Bigger Update

I forgot some stuff that happened between December and February and then I have to update you on what has happened since February.

In December my brothers, (Nick and Matt), Maria and her fiance Joel, and I tore out the wall and floor in Cassidy's room and the bathroom. (I have taken pictures of the whole process and hope to post them soon.) It took a lot of work to get it done. We ended up having a plumber come in and fix the shower fixtures and a handyman to come in to do the finishing work. It is wonderful to have no more mold and freshly painted rooms. Cassidy is in love with her room. It is pink, very PINK! With white furniture, it is definitely all girl. :) The boys also got a freshly painted room and new floors.

The rest of January and February were fine. Until Cassidy got sick again. She started coughing on the 10th of February. On the 11th, I took her to the ER and she got three breathing treatments in 3 hours. No x-ray or meds. On the 15th I took her to her doctor and he put her on an antibiotic. He said given her history he was going to treat her like she had pneumonia again. On the 19th we were back in the ER, a different one. They did x-rays and saw she had pneumonia (again ~ for the third time this winter season.) She was admitted (AGAIN.) She saw an infectious disease doctor. Very nice woman. She had Cassidy tested for MRSA, and a bunch of other issues. Cassidy tested positive for myco-plasma pneumonia. It is the most common childhood pneumonia and very contagious. I looked it up and a person can be exposed 3 weeks before symptoms start showing. Cassidy was in the hospital for 6 days. I am a little frustrated with the fact that Cassidy keeps getting sick, but the doctors and I are trying to figure out what is causing all of this sickness.

My car is back ~ new engine and radiator. Both head-gaskets went out. When the mechanic took the motor out, they punctured the radiator. Fun right? These problems are fixed, but now I have another problem. When my friend was coming to pick me up, the heating system went out. The heating system in my car is one system with dual controls for the front and back. The hose leading to the back collapsed. I am waiting for the parts to come in. The car is drivable, but still needs work.

Man, when it rains it pours. However life could be worse and I am happy that we have doctors who have the ability to heal people and mechanics that can fix cars. Mostly I am grateful for a God who takes are of all of us.

Trying to Catch You Up

Wow! It has been a really long time since I wrote anything. I cannot believe it has been so long. I do not think I will be able to remember everything that has happened, but I will try.

Cassidy and Barry played in the AWANA Sparks-O-Rama. Their team did great. We had a little girl from another team play with us because we were one girl short. She was the daughter of a friend from high school. Fun. I was one of the coaches. That was an experience.

Christopher is starting counseling on the 22nd. I am really looking forward to it. I think that Chris is a little scared about it. I really hope it will help him.

Chris went to the allergist last week and everything is going well on that front. It looks like Cassidy may be developing allergies, so she has an appointment soon.

Barry has a hole in his eardrum and we go see an ENT on the 4th of May. He cannot wait.

The kids all had projects due for school right after spring break. Cassidy and Barry each had to design something to do with space: a space creature, a rocket ship, and astronauts suit, etc. Cassidy had a pink astronauts suit and Barry made a rocket ship. Christopher had a project due on the state of Maryland. He had to draw the flag, among other things. Look at the Maryland state flag and then you try to draw it. It was not an easy thing to do, but we managed. I do not have a picture of Chris's projects. I will get one once it come back home.

We have been to the beach at least three time already this spring and the park once. The kids are so glad that the weather is getting better. They spend lots of time outside, as much as I will let them anyway. My sister's boyfriend went with us to the park, it was really nice.

We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry over spring break. It was really nice. Crazy busy! There were lots of field trips from schools not on spring break, but we managed to run into people from our church and from the kids school. It was neat to see people that we knew there. :)

Christopher and Cassidy are both going to camp this summer. Christopher cannot wait to go back and Cassidy is really excited to be going at all.

