Act of Kindness #14

The kids' school is doing a fundraiser for the Humane Society.  Sam asked if we could send some donations.  We went through Charlotte's stuff and found some things that we could donate.  Here's to making a puppy or kitty happy!

Mystery Object

Not sure which kid is going to finally do me in, but I'm getting closer to the edge every single day!  Today was Nash's turn.  I took all four kids to the ENT (basically because I knew I wouldn't have time to go back to Hyrum to get them & get to dance class on time).  Generally speaking I love my ENT.  The office visits, however, leave much to be desired simply because it is almost always a minimum of an hour and a half and sometimes as long as 3 hours (not exaggerating).  Today we were going to see Lindsey (the PA) for a follow up on Nash's allergy shots.  He just recently finished his first vial so we had to make sure nothing needed to be changed.  After we talked about allergy shots she asked if I had any questions or concerns.  I told her we had been at InstaCare on Friday and that Nash had had a really bad ear infection and wanted to know if she could please check it to be sure all looked well.  She checked his right ear and it looked great.  

She looks in the left ear and says, "Um..I think there's something in there."  

Me: "Something like a tube or something like a mystery object?"

Lindsey: "Something like a mystery object."

Awesome.  She gets out her microscope thing so she can see a little better.  She tells Nash she's going to gently poke to see if she can see what's going on and to let her know if she hurts him.  Nash of course proceeds to say "OW!" about ten times.  She got her tweezers and told Nash she was going to try & get whatever it was that was in there.  A few seconds later out comes this:

Me: "Nash!  What the hell have you been putting in your ears?!"

Nash: "I don't know what that is!  I haven't put anything in my ear!"

This thing is the size of a pencil eraser and squishy/foamy.I'm thinking art class?  And then Lindsey says, "I have some more good news for you."

Me: "Crap.  What?"
Lindsey: "It looks like the tube is behind the ear drum and the ear drum has healed up."

Me: "Again?!  Are you serious?!"

I got a sympathetic look.  "You were the one that figured it was behind the drum last time!  Dr. Blotter said he'd only had that happen once in his career!  That's been less than a year ago!"

Lindsey wanted to do a pressure test to make sure the pressure behind his ear drum was in an ok range.  The test was quick and painless.  The pressure is fine.  Lindsey: "So, when do you want to schedule to take it out?"

Me: "What does taking it out involve?"

Lindsey: "Surgery."

Me: Big. Fat. Sigh.  "I guess lets schedule for next week when his dad is home if we can."

Lindsey: "I guess the real question is, do you want to put another one?"

Me: "You mean lucky number 16?"

Lindsey: "Seriously?  That many?  I knew you'd had a lot."

Me: "Yes.  15 sets of tubes, 4 adenoids & 3 tonsils."

Lindsey: "Wow."

You know it's bad when the PA is amazed at your stats.

So, we have scheduled surgery for next Thursday (Feb. 28).  At least I won't have to miss work because Travis will be home.  I talked to Travis and I think we are in agreement - don't put another one in.  This one was in for less than a year.  I don't want to go in and take another one out in six months.  I'd like to be medical debt free sometime in the near future!  You know, like before the kids graduate, move out, get married or I die!

45 days

45 days...That's how many days this year (all of them) someone at our house has been sick.  I was sick exactly ONE of those days and that wasn't until 3 days ago!  Now, if you figure in the three weeks of sickness we had at our place in December (week before, week of & week after Christmas) that means I have been dealing with sick kids for SIXTY FIVE days.  Not.  Even.  Joking.

And the real getter is that it hasn't been the sniffles.  Nope.  All four kids & Travis got the stomach flu during December.  Come January we had croup, and a stomach flu wrap up before we got hit with the influenza.  I believe we also had an ear infection in there.  Then we had the influenza with all four kids. After we got rid of the influenza we had more croup.  We also managed to get a concussion (and subsequent CAT scan) for Brooke.  This past Saturday when we were suppose to have Sam's family birthday party Caleb ended up with pink eye.  On Sunday I got the pukies half way through church.  On Monday morning Nash said he didn't feel well but I chalked it up to it being a case of 6:45 am on a Monday I don't wanna go to school-its.  Turns out the poor kid really didn't feel well.  He called at 9:30 am when I was about 15 steps from my truck & headed into work.  Puked all over the bathroom floor at school.  He spent Tuesday at home too.  I was woken up at 2:30 am today to Nash gasping for air - thank you again croup.  Brooke then woke up with a fever & borderline croup cough as well.  Today I got a text while I was at work telling me "I think Brooke has pink eye."  Girlfriend totally has pink eye.  So much for spending time lysoling EVERY SURFACE IN MY HOUSE last Saturday.

