Destined to play a little footie

It really was inevitable.

With a husband who was willing to stay up with the baby at 3 am to watch World Cup Soccer and who can understand Jane Austin movies without subtitles because he watches so much English Premier League 'footie', {and i guess you could factor in that he played on a soccer team clear through the early years of our marriage},  our boys were destined to play soccer.

Owen first tried his hand at it when he was four...which was very entertaining to watch.
And then...
A looooong break.
I have to say that I really struggled with wanting to hand over my family time to sports.  I, for one, would have considered myself an athlete in high school and to this day love sports and see great benefits from participating in them.  {I even met my future in-laws for the first time at a BYU Football game with my face painted blue and white.  Great first impression by the way!}  I was just scared to what it would do to our family time.  I knew it was inevitable, I just wanted to hold out for as long as I could...enjoying watching my boys with their backyard football games, cardboard clubhouses, bike rides, and living room forts that so often accompanied our late afternoons.

Owen did flag football a couple of years back and it was intense.  He really enjoyed it and was an incredible exercise in patience for everyone involved.  We did not continue on with football for my reasoning listed above...time.  Football for 9 year olds involves Tuesday through Friday practice with a game on Saturday.  No thank you!  I realize that a lot of people commit to that, but for a family of four little kids, it just would have been too much.

This year both Owen and Eyan wanted to play soccer.  They really wanted to play.  After discussing it with Mike, he completely left it up to me, knowing I would be the one taking 4 kids back and forth practice after practice, game after game. Not to mention the gear...water bottles, chair, cooler, umbrella, blanket, coloring book, crayons, and endless amounts of snacks.

One of the aspects of MS that I continually forget is the temperature sensitivity.  I always forget that temperature is a factor in the sort of activities that Mike can be around for or participate in.  His body can only function properly if it is within certain ideal temperatures, think San Diego weather, no extreme or even moderately hot or cold temperatures.  The heat factored in with long walking times to and from the field, make for a bad combination of elements for him.  This has been difficult.  Not to be able to see his sons play the game that he loves to his core.  I was grateful for the 1 game and the 1 practice that he was able to attend.

A short time after Mike was diagnosed with MS...{Mike stop reading}... he tried to give away his cleats, shin guards, and soccer socks.  It absolutely broke my heart to see them tossed in a box beside other 'unwanted' or 'unneeded' items.  I knew it had been difficult for him to realize that he could not play anymore, that as much as his mind told his legs to run, his nerves would not correctly communicate that series of motions to his muscles.  It pained me to see him try...and often fall.  Those legs that I once watched out-sprint any opponent, now faltered, stammered, gave way.  Despite these realizations, I could not let him give away his prized, worn soccer things.  I still have them hidden in my closet.

{ok Mike you can read again}

Over the season as I found myself locked into practices with the kids, being at parks instead of at home with chores, a computer, and other various distractions, I recognized that I was truly enjoying the time that I had just to be with my other children distraction free.  Time seemed to slow down for a bit instead of speed up as I thought it would.  Yes, there were plenty of crazy moments, moments of sheer shrieking and racing out the door.  And yes, our usual unstructured family time was consumed.  Any yes, I look forward to its return.  Yet, I am grateful for the snuggly of my boys on my lap under a blanket, listening to the giggles of a baby sister being pulled around on a blanket by her brothers, watching little feet scampering to kick a ball to their brother, as well as the confidence booster it has been for my older two boys from caring coaches in addition to an opportunity for them to share in the love for a game that their father prizes so much.

I have enjoyed seeing Mike get outside a little more lately to kick a little footie around with the boys.  Despite his struggles, he hasn't let that get in the way of putting a few goals past them.

{to read more about our journey with MS click here or click on the label in the right hand column}

Backyard Date Night Corsage: a little tutorial

Once upon a time, as you may recall, I had a floral business called, A Rose is A Rose.  Now in a different stage of life, I cling onto any opportunity to use my floral brain.  I adore cut flowers.  They change my mood instantly.  I am a richly spoiled woman who receives bouquets of fresh flowers from her husband weekly because, well...he loves me and he knows how much I love arranging them.

