David's Birthday and Other Things

It's been a couple weeks since I've written.  Not for any big reason, it's just been a busy couple of weeks.  David has had a lot of festivals and things for his various orchestras so he's been very busy with that.  And in the middle of that he had a birthday!  He doesn't like a huge deal to be made of his birthday so we just did cake and presents at home.  The kids are all now at an age where they get excited about buying things for other people and had a lot of fun picking out presents for David (they picked out a treat, a puzzle, and a couple other things that I can't remember).  The girls also thought it would be fun to hide and yell out "surprise!" when he got home from work, which really confused David but had me laughing pretty good!

Happy birthday David!

He loves getting his picture taken. 😁

I've also been getting ready for our next concert with the Idaho Falls Symphony.  We're going to be doing a couple concertos and Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3!  I've been looking forward to this concert (and the next one) all season!  David was sad he didn't sign up to play this concert, but then they asked him to sub so he gets to play as well.  I've spent the last 2 weeks practicing and I still don't feel real secure about it.  I told David this music feels like a musical tongue twister.  The rhythms are all off and there are accidentals everywhere.  If I could play it at half speed I would get it perfect!  I'm hoping that it's one of those pieces that gets easier when you play together so you can see how your part fits in with everyone else's.  But no matter how well I play, I'll still get a front seat to some amazing music!  My mom had a Saint-Saens CD growing up that had Carnival of the Animals, the Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, maybe one other piece, and his Symphony No. 3 and I listened to that CD on repeat so many times.  So this piece has a special place in my heart.  Also, I'll get to sing the song from Babe in my head while we play it which is fun too!

The last 2 weeks I have also been getting ready for a visit from David's sister Tracy!  She was bringing her daughter to tour around BYU and BYU-Idaho.  And while they're here she wanted to spend time with her son that lives in Rexburg.  They are here this weekend and it's been fun to have them around!  I wish my kids could spend more time with their Clay cousins because they always have such a fun time with them.  So to prepare for their visit here I had to do a little bit of Spring Cleaning.  It's been good because I've tackled a few projects that I was putting off but now feel much better that they're done.  

This next week is Spring Break for the kids and David, and it's also our concert so we have a busy week ahead of us.  I always try to find a few fun things to do during the break to make things fun.  And my kids are so excited to have babysitters this week!  They love having a babysitter and sometimes ask if David and I can leave so they can have one.  We have 2 different girls from our ward coming different days and then my mom is going to come a couple nights as well.  When the kids were younger they had a hard time having so many babysitters in such a short time, but now they think it's the best.  So I'll let you know how that all turned out next week!

To end, here's a picture of Mia in my messy living room coloring with her doggy.  This weekend has proved to me once again that cleaning is a losing battle.  Our house was spotless yesterday and now it's back to toys everywhere and forts being built and a messy kitchen.  But they sure had fun making all that mess!

A Long Week

This week has been very long and I'm very glad it's Friday!  I'll start with the less stressful weekend. 

Saturdays were always cleaning days growing up, and I've kept that going with my kids.  On our whiteboard I write down a list of all their chores and they check them off as they get them done.  They have their usual chores like cleaning rooms and making beds, and then some random chores like helping with laundry or wiping down walls.  Last Saturday I added on to Ava and Mia's list to read a book (at their reading level) and Asher took a video of Mia reading hers and you are welcome to watch Asher's amazing videographer skills here:  https://youtu.be/32irrZAFryc

This year we have church at noon (bleh).  So we have lots of time to get ready in the morning.  I was just finishing up getting ready curling my hair, doing my makeup, and I had on a pencil skirt with a loose sweater. I asked Mia how I looked.  She said "Now you just have to change your clothes."  I told her I was wearing my clothes.  She said "No, you have to get in your church clothes."  I (very emphatically and a little defensively) told her I was wearing my church clothes!  She then looked me up and down like she did not think what I was wearing was okay to step outside in.  I was very self-conscious the whole drive to church, but felt better when someone complimented me on my hair. 😁 A few weeks ago I was going to rehearsal, and before I left she looked at me and said "Why are you wearing those shoes?"  I really try not to worry too much about what other people think about what I wear, but it hits a little bit different when it's coming from your 5 year old!  I honestly was not expecting this kind of criticism until she got to middle school!

Once we hit Monday things kind of went downhill until today.  Monday morning Ava was telling me she didn't feel good.  But she had no other symptoms (cough, fever, runny nose, etc.) so I planned on sending her to school.  But I'm a little paranoid about that now because of how many times I have sent her to school and then gotten calls an hour later telling me she threw up or started running a fever or was sitting at her desk in tears.  Still, I was going to send her because I knew how much school she'd already missed this year.  But getting ready for school she kept having to go to the bathroom and even on the way to the bus she had to run home to go.  So I sent the other two and made a doctor appointment for her.  Turns out, she had a UTI and probably also strep.  They didn't do a test on her because they were worried about breaking open the wounds still healing from getting her tonsils out.  But her throat was red, lymph nodes huge, stomach ache, and headache.  So while I'm feeling sorry for her that she's so sick, I'm also feeling frustrated that we have to do this again and like I'm doing something wrong because this is her 3rd time getting strep in 2 months!  And after getting her tonsils out!  So now she's on more antibiotics and probiotics and I'm about to douse my entire house in bleach.

