Monday, March 31, 2008

They just love to keep me on my toes....



This weekend Carrie and Liz were fooling around when Liz accidentally kicked Carrie's thumb...hyperextending it. Carrie was complaining that her wrist hurt and wasn't using it. I didn't see any swelling or bruising and it looked normal....so I said it didn't warrant a trip to the ER. Sunday night she still wasn't using it and would cry whenever she moved it. Then I started feeling guilty and worthy of the "bad mother award". What if she somehow fractured it? I'd had myself convinced I was negligent in making her wait and was going to make a doctor appt as soon as the kids got on the bus.

As Eileen and Olivia were getting ready for school the phone rang. Caller ID put it as the school. I thought they were calling to see why Carrie wasn't there and almost let the answering machine get it while I continued to help the girls get out the door. I started thinking...it's too early for the school to be calling for absent kids and decided to pick it up. It was the high school nurse letting me know that Liz had passed out in class and hit her head on the way down. She asked me to come pick her up ASAP (knew I had kids to get on the bus still)

So I woke up Carrie and Michelle, got the girls on the bus, threw a jacket and shoes on Danielle and headed to the school. They wheeled Liz to the van door and helped her in. The nurse explained that Liz seemed to be ok...pupils were equal and reactive. BUT she was a bit confused and still shakey so I should probably get her checked out. I assured her I would, that I was already planning on taking Carrie in.

According to Liz they were watching birth videos in Child Psych. She didn't think it was bothering her, she didn't feel emotional about it and had seen a ton of videos on this subject before this. This time though it was a forceps delivery, so I think it probably was that. (Tom almost passed out watching the forceps birth video in our childbirth class) She said she felt dizzy and nauseated and had closed her eyes to keep from throwing up. She thought she'd fallen asleep and taken a nap until she opened her eyes and saw everyone's face over her. She said she was confused about what the date was because she didn't know if it was March 31st or April 1st. lol She admitted though she couldn't remember what her locker number was at first. (nurse had to go get her things for her)

We we got home all Liz wanted to do was take a nap, mean me wouldn't let her. I called the dr's. When they heard why I wanted an appt they moved the appt they were going to give me for Carrie (2:30) up to 10:30 (as soon as I could get there). So I cleaned up the little kids, found outfits for us all and loaded everyone into the van. We dropped Michelle off at school and headed to the dr's. Carrie's wrist was X-rayed and didn't turn up anything. She's out of gym for the week though so she can rest it. Liz they did an EKG, bloodwork, and tested her glucose level....everything was fine except for her white count which was higher then they'd care to see. They decided to do a throat culture (she said her throat hurt on Saturday). The dr said he though the increased count was due to the stress of the morning though. I was given the "what to watch for" talk and we were cleared to go home.

On the way home I had to resist the urge to stop at the store and buy out their supply of bubblewrap.

Just what I wanted....

My birthday was a good day. The kids kept wishing and singing Happy Birthday. I of course was hoping they'd be working their fannies off to get the house spic and span but it was a no go. I still had high hopes of getting something done around the place.

I mentioned to Tom that I wanted to remove the table our microwave sits on and replace it with a metal cabinet that was also in the kitchen. The table that's there now was a fabric display table at a craft store. It's really sturdy and the right height to work on. Unfortunately it's too deep, there's not enough room for a kitchen table between it and the fridge. We have a combo kitchen/dining room and in its present state the tables didn't fit in it. We have 2 - 4ft long farm tables that are only 30" wide (which I like and NEED). For WAY too long we've been eating in the livingroom. At times the older kids were even taking it into their bedrooms. Not good for general cleanliness and especially when you already have a mice problem. (yes that's still ongoing...it comes and goes and is on the upswing again, grrr) Anyways, Tom agreed with me and I said...that's what I want for my birthday. I want to be able to eat dinner at the table tonight. Then I ran out the door to drop off Val to the school for the play, drive into the city to pick up Michelle from work and run to grab a few things at a couple stores. When I got home the tables were where I wanted them. Tom hadn't realized I wanted the fabric table gone gone so he moved it. It can't stay where it is as it blocks a door from opening. I really want the room and want it gone...so that's one of my projects for the week...clear off, clean, take apart and lug it downstairs. (or have one of my handsome strong men lug it. ;o))

