Ketchup...

I'm back....back from Ukraine and back to blogging! Josh did such a good job blogging their "bachelor days", I'm not sure my post will compare. I think we may have a new blogger in the family..ha! I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful husband. His post helped me feel like I was apart of their days while I was in Ukraine...I'm not sure I would have made it without them! We had a wonderful, rewarding, busy, positive, eventful, and life changing trip to Ukraine, which hope to post more about in the next few weeks. But for now, I'm spending as much time as possible with my family!
Here's a video from a few nights ago when we grilled out. Owen got to try dipping his chicken and fries in ketchup all by himself! It was pretty funny so I thought we would share. (I know some of you are thinking "fries???", but 5 baked steak fries are only 3 grams of fat).

Owen eating ketchup....

Owen is getting better everyday... The eye-drops and antibiotic seem to be doing there job and Owen's eyes have been clear for the past couple days. He was in a pretty good mood today, but You can tell he is missing his mommy, he just knows something isn't right!

We actually got good news late last night. Christie and the rest of the girls were able to catch a flight out of Ukraine. They actually headed East instead of west and will have traveled all the way around the world by the time they get home! They left Ukraine at 4:00 am this morning and landed in Dubai at around noon. They are now on a 15 hour flight to Sydney, then on to L.A. before finally making it to Tulsa Tuesday at 4:45. It is a long trip home, but it beats being stuck in Ukraine for another week or two!

Owen was really into throwing balls around yesterday, here he just launched one at me and was watching it roll around.

He was also loving the laundry room, as usual. I was doing laundry yesterday and he would follow me into the laundry room every time. One time I was moving clothes to the dryer and he actually started helping... I would take clothes out of the washer and hand them to him, he would then attempt to throw them into the dryer. It was pretty funny, and he could actually get the small stuff in there! He did have a hard time with the big stuff though, he isn't quite tall enough.

Owen hasn't been eating great lately, but he did enjoy a snack of cheerios and milk!
I say he hasn't been eating great lately, then I show this picture of him licking his plate clean! Apparently he really did like this meal...

Bachelor Week, Day 7:

Today was not so good... Owen has been waking up with gunk in his eyes and been very congested. This morning was no different, He woke up with his eyes matted shut. I gave him a bath and cleaned his eyes and nose, but I could tell he didn't feel good... I was only scheduled to work a half day because today was parent teacher conferences at daycare, so I took him to daycare for the morning. On my way to drop him off at daycare I called and made a Dr. appointment so we could, hopefully get this cleared up over the weekend. He didn't even make it half a day at daycare... I got a call at about 10:00 and Owen had a fever of 101.4 so I made arrangements at work and went to pick him up. Just looking at him the Dr. thought he probably had an ear infection, but both ears were clear! She thought he might have a little infection in his eyes that was making his nose and eyes be so nasty so we got some antibiotics and eye drops.

Ready to spend a couple hours at daycare...

After the first round of eye drops and antibiotics he seems to be doing better. He went to bed early and has no gunk in his eyes so far! Hopefully he will continue to get better and will be back to acting like Owen by the end of the weekend!

On another note... We don't know when Christie will be getting home now! We have been without her for a full 7 days now and we are ready for her to be home, but the Iceland volcano has caused the airport she was supposed to fly out of today to be shut down for the past 2 days and it doesn't look like it will open anytime soon! We are hoping and praying that the wind will shift, or rain will move in and knock the ash down and the volcano will stop spewing ash into the sky long enough for the girls to make it home!

The Frankfurt airport, first stop on the girls way home, is shut down indefinitely...

Bachelor Week, Day 4:

So when I went into this single parent week thing I knew that I would have to tackle one duty at Owen's school... parent teacher conferences! Well, last night I got a surprise when My mother informed me that today was picture day! This isn't my thing... that's a mom deal. Christie and I have an unspoken agreement, I am in charge of picking Owen up, collecting all of his stuff, and transporting him safely home. When I get home I place all of the papers from his cubby on the counter and when Christie gets home she reads all of the stuff and let's me know if there is anything important that I should know. This may not seem like the optimal way to handle this, but it works for us... as long as Christie is here! I don't guess this is really that big of a deal, I mean I have picked out Owen's clothes before and gotten him dressed, but I usually worry less about whether it matches and more about whether it fits and if it is comfortable. I don't usually get him dressed thinking that the clothes he is wearing will be forever emblazoned on a piece of paper that will be pulled out 20 years later and laughed at by the future Mrs. Owen Summerford and reminded that I dressed him that day (everyone has those pictures)!