This has been the most unorganized blog I have done in a long time, but I tried to catch you all up on everything. I probably forgot a lot, but I will try to remember and catch you up on everything else next time. (Hopefully, next time will be a lot quicker.) :)

Everything Update :)

I know, I know I just posted that note, but this one is about the kids. :) I got the kids report cards at the beginning of the month. Everyone is doing really well! Cassidy got an A in math and that is where she really struggled last year!! Hooray! Christopher's behavior has gotten sooooooooo much better. I have noticed it at home too. Barry is, well, Barry. I got a note from his substitute on Thursday (thru facebook) saying that he rocked in math class. It made me smile and when I asked him to tell me what happened, he shyly said that he almost went around the world. (The kids challenge each other in math facts or whatever they are working on at the time. The kid that gets it right goes on to the next kid and the challenge continues. If one kid goes through the whole class he or she has gone around the world. ) Barry said that he only had two kids left when he got beat. :)

On to health issues. Cassidy was doing great when we had her follow up appointment last Tuesday (Novemeber 10). The doctor ordered an x-ray and we found that her pneumonia was still hanging on, although it had moved from one side to the other. She was put back on an antibiotic and did fine until Friday morning when she was back to having breathing problems again. We went back to the doctor and her O2 levels were back to 88-92. I was really worried they would put her back in the hospital, but the dctor just gave her an oral steroid again and she is doing better. I say that cautiously because from experience that may not be entirely true. We go back to the doctor on the 25th and we will see what happens next.

For Thanksgiving this year, we are having about forty people at my mother's house. Chaos, but it will be fun chaos. Have a wonderfull Thanksgiving everyone!!

Police, Hospitals, and Chaos!

Well, since I last wrote we have had a visit from the police, a visit to the police station, a five day hospital stay and of course the normal chaos.
The visit from the police was actually quite amusing! My boys were selling Cub Scout popcorn and I was delivering it to my next door neighbor. Christopher came over to get his inhaler and said that there was a raccoon in the yard. I said he could wait a couple of minutes for it to leave. Then he told me that the raccoon was falling down. That concerned all of us, so of course we went outside and found not a raccoon, but a opossum. It was sick, it took about 2 steps and then fell over. He hid under my house. So we decided to catch it in a pet carrier and call animal control. My neighbors have air guns (kind of like BB guns, but not) and they were trying to scare the opossum out from under my house and my other next door neighbor called the police because they were "shooting" guns. The police came, 3 of them. No one got it trouble, but they did stay for about 30-45 minutes to help us catch the animal. Animal control picked it up the next day.
Our police station visit was with Barry's Cub Scouts. The Chesterton police station and fire station are in the same building, so we got a tour of the police station (got to climb in a police car and hear the sirens up close) and the fire station (they still have a fireman pole). Cassidy and Barry went to that. Christopher was with his Cub Scout den at the library. Anyway that was a fun experience.
The five day stay in the hospital was not so much fun. Cassidy had been coughing for about a month with numerous visits to the doctor. Finally last Monday (10/19) the doctor put her on an antibiotic and gave her an inhaler. (She has never used an inhaler before and has no idea how to use it.) On Wednesday she was having a little trouble breathing about 10:30 pm. I took the boys to my mother's and took her to the hospital. They took us straight back and gave her a breathing treatment. They did a chest x-ray and found that she had bronchitis and pre-pneumonia. Because I have a nebulizer machine at home they sent us home and said that she should continue the antibiotic and do breathing treatments every 4 hours when she was awake. No problem. We had a follow up appointment with her doctor on Friday and everything was going well. On Saturday, she began to really have a hard time breathing. She was doing breathing treatments every 1 to 2 hours. (Not a good thing!) I took her back to the hospital and here is where it got interesting. We got to the ER and checked in with the triage receptionist. Cassidy was doing fine at the time, so I was not too worried when she said there were about 5 people ahead of us. About 10-15 minutes later Cassidy started to have a REALLY hard time. I got back up and told the receptionist that she needed to be seen NOW. The receptionist said she would tell the nurse (never happened.) Another man came in and said he was having trouble breathing and they took him straight into triage. Still no help for Cassidy. By this time she was crying and saying she could not breathe. A whole bunch of people came in and so another nurse came to help the triage nurse. She actually came into the waiting area and just looked at everyone to see if anyone needed immediate help and saw Cassidy. She listened to her lungs and took us straight back, no triage. Before Cassidy saw the doctor the nurse had her on O2 and had called for a respiratory therapist to give her a breathing treatment. They did another x-ray and she had full blown pneumonia. Her breathing was so bad that they gave her a breathing treatment that lasted an hour and they did a blood gas (not a good experience). Had the results of that been any worse they were going to transfer her to Riley Children's hospital in Indianapolis (about 2 hours from here.) Luckily they were good enough for us to stay in northwest IN. Cassidy's O2 saturation dropped to 88 (should be 95 or higher) every time they took the O2 off until Tuesday evening. That is why she stayed in the hospital so long. She was able to come home Wednesday. She is back at school now (half day today and full day starting Monday.) She is MUCH better.
Normal chaos is, well, normal. Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, AWANA, school, etc. are all going fine. The kids are ready for Halloween. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween. Enjoy!!

