At heart attack?

Yep. On December 21, 2013, I had a heart attack. At 39 I suffered a massive heart attack. Who could imagine it? Certainly not me. Even as it was happening in the ER, I was fighting with them that it wasn't really happening. I had a gas bubble in my throat. I'm way too young to have a heart attack. I have regular blood tests done and have always been told how great my cholesterol is, heck, even the Cardiologist on staff in the ER pulled up my blood work and said how excellent it was. Genetics. Good old genetics. My dad had quadruple by pass surgery at 40, he died at the age of 47, 3 days before his 48th birthday, actually. My mom had a stent or two placed and congestive heart failure and passed away shortly after her 57th birthday. Genetics. I always thought that was a bull shit excuse. Now, to convince my sister to stop be scared and get checked out herself... I honestly still don't believe it. I know it's all I've been talking about and thinking about the past 2 weeks since it happened, but really, this just freaked me out. I suffered a massive heart attack known as the Widow Maker. I could have seen my husband for the very last time that morning...and my kids for the very last time the night before. My sister...Thanksgiving. Scary. I can't imagine never seeing them, or the last time they saw me, being sick. All I could do was tell my husband I was sorry, the entire time it was happening. I saw how scared he was when I looked over at him as I was being rushed into surgery for a stent. I never want to see him like that again. It was worse than when our son came 2 months early. Or maybe I was just more with it this time. I remember telling them over and over as they were shoving nitro pills under my tongue that I just have gas. I was in surgery withing 3O minutes of arriving at The Christ Hospital. I remember the surgeon leaning over me while placing the stent saying "You are one of 3% who survived The Widow Maker". I heard of it, I knew how bad it was. Still I couldn't believe her, I'm 39. In the top picture, you can see where the blood has stopped flowing through my main artery. On the bottom picture, you can see where the stent was placed and the artery was opened. It's there, black and white. Crazy, unbelievable. Thank you God, for giving me a second chance!!!

Munising, MI Vacation 2013 Favorite spot #2 Log Slide!

My second favorite viewing spot in the U.P is from the observation deck of the Log Slides. This is just a picture I snapped on my cell phone and it doesn't do the scenery justice. It's even more gorgeous and breathtaking in person. Last year, on our trip to the U.P. we drove right past this scenic area several times and just didn't "have time" to check them out. I made sure this year to make the time and I am so happy that I did. Traveling down the Log Slide can take only seconds, but there are warning signs all over of the many people who had to be rescued because coming up can take an hour or more. You can read about the history of the Log Slides on THIS blog. John walked pretty far down the Log Slide before I started yelling at him and begging him to come back up. The boys were itching to go down and I could see them all being stuck at the bottom. If I weren't such a wuss, I would have loved to have seen them go down and try to make it back up. The following pictures are from the actual Log Slide and not on the observation deck. The Slide goes straight down into the water, no gradual dip down, it goes STRAIGHT down.

Vacation 2013 Munising, MI

I've been MIA in the blog world lately, but since we just got back from another fabulous vacation in Munising, MI, I will blog about that for the next few days. I'm going to blog some of my favorite shots of our trip. If you've never been to Munising, MI, I suggest you go. Last year was our first trip to the U.P of MI and it's clear, The Powell's were all born to be Yoopers. Yoopers? For the non U.P people, that's what the people of the Upper Peninsula are called. The picture posted above is a shot of Miners Castle, a part of the Pictured Rocks shore line. It is my absolute favorite place in the U.P. to look at. This was taken on the observation deck, you can hike down a trail to get a closer look at the rock formation. The family did, I stayed on top at the observation deck this year. I am not one who believes in Vow renewals for anniversaries, and I'll spare you the "why", but if I did, THIS is where our renewal would take place. Right on this overlook. You can't ask for better scenery. Maybe one of our kids will decide to get married here, can you just imagine how pretty that would be? In 2 years, we will celebrate our 20th anniversary. I'm thinking we should celebrate it right here. :D On your way to Miners Castle observation deck, you would have noticed signs to Miners Falls. If you have not gone, I suggest you stop and hike to Miners Falls as well. The hike is an easy one and one I would highly recommend. This is a picture of what you are missing if you decide to skip that hike. It would be a shame to miss something this beautiful.

