A Family Project: Sleep Deprived EEG

I hope you can see and enjoy the humor in how even the medically mundane can become an adventure in our family.  

When planning for Matt to have a sleep deprived medical test, it is a family project.  For the test Matt would need to sleep less than 4 hours.  I knew he would fall asleep in the car on the way to the test so I had to allow for an hour of sleep in transport. Therefore, we made a plan to keep him awake until at least 4:30am.

It went something like this...No bath because we will likely need a bath during the night to stay awake.  We rented 3 movies and 2 "active" Wii games.  I had snacks and activities ready.

8:30-9pm             Twins are in charge because they thought they needed a shift.  (The usual bedtime is 8:30pm)

9pm-10pm            David was in charge of keeping Matt awake. (AKA Project Movies)

10pm - Midnight   Corrine was in charge and rolled out snacks, hot chocolate and a bit of noise.  (They woke me up a couple times.)

Midnight-2am       Grace was in charge and I have no idea what she did, but he was awake when I started my shift.

2am-8am              Mom (me) on duty....


Here are my shift's highlights:

2:18am   Matt falls asleep while using the potty.  (I catch him before he falls.)

2:20am   We do homework.  He wants Corrine to get up and sit with him again.  I say no.

2:40am   Movie and snack in kitchen so the chair would be uncomfortable and keep him awake.

3:15am   I literally "catch" Matt as he "falls" asleep at the kitchen table.

3:20am   Matt goes through all the kitchen cabinets.  I don't know what he is looking for, but he is awake so I don't care!  He can look all he wants!

3:30am   I break out the glow sticks so Matt wants to turn off all the lights...BAD idea!!!

3:45am   Another snack....back to the Wii games

4:11am   Matt brings me his piggy bank and wants to go the Wal-Mart.  It is starting to storm so I say no (and I honestly cannot imagine a fate worse than taking an extremely tired child to Wal-Mart at 4am.  I am pretty sure this is the "stuff" that causes concerned citizens to call Child Protective Services.  Otherwise, it might not be a bad idea since I do need a few grocery items.)

4:30am   Well timed LOUD thunderstorm.  Thank you Lord!  (I have a new prospective on why we have loud storms at night.  It is just the Lord helping out a mom!)...still playing Wii.

4:45am   Matt drifts off to sleep.  Time for a walk and ice cream.

5:15am   Daddy gets up for work.  Twins and Nate wake up.  Chaos ensues as the boys start arguing over the Wii, movies, getting clean and dressed.

7:00am   Everyone on the bus.  Matt and I head to the clinic.  He falls asleep.

8:00am  Arrive at clinic and he is awake and ready to check this all out.  He doesn't like the cold gel.   Luckily, once he is "wired", it only takes about 8 minutes for him to settle down and sleep.

10:00am Matt falls asleep on the way home and gets carried in still asleep.  Mom is drinking coffee ready to start paperwork and housework while Matt sleeps in my bed.  Never mind, Grace just took my coffee.....

Another family project is completed except getting Matt the Happy Meal that he has been promised.

My Birthday

For birthdays at our house, we let the birthday person pick the dinner menu.  However, when it is my birthday, my kids have interpreted it to mean that they pick their favorite of what they think are mom's favorite foods.  I think it is cute so I let them all order up their LONG lists of foods.  Then I pick from what is in the freezer or what "shows up".  (Everything marked with an asterisk below was donated to us today or recently.  Sometimes I use donations to "pretend" that I am on a show like "Iron Chef", but today's blessings went together fairly easily.  Needless to say, I am very thankful for the opportunity and blessing of being challenged to make meals out of free food!)

Tonight's dinner ended up being meatloaf, salmon (which I have had hidden in the freezer for months), mushroom* brown rice, squash*, steamed artichokes* with balsamic dip, baked potatoes* (baked in the crock pot), french bread* and Cowboys "clearance" cupcakes*!  Salmon is one of the kids' favorites, but since it is pricey we only have it every several months so they were especially thrilled!

