Toy Soldiers, Flying Monkeys, and Bugs

We've had some cold nights this week so we have been making good use of the fireplace. We thought after Jason's paracentesis, he would be lighter and have more energy and would be able to do a lot more walking. This didn't quite work out the way we hoped. Before and after the procedure, I had to hold off on giving him his Lovenox shot, which is a blood thinner to help his deep vein thrombosis (blood clots). Well, his left leg became huge and extremely painful the morning after the paracentesis. It turned purple from lack of circulation. I had to massage his feet to get the blood moving and put on a compression sock. He has been having to lie down most of the day with his leg raised up on 3 pillows. His leg was a little less swollen this morning so keeping it raised has been helping but he says it is still very painful. I talked to a nurse at the hospital and she said it will get better once the Lovenox kicks in again. We are still waiting...

This is a picture of a giant bug we saw on our window. The picture doesn't do him justice. He was at least 2 inches long and completely disgusting. See what you are missing by not living in Houston?

Marissa sent us 160 million Spartans, or rather, toy soldiers for Jason to play with and to be symbolic of our hope for the new treatment. Jason had fun organizing them and taking this picture.

Kristy sent us a box filled to the brim with christmas presents. We were naughty and opened it early. We got the full Stanley Kubrik collection of DVDs...awesome! We got 2 new puzzles and a puzzle roller so we can roll up the puzzle that we are working on and put it away. This will be really useful because we tend to take up the whole table with our puzzles and can't use it for anything else. Jason got 2 comfy pants to wear around the house. We got a variety pack of flavored teas (yummy, I'm becoming a tea addict). But the best and funniest thing we got was a whole slew of flying monkeys. These were to be placed around the house so Jason would find them one by one. Well, since he can't walk right now and I get him everything he needs, I decided to let him play with them all today...which he did. This picture is "post flight"...you should have seen the swarm of monkeys flying through the air. It was great! We can't wait for Kristy to come back and visit because she is going to have flying monkeys aimed at her at all hours of the day and night.

Marjorie and I went to Michaels to find some Christmas ornament making kits. I thought I'd put the family to work when they come out to visit to help us fill our tree with ornaments. I found the little pills that you put into warm water and they turn into spongy creatures. These are from the bug collection that I bought for Jason and I to play with. We are easilily entertained. We have been playing with shrinky dinks also. I don't know if anyone remembers those, but you can buy the paper at Michaels and they are a lot of fun!