I was honored to be asked to create some corsages for a dreamy 'backyard movie' birthday bash for my dear friend Leslie, mother extraordinaire and blogger of 'my happily ever after' amongst a million other things.  I was so giddy using my floral brain again that I decided to create my first ever tutorial over here at Sweet Dreams are Made of These.  So bare with me as I get my feet wet in this richly saturated tutorial blogging world.  

I present to you the...

perfect for that dreamy event in which corsages for your guests would be a surprising treat.  A little touch of femininity.  What girl doesn't want to wear a corsage with her hunky man escorting her!

Supplies to have on hand:

1. and 2. Spray or sweetheart roses in an array of colors
3. Large mass flowers for a single dramatic impact {shown - a dahlia, one of my favorites}
4. Filler flowers and/or greenery, including good size leaves to mask the wristlet {shown - green coffee bean}
5. Burlap {shown - on a large roll bought in garden dept at Home Depot, but you can use any kind}
6. Lace {shown - 1/2" wide}
7. Ribbon {shown - fibrous ribbon 1 1/2" wide cut into 3 fiber wide strips}
8. Wristlet {also used the fun slap bracelet kind - you know we loved those!}
9. My new frenemy, floral adhesive {what is not pictured is my awesomely gooey hands}

Additional supplies:
scissors or knife to cut flowers and ribbon
paper or cellophane to place on countertop for easy clean up
iron to press ribbon
corsage bags for storage

Preparation for corsage assembly:
*Cut fibrous ribbon into 4 1/2" piece.  Cut ribbon into strips of 3 strands each. {as shown above}
*Cut 2 pieces of lace - one 4" and the other 18"
*Fold 18" piece of lace into 3 3" folds and iron in fan formation {as shown below in step }
*Cut burlap into 1 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece {I cut along the finished edge of the burlap for more durability}

Say farewell to clean hands!!

Get your floral adhesive ready.  

It will become a love/hate relationship I promise you. Anyone with any tips on how to use floral adhesive, would love to hear them!!  

Tips for using adhesive: From what I learned, hold the item you wish to adhere down for a quite a few seconds.  If it seeps through, try using your non-gooey finger to hold it down while you lift up your gooey finger.  Wow, super technical advice.  I also periodically peeled the glue off my fingers in the sink as it began to drive me crazy having all those layers of glue on.  Despite these drawbacks, using adhesive instead of wiring everything seems to give more creative license in your corsage.

Corsage assembly:

1. Apply adhesive to metal portion of the wristlet.  {Watch out the adhesive comes out fast, so apply just a small amount.} Press 3 leaves onto the adhesive...can I just call it glue?..ok..glue in a fan-like formation.  Make sure to place glue in between each leaf to hold them together.  Make sure none of the metal is showing.

{Note: If you are using the slap bracelet wristlets, for the beginning stages, remove the bracelet from the plastic portion.  You can reattach it once the foundation of the corsage is made.}

2.  Glue your burlap piece at an angle across your leaf foundation.  {Feeling your fingers getting stickier?}

3.  Glue your pressed ribbon fan onto the center of the burlap.  It is rather tricky getting it in this shape on the corsage and then trying to get it to not lift up with your finger {see glue tip listed above}, but you'll get it.  

By this stage you are covered in glue.  For this reason I apologize that I did not take the next few steps in a series of photos.  Trying to photograph whilst protecting your camera from an abyss of glue is quite difficult.

I found it was helpful to put on my corsage for the final steps.

4. Cut a sprig of your filler flower and glue it on top of your fanned ribbon, taking care to glue down any other leaves connected to the sprig as well.  

5. Choose three roses varying in sizes. Cut your rose stems very close to the flower head.  Determine where you would like to place each one.  Glue them down in a circular pattern to cover your filler flower, making sure that the lowest flower head is toward the right diagonal of the corsage.

6. Group 4-5 strands of your ribbon together in your hand, varying their lengths on each side.  Determine your center and pinch the strands together.  Glue down the center just below the lowest flower head with the curving shape of ribbon toward your roses.  

