MY BABY IS HAVING A BABY

Dani and Aaron's birth announcement

I've been over the moon for several months now 

since I found out my daughter Dani is pregnant.

She is a bit more then half way baked now 

and due on her brother's birthday in November.

Dani, my ex Inars, and Zach on Father's dad

And on the 4th of Julie her boyfriend Aaron proposed to her,

 so we are having the wedding next week.

Seems like it's all going so fast.

It also seems like I've been waiting for this forever,

and it's a dream come true.

And I've been creating and collecting baby goodies 

since before my son was born 34 years ago,

so you can imagine what she will have to choose from. 

My son and his wife are still vacillating about whether they want to have a child.

Of course I'm hoping that this baby, 

when "he" comes,

 will push them over that edge.

And yes,

its a BOY!

He has been doing acrobatics in her tummy 

since the first time we all saw him at her sonogram.

He is super active, 

and I'm pretty sure he is going to give her a run for her money

Ha ha!

All of us couldn't be more delighted to welcome

Easton Dexter David to our family.

I'm gonna be a grandma

Woot woot!!!!!!

My heart is full.

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Hoping 2023 brings us all healing, good health and much better luck.

Ha ha!

This is Xmas morning at my daughter Danielle's home.

From left to right,

Jim, myself, ex Inars, Nicole, Zach and Dani

Missing in this picture is Nicole's dad Nick who came down with Covid,

and Dani's boyfriend Aaron who had to work.

2022 was a rough year for all of us.

We lost our dear Mary in May after so many years of her fighting cancer.

Isn't she beautiful?

This is April 2019 with her daughter Nicole

 at Zach and Nicole's Wedding in Kona, Hawaii.

You would never know she was suffering from cancer in this pix.

I can't even begin to tell you how deeply her loss was felt 

during this Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I miss her so much...

My ex husband who is still a very big part of our lives

 here with Bogie...

and cooking for all of us for a Xmas breakfast a couple years ago.

Inars had a heart arrest on the golf course recently 

and his two buddies saved his life because they both knew CPR.

He was without a heartbeat and oxygen for 30 mins.

Inars with our two children several Xmas Eve's ago

Thankfully he is back home now and continues to work on his recovery.

His long term memory stayed intact 

but he is still struggling a bit with his short term memory.

He is also waiting on his heart doctor to install a permanent defibrillator.

Right now he is the prisoner of a temporary one

 that he wears either over his shoulder or strapped around his waist. 

A 24/7 device that is heavy and causing him back and shoulder problems,

attached by a wire to a shoulder/back bra with 8 sensors 

that is highly uncomfortable.

You can see his defibrillator strapped around his waist this Xmas.

He is still going to the gym everyday

 to try to build up his body weight and muscle mass that he lost while hospitalized.

And now to update you on my love,

my husband Jim.

This is my honey in May

 up in the mountains waiting to play live music with his band.

Before the jeep accident.

And here he was on Xmas Day with Inars 

(did I mention they are buddies)

with his hair growing back in.

His leg wound is completely healed over now 

and continues to shrink and sort of look better.

He also lost a lot of his body weight and muscle mass,

so for Xmas I gave him the present of our favorite trainer,

Gelissa.

Right now she is working on stabilizing his core and doing a lot of stretches.

Sadly he continues to have severe back spasms and sleepless nites.

He has many appts coming up to try to figure out the causes and fix these things.

Oh,

 and here is me laid up for the past two weeks with a swollen ankle and foot.

I have always been a klutz,

and as I've aged I've taken several spills as I trip over everything.

Two weeks ago,

 as I was wrapping presents,

 I missed a step going into my workshop in my little house garage.

It was a bad one this time.

My foot completely buckled under me

 as my entire body weight landed on top of it.

Incredibly painful.

I stayed down for several minutes 

 scared to death to know how much damage I'd done.

More then usual.

Ouch!

Iced it and put it up for 3 days taking lots of Ibuprofen.

After a week my middle toes and both sides of my heels 

turned several shades of purple.

