Wheatley World

The best deal ever!

On our last trip to South Carolina, it was pouring down rain so we were sitting around the table talking. Danny decided to throw out a wager. Looking on his phone he said, "I will give $100 to the next person that can tell me the exact temperature in Juneau Alaska. " Mason shouted out, "37 degrees!" Danny looked at me like...are you serious?! Mason got it right on the dot! Mason told Danny that he really wanted a $70 camo under armor sweatshirt, so we took him out to get it. Later that weekend Danny's cousin was telling us all about the farm equipment that he was having sent to the local auction. He said he was sending this and that...and the small red tractor. Danny was like, you are going to break Mason's heart. When his cousin asked him why, danny told him that that is Mason's favorite tractor and that he checks it everytime we come to the farm. A few minutes later Danny's cousin told Mason that he was sending the tractor to the auction. When he saw the dissappointment on his fae he asked Mason, "How much money do you have in your pocket?" Mason replied, "Thirty dollars." Danny's cousin said, "for thirty dollars it's yours!" I thought Mason was going to lose his mind! He looked at Danny and I like ...SERIOUSLY?!?! We couldn't say no to that. So now we are the proud owners of a 1942 Allis Chalmers Model B tractor. Just what every beachside boy needs. His plans are to restore it using his own money and travel with it to tractor shows. He hasn't stopped talking about it since. He mentions this tractor at least 10 times a day!! He loves this thing!

Close Call

We had a close call this year with Trixie D. We took her up to the farm, like we always do. She loves it sooo much. We open the car door when we get there and she is gone! She just runs like the wind. She watches the animals, chases the birds, rides around with us, etc. She enjoys every second. This time was no different. We enjoyed ourselves and headed home. About a week and a half later Trixie started coughing. Then a day or so later she stopped eating. I called my mom to run it by her (she works at the vet). Mom said bring her to the clinic tomorrow morning and we will look at her. As we went to bed that night Trixie was very lethargic and was huddled under the table. Danny and I looked at eachother as if to say, " I sure hope she doesn't take a turn overnight". I woke up to Mason yelling, "Mom! Come here, HURRY!!", My first thought was NO! I ran out and he said, "Trixie just coughed up that...". It was blood. I knew that was very bad. The vet wasn't open yet but I called my mom and said, "Call them, I'm coming now!!" When I carried her in they looked at her for a few seconds, listened to her vitals, they gave me "that look". I knew. They asked me a million questions and we came to the conclusion that she must have eaten rat poison at the farm. Because the farm dog had done this just a few weeks earlier, and lived, we knew what they did to save her. So we acted fast. We knew Trixie would need massive amounts of Vitamin K and a blood transfusion immediately. Trixie was dying. She was bleeding from every organ. The vet looked at me and said, You know this is very bad, right? Like... she probably won't make it. I was absolutely devistated. I told the vet to do whatever they needed to do to save her. I went straight to school and got Mason. I explained to him that she was very sick and we needed to go see her. I wanted him to see her one more time in case she didn't make it. By the time we got there, she couldn't lift her head at all but when she heard Mason she lifted her ear. I knew she knew he was there. A few days went by and she kept making progress. She was finally strong enough to come home but had to remain calm and quite. She was still in the position to go either way. She made a full recovery. The vet told me afterward that Trixie was as close as she could have come to dying, without actually leaving us. It was a very sad, agonizing few days. The kids were so sad that they found a little comfort in decorating Trixie's crate. They just knew she would get through it and would like seeing their sign and well-wishes. :)

The FInal chapter

This morning at 7:07 a.m. the Space Shuttle Discovery left the Kennedy Space Center for it's final time. It rode piggy-back down the east coast, made a u-turn right where we were standing and headed north to it's new home at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. It was an amazing sight. It is like these shuttles are a part of our families. We (Danny) took care of them everyday, we got up early and stayed up late to see their performances. We loved them and agonized over them. We cheered for them a cried for them. They were an amazing fleet and they accomplished more than some had ever imagined they would. I'm sure I speak for most when I say that we will miss them.

Happy New Year 2012!

We had a great, long, holiday. The kids got out of school on Dec 19th and didn't go back until Jan. 9th. We have had such an enjoyable time. Danny got a wonderful new job. He loves it so far. He has an office in Celebration but works from home. His formal title is Technical Program Instructor. He loved what he was doing at United Space Alliance and now he gets to teach it. It is a great way to still do what he loves but move out of the manual labor arena. He spends most of his free time working on his truck and motorcycle.