Tuesday was pretty normal.  Asher had Activity Days which he does not love.  They have started doing more fun and interesting things so that's helped.  And his leaders try to let him participate as much as he feels comfortable, which I think also helps.  This week they were playing dodgeball, which Asher does not love.  So they let him play basketball on his own and he said eventually he joined in their game and had a lot of fun.  I try to push Asher a lot and I tell his teachers at school to push him just to help him get out of his comfort zone and grow, but I really don't want him to hate doing church things.  And I want him to have fun with other boys his own age.  So I'm glad he has understanding leaders.  A couple months ago they did pickleball.  Afterwards one of the leaders came out to my car and I was worried he was going to tell me about some outburst Asher had had.  But he said Asher loved it and was laughing and giggling and that it was so nice to see him happy.  It makes me sad that it was such a rare thing that he had to come out and tell me about it, but I hope it will happen more and more often.  He used to have a lot of friends in the ward, but they've all moved out so I think he gets very lonely at church functions and it's hard for him to get excited to go.  So I'm glad that it's happening more that he's enjoying himself!

Wednesday was such a stressful day that my stomach was in knots all day.  I usually walk the kids to the bus stop and there are a couple other parents that do as well.  I saw a group of kids next to the house the bus stop is in front of and the next thing I knew there was a guy who came out of the house and was cussing one of the kids out for kicking his car.  Not just a "Hey kid, get away from my car", but a long stream of swearing and threats to follow this kid home after school so he could tell his parents all about it.  The kid that the guy was yelling at is Asher's age and I have known him for awhile.  He's very mischievous, but not malicious.  I don't doubt that he was doing something he shouldn't have, but I very much doubt he was trying to damage this guys car.  There was total silence as all of us just stopped and watched this guy continue to yell until a minute later when the bus came.  The other moms that were there were closer and they told him that what he was doing was inappropriate and he shouldn't be swearing and yelling at these kids, but he was so defensive.  He said they have expensive cars (not at the house at the moment) and they've had problems with that kid before and on and on.  My kids weren't near that whole situation, thankfully.  

David came home in between schools and I told him what had happened and that I was going to call and see if we could move the bus stop.  He said he knew the guy in charge of transportation and sent him an email explaining what had happened and asked if the bus stop could be moved.  I get the feeling we weren't the only ones to call because he immediately said they would look for a new place.  I have never really liked having the bus stop in front of that house.  Most of the houses in our neighborhood are quiet and nice and friendly.  But they are always getting after the kids at the stop about getting too close to their cars or that they need to stay of the grass.  There is also more than one family living there.  I would guess at least 3, and maybe 4 families live there and I have seen them all yelling at their kids, their dogs, and each other.  I have also seen police officers and parole officers stop by there on occasion.  And the kids that live there are not the nicest.  I think if they all had a more stable environment they'd be great kids, because I've seen them be very nice and play with the other kids at the stop.  I've also seen them gang up on other kids and pick on them and throw things at them in anger.  So I was not sad when the transportation guy said they were moving the stop.

The next day we got to the stop a little early.  One of the boys there was talking to me about a book he was reading.  He walks over to stand in line for the bus and the next thing I know another guy comes out of the house and is swearing up a storm saying this kid that I was just talking to was bullying his kids and saying he was going to come after him and "mess him up" if he kept it up.  Again, I was in shock!  This boy wasn't near his kids, and I suspect they told him he was bullying them just to see his reaction.  I don't know what's going on in that house, but I really don't want it near my kids.  Luckily, a lady from the transportation department was standing right there and saw the whole thing.  She came up to me after the bus came and told me she'd talked to another homeowner who said they would be fine having the stop in front of their house.  She said it really did need to be moved because if they are going to yell and swear at kids for no reason the kids shouldn't be there.  So bright side to this whole situation is the bus stop will now be basically right across the street from our house!

Friday (today) is the end of the 2nd trimester so the kids didn't have school.  I was so glad to have a regular day where we didn't have to deal with crazy neighbors or doctors and could just enjoy being home!  I'm so sick of the snow that keeps coming down, but the kids all went outside and played in it and had a blast! They did some Art Hub video tutorials from YouTube which are super cute and fun. And Asher, Mia, and I played Settler of Catan.  Playing with a 5 and 9 year old is a little different than playing with adults, but it was still fun.  I'm very glad this week is over!

Art Hub making some Pokemon.
Also, Asher has discovered the joy of staying in comfy pajamas all day!

Their favorite thing to do is cover our fence in snow.  We have so much snow that if they stand on top of some of the drifts they can see over the fence.

Enjoying the snow.  But still can't wait for Spring!

Stories

Another week!  This week was pretty quiet.  The kids didn't have school Monday and I still felt like we were all still in recuperation mode, so it was a pretty lazy day.  David got sick again this week.  His tonsils were super swollen and he had some congestion.  When he went to the doctor they did the 2 day test for strep, gave him another prescription for antibiotics, and also tested him for Mono (which came back negative).  I think he may end up getting his tonsils out this summer.  