October Start

Well, we are now into October. When I wrote in September, things were normal. Well then it got a little crazy. Boy Scouts started for both boys and Girl Scouts started for Cassidy. We are in the swing of things now with AWANA and I take 3 extra kids to church with me. It completely fill my van. There are 8 more kids in my neighborhood that we have invited, but so far they have not been able to come. Cassidy got bit by a dog on the 18th. She is fine, but it was a scary experience for all of us. All three kids are doing really well in school this year! I am so excited about that. Cassidy and Barry come home with lots of information about their multiage classes. Christopher has his first field trip on the 27th. We are going to Fair Oaks Farm. My kids went there a couple of years ago with Girl Scouts, but I have never been. I am a little excited about it. I will have to take lots of pictures. Swimming lessons start again on Tuesday and my kids are really excited about them! My brother and his wife have a new baby boy, so of course all Cassidy can talk about is when she will get to see him. :) Anyway my life has increased in speed. I am going a million miles an hour and I still have lots to do at the end of the day.

End of a fun summer!

WOW!!! Summer has flown by! The kids start school in a week and a half. They are really excited to go back. (I know, I know, but they really are excited!) We went to Six Flags Great America last Friday and got rained on. We went with some friends and had a blast even in the rain. My kids had never been to an amusement park before and they loved it. We are planning on going again next summer, if we can. :) Cassidy is still riding the horse and still really enjoys it. She got to go with her Aunt Connie and pick out some new boots. (They are brown and green ~ very cool.) Christopher is VERY full of energy. Wouldn't it be nice if we could harness the energy of our kids and use it ourselves? Barry is still the gentle little boy, but I see some of that boundless energy in him too!! :) We went to OK for a family reunion and had a really nice time with family. We are also planning on going to the Indianapolis Children's Museum before school starts. Hopefully we will manage to do that. Swimming lessons start again in Sept. The pool was closed for repairs most of July and all of this month. I am checking into a swim team for Cassidy and Christopher. Barry is not quite ready for it. So starting soon we will have Girl Scouts, swimming, AWANA, and horseback riding for Cassidy, Boy Scouts, swimming, and AWANA for the boys. When will I sleep??? I also want to see about getting Christopher into 4-H, but that may have to wait. Talk to you all soon!!

Summer Chaos!

It has been a busy first half of summer. Chris went to camp, had a blast and cannot wait until next year. My church celebrated its 100 anniversary on July 11 and 12. We also had the Gary airshow on the 11-12. It takes place only about 2 blocks from my mother's house. My children, mother and I went to Oklahoma for a family reunion on July 17-19. It was a blast! Cassidy has also been riding the horse as much as possible. She also gets tutoring once a week. She has already gone to 2 horseshow this summer. More to come. Anyway, I hope the last half of the summer is less chaotic! I will let you know!

Kids!

Christopher had an awesome time at camp. He had no issues with allergies or asthma!! He cannot wait to go back next year.

I posted a note in March that the kids answered questions for. I had to repost it. It made me laugh. I think everyone needs to laugh once in a while. :) Enjoy!!

From March 13, 2009

Kids Say the Darndest Things

This should be interesting.

These are the questions I asked each of my kids one at a time (with the other kids in the other room):


1. What is something I always say to you?
Barry: I love you.
Cassidy: I love you.
Chris: Hm, I love you

2. What makes me happy?
Barry: cleaning the living room.
Cassidy: Hugs and kisses
Chris: When we obey, when I obey, not we, I

3. What makes me sad?
Barry: not obeying, not cleaning
Cassidy: when we don't obey
Chris: When I don't obey

4. What makes me laugh?
Barry: Me being silly
Cassidy: When we tickle you
Chris: When something funny happens

5. What was I like as a child?
Barry: Me
Cassidy: Uh, you didn't have any real live toys like they have now.
Chris: little

6. How old am I?
Barry: I don't know, how old are you momma?
Cassidy: I don't know
Chris: 33

7. How tall am I?
Barry: 25 feet
Cassidy: I don't know
Chris: Hm, I don't know

8. What is my favorite thing to do?
Barry: Swim with me.
Cassidy: Watch movie and us leave you alone
Chris: Cuddle us, cuddle me