The kids have been busy riding their new bikes, playing with the neighborhood kids and growing up. Mason and Danny went to a huge coin show in Orlando this past weekend. Mason told us that in Captains memory, he wanted to start a penny collection like he did. Danny took him over to the FUN (Florida United Numismatists) Show to do that. So many of the vendors were excited to see a young kid and were very encouraging. I'm glad they had fun. It was VERY important to Mason.

Ella is busy losing teeth, talking, changing purses every 2 seconds, talking, riding her bike, spending the night with Mimi and Connie, did I mention talking? OMG! She is a mile a minute! Sometimes I look at her and just say, "Ella...shhhhhhhh." A lot of the time she doesn't even know she is chatting. Yay girls!

Danny and I are enjoying his new motorcycle. The weather has been so nice, we take it everywhere we can when we don't have the kids. It is a nice get away.

I am looking forward to 2012. The kids are great ages, they are doing great in school, Danny has a permanent job, and we are all making great strides forward. I hope the same for you and your family. Enjoy every second and hug the people you love. Moments are just that...moments. Happy New Year!

Alaska

As most of you know, this summer Danny spent 1 1/2 monthes traveling from the southern California coast up into Alaska. My mom, the kids and I joined him for the last week of his trip . It was absolutely amazing. I can't even describe some of the things we saw. I can't wait to go back. I would go again and again until I had seen every square mile. The kids loved it too. They didn't want to come home. You can click on the small slideshow below to be redirected to our online album of the trip, if you care to view our photos. Once the Picasa album opens, hit full screen, in the top left corner. You can view the pictures without all of the surrounding...stuff!

Update on...the update?

Well, the Make A Wish meeting went soooo good! They showed up bearing gifts for both of the kids. $10 Coldstone Ice Cream gift cards for each of them! They were off to a good start!! They told Mason that they don't do construction projects for their wishes...so no pool (Yay!) He was surprisingly o.k. with that. So his second wish was to go on a Disney Cruise to the Western Caribbean. That they COULD do, so they said asked him a bunch of questions and said that they will take all of the information back to the Wish Coordinator and they will plan EVERYTHING! Some of the stuff that they include and do for them is so cool, but again, I can't post it because Mason reads this. So as soon as everything is planned, they will come back to our house and present Mason with his granted wish and all of the details. Once they do all of that I will share it with all of you.

Our hopes are that with this pool, he will be able to play outside with the other kids and get exercise, while keeping his body temperature down. Elevated body temperature is one of his epilepsy triggers and the anticonvulsant medications that he is on, Prevent him form being able to stay out in the sun for periods of time, without burning. In Florida, that doesn't leave very many options. This pool would change everything for him! A common misconception is that Make A Wish is for children that are terminal. This is not true. They look to grant wishes for children with life threatening illness. Both Traumatic Brain Injury and Epilepsy qualified Mason. With all of the "Junk" that Mason deals with on a daily basis, it is opportunities like this one, that take away the burden for a little while, so he can look forward to something special and exciting.

Ridiculous!!!

Let me start by explaining this photo. This is a picture of Ella's closet, just after receiving 3 bags of clothes from one of my best friends,Jen. This is after I weeded out the stuff that was too small and all of the winter stuff. What you are looking at are just the dresses! And take note of the Space Bag Cube (the largest one they make) in the lower left corner. That is full of clothes for next winter. It still stands about mid-thigh high after all of the air was sucked out of the bag!! What Danny doesn't know is that I have added 2 other smaller space bags since this photo. Guys, they just don't get it ;) Good thing he hasn't looked in her dresser drawers! We LOVE you Jen!!!!!

3-2-1..... cancelled

This is the Space Shuttle slated to launch next month from the Kennedy Space Center. Due to security issues, you have to be a badged NASA employee and have a pass to even get in to see this. There are very few passes given out and they are done by lottery only. We were lucky enough to get one! So Danny, myself, the kids, my mom and Michael all went out there to see it. This is a picture of the shuttle ready to roll out to launch pad A. We waited for 2 hours just to be told that the roll out was cancelled due to weather. It was still amazing sight to see. September 2010, this will be a photograph of past history.