7. Glue the center of the 4" piece of lace on top of the determined center of your ribbon grouping.

8. Glue a single leaf at angle towards the right, overtop the center of your ribbons and lace. 

9. Glue a small sprig of your filler flower overtop your last leaf.

And voile!!!  your very own backyard date night corsage.  Now off on your hot date with you.  Oh, you should probably peel the glue off your hands first:)

Other corsages that I made using these very same steps:

For the birthday girl who loves white!

On their way to the dreamy party for all the lovely ladies...

Coupled with Eternal Glory - For my Gramps. Love, Sweet Bri

As part of unpacking our home this time, on our 13th move, I promised myself that I would go through all of my boxes.  Every single one of them.  Most benefiting from this decision will be those boxes which have collected items over the past 13 years of marriage and even before then.  Mike prides himself on the fact that when we moved into our newlywed apartment he brought his things in 2 apple boxes only.  I, on the other hand, had multiple boxes collected from my short, yet memory rich, 19 year old life, all with sweet notes written on them such as... "HEAVY.  Careful Honey.  I love you!"

As I was sorting through some letters and cards I came across one in particular that immediately brought tears to my eyes.  A real treasure.  A small square card given to me on my 30th birthday by my grandpa, my Gramps.  I did not need to open it to know who it was from.  The two word inscription was all I needed, 

Sweet Bri

Ever since I could remember I was my grandpa's Sweet Bri.  He related to me several times throughout my life that it was a nickname given to me because I was so sweet.  {It was a deviation from the name of the character Swee'Pea from the 1930s cartoon Popeye the Sailor.}  I always knew that my grandpa loved me.  His whole face would light up every time he saw me and I could hear it in his voice on the telephone, "Its my Sweet Bri."  His Spirit left this Earthly life in January of last year, 2010.  At a special memorial presentation following his funeral, it became apparent that I was not the only one who felt grandpa's love.  Each of his grandchildren remarked on how grandpa had always made them feel special, loved, and as if they were his 'favorite'.

As a young girl I was privileged in having a special relationship with my grandparents as each summer I would go visit them in their spectacular home in Park City, Utah.  A home that felt as comfortable to me as my own.  {It was there in my teenage years that I set my record for most consecutive hours of sleep, 14!}  Oftentimes we would go camping, hiking, and venture out into nature as my grandmother is as close to Mother Nature personified as anyone on Earth.  One of my most vivid memories of my grandfather is when we went on a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park when I was 10 and he was teaching me how to fish.  Two snapshots below depict the ill fate of my fishing line.  There with a huge grin was Gramps wading out in a freezing cold stream, rescuing my line from the stubborn rocks.  I can close my eyes and still see his jubilant smile and hear his resounding chuckle.

This past Memorial Day my mother invited us to join her and my Daddy in visiting his grave.  It was a reverent and pleasant experience for all of us.  The boys made paper airplanes to place at G-Gramps' grave {Great-Grandpa} as he was an av8r, a marine and a commercial pilot.  The most difficult part was watching my mother by his grave, visibly reminiscing and missing her Daddy.  After she had her moment, she took the time to sit down with her grandchildren and talk about grandpa and his exceptional qualities.  I was grateful to have my own Daddy with me and thoroughly enjoyed watching him with Felicity.

Oh how grateful I am that I know that our souls are eternal, that there is a life beyond this mortal existence.  Those we have loved here on Earth who have moved on to the next step in His Great Plan of Salvation, the Great Plan of Happiness, have not been separated from us for good.  How could it be a plan of happiness without being able to continue those same relationships that give us joy on Earth?  

And that same ^asociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with ^beternal glory...  {Doctrine and Covenants 103:2}

Although my heart ached a little today as I saw a man that resembled my grandpa in the grocery store, I know that the joy of our reunion will surpass any feelings of sorrow I may have experienced from our temporary separation... for it will be coupled with eternal glory.  What could be better than that??!!

