Good-bye Grandpa

Sunday Erin's grandpa, John Hicks passed away from complications due to pulmonary fibrosis. He had been sick for some time and last Monday started going downhill very fast. Erin and I flew down to FL on Saturday to say good-bye. It was very difficult, to say the least. When we got to Erin's mom's house Saturday evening, grandpa was up out of bed for what would be the last time. He knew we were there and we were able to talk with him for a few minutes. The next 8 hours or so were the last he seemed aware of what was going on around him. All 4 of his children made the trip down from MO to see him one last time.

Probably the most heart-breaking thing of the whole ordeal was watching grandma with him. A little background first -- grandpa and grandma have been together for some 71 years. In the last few years, grandma's memory has begun to deteriorate and as grandpa's health worsened, she couldn't seem to understand, or remember why he wasn't acting the way that he used to. However many times over the last few hours of grandpa's life, grandma would climb up in bed with him and they would snuggle together. She seemed to finally grasp, as least to some extent what was going on.

All of my grandparents have been dead for several years and I was actually never very close to any of them. But from the moment I joined the Roades/Hicks family I was treated like another grand-daughter. I can to feel much closer to Grandpa "Whitehair" (as Erin always called him) than to any of my own grandparents. He was a very sweet man and he will be greatly missed by many, many people.

Happy Birthday Me and 1st Day of School

My birthday started with Erin kissing me good-bye and whispering "Happy Birthday" as he left for work. I then enjoyed another half hour of sleep before I had to get up for my first day back to work. Then as I'm getting ready, Kalista comes running in with our family's birthday hat and sunglasses and made me put them on. It was a nice surprise that she remembered it was my birthday without being reminded by anyone!

Lovely pic, I know! Kalista took it. Pretty good job for a 4 year old!

After both kids were ready for school we headed outside for some first day pics. They were both really excited. Isaac loves his Diego backpack and has been wearing it around the house for weeks (even though it is as big as he is!) Once at school they both did really well. Isaac only cried for me two times and both times were because he had gotten hurt. The first time he got his fingers shut in a door, the second he fell off the cafeteria table and got a black eye. Nice way to start the year, huh! So much for getting his picture taken on Sunday! After calming him down after the eye incident, he went back to playing and had a great day. Kalista really liked her first day too. Being a "big" kid she eats lunch later, so therefore has her snack in the morning. Boy was she excited! Snack before lunch! That never happens at home! It made her day, and she is ready for more!

Isaac didn't want me taking this picture of his eye, and he was yelling "NOOOOOO!" as I took it. His eye is all puffy and red. I am sure it will turn black in a day or two. He must have hit his cheek also since it is all red and scraped up too. This happened around 11:00 and I took this picture around 7:00 tonight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!

Now it's my baby's turn for a birthday! It is hard to believe he is two already and we haven't even been to the ER with him yet! (He's my climber, daredevil, wild man, etc. . . ) We had pretty uneventful day. Phone calls from Grandparents, presents once daddy came home from work, a visit to the "duck" park, and birthday ice cream at Fritz's. I know at two Isaac really doesn't care what we do, but I still wanted him to enjoy his day. I think Sunday at Chuck E. Cheese will be more his thing. Until then. . .

Tag -- I'm it

Apparently my sister thinks we are still in grade school at recess. Good thing Tag was one of my favorites! Here's my list. Oh yeah, Rachel -- Tag! You're it!



First memory: It was my third birthday party. I thought of it as a pool party, but really I just played in the sprinkler and kiddie pool with my sisters, the Burnett's, and other friends from church. We all talked into a tape recorder and I used to listen to that tape all the time.


First Real Kiss: Sean Berger


First Concert: Michael W. Smith at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis


First Love: I'm with Jim on this one. While Erin is absolutely my one and only love today, I would have to say my first love was Keith McCord.


First Crush: Chad Evins in Kindergarten or 1st grade. We teeter-tottered and sat on the monkey bars together.


First thought in the morning: "Why is Isaac yelling at Goofy? Go back to sleep!"


First book you remember loving: So hard to choose. . . I guess anything by Janette Oake

First Pet: The first all my own? A cat named Willie. He got hit by a car and had to be put to sleep. I haven't really liked pets since then.


First thing you think of when you hear vacation: Branson or Disney World?


First Best Friend: Jennifer Burnett


Last time you dressed up: Closing banquet of Creative Memories Showcase last Tuesday. I even wore make-up and jewelry!