It's much better now and I'm able to walk on it with not a lot of pain,

but this week I will go have an x-ray,

just in case I fractured something.

We are thrilled to be starting a new year

and have a lot of hope that 2023 will be kinder and gentler.

HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR ALL!

 I hope it brings you many blessings. 

BFF's FOREVER

Meet Sophie and Bogie.

They do not care for each other,

instead merely tolerate when the occasion arises.

Sophie has been known to snap at Bogie when he gets too near me or her food.

Bogie is scared of Soph big time.

Sophie belongs to Jim and I,

a rescue that we got right before we married,

 so we guess she is about 13 years old now.

An older lady set in her ways,

an only child.

Bogie was dumped off at a golf course,

 we think,

because he was so incorrigible.

A very naughty boy.

See this link that inspired an art quilt in Feb. 2010.

He had Doggy Obedience school.

He flunked as did we with him.

My ex and I adopted him about 16 years ago,

and when we divorced he stayed with my ex.

He is a friendly pup and loves everybody,

even other dogs and cats,

except of course for my Sophie.

She is a meanie.

We think Bogie is a Rat Terrier with nervous energy.

Sophie, we think, is a Wheaten Terrier, Cocker, and Poodle mix,

usually very relaxed, laid back and sweet except when she sees Bogie.

Ahhh,

but look at this,

they are chilling side by side,

not touching,

 mind you, 

but long enough for me to take a pix.

Ok, so what's going on here?

I've been babysitting Bogie for the past 2 1/2 weeks now 

because my ex, Inars, suffered a mild heart arrest

 3 weeks ago on the golf course.

His 2 best friends he was with saved his life by administrating CPR

until 911 arrived.

A detective took over from them until the ambulance got there.

 Paramedics did 3 paddle shocks and 5 adrenaline shots to the heart.

Inars was without a heartbeat and oxygen for 30 mins total.

A very long time.

We were scared to death.

And Bogie needed a home.

On the exact same day my husband Jim,

yes the one who had the terrible car accident,

was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

He was having difficulty with balance and walking

(along with several other motor skills) 

and fell into our sliding glass door. 

Thank goodness the plants against the door broke his fall so he didn't go all the way thru the glass.

But he did hit his head and was very confused and not able to walk.

Turns out Jim had 2 brain bleeds.  

One from the accident a few months ago that was slowly building up 

and creating dementia like symptoms,

and a new bleed from his fall into the door.

An MRI was done and a Neurosurgeon was brought in

 to immediately drill 2 holes on either side of his skull and release the fluids.

It worked!!

But more bad news.

Both men were hospitalized for over 2 weeks,

Inars also being treated for a UTI and an infectious bacteria.

We had to suit up to go into his hospital room.

He also lost all his cognitive abilities.

His name, his address, where he was.

The list was long.

 My two children were with him day and night 

helping him,

quizzing him until he started to remember things.

I have never been prouder of how they stepped up to the plate

to be there for him and continue to do so now that he's home.

And did I mention that he contacted Covid in the hospital too?

And that he was sent home to us infectious with that?

Again both children were there regardless if they caught it or not.

Crazy loving kids.

Jim also lost his bearings for a couple of days after brain surgery,

but actually recovered quicker mentally.

He was also diagnosed with pneumonia along with the brain bleeds. 

What do they say?

When it rains it pours,

right??

The good news.

Jim is now in a wonderful Rehab center learning how to walk and balance again.

He will be coming home to me this Friday with a plan for lots of Physical Therapy

and Narcotics free.

Bogie is back home with his dad

who will be getting a defibulator as soon as his Covid is over,

and his memory is getting stronger everyday.

Sophie is an only child again.

And as you can see below,

Bogie and Sophie learned how to co-exist peacefully side by side

and have decided they can bee Best Friends Forever.

Sophie actually even gave the Bogster a kiss yesterday when I brought her over with me to check on my ex.

Life is looking up again!

A special note:

I was never alone in all of this.  

Jim's amazing daughter Julie and her husband Mike 

were by my side the entire time,

constantly calling doctors, checking on meds,

even feeding me a Thanksgiving dinner when I wasn't able to get out to

celebrate with my son's in-laws,

a lovely tradition that's been going on for years now.