9. What do I do when you're not around?
Barry: Wait, I don't know
Cassidy: Uh, sow on patches
Chris: Hm, play your DS

10. If I became famous, what will it be for?
Barry: I don't know what that means
Cassidy: Having one hundred million kids
Chris: Now that's a hard one, I think it would be that you are a nice mom

11. What am I really good at?
Barry: helping us do somersaults in the water
Cassidy: Playing with me
Chris: Hm, playing your DS

12. What am I not very good at?
Barry: I don't know
Cassidy: Not playing with me
Chris: Um, letting me play your DS

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Barry: I just know one job. You help the Girl Scouts. What's a job?
Cassidy: I don't know
Chris: Work at Baba's

14. What is my favorite food?
Barry: I don't know.
Cassidy: I forgot the name (while jumping up and down)
Chris: Anything

15. What makes you proud of me?
Barry: Giving me kiss and cuddles
Cassidy: That you love me (And then she gave me a hug)
Chris: Um, I think it would be that you love me and I love you

17. What do you and I do together?
Barry: Play
Cassidy: scrapbooking
Chris: Um, go, this is a hard one, go to McDonalds

18. How are you and I the same?
Barry: we do the same stuff like swim
Cassidy: you have blue eyes
Chris: Um, we both wear glasses and we both have blue eyes

19. How are you and I different?
Barry: We have different hair
Cassidy: you have glasses and I don't
Chris: You're a girl and I'm a boy

20. How do you know I love you?
Barry: Because you always love us, because you always say it.
Cassidy: Because you love us everyday when we come home from school
Chris: Um, because you let me play your DS

Kids Say the Darndest Things

This should be interesting.

These are the questions I asked each of my kids one at a time (with the other kids in the other room):


1. What is something I always say to you?
Barry: I love you.
Cassidy: I love you.
Chris: Hm, I love you

2. What makes me happy?
Barry: cleaning the living room.
Cassidy: Hugs and kisses
Chris: When we obey, when I obey, not we, I

3. What makes me sad?
Barry: not obeying, not cleaning
Cassidy: when we don't obey
Chris: When I don't obey

4. What makes me laugh?
Barry: Me being silly
Cassidy: When we tickle you
Chris: When something funny happens

5. What was I like as a child?
Barry: Me
Cassidy: Uh, you didn't have any real live toys like they have now.
Chris: little

6. How old am I?
Barry: I don't know, how old are you momma?
Cassidy: I don't know
Chris: 33

7. How tall am I?
Barry: 25 feet
Cassidy: I don't know
Chris: Hm, I don't know

8. What is my favorite thing to do?
Barry: Swim with me.
Cassidy: Watch movie and us leave you alone
Chris: Cuddle us, cuddle me

9. What do I do when you're not around?
Barry: Wait, I don't know
Cassidy: Uh, sow on patches
Chris: Hm, play your DS

10. If I became famous, what will it be for?
Barry: I don't know what that means
Cassidy: Having one hundred million kids
Chris: Now that's a hard one, I think it would be that you are a nice mom

11. What am I really good at?
Barry: helping us do somersaults in the water
Cassidy: Playing with me
Chris: Hm, playing your DS

12. What am I not very good at?
Barry: I don't know
Cassidy: Not playing with me
Chris: Um, letting me play your DS

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Barry: I just know one job. You help the Girl Scouts. What's a job?
Cassidy: I don't know
Chris: Work at Baba's

14. What is my favorite food?
Barry: I don't know.
Cassidy: I forgot the name (while jumping up and down)
Chris: Anything

15. What makes you proud of me?
Barry: Giving me kiss and cuddles
Cassidy: That you love me (And then she gave me a hug)
Chris: Um, I think it would be that you love me and I love you

17. What do you and I do together?
Barry: Play
Cassidy: scrapbooking
Chris: Um, go, this is a hard one, go to McDonalds

18. How are you and I the same?
Barry: we do the same stuff like swim
Cassidy: you have blue eyes
Chris: Um, we both wear glasses and we both have blue eyes

19. How are you and I different?
Barry: We have different hair
Cassidy: you have glasses and I don't
Chris: You're a girl and I'm a boy

20. How do you know I love you?
Barry: Because you always love us, because you always say it.
Cassidy: Because you love us everyday when we come home from school
Chris: Um, because you let me play your DS

Kids!!

