Talent Show

Middle school talent show was a success. I can't quickly figure out how to get the video of Brit's performance from my phone to my computer so hopefully I can figure it out tomorrow inbetween the baby's doctor's appointment in Brookings and Zeke's doctor's appointment in Sioux Falls.
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Riley Says

This was one of Riley's comments at breakfast this morning.
"When I grow up I want to be a Native American so I can hunt and live off the land!"
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Monday's Over, Now on to Tuesday :)

Monday's seem to get a bit hectic, especially when Steve's gone for the week like he is again this week. Between visits for the baby, picking up kids, Zeke's therapy and Riley's piano lessons, I feel like I run my own bussing service. Zeke had the opportunity to participate in an activity after School on Monday's. It's called Athletes Inspired and they concentrate on overall wellness. They do activities, crafts and other things revolving around eating well, keeping physically active and keeping your body healthy. Last night was Zeke's first night and he loved it! To enable him to participate, I've moved his physical therapy at the hospital to Tuesday afternoons.
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Zeke is now officially signed up for Special Olympics! I still have to take him in for a physical and get his doctor to sign off on the paperwork but it looks like he'll be able to participate. We went to our first meeting/potluck on Thursday and got to meet a lot of other families of athletes. I'll post when/where his meets are so anyone interested can attend. The spring sports he'll be participating in are swimming, soccer and track & field. Hopefully the weather starts to cooperate soon :)
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Brittney went out for Track this year. She thinks it'll help keep her in shape in the off-season for gymnastics. As of now, she'll be competing in the 100m, 200m and the pole vault. I'll try to post her meets ahead of time too. They start practice on Thursday.
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Brittney and a few of her friends were chosen to perform at the middle school talent show on Thursday night. They'll be doing a tumbling routine.
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The new refrigerator and freezer will be delivered today!
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Psalm 65:1-13

"What mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion.
We will fulfill our vows to you, for you answer our prayers.
All of us must come to you. Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all.
What joy for those you choose to bring near, those who live in your holy courts.
What festivities await us inside your holy Temple.
You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior.
You are the hope of everyone on earth, even those who sail on distant seas.
You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength.
You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations.
Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders.
From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy.
You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile.
The river of God has plenty of water; it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so.
You drench the plowed ground with rain, melting the clods and leveling the ridges.
You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops.
You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy.
The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain.
They all shout and sing for joy!"
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Refrigerator

Steve and I have been looking for a new refrigerator for quite a while now. I think the compressor is going out on our old one. Every hour or so it makes a loud rumbling and clunking sound. You can hear it anywhere in the house. I thought it had only been going on for a few months but my friend tells me it's been almost a year. It really isn't worth it to try to fix it anymore. Since we got our tax return in Febuary, I've been seriously looking for a new one. But I am definitely not impulsive and I don't do payments. So I finally found the one I wanted for a price I could live with. It's being installed on Tuesday afternoon.  :) Happy early birthday to me!
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It is good to be told you are loved.
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Recent Stuff

Zeke had another clinic appointment yesterday to check on the infection on his knee. The results of the culture were in. He had both a strep infection and a staph infection. Even though it's healing and looks much better after being on the medication for 10 days, because it's still not completely healed, the doctor prescribed another 10 days on another medication. We also don't have to put the cream and re-bandage the area three times a day. Of course, the first evening without a bandage, Zeke picked at the sore and made it bleed again. Mom was not happy!
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Because of the timing, I had to take all three boys to the clinic for Zeke's appointment. Then about halfway through, the DSS worker brought the baby back. The kids all behaved very well. So well, in fact, that the doctor commented on how well behaved they were! I can't even tell you how happy that made me. Perhaps I am making a bit of difference and they're leaning and growing up. A few years ago, I would have been scared, with good reason, to take 4 children to a clinic visit. They would have been running around, yelling, hitting each other and just generally looking like kids without good parental supervision. No matter how much I pretended not to, I still felt judged on my parenting skills when we were out in public. Sometimes I wanted to wear a shirt that said, "It's not my fault, I just got them!" Unfortunately, even that would have only been good for a few months! Anyway, the nurse at the clinic gave all three boys a gift certificate for a free icecream cone so we drove through Dairy Queen on the way home to celebrate everyones good behavior at the clinic. Even the baby got a cone!
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Steve's out of town for work again. He left Monday morning. I tried to find out when he would be back but he was very vague. So I guess he'll be home sometime between Wednesday evening and Friday evening.
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I'm very excited that my brother Jeremy's wife is home safely after months in Korea! They're already on the move again and will be relocating to Florida. Happy Home Coming Stacey!
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Parenthood

"Parenthood is full of mountain tops and valleys. Just wish they wouldn't come so close together. Sometimes the trip between the two can cause nausea!"

