Fly me to the Moooooooooon!.........

Monday nights in this house is Movie Night............

Actually I love movies and watch them most any night but on Mondays its "Jophies Movie Night"

Lora was finishing up his trach care while I shoved about 6 movies in his face. It is difficult at times to figure out exactly what he's wanting but other times its crystal clear. Jophie has a few movies he hasn't seen yet so I grabbed 6 and started showing them to him and asking which one he would like to see.

2 were very easily eliminated as he snubbed his little nose ever so high at them! LOL

The other 3 not so much......

After about a bazillion "How bout Fern Gully?" No? Then how bout "The Secret of Nihm?" OK then how bout "Fly me to the Moon?" Yes?? You like that one?

All righty then!

"Fly me to the Moon it is!"

In "Fwrrrreeeeeeeee-Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" as the twins so adorably call it ;)

OMGosh! How adorable is that!??

Jophie was just so squeezably cute while he was watching the movie! I just LOVE LOVE when he enjoys something so much.

I do believe I chose the right movie wouldn't you say?
Me thinks he approves :0)

Oh and please ignore my hairy monkey nudist child! LOL .........He was oh so hot and well he's on steroids and that's all I got to say! ;)

Trina

Name that food........

How bout we start with the location?
Your one and only clue.....
Any ideas?

We had this

And this for starters......

I had this....Hawaiin Grilled Chicken Salad! Mmmmmmmmmm.......

And Katys favorite The Monte Cristo Sandwich..........

Katy(One of my dear friends ) Over the years, she and I have bought one another lunch for our birthdays. Mine usually involves something drive through while Katy always ends up getting me something I rarely have a chance to try.

And nooooooooo...

Before you even ask it's not my birthday. That was back in January. We are "just now" getting around to celebrating it. Jophie tends to orchestrate when and where I go not to mention all the germies floating around during that time! We would much rather wait till the germies are hiding and spring seems to be the perfect time! :0)

Sooo......

Last Monday Katy calls and says....

"Whatcha doin?"

Well Jophie was in perfect order that day so off we went..... :0)

The food giving you any ideas yet? I bet this will help......

Cheddars! Ahhhhhh.......

This was the first time I've ever been and let me just say it was YUMMO! We had a really good time. It was sooooo relaxing and nice to get out and about for a bit and we didn't even have to wait. :0)

Thanks Katy! http://myersfamily-mom.blogspot.com/ :0)

Now I need to burn off what we ate! :0)

Trina

Party Time!

The Party was a Success!

Jophie felt well from the moment he woke up till the second he was plumb tuckered out ;)

When I got back from town Lora had Jophie all spic and span waitin' on his guests to arrive. He seemed quite content to entertain himself with his balloon bouquet while he waited. He's only half dressed for a reason and it's not because he's still protesting clothes! I think we've finally managed to jump that hurdle for now anways. We hold off on his shirt because he's a MAJOR Droooool Bucket otherwise he'd be drenched before we even begin!

Lora and I managed to sneak in a quick trach change and diaper change just as the Payne Gang were pulling in the driveway! Perfect timing! ;)

Table set and hot dogs grilled....Check!

Let the party begin!

Whaaaat? All this for me? I think I see presents!

I think I smell cake!!

Hey Babe when did you grow up?? haha

I got my eye on you!

All the Payne girlies except one. Meg is away to college. We miss her but at the moment I seem to have more girlies than I can handle! haha

All the girls love me! I just can't seem to keep them off of me!

Now how bout those presents! haha

2 of the people I love the most other than mommy of course! :0)
Danny and Tammy

Oh yea baby! Lay one on me!

And now a little break for some nourishment.

Can you name that food? Hmmmmm?

A hot dog and sauce of course all blended up with mixed fruit juice, an apple/peach wedge and a few pineapple chunks! Wash all this down with a can of Isosource Pulmonary and you have yourself one healthy boy! :0)

Now can we please talk presents????