You know, there are times when my kids absolutely drive me up the wall. For example, they were supposed to be cleaning the "play" room at my mother's tonight. Of course, they decided to 1.) fight, 2.) play, 3.) fight, 4.) play, I think you get the idea. So here we are three hours later (for a job that sound only have taken about 30 minutes) still trying to obey and JUST finish! These are the times when I really wish I had someone I could send in to talk to them, so I would not want to yell at them so much. Of course, I know God is in control and He knows what HE is doing. It is a really good thing that I am not in charge of the world. I know I would make a huge mess of things.

Anyway back to the kids. Of course, most of the time my kids amaze me. When Cassidy volunteers to help me, her brothers, family, or a friend, she is so willing to be there for people. She also is very sensitive to other people in pain of any kind. On Sunday when I pinched a nerve in my back, she cried because I was in pain. Christopher is one of the most inventive kids I know. Not just when he plays, but also when he is learning. His ability to put things into words that he and everyone else can understand is mind boggling! Barry is such a cutie. All he has to do is look at you and wink and you melt. When they play nicely together for hours it is so much fun to stop and listen to them pretending to be transformers, or a grown up family, or any number of things. These times more than make up for the frustration that comes with being a mom.

But why oh why do we have to pick today to act up??

Allergies!

I hate allergy testing! I really hate it! Anytime your child needs a shot or something that can "hurt or scare" them, parents hate it. But some ways to test for allergies are so much better than others. 40 pricks quickly done are so much better than 15 mini-shots done over a much slower period of time. Here are my two examples of the difference, aside from the fact that they were done to two different children. :)

In November, Christopher was tested for allergies. The testing was really quick and easy, although to hear Christopher tell you about it, it was horrible! The nurse had him take off his shirt and climb in my lap. She then QUICKLY prick his back with 40 different allergens (it took about 5 or 6 minutes.) He sat in my lap and waited about 5 minutes and they checked the pricks and figured out what he was allergic too. (27 out of 40 things) He will be tested for food allergies in March. Christopher never saw a needle and he really did not feel a thing. Being a kid, he hated it but he survived and the test was over.

When I took Cassidy to be tested today, horrible. Normally she is the easiest child to deal with at the doctor's office. She was refered to an ENT and he says that she has allergies and that is what is causing her frequent ear infections. He wanted her to get tested. She was fine until the woman before us got tested for allergies. The technician said, "You will get 15 or more of these pricks." Of course, that scared Cassidy. And then she saw what the pricks were. The tech got a syringe and put the allergen into it. She then had to poke the needle into the top layer of skin and inject the allergen into it forming a "bubble." It took about 15-20 minutes to do 15 "pricks." The woman before Cassidy did not like it at all. She got 8 "pricks" on one arm and 7 on the other. Then, it was Cassidy's turn. Of course she started crying as soon as she saw the needle. She allowed the tech to "prick" her twice (it took about 10 minutes) and then it was over. She was hysterical! The tech gave up and I was actually quite relieved! I took Cassidy to our "normal" doctor and her is going to refer her to the allergist that Christopher went to so she can be tested in a quicker, easier way. Cassidy did not let the test get finished the first time. I am hoping that the allergist can make her testing experience much better the next time around.

As you can see, allergy testing is horrible to begin with, but there is a good way and a bad way for the testing to be done. Unfortunately, Cassidy experienced the BAD way to be tested. I'll let you know how she handles the other way. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Well, we are now officially in 2009. I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful New Year! 2008 was an interesting year to say the least. My children are all doing well in school and I hope they continue to do well as 2009 starts. Christopher has officially been diagnosed with allergies to every kind of tree and grass imaginable. He is also allergic to ragweed, cats and dogs. Did you know there are two different types of dust mites? Well, there are and he is allergic to both kinds!! He will be tested for food allergies in March. Cassidy finally got referred to an ENT. She has allergies also. We will not find out what she is allergic to until Feb or March. I never considered allergies with her frequent ear infections, but she has them and THEY cause the ear infections. Fun, right? Barry is not having any allergy problems at the moment, but that could change. Thank heavens God is in charge!!

All of the kids continue to excel at swimming. Christopher is almost ready to join the swim team (yeah!) and Cassidy is getting there. Barry thinks he can swim better than he really can, which makes thing fun. If I am not watching him 100% of the time, he thinks it is fun to try to swim away and then he sinks. He has no fear of the water at all.

