Colvin Family

Major Update

2011-08-06T17:21:00.000-07:00

I have decided that as a single mom with no internet at home, I will just write this blog as often as I can and not worry about missing time. I will of course update everyone on the things that were missed, but until I get internet at home I will not be able to blog very often.

So. . . I really have a lot to catch you all up on. Here we go:

The last time I wrote was in March. Almost six months ago and so much happening, I will try to remember it all. As you know I am a Girl Scout leader for Cassidy's Girl Scout Troop. As third graders, our troop was responsible for the Me and My Pal Dance. Our theme was "A Knight to Remember." We decided that we would include a catered dinner with the dance which made for more work, but it was so worth it. The dads/pals were dressed in suits and the girls all wore very beautiful dresses. Cassidy went with our next door neighbor, Jim. She had a blast. The dance was a huge success and the food was great. The other leaders and I worked very hard on making the dance fun. It was a blast watching all the girls, dads, pals, and other leaders dancing to the Cha-Cha Slide. Very funny! As much fun as we had, I am very glad that we do not have that responsibility next year. :)

I am also on the Cub Scout Committee for the boys. Chris only has one more year as a Cub Scout and then he plans to go onto Boy Scouts. (Not sure what I will do in the Boy Scout troop to help.) Barry has a couple more years before we get to that decision. Anyway, I am in charge of the Cub Scout scrap book. I am going to pass it on to another mom when Barry is done with Cub Scouts. I love to scrap book so I do not mind the job at all. The only problem I have is that I do not have enough pictures, but I will remedy that when ever I can. I am also responsible for setting up a summer activity for the Pack. The past two years we have had the pack at my mother's house to see the airshow and have a picnic. It made for a long, but interesting day!

All three of my kids went to Twin Lakes Camp this summer. Cassidy had the same counselors as last year, so she was very excited! Barry and Christopher were in the same cabin only because it was Barry's first year at camp. (Next year they will be in separate cabins.) They all had a really good time. They got to stay at camp for a couple of extra days because my alarm did not go off. I was not a happy mommy when I woke up. My mother ended up driving down to pick them up for me because I had to get everything ready for the Cub Scouts to come enjoy the airshow. Next year my neighbor's and mom are all going to call to make sure my alarm gets me up. :)

In April, Cassidy was sick with pneumonia again and she was in the hospital again! She was in for about 4 days, absolutely no fun. This time she decided that she was old enough to be there alone at night. My family doctor finally said he was going to start doing the tests that needed to be done that the allergist/pulmonary doctor would not. We found that she is very highly allergic to dust mites. (Fun right? You cannot avoid those things!!)

My sister Maria got married this summer in Denver. Most of my sibling met in Vale, CO before the wedding at my cousin Anna's house. (Beautiful house!!) We had a great time. We went white water rafting which was a blast. However, Cassidy decided to get sick again. We went to the ER on Thursday (before the wedding). The doctor sent her home with oxygen and said hopefully when we went lower down the mountain to Boulder, she would do better. She did a little better on Friday during the day, but she had a horrible time Friday night. I took her to the Rocky Mountain Urgent Care, where they gave her three back to back double breathing treatments. When the third one was done, her pulse-ox was still 77, so of course that meant we were on our way to the ER. When we got to the ER, they were really busy. They were telling all the people waiting that it would be a while before they were seen. I went to the counter with Cassidy and told them where we started and what was going on with her and the nurse did not believe that a girl that looked as good as she did could be that bad, but he took her back to the triage area and saw that her pulse-ox WAS 77. They took her straight back. We were in the ER for about two hours. Then Cassidy went upstairs. We were only in her room for about 5 minutes before the doctor came in and said we should probably go to the Denver Children's Hospital. We went two different ways. Cassidy was life flighted to the hospital in a helicopter. She got to see everything. She thinks it is cool that no one else in the family has ever been in a helicopter. The Boulder Hospital gave me a voucher to get to the Children's Hospital because everyone else was at Maria's wedding, so the trip did not cost me anything. Cassidy was in the PICU for 5 days. She got bad enough that they put her on a B-PAP. That is somewhat like the C-PAP that people who have sleep apnea use. She was unable to eat anything for two days because her breathing was so bad. She went to the regular floor and was there for 3 days. While we were in Denver the doctors tested Cassidy for everything from Cystic Fibrosis to HIV. All the tests came back normal. There are some other tests that can be done, but we will have to have them done in Indiana. When she was released the Children's Hospital, they gave us vouchers to fly home on Southwest Airlines. (My mother and the boys went home on Tuesday, while Cassidy was still in the PICU.) We flew home and our luggage ended up in Indy. Southwest got our luggage sent back and we got it back a couple of days later.

I have all the kids get eye exams every year. My eyes are horrible and Brad wears glasses also. Chris has been wearing glasses for about 3 years and Cassidy got them last year, but she does not need them all the time. This year the eye doctor saw that Chris's optic nerve was swollen, so we went to a neurologist on the 4th. Chris now has to have an MRI, EEG, and some other tests to see what is going on. The doctor thinks that he looks good, but she just wanted to make sure everything was good.

On the 5th, I took Cassidy down to Riley Children's Hospital to see a pediatric pulmonary specialist. After our latest adventure in Denver, I decided that we needed to get a different pulmonary doctor and allergist. Once that decision was made it was easy to decided to go to Riley's. Got a different medication that should work better than her old one. Dr. was happy with how much we are doing to prevent issues, but even though she looks healthy her lung function is not great. Therefore the new meds. We go back in a month. Hopefully we will get the answers to help keep her healthy.

Bigger Update

2011-03-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

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.

Time to Catch You Up On Everything

2011-02-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

I have not forgotten you all, but I have been very busy. I kind of left off with Cassidy at Riley's. She came home the night before Thanksgiving and has not really had a problem since then. Chris and Cassidy started getting acupuncture the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it seems to be helping. Chris is gaining weight (finally) and Cassidy is feeling better. I had three finals, 5 small papers and three big papers to do before the end of the semester Dec. 15th. Crazy busy, right? Life since Christmas has not slowed down at all. I have been "snowed in" for about a week. Well, not really snowed in, but car less. My car went into the shop about 2 weeks ago ~ the first time. It went back into the shop two days later ~ the second time. The third time I took it into the shop, we finally figured out what was wrong. Both head gaskets in the engine broke. So until the engine is replaced/fixed, I am with out a car. The same time my car broke down, my mother's and neighbor's cars also broke down. With what problem you may ask? Both of their cars need, you guessed it new ENGINES. A little frustrating to say the least. Northwest Indiana got about 2 feet of snow last Tuesday/Wednesday and another 7 inches today. So not fun! I am so looking forward to SPRING. Talk to you all later!

