What's been going on for the last 4 months

I completely stopped blogging four months ago after Steve's eye accident. Life has been full of ups and downs since then. How do I even start to catch up? I'll start with what's going on right now and then back track to November.

Right now we are in eye healing mode. Waiting till Mid April when Steve gets yet another eye surgery. This one is to remove the oil in his eye from the retina surgery he had before Christmas to re-attach his retina. His eye once again will have to heal for at least 2 months. Then we move on to the good part. He will get a cornea transplant and a new lens. We are hopeful that this will restore his vision or at least improve it from being super cloudy. Keeping our fingers crossed that the retina will stay attached after the oil is removed so that the cornea transplant will happen sooner then later. It's all a wait and see situation.

With all the eye surgeries, Steve has been restricted from working, no heavy lifting, bending over from the waist down and no dust or anything in the eyes. He will be once again not able to work, when he gets the next two surgeries. It will probably be a good month or more of no work. Being self employed it's tough. We are making it during this tough financial time one day at a time. I try not to look too far ahead.

We do have some good eye news. Steve now has a color contact lens to match his other blue eye. This makes the injured eye look more normal. He lost 80% of his iris which is responsible for light coming into the eye, adjusts with light and is also the color part of the eye. His eye was pretty much all black with a tiny bit of blue around the very edge. With the color contact it looks normal. Which he likes. Now to get his sight back!

 We have no plans to go any where warm and enjoy the ocean, green or sand this spring break. It's not in the funds since we are in survival mode of just getting through this tough time with Steve working less through all these surgeries. The only option is to get in some needed "Green" at the local Zoo.

We spent about at hour, just soaking up the green and all the colorful flowers at Como Zoo this week.

 I'm still baking all the time. Well, mostly candy making. I've found some new recipes on Pintrest. The top recipe is from our friends that love Divinity candy. I received the grandma favorite recipe. Its not my personal favorite but I made a batch and gave it to our friends.

 

I made some of these candies last night. Coconut, caramel and chocolate. Another super easy candy. I have no idea of how it tastes because I have yet to try it. Logan and Steve each tried it and they said it was a winner!

My all time favorite new candy is this "Crack" Wow!!! So addicting!!! It's bad to keep in the house because you can not stop eating it! Super easy and soooo good! Saltine crackers, caramel/toffee and chocolate with pecans.

 

I was back to my old eating habits. This is not a good thing. I was eating three treats a day, eating what ever I wanted. Which results in weight gain. I'd say the stress from having all the financial responsibility put on me with Steve's accident played a huge roll in this. Its my own fault. I stopped worrying about me and was concentrating on everyone else. That's never a winning combo. I did still cross country ski when ever I could, if there was enough snow, not working a ton and not at half a day eye appointments with Steve. I didn't get to ski as much as I would have liked.

 

I've also been doing a lot of driving to Logan's soccer practice and some indoor soccer tournaments.  We will continue to have lots of soccer through summer into fall.

 

On the weekends, we've been doing a little easy fixes around our house. The kids bathroom needed to be updated. With Menards 11% rebate money we received, we purchased a new sink/countertop and faucet and still have money left over for more home improvement items. We also painted over the blue and now it's a shade of gray. Same as our porch/front sitting room. I just need to find some shelves and a few pictures. I do miss the nice blue but its what the kids wanted. At some point, we will paint the cabinet white and the kids bathroom door white. It's next on my todo list!  

I have a few / two doors left to paint on our main level before I start on the upstairs doors. I finished the trim on our front closet and the pantry. Steve paints the door since he does a better paint job and its a larger area. I can't wait to get rid of all the golden wood! It's a nice cheap update. It just takes time and we've been doing it little by little.

 

I've been looking at adding some pendant lights (2) in our kitchen. We have to change out the can lights. I think this is what I'm going to choose.

It was grandparents day at Evan's new school. Steve and I visited the new school and spent time with Evan getting a tour and having a snack.

 Here is the answers to the questions they asked the kids about their grandparents. Too funny!!

Celina celebrated her 18th birthday on February 24th. We have another adult in the house!!

She made her cakes (2) for her birthday. I'd have to say, my kids are pretty good bakers and do an excellent job of decorating.

We took her out to dinner and then off to the casino because that's all you can do when you turn 18, gamble!

Celina had Zero gambling luck, but Steve was HOT! He hit four, 4's and won over $100.

Best of all, Steve hit the Royal Flush and won $1000. First time ever! Winner, winner chicken dinner!!

2nd Cake Celina and Logan made together.

 

Kendra had some Valentine's day pictures taken of Evan. My handsome grandson. Such a cutie!!

 

Evan with his cousin Isabelle.

 Celina's March Madness Band concert. One more to go and she decided no more flute. She's been playing the flue in band since 4th grade. I suppose 9 years is enough.

We have a new driver in the house!!! Logan got his permit to drive on Valentine's day.

 Out driving with Logan. He drives a little like he is playing Mario Cart. It's improving a lot since the first time out driving.

Evan turned 4 in December. He is getting so big! Love that smile!!

We have some sad news too. Our bunny, Paige died. She lived a very good, long life. We got her as a tiny bunny when Celina was in 3rd grade. She lived to the old age of 9. Out living her sister by 9 years and our other two guinea pigs. She was a sweet, very soft bunny and will be missed.

 

Zoey knew when Paige died. We kept Paige in our master bathroom, because it was tile floor and plenty of room for her big cage. I have to say, I don't miss sharing our bathroom but I was sad to see her die. We said our goodbyes as I knew she wouldn't make it through the night. Sure enough, Zoey knew and went in and laid down next to her.

Zoey's legs covered in snow. We let her fur grow out over the winter to keep her warm.