Eye Troubles

I've got some eye troubles, that I won't get into all the details of here, but they are a little scary. I am trying not to dwell on them since the frustrating outcome could be in six months, two years, or ten years.

With my struggles, I've found it easier to focus on my computer at work with reading glasses that are just slightly strong. It forces my eyes to stay focused, not necessarily needed for seeing - if that makes any sense.

The prescription is so slight, they are a little harder to find. Typically reading glasses start at +1.25, but I only need +1.00. Found some today at Walmart for cheap, so I bought a purple pair, a blue pair, and a red pair. Why not?

Mom Tip - Facebook Post

Speaking love languages, and benefitting from it. Taught Mollee (who is a little OCD and loves creating order and smoothness) to iron placemats, uniforms, and Daddy's shirts, something I never have time to do. I have Capps hanging out with me while I clean, he loves to be with me and is very helpful on small tasks. Daegan is in the backyard burning old bills and checks that need shredding - because...it's fire! And my two ADD boys - sent them out into the neighborhood to play because they are pretty sure sitting in school five days a week is torture and they need to "be free".

Productive Saturday!!!

Back to California

I am beyond sad to say that our new Senior Pastor has resigned and is taking his family back to California. It has been a shock and caused much sadness within the church body, but we all know the Lord has a plan.

They are leaving on Monday, but we were happy to go on one more double date Thursday night, go to a good-bye appetizer party with just a few friends on Friday, and then really say goodbye on Saturday when they stopped by to drop off some of our belongings.

The amount of tears that have been shed can't even been counted.

Working with Jesse has been a major blessing for me. I've learned a lot, he has made some stressful situations not so stressful, and he has made day-to-day office life actually fun. I've enjoyed my time with Lenny as well, along with the kids who have made good relationships with their boys.

Damn, I am gonna miss them.

Capps and Friends

Stole this from the school website. Capps and some of his buddies.

A Monday for the books (gross picture warning)

On Saturday, when we went ice skating, Daegan fell and insisted he hurt his hand badly. I believed him, but I wasn't willing to pay an ER visit for them to say it was sprained. So, we waited until Monday to go to the walk-in orthopedic clinic.

I love the doctor at the walk-in clinic, but they were so busy because it was Monday morning, they asked if we would see Dr. Arnold, a hand specialist. He just happens to also be someone I went to high school with.

We waited and waited and waited. "Working us in" was taking a long time. We got there at 8:15 and left at 11:30.

Daegan fractured the bone at the base of his thumb. Brace for three weeks just protect it so it doesn't break the rest of the way.

So, I got to work hours late and worked a little late to make up for it. As I was pulling in the driveway, I got a call from my sister (a few doors down) to say that Tavis had cut his finger while whittling a stick. She felt it needed an ER visit.

I drove down, picked him up, and we headed to the ER. It was bad. Extremely deep and dangerously close to some important tendons.

Well, we didn't avoid the ER, but we did avoid two ER bills. Tavis got to experience his first set of stitches from the best ER doctor at Children's.

 The boys we to school like this Tuesday morning, after a long holiday weekend.

Twinsies

Lilly and I were twins for the day.

Double Digits for Mac

Lunch at school with the birthday boy!

 Party at home with the Browns

 Party on Sunday with the Caines

And just like that - no more single digits in the house. *sniff*

*sniff*

*sniff*

Van Parking

We went ice skating with the Youth Group today. Thankfully, Jason was available to come as well. But, when we pulled into the parking garage, our van scraped the Clearance sign. But, Jason decided we could make it any way.

Way too close for comfort in my opinion. But makes for good stories on Facebook.

Another "fake" Snow Day in the books

Whoa - Blizzard of 2017!

Brown more than Caines

Today I have been a Brown longer than I was a Caines. Very weird thought.

Cooking with the Cooks

We've made some new friends at church. They have three boys, similar ages as us. He is from Oregon and she is from Italy. They met while working in an orphanage in Albania. Incredible story.

Our boys have gotten along great and they invited us for dinner. They are renting a small home while they are looking for a house, but size didn't matter. We had a blast and the food was incredible. We had lasagna (made by an Italian and like nothing you've ever had before) and a ham loaf.

Our big treat was that we also had homemade donuts. When we got there, we helped roll them out.

Then they rose while we ate dinner. Then we took them to the garage to fry them. And, by "we", I mean Betta fried them while we watched.

 Sprinkled with sugar - YUM! The best dessert I've ever had.

We had a great evening of fellowship, donuts, basketball, and wine. We look forward to many more dinners with the Cooks.