Free to a good home

You are probably looking at this picture wondering which is free to a good home; the boy or the dog? Both would be fine with me right now. OK, neither, really, but right now in my mind, I'm giving them both away. You see, looking at this picture, you see a comfy, happy dog, but in reality, you have a bitch who flips her empty water bowl over and howls until it gets filled, then simply snubs the fresh, cold water you put in there and opts for the gross toilet water instead. There are 4 kids in this house, there is no guarantee that water is always "clean". She has decided the food she has been eating for the past 12 years is no longer good enough for her. No matter how hungry she is, she will snub her Pedigree and only eat Beneful, the sort of expensive stuff, of course. We tried several different kinds, cheap, mid priced and expensive before she settled on this kind. It could be worse, there are way more brands that are still more expensive. This dog has also decided she will no longer go in our back yard because *GASP* there is a big scary cat who frequents the yard. OMG! A cat!! This dog weighs over 60lbs and she is scared of a cat???!!! So, she now poops in the front yard, or, on our enclosed porch, where ever she feels like it. This is new. No explanation. She has been house trained since before she came into our lives and until recently, she has never done this. Today, she has been banned to the back yard only. I don't want to see her in my house or near me at the moment. I fully admit, I hope that cat is dancing in front of her, tormenting her all day long. I'm tempted to find the neighborhood stray and tie it to a tree near her so it will torment her, just for payback. The boy...oh how I love this little boy of mine. Right now the only "problem" with him is that he is afraid of his own shadow. So when he wakes up at the crack of dawn on a day when there is no school, he wakes the 4 year old and makes him go to the living room first. That long journey, about 30 feet, from his bedroom to the living room could cause serious trouble with all the monsters and spirits who live in our house. He knows we have ghosts, he rolled over one night and felts it's nose. I have a feeling that was the 4 year old's nose because Joey makes Nic sleep in his bed with him!!! Bunk beds are not close enough, they both sleep in the same twin sized bed on the top, together. It's pretty funny because when Nic gets mad at Joey, he will threaten him with "I'm not sleeping in your bed toinght" and Joey suddenly apologizes and straightens up. I love the power the 4 year old has over his 9 year old brother. LOL!

Cool whip cookies

Dominic loves to cook and bake. My 4, soon to be 5 year old could spend every second he has in the kitchen cooking. He is our only child who has ever shown any interest in helping me. Dominic loves food. I mean, he really loves food. There are very few things he will refuse to eat. In fact, corn might be the only thing I can think of that he doesn't like. My sister ruined his whole life a year ago on Thanksgiving by putting that "nasty stuffs" on his plate and thinking he was going to eat it. While searching through Pinterest, I came across a recipe for Cool Whip Cookies on this blog. Those seem easy enough for Dominic to make and we have all the ingredients in the house. So, he got to baking this morning and here is how his cookies turned out.

I totally forgot to get a picture of him actually making the cookies. I was too busy standing over him and forcing myself to give up control, so this is the only picture I have of the cookies. We let them cool and decided to give them a try. I have to admit, I was very skeptical that these would turn out. How can something so easy even come close to tasting good? So few ingredients, not enough of anything to make them taste good, right? WRONG! These things were pretty darn good! I used Cherry Chip cake mix and I used 2 cups of cool whip instead of the 1 the recipe calls for. I also had to double the cook time to 16 minutes.

Wow, it has been almost a year since I last posted on my blog. It is my resolution to post at least once a week. I would love to do it once a day, but you know, even my kids aren't always funny. Looking back at this, I have to wonder who these kids are that I posted pictures of. They look nothing like my kids. Hmmmm, have I forgotten what they once looked like? I must have. Time to update some pictures. Hailee:

Hanna:

Joey:

Dominic:

The compromise

For years, for as long as I can remember, I've had to buy Joey adjustable waist jeans and pants that come in SLIM. The boy has always been seriously skinny. Gotta admit, he only eats peanut butter and fruit, 24/7. He has been this way since about the age of 18 months. Funny because I craved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when I was pregnant. I am not a fan of peanut butter typically, but every day during my pregnancy, I had a 1/2 of a pb&j sandwich for breakfast at work. For snack, I would dip pretzel rods or carrots into a jar of peanut butter I kept in my desk. I am not shocked he loves peanut butter.

Recently, I've noticed he is finally gaining some much needed weight. We can no longer see his ribs or the bones in his back. He's looking healthy. The other morning, as he was getting dressed for school, he was struggling to get his jeans on. Now believe me, he hasn't gained "that much" weight. It was just funny to see him twist to get jeans on that have always fit him. Never thought I'd see the day. He was starting to whine about his jeans being uncomfortable. I kept telling him they are fine, just get dressed. Finally, he starts to cry and when I asked what the deal is, he looked at me with sad, tear-filled eyes and said "Mom, these jeans are compromising my manhood!!!" Trying not to die laughing, I walked into his room to find the only pair of jeans he has that are not slim. He puts them on, gives a little shake and says "Ahhh, comfort for my manhood!"

Shouldn't have caught me so off guard, it's typical Joey! And here is a little funny I found that sums Joey up perfectly. Enjoy!