Still Recovering

Well, Alex is still recovering and will be for a while. He is doing pretty good so far. If I were him I'd already be stir crazy but he's doing ok so far in that dept. He's still on the meds so I think that helps out a lot. We took the bandages off on Monday and it's not so bad looking far as I can tell. He has one larger incision on the top of his shoulder and 4 smaller stitches from the scopes they used. Fortunately two of them are in his tattoo so I think they'll be camouflaged.
He goes back to Dr. Davis on Thursday to check his progress. Keep us in your prayers. I'm sure the therapy and all will be a long process and Alex uses his arms way too much to not have them working 100%. Thanks for all of you who have commented or sent your thoughts and prayers. We've had some great church friends who have made us wonderful meals too. They were delicious and greatly appreciated. Isn't it such a blessing to have a church family to depend on??

It's been a long and emotional journey for me also with Al's injury. It's tough realizing what life w/out him being able to help out is like. But, we've kept on going. Clara Paige had a birthday party last Sunday at Vestavia Bowl for a friend from church and she had lots of fun. She made me help her at first with her bowling but after two turns she got the hang of it. It was loud, crazy, fun and she loved every minute of it. I think there were 30 kids there. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it again.

The twins are keeping us busy as usual also. They are growing up so fast it scares me sometimes. They aren't my little babies anymore. They say things that just crack me up. Gracie asked for the snack bag I keep in the car yesterday. When I handed it to her she said in her best grown up voice, "Let's see what we've got here" before she made her selection. What a hoot!

Have a great rest of the week everyone.

11 Years and Counting!!

Yes, It's been 11 years today that Alex and I became man and wife. This year's celebration may be a little different since well, he's a little immobilized at the moment. But we're gonna try to at least have dinner brought in or something.

I figure 11 years is something to be proud of these days but let me fill you in on what I feel is something to be even more proud of. You see this 14 year old teenage girl met this 15 year old guy almost 20 years ago. She'd known of him before through her good pal Bethany Smith (Staats). However through some church devos and phone conversations this boy and girl figured out they had somethin kinda special. They went to different high schools and they had (for the most part) different friends. Heck they had very little in common at all. He was the strong, athletic guys guy. She was the quiet, polite and not-at-all athletic girls girl. However, what they did have was the beginnings of an incredible friendship that would lead them to the story of their lives and a common bond in the faith they had in the Lord. They dated all through high school and on into college. There were several nay-sayers along the way but the depth of their friendship kept them dedicated to one another. There were always turns and some bumps in the road but what a journey it was and still is.

You may find this to be completely corny and well if you do I completely understand but you may know that my girls LOVE ( I MEAN LOVE) them some High School Musical; particularly HSM3! Well, it turns out that Al and I actually enjoyed the movie ourselves too (well the first couple of times we've seen it). I think one of the things we like other than the fact that its cute and funny and portrays teenagers in a moral light, is the fact that it's basically about a teenage guy and a teenage girl that work through their teenage problems and find they trully are meant to be together! Sound familiar?? SO, the song on my blog today is dedicated to those two teenagers that muddled their way through life to grow up to have a wonderful relationship with each other and 3 beautiful little girls to show for it, if I do say so myself!

I love you Alex from the day I met that 15 year old boy to the man you are today (all broken ribs and torn up shoulders and all)!!

Thanks to those of you who have hung with us through the thick and thin of those last 20 years! Here's to many many more to come!

"No Matter Where Life Takes Us

Nothing Can Break Us Apart

I Just Want to Be With You."

Home and Resting

We are home. We are tired. Al is doing fine. He is resting. The surgery went well. More details tomorrow. Heading upstairs and toward the bed now.

AL + ATV + ER = SURGERY

Yeah, you read the title right. If you don't already know, Alex will be having surgery on his shoulder tomorrow afternoon to repair the damage of the shoulder separation. It's gone from a 1st degree to a 4th degree separation since last week. The best thing is to have it fixed. SO, I'll let ya know how that goes tomorrow evening!
That being said it's safe to say that things will be pretty hectic around here for a little while longer. I'm sure they'll give Al some pretty good meds but I wish they would give me some too. I'm gonna need them almost as much as him. Heehee.

On a good note, my computer problems seem to be over for the moment. Alex got a new keyboard for our home computer. Oh happy day!!

Love you all and talk to you soon!

Sneezing can be Funny.

