Monday, January 2, 2017

So long, 2016!

2016 started off with a dog being forced to share his dog bed with a boy with a mullet.



Guess we should have known it was going to be a rough year.

In February, my good friend Paula's dad died from kidney cancer. Took Tyrien to the funeral to cheer people up. Thought he would sleep during the service, but instead he writhed in my arms the entire time. He cheered people up after, though.



We'd only been in the new house for a few months - moved in September of 2015. By February of 2016, Tyson was asking me, "how come I'm always tired and have these bad headaches?" I joked about carbon monoxide poisoning. And then we realized it wasn't a laughing matter. Began researching new HVAC systems.

In March Grandma G came for a visit. She bought our boys an amazing swing set. Tyler was happy to push Tyrien in the swing.


 Tyler always likes climbing walls.


The installation guys said not to let Tyrien use the rest of the playset until he turns 3. That rule remained in effect for about 20 minutes. There's just no stopping him.



While Grandma G was visiting, we learned that Grandpa Keith had a huge tumor just outside his cerebellum, and a small one inside. He came to visit us before his surgery. It was a gorgeous day, warm and sunny, and we sat outside and chatted.

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Took the boys to see Cousin Beth and Gary. Met their grandkids. Loved their grandkids. And their daughter-in-law, too.





Got our new HVAC system at the end of March.



During the install, Tyler and Tyrien discovered the joy of the sandbox. Only they turned the sand into mud. 

 I discovered Tyler running, buck naked, amidst the workmen. And found Tyrien looking like this:


On final inspection, our house still failed the CO test. The inspector tested the water heater. It read 3,000ppm. He jumped backwards, hyperventilating with a look of sheer terror on his face. "It can't be that bad all the time. My dog's here all day every day, and he's still alive." Sure enough, the water heater was producing large quantities of CO upon ignition only. But our water heater closet vented directly into our kitchen. He deemed the water heater hazardous, inoperable, told us to please, never use it again, and that until it was replaced and revented, we could not qualify for the energy savings rebates for the HVAC. We didn't feel we could affort to pay more money for a water heater installation, and yet we were counting on those significant rebates to help us pay for the HVAC. The inspector was empathetic, and told Tyson what he needed to do to replace the water heater and vent it properly. Tyson was nervous about getting the job done right - carbon monoxide and all. We decided we'd wait until Grandpa Keith got out of the hospital, he'd be too weak to actually do it, but he'd be able to talk Tyson through it. But Grandpa went back to the hospital for pneumonia, and ended up on  life support! The inspector called to check on our progress. He voice rose two octaves when I admitted we were still using the water heater. I told the inspector that we'd purchased a new water heater, but explained why Grandpa wasn't able to help us with the repairs. He sounded tearful. He talked to the owner of the company. They installed our new water heater for us free of charge and vented it to the outside. Family Air. Best guys ever. We got our rebate a few weeks later.


Celebrated Tyler's 6th birthday. Tyler asked for a Star Wars themed birthday party, including an R2D2 cake. I planned to make that cake, but while searching on line for ideas, found a cool design for a Sarlacc cake. Made that cake for Tyler's family birthday. Tyler was devastated. Tyson eventually was able to get through to him that he would still get his R2D2 cake, showed him pictures of the Sarlacc, showed him video of the Sarlacc swallowing Boba Fett, and helped him realize this cake was actually pretty freaking cool.

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Tyson prevented me from putting duct tape all over the Death Star Pinata. Tyson made fun of my Death Star Pinata.

Ordered pool noodles to turn into light sabers. Pool noodles didn't arrive. Mad dash the day before the party to find pool noodles. Dollar Tree. Grandma A and Tyler were instructed to convert the pool noodles into light sabers, using duct tape and electrical tape. I found them doing this instead.


Used fondant to make the R2D2 cake. Most of the kids were from Lil Dragons, a few from school, and the rest were family friends. Taught them a Jedi Mind Trick (paperclips on strings). Taught them discipline (Yoda Says). Taught them how to aim at stationary targets (chalk drawings of enemy fighters). Taught them to aim at moving targets (imperial trooper balloons). They earned their lightsabers. Worked together with lightsabers to achieve a goal (keep a balloon from hitting the ground). Then had lightsaber duels. Scavenger hunt to find Vader. Found Vader on Degobah. Faked them out with a decoy and fog, then Seth ignited his lightsaber and slaughtered them all. 
Finally it was time for cake.


Tyson got the call that his dad was being transferred to hospice. Kids kept playing. Parents kept waiting. Tyson asked not to have to do the Death Star Pinata. Parents finally started giving up and taking their kids home. Tyler asked to do the Death Star Pinata. Tyson gave in. The Death Star Pinata was nearly indestructible. Finally a weakness was found and exploited. Kids left. Went to visit Grandpa to say goodbye.

Grandpa woke up for us, knew us, let Tyler crawl all over him, talked to us, was affectionate with us. Tyson visited him every night for the next week. Grandpa died on April 15. Tax Day. 

Siblings sent us an edible arrangement. Best gift ever! We ate it all in about 10 minutes.

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Bushmans and Grandma G sent plants. Tried to keep them alive. There were some casualties.

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Worked together on a eulogy. Lots of laughter. Lots of tears. 