My girlfriend told me today, "Don't worry, this too shall pass."  Yea, I don't think so.  I told her I'll let her kids be sick for 65 days in a row and then tell her the same thing & see if she still has a smile on her face.  I'm ready to go lay down in the middle of the road and not move...ever.  I seriously don't know what I did to offend the heavens, but it must have been a real doosey.

On the bright side, we'll spend all our flex spending for the year by March 1 and meet our deductible for the year.  That is a bright side, right?  Maybe this year we'll hit our max out of pocket too?  We were just shy with one (or was it two) of the kids in December.

My boys go ice fishing

Travis has never been a fan of the idea of ice fishing.  Before today, he had been exactly ONE time.  I on the other hand, LOVE ice fishing.  My dad took us every winter when I was growing up.  I loved playing on the ice with my sister and the dog.  I loved having a little hole to keep the ice off of and pulling my fish up through said hole.  I've tried to get Travis to take my kids ice fishing over the years, but to no avail.
Today, however, the skies parted & he took them ice fishing while it was snowing!  They went out to Hyrum Dam (even though the Polar Plunge was taking place).  Took took Sam & Nash while I took Caleb to Instacare.  When I got back with Caleb Sam was ready to come home so he brought Sam home and took Caleb.  He said they missed a lot of fish but they had fun.  Caleb was the only one that caught anything AND he caught it on the spiderman fishing pole he got for Christmas!

Sam's Family Birthday Party

This year for Sam's 10th birthday cake she wanted a pink & black zebra cake.  I'm not going to lie.  I didn't think I could pull it off.  In steps Pinterest.

1. Make 2 cakes mixes.  Either make 2 white ones & color them or do 2 different colors.  I did 1 Devil's Food & 1 Strawberry.

2. Plop a cupful of one batter into your prepared pan.

3. Plop a cupful of the second batter onto the first batter.

4. Repeat until pan is filled.

5. Bake as directed.

I had seen the cake tattoos (sugar sheets) and figured I might be able to find one.  I found some that was pink & black zebra BUT it was pre-cut into 2 strips that were to go around the edges of a 9 inch round.  Sam didn't like the package we saw with the pink & black zebra.  Thus, we opted for a square black & white one.

Ta day!  Pink & black zebra striped cake!  Yea, I'm awesome like that.

We had family come over for pizza, cake & ice cream tonight.  Even though Caleb has pink eye we still had a good turn out.  

Sister was so excited to find out she got a kareokee machine for her birthday!

I can't believe my baby girl is turning TEN!  It really does feel like she was just born yesterday.

Some of the things Sam likes are:

*Singing (Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Hannah Montana, Carrie Underwood are some farvorites)

*Dancing (7 years at LaShars!)

*Reading (She will read any genre by any author - she isn't picky)

*Scrapbooking (Just got into it at Christmas time)

*Piano (Started lessons at 8 years old & still going strong)

*Playing dolls (She loves Torie still & treats her like she has real feelings)

*Crafting (Painting, creating, drawing - she loves it all)

*Playing with friends (She always includes everyone and never wants to hurt anyone's feelings)

*Snow Skiing (She had so much fun on ski day with her dad)

*TV Show favorites include: Full House re-runs, Victorious, iCarly, Spongebob

*Doing her own hair (Which includes brushing it & occasionally throwing on a headband)

*Hamburgers, Spaghetti, Pizza (Cheese or Pepperoni)

*Eating ice (Thank you Grandma Kris)

Super Bowl Sunday Ice Skating

Over the last five years or so it has become tradition for us to go ice skating on Super Bowl Sunday before the big game.  We go with Travis's parents, siblings and their families.  We always have a lot of fun and the kids always ask every day for about a week after when we can go again.  Usually we go again for Sam's birthday a few weeks later.