The kids (except Corrine) were home from school today on a cold weather school closing day.  Some of my children do not deal well with unplanned changes of routine so it was a long day of being asked millions of times if we can go to school. The fact that Corrine got to go to school while they stayed home made the day even harder for them.  My husband got me roses for my birthday, which is a rare treat (like 4th time in 16 years), and it was very nice to have them for comfort as I SLUGGED my way through the meltdowns, demands, snacks, lunch, snacks, demands, meltdowns, dinner prep....of the day.  Snow days are harder than the weekend for us since these snow days "sneak up" on us.  Also there was no snow/ice today, and this made it even harder for them to understand why they weren't doing what they usually do on Thursday.  Plus I think having this school week start on Tuesday (since Monday was teacher's meetings) had already confused their schedules.  

So when everyone was pleased with my birthday dinner and cupcakes, then that made me very happy with my day! (And now baths are done and everyone is snug in their beds...the day seems like it wasn't that bad.)

First Day of School Worries (Revisited)

On this First-Day-of-School Eve, my three kindergartners to-be have been very excited.  At dinner we asked them to tell us why they are excited.  Both Mark and Luke explained because they will get money.  After a few moments of confusion, we realized what they were saying.  Both of them thought that they would get money for perfect attendance like during Summer school!  Needless to say, we had to burst that bubble as we couldn't let them think the school would pay them on Friday!  After the bad news, the boys are still excited for the bus ride in the morning, but they are much less excited about actually going to school.

As I was sitting at my desk tonight and thinking of all my worries for my kindergartners, I could not help but remember when Vanessa and David started kindergarten.  I had so many worries.  However, on that day, a misunderstanding lessened my worries.  I found this story that I had written about their first day.  I thought that you might enjoy reading it too.

In May of 2009, I was dreading what was ahead for David and Vanessa.  I knew my own early experiences in school and I was worried.

For the past year, I had stayed at home with the kids after their adoptions. We had worked on pre-school skills, life skills and English skills to get them ready for kindergarten.  However, that year flew by quickly and it was soon going to be time to go to traditional school in August.  I was very reluctant, but I knew this was a step that they needed to take. 

Kindergarten would be a big step with all new adventures, new skills, new friends and new discoveries.  However, it was the new discoveries that worried me and to be honest, even scared me.  I can remember my first year of school, and while it was not a bad year, I learned some tough lessons that year.   Lessons that I still sometimes wish were not true.  I cringed at the thought of David and Vanessa learning similar truths about their world.

In the 1970’s, I lived an ideal life with my parents on a small farm.  My grandparents lived beside us and our community and church were small.  Due to my being born with a disability, I had been to see the “Big City” many times and frequently spent weeks at the Children’s Hospital with kids from all over the world.  School would prove to be an intrusion into my ideal life.  From my very first day at school, I started to learn tough lessons.  No one looked like me.   No one was taught like me, and ultimately I learned that not everyone wanted me in their school.  Unlike the hospital, with kids with all types of disabilities and unlike my home, with my father who was a disabled veteran and our neighbor with a wooden leg, at school I was the only one with an obvious disability and at first I was a curiosity.  Eventually, my classmates became bored with being entertained by my every move and they mostly accepted me as a playmate.  Recess became the best part of my day because I mixed freely with my new friends.  In the classroom, I sat in the back at a table and colored.  I could catch bits and pieces of what the others were learning and I was occasionally given a book like theirs to look at while they did their lesson. I learned the words for kids like me.  I disliked the word “retard” the most.  Some teachers didn’t think I could be taught and I learned that some did not want to waste time with me.  Even the principal doubted aloud in my presence if I belonged in their school.