It's amazing what a small thing like sitting at a table together for a meal can seem. Yet it has a HUGE impact on things. We haven't had as much conversation as we had in a while. Yeah the meal was a bit rowdier since everyone wasn't vegging in front of the tv with their plate, but I liked it. I lost track of the number of times the kids commented on how nice it was to eat there, so they must've liked it too. They also commented on how packed in they were but that was ok. The table only holds 10 chairs so we have to SQUEEEEEEEZE in a few. Sean will eventually sit in the highchair (getting rid of the table will allow room for the chair) so that will be nice. Drew and Allison were there too (Val and Pat were missing) so instead of giving Danielle her own chair with her booster seat on it, she shared chairs with Liz, Eileen and eventually ended up in my lap along with Sean.

My BIL who's staying with us gave me some money to go out and buy a bunch of steaks and some snacks. And buy I did! I don't think we've ever had as much steak leftover as we had. If I'd stop sneaking hunks out I could've probably used it to make steak fajitas for a meal this week. As it is, Tom will be lucky if he has enough to take for lunch tomorrow.

Drew and Allison gave me a 7qt pot with a strainer lid. I really like it. It'll help cut down on dishes (no colander needed), and it'll make me use my lid like I should be (save on energy). Pat and Jess gave me a pot of pretty purple flowers. I'll have to figure out where I want to replant them, although with this weather I'll have a few months to make the decision. Michelle bought me a scratch off lottery ticket, it was a LOSER! but was fun to play anyways.

Michelle set up a sundae bar with tons of toppings and we stuffed ourselves silly with deliciousness. We were so full that we decided to wait to have the cake until the next day.

It's neat to see how my feelings about the kitchen, cooking and the house in general has been effected by the changes in the kitchen. I've always loved to cook and bake but I have only done the bare minimum in there. I wanted to avoid the crowded messy place. The more I tried to avoid it, the worse it got. Now I want to organize, decorate, and actually USE the appliances in the room. LOL And the effect doesn't just stay in the kitchen. The laundry and my room have gotten a bit more attention that it has in a while. My time constraints and full arms can be a bit frustrating when I start feeling like this and then the discouragement starts in again. I just keep reminding myself...baby steps. Pick something and DO IT!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

BRAVO! BRAVO!!!


Thank you for the birthday wishes. I really appreciate it. The birthday report may end up being another post. Right now I have to talk about Friday night.

I had a GREAT time!!! It was opening night for the high school play, Beauty and the Beast. Since Val is an enchanted item, a spoon to be exact, we bought tickets for most everyone to go (not Danielle and Sean). I left Sean home Friday night and went with Michelle, her friend S, and my parents. Pat, Jess and Jess's mom were there too. Tom is taking the other 6 kids to the matinee which starts at 2 today. They are so excited!!!

OMGoodness!!! What an awesome production. The costumes were fantastic, the sets looked professional and at first I thought M who played Belle was lip syncing...she was that good. Of course knowing some of the kids and their personalities helps you enjoy the show more. Like J who plays Gaston. NO one else could've filled that role, it was made for him.

None of us went last night. Val got home really late, the seniors had gone with Mrs B to a local diner after the show. Val was telling me all about their adventure, including singing for everyone in the place and some interesting patrons that they encountered. I asked her the other day if she wishes that she found drama club earlier in her high school career. She admitted she did although I'm not so sure if it would've won out over volleyball back then. The reason she was in it this year was because she wasn't fit enough to be on the volleyball team this season. If you ask me, drama club seems to suit her personality a bit better....but what do I know. lol

Even with Val being super busy with play practices she still managed a trip to the mall on Monday. When she got home she reported that she found her prom dress and asked if I could go get it the next day. lol It was on clearance and there was one her size so she was afraid it would be gone before she got back there (since the play was going to occupy every waking minute plus some for the next week). We finally figured out that she wouldn't have practice after school on Thurs (they were holding 4 mini performances all day long instead). So it was decided we'd run to the mall, grab the dress and find some shoes and accessories. I am happy to report...it's DONE! Granted the dress was more then I was hoping to get away with, but it was cheaper then Michelle's. Doling out the bucks made me SO thankful we have a Senior Ball only rule. What the rule is is that we'll pay for the prom/ball experience for the senior year only. If you want to go to other ones, you have to figure out how to outfit and get your ticket yourself. So far they've managed to get it done too.