Have I Got a Story For You!

2010-11-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, Cassidy had pneumonia in September. We spent 3 days in the hospital and everything was better. Well, on Thursday (Nov. 18) I got a phone call from her school saying she coughed so much that she threw up. Of course that meant that I had to pick her up from school. (Now just so you know, she wasn't even coughing on Wednesday AT ALL!) When I got to the school, she was fine, a little cough but nothing bad. However being a mom with three kids, I made a doctor's appointment for 3:15 that afternoon. I always try to get to the office early, so hopefully that means they will see us quicker. We sat in the waiting room all of five minutes, before Cassidy was really struggling to breathe. I went to the desk and told the receptionist that she really needed to be seen. (Usually I do not mind waiting, but something told me we could not wait this time.) They got a nurse, who took her straight back and gave her a breathing treatment. (With asthmatics, they always put on a O2 saturation monitor. Her pulse-ox was 88.) After the breathing treatment, her pulse-ox went up to 94/95. She was doing better. However, what kind of story would this be without more. About 30 minutes later, her pulse-ox dropped back down to 89/90. Of course no one was happy with that. The doctor put her on O2, which only brought her pulse-ox up to 92/93. A second doctor came in and both doctor's agreed that she needed to go into the hospital. Not only into the hospital, but she had to go by ambulance. She freaked out! When the ambulance got there, the paramedic had to put in an IV. (Not Cassidy's favorite thing!!) She cried. The paramedic told her that if he put the IV in she could get a new teddy bear. She let him and got a cute little pink sparkly bear. I followed the ambulance and the boys were with me. We got to St. Mary's hospital in Hobart and sat in the ER until almost ten. They were waiting for a room for her. They did an x-ray and an hour long breathing treatment. The boys were bored and decided to fight with each other to pass the time. I am sure the people in the ER were very glad to see us go. We went up to the pediatric unit, where Cassidy was very excited to see nurses she remembered from previous stays. Her pulse-ox never got above 93, so on Saturday morning the doctor decided it was time to send her to a children's' hospital. We ended up going to Riley Children's' Hospital in Indianapolis. I was told that if there had been no fog , she would have been airlifted to the hospital. As it was, I followed the ambulance to Riley's. We never went slower than 80 mph on I-65. When we got to Riley's, Cassidy was admitted to the PICU, the pediatric intensive care unit. All day Saturday, her pulse-ox stayed about 90. The doctors decided to give her moist, heated O2. She was at 100% until the middle of the night when they turned it sown to 50%. Her pulse-ox through the night was 97/98. This morning was a whole different story. Her pulse-ox dropped to 85/86. Everyone was really concerned that they would have to insert a breathing tube. We had a tense couple of hours. However, they decided to try something different. They put her back on an O2 mask with the heated, moist air. They gave her a breathing treatment and then used another treatment machine. She had to breathing in and out deeply and when she breathed in the machine gave an extra puff and forced air deep into her lungs. After she did that, they used a third machine that pounds on her back to help loosen the mucus in her lungs. Right now (7:30 CST, Nov. 21) she is down to 60% o2 and her pulse-ox is up to 95/96. Tomorrow, we will meet the pulmonary specialist and see what we can do to stop this from happening again. I am sure this story is not quite over, we will have to see what happens tonight and tomorrow. TAFN ~ That's all for now!

This Is What Happens When Life Gets In The Way!

2010-09-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you know, life usually finds a way of getting in the way of even the most well laid plans or intentions. With the chaos of summer and of school starting in the fall, I am almost surprised I still have my sanity! :) Let me try to get you caught up on what is going on with our crazy life. Christopher and Cassidy both went to camp this summer and had a blast!! Christopher went last year and had a terrific time, so he was very excited to return. This was Cassidy's first time at camp and she was a little apprehensive, but still excited. She, of course, had a blast also. She came home so excited! Because I worked at the camp for three years, the current camp director was kind enough to give me the grand tour of all the changes they have made to the camp since I was there. Can I be a camper again? The camp has made some wonderful changes and additions to challenge mountain and, well, just about everything else! (I asked them to have a women's conference so that I could come down. We will see what happens.) Anyway to keep going, we spent a lot of time at the beach. Cassidy had her tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears after camp. Still waiting for the results of whether that will actually help her or not. Other than life itself, nothing much really happened this summer. School started for the kids and me (yes, me) in August. I am on my last semester and I will be done with my bachelors degree, finally. So far so good. The kids all love their teachers this year and are doing well! Barry is in second grade multi-age and loves being a buddy (a helper to a 1st grade pal.) He is in Cub Scouts which actually starts tomorrow night. Cassidy is in third grade. She is also in Girl Scouts. This is her last year as a Brownie. By the end of the school year, she will have finished the entire Try-It book. (She is very excited about that!) Christopher, who now wants to be called Chris, is in fourth grade. He is in his last year at Yost. (It only goes to 4th grade.) He is also in Cub Scouts, but he is a Webelos. Two more years in Cub Scouts and then he plans to go into Boy Scouts. Anyway, life is busy and hopefully I will keep you updated more frequently! :)

Trying to Catch You Up

2010-04-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

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.) :)

Hello again!

2010-02-10T12:14:00.000-08:00

I suppose that once a month updates are actually pretty good. Everyone here is doing pretty well. The kids got their report cards in the middle of January. Christopher got all As and Bs! I am so proud of him. Now that we have his ADHD under control, he can more easily concentrate on school work. His behavior at school is very good, although at home we are still having some issues. Cassidy is still having some issues learning. Her school has finally agreed to get her tested for any kind of learning disorder. These include ADHD, dyslexia, etc. I go in next week and talk to everyone about what we need to do. Barry is doing well and still sweet. He has decided that he does not know how to do anything (at times.) His teacher and I are working on getting him to work to his potential.

