Summer passes in a blur

Just to catch up, we have been running/walking every weekday morning.  But that is about all that is routine about our summer.  I am proud of our exercise but then there is so much  more to try to get done, nothing else is consistent--except that the baby takes a nap every day.

So many times the day passes in a blur.  And sometimes the camera gets passed around too.  These are great metaphors for what happens when I lose control of the day...

I'm a little out of focus;

 I know there is something I was going to do, but a little girl keeps getting in the way; 

 Oh yeah, I was going to clean up that mess, what a funny face :)

And here are just some cute ones of Erica who is getting bigger and much more demanding.  She likes to eat things that are whole.  A whole apple, an entire cheese stick, the banana still in the peel.
The only problem is that she still tries to put too much of it in her mouth at once, so, she CAN'T have the whole thing.  But then she gets mad, throws herself on the floor...and I watch in stunned silence as my adorable baby turns into a tantrum toddler.

 But you've got to admit, those pigtails are CUTE!!

More samples of our home in summer:

Maire growing her bangs out and a table full of food and snacks that have been there since this morning.

Sarah, from the perspective of a little photographer

Maire.  She took the camera too.

 The girls moved into the Master Bedroom.
Yes, my husband and I gave up our spacious sanctuary so that the girls could have more space.  They love it and now spend more time in their rooms playing than they did before.
It has given them 2 areas to play in, the basement and their bedroom.  Elizabeth and the baby sleep in one room--so it is kindof like Elizabeth's own room, and the other three share 2 bunk beds.  They made the extra bed a stuffed animal and library book storage area but they call it a reading place.

and yes, the room is always messy.

Summer rainstorm and chalk

cute little muddy toes

Rachel got a cabbage from her 3rd grade science teacher.
We harvested it last week--but we did not eat it.  It was home to too many other creatures.

Erica's cute curls and her new love of crayons

...and her love of putting crayons on the floor.

One last thing, I keep forgetting to put up that I made a really pretty dress for Elizabeth.  It was going to be her dress for the Cotillion Spring Ball, but Erica went in the hospital with Kawasaki Disease and that put her dress on hold.  Then I thought I could finish it before Easter Sunday, but everyone kept getting sick (including me).  Eventually I finished it.  I think I was done before school got out.  But I am quite proud of this dress.  Elizabeth picked out the pattern, but they didn't have her size, so I re-sized the pattern to fit her.

 It had these beautiful pleats/gathers up the side that are quite flattering, and I love the long short sleeves.  She picked out the color and it is really pretty on her.  I've got to take a picture of her wearing it sometime.

Summer Vacation--Week 1

I don't know what to say.
I am ready for them to go back for just a couple of days.

I was really looking forward to summer vacation.  I love having them home.  Actually, I think the part I like the most is the part where I don't have to have breakfast and lunch ready for each of the kids before 8:00 in the morning.  People say, "Oh, my kids make their own lunches."  And mine do too.  Really, they do. But I have to make sure they have something available to put in their lunches.  And make sure that there is a fruit or vegetable in there somewhere.  Even if I am not physically making it I get questions like, "Mom, are there more goldfish?"  "Mom, I don't like that applesauce."  and the famous, "What can I have for dessert?"
I hated when I was younger and the only thing we had for dessert was cinnamon graham crackers.  Usually Mom had something really yummy for us, but occasionally, the only thing she had to offer that day would be cinnamon graham crackers and they are a sorry excuse for a treat to help a child endure a long day of school.  So I try really hard to have something fun for each of their lunches.  But it can be stressful if I didn't make anything the night before.  I know, I could plan ahead,  blah, blah, blah--go read someone else's blog smarty pants.
Anyway.
So summer is here. One week down.
I didn't have to make anyone lunch in the morning all week long.  That was good.

But they were asking for food ALL DAY LONG!!
Gotta work out a system for that.

One of my goals for this summer it to get the girls exercising more and to increase their endurance.
So, we are going walking in the morning!  My goal is to get them in shape enough that in September we can walk around Burke Lake (about 4.7 miles) without weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
But so far we have been walking a loop in my neighborhood that is about .73 miles and there has been plenty of weeping and wailing and fits of exasperation.