Lately I suck at time management! There's never enough hours in the day. Here I thought going to the mall by 4pm would allow us enough time to get done what we had to and get home for the youth meeting at 7:30. NOPE! I sorely failed. I had Liz and Carrie with me so they couldn't make it. Luke was stuck home because there was no vehicle. It really bugs me when they miss things for stupid reasons like running late. But it seems I'm always racing against the clock no matter which day it is or where I have to go. I need a pause button!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Happy Birthday to me!

Going to bed but decided for a treat I'd post my favorite video made with clips from my favorite video game, Final Fantasy X. (and FF-X2) I can't hear this song without thinking of this video. Which then makes me want to play FFX lol

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Busy week

The kids had Thurs, Fri and Mon off but that doesn't mean my running stops. Thursday Carrie had a TODAY study appt that we've been trying to get done for weeks. Michelle had to work, Val had play practice all day long and Liz was spending the night at a friend's house so Luke on down went with us. The nurses said they didn't recognize Carrie she looked so much older. She really does seem to have grown out of that little girl look lately. Here's a pic of Carrie (on the left) and Liz.



She hasn't done so great with taking her medicine. :o( There's no immediate consequence for her, she feels fine. She's usually rushing out the door for the school bus in the morning. Once she's in school there's no way for her to get her morning dose in, even if she remembers later. Dinner there's little excuse other then it's crazy here and I don't have my act together which is no excuse. She/we've been doing a lot better about it this week :o). Her weight stayed around the same. She's hardly gained any weight since being dx'd a few years ago. She's not growing but everything (thyroid, growth hormones, etc) seem to be testing out normal. It's probably a mix of the side effects of the total body irradiation from her bone marrow transplant and that she was destined to be small. Her bone age scan says she'll probably be 5ft as an adult, she's 4'10" now. She has to have another bone age scan done soon so we'll see if it still agrees with the last one.

We stopped at my parents' house afterwards. Some of the kids hadn't seen them in quite a while. At least I get to talk to them on the phone. It makes me sad to see Danielle and Sean reserved around them. It's solely based on not enough contact. The other kids saw them a LOT more often. Hopefully after Michelle's done with classes and gets her license that won't be so much of a problem. Although I'm probably disillusioned. :o( My mom made us dinner with her homemade Vodka sauce and pasta...YUM!!! I'm going to be getting the recipe and posting it on my food blog soon (link is above, labeled Growlies). We got home just in time for the older kids to go to the youth meeting. The little ones and I went grocery shopping before picking up Michelle from work.

My sister's girls were suppose to be coming for a few days but the youngest was sick earlier in the week. I decided Fri that I wasn't going to have them because I was too frazzled. I've never felt like that before and have never used that as an excuse. Unfortunately it was true and I WAS feeling like it. I still had running to do...Michelle work, Jake to a friend's, Val to play practice. It was BEAUTIFUL day out and the girls went for a walk. He I was busy around here but didn't accomplish much of anything as usual. All in all though I defrazzled a bit.

Fri night Tom brought home another deer for our freezer. With his brother out of town for the weekend I volunteered to help him process it on Sat morning. Tom and I were up bright and early and skinned the deer. He decided he should go for an early dump run and I decided to get started on processing the deer while he was gone. By the time he got back, I was almost done getting the meat off (still had to trim and package it later). I had NO idea what I was doing as I've never done it or seen it done before. I think I did a pretty decent job though. At least I ended up with quite a few bigger pieces then the guys did the week before. After I was done it was time to take Michelle to work. I was going to wait to go shopping for Easter stuff (which I had NONE of) until I picked her up that evening. Tom had asked me to pick up a few things so I decided to go during the day instead. Good thing I did too because when we hit the stores after she got out of work, the shelves were BARE! I ended up at Walmart, Wegmans, and Walgreens without getting anything more that I was looking for. Luckily I had bought enough to make the baskets presentable that morning. I think I might've been reduced to tears if I hadn't. When we got home Sean was having a fit so I took him to bed while Liz, Carrie and Tom did the baskets. That was a first for me....I've ALWAYS done them. Was kinda nice.