My early experiences were the solid foundation of my fears for David and Vanessa.  Haitian by birth and now living in rural America, they enjoyed a small community of family and friends.  They had already made many discoveries, just coming to join our family.  Starting in the airport and continuing at church, they found out that few black people spoke Creole, even the darkest skinned people spoke English.  To add confusion, a white woman with light hair spoke Creole to them because she had lived in Haiti.  David knew that he looked different than me.  As he colored pictures of moms and kids, moms were orange and kids were brown.  However, what concerned me the most is that like me, neither David nor Vanessa knew that their community was not like their home and church. 

To try to ease the transition to go school, I made arrangements for David and Vanessa to go to pre-kindergarten, two Vacation Bible Schools and a day camp.  When the first day of Summer school arrived, David and Vanessa were so excited to get to go play with lots of kids.  I drove the kids to school that morning, and I got Vanessa to her class first.  Due to her disabilities, she had already met her teacher and toured as part of the process of getting the school ready for her so she separated from me quickly and was ready to start her day with the help of a classroom aid.  David and I went more slowly to his classroom, pointing out where the cafeteria and restrooms were located and finally stopping to take a picture of him outside the classroom. 

We entered the room and we were greeted by an experienced and prepared teacher who had activities already going at the tables.  I took David to the seat for him, and he immediately dove into playing with the building blocks at his table.  I lingered and took a couple more pictures as he started to talk to the boy next to him.  I was pleased to see that the boy was a minority, and based on a brief exchange with his mom as she left, I knew they were from Guatemala.  I was pleased that David would not be the only minority student!  David had told me bye, and I was across the room when I heard the little boy ask in a suspicious tone, “Who was that?”  I stepped behind a cabinet out of view. David said, “My mom.”  The boy said, “That’s not your mom.  She’s white.”  I sucked in my breath and waited to hear David’s response.  David said insistently, ”She is my mom.”  The boy said, “Not your real mom.”  I was about to step back around the cabinet, when the teacher interrupted the boys with a new activity.

That afternoon I went to get David from school.  The little boy and David saw me waiting in the hall.  I could hear enough to know that they had resumed their previous conversation.  I stepped closer to the door as the boy was asking David questions again.  David replied, “There are white moms too”.   Then the little boy asked, “How do you get to school?”  David seemed annoyed as he answered, “I told you; in a car.”  The boy inquired, “But who drove the car?” David seeming more annoyed, ”My mom!” The boy confused, “Your real mom?” David pointing to me in the hall, “Yes.”  The boy then said, “She can't drive.”  David who was looking completely annoyed now; responded, “White moms can drive too!”  As luck would have it, the bell rang and David came running to me.  I figured I’d explain the little boy’s concern about my disability and driving later.

On the way home, David told me all about his day including about the boy who kept asking him about his mom all day.  David explained,” He has a brown mom.  He doesn’t know about white moms.”  He exclaimed, “He didn’t even know that white moms can drive!” 

I decided that David understood the little boy just fine so I never explained the boy’s concerns.  However, that afternoon I felt more confident that David and I would do just fine handling the tough realities of kindergarten…one misunderstanding at a time.

Chick Days at Our House

I think Spring might really be here soon.  Today a dozen baby chicks arrived at our house.  These chicks are sleeping soundly tonight after a busy day of meeting the many Workman's!  The little Workman's are sleeping well tonight too!  (All photos except the 3rd one were taken by Angela Covington.)

The Start of Our Country Vacation

Day 1

Our first morning on the farm started a bit later than our mornings at home thanks to everyone being extra tired.  Before, I was even out of bed; David was quizzing me on the finer points of free ranging the chickens that he convinced me to bring with us.  He is sure that a “free ranging” chickens is a bad idea without a fence, even if we are in the middle of 40 acres.  During these morning “free ranging” instructions, Mark came in the bedroom and curled up in my covers as I said, “Give them about ½ the regular amount of food because they are going to be eating a lot of bugs”.  Then Mark suddenly flipped over and looks at me with a very angry face as he says, “I am not eating bugs!”  Well, Daddy and I lost it laughing and quickly explained to Mark that we were talking about the chickens!   

