SURGERY PART 2

Well here is the update from surgery #2. Jayton did extremely well. A lot of lip swelling, worse than the first surgery. But, they did have his mouth clamped open twice as long. Jayton's plastic surgeon used the tissue created from the implanted tissue expanders (surgery #1) and re-vamped his palate. In doing so he no longer has a fistula from the two teeth that were removed from his palate in the spring. Then his plastic surgeon also lengthened his soft palate. Jayton will be on his blended diet until Oct 17, then will move onto a soft food diet. We are going back to Portland on Nov. 20 to see if what they expected to accomplish was accomplished! He currently has stitches the whole length of his palate (which will dissolve) and if you can believe this! Jayton never once took pain meds! He amazes me in his courage, strength and does not let his surgeries get him down. He has a long road ahead of him with more surgeries but I think this was a nice lil speed bump along that road.

Just out of surgery.....and getting ready to drive home- look how swollen his poor lips got!

All the stitches in his mouth....also the mouth rinse he has to do after he eats anything has dis-colored his teeth...

Surgery part 1

Well we are home from part one of Jayton's surgery......I am exhausted- mentally! He is currently napping. Says that he is not in pain, but I am not sure if he says that just because he will not drink the Tylenol with Codeine? He takes his antibiotic GREAT! Thank God! and he also has to rinse his mouth 3 times a day & after meals with a prescription mouth wash. Jayton is also on a blended food only diet for 4 weeks! I feel so bad for my lil guy. We then leave again on the 16th for part two of his surgery which is on the 17th....... so that is a quick update!

poor, poor blog!

My poor blog has been so lonely! No good excuse here for the lack of entries......

Today was the first day of school- wow! Summer is officially over when school starts. Ashlyn is in the 5th grade and Jayton is in 1st. They tell me the first day was great. Jayton loved hot lunch today and poor Ashlyn got blisters from her new shoes. Those were the highlights!

Jayton is having two surgeries next month. One September 10 & then the other the following week on September 16. The first surgery is to place palate tissue expanders in his mouth that he will have in for a week to prepare for his next surgery. The second surgery is to use the tissue from the expanders to repair the fistula in his hard palate, and then they will to have what surgery to lengthen his soft palate. The will be Jayton's 9th & 10th surgery......he has not had what we consider a 'major' surgery since he was 1 yrs old. The others have been fairly minor, although they have all required anesthesia. It is unfortunate that the surgeries could not have been scheduled while he was on summer vacation. So he will be at school for a couple weeks for the 1st grade and then miss at least 6 days for the surgeries. I am anticipating that the recovery is easy and he will not miss much school other than those few days. The not so fun part is the soft food diet he will have to be on.

I think our camper is also officially done for the year- no new camping trips planned. So sad..... I LOVE camping!

With fall approaching that means Halloween is a coming! WOO HOO! I have too many costumes ideas simmering in my head to decide which I want to be- Got the perfect idea lined up for Jeff- you will have to wait and see.........

I guess this is good for a quick post for now!

LOOKS FUN!

Creative Friday-

Well, I did a layout last night.....it has been awhile since I have had the time. But since my blog is titled Lv2Scrap-n-chat! I had better share this layout because I do love 2 scrap!

Bind it All gift

I made a little mini album with my Bind it All yesterday to send to a friend that is having a baby girl. I love that I am getting the hang of the Bind it All.....

4th of July

It was a BUSY 4th of July weekend..... we went to Elk River on the 4th to have a BBQ with family and watch the fireworks. While there we participated in the parade through town. This is just a one family parade that my Aunt & Uncle have each year. They dress the part and throw candy & beads.....we had 'Born in the USA' blaring as we walked. It was pretty fun to be a part of it all.....I hope everyone else had a happy 4th!

Mini photo shoot..........

Here are a few pics that I took of Jayton last night.....I failed as as parent to get pictures of him when he turned 7- so these are it.....which should I send out?!

Neglect!

I have totally been neglecting my poor lonely blog.....I have been very busy with lots to share but finding the time to post is the problem! I really need to take some pictures of the kids Disney albums that I have finished (a year after the actual trip). I almost have Ashlyn's new shabby chic bedroom done & need to post pics of that too......we also went camping, Jayton finished t-ball and I am getting back into exercise mode. With the long weekend coming up I hope to get caught up in my neglect. Until then here is an adorable pic of Jayton & his friend Emilee while we were camping, they had no idea I took the picture- too cute!

JUST A LETTER......