Sunday morning saw all the kids wearing chocolate beards and getting hopped up on sugar. The older kids decided they'd hide eggs outside for the little ones to hunt for. I was wishing for a video camera. Danielle was hilarious she'd find an egg, do this adorable run back to her container and SLAM dunk the egg into it. She'd then do her adorable run to another area of the yard to search. At one time I was about to yell at her to get her hands out of the snowbank when I saw her yank out an egg and realized what she was doing. After the egg hunt we got ready to go to my aunt's for Easter dinner. I had made a HUGE fruit salad for it and was drooling at the thought of eating it. Luckily there were leftovers of it and we had some for breakfast and snacks. There's an interesting story of what else we brought home from the dinner on my food blog. here.

Poor Sean. His eczema was flaring up by the time we got home from my aunt's house. I'm not sure why though since no one was smoking and there were no animals. These pictures were taken right after we got home. It seemed to get worse before bed and he woke up oozing in the morning.



Monday was fairly easy going. Michelle still had class so I had to drive her in. I managed to get some laundry done but not much else. Michelle didn't have to work so was out at 4pm. Evening activities were not scheduled so that meant no running at night. YEAH!

I'd make up for it on Tuesday though. School was back in session but we had dentist appts for noon. That meant I had to take Michelle to work at 9:30, go home and had an hour to get ready to leave. Pick up the school kids at 11 and then head into the city. We were there for over 2hrs and Sean was SO ready to get out of there when we left. We headed to my parents again. This time I thought we had tons of time until we had to be home at 7:30 for cleaning. I could finally help my mom figure out how to use the digital frame and a keychain I got her from Christmas (were still in the boxes). Time flew and next think I knew it was 7:00 and we hadn't left yet. (My dad had made us dinner quickly before we left). I had a 40 min drive ahead of us and they were due at cleaning in less then 30mins. Hmmmmm. While driving I realized I couldn't really make it to church and then back to school before 8 when Val needed to be picked up. So we decided to go right to school and wait for Val. Their play went 40mins over!!! GRRRRRRRRRR! That left me with under 20mins to get to Michelle's work which is about 25mins away. Lucky for me she didn't get out of work right away and we got there in time. We pulled into the driveway just before 10pm with the 4 little ones sleeping. Sean and Danielle were hysterical when we got them inside so I took them right to bed. I also feel asleep with them which prompted me to be fully awake, tossing and turning at 2am. So I got up and discovered our internet was still down. Good time to clean...naaaaaw. Time to grab a book! I read until 4:30 when Sean started crying and I climbed back into bed with him, dozing until it was time to get up for good at 6:30.

The kids having days off of school always messes me up in terms of what day is what. I realized that today was Wed and I'd missed chat last night. I guess it was a good thing the internet was down otherwise I wouldn't have been very happy with the thought of missing it. Only two more days of school! I'm not too sure why the thought of the weekend excites me. It's not like there's too much relaxing's going on during the weekends. lol

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Aaaah! I finally got one...

I got to take a HOT shower, alone, for as long as I wanted, without anyone knocking on the door! Granted, it was 5:30 in the morning but still I'm not really sure when the last time that's happened. I guess there've been some 2am ones but even those can be interrupted by Sean waking up. Just having the fear he'll wake up while I'm in there and wake up Tom can put a damper on the experience. Besides I'm usually too exhausted to enjoy it.

So what were all the pieces that had to fall into place for me to get this treat....
  • A DEEPLY sleeping baby
  • A day off from school
  • Me waking up on my own at 5:30am
  • A husband pulling a double shift :o(
Yep, with all the rain last night Tom ended up having to go into work at 11pm and will work until 3:30pm today. I wish he didn't have to. I hate when he has to. It makes me look forward to the day he retires a bit more. BUT I'm sure I'll appreciate the extra cash when he gets it in 2wks (we sure can use it, things are tight around here again).