Another goal for the summer is to get Sarah and Rachael to read longer books-that aren't comic books-and that are at or above their reading level.  If for no other reason than to help them realize that a book that cannot be finished in one sitting may still be a good book.  I also want to help Maire move to beginner chapter books, and get Elizabeth to read the Anne of Green Gables series.  (BTW, I asked my Mia Maid class today if any of them had read or seen Anne of Green Gable and they all said, "No."  *gasp*  I was shocked!).  Everyone also needs math facts drills.
But that didn't happen this week because our water heater was giving us problems, then it decided to start leaking and needed to be replaced and I heard horror stories about water flooding the basement...so we didn't use hot water for 2 1/2 days and dishes and laundry piled up.
And everyone kept asking me questions.
And asking for food.
And sulking about how summer vacation is supposed to be fun and no one should be punished for not doing their chores during summer
And, Can I have another Popsicle?
And, When are we going to the pool?
And, Can we go to Disneyland this summer?

AAAAAACK!
It's a good thing Netflix has Blues Clues and Dora for the baby,
Phineas and Ferb for the rest of us.

Easter Eggs

     Growing up we took dying eggs very seriously.  And it wasn't just the kids.  Dad had some tricks up his sleeve and was always one of the last ones to leave the table.  My mom got us each a carton of eggs.  One dozen each is a lot of eggs to color.  It is also a lot of eggs to hide!  There were eight kids, but my youngest brother, Todd is autistic so he didn't ever participate with the eggs.  So seven kids with a dozen eggs each--where do you store all those eggs?  What pot do you boil them in?!  But Mom did it. She got it done so that before Easter we would sit down and color. We had wax crayons a masking tape, spoons, cotton diaper cloths for gently blotting, vinegar, and imagination.  We didn't get that advanced this year--but there was a start. 

Sarah's duck, Garfield, and bunny rabbit (she made some ears after I took the picture)

Rachael's frog and blue bird

Some of our favorites:

 

Spring Break Part 2

Wednesday we stayed home.  I got some work done here and they played outside again!  LOVED it!  This was the best weather for Spring Break that I can ever remember.  We did some crafts and pulled out all the glue, paper, stamps, ink, markers, puff balls, hole punch, you get the idea.  Then we put it all away after making a few cute Easter cards and pictures.   In the afternoon a family of girls came over the play and they had popsicles, climbed trees, rode the scooters, played with the Lego table, and  drew with the chalk.  Erica came outside again too.
Just a minor glitch came Wed evening when Rachael fell off her scooter.  When she came in crying I thought something was broken because it was a cry of a lot of pain.  But she calmed down soon enough and went back outside (but not on her scooter).

Thursday we went to the Zoo.  Best trip to the Zoo ever.  I found the entrance on Connecticut Avenue (that was new) and we found a great parking place.  We met cousins and friends and the weather was once again beautiful.  I do short trips to the Zoo.  Maybe because I always have a baby ready for nap time, maybe because my patience is short, maybe because I am a home body--I leave around lunch time.  But in those few hours we saw so many wonderful things.

Three families, 12 girls, 2 boys

Maire in the olive hat

Rachael in the Star Wars cap, Sarah in the purple sweater

Elizabeth (in the hat my Aunt Holly made for me) & Ethan--see the dimples?

lemurs on Lemur Island

Tiger

king of the jungle

We saw lemurs on Lemur Island--cross my heart, I've never seen the lemurs there before.  We saw the lions and they were moving and playing and climbing and hiding.  There were 7 lionesses and 3 male lions--one with a big mane.  The reptile house had the funniest Iguana and some very active crocodiles.  When we came out of the reptile house, there were the orangutans climbing up their 'ropes' to go from one part of the zoo to another on the "O" line they call it.  Never seen them do that before--it was fantastic!

Rachael's elbow was bothering her Thursday night and it was swollen.  Here we go again.
BUT no one is sick still.

Friday I couldn't get her in to see the doctor, so we went again to the ER.  oh. joy.
2 x-rays later it is still not broken, but they gave her a sling.

Saturday we did not go the Burke Lake Park because the temperature dropped making Saturday morning 40 degrees (bbrrrrrrr).  So we took them to get donuts again.  Donuts from Shoppers are really good.

Saturday night we colored eggs, but that's a new post entirely :)

What a lovely spring break we had.  And the best part is that I sewed all week long trying to finish a dress for Elizabeth.  Found out on Friday that I didn't have the correct kind of zipper or zipper foot (neither of this mentioned on the pattern and in the notions).  So the dress still isn't done.  I'm building up the courage to just make the dress with a regular zipper instead of an invisible zipper.  But I love to sew.  I think it is one of the things that I find pure joy in doing.  --and that's another post too.

Spring Break Part One

Spring Break was awesome!
First off, no one got sick.
That was great.