We got our second major snow storm, but compared to the Mid-Atlantic states we got lucky. Of course my kids are out of school today, but this is only our third weather day this year. Last year we used five or six days. (The past two years we actually missed school for something other than snow. One for flooding fall 2008 and one for a tornado fall 2009.) Anyway the weather is supposed to get sunny, not warm, but sunny tomorrow. We will see how soon this snow melts. :)

Cassidy sold 150+ boxes of cookies this year, about 100 less than last year, but still very good. She was the top seller in her troop. Her troop also has a My Guy and Me dance that they are doing next week. Cassidy is going with her Uncle Nick. She is really quite excited about it. I am going as a parent sponsor. I get to check in the couples. :)

Chris and Barry had their Pine Wood Derby with Cub Scouts. Cassidy got to race a car also in the family division. They had a really good time. Christopher's car was an army tank, Barry had a police car and Cassidy had a teddy bear car. We are never one of the fastest cars, but we do well. The pack raised money for the food pantries in the area by selling hot dogs and chips for a dollar. This past Monday the pack packaged boxes to send to our troops in Afganistan and Iraq. That was controlled chaos, but fun.

In AWANA, Christopher competed in quizzing for the first time last Saturday. His team did a good job. He has already agreed to quiz again next year. They also completed in the AWANA Grand Prix. It is the same thing as the Pine Wood Derby. Again we did not have the fastest cars, but the kids all got awards for Hands-On. (Hands-On award is the award that goes to the kids who did the most work on their own car.) Again they all had a good time!

We are all finally well (at least for the moment.) I am still trying to find an ENT that is approved by our insurance. We saw one and he was, in a word, awful!! I have talked to other people about this doctor and no one has anything good to say about him. Some of the people were other doctors, some where other patients, and some where others in the medical field.

I have found out that Brad is out of jail again and yet I am not getting any child support. I have gone back to the child support office to get the ball rolling on getting him paying again. They have contacted him (back in December) but I have not heard anything since then. I will keep you posted. :)

Catching Up

2010-01-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a very long time since I did any blogging. We had a fabulous Christmas holiday. On Christmas morning we of course had chaos with my kids opening their presents almost faster than I could give them to them. Christmas afternoon we had about 25 family and friends come to my mother's house. We had a really good time playing Spoons and just talking. Before everyone left we acted out the 12 Days of Christmas. (Well, I did not act it out, I video taped it.) It was a riot! As soon as I figure out how to get the video off my camera, I will post it. It is quite funny. On the 26th, all of my brothers and sisters and their families came to my mother's. (My cousin, Mary, also came.) It was the first time in two years that we had all been together. It was wonderful! My daughter was SO excited that she got to see Alexis and Felicity. We had a really good time.

Poor Cassidy has been sick since about the 19th of December. She has bronchitis again. I am really hoping that the doctors are going to not let it turn into pneumonia again. The boys are fine. I am so greatful that Christopher's asthma is under control. I have not been sleeping through the night because Cassidy is up every night with her coughing. She uses the nebulizer. It really helps, but she does not like to get up in the middle of the night to use it. Oh well, hopefully she will be better soon.

We are in the middle of the first major snow storm of the season. They are predicting about 18 inches by the time the snow is over tomorrow. My kids are so excited. They already went sledding outside my mother's house today. The kids got out of school 1 1/2 hours early today. I would be surprised if they have school tomorrow. The kids are really happy about the snow.

Have a wonderful winter. Talk to you soon!

Everything Update :)

2009-11-21T18:16:00.000-08:00

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!!

New School Prayer

2009-11-21T18:14:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine posted this on her facebook page and I could not help but put this in my blog. It really makes you think!

Since the Pledge of Allegiance

& The Lords Prayer

Are not allowed in Schools anymore

Because the word 'God' is mentioned....

A Kid in Ohio wrote the attached...

NEW School prayer:

Now I sit me down in school

Where praying is against the rule

For this great nation under God

Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,

It violates the Bill of Rights.

And anytime my head I bow

Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,

That's no offense; it's a freedom thing...

The law is specific, the law is precise...

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall

Might offend someone with no faith at all

In silence alone we must meditate,

God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,

And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks......

We can carry smut, but not the Bible.

To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,

And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King

It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from wrong,

We're taught that such 'judgments' do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,

Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,

No word of God must reach this crowd.

Its scary here I must confess,

When chaos reigns the school's a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:

Should I be shot; my soul please take!

Amen

Police, Hospitals, and Chaos!

2009-10-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

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!!

Howdy!

2009-05-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

I guess we are having a really good month! Cassidy starts her horse show competitions this weekend. She is really excited. She is riding a different horse this year. Cassidy and the horse have been getting used to each other. I cannot wait to hear how she did. (It is in southern Indiana, so I usually cannot go.) Barry and Christopher are doing fine. All three kids are counting down the days left of school, mostly Christopher. (As of today they have 11 days left, not including weekends.) Christopher's reasons are that he is very, very ready to go to camp! I am glad that he is so excited about it.
On another front, the spring weather is finally here!!! I am so glad! Of course today is supposed to be almost 85 degrees! Almost like summer! On that note, everyone have a great day!!

Peace and quiet!

2009-05-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

I guess when I am not writing, things must be pretty good. I decided I had better let you know that everything is fine. I should write when my kids have good days, even if they have lots of good days! Christopher had his last Cub Scout meeting this past Tuesday. He made a kite and had a blast!! He decided he did not need a "store bought" kite this year because his homemade one is just so much better than anyone he could buy! Cassidy and Barry were disappointed that they did not get to make one too, but I told then that we would figure out a way to make them kites. Christopher also is very excited about going to camp in June. He is finally old enough to attend Twin Lakes Camp (where I worked for three summers.) He is ready to start packing RIGHT now! I am really glad that he wants to go. He and Cassidy both have asked our Pastor about baptism, so the next time that the church has a baptism they will be getting baptized. It is very nice to see how excited they are about God. All three of the kids occansionally come to my room at night because they have a bad dream. I have always prayed with them and they seem to be able to go right back to sleep. Now they come to me and just ask for a little help praying and do most of it by themselves (they use their own words with no real prompting.) It is nice that they are learning to pray on their own. I love to hear them pray!! Cassidy is also done with Girl Scouts for the year. She had a blast this year. She sold lots of cookies (252 books, which will probably NEVER happen again), nuts, and magazines. Her troop had a "spa night" and lots of other exciting adventures. I think her favorite activity was visiting the local Wiseway grocery store. She cannot wait until next year. Barry gets to join Cub Scouts next year and is very excited about that. He is almost done with kindergarten, I can't believe it! I guess that is enough for now.