When they tested him for Mono it reminded me of when I got Mono my sophomore year of college (insert a million kissing jokes here, I definitely heard them all).  When I first got diagnosed they gave me a limited use handicap sticker for parking my car (my car which Joni had affectionately named "The Tortoise"), which I thought was dumb because I was a little tired but didn't feel THAT bad.  But then a couple days later, even though I was on antibiotics, my throat got so swollen that I could hardly breathe and had to get an IV of steroids to bring down the inflammation.   And right after that I got so tired that even walking from the handicap spot (yes, I did use it...) to my classes, I felt like I had just run a marathon.  I was so exhausted all the time.  I got diagnosed at the student health center, and I guess it's common for them to email teachers if you get that sick.  Which they did not tell me they were going to do.  One of my music teachers randomly came up to me and started asking how I was doing and how I was feeling, which felt very unnatural because he had never done that ever before.  And then I found out from another teacher that he had gotten an email about it, which actually made me feel better about the interaction I had with my music teacher because it was less out of the blue in that context.  Anyways, I just got reminded of that this week.

I also got reminded of something else this week.  I actually find that I get reminded of people or stories a lot while going through my day.  Anyways, my mom has a neighbor that she is really good friends with.  And she told my mom that she had a hard time going to the temple when the Relief Society would plan a trip all together.  She felt like all these ladies talked about how relaxed they are and they just forget about everything outside and could just spend all day there.  And even though she really enjoyed going to the temple and had great experiences there, the whole time she'd be checking her watch going "Okay, 1 hour left.  30 minutes left.  15 minutes left".  I don't wear a watch, but because of how the temple I go to is laid out you end up going to 5 different rooms.  And I am always thinking "Okay, 4 more rooms, 3 more rooms, 2 more rooms..." and it's not that I don't enjoy myself!  I love going to the temple, but I always find myself counting down to when the session is over.  So I always think about Julie and it makes me feel better that I'm not alone!

One last story.  The other night David was joking around saying that we should return the kids to Walmart and Asher pipes up "I'm not store-bought, I'm womb-brought!"  I was laughing so hard I almost started crying.  That kid has such a quick wit. 😄

And one picture.  Don't worry, Mia was sitting behind Millie, not on top of her.  But I don't think Millie was any more pleased about it.  The girls are always trying to sit as close to her as they possibly can and she is very patient about it.

Parent Teacher Conference

 In the midst of all the other stuff going on this last week, we also had Parent-Teacher Conference!  I also like hearing about how my kids act when I'm not around.  And everything I heard was not surprising.  All of them have basically doubled the amount of growth they are normally looking to see and have already met most (if not all) the requirements for passing their current grade so any more learning they do is a bonus!  

First was Mia.  Her teacher said she is doing great, but she is very hesitant and second guesses herself a lot.  She would be in the top of the class in math, but she isn't super confident in her abilities so she holds back a lot.  She is still doing amazing, but we just need to work on building her confidence! 

Next was Ava.  She also is doing great in Math and Reading.  But she totally bombed the part about rhyming.  Her teacher said some kids just take longer to understand the concept.  It's also a nice thing to know, but it's not going to impede her reading abilities (she scored pretty high on reading, so I know that's true)  and it's not something we need to spend a lot of time on outside of school.  She also is doing at better with focusing (yay!)  Ava has always been a little spacey, so it's good that she's learning how to harness that energy a little bit.  Another thing she said was that they get to see Asher at lunch every day (4th grade lunch and kindergarten lunch just happen to overlap) and one day Asher's class was late coming to lunch and Ava asked her teacher if she could call them to see if they were coming.  Those girls sure love their brother!

Last was Asher.  He started having a lot of trouble with behavior problems last year so I'm now a little apprehensive about meeting with his teacher.  But he has made so much progress this year.  His reading grade was a little low and I asked his teacher about it.  She said the class was split into 3 groups, each reading a different book.  Asher didn't really like the book and had trouble going along with the activities the rest of the group wanted to do, so he got a lot of incompletes because he refused to do the work.  He did that a lot last year and he's been doing better this year, but we still need to work on that.  If he feels like the work isn't important or something he wants to do, he'll push back so hard on it.  But she said the book they're reading now he likes a lot more and he's been doing much better.  She also said there are a bunch of rambunctious boys in class that are always causing problems.  Sometimes Asher will get overwhelmed with how loud they are and move to a table at the back of the class.  He'll still do his work and raise his hand and participate in discussions, he just needs a little space from the chaos in order to focus.  His teacher also said his best subject is math and he does so well in it!  She said the other day he made some comments in class that basically taught her whole lesson.  And they will often split into partners and he'll teach his friend how to do the assignment.  

Overall I felt really good about things.  They are all making great progress, get along well with (most) kids in their classes, and hopefully won't be missing school much more now that we got those stupid tonsils out!

Busy Few Weeks

Well, the last 2 week have been super crazy!  I'll try to write down as much as I can remember.