It was really cute how fascinated he was with the presents. Loras bag was all shiny which kept drawing him in that direction not to mention he KNEW those bags were stuffed with goodies all for him! haha

The sleepy stare.....

You know the one? All kids get "that look" when they are just about to zonk out. Guess its time to wrap things up eh? He lasted about 40 minutes in his chair and thats good enough for me and just long enough for him to enjoy his party. ;)

Ahhh...Now thats much better. You all comfy now Jophie?

One last look at my balloons.....Going

One last smile for mommy......Going

GONE! Sleep well my sweet prince.........

He does this right before he falls asleep and just as he's waking up by the way...Smiling that is....Smiles all around! And I ask you......What more could I
ask for? Hmmmm? I can't think of one thing :0)

All in all it was an awesome day! I can't recall how long its been since Jophie felt well enough to enjoy his birthday let alone participate/interact as much as he has today!

There is one thing I am absolutely certain he knew about this day.
It's all about me! :0)

I'm truly so thankful for the time we've all had together with Jophie today and for
all the memories we will have forever etched in our minds......

Thank you father......

And now its Sunday or rather very early Monday morning.

I really need to scoot and try to get some ZZZZzzzzzz's cause this momma has been a bit green under the gills on this lovely rainy Sunday......

Off to sleepy land I go! :0)

Happy Birthday my sweet 16 boy! Momma loves you ever so much!

Trina and Jophie

Productive Day..........

I'm pooooooped....and I'm still not finished

It was gorgeous outside today! Sunny and high 70's....Perfect spring weather

Lora(Jophies nurse) was covering for Tammy and was only able to work till 1:00. She did stay a bit over cause it took forever for me to drag my butt outta bed. She needed my help changing Jophies trach collar/trach care.

I had so many things to do but couldn't decide what to start first. My head was seriously spinning. I finally just started tackling it ALL. Yep thats how I work. It really isn't productive but by the end of a day I've been all over the page and I can see the results! haha

I did 2 loads of laundry. There are 4 loads still waiting on me. It's grown legs and started creeping into the kitchen. Scary! ;0)

I debated hanging them out but really wanted to get my grass cut. Talk about Jophies Jungle! hahaha

I decided the grass was top priority and the laundry could be hung inside which by the way I STILL need to do! The grass was sooooo tall and thick! I knew it was gonna take a long time. It always does the first cut of spring. 3 hours and 15 minutes later it was done! The yard(jungle) won! It beat me up seriously! My mower is not self propelled so you gotta really push it and with all that thick/tall grass it was like pushing against a wall not to mention how many times I killed the motor and had to restart.

Moooooan......

My arms are sore from pushing. My right arm is worse from all the tugging on the pull start. I have blisters on top of blisters on my hands and I think my face is sunburned. Ooops! Don't yell Tammy I really did forget the sunblock I did however remember my inhaler! No suckin' wind outta West Virginia on this day! hahahaha

Honestly I love working outside and no matter how sore its a "good sore" knowing you've managed to accomplish what you set out to do......

My freshly mowed yard.......


And thats not even the front, the back OR the other side which by the way is ALWAYS the hardest! It's a very small space compared to the rest of the yard however, the grass on that side is soooooo thick! There is a creek that runs between my house and the neighbors on that side......I'm actually surrounded by the creek on 3 sides. The front is the only spot without the creek. That would be the road side! haha Anyway, that side the creek is more narrow then as it goes on towards the back it widens and deepens. When it rains the narrow side can not hold what rushes off the hillside and it floods out into my yard so that grass is constantly getting MORE than its share of water! When I cut that side I swear that stuff has teeth nashing back at me as I'm cutting it down! haha

I can't show any freshly dried and folded laundry cause its all still in 2 baskets WET! Guess I need to get that hung up before I hit the sack eh? :0)

I still have to clean up the kitchen and try and make some sort of "area" in between all the medical supplies and equipment to have Jophies party! YAY! Tomorrow is party day!