Like an Explosion

that was like an explosion!

thought it'd be appropriate to lead out with a line from one of my family's favorite movies, 'the man who knew too little' - yea, i know, you either love it or you hate it:) {see our top 10 list here}

after 2 months of preparation, craft explosion finally came and went.  i have to say that it was a blast!;)  {sorry, couldn't resist.}

and quite a success thanks to my fabulously dependable and creative instructors.  thank you heather a, heather w, erin, danielle, and ashley!!  without you none of this could have been possible.  

thank you to my fellow decor visionary leslie and her trusty sidekick nick - thank you for turning my blank walls into a burst of light and color. 

thank you to my husband who loves me so much as to support me in my craziness. {i'm still needing that t-shirt that says, 'crazy is the new cool}

and of course thank you to the willing women who trusted me with your money and were ready to spend their evening with me and my crazy vision.

over 2 days i managed to squeeze over 30 of these women into my home disguised as a chatty crafters guild. 

we painted, we stamped, we cut, we stained, we snipped, we twisted, we clipped, we punched, we measured, we sprayed, we glued...

we ate, we laughed, we befriended...ate some more

and some of us may have even bled or screamed.

press on for an explosion of photos...

i've already been asked, 

'when's the next one?' ha.

so glad you would want to do another one. :)

as it takes so much time to prepare, and a small army of instructors,

i would be happy to look at this spring for our next installment of craft explosion.

if you'd like to volunteer to be an instructor or just want to keep informed about future events and/or my sewing group, make sure to follow my blog www.learn2love2sew.blogspot.com 

happy crafting.

{to see craft explosion's class line-up as well as the original tutorials we followed, visit here.}

Period of Adjustment

Last night was the first night that Abigail, Jesse, and Jani were back in their own home as a family unit.  They had stayed at Jani's family's house the previous one.  Jani's family has been a great support to them over these past months.  Such a blessing!

I was able to Skype with Jesse and Abigail yesterday and it was a joy to see her smiling face with that adorable tuft of red hair.  Jesse had expressed concerns regarding Abigail adopting new characteristics and preferences since this last hospital experience.  In some ways the baby they have now is very different from the one that went into the hospital.   I think it will be a period of adjustment for all of them as they try to settle back in to some sort of schedule as well as understand Abigail's new needs and behaviors.

Thankfully last night was much better than her first night out of the hospital.  Abigail, and consequently Jesse and Jani, had a really good night.  Today Abigail has seemed very happy.  So happy to see her in such a typical infant setting: surrounded by toys, fingers in mouth, and in a cozy environment - her own home.

Talking All Morning

Abigail is doing great today.  She has had a few pain crying spells, but overall has been happy.  She's been talking up a storm.  The nurses told Jani that she was talking all morning.  I am sure that was such a relief for Jani and Jesse to see their happy baby return.  Jani heard a rumor that Abigail might get to go home tomorrow.  I will be anxiously awaiting that news!

Jani just sent me this photo of the sleeping angel snoozing peacefully.  She said that they are getting ready to move her out of the ICU!  I hope she gets her own window again:)

***UPDATE Oct 29 10:31 am from my phone***
Fantastic news...Abigail will be going home today!!! This has to be my most favorite photo of Abigail. It brings me such joy to see her glowing with such life. Her little eyes sparkling, her flush cheeks, and engaging smile. What a site this must be for Jani and Jesse. Jani said that Abigail won't stop talking.
....
Just got a text while I was typing this...
Abigail is free! She has been released from the hospital!!!!

Immediate Call for Prayers

It is never a good thing to hear a long pause after you ask someone how they are doing. I just received an emotional phone call from my mother. Abigail is in desperate need of prayers right now. The past two days have been very hard on her and consequently on my brother and my sister-in-law. Despite her intermittent smiles during the day on Monday, Abigail continued to cry out in pain. They thought it may have been gas pain and continued to give her Tylenol. Yesterday and today the pain increased as Abigail continued to cry out in pain.

Today as a result of the morning routine X-ray, the doctors discovered that there is something wrong with Abigail's pulmonary artery. It is either swollen which will require additional waiting to see if it goes down or it is too small and unable to handle the flow of blood which would require the doctors to once again do surgery. Hopefully in six hours they will be able to do an echo-cardiogram to determine the exact problem. Abigail will have to be sedated as they will also be doing an endoscopy down her throat.

The doctors are estimating that this problem with her artery has been causing great pressure and pain to poor Abigail's head, amongst other problems.