Beginning of February was All-State for musicians.  David had a few students going so he went with them so he was gone for a few days.  That Friday night I was a fun mom and we went to McDonald's and I let them eat in the living room while we watched the old Space Jam!  I was worried it was one of those shows that hadn't aged well, but I feel like it held up pretty well!  My kids liked it and thought it was a pretty good show.

See how fun I am???  Sometimes....

The next week it was my turn to be busy.  I had a concert with the Idaho Falls Symphony.  It was a little different type of concert.  National Geographic made a movie full of clips of various wildlife and hired a group of film composers to accompany it.  So during the concert we played music and the audience watched a movie of all sorts of wildlife clips on a huge screen.  It was actually a lot more fun than I was expecting!  My mom came to the concert and she heard a guy say he forgot the orchestra was even there, which I take as a compliment because it means he wasn't distracted by us messing up all the time!  

So the rehearsal schedule for that concert was Wednesday rehearsal, Friday rehearsal, Saturday afternoon rehearsal, Saturday evening concert.  I felt like I wasn't busy enough so I scheduled Asher and Ava to get their tonsils out Friday morning.  So I got up at 5:30 with Asher (who I think got up that early because he was nervous), woke Ava up a little later, and we headed out by 6:30.  We got to the hospital by 6:45.  David was home with Mia, and when he had to go to work my mom came and hung out with her until she got on the bus (Thanks again Mom!).  Asher and Ava had a lot of nervous energy and would both talk constantly to whoever was in the room with us, but everyone did an excellent job of making sure they were taken care of.  And Mia had a great time having Grandma all to herself!  I was a little worried about having two kids just coming out of anesthesia by myself, but it was no problem!  Asher had a little harder time coming out of it than Ava, but he was still pretty alert and able to do things on his own.  Ava felt so good by the time they discharged her that she refused a wheelchair and walked out of the hospital!

Asher took full advantage of the dietary recommendations and had all the popsicles and ice cream he could get his hands on.  The doctor told him about a time they were on vacation and had ice cream for breakfast so Saturday morning they told me I should follow the doctors directions and let them have ice cream for breakfast.  I made it very clear this was a one time thing....but did let them have ice cream for breakfast...😄  They are both doing great now and I'm just hoping we are done with doctors for awhile!

Right before all that craziness, my mom and I went to a local aquarium!  She said she needed some stress relief and the aquarium is near my house, so we went!  It was the second time I've been and the first for her.  It was very relaxing and fun!  This aquarium is smaller and they have a bunch of interactive things you can do.  You can feed the fish for a few different displays, you can have fish suck the dead skin off your hands, feel what an electric eel shock is like, feed parakeets and iguanas, and also feed manta rays!  I got some amazing pictures of my mom feeding the manta rays.  

This week I also had a quartet gig and I've been trying to keep up on the pharmacy of drugs I have to pass out to Asher and Ava.  I really hope next week is a boring, nothing going on week so I can catch up on all the stuff I've been neglecting the past month!

This one is my favorite. 😂

They give all the kids a stuffed animal and coloring book.

Asher got his first experience getting an IV.  He was not a big fan.

Nervous and very talkative!

Ava waking up afterwards.  The nurse told me she wished all kids woke up like Ava because she was so quiet and happy and kept waving at people walking by.

Asher had a hard time waking up.  He jumped up every time the blood pressure cuff went off and looked very confused.  Then when he could hear me talking he would slightly open his eyes and say "Hi Ava" or "Hi Mia", like he was in bed at home and they were coming into his room.
 It was making me chuckle!

Cold

We made it through another week!  Earlier this week was pretty cold.  On Monday morning at 8:30 I looked at my phone and it was -24 degrees.  School got cancelled Monday and Tuesday because of the extreme cold.  Asher was pretty excited about that!  My girls who are in Kindergarten and are still in the "learn through play" phase were a little disappointed.  

On Monday, even though is was negative degrees outside, we still bundled up and went to the ENT for Asher and Ava.  Ok, Asher and Ava bundled up and Mia was wearing shorts.  I did manage to talk her into wearing a coat.  I thought I was going to have to exaggerate their symptoms to convince the doctor to take their tonsils out, but that ended up not being the case.  He said that because Asher has gotten strep so often the last year and Ava snores and her tonsils were more inflamed, that they both should get them out.  He also asked if they move around a lot in their sleep and wake up, which they both do but I think it has more to do with genetics...Ava talks in her sleep and Asher wakes up a lot, but I think they get that from David.  But I didn't mention that.  

He also asked how often Ava gets a sore throat.  I told him every 2 or 3 months which he then said that was another reason to get her tonsils out.  I asked how often a normal person gets a sore throat because that was pretty normal for everyone in our family.  He said twice a year!  I think my eyes popped out of my head!  That would be so nice if it only happened twice a year!  Our humidifiers have basically been running non-stop since October because everyone has some sickness that is usually accompanied by a sore throat.  So something to look forward to after they get their tonsils out is hopefully less sickness! Also at this appointment the doctor said both Asher and Ava looked like allergies were blocking off their noses slightly.  So I get to spray allergy medicine up their noses for the next 6 weeks. 