Today in the Lewiston Morning Tribune there was an article regarding the Spokane Shriners Hospital and the fact that they are on a list of sites being considered for closure. I was so saddened by this news since the Shriners organization has been such a benefit for Jayton. Although we are seen at the Shriners Hospital in Portland I would hate to see families who are seen in Spokane face the hardship of a closure. Most people are unaware that this organization is funded by donations only! The healthcare that is provided at the hospitals is free- but more important than that is the services they provide. With us living in a rural area and basically having only one plastic surgeon to turn to for Jayton's care I was so thanful that Shriners came to us and offered the BEST for him in terms of someone who has done several cleft related repairs and had the experience under their belt. So if you support the Shriners organization please write a letter of support for the Spokane site and send it to the organization's chief executive officer or the Chairman of the Spokane board............ thank you! I will get off my soap box now.

Ralph Semb
Shriners Hospitals for Children
2900 Rocky Point Drive
Tampa, FL 33607

or

Ken Boni
12758 Emerald Drive
Hayden Lake, ID 83535

A new 'do' & T-ball too....

Ashlyn decided that she has had enough of her long, un-managable hair & wacked it off! I think she looks adorable and a perfect length for the hot days of summer!
Also, T-ball season is here! This is Jayton's 2nd year of T-ball and you can tell that this year he has an idea on how to play the game. The team he played Tuesday night was hysterical! Everytime someone on Jayton's team hit the ball EVERY kid on the other team ran for the ball and then dog piled fighting for possesion.

Dance recital 2009

Taylor Swift.........

oh me oh my....

.....my life is busy, busy, busy! T-ball has begun for Jayton with two practices so far this week. Ashlyn is still in dance until her recital May 22, then we are done for the summer. Saturday I had my annual yard sale that is so much work I wonder why I do it every year- oh yeah- 'cha ching $$$'! Sunday I washed every window inside & out- I think we have like 15 windows! Then I trimmed bushes and sucked up pine needles and debris from the river rock! Monday I felt so old- I ached from the weekend chores....... I took tomorrow off to go with Ashlyn's class on their rendevouz. I guess we will milk a goat? make butter, rope making, candle making a wagon ride & who knows what else!? Then right after school Ashlyn & I are heading to Spokane for the Taylor Swift concert!! woo hoo! Saturday my best-est friend ever is having her baby shower- this is her first child and I have gone crazy buying her things. Can't help it, baby things are so adorable! Anyway, that is where I have been and what I will be doing. Busy, busy! I cannot believe school is almost OUT! which means summer is near, but what the heck?! it snowed in Moscow! Where is the darn sun? I am going to have to use my tanning bed more to cure my spring blues!!

Happy Birthday Jayton!

Today Jayton is 7 years old. I cannot believe how fast he has grown up!

teacher appreciation week

This week is teacher appreciation week and here is what I made for the kids teachers.......

For Jayton's kindergarten teacher (this is her 1st yr. of teaching!) I covered a wooden perpetual calendar with school paper. Used my cricut to create the numbers and used stamps to create the months. Jayton signed his name on the back. I think it turned out cute!

For Ashlyn's teacher I made a wooden 'grandkids' album. (They have these wooden albums at CPS in all different words- cabin, love, travel, fishing, etc. etc.- they can even create custom ones too.) Anyway, her 4th grade teacher has two grandchildren that she adores and I thought this would be a fitting gift that was not the typical apple/school type since she has been teaching many years. The Fancy Pants paper was a perfect fit for the wymsical feel.......

CRAFTY KIDS

Yep my kids are pretty crafty & pretty imaginable too! For art week at school kids created animals, any animals they wanted using mostly recycled materials. I have to say this was a way cool idea and you can tell all the kids had a blast doing it! Jayton made a lady bug, well the whole class made lady bugs but they are just in Kindergarten. Anyway, Jayton won best of class (1st) out of the Kindergarten classes! Too cool, he was so excited & surprised.

*click on pic to see it larger

Ashlyn made a chicken. She was going to make a kangaroo but it just developed into a chicken & WOW what an awesome chicken it was using an old bleach bottle, pieces of a butter tub and paper plates. She did some paper mache', a little paint & some feathers. Well, Ashlyn won best of class (1st) too for the 4th graders & she also won best of show out of the whole school. I am a proud momma! She did so awesome with no help at all from me! They did it all at school. Their projects are going to be keepers!!!

* click on pic to see it larger

what'z up?!

Today Jayton colored his Easter eggs. Ashlyn didn't really want to and she was staying with a friend and Jayton DID NOT want to wait until tomorrow to do them!