Jophies had a good day. I'm not sure the little guy even slept last night but he's sure made up for it today! He was awake most of the morning and all smiles of course. I gave him his meds then hooked him up to his pump for his feeding. I figured I'd let the pump help me out so I could cut the grass. I took my timer with me and checked on him every time the thing went off making for alot of miles on my little tootsies today!

He's now eating supper and is STILL sound asleep! I predict he's gonna wake up around 3 when its time for his next round of meds and I also predict he'll be all smiles and think its party time! haha

Oh well he can do whatever he wants as long as he's happy and feels good! ;0)

I need to scoot so I do what I can in tonight for the party tomorrow. Anything I can do now will sure make things go smoother tomorrow. The only thing I need to do is pick up the cake and have them blow up his bouquet of balloons. Well and cook of course! I'm firing up the grill and lettin' it do the work ;)

Will post pictures of his party tomorrow!

Trina and Jophie

Running Away......

And thats exactly what we did Tuesday!

Tammy, the twins and I ran away to WV again. The last time we ran away was when Horton (Hairs of the Who as the twins called it) was playing. We went to the park for a picnic afterwards.

This time was a bit different but fun just the same! For starters it was COLD! Brrrrr......And raining so even more Brrrrrrr......Perfect day for a movie though ;)

We saw this......

It was a cute movie and turns out the little oooooozy fella otherwise known as B.O.B....was my favorite. It wasn't the best I have seen but the girlies loved it as well as the many other kiddos who were there! Turns out WV was having their spring break that week along with the girlies Christian School. We didn't mind the kiddos but I'm STILL having trouble wrapping my brain around how much they charged for those tickets!

OMGosh!

I could barely enjoy the movie for thinking of what Tammy had to pay.

I watched the P. Gang Monday evening so Danny and Tammy could go see Natalie Grant so she treated me to the movie! It was so sweet but UGH that price.....We went during matinee which is always cheaper however, it seems they jacked the price up because of spring break and they also jacked it up because it was a (Fwrreeeeee-D) movie as the twins call it ;) They even charged adult ticket pricing for the little ones.....UGH

Sooo...... if you plan on going to the movies at matinee time during spring break and if it just so happens to be in (Fwrreeeee-D) make sure you call ahead to see if they be jackin' up the prices too ;) We know better now and next time if they pull that little stunt we'll be running away to a KY theatre instead ;)

It was too rainy for the park this time so we headed back into Ohio. Tammy had to pay on a layaway so we stopped by K-mart. We headed straight to the clearance aisles! I love a good bargain ;)

I found Jophie some socks for .25 cents a pair. YAY! Now before any of you who have followed me start wagging those fingers and yammering on about how I should NOT be feeding my sock fetish.....I want you to just keep your britches on for a sec while I explain. :0)

It seems that at some point between oh the last year or so Jophies feet have grown as well as his head! OK so I know some of you are like ....

"so whats the big deal about that?"

Well Jophie grows very very slowly and can literally wear clothing/coats/socks/shoes for years.....He JUST grew out of some CWD shorts I had bought him when he was 7 only last summer so that gives you an idea about his body growth. His head really hasn't grown much at all since he was a baby due to his brain damage.

Last week I got out one of my favorite hats of Jophies. It's a little floppy denim fisherman hat that we got him from the beach when he was around 5. It's fit him all these years. We put it on him with everything. I was crushed when I discovered it was too small but only for a second when it hit me that HIS HEAD HAD GROWN!

And then I'm like wait......Has it grown or is it swelled? Regardless its bigger!

How in this world? I have no answer. His soft spot was gone before 6 months. The skull itself fused together which in typically developing kiddos could be dangerous as the brain would have no place to grow and in turn be squashed but, with Jophie there was so much brain damage this was not an issue or anything to worry about. I've racked my brain trying to remember if I could have possibly bought a second hat for a foster child I had living here at the time. The only problem with that is Jophies would have been a smaller hat anyway so even if it was the other childs hat it should be bigger not smaller so out the window went that theory.