As you can imagine this is devastating news for our family. We ask for your immediate prayers in aiding the facilitation of another miracle in the life of Abigail. We thank you for your love and investment in the life of this sweet little baby.

***UPDATE Oct 26 9:28pm from my phone***
From the echo-cardiogram they discovered that there is a vein bringing deoxygenated blood back into the right atrium, which in Abigail's heart pumps out oxygenated blood. This could be an explanation as to why her oxygen saturation levels have been low.

Tomorrow they will be doing another surgery. From what I understand of the surgery and its purposes, they will be going through her femoral artery to close off this vein to see if this will raise her oxygen saturation levels. They will also be checking pressure levels in different chambers of her heart to assess if an additional surgery may be needed soon. As I am uneducated in all the intricacies of the heart and its functions, I am a little unclear as to what all of this means. What I do know is that Abigail will be undergoing another surgery tomorrow and continues to need our prayers. Thank you dear friends and family!

***UPDATE Oct 27 3:23 pm from my phone***

After several delays Abigail finally left for surgery. She was originally scheduled for surgery around 10 this morning. Poor Abigail has to fast six hours prior to her surgery. Since they have postponed it several times today, Abigail has had to be without food all day long.

I spoke with Jani this morning and she sounded great!...very positive and calm. She said that they have been trying to make things seem a little more like home with toys, playmats, and going on walks in her little wagon. The nurses adore Abigail and enjoy coming in to play with her.

Jani also explained a little more about Abigail's surgery and sent me a little diagram trying to show the problem that the surgeons are trying to fix. This vein, called a ligament of Marshall, normally does not have a blood flow. For some reason it has started to bring deoxygenated blood from the superior vena cava into the left atrium mixing both oxygenated and deoxygenated blood causing Abigail's oxygen saturation levels to be low. The surgeons are hoping that by putting a coil on the vein they will prevent further blood flow and this will raise her oxygen saturation levels. Hopefully this is the only problem and the pulmonary artery is only swollen and not too small to handle the blood flow.

Jani told me that they normally check the pressures of the heart chambers during the surgery Abigail just had, but because they didn't want to be so invasive they decided not to do it then. They will be doing it this time. Instead of entering through the femoral artery, they will be going through arteries in her neck and side.

Her surgery will last a couple of hours. Hopefully they will know right away if it was successful. Thank you all once again for your continued prayers and support.

***UPDATE Oct 27 10:34 pm***

Forgive me for the lateness of this update.  

At 5:30 pm Abigail came out of her procedure, a declared success by her oxygen saturation statistics which immediately improved.  The surgeons were able to stop the blood flow in the vein, the ligament of Marshall.  The pulmonary artery seemed to be a non-factor in the surgery.  Kathy, Jani's mother, did confess that it was "pretty frightening to see her afterwards.  She seemed to be gasping for breath but they assured us that it was her Laryngeal Malaysia problem in her throat and not her breathing."  Kathy explained this term to me, which I was completely unfamiliar with.  It is her damaged larynx that collapses and causes her to breath and snore very loudly.  "Apparently we all have that vein.  We must use it in utero but it is supposed to close off shortly after birth.  Hers, on the other hand, opened up more and more because of the pressure from the Glenn."  The Glenn Procedure is the name given to the surgery Abigail had last week.  This gasping has caused quite the scares for Jani and Jesse and especially little Abigail, whose eyes are wide with panic when she can not catch her breath.

After the surgery Abigail was brought back to the CICU.  Kathy, Jani, and Jesse had to wait an hour to see her because they kicked them out for staff rotation.  Seems so unfair.  

After 15 hours, Abigail was finally allowed to eat.  Poor little angel!  Kathy reported that "they just kept pushing back the time for the procedure.  It was really frustrating and soo tough on Abigail.  She is so incredibly sweet and patient."  

I pray that she will now be able to heal and that this may be the close of this chapter of her surgeries until the next one, projected at age 3-5.  I look forward to seeing her smiley, wiggly self very soon.  Thank you all again for your prayers in behalf of Abigail and our entire family.  Jani told me today that she feels like the prayers of everyone in her baby's behalf has been the reason Abigail has done so well in recovering.  Thank you to all!