AWANA is going really well. My girl's group is not very big, but they are really working hard. Every quarter we have a special activity for the girls that pass at least 14 sections in the quarter. (The quarter is two months long from Sept.-April.) Out of nine girls 7 of them were invited to the last quarter activity. I hope we get at least the same number of girls for our next activity. I will know in two weeks! Christopher is doing well in Sparks. He continues to surprise is leaders with his ability to figure out what the verses mean without them having to explain it to them. Cassidy is doing well also. She is starting to read on her own, so she needs less one on one help. Barry loves to go to Sparks. He gets so excited to be there. He thinks it is fun when he see a word he knows, so it is fun to work with the leaders.

All of the kids will be able to start riding the horses again when it gets warmer. They all went to the horse show awards with their grandmother and had a really good time. It was a nice little break for me, because I have not had two days in a row with no kids, in a very long time . :)

We had a lot of people at my mother's for Christmas. It was one of the biggest get togethers we have had in a long time. That made things fun let me tell you! It was wonderful to see family that we have not seen in a while. Dave and Sonya came up from OK, Uncle D.B. and Mary Jo came, and Helen and her kids were there. We have not seen most of them in a long time.

My life has been a bit chaotic lately. My ex is the source of a lot of the problems, but as of now he is no longer permitted to talk to me. I am glad of that, because it takes a lot of the stress out of the picture. I am still dealing with the after effects of his actions, but I can handle them, if he is not in the way. :)

Anyway, I hope that God allows 2009 to be stress free as much as possible for me and for everyone I love. Have a great year!

November Update a Little Late!

Christopher is nine! I cannot believe my oldest is nine. It seems like just yesterday he was a tiny little baby! Outside of the very cold and snowy weather, November was rather uneventful. For this I am very grateful. The kids are pretty healthy, although Chris did get strep throat. Cassidy has not been on antibiotics recently and she has been referred to an ENT. Finally! I am still waiting for the doctor's office to call and let me know who she is going to go to. Barry is very healthy and happy. He does not really remember Brad, so he does not seem to have the same kind of issues as the other two. We are still getting counseling which is really helping. My kids really like to go and see Kathleen (our counselor.) She is very nice. The only problem is that as of the 18th, she is out of work until the grant is renewed. Anyway, she is going to give me the names of some people that will take our insurance and still be able to help the kids. My life is a little overwhelming at the moment and the kids have nothing much to do with it. They are doing well in school and swimming, AWANA, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts. It makes me happy that they are feeling so much better about things. Anyway, my life is crazy mainly becasue of, well, you guessed it - Brad. Long story that is not really important, however, if we did not have kids, I would be done talking to him altogether. Anyway, have a wonderful holiday season!!

27 out of 40

Hello everyone! I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! This year my oldest will be nine (tomorrow)!!! I cannot believe that he is already getting so big! He was tested for allergies (finally) last week. The allergist gave him the "40" test. They pricked Christopher's back with 40 different environmental things (trees, grass, animals, mold, dust mites, etc.) He was allergic to 27 of the things. Every tree that he was tested for, every grass, 2 different types of dust mites, and cats and dogs. They will test him for food allergies in March. He hated it. He now takes five different kinds of medicine every day. One for ADHD, 4 for allergies/asthma. He also has an emergency inhaler for his asthma for only when he needs it. He is supposed to take another allergy med, but the insurance needs to get the doctor's pre-authorization. At least now we know part of his allergies.

Cassidy and Barry are fine! Cassidy will be seeing an ENT soon to discuss whether she needs her tonsils removed or something like that. Right now though she is feeling pretty good. Barry is doing great. He is the healthiest of my kids. Anyway everyone is doing fine!