We weeded  our small flower garden out front and bought a few pansies at 50% off and some seed packets.  A member of our ward was getting rid of some hostas so we have 3 free hostas out front.
I do feel bad because our landlords had a really nice garden out front, but I think we killed it our first year here.  (I was really bad off our first year here).  The girls each picked some flower seeds; lavender, four o'clocks, sweet peas, and another one I forgot.  On the way home from getting seeds we got donuts at Shoppers 'cause they are the best.  The rest of the day was spent outside.  Erica came outside too and sat in the exersaucer.  It was beautiful weather.

Tuesday we went to Burke Lake Park.  We got there about 9:30 and we had the playground to ourselves.  I am still kicking myself that I didn't bring a camera.  I was going to bring it and I forgot.  It was another beautiful day.  They climbed the playground equipment like slides and stairs and bars and ladders, but they also climbed rocks and trees. Erica loved the slide and "ooohh"-ed when going down the slide.  She especially loved to go down with a sister sliding next to her.  Her hair got all static-y and that just added to the adoreableness of the morning.
Rachael and Sarah decided to make a see-saw by placing a branch in between where two trees met.  After several attempt they did it!  It was so fun.  All 4 of them could go on at once; one on each end with two in the middle on the fulcrum.  They even gave Erica a turn on it :)  Maire was fascinated by the trees that had knots or holes in them.  "Look I found a creature's home!"  Then she would find another one.  She filled each crevice or hole with more leaves to make it warm and the bed softer.  She wants to be an 'animal scientist' when she grows up and I think she will be. Elizabeth was a great big sister the whole time.  She followed Erica around, and carried her around.  She would greet the other little kids that started coming to the playground too.  She may be 12 but no one is too old to enjoy just being at Burke Lake Park.  

On the way home we stopped at the library because they needed more books in order to survive the time during Spring Break when they weren't going to be outside.  Everyone got books and for the rest of the day they would take turns reading and then going outside.  I know they are all reading comic books in these pictures but they basically devour as many books as they can on the first day.  I do have to limit 'graphic novels' or 'comic books'--only 2 each for Spring Break, but usually it is only one each per library trip.

80 degrees, Kawasaki, and other thoughts on spring

March came in like a lamb--that was for certain.
In other places across the country there were snow storms, tornadoes, rain, cold weather...nasty things.  But here, it was a calm, beautiful day.  I had to explain to Maire that even though it felt like the first day of spring it was not really spring yet.  In the afternoon I even had to remind Rachael that it was March and Sarah said, "Oh yeah, it's March 1st today!"

And the next two weeks went just like that--"Wow, beautiful weather!!"  "Mom can we play outside?"  "No, I don't have any homework."  And it was so nice outside and i wanted them to play outside, so I hardly called them in to do housework either, and we got used to lazy beautiful days.

This is what my baby looked like on those beautiful and normal days.  She would 'help me around the house.'  (And the house looked like that too, because of, you know, the baby).

She would play with me, do "toss it in the oven" from Pat-a-cake and started to take a few steps.

But then strange things started happening.  Well, they weren't so strange at first, just a cold.  She got a runny nose and a little bit of a cough--but not too often.  That was on a Wednesday.  By Thursday night, something else was wrong.  She wasn't sleeping--hardly at all.  She got a fever, she was pulling at her ears and hair, she wasn't easily comforted.  The next day being Friday I of course took her to the doctor because I don't like weekends without answers.  The nurse practitioner said that an ear infection is probably the culprit, put her on Zithromicyn and we went home.  

Friday night was worse.  The tylenol wasn't bringing down the fever  of 102.8 and she wasn't sleeping or feeling better.  Saturday we started ibuprofen to try to bring down the fever, but that didn't seem to be giving her any relief either.  On Saturday afternoon we noticed a rash.  

rash on her face and neck--sad mouth and eyes :(

her tummy and back were all like this

Rashes and fevers aren't so strange in places that might get sweaty or warm, like in skin folds or underneath clothing.  But she got a rash on her face?  It was around her eyes and mouth.  She did not look well.  It did not subside and then i noticed it on her trunk and back--all over.  A call to the doctor suggested it might be an allergic reaction to the anit-biotics.  So we went to the ER.  Without looking at her mouth, nose, ear, or anything the ER doctor said, "It could be an allergic reaction, but it looks like a viral rash so the change in antibiotics might not do anything.  But here you go."  

Another sleepless night.  The fever was up high again.  

She stopped eating.  She would take a bottle for a little bit but not very much.  She vomited the ibuprofen so I was afraid to give her more unless she got something down her tummy.  She spend most of Sunday on my lap in and out of sleep.  I thought to myself, "This is the worst day, the antibiotics will bring the fever down and she will start to feel better tomorrow."  