Thank you Mike and Julie,

I could have never done this without you.

And to my two children,

Zach and Danielle.

How I love you both with all my heart.

How very much you have learned in the past 3 weeks.

All new experiences for you,

life lessons that have taken their toll on you both and your partners.

Like I said above,

I couldn't be prouder of you both,

especially how you shared the responsibilities equally.

Dad and are are so very lucky that you both are ours. 

DEAR FRIENDS FOR LIFE

I want to celebrate my ex's 75th birthday this week,

my first husband and father of my children,

Inars Agrums.

And even though we didn't work as husband and wife

(23 years trying),

we still remain the best of friends today since our divorce in 2010.

For the past 10 years,

 every Monday night we have hung out with our daughter Danielle,

doing dinner and watching the Bachelor together,

sometimes even meeting 2 times a week to watch something else that Dani wanted us both for.

We help each other whenever there is an emergency,

like Inars' Open Heart surgery this past year.

We get together for all birthdays, weddings, Thanksgivings, Xmas', Easters,

and other important events that pop up.

My new husband Jim and Inars do manly things together as well;

 moving our children into and out of homes,

fixing plumbing and other household issues,

they have even occasionally gone to the movies together when I was still working.

How about that!!!

It's all about our children,

their happiness and well being.  

Plus Inars and I started off as great friends before marriage,

 and it will be that way until the end.

This pix was taken 2 Monday nites ago

 while Miss Tatum snuggled up to him at Danielle's new home.

I am a lucky woman to have had two solid rocks to live my life with.

Happy Birthday Inars.

Love you always,

Deb

LAST CHRISTMAS YOU GAVE ME YOUR HEART

Ok,

so I'm only a year tardy posting last Xmas' favorite pictures.

It's just how I roll these days.  

LOL

I thought I'd better take care of it soon as we are already into this next season's Xmas.

 Here we go.

We've got kitty Lily under my ex's tree on Xmas day while we opened presents above.

And my son Zach who brought about 5 different specialty beers to quiz us on at Xmas Eve

at my little home/studio. 

He is seen here reading off the correct answers.

My daughter Dani got the most correct guesses

(of course she did, she's a bar tender after all).

LOL

And here they are,

the glamorous couple of Danielle and Tristin,

  just starting their dog family.

This was when Granger was only about 4-5 months old.

I couldn't decide which pix I liked better so I posted both.

And my ex,

Inars,

with his pup Bogie who is now getting to be an old man,

Bogie that is

Ha!.

He's got to be about 12 years old at least.

Inars rescued him off a golf course,

thus Bogie  :).

This was when Grandger still liked Bogie,

see how he's giving him a kiss?

Now they just tolerate each other.

We are pretty sure Boogie is a Rat Terrier mix.

And I loved this shot I took of Inars.  

I think I will have it enlarged and give one to each of our children for this Xmas.

We had a frightening year with Inars' health this last April.

During my son's wedding in Hawaii he wasn't feeling right

 and when he got back to the mainland

his doctor had him go in for Open Heart Surgery. 

He had a double bypass.

So we are all so very thankful that he is completely at 100% again.  

It took 6 long grueling months of recovery and physical therapy

but he's feeling energized and oh so lucky.

And of course there are rarely any pictures of me cuz I'm usually the one doing the photographs,

so I couldn't find one from Xmas Day or Eve,

but I love this one in my classroom of senior Jimena Alvarez and I.

She was an outstanding crafts student last year.

Have I mentioned lately how much I miss my classroom,

and how utterly thrashed and disorganized it's become since I retired?

How supplies are being wasted and damaged and not brought back to the classroom.

And just how filthy the classroom has become.

This all just hurts my heart so badly.

Some little birdies and their parents have sent me several e-mails and pix

 because they are appalled how much it's gone downhill in so many ways since I left.

What really saddens me is that I was not allowed to participate in the interview process

like I was promised several times  for many years now.

That I'd be able to pass on my program that took me years and thousands of dollars to build.