This year was a lot of fun.  We pushed Brookelyn in her stroller and she loved every second of being on the ice.  She cried when we took her off.  She also got to ride in the sled with her cousin Olivia.  She absolutely loved that!

We got Caleb a walker since he's still fairly small.  Turns out the kid did better than most of the other kids!  We was a little goofy at first because he kept leaning over the front bar and sliding around on purpose.  He also kept falling down until I told him that if he didn't let go of the bar when he slid he wouldn't fall down.  He finally got the idea and quit falling down.

Sam wanted to push the stroller or hold onto a walker.  If we took those away she stayed fairly close to the edge.  She did eventually come away from the edge a little but she was still kind of wimpy about it!

Nash had no fear this year.  He knew he might fall but he wasn't afraid of doing it.  He didn't even complain much when we took the walker away from him!  He fell a lot this year but he didn't cry and he had a lot of fun.

It wasn't until I took this picture that I realized just how long Sam's hair has gotten.  We got Brooke this hat a day or two before.  She loves it!  It's an owl.

Caleb learning over that front bar trying to figure out how to ice skate with a walker.

Fearless Nash

Sam and Prestin

Uncle Chad pulling Livi & Kash

Travis pulling Livi & Brooke

Brooke would lean back and look at the ceiling while she was getting pulled.  Eventually she figured out if she put her hands out on the sides she could scoop up ice and eat it....yum!

Livi & Brooke

Grandpa Scott, Travis & Caleb

Sam & Weston

Aunt Shanah pulling Livi & Brooke

Travis pulling Livi & Brooke

Pink Eye.....SERIOUSLY?!

Last night I noticed Caleb had goopy eyes and they were a bit red/pink.  I was hoping perhaps it was just an allergy thing but figured in the back of my mind that it was likely pink eye.  I texted his preschool teacher to let her know she had probably better lysol everything in the preschool.

This morning when I woke Caleb up not only were his eyes completely boogered shut, they were very swollen as well.  I got him upstairs and his eyes cleaned out so that he could open them.  Travis took one look at him and told me I'd better not wait to take him to the dr.

I took Caleb and Brookelyn and headed to InstaCare.  Travis took Nash and Sam out ice fishing - they've never been.  I was at InstaCare for about an hour and a half.  The dr. said he feels like it's pink eye.  The only concern he had was that his eyes were fairly swollen and the red around them extended quite a ways out.  He gave me the pink eye eye drops and told me that if he gets a fever, chills or his eyes don't get better to bring him back and they'd put him on an oral antibiotic.  In the back of my mind I'm thinking "Give me the rx for the oral antibiotics now.  I don't have the time, energy, patience or money to come back here in a few days!"

We went and picked up his eye drop prescription.  It says to do one drop in each eye every four to six hours every day for seven days.  That should be fun.  On the bright side, he should be ok to go to daycare and preschool on Monday.  Good thing because I'm pretty sure I've used up all my "sick days" and then some!

The good luck continues...

So I mentioned Travis's truck started on fire on Saturday.  Fortunately, they were able to fix it completely and have it done by Monday afternoon.  It cost a fairly pretty penny, but it's done and it was in time for him to go with Sam on the ski day for her school.