The boys outside playing.

(Yes, this means that we traveled with our family, plus supplies, plus 2 dogs and 2 chickens in a box…until the chickens escaped the box and ran around the back of the bus.)

Then while Daddy got kids dressed,  I started what I thought would be a modest breakfast of about 18 blueberry pancakes, but then Vanessa wanted eggs and David wanted bacon.  Finally, after two hours of my playing the role of Cracker Barrel short order cook, I got the kitchen closed!  Then we started a busy day of unpacking, organizing and fixing (just in time for the air conditioner to freeze up).

It took what seemed like forever to get settled.  David was busy sheparding the chickens like sheep because he is sure that they will get killed or wander off.  We had a light lunch in the midst of our work, but by dinner, we were done and ready to relax with food, lemonade and time sitting in front of the fans!

Jon with his lemonade

Day 2

Obviously the kids aren’t eating bugs because they had a 52 pancake breakfast to start the day and they were back for cheese sticks and popcorn for a snack by 10:30am.  Grace and David went berry picking and ended up hitch hiking back home.  Apparently, no matter what you teach your kids, the rules don’t apply on the farm and with Cousin Carl…of course, I did not care if they rode with him!  However, if I was him, I’m not sure that I would have made room for sweaty kids in my car (who I found out later had “forgotten” their deodorant)!

5 cent ice cream and 10 cent soda!

Then a lighter lunch of Ramen noodles with veggies and leftover grilled chicken from dinner last night.  The boys, Vanessa and Hannah settled in for some movies in front of the fan with Daddy while David, Grace and I snuck off to town.  We went to the Ava Drug first.  We ordered our 5 and 10 cent ice cream and coke and Grace also opted for a $3 tuna salad sandwich with chips.  (Of course being a dieter, I skipped it all and was the big spender because I ordered a 75 cent iced tea.)  Our total for the outing was $4.26!  Then we picked up a case of popcorn for $3 and bought some cards and toiletries.  Finally, we headed to Wal-Mart for a head of lettuce and a wading pool.  They had a pool on clearance with 3-D sharks on the bottom and it came with 3-D goggles.  I expected David to want it, but I laughed when 17 year old Grace wanted that one too!



Pool fun



Dinner

The kids spent the afternoon in the new pool.  Then we had slow roasted pork tenderloin, collard greens with pinto beans, mashed potatoes and pumpkin custard pie for dinner.  I’m not sure why the kids eat so much here, but once again they cleaned their plates a couple times and emptied the pots and pans!

I can't decide if I should caption this one as
"One of the sexiest photos of my hubby ever"
OR
"This is what teachers do poolside on their
summer vacations...wading pool side".

Sibling Fun Day!

Today David and Grace went to Carousal Park in Joplin.  It was just the two of them on a special outing, and they both had lots of fun! (A few higlight photos below, but they did it all...go carts, rides, mini-golf, concessions, slides, bouncers, and house of mirrors!)

David doesn't like to go anywhere
that doesn't have food.

A bit fearful of the ferris wheel.

A favorite ride.

Children!!!

My kids have been a special mix of orneriness and cuteness for the past few weeks.  Saying cute things and pushing the limits of mommy's rules have been the daily routine.

CUTE

Matt wants us to buy a "hick-up truck" (a pickup truck).  I cannot help but smile each time he shows me a "hick-up truck" that he likes.

The twins currently say the most unexpected things and it always reveals something that they have noticed or a new "plan" to get out of trouble when they break a rule.  When Matt was at Grandma's, Luke let me know that Matt had pushed him.  When I told him that Matt is not home, Luke quickly said, "I meant Mark".  Mark had been drawing pictures quietly at the table (in another room from Luke) said, "Me got a paper. (It) Says me didn't."  (Get past the bad grammar and his alibi is pretty solid!)  

