Back to Beautiful....

The weather today is A-Maze-ing!!!!! Beautiful!! Love it all!! Can't wait for more weather like this!! Springy weather is back and so is my husband! Love it when he returns! He's been in Arkansas for 2 days and before that he worked Friday, Sat and Sunday from home on the project for Monday's meeting....so happy that's over with....
My voice is also back!! YAY!!!!! It's been back for about 4 days now but seriously...I'm so glad I don't sound like Rachel Ray any more :) It's much easier to deal with naughty kids with a voice than without! :)
I learned something really interesting (medically) this week...did you know that they don't treat pink eye anymore with drops?? Well...they will if they have too but they prefer not to...I learned this because Ella has it...or a form of it. They have learned in the past few years that most Pink eye is actually viral...called viral conjunctivitis...not bacterial as once thought. In survey's done...98% of children with pink eye had viral conjunctivitis not bacterial (therefore antibiotic does absolutely nothing for it) and also the kids surveyed that did have bacterial and were given antibiotic and those that had bacterial and were not given them all recovered in 3-5 days...the same as the viral kind....interesting.....so basically what I'm trying to tell you is don't waste $60-$100 taking your child to the doc when they get pink eye...because you'll probably be just like me and walk out with a whole lotta info...that I could have gotten for free and nothing much else.....! :) The doctor wrote a prescription for me in case Ella got REALLY bad or significantly worse over the holiday...but he said the med's probably wouldn't do anything for it anyway....Great...there goes more money for nothing!!! :) I just thought I would pass on the news to my friends who have kids so they don't waste money like me....the ONLY reason they give the drops anymore is because the schools won't let the kids back in if the child isn't on drops...even though the drops won't do anything....just a little medical tidbit for ya'll :)
We've just registered Gideon for t-ball again this year and he is SOOOOOO excited...we had to go out this morning and play catch to prepare :) even though it won't start until may/june.
Lucy has a big therapy week this week with OT on Monday and PT tomorrow. She is not being very cooperative with them and they are getting concerned about her concentration ability again. She seems to go through stages where she is really into it and then she doesn't want to do anything. She is my faith child truly. This week I have really prayed her "life-verse" over her....Psalm 103:2-4.." Praise the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits. Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you will love and compassion." That is so what I want for Lucy...for her body to heal and for God to fill her heart with an amazing love and compassion. Some days it's harder than others. Mommies want to fix everything!!
So that's the scoop on our lives. Easter Sunday is coming and this year more than ever I am grateful to Jesus for his love for us. Have a great celebration!!

Is it a "she" or and "it"????

So...the big question of the week is this....when a female dog/cat/any thing on 4 legs is fixed does that mean that you call her an "it"? I ask this because of little Maxie got fixed Monday..and I'm not sure how involved the surgury is...I know with male dogs/anything on 4 legs...they actually sometimes have an "amputation"....(gross)....but anyway that would make them an "it" I guess but with a female...does she just get her tubes tied or have a total hysterectomy or what? If anyone knows I would love to be informed....because I'm not sure what to call her now :0)
All I know is that she is going to be incredibly high maintenance for the next two weeks...between antibiotic/not being able to be wet or be outside except to do her doody/not running around too much or jumping too much (yah right with kids) ...and as Gideon calls it... "the cone of shame".....I didn't know it was such a long deal when I started this whole process...so if anyone has any suggestions I would most joyously except them! :)

Anyway...the past week went well....we finally finished the girls room...and now I live in a living room full of mattress' crib and baby furniture that will eventually be moved to my mom's for storage. We also celebrated Jacob's b-day which was a lot of fun as well. The weather was chilly like it's been every weekend...but the treasure hunt was fun and the food was great!
This week we are busy every night but not with anything important....just odds and ends of stuff. I work Friday twice...once morning/once night and my mom is possibly watching the kids all night so I'm going to try and convince Keith to come hang out with me for a while...we'll see if he does...it will be a long night of nothing for him if he doesn't...unless he goes to my moms house and helps her out.