-Thanks to Kathy for letting me borrow her FB status today :)

1. Headstart had a make-up day yesterday so I worked until 1pm. After work, I picked up the baby and a few groceries. Since the baby still isn't feeling very well, I took her to Grandma Sandy's for the morning instead of to daycare. Have I mentioned lately how nice it is to have her in Brookings? Then we picked up a few groceries and headed home.
2. I still felt good enough to be able to get a bit of cleaning and laundry done. I hate trying to play catch-up.
3. Steve made it home safely last night.
4. When I had to take the baby to the doctor, my dad picked up the kids from school and by the time I got home, he had cleaned my entire kitchen! Yay Dad!
5. Taylor had a sleepover on Thursday night and, as much as I love her, it was nice to get her out of the sibling mix for a while. This makes the third Friday in a row that the kids haven't had school.
6. Today I get to help present material that I'm excited about. I'm co-training for PRIDE most of the day today (educating potential foster/adoptive parents) The entire class is 30 hours and this particular session will be on Saturdays. I always enjoy working with the trainer from Children's Home and I'm excited about the cause so it should be a good day.
7. Brittney is attending a 30 hour famine. I should know more about it but I don't. I think it's to help realize the extent of world hunger and pray and fast for the people experiencing it. The 30 hour famine is through our church youth group and other youth groups in town participate. The kids fast and pray on their own starting at 10am on Friday. Then they meet at the church at 6pm. They have movies, discussions,  a lock-in, team competitions, worship time, a service project and also drink lots of juice. They break their fast at 4pm on Saturday. It'll be interesting to see what Brittney has to say about it.
8. It's almost 7am and there are NO kids awake! That never happens on a Saturday :) Ok, never mind. They are downstairs watching TV quietly. I can live with that :)

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A New York scientist found copper wire 10 feet deep and concluded New York had a telephone network 100 years ago.

A California archaeologist found copper wire 20 feet deep and concluded they were high-tech 200 years ago.

A Minnesota newspaper reported: "After digging 30 feet deep, Ole Olson reported he found absolutely nothing. Ole therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Minnesota had already gone wireless."

No time to write but here's some recent pictures:

Riley

The new haircut he picked out himself.

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Basketball

Watching the SDSU girls play basketball at the Summit League Tournament.

They won all their games and are now in the "big tournament".

Go Jacks!

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Zeke

Waiting for his orthopedic doctor's appointment in Sioux Falls.

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Green Eggs and Ham to celebrate St Patrick's Day

Taylor helping to cook the eggs

 and Riley taste-testing.

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Jane

I finally feel a little bit better this afternoon, although I still have a sore throat and zero energy. What little energy I had was used up getting all my kids ready for school and then working with the kids at headstart.
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The good new is that Steve has found my best friend again! I love my GPS Jane. She really is my best friend. (Jen comes in a really close 2nd) Steve misplaced her when we took our last trip to St Paul for Zeke's ortho checkup. I had given up hope and thought she was lost for good but Steve found her in his computer backpack, which apparently he hasn't opened since the last time he went out of town. I wasn't sure whether to be happy with him that he found Jane or upset that he had blamed Brittney and I for losing her in the first place when it was his fault all along. Guess I'll be the good wife and just be happy I have Jane back :)
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The Day Continues

I still feel like crap but I got all the kids picked up from school. Just now every single kid yelled, "Mom, can you help me?!" at the same time, except for Taylor screaming in the hallway and the baby crying because Anthony was trying to keep her out of the mess he was sweeping up.
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Steve comes home on Friday. Maybe I'll feel better by then and we can actually celebrate his birthday.
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Today's Tally

It's only 4:30am and already today's tally is:

• My throat doesn't feel much better even though I've been taking my medicine religiously. I didn't have much time for rest yesterday afternoon since I needed to take the baby to the doctor and pick up her medicine. I did get a full 6 hours of sleep last night, which is more than I've had for 4 days now.
• The baby is on an antibiotic for strep, has a fever and is crabby.
• Anthony is coughing like he has croup (he sounds like a barking seal) and told me yesterday that he had a sore throat at school. I'll probably end up taking him to the doctor today.
• Zeke is feeling ok but still on an antibiotic for his infection. Looks like his impetigo has cleared up around his nose but I'm not confident about the infection on his knee. I'm still changing the dressing on his knee three times a day and giving him his medication twice a day.
• My husband is leaving me. Not for ever, just for the rest of the week. He'll be working out of town. Probably safer. Maybe he won't get sick! I'm just hoping he sticks around long enough this morning to drop the still healthy kids off at school so I don't have to leave the house with the sick ones until school gets out or I need to take a kid to the doctor or I get a call from the school to pick up a sick kid, which ever comes first.