They are scheduled to get their tonsils out on Feb 10.  It's a Friday and I have rehearsal that night and a rehearsal and concert the next day, so David is really looking forward to taking care of the two of them on his own for a couple days!

On Tuesday David started having a sore throat  and went into the doctor.  They started him on another round of antibiotics.  Tuesday night Ava said he throat hurt.  By Wednesday morning her tonsils were so swollen she sounded like they were blocking off her throat when she talked.  So I kept her home from school, sent the other two off and took her into the doctor.  He started her on another round of antibiotics, but this kind was harder to find.   They didn't have any at Wal-Mart, so we had to get it from Walgreens.  

Yesterday and today have been pretty quiet.  The kids all went to school and I've been trying to get things back to normal after a long weekend of everyone being home.  David is at All-State this weekend so it's just been the kids and I.  I have done zero practicing for the concert next week which I'm a little nervous about.  I did glance at the music and it didn't look super difficult, hopefully that's the case!  We have our own little pharmacy at home with everyone and their different medications.  Asher finally finished his 2nd round of antibiotics, but this morning he said his throat was hurting again.  If he gets strep again I'm taking us all in to get tested for strep because I am starting to think that Mia or I are asymptomatic carriers.  So look forward to that update next time!

Ava loves her doggy.  Like a lot.  And Millie is very good at tolerating Ava's love. 😊

 

Trying Out Positive Thinking

Last weekend I was feeling a little down, but really wanted to try bringing on positive things with positive thinking.  The weekend went really well.  On Saturday, instead of doing their chores the kids built a fort in the living room!  They had a (pretend) fridge, shoe rack, shelves, and dog door.  They played for so long with it!  It was fun to watch them.  They usually play together really well and it's usually some sort of make-believe game.  It's going to be sad when Asher decides he's too old for that, but I'll just enjoy it for now!  

This was before they added in all their toys and snacks and shoes and who knows what else.

Millie wanted to be part of the group, but not too close so she just hung out right there.

On Sunday I was trying to prepare myself to go to Relief Society, and was relieved when I got asked to sub in Primary!  Seriously, I spend more time in there than some of the actual teachers...but I really don't mind it and had fun with the brand new Sunbeams.  After church I was in choir (my calling) and we had twice as many people as normally come!  It may have had something to do with me putting a very pathetic post on our Relief Society facebook page basically begging people to come, but whatever works! 

While we were in choir, the Primary Chorister came up to me and told me that Asher was being a little too clever in Singing Time.  They were having people dressed in certain colors sing and Asher wasn't ever singing.  She asked him why and his classmates ratted him out saying he took off his tie so he was only wearing his white shirt and black pants so he wouldn't have to sing!  He can kind of be a little stinker!  This is not the first time a teacher has told me that he is a little too clever for his own good.  He really is a smart boy, but he is so good at finding loopholes and reasoning his way out of things!  He also makes super clever little jokes that I never expect and always make me chuckle.  I just have to help him harness all those brains into something good and he'll be unstoppable!  I will say that after the chorister told me he was trying to get out of singing, she also told me that he was telling her that he thought the song they were singing should be sung soft like a lullaby which she thought was very insightful.  That kid really stretches me as a parent, but it's been fun to watch him learn and grow.

Speaking of Asher, on Monday morning I got woken up by him running to the bathroom saying he felt like he was going to throw up.  He never did and said he felt well enough to go to school, so I sent him.  Then an hour later I get a call from the school nurse (again...she must have my number memorized) telling me that Asher kept laying his head on his desk in class saying his stomach hurt and she noticed his tonsils were big and since we have had Strep in the house I should come get him.  So I did.  I made a doctor appointment for after school so the doctor could also check out Ava's tonsils and make sure they were okay.  Turns out, Asher got strep again!  Well, actually he probably never got rid of it the first time.  The doctor said he needed a stronger antibiotic but it would be harder to find so they were going to call around the different pharmacies to see who had it.  An hour after we left I got a call that they had one at the Albertsons across town had it so I drove over and Asher is on that.  He had to also miss school on Tuesday because he was still contagious, but he didn't seem to mind that too much.  I'm very glad that Mia hasn't been sick through all this!  (yay for at least one of my kids to not have tonsils!)  But I don't know how I haven't been affected.  I've had kids coughing directly into my face and I haven't even had a sore throat.  Let's hope that keeps up!

At the appointment I asked if they would send a referral to an ENT for Asher and Ava to see if they could get their tonsils out.  I was worried he would say they didn't really need that, but I think since this was our 3rd visit in 2 weeks and I looked very desperate he went ahead and called it over.  I've been thinking that I should get their tonsils out for awhile.  Ava's snoring has been getting worse and I know she's not getting good sleep because of it.  Asher gets so many sore throats and strep and I also wonder if that's why all of a sudden he started waking up so much at night, because his tonsils were making it hard to breathe.  So they'll have that consult on Monday.  It's with the same doctor that took Mia's tonsils out and I feel pretty good that they'll be willing to get them out.  Also I specifically asked when Mia was getting hers out what are some reasons to get tonsils out and so now I know all the buzz words!  So anyways, me trying to look on the bright side of this is that I was sort of waiting for something like this to happen to give me a reason to get this going.  So now it has and we can get it taken care of!