Oh well no matter his feet and head are bigger and he needed socks! LOL

My parents gave Jophie money for his birthday and I was able to find some shorts and tees. The shorts were were only 5 bucks and an elastic waist to boot! It's so hard to find shorts(that aren't 30 bucks a pair) with an elastic waist in his bigger sizes so I snatched up the only 2 pair they had left in his size. I also found 2 of the cutest tees which by the way are also hard to find in bigger sizes ;)

My last great find I actually didn't find. Laynie did! She started hollering at me all excited...."Come look!" I go to her and there she stands droooooling with eyes big as saucers.

"It's chooooooocolaaaate" LOL

She had found one of those chocolate fountains. You know the kind where the chocolate flows and you stick pieces of fruit into the chocolate as it flows downward? Well I was thinking there is no way this thing is on clearance. Someone must have put it here right?

Wrong!

We got that 50 dollar chocolate fountain for 12 dollars! Wheeee! I don't know who is more excited. Me or Laynie! LOL

By this time we were running way behind schedule. Our plan was to also hit wally world but we decided to head on home.

I had promised Jophie a happy meal which we forgot to get. Imagine that. :0) Once I left Danny and Tammys I headed into town that is AFTER Danny pushed me outta the mudhole in their yard that I was stuck in! haha

I finally made it home with Jophies happy meal in hand. He had chicken nuggets for supper that night and was one happy little camper ;)

I can't wait till we can run away again. Maybe next time KY? We shall see ;)

P.S.......Thanks for stoppin' in and for your kind words Krista. We love meeting new friends from all over the globe. Stop back anytime! :0)

Trina and Jophie

Fun Times.........

Easter Sunday was really nice. Jophie and I are no longer able to attend church but, we still celebrate all the holidays here with one another. I do miss going as well as the fellowship we used to have with our church family and friends. I am however very thankful to be able to make such precious memories with Jophie not to mention The Payne Gang who always manages to include us in whatever the current holiday or event is even if they have to bring it right to our front door. ;)

The weather outside was gorgeous and the temperature was perfect for an Easter Egg Hunt! :0) I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep so I knew I was going to have to lie back down and get a few more hours or else I was gonna be one big grouch when the P. Gang arrived! I got Jophie all hooked up to his meds and started his pump. I don't like using his pump for feeds because it tends to make him sick but, on days we have no help it becomes necessary if I'm going to function. I've worked out a very slow rate that he tolerates with the help of some benadryl and zofran so it's doable in a pinch. ;)

After I got Jophie all settled I hit the sack setting the alarm for 3 hours. Yay! I do love my sleep and let me tell you round here sleep is a luxery! ;) I did finally manage to drag my butt outta bed later that afternoon however, just because I'm "up and moving" doesn't necessarily mean I can function just yet! haha...I staggered around looking about half tipsy for a good hour before I could even focus enough to see what needed done! LOL

The first thing on the agenda was a bath for Jophie and can I just say that the little toad sure needed one! LOL... Jophie may be cute but he sure can turn into one big ole stinky pot very quikcly. I was just getting ready to wash his hair when Tammy called to let me know they were coming which turned out to be just long enough for me to toss Jophies dirty sheets in the laundry and walk back into the living room and there they were in the driveway! Talk about quick and what perfect timing as I was needing help with his hair and his trach change. Tammy and I finished up Jophie while Danny hid the eggs. The girlies were bouncin about like jiffy pop with excitement. I do love seeing kids enjoying themselves and let me tell you the Payne kids sure do enjoy life!

It's quite refreshing to see! ;0)

After some tag team baby bear wrestling we finally managed to get Jophie sorted with all his machines and such and out the door we went! You should have seen us trying to contain the twins just long enough for us to get Jophie situated in the perfect spot so that he could see all the fun but also making sure he was close enough to be a part of all the fun as well......