I've been waking up really early a lot of days. Probably because quite a few of times I end up falling asleep when I put the little kids to bed at 10 or 11pm instead of my regular midnight - 3am gig. Usually I'll wake up lay there thinking and thinking (and do ALL my work in my head) not wanting to get up and risk waking up anyone else. Quite often I'm playing the...nurse the baby back to sleep before you HAVE to get up with the school kids, race against the clock game. Or I'll just doze on and off, usually mixing in a pretty vivid dream here and there.

Today's a staff development day so the kids have it off. It was so nice this morning to jump up looking for the clock, thinking we might've overslept, only to realize...there's no school today!!! If school was in session today, I'd have been using the bathroom during the time frame that Val and Tom usually get in there. A later shower means a cold or lukewarm one at best, after all 8 or 9 people have used it before that. We do need to replace the hot water heater though. I'd like to get on demand tankless heaters but I doubt that'll happen.

Well guess my day has started....Sean is done nursing and Olivia just came from her room upset. Seems she just had a dream that she went over the falls. :o( I HATE those types of dreams!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The BUS!

That's usually the last thing I hear out of my kids' mouths in the morning. They're screaming to who ever is straggling behind and still in the house. This morning it was Liz. First she forgot her glasses and had to run upstairs. Then it was her shoes. Those pesky shoes, they like to hide and disappear altogether. I'd say I have NO idea how anyone can lose a pair of shoes, but I'm the main one that does it. Our shoe pile by the door isn't even bad right now, you can actually see the floor.

With the bus pulling up outside Liz runs to the shoe rack. She can't find her blue slip on sketchers. I find one, or so I thought. I'm informed, no those are Michelle's rocket dogs. I hear the bus pull to a stop. Then she decides she'll wear the black jellies instead. Where's the other one!?! We dig through the pile and can't find it. The 0ther kids are getting on the bus, the driver will only wait a second. Liz says...I don't care! I just have to wear SOMETHING! She grabs the black sequined platform sandals. (I have to wonder if they even FIT her!) and hobbles/runs out the door while trying to slip them on. She gets on the bus and it pulls away, leaving me to grab a fussing Sean (he had to be put down so I could dig) and fall into my chair feeling a bit frazzled. I take a breath, squeeze Sean for a bit, take a swig of my coffee and head for the little girls room to start it all over again. How many more days of school? I am SO glad this week is only 3 days long! Maybe next week we'll all have our act together.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

And here I sit

Nope, I didn't make it to church again today. I'm sitting here typing with one hand, nursing Sean while Danielle is draped across my lap. You'd think that THIS weekend would be the time I could/would get out the door. No kids are sick, the girls are at my sisters, Luke ended up staying at my BIL's, Jake ended up having a friend sleep over and Michelle doesn't have to be at work until 3. Technically all I had to get ready was me, Sean and Danielle...which is EASY! Unfortunately waking up at 7:30 with a splitting headache that hurts more if my eyes are open more then a slit and leaves me trying not to barf turns that easy into almost impossible. I grabbed some ibuprofen (which I hardly ever take) and some coffee and sat in my chair. I tried to check my email but the brightness of the screen hurt. Luckily Tom was awake so we got some time to have a conversation with full sentences. Within the hour everyone else was up. The ibuprofen brought my headache to a dull roar but I still felt nauseated when I moved my head just so. Luckily I don't have to look at the screen to type. :o)

It's amazing how quiet it's been here without the girls. Not that they make all the noise but they are a big factor in it. It's weird how even one person's absence effects how things are around here, take out 4 people and there's a big change. Danielle was heartbroken that she didn't get to go. She got over it quickly after they left. She's been Jake's buddy this weekend and was offended when she wasn't included in their games of trouble and battleship.

