Onward and upward. . . or something like that.

I think my update yesterday leaves me at updating for October. Its crazy to me to think that we're already over half way through October. Time just FLIES!!!!! I remember as a kid thinking that the school year DRAGGED on and that each year was adequately enjoyed. But now that I am looking at it from a parental stand point it just goes so quickly! It seems that I blink my eyes and we're standing at yet another school year and my kids are yet another year older!!

I knew going into this school year that we were going to be facing some major sicknesses. Its the rule it seems, that when you send a new child into the germ infested cesspool big new world we call school that they are now exposed to all those new germs. When Dallas went off for the first time we dealt with large amounts of colds. When Gabe went each of my kids had pneumonia 2 times along with various other illnesses. This year I doubled my kids in school. Went from 2 to 4 and I just KNEW this year would be bad. Knew it. And I was right!!! Here's what we've had so far, in order:

Kendyl: Fever up to 103. Monitored her for the mandatory 24 hours, from Monday to Tuesday to see if it was a virus, and then took her in. Turns out it was a sinus infection. She was put on Amoxicillian and sent home. She suffered for the next 3 days with the fever having no relief. I was able to get her back in on that Saturday and they gave her new meds since it seemed that the sinus infection was past the point of working with the amoxicillian.

Dallas: The Sunday immediately following Kendyl's return trip to the doctor Dallas started with a fever of 102. I gave him his required 24 hours and wound up taking him into urgent care. They ran blood work on him to check his white count (which is ALWAYS fun when you have a child who has an extreme phobia of needles) they did an x ray and a strep test. The doctor said that she heard slight crackles in his lungs and called in pneumonia. I have a feeling it was more sinus infection than pneumonia since he sounded JUST like Kendyl. But whatever. He was put on meds and sent home. He was home until Wednesday, and then returned to school Thursday for picture day.

Kaleb: Picture day was a Thursday and it was the first day in almost a week and a half that I sent all the kids into school only to get a call at 9:30 am letting me know that I had to come and get Kaleb because he had pink eye. ON PICTURE DAY!!!!! I went in and sure enough, pink eye! And it was the day the fire trucks were at school which was doubly devastating for Kaleb since his lifelong dream has been to be a fireman. I got him ready to go and luckily his class was looking at the fire truck on our way out. So he got to shoot the hose and what not. Then they said they were planning to go right in for a picture. I opted to walk with Kaleb to get his done because once he smiled you didn't really see the pink. And then I had the OPTION for retakes rather than solely relying on it. I got Kaleb into the doc for that and they gave him drops.

Gabe: Thursday night that Kaleb had his pink eye pop up Gabe started with a fever of 103. It was the ONLY symptom he had and we just kept monitoring him. By Sunday he and Kaleb both had fevers and I made them an appointment. Poor Kaleb not only had the pink eye that wouldn't go away, but he had the fever. It was miserable. Monday I took them both in. Gabe tested positive for strep throat and was put on meds. He's allergic to amoxicillian so they put him on cefzil. Kaleb was given round two of drops for the pink eye, and give meds for strep as well. I had them both home Monday and Tuesday and was able finally sent all four kids back to school on Wednesday. Gabe made it through the day on Wednesday but came home really itchy. Right before dinner he was hives head to knee. It warranted a trip to urgent care yet again where we were told he is also allergic to cefzil He falls into the 5% of people who have an allergy to one who also are allergic to the other. The doctor told us to go home and the hives would go away. I was pretty concerned because he'd only been on meds for strep for 2 days. He said not to worry about it, and that just didn't feel right. The next morning I put a call into our regular pediatrician who said that my gut was right and that she felt he still needed some meds. So he was put on zithromax and spent the next 2 days home recuperating from the hives.

Needless to say I'm SICK of SICK!!!! I finally was able to send four mostly healthy kids to school on Monday of this week. I had ONE day for me. And then they've all been off this week for conferences and MEA break. AHHHHH! I need some time out I think!!!

In other news I'm going to be going back to college full time starting in January, and there's finally been some good news on the school front. I finally got word that all the classes I took when I went to college 10 years ago are still going to be good and that I can use them towards going back to school now! WOOOO HOOOOO! This is going to save SO much money! And time!! Also I found out if I go to the same school I went to then that I don't even need to reapply! More savings!!! I'll be going for a meeting next week to get all the exact answers and clarify what I will need to do, and what classes I'll need to take. But its sounding very much like I'm going to be going back into the nursing end of things! I tried to chase my dream and become an ultrasound tech, only to find out that in the last 6 months of schooling they would most likely relocate me to someplace like Texas or Florida for six months. That's just NOT an option for me. So now we're onto a different path!!!

There's always something happening, something coming up, and something to look forward to around here!!!

A gentle reminder!

So, I got a gentle reminder today that I should update my blog. In that moment I realized just how long its been since I've been here and updated. Since February. FEBRUARY!! So I went back and reread that post. And it was almost comical to look back on that time and think of how much has happened in that time. How many moments that life seemed to spin almost totally out of control and I thought I was going to lose it. How many happy, memorable moments happened with my kids. How many hugs were shared, how many tears were shed, and how many things I could have and should have written down so I didn't for them them. All those little moments. Wow. Its overwhelming to think about all that's gone on between now and then. I think that the easiest way to catch up today will be with some pictures. Pictures of the kids, pictures of us, pictures of life.

I think I'll go month by month through the pictures. . .