Last CD bought: I think I bought Erin a Bare Naked Ladies CD for Christmas last year. Maybe it was his birthday in Feb. Or maybe it was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse soundtrack for my kids for Easter. Can't remember!


Last book you read: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Last time you cried: Saturday when a good friend told me her and her husband were going to start coming back to our church.

Last movie I saw: Spider-Man III at the Omni Max, St. Louis Science Center


Last time told someone "I Love You": Isaac after he fell down a flight of stairs at a friends house today. He tumbled end over end, has a small bump on his head, but is fine now!


Last really funny thing you did: I'm just not very funny. I can't think of a thing! I can tell you the last funny thing Isaac did. . . Last night I was cooking dinner and he came up behind me and zerberted the back of my knee. Just like that, out of the blue. Of course his dad thought that was hilarious, so encouraged him to keep doing it!


Last thing watched on TV: I am currently listening to Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (Kalista, like her mom, has a thing for Christmas movies) The last show I picked was the 10:00 news last night.


Last Halloween Costume: Princess Leia last year. We always do a theme with our kids and last year was a Star Wars theme. Erin was Han, Isaac was a baby Yoda, and Kalista was Darth Maul (red face and all, and it was her pick -- she LOVES Darth Maul!)


Last Concert: I think it was the Dave Matthews Band at Riverport four or five years ago. Or possibly a Billy Joel/Elton John concert in Chicago when I was pregnant with Kalista (So again more than four years ago!) That's pretty sad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KALISTA!

We now have a 4 year old! Where has the time gone! It has been a good day so far, even if it started way too early (A 5:30 phone call telling Erin that school had been cancelled, followed by two more phone calls all before 6:15, and then Isaac waking up at 7:00 -- a little early for him.) Kalista got to have her morning pop tart and then it was present time! Since she was going to have to wait until daddy got home from his first day of school, it was an added bonus! (By the way school was cancelled due to power outages from storms last night. Many places are without air conditioning.) Anyway back to the birthday girl. So far she loves her new Kid-Tough Digital Camera from her Gramme Karen and her Ariel Card games that daddy picked out. I think the big Cinderella Castle from Disney World will gain popularity when she gets a chance to play with it. Isaac was really taken by the castle too and tried to take over. He kept asking for his presents. Just four more days, buddy! I think the hardest part of the birthday so far was trying to convince Kalista last night that the next day would be her birthday. She knew her party was not the next day, so therefore it couldn't be her birthday, either! I think I finally got her to understand that your birthday is always the same day, but your party could be on any day. (Her and Isaac's shared party at Chuck E. Cheese will be this Sunday after church with all her cousins!) Anyway I think we are in store for lots of picture taking at our house, so until next time. . . everybody say "CHEESE!"

Where to begin. . .

Whew! I knew it would be a crazy two weeks, but did it have to be so HOT for crying out loud! I feel like I have a lot to say, but I can't think of anything because I am suffering from heat exhaustion oweing to the fact we were at the Cardinal's game today in the 100+ degrees! We never made it to our seats (which were in the direct sun), we left after 4 innings (but did see two homeruns by the good guys), and my kids each got a cute Cardinal Build-a-Bear (which was today's promotion and one of the main motivators for attending!) What else can I say? Oh yeah, IT WAS CRAZY HOT! (Even with Isaac constantly spraying me with water from his fan bottle!)

To catch you all up the kids and I have had great end of summer. They got to go to the MO Botanical Gardens, Zoo, spend 4 days at the farm with MawMaw, PawPaw, and Andy, and go school shopping (okay that last one wasn't too much fun for them, but they did get to ride the train at the mall!) I, on the other hand, got to see four of my best friends from college and get caught up on their lives, got to have a great trip to MN which helped me refocus my business and recharge my mommy/wife battery, and then come home to sweet babies that couldn't stop hugging and kissing me. (I swear Isaac called my name every five minutes for the first 6 hours just to make sure I was still there!)

Here are some zoo pics from last week. . .

As you can see Isaac really liked the bubblers at the zoo! I guess his Mickey Hat needed cooling off too! Now to tackle our next big adventure. . . School! Erin's first day with students is tomorrow! He is well prepared and ready to start -- oh yeah, except for the fact that they (meaning the teachers) have no class lists yet since they (meaning the students) don't have their schedules yet! Should make for an interesting first couple of days! The kids and I still have a week until pre-school starts, but we do need to spend a couple of days in my room this week getting ready. I'm sure this week will go by too fast. Oh yeah, did I mention it is REALLY HOT?