I wanted to get so much done around here this weekend. The laundry pile has gotten to almost bearable status and I was hoping to conquer it. Then of course I'd have to go into the bedrooms and the piles would magically grow again. I managed to get the small bathroom picked up a bit. I even washed walls. This led me to want to paint the room. I've had the paint waiting for a while now. I just have to find the paint pads and have some hand's free time. Then there was the kitchen that I was hoping to get to sparkling and organized allowing me to cook/bake things without major effort. Right now my kitchen table is full of folded clean clothes so my workspace is TEENY TINY. One thing I'm short of in here is counter/work space. I wanted to get a bunch of bread baked, tortillas made and a container of cookies wouldn't have been too shabby. Oh well, I'll concentrate on getting this week's menu planned and consider myself ahead of the game. lol

I think I've mentioned it before but I'm writing for the Mega Mom Blog now. I put a new post up on the 13th. I admit I haven't been as active over there as I should have been but I'm getting back into the swing of things in blogland and hope to be more regular over there. This month's topic is spring. Not an easy topic to write about when you're covered in ice and snow. The picture on my post was taken between the ice and snow storm. I couldn't get the beauty of the ice to show up on the pic so became a stark B&W instead. I really wish I'd gotten pictures of things after the snow. I must've said...that's beautiful, it's a winter wonderland and I wish I had a camera, a hundred times in the days after the snow hit.

As some of you may have noticed I started my food blog up again. I'm not sure of it's purpose or direction as of yet. It's mostly boring menus and a place to put my recipes right now. There's a link to it at the top of this blog, labeled Growlies. (slang for munchies or supper)

This week looks to be an "easy" week. There's only 3 days of school and then a 5 day weekend. YIPPEE! I can't believe it's Easter week, I don't have anything bought for baskets yet. I usually only do candy but still it requires time, thought and money...none of which I have much of ATM. We're going to my aunt's house for Easter dinner so I also have to plan and buy something to bring for that. I'm thinking fruit salad right now.

This screen is getting very bright and bothersome. I think it's time for another dose of ibuprofen.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

I've been around, but not here

This week has gone fairly well as far as going to school goes. Luke and Liz each missed a day. Liz probably would've tried to skip it yesterday (really bad cramps) except then she'd miss going to my sister's for the weekend. I should have that incentive EVERYDAY...Eileen and Olivia got up half an hour early on their own! lol

The birthdays were a bit subdued. I was surprised when Val didn't ask for a party. She's had a decent one each year and she was hitting a big milestone...18! She opted to just stay home and have cake with us and her boyfriend. Tom and I took the two of them to Red Lobster for dinner on Monday. Michelle and Cory gave us $50 giftcertificates for Christmas and I borrowed the rest from Michelle. Things were a bit tight here this last payday.

Olivia's celebration a bit pathetic. I ended up running all day and didn't have time to bake a cake like I'd planned. So we stuck some candles into some ice cream sandwiches and sang Happy Birthday to her. I'd feel horrible about it but we're planning on having a Libby Lu type party for her next week. I was hoping to buy some Hannah Montana wigs for the girls but that looks to be more then I'm willing to spend. So looks like we'll be doing a princess theme. I saw a lot of awesome things for a princess party at the Dollartree. They also had a lot of options for accessory things. I should be able to go shopping for it on Wed or Thurs. I'm having fun thinking of everything we could do.

Luke still hasn't mentioned doing anything for his birthday. Maybe once the weather is nicer he can have a bunch of boys camp out back with a bonfire and everything. He's not so into group stuff and at times has to be pushed to participate. I really have to watch not allowing this tendency be an excuse to let things go for him. He's not on to readily show how he's feeling which scares me. I wish he'd be the squeaky wheel once in a while.

Normally I love to have parties and people over. On the way home from taking Michelle to school the other day I was thinking about it. How I wish we had the funds to have people over for dinner or a party on a regular basis. Then again I'd also have to start maintaining the house a LOT better. I'm guessing it's the time of year that it's hitting me. Being stuck in the house, having sick kids so much lately. I am SO missing seeing my friends. I haven't been to church since the beginning of the year. At least there aren't any sick kids or schedules to keep me from there tomorrow.