Tomorrow I plan to zip up to Moscow and get a few things for my scrappin' weekend! Then hurry home so I can start packing a little. I do not want to take EVERYTHING! Seems like I always end up taking more than I need. I also need to create a play list on my Ipod of music for the scrappin' weekend!
I have been going to Zumba with Cori- it is so FUN! It does not feel like exercise to me since I love to dance. I am getting use to the hip action. Got some new moves for our Halloween Party!
I hope to have a yard sale SOON! I have so much stuff to get rid of. I am just having a hard time picking a weekend to do it.
That is all I have- for now!

New column to check out.......

You need to check out this new link.....It is a new column called Friday Findings that Georgia from Adornit has announced that she will be having on her blog- Every Friday she will share something unique whether it is decor, something to read, craft related or even home decor. I love this idea..... today's finding is a magazine called BOHO. I have never heard of this magazine and I am excited to find it & purchase something that someone else finds GREAT!!!.....so check out her Friday Findings.

acrylic MOM album

I created an acrylic MOM album for CPS who will be at MOMS WEEKEND @ WSU this weekend... I whipped it out last night after Zumba! I will also have a wooden word album to share soon that I am giving as a gift. Almost complete.........

Ditch the workout! Join the party!

That is what I did tonight! Went to a Zumba class with Cori, Michelle, Christel & Shelly. It was a blast! There were some funky moved that I am not sure the public should see me do..... but I have to say I have some new moves for our Halloween party this year!!

What is up in the Rowden world?

I cannot belive I have not posted in so long...... not sure why? I have been busy. Lets see quick list:
*Played bunco Friday- won most bunco's & drank my yummy, yummy wine that I got in Leavenworth! Even Cori liked it......
*Toni came to town.....we had dinner at El Sombrero (I am not sure I can ever eat there again, it is just bad, bad)
*Finally watched 'The Dark Knight'. Heath Ledger was amazing in that movie and I cannot figure out how writers can come up with the ideas that do in these movies. Crazy. But Heath was so great!
*I also finally saw the movie 'SAW'- not bad at all.... 'The Hostle' was much worse......
*Bought a bunch of new songs from I tunes- my I pod is so AWESOME now!
*I only have a few pages left in both of the kids Disney/California Adventure albums- only took me a year! LOL!
*Also, I am taking Ashlyn to the Taylor Swift concert- hope she loves her first concert experience.
*Ashlyn is tap dancing in her schools talent show on Friday.
* I was one of the other million ladies in the world that bought the movie 'Twilight'

Ok that is all I can think of at the moment- kinda tired......

At my finest

Ok this is hilarious.... I was just reading through blogs as I am waiting for the ceiling to dry in our dining room so I can do another coat. Anyway, I stumbled on to Teresa Collins blog and she had a fun lil tag. Of coarse she looks beautiful as always and you will now see me at my finest and painted on..........normally I do not get THIS messy looking when I paint but as I was painting the ceiling using a large painting rod at the end of my roller..... the darn thing broke in half and the roller landed on my head so I have a nice tint of white. Pretty cute huh?!
So your turn- you read- you are tagged!

Take a picture of your self right now, no primping or preparing. Just snap a picture.
Load onto your blog.
Tag 3 people to play...remember if you are tagged on another blog we will all be heading to yours to see if you played along.

Hurry- cheap- awesome deals!!!!

Did I get your attention?!

RUN RUN RUN......or just type REAL fast!!!! GO TO: Heidi Swapp.com
There is special pricing on LOTS of items from the Heidi Swapp line that you can purchase from the website!! Stuff that you can just use over and over... there is a feature where you can even sort by price... and there are TONS of .99$ deals! I went crazy! The chipboards letters that I LOVE.......... .99$- YEAH!

Tim Holtz wanna-be

I attempted my first Tim Holtz techniques tonight..... my friend Tina got me a bunch of Tim Holtz product for my birthday and I finally had some time to play. I tell ya the man is a creative GOD! I do not know how he comes up with his techinque ideas AND makes it all look so darn easy to do. Yes, the products are easy to use once you watch a few of his demo videos- but my attempts are blah compared to his beautiful-ness. I used some distress inks, perfect pearls, my mini mister, Tim Holtz stamps, alcohol ink, grungeboard & crackle paint. The pictures are not that great, they actual do look pretty neat in person...........