Yesterday Mom and I took the girls out to do some errands. We ended up at Veteran's Park in Alabaster enjoying the pretty weather (and the pollen). Anyway, we were taking a nice walk on the walking trail and Clara Paige sneezed. I'm not sure which Twin said something to her but the next thing we heard was Clara Paige saying:

"Well, that's because I Ach-ooed on you!"

It was funny. Not sure why she used that terminology since she knows what a sneeze is. So watch out for all that pollen out there. It might make ya "ACHOO" on somebody!

PS-Alex is slowly getting better and we are tryin to get back into some kind of schedule around our house. He goes to the Dr. this afternoon so I'll catch you all up to speed soon.

The Rainy Zoo Trip

Let's take a break from my circus of a life right now and move on to other animal related issues. Last Friday, Clara Paige's class took a field trip to the Birmingham Zoo. Since I was coming off of a stay with Mr. Strep Throat, my wonderful mom got the joy of accompanying CP and her buddies on this adventure. Nana loves to do things with her girls but a trip to the Zoo on a wet and rainy day probably is not her choice. I think they still enjoyed it none-the-less!

They were in a group with CP's school buddies, Sasha and Abbey. Abbey's mom was along for the ride also. Here they are in front of the Camels.

They got to feed these colorful birdies. I can not believe my girl was cool with this fowl landing on her but she seemed to love it. Mom took a great picture of Abbey's mom with one on her head but I figured she might not appreciate it being broadcast to the whole Internet.

Here's a great picture of my CP but I'm not sure what kind of warthog or whatever that is in the background.

And here's the gang again in there lovely color coordinated rain ponchos. Although it was a cruddy day weather wise, I think my little girl had a good time.

Thank you so much mom for going with CP. I really appreciate you jumping into the rainy situation just like you always do! Love you!!

Quickie Update

Well the Orthopedic Doc says Alex definitely has a separated shoulder. As a consolation prize for such a great job, he gets two broken ribs with that. Well now we know why he can't take those deep breaths he's been having trouble with. He will be down for at least a week and probably sleeping in the recliner for at least a month. There's not much they can do with these kinds of injuries. They have to have time and rest to heal themselves. He's still in pretty bad pain right now but I'm seeing little improvements as the days go by.

Thanks to all of our well wishers. I do sincerely appreciate them. This isn't the worst thing in the world and it could have been so much worse but well ,it's still a life style changer for us right now. Prayers are certainly welcome for us all. I Promise I'll pray for you too when your husband falls off of an ATV!!

Also, my mom is sick so Meme took the girlies for me last night which meant a mad dash to pack them some clothes and head out with them to meet her, deposit the girls, eat a quick bite and head back to Walgreens to pick up those much needed meds! Who knew that 7pm was such a happening place at the old Alabaster Walgreens. Took me 30 minutes to get out of there and I was just picking them up, not waiting for them to fill the darn prescriptions.

Anyway, hopefully mom will get better soon, Alex will begin to mend, and I'll find my sanity again.

Thanks Meme for saving the day for me. You get extra point this week for that one. I know you love being with my girlies anyway!!

ALEX + ATV = ER

Well I'm not sure where to start! Forget the broken computer, I know have a broken Alex. I'll give more details soon but just wanted to let you guys that do not already know that Alex had a pretty bad 4-Wheeler accident yesterday. Basically he was thrown off the thing and had a fight with the ground and the ground won! After some chaos and confusion and a long trip to the Shelby Baptist ER we made it back home late yesterday afternoon. So, he's ok but in lots of pain. He has a separated shoulder and is laid out in our recliner. It could have been lots worse but he's gonna be down for at least a couple of days!

Say a little prayer for him and for us all! It's Spring Break around here also and raining so the kidos are stuck in the house for now! Pray we all survive the week, Nana included!!

The Keyboard Chronicles

Well, let me start by saying that I am very, very frustrated at the moment. I am posting from my husband's work computer. Shhh..... don't tell his boss ok? I feel the need to explain the computer issues I have been having lately so you really don't give up on reading my blog. I enjoy sharing our shenanigans with you all!
Oh a few months ago Clara Paige unintentionally spilled my drink onto the keyboard of our computer. Well it's come to my attention that I need to explain that we have a laptop computer. Therefore you can see the severity of the incident. Sunkist and any computer part is a disaster. Sunkist and a laptop is worse. SO, we turned it off and let it dry out for several days. When we turned it back on as we held our breath.....whew; It worked! Hallelujah! The keys were a bit sticky but they worked!!!
So, I used my computer with it's sticking keys and all. One day I sat down at it and the keys seemed different. They weren't so sticky but some of them were kind of lopsided and uneven. Huh?? Turned out my loving and helpful husband tried to clean them so they wouldn't be so pesky and sticky. Unfortunately those things must be left to the professionals or something because as much as he had good hearted intentions, the keys are dying one by one. Some of them don't have the letters left on them, some have to be punched several times. Well today I can't get the thing to let me log onto the desktop at all b/c our password has an "H" in it. The darn thing won't recognize our "H" at all. I'm thinking we can just hook another keyboard to it but I have to be able to get to the desktop to do that!!!! SO, bear with me please!! There may be less pictures of my precious family for a while but stay with me. Let me know you are still out there and we'll get through this together!!
Stay tuned............