David went with me on a trip and told someone, "I'm with mom so she can drink and drive."  Now before you call the authorities on me, you should know what that REALLY means.  We had been to Happy Hour, BUT at Sonic.  David was handing me my Sonic ICED TEA from the cup holder on the floorboard while I drove so I didn't have to wait until a stop sign to reach it for a drink....unsweet tea in fact!  (Not breaking any laws and NOT even breaking my diet.)

ORNERY

Monday a kid was in the Principal's office for talking back to a teacher.  On Tuesday two kids talked back to a bus driver so they went to the Principal's office.  Then Wednesday, I discovered that a kid stole money from older sister, used the money and lied about it.  My fear of today...Thursday has been huge, but the kids are in bed and no teachers or principals have called.  I can tell that Daddy has worked several weekends/nights away from home because these things don't happen when the kids know that Daddy will be handling the discipline.  I'm ready for Daddy to be home for Spring break because a dose of Daddy time can end a streak of orneriness!

40: Day 12

No napping this Saturday.  We were up by 6am to make chili for the underwater poker games today at Calypso scuba.  Of course, the twins got up to "help" me.

Then  Grace and I spent the rest of the morning at Calypso and ate some great chili that people had prepared for the chili competition.  Then we did some shopping and headed home. 



The TV station was there, and Grace was on the news tonight.

I got home and sat down to answered a few emails, read some kids some books, and soon it was time to get ready for Ed and I to go out....together...alone!  Grace had agreed to babysit and we weren't going to give her a chance to change her mind!  After dinner out, we picked up the movie "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" at the video rental and came home to watch it with the older kids. 

I am really missing the extra carbs that this diet cut out, but I'm sticking to it.  On another note, I did finally get Ed and Corrine's hair cut today.  It seems like it has been impossible to get this done when we are all here and I have time to clean up the mess.  Ed's hair was really getting long this time so I'm glad we had time.

40: Day 10

Well, its been 10 days and so far I haven't accomplished most of what I had planned to do for 40.  However, today I was able to do an extra that I didn't think would fit in the budget.  I found bras on sale and underwear so I was able to buy 40 total to give to United to Rescue for their work in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  I was so excited an I'll hopefully be delivering those to their local office next week.  It was such fun finding this sale and knowing that these women would know that the body of Christ worldwide is welcoming them and caring about them.

Then the next fun part of my day was taking Grace to her flight lesson today.  She has such a love of aviation that it is obviously God given.  It was so great to take her to dinner after her lesson and hear her recall every detail of her lesson.  She has some great ideas for her possible Summer adventures and they all involve service to others.  The whole afternoon was such a great time together today.  All my kids have great big tender hearts, but when they keep those hearts pure and tender for God's direction and purpose into their late teens it is simply beautiful.

Orangina Toasts & 2013

Not everyone can party until midnight, especially in our family.  This year the remaining party guests were Grace and Corrine and us.  David almost made it, but sleep grabbed him at 11pm when he laid down on our bed  to play his Nintendo DS.  However, in a surprise move, I -the mom- made it to midnight without a nap...well, until New Year's afternoon. 

We watched Netfix movies until midnight only to find out that one was deleted from Netfix streaming at midnight while we were mid-movie.  So unless I want to go rent it, I'll just assume that Anna & the King, ends like the King & I.


At midnight we used coffee mugs and a mason jar to toast in the new year with Orangina.  This past year, the kids broke all my fluted cups/goblets, but when toasting with Orangina, I'm not sure there is a very formal standard.   Oh, but the girls were impressed that daddy was sharing his French soda.

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.--IITimothy 2:22

Shoe Boxes & Candid Camera

There are days that some of the conversations and happenings at our house are so surreal that I expect the Candid Camera crew to reveal themselves....Its like one, two, three...where are those camera guys?  They MUST be here....somewhere?  Today was one of those days.