I really do not know WHAT to call this one

2009-05-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! Meltdown city tonight! Cassidy is crying because I told her no. She is now saying it is because I do not love her. Of course, I am sitting quietly trying very hard not to laugh at her temper tantrum! Why do kids try these games? Barry cried a little earlier, but is now sound asleep on my mother's recliner. He tends to do this a lot when we make it to Friday during the school week. Christopher has decided to hide out in the car. He does not have the keys or anything, but I think that he just wants to be away from the crying.

Last Thursday, I went to the doctor and was put on an oral steroid and an inhaler. I now know exactly how Christopher feels when he has to use his inhaler. It sucks!! Still, my coughing has gotten mostly better. I am still coughing every once in a while. With this swine flu scare, everyone keeps looking at me like I am going to get them all sick. Relax folks, not sick at all, just a major allergy flare up. I did not realize my allergy to dust was so bad. Next time my mother can fix the vacuum cleaner.

Finally no more crying. Peace and quiet. I suppose that Cassidy has decided that no is not such a bad word after all. I wonder how long this will last! :)

Much Needed Reality Check

2009-04-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

There are days when Christopher is raging and so angry that it is scary to hear. He will arbitrarily hurt someone just because he is mad at me. Today for example, I took his gameboy away because this week is no TV week, which of course includes video games and computer (for the kids). For the past twenty minutes he has raged around, screaming at everyone, kicking things and generally being pissed at the world. Enter my reality check: whenever I get into my blog site, I always check the updates of the many blogs I follow. Among my favorites are the adoption ones. The reason I like them so much is that these families give up everything to adopt the children that need the love the most. Most of the children that they adopt are special needs: physical, emotional, or mental. While I have a child with some serious anger; there are times when these families are dealing with multiple problems at once, from multiple children. I sometimes forget that my one child is very easy to deal with when you look at what other people are dealing with. My son is just now starting to calm down. I started to write this blog almost 45 minutes ago. I had to physically hold him down so he would not hurt the other kids, himself or me. We are just getting past this episode of anger (almost an hour into to it.) I love my child, anger and all, although I wish I could figure out how to help him. In the long scheme of things, even with an angry child, my life is not so hard. :)

Howdy!

2009-04-04T11:26:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I wrote anything. Everything here seems to be going alright. Christopher is doing well. He has been on oral steroids since Tuesday because of an asthma "outbreak." This is his first episode in over a year. His allergy stuff has not been a big deal . . . so far. Once school is over for the summer and I have better control over everything he eats, we are going to start eliminating wheat, soy, and tuna to see how much they really might bother him. He really likes all of those things so it may not be easy, but we will see. He also gets to go to camp for the first time. He is going to the same camp I worked at - Twin Lakes Camp. I am so excited that he is going.
Barry was not afraid!! I enjoyed watching him ride all by himself!! Barry is doing well in school and I am so happy that he never has a problem going to school or doing homework. Overall he seems to be a very happy little boy.

Cassidy has started horseback riding again. She was so excited! She cannot wait until she goes to her first competition of the year. Barry and Chris both rode the horse the other day and had a really good time. Cassidy is a typical little girl who enjoys "girlie" things. She gets a kick out of hanging out with her friends and talking on the phone. It is really quite funny. I thought the phone thing started when they got bigger!!

More Allergy Info

2009-03-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well, Christopher has finally been tested for food allergies. Here is the official list of all his allergies:

Environmental ->

Timothy (pollen)
Meadow Fescue (pollen)
Bermuda (pollen)
Perennial Rye (pollen)
Orchard (pollen)
Redtop (pollen)
Kentucky Blue (pollen)
Mulberry Mix (pollen)
American Elm (pollen)
Chinese Elm ( pollen)
Common Privet (pollen)
Red Adler (pollen)
White Ash (pollen)
Oak Mix (pollen)
Black Walnut (pollen)
Boxelder Maple (pollen)
Birch Maple (pollen)
American Beech (pollen)
Cottonwood (pollen)
Careless-Pigweed (pollen)
Lambs Quarters (pollen)
Ragweed
Mucor
Dust Mite # 1 & 2
Cats
Dogs

Food ->

Wheat (no reaction right now, so he can still eat it. We just need to watch him carefully.)
Soy (same as wheat)
Tuna (same as wheat)
Coconut (same as wheat)

Hazelnut/Filbert
Almond
Peanut
Cashew
Walnut
Lobster
String Bean
Cantaloupe
Mustard
Sesame

Fun right! I knew about the nut issue, but the rest is a surprise to me!! Poor kid! He was quite excited to find out he was not allergic to CHOCOLATE! At least some good news in this mess!

No Complaining Today!

2009-03-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

You know, I cannot complain (today, anyway) about life. The weather is beautiful! This has been one of the worst winters ever in NW Indiana. I am so glad that we are actually seeing glimpses of spring! My kids got their bikes out yesterday. Definitely a springtime rite of passage. It has been nice enough to open windows and just enjoy! I know that the cold is not over yet (i.e. the weather report says more cold on Wednesday), but I will enjoy the nice stuff while it is here. Also the kids are beeing nice to each other. Do not fall over in shock! It is true and oh so peaceful! You know I am glad that God gives us these kind of days every once in a while!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

2009-03-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

Kids!!

2009-03-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

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??

Great News!!

2009-02-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

I got some great news about Christopher today. I had a meeting with his teacher this afternoon. They say that he is doing a great job in school and that they are going to try to get him back in the regular class for the whole day! This is a big real, because he has not been in the regular class for the whole day for 2 1/2 years. He is doing a phenomenal job in math, specials (art, gym, music, and library) and science/social studies. The only place he really needs a little extra help is in reading and language. He is reading at a second grade level (he is in second grade), but he is a little behind right now, so they are going to help him catch up. The plan is to have him completely caught up by the beginning of 4th grade so he will be in the regular class all day. When he was diagnosed with ADHD, he was so far behind I was really worried about him being able to catch up, but it looks like I have a really smart kid here! I hope everyone has a great day!