Last night after being informed that today was picture day I formulated a plan... I would pick out a few shirts and some shorts and try them on him this morning and go with what I liked best. Apparently I should have discussed this with Owen! He woke up this morning in a terrible mood and by the time I got the first shirt and pair of shorts on him it was settled... he was wearing that one! This is what we ended up with: (hope Mom approves)


Hopefully the Picture People got a better picture than I did this morning. There was nothing I could do to make him happy. I think it was a combination of realizing that mommy is still gone, and allergies. He woke up this morning with a lot of gunk in his eyes. The poor little guy could barely open them and did not want me to clean them! I have been giving him allergy medicine, and plan to keep it going in hopes that this stuff will clear up soon, and he won't feel so miserable.

Hopefully we will have a better day tomorrow and I will once again have an abundance of pictures to share.

Bachelor Week, Day 3

Well we made it... We got up and got ready this morning and made it to daycare and work on time! I got Owen up a little earlier than usual, and he was not a fan! He was pretty grouchy this morning, but once he got to daycare and I snuck out he had a good day.

I got more updates from Christie today, they visited the first orphanage and apparently it was a great visit and all of the attendees were very attentive and excited to learn how to help the kids. There is a post with more detail on the TEAMworks Ukraine Blog here : www.teamworksukraine.com/blog
On a side note I got a text from Christie today and apparently she is not a fan of Ukranian food... she said she has been living off of powerbars and, from the looks of their blog, caffeine!

Here are today's pics:

For this pic I told Owen to do something casual, like he was modeling for the Dillard's catalog and this is what I got! Not really, I don't know why he posed like this, but I thought it was funny so I put it on here.

After work I took Honey to the vet for a check-up and then took her with me to pick up Owen ... I think this made his day! He was so excited to see her, and he would pat her on the head, then she would turn and lick his hand and he would laugh so hard! They did this all the way home.

On the way home I got a call from Amanda asking if they could take Owen to the park, of course I said sure, so Owen changed into some play clothes and played in the front yard while we waited on Aunt Amanda and Austin.

Owen really likes Amanda and Austin, when they pulled up he got this big grin on his face and got up and ran to them!

Owen's bud Amanda

Amanda, Owen, and Austin ready to head to the park. We gave Owen the option of riding in the wagon or taking his car... he decided he would rather drive!

Owen LOVES the slide at the park! It doesn't matter whether he is going down the slide or trying to climb back up the slide, he LOVES it! In this picture he was mad at me for slowing him down on his way to the slide.

Owen's Sliding Face...

Owen also loves to fly into the air! I think we have a little daredevil on our hands!

It was great to have Amanda and Austin show up to take Owen to the park! He had an awesome time and was completely worn out when we got home. He went to bed at 8:00! A full hour earlier than normal.

Owen discovered an interesting trick on the way home... he took my empty bottle and leaned over and drug it on the sidewalk, it made a weird noise that he apparently liked because he did it all the way home!

Overall we had a great day, Owen had a lot of fun, and I enjoyed playing outside with him. We look forward to more updates from the girls in Ukraine and how things are going over there! And can't wait to see Christie in 6 more days!

Bachelor week Day 2:

Today was a great day! I was getting updates from Christie all day about where they were and what the next stop was, and they finally made it to their destination (Kramatorsk, Ukraine) at about 6:00 pm our time (2:00 am there) and had 5 1/2 hours to unpack all their suitcases full of supplies and get them organized to be at the orphanage Antoshka first thing in the morning. I was really glad to hear that they made it and all of their luggage arrived with them! They had 17 suitcases full of therapy supplies and each of them was carrying a walker and checking it every time they boarded a plane. In all they hauled almost 1,000 pounds of supplies on five flights and by the grace of God everything went perfectly!

Ok, now on to day 2 of the bachelors: This morning I decided to let Owen try something new. He has never had real eggs, because he can't, too much fat in yolks... so I thought I would try my hand at low fat omelets. I used only egg whites, fat free cheese and low fat ham to make him his own omelet. It's not the most beautiful thing in the world, but I thought it tasted good!