While Mr. Workman & I were at a meeting this morning, David calls and leaves this almost completely unintelligible message...we could make out the words dead, food, & I got it.  We called back and couldn't understand much better so we asked for Angela (our house helper) and she explained that David fed the chickens but one seemed to choke on a crumble and died.  We told her to tell David that we would be home soon.

We get home & had JUST pulled in the driveway when David came running to tell us again what Angela had told us.  As I was going up the ramp to go inside, David hands me the box that Matt has been carrying his new shoes in.  As I am taking it inside, David pulls the box lid back showing the dead hen, which he has placed there for burial.  I ask him to close the lid and hand the box back to him.  I directed David to leave it closed in the garage until Daddy can help with burial.

About 2 hours later, David and Daddy are ready to give our chicken a proper send off, only for Matt to start throwing a huge fit.  As I try to find out the problem, the meltdown continues!  Finally, through tears and sobs and shudders, Matt explained that he wanted HIS shoebox back!  David had taken it without asking so I offered him 2 identical shoe box for 2 sizes smaller of the twins' shoes, BUT NO!  Matt wanted the box back, which had held a dead chicken in 95-103 degree heat since 9:30am  and it was around 3:00pm!  For the next 45 minutes, Matt threw a fit while I dug out and offered him many shoe boxes of ALL sizes...this whole time I'm thinking "Candid Camera must be nearby."  Finally Matt went to sob silently with the occasional shudder as he watched TV.  We have had several break through tears all evening....and Candid Camera is still not here....BUT the shoebox and chicken are now buried in a location non-disclosed to Matt and I!

I tried to think of a verse to "council" my young Matt, but all I could think of is,

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."~Matthew 6:21 

I have several for my David!

Well we're movin on up....To a deluxe apartment

No we're not moving!

Corrine's chickens are moving to their new fancy house that her and Grand-dad have been building.  No more playhouse Country Cottage for our chickens!  They have much better accommodations now.

Grand-dad and Uncle Fred helped set the deluxe coop in our backyard and helped Corrine get the roof on it today.  Then Corrine moved her seven hens and one rooster.  (Yes, our little pullet who grew into a rooster!....So much for needing 8 nesting boxes.)

Last week Corrine bought them their second 50 pound bag of feed and some cracked corn and NOW  our chickens are living in style, SO I must insist that even in this hot weather, I should be getting some eggs!  When we finally get eggs, these will be some expensive eggs!

Jon is 8 today!



Getting ready for help blowing out
the candles.

Jon loves birthday cake.  It is probably his favorite food.  I dare say that he especially likes birthday cake when it is HIS cake!  Tonight we celebrated age 8 with cake and presents and a whole lot of Jon being the center of attention.  

I had hoped that Jon would break the 40 pound mark for his birthday, but he weighed in at 39 pounds.  Oh well, maybe he'll get to 50 pounds by age 9!

Blogging Chicks

Corrine reminded me today that we had not blogged about her quickly growing chickens.  So here is a photo from farmer Corrine for those of you interested in their progress.

Their farmer Corrine is having a bit of a crisis that we are going to be
gone 2 days.  She is having a hard time picking someone she
trusts with her chickens.

Grace & Corrine's Birthday

Grace turned 16 on the 25th, but we surprised her with a party on Sunday the 22nd.  We had the party at Grandma's house and all the way their she complained about having to go to Grandma's for a family gathering when it wasn't even anyone's birthday!  Needless to say, we had a lot of fun and some great memories were made!

Corrine turned 12 on the 28th and as is her tradition, I made the meal and cake of her choice and we ate dinner using the china.  This year she chose Italian Chicken, Lasagna, corn on the cob and Tres Leche cake.  She put 1 candle on her cake as a count down to 13.  I guess she is putting us on notice!  Corrine got gifts of clothes, money and lots of supplies for her chicks.