Busy Saturday

I woke up early this morning to get some OT in before Jeff had to head to work. And now the last few hours I have been cleaning out the kids' rooms. Have to get ready my yearly yard sale and Ashlyn wants an 'update' to her room, something more grown up so she needs to weed out a lot of stuff. She does not want to let go of things too easily. Jayton on the other hand is throwing things left & right into the sell box. Total opposites!
As you can see I have been playing around with look of my blog. The House of 3 has a ton of blog backgrounds you can purchase and headers for CHEAP-CHEAP & they are totally my style! Right now the one I have is a freebie during their open house, so I figured what a great chance to play with it until I can decide on some to purchase.
Well, enough of a break for now, back to the work of cleaning.............uuugghhh!

under construction..............

...........please be patient while I play with my blog. Working on getting my title on here. Stay tuned!

Surprise......

I had not been able to post my upcoming surprise since the person I was going to surprise could have gotten a wild hair and decided to read my blog! Anway, Saturday a.m. - Kelly & Amie Warner and I drove to Wenatchee and surprised our friend Toni for her 40th birthday. It is technically next weekend, but that weekend she would have been out of town. She was so surprised, it was great! Her friend Stacey in Wenatchee helped coordinate the surprise.......We did a little shopping and then drove to Leavenworth and checked out all the little shops. I found some of the yummiest wine ever! and we ate at this Italian restaurant with some good, good food! Our waiter seriously looked like James from Twilight. Cori would have died! I wanted to try to take a picture but the restaurant was kinda up-scale so I did not think it was appropriate. After we got back to Toni's we played some Rock Band. It was hilarious! We all each tried to sing, play guitar & the drums. Too fun! Here are a couple pics from the trip!

good to be home

Today I was off, President's Day, so work was closed. It was nice since we arrived home from Portland last night and I was able to sleep in & not wake up at 4:30 am! I think most of you already heard the Portland update so I will just share a mini version...... Jayton has a new plastic surgeon- who we really liked! His other plastic surgeon is now doing burn related surgeries. We are on the waiting list for surgery, the hospital is about 8 months out so it could be sooner or later than 8 months. We have to go in one day for an outpt. surgery where they will implant tissue expanders that Jayton will have for a week. After the week we go back and they will do another surgery where they will use the new tissue to repair his fistual to help prepare for his future bone graft and then also lengthen his soft palate (VPI) a bit to help his speech. He has air emission and this will help him from having to try so hard when he speaks. They were impressed with his articulation so the VPI will be beneficial. That is the mini version! We had fun in Portland though- Went to Chuck E Cheese on Friday so that was my birthday dinner LOL! and a perq for Jayton doing so GREAT at his appointment. They had all new games- it was a lot of fun. We also went shopping. Mainly bought things for Jayton since L-town has no decent clothing for boys so when in Portland we stock up! I also went to Craft Warehouse, but did not go overboard, just bought a few things that caught my eye.
Well today I helped the kids make picture frames since when I did craft night at their school I was not able to help them make frames so I promised I would today. Also today April & Jonny came over to visit. Ashlyn was so excited. He was so cute, smiling and gabbing away. It was nice having a baby around. I think that is that. I need to go work out and watch some tivo'd reality TV!

Oh me, Oh my!

Gosh-this month has just been a whirlwind and it is yet to slow down. I am itching to scrapbook but there is just no time! I have had mandatory overtime and there does not seem to be an end to that anytime soon. I managed to get the kids Valentines done. But, had no time or energy this year to do some for my co-workers. Friday we head to Portland for Jayton's yearly check up with his cleft team. I am hoping for another surgery free year..........I would also love to find more time to work out. I had to quit my gym membership through my work since I can never find the time to go- I should be on the elliptical or treadmill right now. But, I have to go to bed by 9:00 so I can be up & to work by 6:00.... so March is looking good so far for some work out time & scraptime. But, I still need to paint my main floor sometime since my new furniture is in place. Oh me Oh my!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

THREE PRETTY TERRIFIC INDIVIDUALS!



The love of my life......my hubby Jeff!


Kristi...... a GREAT, GREAT friend! Who deserves to have the best birthday!


And who could forget Duane. Cori's hubby!

Happy birthday to you all!

Crayon hearts

To go along with Jayton's Valentines for his class this year we made lil crayon hearts. They turned out soooooo cute! I saw the idea on Elles Studio and it was super easy. Kids cannot use crayons without breaking them or tearing the paper off.... so what better use to re-use the 'throw aways'. Ashlyn is also doing FUN Valentines for her class so I will share those maybe tomorrow.