OK our Snow Pics Finally!

Sorry, these are so overdue and I know most of you are way past the snow stuff but unfortunately, I have had the "luxury" of a nice visit from Mr. Strep Throat this week. It's been awful! So here are some pics from the 2009 Snow at the Hicks home. I have a cute video also but Blogger didn't like it and I am tired of trying so maybe I'll work on that another time. Enjoy!

My babies in their 2nd snow of their sweet lives.

Daddy and his girls braving the snow going to get our neighbors mail. They were in FL and missed it all. Sorry Wen!

The Hicks Home in a blanket of snow.

CP in her snow attire!

We love to wear our summer clothing while we watch the snow come down. Well some of us do, Maggie!

Kelsey in her 2nd snow ever also. And she's 8+ years old. She loved it!!

My precious girls looking all Aspen-like! Well kinda! They're cute that's for sure.

And last but not least are our lovely snow people. If ya know us you know pink is definitely a signature color in this family so what better than a Snow Lady w/pink hat an hair along with her snow child!

More to come soon...... I Hope!!

The 4 of Us!

Let me start out by saying I don't have any pictures of me and my gal pals for this post because I am a dork. But if I can get some old ones scanned in this weekend then I'll add them for you to see. I know for me it helps to put faces with names of people I'm blog stalking, oops I mean reading about because I care so deeply about their lives! Heehee. Ok allow me the sarcasm, I'm having an emotional week. More on that maybe another day. I hope you do take a minute to read though. Especially if you have special girlfriends in your life too!

Ok so let me get started updating you on our goings-on. A couple of weekends ago I had a "Girls-Night" with some precious and dear friends that I have known most of my life. There are 4 of us and we have all been in each other's weddings and such. We have a very special bond and loads and loads of memories. Bethany, Katy, Emily and myself were quite a pack back in our school days. We all grew up going to church together at Homewood Church of Christ. Not one of us even went to school together and we were such a close crew. It worked that way for whatever reason. Needless to say they have been and still are a strong support system for me. There have been times in our lives that we moved on. We all grew up, went to college, married, careers, children and all but the invisible thread that ties us together across all the miles and years has never broken. I can't tell ya how much I love those women! But if I need them, they are there! And the same for me. If they ever need me they know I'm there for them w/out question. You know that song, "Find out Who Your Friends Are" well, that's us but not quite so country. (if you don't get that then go listen to the song.)

Anyway, we all planned a get together and it was a blast. We all brought old pictures and boy was that fun and scary all in one. Oh the hairstyles and clothing choices we all made over the years. We stayed with Emily that night and talked so much and laughed so hard I think my mind just almost overloaded. That's the way we are when we get together. But let me tell you, it was almost like a cleansing and spiritual experience to share and compare our lives as friends, daughters, wives, mothers and children of God. It did more for me than I think I can put on this page. If you have some girlfriends that hold a special place in your life, it is so worth it to take the time to plan a special gathering with them. Believe me if you do it you will be so glad and not regret it but cherish it. As a woman, there is nothing like the blessing of having special, amazing, strong, beautiful girlfriends in your life.
AND again I'm so sad to say that I was the dork and forgot to take any pictures! I had my camera just got caught up in the conversations and all so I forgot! So sue me. Really, don't sue me but anyway I just had to share this with you because it was such an amazing experience for me and I hope it was for them. I love you gals!!
Lets do it again definitely!

BTW -I do have pictures of my girlies playing in the drive-by snow we had last weekend. I promise to try to get them up this weekend. Ya like that prhase....."promise to try".... kind of a commitment but not really! ;) Love you all!

I'm Still Here

Don't give up on me folks. I plan on doing some updating tomorrow. I know, I know - I've promised that before. I'm getting so far behind I may never catch up but I'll do my best. Love you all!!