Let me start by saying that Mason has been fighting some type of cold since March 15th. He has already been through a round of antibiotics and he actually seems to be getting a little worse. So last night he got out of bed to tell me that he felt awful. Of course Trixie was right by his side. When Mason started crying as he was explaining to me how he felt, Trixie kept nudging my hand that was down by my side. She kept at it. When I finally said, in a frustrated tone, "Whaaaaat Trixie! ", she put her nose in the air and showed me her teeth, like she was smiling, and kept licking Mason. It was almost like she was trying to talk to me and show me that Mason was having trouble. He was not having a seizure, but she was telling me that something was wrong. That is the first step!!! I think she might be trying to start "alerting". When I realized what she was doing, I said "Good girl Trixie, good girl!", over and over while I was hugging Mason. Then she just went over to her bed. Almost like her job was done. I was beside myself with excitement. I rewarded her with a spoonful of peanut butter. She seemed to be so proud of herself. We are thrilled!!!

Mason's nose

Update...

O.K. so all of the tests are over. It is relatively good news. His Shunt is fine, his neurologic function is good, blood work is all fine, MRI showed no changes in his brain ventricle sizes and the 24 hr. EEG showed seizures at night but no major spike wave discharges during the day. So, the Neuroligist put him on what they called "a rider medication". It is basically just another medication that is designed to work along with another medication that is not doing it's job completely. We had to work our way up to the prescribed amount a little at a time. On the first day of the full dose, Mason came bounding down the school sidewalk after dismissal, hopped in my van and said, "Hey mom!" Wow! What a huge change from the Eeyore-like "hiiiiii moooooom" that I was used to getting. It was like someone turned the light on. We are enjoying the change. Well we were enjoying the change until this past Saturday. Mason and Danny's dad, Jimmy, were at a high school soccer game and Mason was sitting on the sidelines like everyone else and he got smashed in the face by a, not-so-well-kicked soccer ball. Yep, his nose is broken. After the swelling went down it was obvious. He goes to a Ear, Nose & Throat doctor tomorrow at 3:15. OMG!!!

Just an update...

This past week Mason just hadn't been himself. Finally on Wednesday, I was volunteering at school for Picture Day and I was watching him stand in line with his class and I saw him have a absence seizure. These are the kind that still allow him to stand and actually respond to someone talking to him, but he isn't fully conscious. I immediately called Carol (Danny's mom) and had her come up and get him. Later that night he had a few more little seizures. Long-story-short, I called the Neurologist and she had me bring him in asap. Now we have to basically start over. Mason has been seizure free since last Feb. when we brought his dog home. So now we are having to start at the beginning again. First he will see his Neurosurgeon to evaluate his shunt function. This is a round of MRIs, x-rays, and trips to Orlando. Then he will do blood tests, a 24 hour EEG, etc. It's a long process and I hate to see Mason have to go through it all again! Thank you for all of the prayers and well-wishes. We will keep everyone up to date as we find out more.

4 PEOPLE!! Is that big people or little people? Uh, wish they would have specified!

Halloween

Ella was Dorothy and Mason was a UPS driver. My kids aren't big trick or Treaters, so we went to a church festival and then walked around to our close neighbors and then called it a night. They had tons of fun. 4 & 8 are great ages for this kind of stuff. Notice the bright orange cast? Yep he broke it. He had fallen off his bike 2 weeks earlier but he said it didn't start hurting until 2 weeks later. It is broken at the radial neck. That is the end of your lower arm bone at the elbow end. Ouch! He gets his cast off soon. They only had him casted for 3 weeks because it is his right arm. He couldn't do anything. Danny's mom or I, had to go to school everyday and feed him. The school would call me and say, "Mason has to use the restroom". So I would go up to the school and do that too. He needed help with EVERYTHING! It feels like it has been 6 weeks!

This is a waterway that connects the Indian River to the Ocean, called the Locks. This is how you get out into the ocean from our inland waterway. The water level is different in the river than it is in the ocean, so you pull in to the locks and they close the doors and then slowly open the opposite doors to either slowly let in or let out water to bring it to the same level as the body of water that you are entering. Anyway, I couldn't believe how many boats they stuffed in there. These were only the boats behind us.