Owen wasn't too sure about it at first, but once he discovered it had ham in it he was all about it. I thought I would split it with him, but the little monster nearly ate the whole thing!

After breakfast it was bath time... He needed one after playing outside all day yesterday! He was kind of smelly, but we got home late last night and he just went straight to bed, so he got one this morning, and I learned a valuable lesson! More to come on that...

After his bath Owen was really wound up! After battling for a few minutes trying to get clothes on him we came to an agreement... he wasn't going to wear clothes today! I think he really liked this and he spent the rest of the morning running around the house jabbering and laughing in nothing but a diaper.

Since Owen decided he was old enough to call the shots (no clothes) I decided he was old enough to feed himself with a fork... kind of! The way the fork worked was I would stab some bites of hot dog, dip them in mustard, and hand him the fork. He would then hold the fork in one hand, use the other hand to remove the hot dog and put it in his mouth, then hand me the fork to do it again!

Before long he began to get the hang of it and would actually eat the hot dog directly off of the fork. It was awkward to watch, but he got the job done!

For dessert I let him eat some applesauce. This was fairly entertaining. He kind of understood the concept of eating with a spoon, but he seemed to have trouble with which end of the spoon went in his mouth.

Owen eating applesauce

Here is where the lesson I mentioned earlier comes in... Applesauce BEFORE bath! I think he was trying to spike his hair like mommy does when she gets him ready!

After lunch Owen took a long nap and then his Beema picked him up and took him to her house so I could get some much needed yard work done. At Beema and Papa Joe's house Owen discovered this Dogwood tree that he was really interested in. He liked to touch the flowers.

Owen loves being outside, and this is getting close to being a problem... He now understands how doors work, and is ALMOST, tall enough to turn the knob. Here he is doing his Stretch Armstrong impression trying to get back outside.
Owen also discovered an old masquerade mask in Aunt Amanda's room, this kept him entertained for a bit while he tried to figure out why he could pull it off of his face, but when he let go it jumped right back on!

Well we survived day 2, and now we move into the weekday routine, something that mommy usually handles, so this will be the challenging part! Off to bed so I can get up extra early tomorrow and hopefully make it to work on time. Goodnight!

Just the Boys

Christie has left for Ukraine, so I have been assigned the daunting task of taking over the blog for the week... Not sure that I will really bring any substance or awe inspiring insight to this blog, but there is one thing I can provide, and that is pictures... (I think this is actually why I was assigned this task).

The theme for this weeks blog posts is our daily adventures as I attempt to lead a somewhat normal life without the help of my wonderful wife for 8 full days...

Today was a pretty easy day, other than telling Christie bye and knowing that we will have minimal contact this week it was a good day. We hung out at the house this morning and went to watch Owen's Aunt Amanda play a double header in the afternoon.

Owen Thought it was funny to roll around in the floor while Daddy was trying to get him out the door.

Although we were really late, we did make it to the game (luckily it was a double header)

Owen was thrilled because they had tables he could crawl under, just like at home!

He was also loving some animal crackers today, one thing he did not love was wearing his hat. It was really sunny today so I thought we would give the new hat a try. The only way he would keep it on was if he didn't have a free hand to take it off... hence the animal crackers.

Once Owen caught a glimpse of Aunt Amanda in the dugout it was time to move to the outfield because he was bound and determined to climb over the dugout to see her...

Owen absolutely loved the outfield grass. He ran and threw rocks and chased his Beema all over the place!

He has spotted Aunt Amanda again... Luckily he can't climb fences yet.

Here Owen is running off some of those animal crackers!

Owen really seemed to enjoy seeing Amanda out there today.

This was about the only way I could actually watch the game and not be chasing the little man

Notice hat on and hands full, but I don't think he's ready for the sunflower seeds yet

After the ball games we ate dinner with Beema, Papa Joe, Aunt Amanda and Austin. As a special after dinner treat Aunt Amanda shared a popsicle with Owen. He loves popsicles, but he makes the funniest faces every time he takes a bite. I guess the cold gets him because he always makes sour faces.

After the popsicle Owen had a burst of energy and was obsessed with this old classic toy. This clip-clop horse has to be 25+ years old. That's the one I rode when I was little! It still makes the sounds! Owen has figured out how to make the thing rock and bounce, but you have to stay close because sometimes he forgets to hold on, and when he wants off there is no warning... he just "gets" off and you better be there to catch him!