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Verdict #2

As I was trying to recuperate in my bed at home, I got a text saying the baby had a fever. I had to pick her up from her visit and take her to the clinic. She's got strep too! When we got back, Anthony came in the door and said, "My throat hurt today at school." We'll see if I'm taking another kid to the doctor tomorrow. BTW: Happy Birthday Steve!
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Saw a cute quote that fit my day perfectly:

"When life hands you lemons..........throw them back and demand chocolate!"
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And The Verdict is.........

I couldn't wait for the clinic to open this morning, but I did. 'Cause who wants to pay extra for emergency service when they'll still tell me the same thing at the clinic on Monday. Although I could have been on medication sooner.
Anyway, I went in at 8:40am this morning and the verdict is strep. The doctor actually cringed when she looked in my throat. Once on the medication, I'm out of commission for 24 hours. Medication and bed rest. Would someone please explain this to my husband and 6 children?
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Im really sick. Been sick for 3 days. Major sore throat, high fever, achy all over and I feel like Im dying. Im sure im not but thats what it feels like. Only got out of bed to go to the bathroom and Im trying to drink some juice now. i dont have time to be sick

Your Duck Is Dead

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry. Your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."

The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet.

"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head. The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room.

A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, one hundred percent certifiably, a dead duck." The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!"

The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."
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(Thanks for the lame but slightly humorous joke Mom!)
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Zeke's Infection

Obviously taking a night off for basketball and fun set me back a bit on the regular things in life and left me no time for blogging. Today I'm heading to Sioux Falls for Zeke's orthopedic appointment. We got smart and scheduled his and the baby's for the same day. They don't see the same doctor but the appointments are both with the Children's Hospital & Rehab so we were able to get the appointments scheduled back to back.
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On a negative note, Zeke has some kind of infection. It started out as a runny nose. Then the area under his nose got very raw, which is not unusual for his nose when it is wiped a lot. Then I noticed an area on his knee looked really puffy. I asked both of his physical therapists to check it out and both said they weren't sure but to have the SF doctor check it out. The next day, the area around his nose was kind of crusty and the area around his knee was really puffy. The entire knee area was red and warm. Which is a big red flag for infection in my mind. I immediately steralized a needle and poked the puffy spot. Not to be overly disgusting, but tons of puss gushed out as soon as I poked it. Once I had most of it out, I wiped it down with rubbing alcohol. I'm thinking impetigo and it somehow got transfered from his face to his knee by scratching an open sore. It's really hard to keep Zeke from picking at his scabs.

So yesterday, I called his regular pediatrician in town and they were able to get him in to the clinic in 10 minutes. I guess they were a bit concerned too! She took a culture of the area around his knee. She'll call me with the results in 3 days. They're hoping it's not a staph infection because that can easily progress into the bone. She gave me a prescription for a strong antibiotic he'll take orally, a cream that we apply topically to his nose and his knee and then they gave him two shots of some pretty potent stuff to try to get a jump on knocking out the infection. He took it pretty well but later he kept telling everyone that he didn't want to be "shocked anymore". One good thing is that Zeke isn't really in any pain over the whole thing, other than the shots. He seems to have such a high pain tolerance.

The Sioux Falls appointments begin at 8:30am this morning and we're taking Zeke, Taylor, the baby and the baby's mom so I'd better get going!

SDSU women won their league championship B-ball game today! Steve & I took his free tickets and drove down to Sioux Falls to watch the game at 3pm and then we went out for supper afterwards. It was a great day and extra nice to be able to spend some time together.
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Riley Says

Riley has a girlfriend, Amy. They've been friends since kindergarten and it's a pretty innocent little friendship. Trust me, I keep a close eye on them because they're only in 3rd grade. They've been "dating" for quite a while now and I originally thought that it was Riley who wanted to have a girlfriend. It turns out that it was the other way around. She's pursuing him. She writes him little love notes and calls all the time. One evening, after 8 phone calls from her on my phone and who knows how many more on Steve's and Brittney's phones, I finally told Riley that he needed to tell her to quit calling so much. I told him that right now it's just kind off annoying but eventually, having a girlfriend that posessive and controlling wouldn't be good. A girlfriend should let him be who he is without trying to change him or tell him what to do all the time or call a million times a day. I explained that Amy is really excessive.

He thought for a moment, then shrugged and replied, "I guess I'll try excessive first."
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SDSU Wins!

SDSU women and men both won their games at the tourney yesterday so they both play again today!
Steve's off to take an insurance license test in Sioux Falls this morning.

I've got some really tired kids and a really tired mom.

