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.

Sept. Update

I guess I am doing well to update this blog once a month. The kids are all back in school, for which I am very relieved. I forget how much energy they expend while they are gone learning. Christopher is in 3rd grade. He has Mr. Bol, who he thinks is the best. He told me he did not want to go to school on the day that he knew he would have a sub because the sub was not as nice as Mr. Bol, in fact she was going to be MEAN! (Of course he did go to school and as it turned out the sub was nice.) Cassidy is in 2nd grade. She is still in multi~age (1st and 2nd combined.) Usually she would have had the same teacher as last year, but with her teacher leaving (he moved to Indy), she had a long term sub. Mrs. Schaudt is a retired teacher who is willing to sub every once in a while. She ended up staying for the year because she was actually one of the teachers who started the multi~age program at Yost, so they did not have to teach her the ropes. Now Cassidy's teacher is Miss Rolfe (as of Sept. 19 Mrs Nicks) and she loves her! Barry is also in the multi~age program, but he has Mrs. Imhof (Christopher's old teacher.) He is in 1st grade and seems to enjoy the "big" kid role with the kindergarteners under him. He is a pro at school (according to him.) Cassidy and Barry have already gone on their first field trip ~ to the BEACH! They had a sandcastle building contest and then they played some teamwork games. (I was there to help out.) They had a really good time. All three of them are doing very well. We have started this year out right. The kids come home and race to see who will get their homework done correctly first. This has made my life much easier!!
We all went to the South Bend Zoo for my neice's birthday. It was a really nice zoo and my kids have already decided that we have to go back next year. We got to see the butterfly house (a first for all of us) and the kids would have been very happy to stay in there all day. We got to see butterflies not normally found around here and watch them emerge from their chrysallis. It was really neat to watch their faces as the butterflies flew around them.
Anyway, the kids are doing really well!
As for me, well, I think I need a vacation! :)

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

Camp!

Christopher got to go to camp on Monday, his very first time. He was sitting up in bed when I went to get him up at 5:45 am raring to go. He was so excited, I laugh thinking about it. He comes home on Saturday and I am sure he will have lots of stories to tell me. He is at Twin Lakes Camp (the same camp that I worked at for three years.) As his mom, I was a little apprehensive about him going with all of his numerous allergies, but I am so glad he went. The camp nurse called me on Friday before camp and asked me about his allergies and what to expect with any symptoms he may get. It made me feel very good and safe about him going. I did have to send 9 different kinds of medicines down to camp with him. I sent a shoebox. That got a laugh out of my friend. She was driving the church kids down to the camp, eleven of them. She also gets to bring them back. I almost feel sorry for her. So many kids, so hyper from camp. I am sure she will have lots of fun! I have also decided that the two kids that did not go are trying to make up for Christopher being gone this week. They are LOUD! But I will survive. I think that they miss him more than they will admit! I will let you know how he felt about camp later. Have a great summer!!