One of Those Feel Good Stories

2009-02-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

As I read this news article, I could not help thinking how God must have enjoyed this rare act of kindness. The players on both teams should a remarkable ability to show kindness in a world that does not always think that men or boys should show emotion this way. I admired the players as I read this article, I will never remember the names mentioned in the story, but I will readily remember the kindness and caring they displayed. I wish the professional athletes in the world would read this and see that all the money and fame in the world are nothing, but simple acts of kindness can change the world. I just thought I'd pass the story on. It is well worth the time.

Amid the grieving, a rare act of sportsmanship

Associated Press

The coach never considered any other option.

It didn't matter that his DeKalb, Ill., High School basketball team had ridden a bus two and a half hours to get to Milwaukee, then waited another hour past game time to play. Didn't matter that the game was close, or that this was a chance to beat a big city team.

Something else was on Dave Rohlman's mind when he asked for a volunteer to shoot two free throws awarded his team on a technical foul in the second quarter. His senior captain raised his hand, ready to go to the line as he had many times before. Only this time it was different.

"You realize you're going to miss them, don't you?" Rohlman said. Darius McNeal nodded his head. He understood what had to be done.

It was a Saturday night in February, and the Barbs were playing a non-conference game on the road against Milwaukee Madison. It was the third meeting between the two schools, who were developing a friendly rivalry that spanned two states. The teams planned to get together after the game and share some pizzas and soda. But the game itself almost never took place.

Hours earlier, the mother of Milwaukee Madison senior captain Johntel Franklin died at a local hospital. Carlitha Franklin had been in remission after a five-year fight with cervical cancer, but she began to hemorrhage that morning while Johntel was taking his college ACT exam.

Her son and several of his teammates were at the hospital late that afternoon when the decision was made to turn off the life-support system. Carlitha Franklin was just 39.

"She was young and they were real close," said Milwaukee coach Aaron Womack Jr., who was at the hospital. "He was very distraught and it happened so suddenly he didn't have time to grieve."

Womack was going to cancel the game, but Franklin told him he wanted the team to play. And play they did, even though the game started late and Milwaukee Madison dressed only eight players. Early in the second quarter, Womack saw someone out of the corner of his eye. It was Franklin, who came there directly from the hospital to root his teammates on.The Knights had possession, so Womack called a time out. His players went over and hugged their grieving teammate. Fans came out of the stands to do the same.

"We got back to playing the game and I asked if he wanted to come and sit on the bench," Womack said during a telephone interview.

"No," Franklin replied. "I want to play."

There was just one problem. Since Franklin wasn't on the pre-game roster, putting him in meant drawing a technical foul that would give DeKalb two free throws. Though it was a tight game, Womack was willing to give up the two points. It was more important to help his senior guard and co-captain deal with his grief by playing. Over on the other bench, though, Rohlman wasn't so willing to take them. He told the referees to forget the technical and just let Franklin play.

"I could hear them arguing for five to seven minutes, saying, `We're not taking it, we're not taking it," Womack said. "The refs told them, no, that's the rule. You have to take them."

That's when Rohlman asked for volunteers, and McNeal's hand went up. He went alone to the free throw line, dribbled the ball a couple of times, and looked at the rim. His first attempt went about two feet, bouncing a couple of times as it rolled toward the end line. The second barely left his hand.

It didn't take long for the Milwaukee players to figure out what was going on. They stood and turned toward the DeKalb bench and started applauding the gesture of sportsmanship. Soon, so did everybody in the stands."I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was the right thing to do."

Franklin would go on to score 10 points, and Milwaukee Madison broke open the game in the second half to win 62-47. Afterward, the teams went out for pizza, two players from each team sharing each pie.

Franklin stopped by briefly, thankful that his team was there for him."I got kind of emotional but it helped a lot just to play," he said. "I felt like I had a lot of support out there."

Carlitha Franklin's funeral was last Friday, and the school turned out for her and her son. Cheerleaders came in uniform, and everyone from the principal and teachers to Johntel's classmates were there.

"Even the cooks from school showed up," Womack said. "It lets you know what kind of kid he is."

Basketball is a second sport for the 18-year-old Franklin, who says he has had some scholarship nibbles and plans to play football in college. He just has a few games left for the Knights, who are 6-11 and got beat 71-36 Tuesday night by Milwaukee Hamilton. It hasn't been the greatest season for the team, but they have stuck together through a lot of adversity.

"We maybe don't have the best basketball players in the world but they go to class and take care of business," Womack said. "We have a losing record but there's life lessons going on, good ones."

None so good, though, as the moment a team and a player decided there were more important things than winning and having good stats. Yes, DeKalb would go home with a loss. But it was a trip they'll never forget.

"This is something our kids will hold for a lifetime," Rohlman said. "They may not remember our record 20 years from now, but they'll remember what happened in that gym that night."

Quick update!

2009-02-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Still no new news on Brad. The kids are all doing fine. We went to a friend's house for lunch and the kids had a blast! Nothing really new on the other stuff either. When I said quick, I meant it. :)

About Brad

2009-02-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

Alright, I think I need to explain what is going on, at least what I know right now. Brad was put back in jail on the 29th of January. He has two more years left on his prison term. I believe that he will be there until the 2 years are over. As to why he went back, here is what I know:

1. Internet is not allowed to anyone convicted of a sexual offense -> He was caught using the internet at one of his jobs.

2. Porn is certainly not allowed either -> Well that is what he was looking at.

3. Every six months he was required to take a polygraph. He has taken two and passed neither of them. The first one was almost a freebie, because most people do not pass them. However he failed the second one also.

4. He also has a tendency to say whatever he thinks will get him out of trouble. That of course gets him in even more trouble.

5. He caused some problems for me, and that caused him to get in trouble also. I am not going to go into detail, but he was told he could not talk to me at all. He did not talk to me, but he decided that he was going to take me to court so he did not have to pay so much child support. Of course that got him in trouble also.

He may get to stay at a work release center, which would allow him to work and pay child support. I will not know about that until the middle of Feb. As I know more, I will pass it on.

As Hermoine Granger said in Harry Potter "What an idiot!"

Allergies!