Well that's it for today, Owen has hit the sack and I am about to do the same. Hopefully I can keep up with this thing while Christie is gone. I just checked their flight status and it looks like they are about an hour and a half out of Frankfurt (their next stop). Maybe they will have internet access at the airport and she will get a chance to see this post! If so, know that we love you and are proud of you and we'll be fine, I'm pretty sure I got this... Goodnight!

Packed and Ready....

We're headed to Ukraine tomorrow morning!! The past few days have been long and crazy, but I think we're finally ready. We spent Thursday night packing all the suit cases with supplies and donations...and as you can tell from the pictures it was very chaotic!

Each suit case can only be 50 lbs, so we did a lot of packing, weighing, re-packing, and weighing again. By the end, we managed to pack 3 wheel chairs, 1 stander, a lot of wedges, treatment materials, orthotics, shoes, toys, etc. into 17 large suit cases. Now we just need everyone to pray that the airlines let us slide if the bags are 1-2 lbs overweight!

Please keep our group in your prayers over the next week, specifically that our travels go smoothly and safely, that our information is well received, that our training and suggestions are carried over after we leave, and last but not least that we show God's love to everyone we meet as we work with these children.

We have a very busy schedule, but we'll try to blog while we're in Ukraine. Thanks to 99balloons, we officially have our own website now!
It's www.teamworksukraine.com.
So...if you're intrested in following our work in Ukraine, check out our new blog!

Ukraine...in 7 days!

We leave for Ukraine next Saturday! I've been so busy with all the preparations that time has just flown by. I have a feeling that it's going to be a fast and furious 8 days in Ukraine. Thanks to Amanda (our trip coordinator), we have a very detailed itinerary that will help us maximize our time in Ukraine.

Antoshka is an orphanage that the group has visited and has seen some positive changes already. Green Forest is a new orphanage that we will visit this year and determine their needs and how we can continue to help them. We will also be visiting a Rehabilitation clinic, where we will have the opportunity to meet with additional children and their families.

Here's our itinerary....

Saturday, April 10

Fly out of NWA heading to Donetsk Ukraine

Sunday, April 11

P.M. - Arrive in Donetsk, transfer by car to Kramatorsk

Monday, April 12

A.M.- Antoshka Orphanage

- meet with director- see special needs children in rooms

- have "clinic" for each special needs child

- go to infirmary

P.M.- Kramatorsk Children's Hospital

- meet with hospital director and staff

- tour hospital- tour NICU- present materials on NICU

- demonstrate protocol in NICU

- visit orphan ward children and staff

Night

- develop plan for each child at Antoshka

Tuesday, April 13

A.M. - Kramatorsk Children's Hospital

- have a "clinic" with special needs children and their parents

P.M.- Kramatorsk Children's Hospital

- have a "clinic" with special needs children and their parents

Night

- create charts for each child at Hospital

- develop plans for each child at Hospital

Wednesday, April 14

A.M. - Antoshka Orphanage

- present personalized programs

- present new materials & demonstrations of therapy in group setting

P.M. - Slavynsk Rehabilitation Clinic

- meet with director and staff

- have clinic with special needs children and staff

Night

- create charts for each child at Rehabilitation Clinic

- develop plans for each child at Rehabilitation Clinic

Thursday, April 15

A.M. - Antoshka Orphanage

- deliver equipment, donations

- wrap up with directors and staff

Kramatorsk Children's Hospital

- deliver equipment, donations

- deliver personalized programs

- wrap up with directors and staff

P.M. - Slavyansk Rehabilitation Clinic

- deliver plans for special needs children

- present materials and do demonstrations of therapy

- wrap up with director and staff

Night

- travel to Kharkiv by van (5 hours)

Friday, April 16

A.M. - Green Forest Orphanage

- meet with director

- see special needs children in rooms

- have "clinic" for each special needs child

P.M. - Green Forest

- present materials along with demonstrations of therapy

- wrap up with director and staff

Saturday, April 17

A.M. - Green Forest

- deliver donations & visit with children in rooms

P.M.

-Travel to Kyiv by train (5 hours)

Sunday April, 18

-Depart Kyiv and head home