 Here are some awesome pictures from this week.

Mia took this creeper of a picture of Ava while she was sleeping.

Apparently when the kids get up before me they like to spoil Millie.

"Mom, take a picture of me and Millie!"  This girl loves her doggie.

 

This was a puzzle David and I did last Spring.  It is 1000 pieces and took us at least 3 weeks to finish.  I wanted to frame it.  So I put it under my bed so the kids wouldn't mess it up.  4 months later I bought a frame.  Beginning of December, Millie was trying to get to an M&M and messed up about 1/4 of the puzzle.  (some were still in chunks together, others were just random pieces all over the floor)  I put together what I could then kept it in my sewing room until after Christmas when I'd have more time to fix it.  Wednesday I took it out, fixed it, and glued the front.  Thursday I flipped it over and glued the back.  Today I put it in the frame and hung it up!  I honestly don't even care about it now, I just want that project to not be on my mind anymore!

Sickness and Repairs

 I feel like I should rename this blog: Chronicles of My Family Getting Sick.  Because we've just had so much going around.  On Monday David started feeling really gross so he went to the doctor and they gave him meds for Strep.  Ava has been super congested for the last week (she can't breathe out of her nose at all) and I had been doing absolutely everything I could for her.  Cold medicine, humidifier, nose spray, allergy medicine, Vicks, hot showers.  But  nothing really helps.  

Yesterday I got a call from her teacher saying she was sitting in class crying because her stomach hurt.  I thought (and feel bad about now) that she was just being overly anxious about the congestion, but made an appointment to take her to the doctor.  I explained her symptoms and he looked her over.  He said her congestion was probably a viral infection and there wasn't much we could do about that.  But he also said he thought she had something else going on because her tonsils were so swollen it was almost making it hard for her to breathe, which probably also contributed to the congestion.  She never once complained about a sore throat, but when I told the doctor Asher had strep last week, he said she probably had it and so now 3 people in the house are taking antibiotics for strep.  I'm really hoping it just passes right over me!  Mia has had a little bit of a cough, but for the most part she's been fine.  

I saw a video on Facebook the other day of a woman saying she didn't understand how families can have both parents working full time because she has spent so much time with sick kids at home and having to take care of them.  I think the same thing!  I don't understand how people can do it.  Ava alone has missed more school this year than I did my whole time in High School.  I have made at least 20 trips to the school in the middle of the day.  And not only that, but we have had so many repairman come to our house!  I feel like most of what I do every day is put out fires.  I just move from one fire to another, so it's hard to articulate what I accomplish in a day, but it sure makes me tired!

Speaking of repairman, we had another one come this week.  Last weekend was a lot warmer so snow was melting which meant the leak that I discovered last fall started up again.  It drips down into our kitchen and I know it's a leak in our roof because it only happens when the snow is melting or it's raining.  Anyways, we took apart the cabinet when the leak was coming down to see if it was something we could fix ourselves.  We couldn't see anything so on Monday I called a roofer to see if he could figure out the problem.  I went to Rexburg to hang out at my mom's house because it was stressing me out too much to be home right then.  And it was a good distraction!  The roofer came on Wednesday and said it was all probably because of a missing screw on the base where an exhaust pipe comes out on the roof.  We could try to fix it ourselves with some silicon or pay them like $200 to do it.  I think we may try to do it ourselves...

My kitchen on Sunday.  I love having to take my house apart.

Because this was a rental house for so many years before we bought it, a lot of things have been neglected and we are trying to fix them as much as we can.  We have had many different types of repairmen come and I'd like to rank them from best to worst:

• Roofer!  Granted, all he did was look at things and didn't do any actual work.  But he was so quick, in and out in under 30 minutes!  He didn't have to go all over inside the house to do stuff, it was quiet, and there was no mess to clean up.
• Electrician. We've had a couple different guys come and they've all been very down to earth and fast getting things done.  They don't make too much of a mess and aren't super expensive.
• Tree Removal.  The company we used to take out our trees were awesome and they did a great job.  I also liked that they didn't have to come in the house (I like when I'm not left alone with random guys in the middle of the day).  They were also very fast (speed is a big plus for me!) They also cut up the tree so we could use it for firewood. But it is loud with the chainsaw and it took them a super long time to grind our stumps.  And it made a big mess with pine needles and small branches and we had to take our fence apart (which they helped put back together).  It also made our grass even more lumpy than it already was.  So didn't love that.
• Window Construction.  We put in an egress window a couple years ago.  It was a huge mess on the side of our house, their tractor tore up our grass, and it was an all day process with insanely loud tools because they were cutting through our concrete.  But, they were all super friendly and tried cleaning things up as best they could.  They also helped us figure out the best way to finish our basement and spent a lot of time talking us through the whole process.  
• And the repairmen I dislike having come to our house the most is......plumber!  Honestly, the actual people that come to our house have all been very nice.  I have noticed that plumbers tend to be a little more rough around the edges.  A lot more tattoos and earrings than on other repairmen.  They also have to go all over your house to get to the water shutoff and sinks and drains and everything.  It also takes so much longer than other jobs.  Usually they're coming because of some big mess like the basement flooding so I already feel stressed out.  And it feels like they are more expensive than other jobs.  Ironically, we have had plumbers here more than any other repairmen.  Like when we call them they know who we are and where we live before we give our address.  So that's nice. 