2009-01-26T15:23:00.000-08:00

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. :)

God's Work

2009-01-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

I am not the best blogger in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoy reading my friends blog lots! I always get a kick out of what everyone's kids did. One of my friends had two of her kids draw all over "everything" with permanent markers, another friends has some great pictures of her kids with their dad sledding in our mile high snow. I find myself laughing out loud at some of the stories people write in their blogs. I also cry when something hurts someone I care about. Mainly, though, I enjoy reading how God has worked in the lives of the people I care about. My cousin has a daughter who was very sick at this time last year with a very rare disease, this year she is almost back to her normal self again. Another friend has a son who needed surgery last year. They were afraid he may need more soon, but thankfully he does not. I am amazed that people in the world do not believe there is a God, when He so obviously answers prayer the way He does. Outside of the proof of nature, seeing God work in the lives of people makes life so much more interesting, don't you think?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

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!

Seven

2008-11-10T17:14:00.000-08:00

My friend Christa (who blogs at No End in Site) tagged me for this little survey. You’re supposed to reveal seven random things about yourself that others may not know. This could get interesting…

1. I like Jelly Belly Jelly Beans way more than I should! I like the sour ones the best.

2. I chose my daughter's name when I was in fifth grade after I read a book with main character with the same name.

3. While I was in college, I worked as a camp counselor at a Bible camp. I got to play nurse the last year I worked there.

4. I actually like racquetball (although volleyball is better). I learned it at Cedarville.

5. I was a lifeguard for 6 years. To this day, I still "guard" any pool I go to. The guards at the YMCA have even asked me to guard for them when they are short handed. It can get a little overwhelming!

6.I love Gloria Jean's coffee. I do not really like any other kind of coffee. I am so glad that the nearest Gloria Jean's is at the mall (at least 30 minutes away.)

7. I love to read! I really, really love to read. Mostly fiction, but I will read almost anything.

Now I’m supposed to tag some other bloggers to do the same thing. I’m not sure they’ll all do it, but I tag:

Anyone who wants to.

October Update

2008-10-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!

AWANA

2008-10-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well, everything here is pretty normal so I thought I'd tell you all about AWANA. For those of you who do not know, AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. It is a church club with Bible memorization, instruction and of course games. The club is divided into age groups- Puggles (2 year olds), Cubbies (3 and 4 year olds), Sparkies (kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders). After Sparks, the clubs are divided by sex also. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders are in Truth and Training. (All three of my kids are in Sparks!) For the junior high and senior high, I know that there is a club for them, but our church does not do those clubs. I am the director of the girl's Truth and Training. We have done a lot of fun things in there. Last week we had a mom and daughter game night. We had most of our girls there with some of their moms. They had such a good time that they said we had to do it again! We are going to do two service projects. I hope to do one this month and one in the spring. We are doing a Missionary project with Bethesda as soon as they get back to us about what they need help with. We have about 12 girls that come every week. They really seem to enjoy coming. There are 4 books to do in T&T. No matter when you start you begin with the first book. We have two sixth graders who are in the fourth book. The books are designed to be done one a year, but any girl that starts late can move through the books as quickly as she can. We have a fifth grader who is in book 2, but she will probably be done with book three by the time the year is over. I just thought I'd let you know what is going on with me every Wednesday night. :)

Kids again!

2008-09-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-09-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

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! :)

When it rains. . .

2008-09-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

WOW!! We had so much rain here this weekend. Northwest Indiana does not flood that often. This year we have had two major flooding issues. First this spring, but that did not really affect my neighborhood. However, this past weekend, it poured!! My yard was completely under water. My neighborhood is situated on the top of a hill. We live very close to a creek, but it is below the hill. The road leading to the creek was completely under water. Lake George in Hobart flooded so badly that it washed away 3rd Street (the water is not down yet, so it may to be as bad as that.) There is a huge sinkhole on 73rd Avenue, one of the major road ways in the Hobart/Merrillville area. There was so much rain that most Northwest Indiana schools were canceled yesterday, including all of the area colleges. Most schools are back in school today, but some are not. I do not think I have ever heard of our area schools closing because of flooding! We always seem to have to make up snow days, but this year we will have to make up a "flood" day also. The major highways around here are closed also. I 80/94 is closed from the IL/IN state line all the way to Chesterton (close to me.) That is about a 30 mile stretch (or more). I know that IN did not see the amount of rain and wind that Texas did, but man, this is a lot more rain than I am used to. The rain ended on Sunday night and the roads are still closed. What an awesome God we have. Yes, we got lots of rain, but it did not flood every where. My house and family are safe. My mother's house is safe, my friends and their families are safe. It could have been so much worse. I thank God that it was not any worse for the people that I know and care about.

Weekend of rain!

2008-09-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

What about this rain!? I took Christopher to the Colvin's house today. Ron was going to spend the afternoon with him. (They had a really good time.) Anyway, I got a phone call from Ron telling me not to take 73rd. If you know 73rd avenue in Hobart/Merrillville, then you will know about the dangerous curve that is between 51 and Colorado. There is a sinkhole about 14 feet deep across both lanes of the road. When I got to the Colvin's house, there was a car in the sinkhole almost completely under water. All I could see was the left rear tire and part of the trunk! The man driving the car got out OK, but his car was flooded in a BIG way! For all you Northwest Indiana people, you will know that the rain is not over yet. We are supposed to get heavy rain tonight and the weather report on the radio said "100% chance of heavy rain tomorrow." Roads all over the area are already under water. There has been so much rain already. I suppose I should not complain. We are not in the middle of Hurricane Ike, so it could be worse. Cassidy is at a horse show in southern Indiana and they have not had rain there yet. She got pushed over by the baby horse and got muddy, so I guess that means that they did have rain earlier this week. Anyway, I'll keep you posted!

Quick Update

2008-09-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

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!!

