Fall Photoshoot

Grandpa Simplican waving from a new chair! LOL!

after much negotiating, i got a decent fall photo of the children....it meant Whitehouse donuts afterwards ;-)

Noah and other news

I am sorry it took me so long to update you on Noah, but we decided (somewhat irrationally) to get a dog last Sunday, and while we love him very much, he is one more baby for me to take care of right now so I haven't had as much free time as I'd like to.

Noah went for his follow up x-ray and the pneumonia is gone, thank you for all of your prayers for him! The doc did agree with me that he should be seen by a pulmonologist, and wanted us to see one in the group at Akron Children's. This made me very happy because I had asked Robin, one of the respiratory therapists at work (aka "respies") about his condition and who she thought was a good doctor. She recommended a pediatric pulmonologist because of the variances between adult and child lung issues. So, for now (knock on wood) everyone in the Riedman household is well.

Now on to other news: This is Noah holding our new puppy.

The boys have named him "Howie" and he has been a Riedman boy for only 1 week. He is a three month old Beagabull (that means half beagle, half english bulldog) Unfortunately, I am hopelessly outnumbered by boys now, but we really love our little Howie! The boys have been waiting a long time to get a dog!

all the way from sunny Arizona

I don't think we've had better weather than this visit.  Diana, Rod and the girls were home all week long.  They start back to work and school tomorrow.  So we have had lovely lazy bonding time. 

Did my first grocery store visit in a store scooter.  Not the best driver.  Sometimes went backwards instead of forwards.  Hit a few racks but no people, so I think that's a success.

Seeing a surgeon Tuesday Nov 23.  Pray please that he'll be the right guy.  I only have 2 fingers now that work completely right.  So, definitely need a great nerve and carpal tunnel fixer. 

Be back soon.  Love everybody.  Denise

HOW TO:

If you go to the right-hand column, partway down, you'll see "recent posts." This listing gives the recent post titles.  If you want to see one in particular, just click on the title.

Also, when reading a post, if you click on the title, you'll get just that post by itself with the comments area following.  This helps my unfocused mind when reading.   lol auntde

ONE OF OUR OWN ... GOD BLESS HIM

I "borrowed" this photo from Lisa Peterson's FB.  This young man is Robert Morris. He is going to the Air Force. This would be Kathy Boyd's grandson.  Mike and I had him at our house for a while when he was little.  Kathy was at Northside Hospital at the time.  He came down with a high fever and I remember rocking him through the night.

Mike's part came in when he refused to take a bath.  Didn't like our tub.  So, Mike bathed him in the washtub by our washer.  Later he brought us an artificial rose in a white vase. (I think Mom helped him with that).  He was 4 or 5, I think.  auntde

Angels watching over me ...

On my Facebook today, a friend posted this photo taken at my church.  The white object ... if you can imagine ... appears to be an angel. I'm reminded of the song, "All day, all night, angels watching over me, oh Lord"  The possibility leaves me in awe. I know the man who took the photo. He's not a photoshop type.  Just sayin ... auntde

Tyma household NOV 5

The roof is almost on.  Looks good.  Funny, I have no problem sleeping through all the pounding.  Laura came down. She doesn't feel good and is blaming Noah, Alexa and Alana for her long-distance virus.  Laura's birthday is Sunday 11/7.  Which means Val's bday is then too.  Happy bday girls!

Mike and I leave Tuesday for Phoenix. We'll stay about 10 days. Katie and Elena are 8 and 6 now.  Hope we can keep up with them.  I haven't flown in a long time; not looking forward to that part.  Will probably work on some genealogy down there and come back to tell you more interesting tidbits about our ancestors.  Did you know that the Sanders immigrant was from Germany and his first name was Heinrich!  Yes, Heinrich Sanders!  Can't get more German than that.

xoxo auntde

Timmy and his family came to Alexa and Alanna's birthday party! He is 7, see how tiny he is compared to Alanna? What is amazing is he grew 3 inches over the last year! Jim with his girls!

Me with my girls!

Love this blog!