I am enjoying this beautiful day today and sorting baby clothes for the garage sale.....eating sushi and drinking sweet tea....life is good....

:o)

It's a Beautiful Life...

God has once again been faithful to our little family. The time Keith spent in China passed quickly and we are all togethor again. Keith arrived home (after a delay in Tokoyo) at 530 last night to a ecstatic mommy, an excited 2 year old and a happy 6 year old. Lucy, was on the floor screaming because Gideon had "knocked her down" as Keith was coming in the door...she didn't care much about daddy being home in her tantrum but as soon as he told her he brought presents she perked right up :) :) :)! He got the kids little sun-powered chinese bobble heads and me a box of REALLY good chocolate (nothing compared to last time...these are AWESOME!!)....He had a good trip and a unique opportunity on the way home to witness on the plan to a distraught woman who confided and cried to him on the plane. Awesome story...Keith will have to fill you in with the details but it was really cool. He has to go to Bentonville next Friday to review samples and may have to go back to China at the end of April...(boooo) but we are trying not to think about that right now! :)
God has been amazing me this early spring with the wonderful weather. It makes me happy and helps the kids to not be so cranky when we can get outside and run around in the morning and afternoon! I have been stripping a night stand for the girls room and hope to get it painted while Ella takes a nap this afternooon...because it's impossible to do when she's awake!!
This weekend was a great one! I love visiting with Marc and Kelli and the kids always have a blast togethor! We got Jean and Doug moved in....well....I didn't but the crew did :) and the house looks great!!! Lucy had therapy Monday and we recieved some bad news...even though we have only seen this S.T. once she is moving to MI and effective immediatly we are out a therapist...so we may have to wait a month to get re routed into the schedule....STINKS!!! But, I am trying to stay positive..hoping we are just lineing up with an even better one :)
Last night...after relaxing with Keith and watching LOST...which by the way was not that good...I actually was pretty bored during it...it was more informative than action packed and fairly predictable..sorry Lost producers...you are going to have to pull some better one's than that or interest will be literally LOST quickly.......anyway we got new mattresses on Monday and although this mattress is really nice...I am having a heck of a time sleeping on it...so last night....I was in and out of sleep for about 1 1/2 hours and ...in my half sleep state..thought that Keith got up to go to the bathroom.....I thought I felt him getting in the bed again and said "Keith?"...all of a sudden I realized that the person climbing in bed with me was NOT Keith and was an attacker....I begain screaming and kicking at the top of my lungs in the struggle...I have never been so scared in my life....then I heard Keith's voice saying "Taryn....it's ok....it's ok....are you alright ....Taryn!!!!"" I was dreaming....and screaming....and fighting..no one....but seriously...a dream has NEVER been more real to me in my life....My body went into shock afterward and I shook for about a half an hour and then my muscles just ached from the intensity of the experience..>WEIRD!!!!...so needless to say I never really fell back to sleep very well and am exhausted this morning....but the day is absolutely beautiful so I'm going to try and get out of my slump and go out and enjoy myself !!
This weekend Jacob, Josh Les and Jay are coming for Jacob's b-day party....yummy Taco's , Rice and Beans and Guacamole are on the menu...YUM!! The kids are sooooo excited and it will be nice to hang out with family again at the lake!!\
Hope everyone is healthy and happy and having a great week too!!

Come on Spring....