Nate & Jon

 

Daddy, Nate & US Senate Candidate Roy Blunt



Nate came home from the hospital on Tuesday and it has been a busy week since he got home due to frequent medications and breathing treatments.  Nate had some problems with a steroid that the doctor had prescribed at the hospital, but our pediatrician took him off that medication and he has been continuing to improve.  He had really good days yesterday and today.  Yesterday we had family pictures taken at the pumpkin patch at Manning Farm and Nate loved being outside with his Oxygen off.  In fact, Nate fought us about his Oxygen the rest of the evening. 

Then today was Nate's 2nd birthday! We took him to a meet and greet for Roy Blunt (running for US Senate) and Billy Long (running for US Congress). Then we took Nate (dressed as a frog) and all his brothers and sisters to a couple Trunk or Treats this evening.  We got  home and we were ready to do presents and cake, BUT Nate fell asleep!  So cake and presents will have to wait until tomorrow!  Right now Nate is curled up with daddy, asleep on my side of the bed and breathing so easy, which is such a relief after being so congested and sick.


Jon the giraffe


On Thursday, Jon had his final procedure and x-ray contrast study on his stomach.  He did very well during this last step which was painful.  So far he has needed some pain meds at night when we start the overnight continuous feeding, but during the day he has not had any pain.  He started hurting when we were taking pictures yesterday so I don't think there will be many pictures of Jon, except in group pictures that were taken before he started hurting.  Tonight most of the swelling was gone, and Jon (dressed as a giraffe) loved going Trunk or Treating AND LOVED eating his candy when we got home!

Folate Deficiency

Jon has now been on Deplin for folate deficiency for a month now. I saw some improvements at first and in the last week I have seem more strength and more movements.

It is hard to tell if these newest improvements are the folate or perhaps the improved nutrition now that he is getting Isosource formula through his tube. Either way I think the specialists are getting Jon's needs figured out and we are heading down the right path.

¡Los Lunes! (On Mondays!)

Today was a circus and I got pushed from one ring to another all day! It started with the usual 5:00am wake-up and school routine while hooking/unhooking Jon & Nate's feeding pumps & getting meds. However, a clip that is needed to make the pump work fell off Jon's pump making it unusable!

Then after I dropped Matt at preschool, I took the twins for their 18 month check-ups. Luke has grown just over 3" & Mark was 4" taller which was very impressive. The doctor thinks there bowed legs will straighten on their own so that was encouraging. The boys were a hoot to take out today with all their new words and babbling!

I got a BIG COFFEE, then dropped some papers off at the school and headed home where the lazy susan had broken in the kitchen; I started a roast for supper in the crock pot; scheduled Corrine's violin lesson; called AGAIN about Jon's feed pump and then the new speech therapist was arriving. On her heals, came the medical supplier with a new pump with the wrong bags. Then I fed Jon. Then about 5 calls scheduling appointments and checking on insurance pre-approvals. Then the twin woke up from their naps in time for therapy. Then the medical supplier came back to service Nate's Oxygen concentrator. Then the FedEx guy. Then I drew up feeds & meds for the afternoon and evening. Then medical supplier came back again with bags......

Then it was time to head to Branson to teach class....and I finally got some peace as I drove! AND PEOPLE WONDER HOW I FIND TIME TO TEACH??!! I LOVE my family, BUT I LOVE teaching too ESPECIALLY ON MONDAYS!

Last Week...

What a busy week! Grandma had not been to visit for about two months so she came Sunday night to help out this week.

Monday:
The morning started early with surveying a 2 mile nature trail for work. Followed by therapies for Jon at the Rehab building, making final preps for school to start tomorrow & then going to teach college class in Branson (for me) and in Parsons, KS (for Ed). AND THE DISHWASHER STOPPED WORKING.....UGH!