Yesterday while I was at work Travis had Brooke and Caleb at home.  I guess he sat both of them up to the counter to have something to eat.  We always put Brooke at the counter because she's fiesty and just about refuses to sit anywhere else.  Generally speaking she does quite well.  We are never too far away from her either.  Apparently Brooke was sitting on her barstool eating her food and minding her own business when she unexplainedly fell off the barstool and landed face first on the wood floor.  She had a bloody nose off and on the entire day.  She also ended up with a nice goose egg in the center of her forehead.  She seemed ok other than that.  A little whiney but she's been sick and I just chalked it up to that.  This morning she was puking everywhere and everything.  She's throwing up to the point of dry heaving.  Poor baby.  I got thinking about it and wondered if it might be from her fall yesterday. Called the pediatrician's office.  They had me check her pupils and they were dilating.  They told me what to watch for and said that she'll probably throw up the rest of the day.  Luckily for me my neighbor is kind enough to come sit with Brooke and Caleb while I go to work for about an hour and a half.  Also fortunately for me, I'm at the school that's having the ski day for their fourth and fifth grade so I don't need to worry about missing them!
UPDATE: As the day wore on B was acting and looking worse.  By the time my mom got her just after one she had called my aunt (who's an EMT) to ask some questions.  My mom and I both felt like she didn't look too fantastic.  My aunt said we should take her to the ER and have her checked out.  So, I loaded her in the car and took her to the ER.  She just pretty much laid there while we were there.  They put a neck brace on her (which she didn't fight at all) and gave her some medicine to help her stop vomiting.  They did a cat scan to make sure she didn't have a skull fracture or swelling/blood on the brain.  Luckily, the scan came back all clear.  They gave me a prescription for Zofran (for the vomiting) and let us go.  They said to keep a close eye on her for another 24 hours.  If she doesn't improve within 24-48 hours then we need to have her checked out again.  He said that the fact that there wasn't anything showing up on the cat scan and we were 24 hours out from the accident was a good sign.  So, we are back home, she still looks and feels awful and she's still throwing up.  I sure hope the little girl feels better soon.  What a scare for mom!

B in her neck brace:

B last night showing off her brother's mask that goes to his flying suit:

Travis and I got new phones yesterday too.  We finally switched from Verizon.  We've been with them since 2002.  It wasn't that we didn't like them, we just figured out that by going through Straight Talk (at Walmart) we could get 2 smart phones and a basic phone (for the kids) and pay what we're paying now for 1 smart phone and 1 basic phone.  I'm so excited to have a smart phone!  The phone I had been using I got in 2009 and it was pretty basic.  I feel like I've joined the new age!  So, now I'm trying to figure out all the new features on my phone, add apps (look out instagram I can finally get an account!), add all my contacts, etc.  The kids are pretty excited to have a cell phone that's designated as kid use (mostly it's to stay at the house so if we run somewhere and need to leave a phone home we can).

Yesterday I got my 2008 blurb book!  I used booksmart (blurb.com) to turn my blog into a book.  I have 2008 and 2009 done and 2008 came in the mail yesterday.  It looks great and I'm so excited!  It was a New Year's resolution last year and I got it done but never ordered.  So, I added it as a New Year's resolution again this year.  When I got a coupon for 30% off I couldn't resist - made it very affordable!  I got another coupon good for part of February so now I need to get 2010 done.  I love that I have a journal with pictures for my kids.  I did paperback because it was cheaper, but I still think it will be just fine and not get destroyed too easily (as long as we keep Brooke from grabbing at it constantly!).

Well, here's to hoping we have no more trauma the rest of February!

In the last 2 weeks...

There has been ONE (healthy) adult at our house
FOUR sick children
SEVEN trips to dr.'s offices
ONE official diagnosis of Influenza
ONE official diagnosis of croup
ONE official diagnosis of a left ear infection
ONE official diagnosis of a sinus infection
ONE unofficial diagnosis of croup
TWO unofficial diagnosises of Influenza
FOUR prescriptions
THIRTEEN missed school days for three kids
ONE missed dance class
TWO missed piano lessons
ONE near trip to the ER with Nash because of his croup
ONE near trip to the ER with Caleb because of his croup
TWO AND A HALF missed school days for mom (doesn't count how many groups of kids I missed, just full days)
TWO restockings of Advil/Motril/Tylenol/Delsym
ONE day at daycare for Caleb & Brooke

I'm seriously looking forward to their dad coming home this weekend!

Update (Saturday - still well within my 2 weeks of when Travis left)
Today I got the news that:
1-My external hard drive is dead.
2-My kindle had to be reset to factory defaults (at least it wasn't dead dead).
3-Travis's truck STARTED ON FIRE.  Seriously.  Not.  Even.  Joking.  At least he made it to USU before he couldn't go any further.