Come on Spring...You can do it!!! Let's put all of those harsh winter temperatures into storage for another year and bring on the 50's and 60's and a lot more sun!! The last few days have been absolutely beautiful and even though it's raining today...it's melting all the snow in our yard which is what I've been waiting for....am I naive in thinking that we won't get any more...probably...but even if we do it won't stick around too long...I'm hoping that we don't dip below 30 degrees again this year....I'm ready for spring planting and opening windows and going to the park and going on bike rides and well....just about anything springy.
This last week was fairly uneventful seeing as though the family was sick. Lucy and I scraped out alive and are knocking on wood that since it's been 8 days since someone got sick that we are in the clear especially since Keith leaves for China for 6 days and I want to stay active and try and have fun while he's gone. That shouldn't be too hard this time. Thursday we have PT in the morning and then I work the auction in the evening. On Friday it's clean up the house and get ready for the Dykstra family to spend the weekend with us!....well they really arn't coming up just for us....but it will be awesome to see them while they are here!! Sat. is moving day for Jean and Doug and maybe for us too :) We get to "donate" some stuff to their new humble abode and I must say, in this little house, it feels really good to get rid of clutterage. We also have Andrews 6th b-day party on Sat which should be a lot of fun. Sunday and Monday I'm hoping to have my wonderful mother-in-love as a house guest to help with the survival without another adult.
I am hoping sometime while Keith's gone....maybe even Sat morning...the furniture people will deliver and put in place our new mattress and the girls new mattress sets.....then we are just one more step toward getting their rooms done!! WOOHOO!! We got the paint last weekend..."satin doll" is what it's called...really it's just pink but I have to do some major prep work before we can paint the walls...seeing as though there is a dark red stripe that runs the entire room....
Anyway so that's the scoop on our lives. We would appreciate anyone's prayers as we enter into this week without daddy...it's always really hard ....mostly on mommy!

Two Words....Puke Flu

Yep....I said it and I meant it....we've been hit with the bugs....and let me just tell you all that I don't think there is such a thing as the "24 hour flu" anymore. Whenever my kids get something like this it seems to last forever!!! Gideon started us out on Wednesday...coming home from school with a belly ache that proceeded to last for 2 days...Friday morning he woke up with vomiting.....he was in bed most of the day...but ok...Sat morning he appeared to be ok...but Ella woke up with puking and diarreha.....then...Sunday she and Gideon were appearing ok so they both went back on a regular diet....but by Sunday early afternoon...Ella had a tummy ache again....and it continued until she got sick again Monday morning. I sent Gideon to school on Monday...only to have him come home and have diarreha....(hope you're all enjoying the details...what can I say....) Last night things seemed to be mellowing out....but this morning..Keith woke up bright and early with diarreha and vomiting.....YUCK!!!! Ella and Gideon still arn't eating....and I don't feel like eating with all the puking etc....going on...so Lucy is the only one eating normally and feeling ok...for now. .....I really don't like times such as these where I have to make decisions like....am I going to sleep with my sick husband in bed....or sleep on the couch....will it matter if tomorrow morning I wake up sick....probably not...or....should I be keeping Lucy away for the other two at this point??? Pretty much nothing matters now but getting through the storm....hopefully it will end soon...
I did take Lucy to the geneticist today and found out that he does not think any of her problems are genetically based...and that is great because genetically based things are usually not that easy to treat if treatable at all....we did have to draw a little more blood to test her liver,gallbladder and thyroid function but he doesn't anticipate that coming back bad....he did say if it did that he would probably refer us onto a gastroenterologist....BLAAAHHHH....not another doc....I hope we are done....he feels too that we need to give the medicine some time to do it's thing and then see if her other symptoms dissipate....so that's the scoop. I mistakenly thought the appointment was only going to take about an hour...so I left Keith home on the couch with Ella and Gideon...with the DVD, VCR loaded with movies and bland food/drink with Ella hoping that I could get back before too much occured....it didn't exactly work...the appointment lasted way too long...so Grammy came to the rescue and delivered lunch to the two sicky's so Keith didn't have to do anything....I felt really bad....tomorrow I'm suppose to go to the doctor....unless I'm sick...then that will be another thing I cancel for this week!
We are surviving....hope you all are too.....
Bonus for us....Keith is not gone when all of this is happening...so even though he is not available to help me....he's HERE.....PRAISE JESUS!!!