We set the girlies loose and off they ran like a shot from a gun!! hahaha

Jophie waiting patiently for the girlies to find him some eggs while Tammy stands watch at his side.

The Payne children (There are 4 here with us and 4 in heaven) have grown up around Jophie and have stood toe to toe with the sadness of death. They have accepted these things just as they accept Jophie for what he is and granted, they may not always fully understand the "whys" of death nor the "whys" of Jophies illness they DO in fact accept it.

All of the experiences over the years have made these precious children very compassionate, well rounded and understanding at very tender ages. They are not afraid of disabilities nor are they fearful of asking questions even if they are tough questions. We continue to answer these questions honestly because the more knowledge we can give them, the better they will be able to understand and process it all. The relationship the Payne children have with Jophie has definitely allowed them to face life head on accepting everyone for who they are never judging and always loving unconditionally. Jophie and the Payne children are so blessed to be a part of one anothers lives.

The girlies still on the hunt for Egg treasures......


Jophie was enjoying the sun on his face and hearing the squeals of delight coming from two of his favorite little girlies then suddenly his first treasure!

Thank you Laynie! ;0)

And another! Thank you Lexie! Sorry Lexie was to quick to catch on film! ;0)

How adorable are those eggs??? The pastors wife found them! They actually come as Noahs ark and have all the little animals! The little birds had the most adorable teeny feet on the bottom and were even cuter when you could see those toesies pokin' outta the grass during the egg hunt....I love em and so does Jophie.

Roooooaaarrr! Jophie really likes this lion. I honestly couldn't get over how stinkin cute they all were!

The time actually flew by and Jophie was able to stay out longer than we even imagined he would. I think we hit the 1 hour and 30 minute mark! Holy cow! Even more so when we realized it was a smidge after 5 especially considering he hadn't eaten yet! Yikes! Good thing we thought to give him all his meds at 3 before we went out eh? ;0)

Jophie was starting to show signs of tiring and getting that "OK I need outta this chair NOW" look so off we ran back inside. We were hoisting him from the chair to his bed when we happened to glance over to what seemed quite suspicious of a sleeping boy......

Hmmmmm......Could it really be a sleeping boy?? Could he really have fallen asleep even while we were hoisting and jostling him about?? Let's Just see!

YEP! Totally and this was even after we moved him from the wheelchair to the bed and had him lowered!

Still snoooooozin' after we lowered him completely and removed the sling. Jophie wasn't bout to give up his bucket of Easter goodies even in his sleep! hehe :0)

Out of 31 eggs all were found but one lone escapeeee monkey egg from the Noahs ark Collection and from the look of our yard me thinks that monkey thought he'd just returned to his jungle home! haha...... Danny and I searched the yard over many times and I even went out the next day to no avail. The twins gave up and decided swinging on Jophies swing while eating chocolate was definitely more fun than searching for a lost egg. I can't say I blame em there! LOL

All in all we had a wonderful Easter Day. I had roasted Ham in the oven all toasty and warm just waiting to be eaten! Deviled eggs were chillin' in the fridge and The Paynes brought Jophie and I some Hash Brown Casserole straight from our Meals 4 Wheels cookbook! What a great compliment to my ham sandwich and deviled eggs! Thanks Tammy! You always make sure we have something yummy on the holidays! :0)

Gotta scoot! I pray your Easter was just as enjoyable!

Trina and Jophie

He is Risen!

Feeling ever so thankful on this blessed Easter day to be a child of the King! I know that no matter what tomorrow may hold my home will forever be in eternity! The sacrifice that Christ made so long ago when he shed his blood guarantees Jophie and I a spot in that glorious Kingdom!

For now we are......

Resting in that promise!
Longing for that day!
And forever Walking in his SONshine!