Update

2008-09-09T06:41:00.000-07:00

I have a little update about Brad. He got out of jail last December. I expected him to really cause a lot of problems for me right from the beginning. I have been pleasantly surprised that he has been on his best behavior. He only communicated with me through his mom because he was not allowed to talk to me until I talked to his counselor. I did not talk to her until the very beginning of August. That was the hardest meeting I have ever had to go to. Everything that I thought I had gotten past was brought back to the surface. I have come to the decision that I am not quite as over everything as I thought. I have gone back to talk to the counselor twice. Once alone and once with Brad. (The first meeting Brad was at and he had to do all the talking.) I am getting child support, again another thing I did not think I would ever see. Brad has not tried to see the kids yet. It is part of his parole that he stay away from kids under 18. From what he has said, he does want to see our kids. I am still a little uncomfortable with the idea, but it will be court supervised, so it should be fine. The kids have all figured out that he is out of jail, but Christopher is the only one who is having a hard time with not seeing him. After my first meeting, Christopher said that since I had talked to "Daddy" he should be able to see him too. I have been considering getting Christopher some counseling, but could never afford it. I found a place near our home that counsels kids for free, so we have our first appointment on Wednesday right after school. Cassidy has started telling people that her dad is dead. I have told her that she cannot lie to people about things. She may start counseling also, if I see that she is continuing to have an issue with the "Daddy" stuff. I think that she is angry that her dad is not around to do thing with her, like her friends' dad's do. Matt and Nick have both done special things with her, but she is starting to see that it is not the same. (Nick and Matt both took her to her Girl Scout Daddy/Daughter Dance the past two years.) Barry does not seem to care much about whether or not he has a daddy in the picture. Anyway back to Brad. I have been told that he may not be able to see the kids until at least December and if that does not happen it could take as long as December of 2010 or 11, before he can see them. Anyway, I will let you know how things are going as things happen.

Just wondering

2008-09-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

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!! :)

August update!

2008-08-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we are officially back to school. The kids are having a good time in school. Barry came home last night and told me that there are 5 school days and the other two days are called weekends. He thought that was the greatest thing to learn. Our church starts AWANA on the 3rd. All three of my kids are in Sparkies! They are getting so big. I am the director of our girls Truth and Training club. Our theme for this year is going to be Women of the Bible. We are starting with Deborah. I am really excited about the year and I can not wait to see the girls again. Have a great Labor Day!!

Horse Show, August 17, 2008

2008-08-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

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!

Summer Update A Little Late

2008-08-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

WOW!! It has been a long time since I wrote any update! This has been an interesting summer. I have been babysitting my nephew (Brad's older sister, Kim's son) every other week all summer. Zack is eleven so he is a little older than my kids. Christopher, Cassidy, and Barry are all fine. They love having Zack over every other week. Cassidy and Chris were is Danny Martin's wedding in July. Cassidy was the flower girl. Christopher was the ring bearer. They thought it was great fun. I am still working for my mother. Nick (my brother) is building a deck for her. I am helping as much as I can. The kids start school next week. Barry is in full day kindergarten, Cassidy is in first grade and Christopher is in second. Cassidy and Christopher are in a multi-age class. These classes have about 10 first graders and 10 second graders, so they have the same teacher two years in a row. I really like the program. They do have two different teachers, but the teachers work together some of the time. Cassidy is still riding the horses. She moved up from the Leadline class to Walk/Trot. She is working on the canter part and is almost ready to move up to the Walk/Trot/Canter class. She is also learning to ride an English saddle and bareback. She has not competed in English riding or bareback yet, but she is getting there. She went to the Lake County Fair last Friday and came in first place in the Walk/Trot class and second place (out of 12 people 18 and under) in the costume class. She had a great time. Christopher came in first in the Leadline class and Barry came in first in the "Stick Horse" class. They both thought it was cool that they got to be in a horse show like Cassidy does. She has another show hopefully on Sunday of this week and them she is in a weekend long show on the 22nd-24th. She can not wait. The boys will be able to ride in the show if we go this Sunday, but not the 22-24. On another note, I had a meeting with Brad and his counselor about two weeks ago. It was the first time I had seen or talked to Brad in over four years. It was very hard to get through that meeting. I got the first apology since everything happened and he also told me that it wasn't my fault. (I know I did nothing, but it was nice to hear from him.) He had to tell me some stuff I did not know about. I thought I was over most of that stuff, but, it reopened the hurt and I guess I am not as over it as I thought. He will still not be allowed to see the kids for at least a year. After a year he can petition the parole board and maybe get to see them, but if not it will be at least three years. We will see what happens. I have a meeting with his counselor on Saturday and then another meeting with him and her in about two weeks. Anyway, life is not bad. The kids are ready to go back to school and I am more than ready for them too. :) Here is a picture from the wedding.

2008-05-17T14:45:00.001-07:00

I just realized how long it has been since I wrote anything! I have been finishing a semester in school. (I have two classes left to take.) My life is pretty full right now. My kids seem to be going in ten different directions. Christopher has boys scouts and swimming lessons. Cassidy has girl scouts, swimming lessons, and horseback riding stuff. Barry has swimming lessons. Last week was the last week for AWANA so that is one less direction to go. Cassidy competes on the horse. She does showmanship, costume class, trail, and one other class that I cannot remember the name of with a Western saddle. This year she is also learning English riding. She has her first competition of the season next weekend. She is really excited. Last year she came in second in the state for her age group. She was in 6 and under lead line. (The horse was lead around the arena.) This year she could still be in lead line, but she is good enough to ride without a lead line, so she is doing it alone. She loves it!!! Christopher is doing great with his swimming. He is reviewing the guppy class at the Y, but I could have just let him move up to the next class. He has not taken swimming lessons in almost a year. Barry and Cassidy are in their first class. They are both doing great also.

Christopher is still struggling with his ADHD. We changed his meds (again) and instead of helping they are making it worse. We go back to the doctor on Monday to see what we can do next. He is trying so hard and I feel so bad when he ends up in trouble for something I know he can do, and has done, right.

I will try to keep up on this blog stuff, but I cannot promise anything!!