Tuesday:
I got home from Branson at 12:30am last night & Ed left with Jon at 2am! Nate is still having problems with fever and higher than normal heart rate so between getting him meds, resetting alarms and getting Ed out the door....well, morning came VERY early. Plus it was the dash to get kids to their first day of school! We did it & on time! I got Hannah off to 4th grade and David & Vanessa off to 1st grade.

Matt started preschool (2 mornings a week) this morning. While he is there, they will do his therapies so it will save me from running so much. I will take Matt, but he will ride a bus home. He was ready to play with the kids and separated from me much easier than I thought he would...mixed blessing since I want him to be well-bonded, but also confident in new situations. The teacher gave him a small backpack and he is in love with it all....the teacher, the kids, the bus (which he calls "the buts") and the BACKPACK!

In the afternoon our new housekeeper had her first "solo". Of course with mom here, I'm not sure it was very "solo"... but she survived mom's "how to clean" instructions and said she would see us tomorrow when she left...so we know she is long suffering. :)

Everyone got home with good reports on their first day. Jon's surgery was a bit more involved than expected due to some damage from his first feeding tube, but he is resting well tonight in the PICU.

Wednesday:
Oh, morning was scheduled too early for me today! I was up from 1:30 to 4:30am with Nate having problems, fussing and needing care. Luke joined us from 2 to 2:30 am for some unknown reason. Thankfully Grace was a major help getting kids around and out the door. I took Matt to preschool & he was ready to GO! He had his backpack and shoes on at 6:05am and was standing at the door. Grandma had to help convince him to get dressed in something besides pajamas!

The new housekeeper came back this morning! I came home from getting Matt to school, made some calls, loaded up the crock pot to make Curried Chickpeas for supper, got the babies down for a nap and crashed in bed!

Jon is more uncomfortable today and is having some nausea so they are not going to start feeding him until tomorrow.

Thursday:
Another rough night with Nate, but better than the night before. After I got the kids off to school, Matt realized that he did not get to go to school today too so I enjoyed the first of many BIG fits. Nate and I headed to his check up this morning. He weighed 19 pounds 7 ounces so his meds will probably need adjusted by the cardiologist. Nate has an ear infection from teething as we thought and the doctor counted 5 teeth trying to break through.

The dishwasher repair guy got the new door latch in and fixed the dishwasher....yes! $94....ugh! I got another afternoon nap while the babies napped...yes! Then while we slept, the guy who has volunteered to help with our lawn this summer came and his crew did another awesome job! I think our yard looks better each visit! Such a blessing!

This afternoon I made some calls...one to get Matt in preschool 4 days a week. Then we had a big supper tonight of turkey roast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, noodles, green beans with new potatoes, french bread and carrot cake....I've been avoiding using the oven due to the heat, but it was time for a REAL supper!

Ed reports that he is not cut out for hospital living and that the hospital started feeding Jon through the new tube. He said they are starting very slow, but Jon is tolerating it and seems more comfortable today.

Friday:
More fits from Matt as the kids went to school and he didn't. I went to Hannah's IEP meeting with Matt at 8am. Not a busy day so I worked on organizing my desk , getting ready for class Monday night & getting ready for Grace & Corrine's homeschooling that starts Monday. Corrine started some schoolwork today because she is so anxious for 4th grade.

Ed called at 1pm and said that Jon did so well overnight and with his morning feed that he gets to come home this evening instead of in the morning. I then got to hustle to get Jon's feeding pump and supplies delivered early. The supplier delivered an old basic pump without the programming features that I need for Jon, and it requires the bag to hang well over my reach. However, it and a timer will work for the weekend. This looks like a supplier doing some profit taking, but hopefully looks are deceiving and we can get a real pump like Nate's on Monday.

Ed got home with Jon who was ready for me to hold him and kiss on him. Jon was full of smiles! So good to see him happy after such a rough week!

Next week: Ed starts school at the high school. Corrine starts violin lessons, and I take Vanessa to St. Louis Children's.