Monday I decided I didn't want to pay the $20 co-pay to have the doctor confirm that she had a virus and i just needed to wait it out.  So I just called to let them know she went to the ER and we'd followup in a few days.  But by the afternoon her rash got worse.  A few spots were raised and it spread down her arms and onto her hands.  

rash on inside of her elbows

can you see the rash on her hands?

But by then, i couldn't get an appointment with the doctor, he was booked.  I set up something for Tuesday morning and prayed that she would make it through the night OK.  In the evening when we took her temp under her arm (she didn't like the ear one any more) it read 104.5.  I took her to the ER again.  She registered at 103.8 at the triage and they gave her motrin and her fever came down. (Remember I wasn't giving her ibuprofen except when I could get her to eat at least 4 oz in one setting so she wouldn't vomit).  But she did not vomit this time and the fever came down for the first time since Thursday.  It was at 99.5.  They also tested her for flu (negative).  She was feeling better and actually tried crawling around.  But I asked if there was some other test they could do.  There was something more going on than just a viral infection, I thought.  The doctor replied that there were many more tests they could do, but he didn't think they would be needed.  

I should have stuck to my guns. 

Monday was a horrible night again.  I kept my doctor's appointment from the day before, brought her in and they could tell right away something was not right with Erica.  "THANK YOU!"  was all i could think.  The nurse practitioner called and consulted with the doctor.  The Doctor went and consulted with...someone, or something else.  (internet?  a book?  another doctor?)  He came back, said it might be Kawasaki Disease and told the nurse to contact the "Infections Diseases" doctor and get Erica in to see them that day.  I'm thinking, "Kawasaki? Infections? Disease?"  

The nurse returns telling me to take Erica to the Fairfax Children's Hospital and go straight to the ER.  She gave me a piece of paper and told me Erica would probably be admitted.  

??!!  great.

Actually it happened really fast.  I was overwhelmed and relieved all in the same moment.  Overwhelmed because I was taking my baby to be admitted to the hospital.  But relieved because someone finally agreed that something serious was wrong with my baby. 

I went home, called and asked my mom to drive me so the car would be available at home, googled "Kawasaki" on the internet, read one site that said 1% of children die from it, stopped reading anything on the internet, packed a bag and left.  

The hospital visit was for 5 days and 4 nights.  It was long but i did feel peace about what was going on.  I felt assurance from God that Erica would be all right and that these doctors knew what they were doing.  There was a team of doctors--the attending doctor at the hospital, the infectious diseases doctor, and then a cardiologist.  She was hooked up to an IV for the majority of her stay (although she pulled it out twice).  She hated getting her blood pressure taken, hated getting medicine (tylenol and motrin and baby asprin), and hated being awakened from sleep in order to do any of those things.  She loved going for a 'walk' in the hallways, even when attached to the IV, and waving to the nurses and other patients.  

At home my mother, sister, and mother in law took the kids and got dinner.  Then other friends from church and my visiting teachers offered help and even came to do laundry and clean my house.  Papa took on another full time job and hardly got any rest between going to work and then getting everyone fed, in bed, and completing homework.  I could feel the prayers of so many people giving Erica strength and health and giving me peace and frankly enough energy to keep me coherent.

Erica came home on Saturday night.  All was well again.  I was ready to go back to March being like a lamb again.

But that was not to be.
The week of March 19th:  Maire came home from school early crying because of a bad ear ache.
Rachael came home with a fever.
Elizabeth came home with an upset stomach.
Rachael went to the ER because she was having trouble breathing and they gave her some epinephrine and  told us she had croup.
The next day Rachael and Maire went to the doctor.
Maire got zithromax for her ear, and Rachael got some steroids because of her cough and she also got another breathing treatment.
Rachael continued to wake up every night with a fever and/or difficulty breathing.
Sunday I couldn't get out of bed.  My throat hurt and I was too tired.  Seriously, i didn't get out of bed.  Until 2:15pm. And then only because Eric woke me up because he had to take the girls to church and he couldn't take the baby because he had to teach primary.  Somehow I got downstairs. Somehow I sat on the couch for an hour.  Then gave the baby a bottle, put her down for a nap, and went back to bed.  I woke up in the middle of the night when Rachael came in with another fever.
Monday, March 26th Rachael got zithromax for bronchitis.  I couldn't get a doctor's appointment.
Tuesday I got penicillin for strep.
Sarah's throat started hurting too.  But her strep test on Tuesday was negative--they sent it to a lab.
Rachel still had a fever, but was finally feeling better (and sleeping).
By Thursday the test came back that Sarah did have strep and she got penicillin.

Today, we are all well.  Sarah and I gag down our penicillin (that is nasty stuff) twice a day, but we are feeling better.
And here is April 1st.
Thank goodness March 2012 is over.