We were ALL so excited for the first day of school this year. Mason went into the 2nd grade and Ella started Preschool 3 days a week. Mommy says YAY to that! Mason had no hesitations this year. It was so great. He just went in and started putting his things away, and checking out the other kids. No whimpers, no sad faces, it was so nice. Ella went right in like a champ too. She couldn't wait to get started. She said that she wanted to cut and glue. She knew the drill. The first day was just a 1 hour get to know you class. She really had her first day on Wednesday. I hugged her and told her that I loved her and to have a great time. She looked at me and said, O.K. Mommy, bye. Kinda like, don't let the door hit ya! I left and stood outside for a minute or two, and then peeked in. She was just doing her thing like it was her regular routine. Can you say "second child"! Overall it was a GREAT day!

We are back and so happy to introduce our new dog Trixie!

I know that I have been a slacker. But so much has been going on in our lives lately. As you all know, Mason was diagnosed with Epilepsy about a year ago. Well, the type that he has makes it difficult to know when he is having a seizure. Additionally, the majority of his seizures are at night. You can imagine how much sleep I get, listening to every sound that comes from his room. We are working closely with his neurologist but we are having difficulty controlling the seizure activity. He is on LOTS of medication. So much that our insurance doesn't cover the whole amount at one time, so we have to get special authorization to fill his prescriptions. Anyway, after reading an article in a magazine, we had been entertaining the possibility of finding a seizure alert dog for Mason. These are service dogs that are specially trained to alert if it's owner is having a seizure. After many months, we finally came across a guy named Murray Craft. He is an amazing trainer that trains and places these special dogs. He wanted to meet with us in S. Carolina to see Mason. After our first meeting, he called us and said that he had a dog in mind that had the capability to be trained to perform the tasks that we would need her to do. At the time, the dog was being trained by one of Mr. Craft's co-trainers, Aimee. She is amazing too!! She agreed to drive all the way out to where we were, to meet with us to see if, she too, thought the dog would be a good match. The connection seemed to be undenyable. So, to make a long story short, a few more meetings later, we now have a service dog/seizure alert dog at our house. Her name is Trixie, and we absolutely adore her. She is amazingly obedient and she just seems to know that Mason needs her. I have to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Murray and Aimee for all the work and time that they put into making Trixie capable of being a service dog and for all that they did for our family to make this possible for us. Nothing we could ever do or say would express the way we feel about them. The training will be a process but the end result will be worth every second. Here are a few pictures of our first few days with Trixie. If you or anyone you know are in need of a service dog, seizure alert dog, etc. Please visit Murray Craft's website at http://www.craftyk9.com/ and click on the service dog link on the left.

St. Maarten

Welcome to St.Thomas

Bibbity Bobbity Boutique

The Aqua Duck

Castaway Cay

It's Summer time! Woo Hoo!!

The best deal ever!

Allis makes her way to Indialantic!

Legoland

Bye Bye Bike

Whoa Pink!

Mecum Auto Auction

Close Call

Back in South Carolina!

Merry Christmas!

2012 Toy Run

Science Fair

First Day of school

May Day

Our trip to Tampa

The New Seven J's

Our New Pool

Ella and her girlfriends getting Back to school pedicures

Cabo...Here we come!

Fun Stuff

A day at the beach.

Out and about in Cabo San Lucas.

The Pool

Summer fun

This is never a good way to start a morning!

Happy 11th Birthday Mason!

I can't believe school is over already!!

Soccer is over

Our trip on Seven J's to Key West

The FInal chapter

Happy Easter!

My Soccer Girl!!

Hontoon Island

Happy New Year 2012!

Shrek the Halls at Gaylord Palms ICE

December Family pictures

November Disney trip

Happy 6th Birthday Ella!!

Halloween Party

October family photo

Ella at Mismatched Day at school

Alaska

Post Surgery Feet

Trixie D. Our pretty girl!

Vegas Baby!

Happy Birthday Captain!

Birthday Bouquet

Danny's new toy

Ella's lost her 1st tooth!!

Then 7 days later, her second!

Mason's School Picture

Ella's School Pictures

Make A Wish

The Limo!

Welcome to Nassau.

Toy Story Live

Castaway Cay

Rough times

Update on...the update?

Make A Wish Update

Our Trip to NC

The Old Grain Mill

Dry Falls

Star Wars Celebration 5

The First Day of School

New Tattoos

Make A Wish Foundation wants to grant Mason's wish

Happy ?0th to Connie

I'm SO glad that is over!!!!

Mason's new sport interest is Tennis

Happy 4th of july!

She got her ears pierced and she didn't even cry!!

Now I know why I saved it.

Our Summer Trip

The St. Louis Arch. The Gateway to the West.