October Update

Total chaos. I suppose anyone with kids can understand where I am coming from. I think at the moment the chaos is somewhat controlled. I went to AWANA last night and the girls had a lot of fun. One of our girls has downs syndrome. She had emergency surgery on Monday, her growth plate in her hip slipped out of place. Please pray for her. Her name is Libby. Anyway at the end of club, I had one of Christopher's Sparky leaders tell me how smart he was. She said that he would read the verses and then change the worlds he did not really understand to words that meant the same thing so he was sure that he knew what he was learning. I am so happy for him. He is finally able to focus enough to show the world how smart he is, something I have known all the time! Cassidy is at a girl scout event right now. She sold over 200 boxes of cookies so far. She is so proud of herself. Barry loves to come home from school and tell me everything that happened over the whole day, to him and his friends. Today and tomorrow the kids are not in school. Their teachers have inservice. Christopher's teacher went on maternity leave on Wednesday. Cassidy got a new teacher about two weeks ago. Her teacher got a new job. Barry is the only one so far that did not get a new teacher yet. I hope he does not. Christopher's teacher comes back in January. (She is having a boy, she thinks!) Anyway, I just thought I'd update everyone.

Just a quick thought -> I am SO not ready for snow!!! (The weather report says we might get some on Sunday!!) TOO SOON!!!!!

Kids again!

Wow, last week was a bit insane. This week looks a little better, well it did before all three kids got sick and missed school today. As soon as I leave here, I am taking them to an after hours clinic, so they can HOPEFULLY not miss any more school. It is really hard to get them an appointment on Mondays. They all started getting sick yesterday, and well now they got me sick too!!! Christopher slept until 2pm today. He was so pale. He looks and feels better right now, but he still gets to go in to the doctor. Any way, I think I keep jumping from one thought to another, so if none of this makes any sense, I am sorry. My head is a little achy right now. Cassidy probably has an ear infection (she has them a lot and never really has a fever or earaches), she has been coughing and that usually leads me to her ears. Anyway, Barry just has a cold I think, but you never know! I'll fill you in later!

Crazy life!!

Lets see, where to begin? I do not even know! My life is so crazy! My kids really seem to be going in ten different directions and they are still little. What am I going to do when they get big enough to really have lots to do. I think I will just have to let them figure it out. This past weekend the Colvins took my kids on Saturday and kept them the WHOLE day. It was so nice to have a day with no kids. I did not have to feed them breakfast or lunch (they ate at grandma's house), I did not have to entertain them, I actually got stuff done! Hooray! Yesterday Christopher had a counseling session that went really well. Today Cassidy has Girl Scouts, and then all three kids have swimming lessons. I am watching my nephew so his mom can go to a funeral. Tomorrow we have AWANA, and Thursday we have more swimming lessons. I am pretty sure the kids do not have some place to go on Friday, but I have an AWANA activity with the girls T&T. Then on Saturday, I have a counseling session with Brad's counselor again. That is just this week. Oh well, I will survive! :)

Quick Update

Christopher decided this morning to wake us all up by throwing up! YUCK!!! He is asleep on my mother's chair right now. (We had to come here to be here when the Sear repairman came to fix the washing machine.) He was not so patiently waiting for him to leave and now he is waiting for me. Anyway, hopefully this will not travel through the family!!

Just wondering

Well, I am a little confused. I have been sneezing like crazy and my nose keeps running, but until today I was not coughing at all. At first I thought I was just allergies, but now I am not so sure. Also, my kids started swimming lessons again this week. Of course, I HAVE to swim too. I wonder if that has anything to do with me feeling sick. Anyway, Cassidy has a horse show this weekend, her first girl scout meeting next Tuesday, AWANA started on Wednesday, Christopher's boy scouts start next Tuesday (after Cassidy's girl scout meeting), and the swimming lessons are every Tuesday and Thursday. I think that I am going to go crazy this month. Maybe that is why I am sick!! :)

Horse Show, August 17, 2008

My kids all competed in a horse show today.

Cassidy competed in SHOWMANSHIP, WALK / TROT 9 & UNDER, PONY WALK / TROT, SENIOR HORSE WALK / TROT, NOVICE RIDER WALK / TROT, and ENGLISH SADDLES WALK / TROT 18 & UNDER. She came in second in WALK / TROT 9 & UNDER, fifth place in PONY WALK / TROT (she did better than Connie did), and sixth place in NOVICE RIDER WALK / TROT. She did not place in the others. This was her first English saddle competition. In her SENIOR HORSE WALK / TROT, there were 27 people. Cassidy was the youngest. She had a really good time.



Barry competed in LEADLINE class. Connie (my sister-in-law) lead him around while he tried to guide the horse. He came in first. He was quite excited.



Christopher competed in the WALK class. He rode the horse with no one around (all by himself). He was proud of himself. He was afraid of first. He also got first.



We spent the whole day at the show and the kids cannot wait until they can go to another show!