February:
In February we were given free tickets to a rodeo. Dallas was the only one of the kiddos that wanted to go so we had a date night out with just him! He wanted to "cowboy up" for it and of course his daddy couldn't have been happier!!!




In February we also finished off our basement. The goal was to have it done before the big birthday party for Todd! Its nice to have an extra space for the kids to get away to, and also nice to have the organization for their toys!!!
March. . .
March didn't have many big events in it. My in laws got a new trampoline so we headed out to check that out. And of course, the biggest kid of them all had to check it out first!!!





April. . .
April of course brings Easter, but for me, it also brought a new camera! My cousin Janelle was getting rid of some of her old cameras. She's a professional photographer and they were simply too outdated for her to use. She was so generous and gave me a Nikon d70. I've had a lot of fun taking pictures with it, and it really gives me the itch to get a newer camera one day!!! The pictures from here out have been with that camera!! They're AWESOME if I do say so myself!!!





Also, over the winter the kids were in swimming lessons. My kids are FISH! They LOVE to swim. (much like their mommy!)

Dallas has flown through the levels, and is just 2 levels away from being to the "Jr. Lifesaving" level! He enjoys his time in the water and has even been told by his instructors that he'd be great for competitive swimming some day!! Its probably the only "sport" we've found that he enjoys!!Gabriel has gained A LOT of confidence in the water over the last year. He went from being afraid to put his head under the water to being a little boy we have to drag out of the water kicking and screaming!! He's very much looking forward to lessons starting up again this winter.
Kaleb and Kendyl have always been fearless when it comes to the water, and they LOVE being in swimming together!! This picture just cracks me up. ..matching wedgees!! lol Twins!

In the beginning of April, Todd also started a new job. He went from being a maintenance man on the same property for over 8 years to now he's the manager at a sister property! It was quite the adjustment for our family and really threw him for a loop. The learning curve was much higher than he expected and there really wasn't a good training done for him. He's started to settle in and is doing a wonderful job! It has meant no more on call for him which has been WONDERFUL!! It means he doesn't have to get up at 2 am to go snake out someones toilet, or leaving at 4 am because someone is locked out!!!



May...
May saw Dallas turning Nine. NINE!!! I can't believe I'm old enough to have a NINE year old! Really? It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that he was born! He's such an amazing little man. He has such a good heart and he is SO smart! This little boy LOVES to read! He's recently demolished all 7 of the Harry Potter books. And it only took him 3 months! Here he is on his birthday:





We made him a special "cake" for his birthday! Needless to say all the kids were excited to have a treat like this! Cupcakes are usually something reserved for a very special treat!!In May I finally got to put some PICTURES on my walls!! This was HUGE for me! I hate blank walls but I wanted the right thing to go on them. IN April my cousin took pictures of my kiddos and they were just what i needed for my walls!!!

In Mid April, Kaleb and Kendyl graduated from preschool! Man does time fly!!!


This is Kaleb and Kendyl with their favorite teacher Ms. R. She was AWESOME!!

June...

June brought the last days of school for Dallas and Gabe, and the reality that in just a couple short months i would have four kids in school. Do you know how crazy it was to think about that??? FOUR KIDS IN SCHOOL!! I would go from being a full time at home mommy wondering what the future would hold to being a full time mommy having to officially figure out what to do and what path to take!!!!





At the very end of June Kendyl also learned how to ride without training wheels! She is learned the very youngest of any of our kids!! The boys didn't learn until they were 6! But she wanted a bike with no training wheels for her birthday, and she accomplished it!!!

July...

July is always a CRAZY busy month for us, with three of the four kids birthdays!!!! On the 8th Gabe had his golden birthday and turned 8 years old!!!

We spent the day swimming in the pool we bought for our yard (BEST MONEY SPENT EVER!)


And had cupcakes with the cousins!!!

We finished off the night at the school launching some rockets that we've had for a while! Gabe had an AWESOME day!!! All summer long we watched the local hawks! They had a nest right across the street from us and provided many hours of viewing pleasure!! This is the last day they were in the neighborhood and were in a tree over our driveway! They even sat on my van for a while! I'm hoping they come back next year since it was an awesome learning experience for the kids and even the adults!!
This was the cake we made for Gabe's birthday party!! I think it turned out AWESOME!!!
Birthday boy and his cake!
Kaleb and Kendyl the day they turned FIVE!!!

Kendyl's birthday cakeKaleb's birthday cake

My kids sure are growing up so fast!!!


August.. .

The big event in August was our week long vacation at my parents camper. We had a wonderful time and it was really just what we needed as a family. To be together, on our first ever alone vacation. We didn't have any one else to worry about except the 6 of us (well, and the three dogs!) and it was AWESOME!!!













September. . .

September brought all four of my kids going to school!! And believe it or not, this mommy made it through the first double day of kindergarten tear free!!! I think the fact that there was all kinds of ciaos surrounding the morning helped that out though! lol



The other thing that September brought was a trip to "Down on the Farm". It was an awesome chance for my kids to get face to face with some animals they wouldn't normally get to see lving in the city. The LOVED it! All of my kids were able to ride horses alone! They thought that was super cool! It just proved to Todd and I how much we really want to get out of the city and into country living!!!!

This picture right here just makes me smile. Because this is honest to goodness who my husband is a heart.





Life has been full of twists and turns and stops along the way, but its been quite a ride that's for sure!!!

I am going to try to come back tomorrow and update on things in October!!!!