A Reprieve

2008-03-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

Christopher is doing better. At least with his stomach problems. I have stopped giving him his ADHD meds while he is on spring break (this week). He has not had a single stomach problem since then. I am hoping when we go back to the doctor on the 3rd, we will figure out a new kind of med to help him. I am hoping that he will be put on the ADHD patch. It would enter his body through his skin and not through his stomach. I am hoping that if we can switch to the patch his stomach issues will go away. I will have to put him back on the Vyvanse next Monday when he returns to school, so I am a little worried that his stomach issues will return again. He is very hard to keep focused most of the time when he is not taking his meds for ADHD, but I will put up with the chaos if he feels better! We did have a little problem with his asthma today. I am so happy that the doctor I changed to in Jan. takes walk in patients and has late hours. We went to the office at 4pm today and because asthma is so serious they put Christopher to the front of the line and saw him immediately! He was given a breathing treatment right a way and he felt better and ready to play within minutes. He is now on some new meds for his asthma and allergies, but they are both inhalers so they should not affect his stomach. He is on an oral steriod again, this time a pill but it is only for 5 days. Hopefully it will not affect his stomach and we will not have a repeat of the vomiting that we were dealing with off and on the past couple of months. Cassidy and Barry are fine! That has allowed me to focus my energy on Christopher and trying to help him. We are staying at my mother's house until tomorrow night. She went to Texas for a funeral and will be back late. Her dog cannot be left without someone, me, to take care of him. The kids are treating the couple of nights at her house like a party. They are enjoying being here. God is watching out for my family in a very big way!! We now have a doctor who is doing everything he can to get Christopher set up to be healthy and happy. It makes such a big difference when the doctor is as interested in keeping your children healthy as you are.

On another note, I will post pictures as soon as I can figure out how!

Life in general

2008-03-20T18:17:00.001-07:00

Enough is enough!!! My poor son (Christopher) has been diagnosed with medication induced gastritis. :sad: He now has to take a new kind of medication (yes, more meds) to deal with that. He is on Zantec 75 twice a day. He really does not like to take that pill. We go back to the doctor on the 27th to see what needs to be done next. I took him off acidy food, like tomatoes and ketchup. He has a really hard time with that. He likes to eat pizza (tomato sauce), spaghetti (again tomato sauce), and ketchup. I bought him honey so he could use it instead of ketchup with chicken nuggets or stuff like that. The other kids are doing pretty good. They start their spring break tomorrow.

And what is with this weather!! I want warm sun shiny skies with green grass, flowers, and leaves on trees. Is that really too much to ask!?

Feb. Update

2008-02-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

Well, things are going pretty well right now. My kids are doing fine. Christopher did great on his last report card!! Last year he was really behind in everything. He is now back in the regular class most of the day and he got an HP (high performance) in math. An HP is the same as a A. He got S or S+ in everything else. That is the same as a B or B+. In school he is like a different child. His teachers are really happy with his improvement. I am so proud of him. We are still dealing with some behavior issues, but we are getting better.
Cassidy is doing well. She had another ear infection last week and I am worried that her hearing is damaged from all the infections she has had. (She has probably had 30 infections in her little life.) She had a hearing test done and she could not hear the lower tones at all in either ear. The school nurse said that it could be due to her current infection, however Cassidy's teacher and I have both noticed that she does not hear everything that she should. I have switched my children's doctor and their new doctor is very interested in keeping them healthy. He had already done more for Christopher than their old doctor. He is already talking about putting tubes in her ears (I think that should have been done long ago.)
Barry is fine. He loves preschool and comes home with all kinds of interesting facts to tell me. He started last week telling me all the planets in our solar system. He was quite earnest in the recital of them even when he did not pronounce them correctly.
About Brad, I went to his parents house last week to pick up a shirt for Cassidy and had a nice long talk with his mother. He has decided to let me keep the computer. That is a huge relief because I use it for school. He has still not tried to contact the kids, which is okay with me. They know that he is home, but they have not really asked about him much. Christopher is the only one to really be interested in why he has not called yet. Until last Wednesday, I had nothing to tell him because I had not talked to anyone and did not know what was going on myself. He is not allowed to talk to the kids right now. I do not know when that will change. Please pray that when it does I will know the best way to handle the results.
I will post more when I learn more.

Christmas update

2007-12-26T12:15:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a really nice Christmas. Everyone had a great time. However on Christmas Eve, we were not so happy. I had to take Christopher to the ER because he was having issues with his breathing and just did not feel well. They gave him an IV, which of course he hated! Then they took him to get an x-ray. He had pneumonia!!!!! They gave him a very powerful antibiotic through his IV and then let him come home. Of course, I had to pick up his medicine before we could actually make it home. Anyway, he felt a LOT better for Christmas and he feels even better today.
On another note, my ex-husband is out of jail. I am still sorting out how I feel about this new development. He has not tried to get in contact with me or my kids (HOORAY!!!), but I am sure it is just around the corner. Maybe soon I will start to get child support. That, I think, will be about the only good thing to come out of him getting out. I have not told my children that he is out yet. I have not figured out how to, but I am not hiding it either. When people ask me about it, I tell them and if my kids figure it out then that is okay. (Cassidy figured it out on Monday. She said that she does not want to see him again because he is a bad man. For those of you who do not know me, I do not talk bad about my kids father, especially around my kids. She said that one all on her own. He told them where he was and to a certain extent why he was there.) I am most worried about Christopher figuring it out. He is just now starting to get everything in order. He is doing soooooooo much better is school and things are going really well at home. I am afraid if he finds out, his little life will flip again and he will start doing worse again. Oh well, we will see. Maybe he will surprise me and take it all in stride.
Well that is enough for today. Talk to you all soon

Family Update

2007-12-17T16:36:00.000-08:00

I am back. My fall semester is over and I only have one more semester to go. I really cannot wait. I am a psychology major. I am planning on getting my master's degree and working in a high school. I am not planning on being a teacher, however the family bug to work in school is still working in me. I want to be a school counselor. My kids only have 4 more days of school until their winter break. My oldest, Christopher, is eight and has so many allergies that life is not always easy for him. He also has severe asthma. He was diagnosed with ADHD in September but now that he is on medication he is doing extremely well in school and at home. The only issue that we are having is that his medication is making him NEVER want to eat. He is also a Tiger Scout. He really enjoys it. Cassidy, my middle child, is six. She is in the middle of kindergarten and having a wonderful time. She is a Brownie Scout and thinks that selling cookies is great! (She sold 180 boxes of cookies this year.) She loves anything that has to do with dolls and girlie stuff. My youngest is Barry. He is four. Of course, his favorite thing to do is to spend lots of time with me. He always wants to be in the same room I am in. Right now he is decorating my mother's Christmas tree. He is looking very carefully at every decoration and deciding which one goes on the tree first. All three of my kids are in AWANA at church. They love to go. They are all doing well and passing section every time. Barry loves to quote John 3:16 just to show that he can.

Hello!

2007-11-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I am going to try this whole blog thing. I know that it will be a nice way for me to let everyone know how things are going. I will post some pictures as soon as I get a chance.