Sean and Danielle are a riot! Sean's getting more and more verbal everyday. Seems like his mouth is always going. It surprises me how I find his actions so amazing. You'd think having done this more then a few times it'd be old hat. Sometimes I feel like a first time mom who's never seen it before. I also feel blessed that I have the experience to pick up the tiny things that could be missed. Things like the little tiny finger movements of when someone's counting on their hands and he's trying to do the same or when someone starts to walk out the door and he's thinking/saying bye-bye. He's all about Daddy right now. Tom barely gets the front door closed before Sean's rocking and humming for him. He throws a fit if Tom doesn't pick him up whenever he gets near him. I'm happy to report that he also stopped chomping while nursing. I was on the brink of forcing him to wean it had gotten so bad. As I suspected his 2nd tooth on the bottom erupted. Hopefully this won't get to be a habit every time he's teething.

Danielle's new thing is to insist on doing everything by herself....except walking on the snow. She's afraid of falling on the snowy walkway so usually asks me to carry her. Once we're past that though it's all....me do! Me walk! me do! She wants to climb in the van, brush her teeth, get dressed. She was struggling with her skirt and I was asking....Can I help? No! Can I help now? No. Now? No. Finally she said...You help now please. LOL The other day she started asking...WHY? to everything. You can't say anything without that question being asked. I asked her to pull the plug on the tub....WHY? So the water can go down the drain....WHY? So the dirty water will go away...WHY? You get the picture. It's cute for the first few times...after that notsomuch.

This morning the phone rang bright and early (luckily we were already up). It was someone that Tom works with telling us he had 2 deer for us. He has special permits to hunt deer that are considered a menace. He'd asked Tom if we were interested and Tom said sure. So he called his brother and they butchered them. I felt sorry for Tom though since he also had to juggle running all over town with trying to get that done. He ran to the dump, took Val to play practice, then Michelle to work. Picked up the deer and started butchering it then it was time to pick up Val from school, went back to butchering then pick up Michelle from work. I couldn't help but realize if we had our car that this wouldn't have been a problem. I could've done the running while he was working with the deer. Sometimes I really wonder if selling our car to Pat is a good idea. I wish we could find a nice minivan for really cheap. The amount of money I'm putting in the van gas tank each month would practically pay for a brand new car. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so nice. I find myself wondering lately if I'm really doing my kids any favors by helping them out like I do. If they were to suffer a bit more they might be more motivated to do things on their own and for themselves. Oh well, I am what I am.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Back in they go!

Yep, I had to take the kids back to the doctor's on Wedneday. Luke was feeling worse on day 4 of his meds then he had been when I took him in for the throat culture. Eileen and Liz were complaining of stomach pains and along their diaphram hurting. Having had kids with pneumonia that I would've sworn was appendicitis I decided it was best to get checked out.

Luke had me a bit scared the night before I took him in that I considered a trip to the ER. He was snoring very loudly and then he'd suddenly stop. I realized it was because he'd stopped breathing. His tonsils were HUGE , ugly and red. The original thought was that he also had something viral ontop of the strep. They decided to be on the safe side though and prescribe another med incase the original med wasn't effective against the strep.

I was starting to feel like an overreacting mother when it came to Eileen and Liz. I mean come on...stomach pains? She was examined and had her urine tested. It was decided that her meds were probably causing cramps (a side effect) so they put her on a different one. As of this morning she's still feeling achy. I'm starting to wonder if it's viral. Liz said a couple of girls at school were complaining of a similar pain (but not as intense).

I knew most of Eileen's pains were probably muscle related (hurt her when she coughed...which wasn't often...or moved her arms) but I didn't feel it explained the lower ab pains she was having. After her exam it was decided her urine should probably be tested too. It came back chock full of white cells. So now we're waiting for the cultures to tell us what it is so they know how to treat it.

I've had so many kids home so much lately that I'm afraid the school is going to think I'm being negligent and report us to CPS. Besides Monday I haven't had everyone go to school in forever. It makes me wish I homeschooled so I wouldn't have that dilemma/fight every morning. It also makes me seriously consider whether homeschooling should be in our future. I hate sending my kids out the door every morning! The things holding me back are...I rarely complete anything and am a major procrastinator. This state is so highly regulated that I'd be on probation before I knew it. (Carrie's standardized test scores alone would cause me to be put on probation) Tom' s not in the homeschooling mindset although I don't know if he's against it either. They'd miss being with their church friends and cousins. (some moreso then others)

I'm so glad it's the weekend! Now to get these kids well and keep them there!