It's snowing outside again. I just heard that Brookings is in the middle of the target area for extreme flooding this spring. No wonder, with all the snow. Although it now sounds like the major winter storm that was headed our way on Tuesday is going to stay further south.
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Breakfast is over. Children are bathed/showered. I have a cup of coffe and the good vanilla creamer I splurged on.
Kid #1 is downstairs doing her hair and makeup. It takes a good hour.
Kid #2 just got out of the shower.
Kid #3 is watching cartoons in my bedroom because she's all ready to go.
Kid #4 is putting his braces on in his room.
Kid #5 is also watching cartoons.
Kid #6 is standing beside me drinking her sippy cup in the office.

I guess we'll head off to church in a few minutes as soon as I pack up the diaper bag!

Walmart & HyVee

I do not suggest taking 5 children to Walmart unless you are extremely demented and enjoy various forms of torture. I only went because the baby had a serious diaper rash and was pretty much inconsolable. I needed diaper rash cream and a prescription. Steve is gone and Brittney is at the movies with a friend so I loaded up everyone else in the van.

Into Walmart went:

one very crabby 1 year old,
one hyper 6 year old that can't keep his hands off of anything or anyone,
one very easily distracted 8 year old using a walker,
one extremely tired and irritable from a sleep-over 8 year old,
one go where ever he wants 9 year old because he knows it all,
and one mom trying to hold it together long enough to get some diaper rash cream.
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We made it in and out and proceeded to our local grocery store. HyVee is counting their blessings right now that we used their drive thru pharmacy instead of going inside!
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Taylor & Emily helping to make

blueberry muffins

this morning.

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3 Day Weekend!!!

I should probably be in the kitchen with the kids who are eating breakfast instead of on the computer. I already hear them arguing in there. But unless they come to blows, I'm going to let them work it out themselves.
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We're missing Brittney, who's at a friend's house, and we added Emily, Taylor's friend. Since the kids didn't have school on Friday, this weekend was a great time for sleepovers.
Thursday night, a friend of Brittney's came over after gymnastics and ended up spending the night. Then in the morning Steve dropped them off at the high school to help pack up the gymnastics equipment for the season. By the time I got home from work at 1pm, Brittney and 2 of her friends had walked home and were playing Monopoly. They all hung around until 5pm when I picked up another girl and dropped them all off at a hockey game. Steve had pick-up duty later that night even though Brittney eventually ended up spending the night at Corah's.
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Today Steve is headed to Sioux Falls to work in the media room at the Summit League basketball tournament. It's the 3rd year he's helped and he absolutely loves it! He gets to watch most of the games and then is in on all the action with the media. He helps all day on Saturday and Sunday, so we won't see him again until Sunday night. The best part as far as I'm concerned is that he also gets two free tickets for all of the games, which he gives to me :) For the second year in a row, my friend Jen and I are going down to watch the SDSU men and women play. We both love to watch our team play but because of cost and kids, we aren't able to watch them play in person very often anymore. We're looking forward to a "kid-free" day on Sunday afternoon/evening. I've divided up the kids:  Zeke and Riley are going home after church with my folks, Taylor and Sophia are going home with Grandma Sandy, and Brittney will be watching Anthony at home. I can't wait!
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Earlier today at an undisclosed location........

Earlier today at an undisclosed location, with children not my own, we were working with rhyming words. There were pictures on cards and some objects, like a car, a ring, a boat, etc. The kids were supposed to yell out a word that rhymed with the picture. It was going well until one boy held up a card with the picture of a truck We were hoping the kids would notice the yellow rubber duck sitting on the floor. However, when they were asked what word rhymed with truck, everyone was stumped until another little boy yelled out, "Fu..........!
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Another good day yesterday. After work, I picked up the baby from her visit and went home. Steve's been at home working and studying for his test to get his insurance license. It's ok but a bit hard for me to get used to having his "office" exploded all over my dining room. I'm trying to find another spot in the house for him so I can have my dining room back. I might have to give in and give up my Echo room so we can all eat together again. Plus, if you know me at all, you know that I don't do well with clutter.

So yesterday, after I got home with the baby, Steve picked up the other kids. Since on Wednesdays school is out at early 2:18pm, he took them all to the Children's Museum so they could play while he studied. Trust me, no one would be able to study at home when they're all there and it's too cold to send them outside. I ended up stayed at home while the baby was taking a nap. Everyone came home for supper, I took the baby to see her bio family and we all met up again at church at 6:30pm.
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First Day

It was a great first day at work. I got to see quite a few friends from the past and the kids are full of fun energy. Now I'm just taking a few minutes to post while my kids are eating supper. Steve is working a concert at the Swiftel Center again so I'm hoping for an early bedtime!
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