Tyson heard buzzing, and realized we had a bee hive in the playhouse, which we'd converted into our firewood storage center. Couldn't find a bee removal service willing to deal with potentially Africanized bees in such close quarters. Found a guy who could do it in a few weeks. But Vader wouldn't stop killing bees, and we live across the street from an elementary school.  We learned the bees would likely become aggressive within two weeks. We went with the bee extermination service instead. The exterminator noticed another swarm of bees in one of our trees. Fortunately, that swarm moved on without incident.

The exterminator warned us that the playhouse would be attractive to new bees. Playhouse deconstruction commenced.

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Tyson repurposed some of the playhouse.


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Paint by bubble was a popular activity.


Bubbles in general were popular.


Learned the two velvet mesquite trees were actually ironwood trees. I'd always wanted an ironwood tree! It's the closest thing we get to cherry blossoms in the desert. Felt less homesick. 




Learned that this house is perfect for hosting play dates, and discovered that six year old play dates are a blessing. They stay busy, they don't need a whole lot of supervision, the kids play in the playroom and in the backyard, they eat on the patio...I offered to host often - Tyrien could nap whenever he was ready to nap, and for as long as he wanted to sleep, and I could clean while they played.


Discovered varying forms of wildlife throughout the year. Beautiful birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, plenty of lizards, and then we found some of these.


Tyrien discovered the joy of riding in the Chariot. He had his own way of asking for bike rides.



Celebrated the annual recurrence of the work air conditioning system breaking down.



Tyler focused on his swimming this summer. University of Arizona far exceeds Demont and City of Tucson!!! Tyler got much stronger, faster, and it made our weekly swims at the YMCA much more enjoyable.



Tyrien saw what he thought was Tyler's water bottle in a store, and couldn't understand why I kept returning it to the shelf. Gave up and paid for it. 


Celebrated the end of summer with a week in San Diego. Learned why Legoland doesn't charge for toddlers. 

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Stayed in a condo walking distance from the beach. Tyrien had an infection that prevented him from being allowed in sea water. Quickly learned that he cannot visit the beach without going in the ocean. 

At least we were near a park.


By the end of the week, Tyrien had finished his medication, and we decided to violate the "no seawater" rule. 







Explored ships and subs with Tyler. 





Celebrated sunsets.


Taught Tyler to reset a router.


Spent significant quantities of time resetting said router. Tyler demonstrated grammatically correct usage of the f-word as both an adjective and an adverb in the same sentence. Tyson demonstrated gentle scolding for inappropriate language, while I demonstrated my unfortunate inability to supress laughter. 

Returned to the annual Pima Community College Piano sale, and actually bought a piano this time.

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Tyler asked for the piano, but Tyrien seems to enjoy it more often than Tyler does.




Spent lots of summer evenings at the Bushman's house. 


Enjoyed the Bushmans' dog until his last.


Celebrated Tyson's 40th. Cheesecake.


Celebrated brotherly love.





Celebrated spontaneous sleeping.







Celebrated goofy t-shirts.


Celebrated Tyler's progress in Lil Dragons. Noticed the sensei giving Tyler more leadership opportunities and more playful affection. Tyler has found a special place in that man's heart.


Tyrien had his first official haircut to banish the mullet.

 

Celebrated Labor Day Weekend .

Won a national award at work. Spoke during a national webinar. Interviewed by periodicals. Conducted a flashmob and made the evening news. Got noticed by a couple of politicians. 


Took boys to Flagstaff for Fall Break. 










Visited the Eaves.



Visited Meteor Crater.



Shed tears at Meteor Crater.





Miss the Eaves. Love the Eaves. Can't wait to see them again.


Visited Montezuma's Well.




Celebrated dance parties.















Celebrated Halloween.



















Decided the pumpkin fest is a scam and vowed never to go to one again.


Walked in the Peter Howell Neighborhood Halloween Parade.





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Tyler got MRSA. Pinned Tyler down to the hospital bed and asked him to name his favorite Halloween candies while two doctors drained and cleaned his wound. Popsicles fix everything.


 

Tyson had MRSA. Treated entire household for MRSA. Tyler became allergic to the anti-MRSA treatment.

Lost Vader.
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Grieved the election.

Tried to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary, but it was the day after the election.

Grieved some more for Grandpa Keith. Attended VA memorial. 



Celebrated Veteran's Day with  Grandpa Glass's 48 star flag.


Grieved for Vader.




Celebrated Tyrien's 2nd birthday and his love of trains.





Celebrated Tyler's interest in living on Mars by taking him to Biosphere II. 

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Cursed Elon Musk when Tyler had a meltdown over the fact that the Biosphere staff had killed most of the aquatic life in their quest to determine the effects of carbon dioxide on coral.
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Celebrated the spirit of Christmas by volunteering at Toys for Tots.


Cursed the Toys for Tots  volunteer coordinator for missing the point, and rewarding Tyler's work with leftover toys donated to Toys for Tots.

Celebrated that if Tyler is going to be given a choice of  reward, he chooses the chemistry set.

Celebrated Christmas.

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Celebrated bikes.


Celebrated Christmas cookies and Christmas jammies.


Celebrated New Year's. Celebrated friends. Celebrated fun. Celebrated the end of 2016!

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