There were actually a couple of ex-Whitney art students waiting in the wings for me to retire 

because they wanted to carry on my legacy.

Now it's all gone down the drain.

I haven't been able to share and talk about this with all of you till now.

It just hurt too much.

There is so much more I could say but I think this is enough and you get the idea

of how truly heartbroken I am.

So much for this tangent I went off on.

Back to happier things.

 Wanting to end on a much more positive note 

 here are my husband Jim's grands playing their cigar box guitars Jim made for them.

Notice the "M" on top of Mackenzie's?

They loved them!

Both are growing up so very quickly with J.V. entering his teens.

Much love to all my blog friends this Holiday Season.

Thank you for your constant support and your lovely comments.

xoxooxoxoxo

Happy Holidays!!!!

TRADITION

There must be an Easter Egg Hunt,

and it will be competitive.

I love that they still want to do this!

The big house is gone,

with it's large front and back yards, 

so we did it this year at my ex's new home and backyard.

The big winner,

my boy.

My daughter and her boyfriend tied for 2nd while hubby and pup Bogie looked on.

Then off to Laguna for Brunch on a third floor deck overlooking the Pacific.

A bit overcast when we got there, 

but then the sun peeked thru.

Perfect.

THE VISITOR

My ex sent me a great shot of the daffodils I planted 16 years ago 

at our home in Yorba Linda along the side of the house.

I think maybe I planted 12-16 bulbs in about four different spaces.

And man oh man have they multiplied!

When my ex and I divorced he chose to stay in the home

and keep the yard up.

And I have to say for one who never gardened before or even pulled a weed,

he is doing a great job.

Anyways,

there is this bird that returns every year about this time 

and hangs out in the neighborhood.

Looks like he has a new favorite place to chill.

With my daffs.

:)

A NEW EXPERIENCE

For my son's 28th birthday this last year,

 Zach wanted us to go to an Escape Room.

(Zach middle left)

I'd never heard of one before, 

but I guess they are the latest trend with a group of pals.

It's all about being locked in a number of rooms that are full of clues about how to solve a mystery,

and you try to beat the clock to solve it.

We had an hour and 8 people working hard to discover and find all the clues 

 out before time ran out.

One of the best players we had was my ex husband Inars.

He was as sharp as a tack.

We were very close to making the timeline,

and missed the last clue by only a couple of seconds.

There is always the next time.

I would do this again.

But wear a good pair of shoes.  

You do most of it in darkened rooms with flashlights,

and there is a bit of stepping on each others toes.

A TIME TO CELEBRATE FAMILY WITH A SYDNEY UPDATE

My beautiful stepdaughter Julie & her husband Mike 

hosted a Christmas get together at their new home.

This was our new grandson Syd's second Xmas,

and man oh man, 

was he excited to be with his cousins and Auntie & Uncle.

He is also currently spellbound with Thomas the Train 

which he wanted to watch and share with his cousins.

Our other two grandkids fought over who was going to hold him.

J. V. won easily as you can see,

much to Kenzie's dismay.

In between,

 is my gorgeous stepdaughter-in-law Carrie,

mother to the two older ones.

We all were surprised with J.V.'s green hair 

(Kenz put a bit of blue & purple in her's but you can't tell from the photo),

but I thought it was a good look on him,

flowed well with his socks.

hee hee

And my silly camera wasn't fast enough to catch this shot of the 3 of them,

so I ended up with Julie in the pix taking her photo as well.

Syd is such a sweet boy,

so patient and attentive as his mom Julie helped him open his presents.

His two favorites of the nite were the police car and fire engine.

Did I mention his daddy Mike is an Orange County Sheriff?

And that Mike brought his squad car to Syd's preschool for show & tell.

Mike also volunteered to play Santa at his pre-school.

Wish I had a pix of that!

My son Zach was also able to join us for the evening,

Danielle had to work.

I am truly grateful that we are able to blend our families. 

A gift really.

And a wonderful way to spend the Holidays.

