had a time of it due to some physical changes that have made day to day activities much more complicated. I'll not bore you (or gross you out) with the details - but the changes make it so difficult for him to leave home. You wouldn't believe what he has to go through. While Daddy has never been a "social butterfly," he and my mom enjoyed travelling the country for many years before his illness. I know he misses that. He has lost a lot of weight lately, making him very weak. The last chemo treatment prescribed was just too much for his body to handle so he has made the decision to leave things in God's very capable hands. There will be no more treatments.

While Daddy is content with his own company, Mom has always been the social one. I know it has to drive her crazy not being out and about. I was hoping she would take the opportunity to get away for awhile while I was there - no such luck. She still ran errands with the same sense of urgency - feeling she needed to get back in case Daddy needed anything. There are no adequate words to express my admiration for my mom and the way she deals with this. Unfortunately, this is not the first time she has sacrificed her own time to be with a family member suffering through cancer - it is actually the fourth go around for her not counting moving in with her own mother at the end of her life. I cannot fathom the strength needed for such an undertaking! While mom is no saint (she tends to hold onto hurt feelings for far too long) I only hope that I am half the woman she is. They say that God won't give you anything you can't handle in life...if that is so, then He certainly must think Mom has the strength of an army!

Please forgive me if posts are sporadic in the future...I plan on spending a lot more time "down home." Unfortunately, home may be where my heart is, but it's NOT where the internet is! I'll be back later to post some photos of my very gorgeous little men and update everyone on their shenanigans.