Hello Ya'll from your transplanted southern family member! I am happy to have another way to keep in touch with my family members. It makes it a little easier to be away from you all! We have been so busy within the last week. Last Friday night, Alexa's cheer sqaud had a end of season party at a friend's house. It was really cool, they have an outdoor movie screen and the girls had a chance to watch themselves cheering and dancing in a regional competition. Then, Sat. we had a bday party for both the girls at McDonald's. I know mc d parties used to be super popular when I was young, but Pay attention young mothers: to have a party there it was $5.40 a child! I couldn't do a party at home that cheap! The kids had a blast and they all wore their costumes. I was very impressed! Of course we did go trick or treating on Halloween. I woke up that morning with a terrible pulled neck muscle that took until today (friday) to feel completely better. Then, Alexa got a stomach virus, and Alanna got strept throat. Needless to say, they are both on the mend, but I am getting cabin fever! Jim is good, he had a horrible virus last week. Will it ever stop?? Being home so much makes me miss my job, my co workers, and my students. I am so blessed that God led me to this work. I have the sweetest little students who add so much to my life, regardless of their very rare disabilities. I ask not only prayers for my own children, but for my children at school- my students. This is the time of year that one or more of them may end up in the hospital due to viruses and sickness. They are all medically fragile, so any prayer and positive thinking will be appreciated. On the other hand, each of them are fighters! Timmy just celebrated his 7th bday, they never though he would live past infancy! You go Timmy! I miss you all and look forward to keeping up with you all through the blog! Ps- memories of my grandparents In college mom picked me up from waiting tables late night. we drove to grandma winters house and she was wide awake, having full conversations with her plants, listening to her radio, and cooking. we stayed up late laughing and sitting around her kitchen table! Grandpa winters always had his harmonica in his pocket. Of course, I thought this was soley for his grandchildren's entertainment. It never crossed my mind as a child that his music blessed our entire family, including him. my memories of him almost always consisted of him and his harp!

That's Debbie Downer :/

Yes, I am sorry to be a Debbie Downer, because everything thus far on this blog has been beautifully uplifting, but I wanted to share so that you could include us in your prayers:

Our house recently was hit with a bout of flu, fairly innocent enough, but then Noah seemed to be coughing alot, so I took him to the doctor. We found out that he has pneumonia. He just had a bout with this at the end of last spring, and we feel that it has never quite left him. Those of you that have been out to the house during summer may have noticed that when he rides his bike like a madman around our yard and mom and dad's place, he would have to take frequent rest periods. During these rest periods, he would be red, extremely sweaty, and have difficulty catching his breath, with a few dry hacks thrown in as well. (seems like he's sick constantly!)

To make matters worse, prior to the pneumonia, he has been on two consecutive antibiotics, the last of which was fairly strong and neither knocked this out, so he is now onto a third. We are giving him active culture yogurt but unfortunately it has not been enough to keep diarrhea at bay, so now we are dealing with that. Pneumonia can dehydrate you, so add the diarrhea in there and it is pretty concerning, so I try my best to keep him hydrated.

Obviously this is a major concern. We go in next Tuesday for a follow up X-ray to determine if this antibiotic is helping. Having alot of medical background can be a double edged sword, because on one hand it is good to know what you are up against, but on the other hand, as a mother it is quite unnerving when it is your little one. I would like to have him see a pulmonologist if this isn't resolved by Tuesday, because honestly, I feel like sitting here him-hawing around trying different antibiotics is stupid. Used to be they would type you for these things, and I feel like he's sitting here getting worse and weaker as we wait around. You must be very careful regarding the lungs, pneumonia has the capability to scar and if the scarring is permanent, it can cause symptoms very much like COPD. (Attack of the angry mother!!)

PLEASE keep my little guy in your prayers, as well as our whole family as we deal with this. I am so thankful that I come from a GOD loving family, that we help each other, and that we know where to run for help in trouble! :) I look forward to updating you with good news.

Wow-w-w-w-w-w, look what our Amy Russell did

Amy finessed the Winters tiny touches blog.  It is so elegant now.  Thank you so much Amy for taking the time to make this so nice for our family.

Let's see ... today's Tyma trivia.  Family doctor visit today.  She is really staying on top of things. Wants my cholesterol and my sugar count down. And is taking blood every 3 months to monitor it.  Someone to watch over me.

Roof is being torn off. Picked out a patchwork looking roof; tan, blue, red, charcoal. It's either going to be real homely or real cool for the next 20 years.  Keep your fingers crossed for "cool".

Love you all.  And post or I'll come sit on you!!!!    Auntde

Some Winters' kids...

having a blast! looking silly! loving life!

Noah, Buddy, Ella, and Sydney!

It's YOUR turn ...

I know some of you are peeking at this blog-in-the-making.  How about putting on a post.  Tell how Halloween went ... a memory ... or trivia questions ... a photo ... a thought.  Val, absolutely proud of your recent FB note on healthcare. You write really well.  Today I start prep for doing makeup for our church production, Scrooge.  So that's my posting contribution.  Looking forward to seeing  yours.  Love aunt de