I am glad for all of those people because I can't imagine trying to do any of this stuff on our own.  I'm just hoping that our next house will require a few less visits from them.

I'll just end with this picture.  I'm that person that brings my dog with me on errands.  If I know I'm going somewhere that will take less than 45 minutes (unless it's hot outside) then I'll bring Millie.  Sometimes I'll open the window (and crank up my heat) so she can stick her head out.  She's my buddy, especially now that it's just her and me during the day!

This week could've been better...

 On Monday of this week I felt like I was on fire.  I was getting so many things done and being so productive!  At the end of the night, I thought "I really need to keep this going and try to keep this energy for the rest of the week!"  And that was apparently a bad thing to think because I did absolutely nothing for the next 2 days.

Tuesday morning at about 5:00, Asher came into my room saying he felt like he was going to throw up, which he promptly did.  It doesn't bother me too much when my kids get any other kind of sickness, but when they throw up I feel like I'm on edge waiting for the next time they'll throw up or for another kid to start throwing up and then I know it's going to make it's way through the whole family and it's going to be a very bad couple of days for us.  One good thing about it being Asher is he's able to make it to the bathroom and throw up in a place where I don't have to clean up.  

Anyways, after that he went back to bed.  When I got up for the day at 7:30 I went to check on Asher (who had thrown up again), but I noticed the house was really cold.  The batteries on our thermostat had died during the night.  No problem, I'll just put new batteries in.  But when I did that the thermostat did not come back on.  I tried 3 different sets of batteries and googled everything I could to find a solution to the problem with no luck.  I got the girls ready for school (with a few space heaters running) and took them to the bus stop.  While I was gone Asher had thrown up again.  

When I got back I took care of Asher, got him settled on the couch so he could watch TV, chopped some wood so I could get a fire going, started a fire in our wood stove, and again tried to google how to get the thermostat working.  David came home between schools and I told him the problem and he called a company to come out and look.  They thought they wouldn't be able to come until the next day, which meant we would have to prepare for a very cold night.  But they called me early afternoon to tell me they would be able to come that day.  So yay for that!  

When he came he ran all sorts of tests and figured out our thermostat was the problem and we'd have to buy a new one.  We could just buy the same model and then we wouldn't even have to mess with rewiring anything.  But he did tell us that our furnace was on its last legs and we should think about buying a new one.  Super.  That's just what I wanted to hear.  We scheduled a guy to come the next day to give us an estimate on putting in a new one.  He also told us that we needed carbon monoxide detectors because if something went wrong with our furnace, it may kill us in our sleep. (We used to have one, but it died and we hadn't replaced it yet.)  So David went to Home Depot, got a new thermostat and carbon monoxide detectors and we had heat!

On Wednesday, Asher had a bad sore throat and he sounded like his tonsils were very swollen.  He also had a low fever.  So I kept him home again and made an appointment with the doctor.  We had the guy come to give us an estimate.  We were thinking of doing a combo furnace/AC unit, which he told us was going to be $15,000.  We're probably going to shop around for a better price.  The guy was at our house for 2 hours (I hate having repairman over, especially when they stay for soooo long and don't even fix anything!) and because he was there for so long we missed Asher's appointment.  Luckily the office was having a pretty slow day and they were able to fit him in right away.  So we went to the doctor and found out he had Strep.  So then we made it over to get his prescription filled and went home.  

Thursday I was kind of in recovery mode.  Asher was feeling better (yay modern medicine!) and since he'd been on the antibiotics for almost a full 24 hours I sent him to school.  I was able to workout and make a trip to the store and even delivered a family calendar to my brother.  But not much else was done.  

Today I've been trying to get back into the grove, hoping my super-motivated Monday self will come back to me!  So we'll see how that goes.

I do have 2 things I've been thinking about this week (besides trying not to think about how much having an older house is costing us...)  The first actually happened on Sunday.  It was Relief Society Sunday and I have been finding that I have a really hard time going to it.  I actually don't go too often because I get asked to help in Primary so often, which is just fine with me!  I've really been trying to figure out why I feel that way and it's been really difficult to figure out why.  I think part of it is I feel like I have such different life experiences than everyone else that I have a hard time connecting to them.  A lot of the talk is about not being too hard on yourself and trying to be a good friend, both things that I think are important, but they just aren't things that I feel help bring me closer to Christ.  And I feel when I make comments I often feel like they don't help anyone else and the teacher doesn't quite know what to do with them.  I actually had a little bit of a revelation during class this week, but I was so self conscious that I never said anything.  But I've been thinking all week about it and wish I would've.  

