Scott's new hobby since his Strokes ~ collecting!

I have decided to add this to the Blog because sometimes when I tell of some of Scott's antics since his strokes, people don't realize how bad it can actually get with certain things, such as having to have stacks of his laptops at his feet by his recliner, like 4 of the 6 that he has.... and CDs of programs he thinks he is loading on his lap tops, again by his recliner, but the worse is his obsession of collecting items.... He has this bad habit now of collecting pop cans and plastic G2 drink bottles at the side of his bed. He goes through so many sodas (diet) and drinks a day that it is hard to keep up with him. His medicines make his mouth and throat dry, so I can understand that, but what I can't understand is his need to keep a large pile of the cans and plastic bottles on the floor on his side of the bed! It blows me away! I try to go in and collect them up to throw away but when I think of it, he is sleeping. I don't dare get them for fear he will wake up. I live for the times he sleeps, so I can take a deep breath and either get some work done, or just relax for a few minutes.

My supervisor at work, Clint, is collecting metal items and pop cans to recycle as a way to get money for his Masters program. This has prompted me to collect the cans more often, .... That and the fact that every time Scott got in or out of bed he would end up kicking some cans and make a racket! This would wake me up and startle me and it would be hard to get right back to sleep! In order to give people a real visualization of some of his quirks, I took a picture of his latest collection before turning the cans over to Clint to recycle. I took a bucket up with me to empty some of the half full cans, and had to empty the bucket twice, ... another problem with the cans, the knocked over soda! And of course you will never guess who had to clean the spills up! I ended up with a large lawn trash bag of cans, a large garbage bag of plastic bottles, and a tall garbage can full of plastic bottles! And now ... What you have all waited for to see.... Drumroll Please!!!!!!

Scott's crazy Quirks since his Strokes

Scott's new hobby is collecting....... mostly collecting empty or partially empty soda cans or bottles of G2 drink.

We celebrated Pyper's birthday on April 26th, Saturday. Pyper and Grandma Great share their birthday, April 27. Pyper turned 5 years old. Great Grandma and Grandpa Sykes were there as well as Jon, Bri, Kaleb, Kaitlyn, Kaisa, Gage, Joey, Grandma Faulring, and of course Spencer, Renee and Jordan.

We had pizza and then watched Pyper open her gifts. After opening the gifts we had cake and ice cream. It was a short and sweet party

This is a picture of Pyper and Great Grandpa Sykes behind her.

Kaleb playing a game of duckies.
Grama Great ~ Great Grandma Sykes
Bri watching Kaleb
Jon just chilling

Kaitlyn watching Kaleb playing a Duck game.
Sweet Jordan.
Renee and Jordan.
Pyper's cake. She loves Dora the Explorer.
Kaisa.

Gage playing with Jordan's riding truck.
Joey the Stud muffin
Pyper opening her gifts.
"It's a Doggie Movie Mommy!" 101 Dalmations from Grama and Grampa Faulring
A couple of pretty new dresses from Grama Faulring.

Some goodies from Jon, Bri and the kids
Some more goodies
A Care Bear from Grama and Grampa Great ~ Grama and Grampa Sykes
Some Coloring Books and crayons and goodies
Spencer and Jordan

April 26, 2008 ~ Pyper's Birthday Party

Kaisa enjoying some pizza. "Can I blow the candle out yet?"
Pyper blowing out the candle.
Jordan really likes the cake!
Jordan is done with the cake, and now starts on the plate.

Kaitlyn and Kaleb race on the slide.

Grama hekps Kaitlyn go across the rings.

"Hey dad, Can you help us with this?"

Kaitlyn is finally done eating and can now play.

"Okay, I like it!"

"I don't know about this"

Bri is helping Gage on the Swing, Gage isn't too sure he likes the swing.

"Can you see me?"

That was fun!

Trying out the slide.

Kaleb finally makes it to the swings.

"Grama, can you help me on the big swing?"

Kaisa getting puches by Danielle. She loves the swings. Bri is pushing Gage.

Kaleb's turn.

Watching Kaitlyn get help from dad.

Whoa, that was slippery.

The kids are finally done eating and ready to play. Kaleb was the first one done eating. He has a lot of fun playing on all the playground equipment.

April 26, 2008. Picnic in the Park

And then there is Brother Bear, Gage.

Kaitlyn is a slow eater.

Kaleb is in a hurry to go play.

Kaisa is more interested in her toy.

Jon had Kaleb for the weekend the end of April, so we had a picnic in the park. It was April 26, 2008. The weather was nice enough but it was a bit windy and a little chilly. The kids had to eat before they coud go play.

When we got off the ship and to the car, we decided to head over to Miami Beach for a little bit to play in the Ocean. I drove and Scott was supposed to give me directions, but instead decided to call his mom and let her know that we were off the ship now and back in phone range.

Scott's brother Kent answered the phone and Scott was surprised to hear his voice. Kent told Scott they had been trying all weekend to get ahold of us. The trailer behind mom had caught on fire that Friday night, and mom was panicky trying to find and save her cats. Jackie and Craig live close by and realized the sirens were close to mom's and went to check it out. It was a good thing they did! They helped mom get the cats and got her out of her trailer. By the time they got her out, mom wasn't feeling too good, and was clammy and dizzy. Jackie helped her find a spot close by and got her to lay down to relax a bit, then went to grab one on the paramedics that had answered the call. Mom was having a major heart attack, and had actually died for a short period. They were able to use the paddles and get her back, thank heavens.

It was a good thing the paramedic was there to help, as we almost lost her. She ended up in the hospital for close to a week and was released. As Kent was telling Scott what had happened, Scott was sheet white, and speechless. I could tell something was seriously wrong. When he got off the phone he was having a panic attack.

I somehow found the beach without Scott's help, and we walked on the beach for a short time. Scott didn't even go in the water.I went in the water to see if I could find any pretty shells to take home, and after about 10 minutes we left and went back to Fort Lauderdale to the hotel. Scott called his mom and spoke with her for a little bit. She sounded okay, so Scott settled down a little bit. We flew back home a couple of days later, and Scott flew out to New York the next day to spend a couple of weeks with his mom and help take care of her when she got out of the hospital.

She has had a pacemaker put in since then and still is as lively as ever! At 83(?) years of age she still goes out and dances!

The pictures here are of Miami Beach area, what little we saw since Scott was really having a hard time dealing with the fact that he had almost lost his mom.