Thank you Julie and Mike for a lovely evening.

xoxoxox

I am also doubly thankful that I am able to spend Christmas Eve and Day with my children

and my ex,

their father Inars,

 as we have always tried to keep everything as "normal" as possible for our babies. 

Because family comes first.

If Danielle knew I put this pix up of her without her makeup,

I'd be in big trouble.

Good thing she never looks at my blog

HA!

EASTER ARTS & CRAFTS WITH THE FAMILY

I saw this Natural Dye Easter Egg craft on Facebook recently 

and decided that Easter Sunday with the kids would be the perfect opportunity to give it a try.

The eggs above turned out pretty good,

but the ones below could have been much better.

And we learned what worked and what didn't.

We began by going out into my son's neighborhood

and picking leaves and flowers that might have possible dye properties.

And got yelled at by the next door neighbors.  ha ha ha

We came back and dumped our findings on the table and everyone shared.

I brought nylons to bind the plants as closely to the eggs as possible.

Then we gently put them into either the onion skins or the red cabbage baths.

I brought the baths to a gentle boil and hard boiled the eggs, 

then turned off the burner and let them steep for about an hour.

I had just the right amount of onion skins to water,

but I should have used more cabbage than I did for the amount of water I put in the pan.

The cabbage dye was just way too weak.

Also,

I might add a splash of vinegar next time,

see what happens.

I was so pleased that my son volunteered to host Easter this year.

He recently bought his first home with his girlfriend Nicole out in the San Fernando Valley,

more speciacally,

Canoga Park,

a suberb of L.A.

Nicole's mom Mary cooked a traditional Easter dinner,

and Nicole made a decadent chocolate trifle.

Nicole's dad Nick was suck at home sick in his bed with that terrible virus that was going around.

They just moved in a couple of weeks ago

and are in the process of redoing the home.

Pictures to come.

Mary and I both brought flowers from our homes to share with the kids.

And Zach and Nicole had an Easter egg project for us a well.

They bought wooden eggs and acrylic paints 

and we decorated them to look like "Space" eggs.

So much fun and a bit competitive as well  LOL

Our painted wooden eggs

A family tradition is to take a group pix

so above is my ex Inars,

daughter Dani,

myself and son Zach.

Zach has been growing his hair out for a man-bun 

but none of us had any idea how long it had become,

so my daughter made him take it out so we could see.

It was as long as hers which made her very unhappy. 

 hee hee

They have always been competitive even though they are 5 years apart.

And this is what clean-up time looked like.

Huh, you guys need something???

Typical  :)

It's got to be that generation.

My son was in the kitchen leading the clean-up brigade.

I am so blessed that my ex Inars and current husband Jim get on so well.

We are able to celebrate all the birthdays and holidays together.

And sometimes they just hang out together.

Here's to a wonderful rain filled spring.

The Holidays Leading Up to Christmas...

down below in Yorba Linda at the Agrums, where Inars cooks us an amazing Prime Rib for Thanksgiving,

and it's just us the 5 of us this year, plus Bogie and Lily.  

Delicious!

Then up to the mountains at the Sposas cabin in Crestline to turn that left over Rib into an ugly but scrumptious soup  LOL

Prepping the cabin for the coming snow storm by climbing up onto the roof on a really scary ladder to get the leaves and pine needles off.  Jim wanted to go up to do this but I wouldn't let him.   Jim says the leaves hold moisture on the roof, not good.  

I have so much to learn  :) I'm just a beach girl  LOL

The night of the lighting of the Xmas tree at our Lake Gregory with the locals.  We are finding the everyone is so friendly and kind up on the mountain.  

And check out Princess Sophie in her new, snugly coat, she loves the cold and snow!

Then bringing up my kids to the rain and snow, with a pix on Santa's lap, and decorating the sweet little pine tree in our front yard.

Teaching Dani to light her first fire from recycle, pinecones and kindling, and doing some brain teasers before bed.

Driving around like a maniac in my Mini Paceman loaner car, and just enjoying my babies!

And of course a stop off at Trinket Traders to show my kids my selling space, and making them pose next to it.  Mommmmmmmmmmm...

Now just waiting for Santa to come.