Have a Blessed Easter! He is Risen! :0)

Trina and Jophie

A Sweet Birthday Boy........

That would be Jophie! Sweet 16!

Jophie wasn't feeling the greatest today. It was gorgeous outside and we had high hopes of taking him out to enjoy it. Once I realized he wasn't going to perk up anytime soon I brought the outdoors to him by opening the window and putting in the fan. We had a little bathroom dilemma but managed to get that all sorted thinking he would certainly perk up now!

Nope!

We still couldn't pin down exactly what was eatin' on him so we muttled on through the day trying to make it as good day for him as he possibly good tolerate. I sent the nurse after some last minute Easter necessities, lunch and some goodies for Jophie. While she was gone I took a quick shower and then gave Jophie a bath thinking that might make him feel a smidge better.

Nope!

Zofran and Benadryl it is then!

Success! Well not complete success but much improved and at the very least heading in the right direction. ;)

Just as the nurse was leaving I hear someone pulling in. It was Katy http://myersfamily-mom.blogspot.com/ who happens to be one of my close friends and also happens to be Jophies former aide of 10 years? Maybe it was 12 years? Gosh I can't even remember now. Anyway, as Jophies condition progressed the state deemed it necessary to employ only nurses due to his fragile state. We all understood but it still didn't make it any easier. It's so hard to find good help and all my girls have been with us from the get go. They are like family not to mention Jophie knows them all and trusts them as do I. When Katy left it was like part of our family left. I know Jophie still misses her as do I. I'm STILL on the hunt for a 3rd nurse. Any takers out there? I promise we don't bite :0)

Katy came of course bearing gifts like she always does! An adorable birthday card and the cutest singin', dancin', blinkin', toe stompin' bunny ever! Look up top at that grin on Jophies face. Yep! He loves it and has been smilin' all evenin' everytime I turn it on.

Shortly after Lora(One of Jophies nurses) made it home also bearing goodies. I had her pick Jophie up a happy meal. Yep! I blended up half that burger and bout half a dozen fries for the little guy! It's not something I want him to have all the time but by golly he was gonna have a happy meal if I had to run a steam roller over it so it would go through his feeding tube. LOL

I am only joking about the steam roller. I haven't came across too many things that I can't get through that tube! ;0)

I also had her pick up a balloon. He absolutely loves mylars and you can never go wrong with those. Lora bought him one as well and he was quite pleased with her choices. I ordered a creamed filled donut for his "sweet tooth" but decided to wait till tomorrow to let him enjoy the it. He's finally looking better and I sure didnt' want to bring back that awful shade of green that his little mug was sportin all day ;)

It certainly wasn't what I had planned for his special day but when do plans ever work out? I find when you "wing it" things tend to go much better. When I finally succumbed to the fact that the shade of green on his face wasn't leaving anytime soon thats when things starting getting better ;0)

His party is going to be next Saturday the 18th and I'm praying ever so hard he has a good day and can enjoy himself.

Today was by no means horrible in fact I'm very thankful that he has been feeling so well lately. Just last night I was reading over an archived post from his birthday/spring of last year. I plan to post that link along with his "party post" next weekend as a reminder to myself and everyone just how far he has come in a year ;)

I was in the kitchen blending up a little something to go with his formula and I heard a distinctive "trach giggle" I peek in and see this....

That bunny sure is funny!

This was about an hour ago....Check out how fast those bunny ears are moving! They are just a blur! LOL

And just to remind ME again how far he has come.......

Here's proof from a day outside last week ;)

He looks like he's gonna sock me a good one doesn't he? haha

He's sooooo relaxed. He almost looks like he's sleeping. You think he is?

Totally! LOL

OK I need to scoot. I hear Jophies timer heralding me and I just realized I haven't eaten supper yet. How I always manage to miss that is beyond me :0)

Happy Birthday Jophie! Momma loves you baby!

Trina and Jophie

Meals 4 Wheels!