Monday, March 03, 2008

Quick Post

I'm exhausted and headed to bed as soon as I'm done here. I've been wanting to get a post up all weekend but something kept calling me away.

It's the start of birthday week here. Luke turned 15 on Sunday. We didn't do much since most of his friends were out of town this weekend. He wanted meatball subs and stuffing for his dinner and he got it. He picked a devil's food cake (had the mix) with canned chocolate frosting. I didn't have any oil so melted a stick of margarine in the micro. I then proceeded to FORGET to add it into the batter. So Luke's cake was the nonfat version. I thought it would flop something awful but came out not too shabby. We gave him the Zelda DS game, not knowing that Pat already had it and Luke could use it. (Luke didn't know either). I decided that I'd splurge and buy him something else too. Originally I was thinking a big bag of peanut m&m's and a mylar balloon from the dollar store. I ended up getting him a Zelda collection tin with a DS lite starter set, plus some extras inside. He seemed to like it and brought it with him when he left. Yes, he left to go hang out with church friends after dinner and before cake. So Luke's birthday night was kinda quiet around here. He on the otherhand had fun with his friends. Olivia's next with her 8th birthday on Thurs. Then Val hits the big milestone of 18 on Sunday the 9th. Another adult in the house.

Saturday I found out that everyone I took to the dr's on Friday tested positive for Strep AGAIN! This time though I only had 5 of them tested. Liz on down to and including Eileen. Liz and Luke tested positive for Group B strep (body can fight off itself) the rest all had Group A (need an antibiotic to treat). I asked for Luke and Liz to be treated also since they've been sick on and off with this for a few weeks now. Even today Luke's not feeling so hot. I am SO sick of having a houseful of sick people. I think I'm coming down with something now too. My chest is heavy, I'm coughing and like I said in the beginning..I'm exhausted. At least Sean and Danielle seem to be healthy.

Today was the first day since I can't remember when that EVERYONE went to school. It wasn't easy. I had to practically push Eileen out the door. She was oh so sore from falling off the top bunk this on Fri night (has a few bruises, but you know how the make it impossible to do school work! lol) Got her out the door and thought she was headed back in after she slipped at the bottom of the porch stairs. Then she tried to use it again...showing me her wet pants and "bruised" knee. Unfortunately for her I was a meany and wasn't buying. Then I was sure Olivia was headed in after she slipped on a patch of ice and landed squarely on her bum. Luckily she got up without falling again and then the bus was coming down the street. I slammed the front door shut and literally said PHEW as they climbed on the bus.

Sean is getting to be quite sharp. He seems to be picking up new "tricks" everyday. This week he learned to clap. Early in the week h
e kept running his thumb under the first few fingers of his hand. I couldn't figure out where he'd seen someone try to snap their fingers. A few hours later while seeing him do it again and again I realized.....he was trying to count!!!
Tom had been using his fingers to count to five. Sean was trying to copy him. Then Sunday Val and I were in Walmart waiting for the pharmacy to open. I was perusing the toy section, looking for a trinket to buy Luke for his birthday. Sean was in teh cart behind me with Val standing next to him. All of a sudden Sean yells BAAAAAL! Val shouts...did you just say BALL!?! Mom, did he just say ball? I admitted it sounded like he did. When I turned around the little stinker was reaching out toward the opposite side of aisle....toward the huge ball bin. We grabbed out a small ball for him to play with. I have yet to hear him say it again. And today.....he was trying to pull himself up into a standing position on SIL, D's coffee table and then her son's big box of hotwheels. D and I were laughing at how different we viewed that step now that we know what's ahead of us once they get mobile. Drew by now was standing on his own, taking steps and would be walking in 2wks time. Of course being first time parents we were so proud and excited. Now I'm like...someone push him down! Put a rock in his diaper! I'm not ready for him to be getting into everything yet! LOL Funny though I feel like every new trick he learns, I'm seeing it for the first time and it's just as amazing as it was when the first kid learned it.

OOOPS....Sean just woke up. Going to run in and jump into bed with the guy. Tom's on call and has gone into work for midnight. He's gearing up to deal with a storm that's headed here in a few hours.