The other thing is a happier thought that made me smile.  Like most kids, Asher enjoyed being able to stay home from school even though he did feel crappy.  But I think what he enjoyed most was being able to spend so much one-on-one time with me.  Even though his throat was hurting, he spent those 2 days joking and talking my ear off.  I thought back to when it was mainly just the two of us, with David working his long hours and having a much much longer commute.  In a way, I miss those days because I loved being able to spend so much time with him.  But I also love seeing him with the girls and how much fun they all have together!  I think we both enjoyed having that time again, with just us.  ;)  

Now a couple pictures!

I found Ava watching a show on my phone like this.  It does not look comfortable.

Before church on Sunday.  Ava wanted to help Millie get ready for the day!

This is the equivalent of a dog eye-roll.

Christmas and New Years

Happy New Year!  We successfully made it to 2023.  Christmas was great.  We were able to fit in all of our usual Christmas traditions and have lots of fun on Christmas Day.  We made sugar cookies on the 23rd so they would be all ready to decorate on the 24th (something I used to try to do all in one day and quickly realized it made the 24th so much more stressful, so we spread it out now).  I even made a whole bunch to pass out to family, but then forgot them all at home.  On Christmas Eve we had a lunch with all the Mitchell family!  My kids had a great time and the food was great and it just all turned out great.  The roads weren't even that bad, which is one thing I was worried about.  After we got home from the lunch, we had a little bit of downtime before we decorated cookies!  My kids' philosophy on decorating cookies is to have a normal amount of frosting and then drown it in sprinkles. 😜 But they had fun with it, and that's the most important!  I also get my kids an ornament every year that they get to open on Christmas Eve.  I got the girls ornament no problem (pink unicorns for the win!), but had a really hard time with Asher's.  I was a little worried I would have to order it online and it wouldn't get there in time, but I managed to find a Mario one at the very last minute!  One of David's family traditions is to read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" so he read them that right before bed.  I was worried they would all have a hard time falling asleep, but they were out so fast!  And then 2 hours later Asher woke up to go to the bathroom and couldn't fall asleep for an hour because he was so excited...but otherwise they slept pretty well!

Decorating Santa cookies

I told the kids they couldn't wake us up until 6:00, so at exactly 6:00 I had three very excited little people standing by my bed telling me it was time to wake up!  Getting David out of bed took them another 30 minutes.  By the time we got out to the living room they had already gone through all their stockings and divided all the presents up into the various piles.  Then the present opening frenzy began!  I usually try to keep some semblance of order to varying degrees of success.  I honestly feel like almost every single thing the kids got will be used and appreciated.  That's such a good feeling!  And not just the things I got them, but the things they got from others as well.  They spent the next few hours playing with toys and each other and giggling and having a great time.  We went to church at 10:30 for a short program (we ended up getting out 15 minutes early) during which the kids got to sing a couple songs with the Primary.  It made me a little sad seeing Asher up there because I know he doesn't have too much time left in there!  But they did great and I always love seeing them up there singing.

Christmas morning!

 

Ready for church!

They fight like regular siblings, but they also love each other a lot.

The week between Christmas and New Years was mostly spent cleaning.  Not super fun, but it needed to be done.  I had to rearrange the girls rooms so their new dollhouse would fit in there and both kids rooms just needed a deep clean.  I'll get around to doing our room at some point...

On New Years Eve, Asher started the day by going to a friends house for a "Countdown to Noon" party!  It sounded like a lot of fun!  They started at 10am with a brunch of waffles and bacon and hash browns.  Then they watched a short Snoopy show.  Then they decorated cookies.  Then they had a countdown to 12:00 (noon) complete with balloon drop!  Asher said he had a lot of fun.

I had decided that this was the first year I would give my kids a chance to stay up until midnight (if they wanted).  My parents were having a party at their house that night so I packed up all the kids and told David we would be back whenever the kids got done.  That might mean 9:00 and it might mean midnight!  David wasn't keen to go.  Apparently his family never really celebrated New Years so he has never been real big into it.  And he likes being at home where it's quiet instead of at a party where there are 15 kids screaming all night long...imagine that??  Anyways, we got to the party and played games, watched movies, and partied until midnight!  There was only one child that fell asleep before then.  My kids all fell asleep on the way home, but they were all in pretty good spirits the whole night!  It was fun and I'm glad we went.  The next day our church didn't start until Noon so that was nice that we had plenty of recovery time beforehand.

I try to get a family picture every New Years Eve.  Most of our pictures look like this.

But I make everyone keep going until we get a good one!

At the party!  Ava wanted a picture with me.

Cadence was interested in what we were doing so I took one of her too!

On Tuesday the kids and David went back to school.  The girls were excited and the boys were not.  It's been nice to get back into our routine.  I have spent basically this whole week cleaning and trying to put the house back in order, but I did make it to the temple yesterday!  After I got home from the temple I found out we were put under a Boil Water Advisory because of a drop in water pressure, so that was annoying.  It was lifted today and they didn't find any bacteria in the water, but I guess it takes at least 12 hours to test that so we had to figure out how to make dinner and fill water bottles and brush teeth with those restrictions.  It really wasn't too bad, just a bit of a pain.  But it's resolved now!  

It's been an exciting few weeks but I'm ready for a little break and to just live normal life for a little while.  Let's hope we get a quiet week to recover!