Fifths Disease

This is only the 3rd time in my life I have ever heard of this terrible illness. And 2 times has been in the last week. My visiting teacher is the attendance lady at the school the girls go to. During her visit last week, she told me about her daughter having it when she was in high school. She also mentioned that it had been going around school. It wasn't until Monday night that I put 2 and 2 together. Brianna came in the living room after her shower, and showed me the rash that covered her entire body, except for her face. She says "mom, Lexi told me that I should let you know I have this rash. I have had it since LAST Monday." So I checked her out. It wasn't red, her skin just appeared really blotchy. I asked her if it itched at all. She said a little but nothing bad. I also told her if it got worse or started bugging her, we would call the Dr. Tuesday came and for some reason, this thought enters my mind, that she may have this "fifths disease". So immediately I get on the computer to try and rule it out. Oh no, sure enough she has all the symptoms. When I picked them up from school, I stopped Cortney, (my vt's daughter) to talk it over with her. And she said I bet she has it. So this morning I called the Dr. He said that at this point, she is no longer contagious, but is positive that is what she has. Not to worry, as long as the fever doesn't return, she should be fine. Side note: Brianna had what I thought was a mild flu bug on April 6Th. 2 weeks later, the rash developed. It says that it can last for 17-28 days in children. In adults, it can take up to 2 years to get over:( Are you kidding me....2 years!!! After talking with the Dr. I gave Clint his bath, and sure enough, he too had the blotchy rash on his skin. Last week, when I thought his fever/vomiting was him teething.....turns out it wasn't. Thankfully in children it is very mild. The older you are the worse it becomes. It eventually starts attacking your joints and muscles and can be very debilitating. So please keep your fingers crossed for all of the adults that my children have been around. So while the rest of the world is battling swine flu, here in Florence, Arizona we will be dealing with a mini pandemic of our own....fifths disease!!!

New Guns for the Girls.....

The weather here has been just awesome! To nice to stay inside. The last several weekends Adam has been home, he has taken the girls out on the quad to do some shooting and rabbit hunting. Most of his guns are just to big for the girls to handle, so we decided to get them each one their own!! Nothing too fancy, just a bb gun. One that they can get the fundamentals down with.



Before they could handle their new "weapons" they first had to have a conversation with dad about safety. Cause "nothing we do is worth getting injured over"!!!



After the briefing it was time to get to it!! If you're gonna learn to shoot, you gotta have a target...



Nothing like a pampers box, with a self-adhesive target smacked to the side of it!! Thanks Clint for your box!







Ok...yes the barrel is pointing straight at her face, however these things are hard to caulk, and the safety was on....



While Clint didn't get his own gun, he did get to sit in the dirt for the first time and cheer on his big sisters at the range!!! Ok, we were in the back yard!!



Of course he had to put the dirt in his mouth...



And have a man to man chat with dad about gun safety....



I don't know if I should be pleased to report this or not...but as of last night, Lexi has killed her first bird. While we don't encouage this type of behavior, the temptation of it sitting on the top rail of the fence was too much!! And who would've thought she would get it!! Nice shot Lex!!

Our Pantry....

So most of you have been to our home, and had dinner with us. It never fails, at every get together someone always has to comment on our pantry. While it is never completely stocked, especially now that Adam is gone so much, it is almost always organized. I wish I could take credit for this, but I can't. I always have to say thank you, but then give the credit over to Adam. He hates it unorganized. This past weekend, after a long trip to Safeway, I caught him once again....hard at work......



He is so going to kill me for this post, but I couldn't resist!! I am so happy to have him!! He is so good about pitching in and helping me, even when he has been gone all week, and really just wants to hang out on the couch or at the barn!! Anyway, here it is....our lovely, organized pantry......



Notice every single label is facing out, so you know exactly what you're looking for!! I love it!!!

The gift of a sister....

Today, as I hurridly dropped the girls off at school, I was taken back for a moment. A precious moment that stopped me in my tracks and brought a tear to my eye. There was a school bus pulling up to the curb in front of us, so in a split second I realized that if I continued to the usual drop off spot I would be stuck. I was already running late, so I cut to the left and proceeded to let the girls off in the middle of the parking lot. I hate hate hate doing this, because they normally don't pay attention, and most people are running late as it is, and in a huge hurry to be the first one out of the lot. As I said goodbye to them, I stayed there for a moment, making sure they went straight to the crosswalk, and made it safely across. When they reached the crosswalk, they both looked at eachother, and at the same time, they grabbed on to one anothers hands, and together they crossed. Such a simple thing, but to me it was more. Just the night before, they were both nearly at the point of meltdown with eachother. But there, on the school campus, they were looking out for eachother! I was suddenly taken back to a time when I too, had little sisters to look after. Before I knew it I was reminissing all of our good times and memories that we have made over the years. I thought about the countless days Mattie and I would spend fighting, just to wind up in one anothers room laughing until we cried! I thought about every early morning trip to the dentist with Kate, and going to every single softball game of her Jr. high and High school career! I thought about joining the gym with Jody. And after our night-time work outs, sitting in our driveway til 2:30 in the morning, talking about who knows what...but laughing til it hurt. I thought about vacations and trips to Vegas with Anna, and how much I miss our weekend BBQ's!! Every favorite memory I have are with these girls. My sisters!! As I watch my girls now, I can only hope that the bond they have, will remain ever so strong!! I hope that one day they look back on their lives and realize that no matter where they were, they always had a BEST friend!! I know in my life, these are the first ones I call, no matter what. My sisters!! I love these girls with all I have in me. Sisters are the best gift ever!!

New Glasses for Lexi.....

We finally made it in to get Lexi's eyes checked and new glasses! She broke her old ones before we even moved back from Colorado, and I've just been terrible about making appts. So The 2nd week of the kids spring break, we made it a point to do the necessary dentists and eye doctor visits. The good news, no cavities!! Yeah!! But Lexi did have to get glasses. She looks so grown up in them!! Nice choice on frames Lex!

Ohio Trip.....

I have been wanting to go to Ohio for quite some time now, to see where Adam is working, and how life really is out there. We had been discussing a trip, but that was about as far as it went. About 3 weeks ago, Adam was searching flights, and they just happened to have a good deal for the week of April 7th. So we called my parents and asked if they would keep the kids and we booked the ticket. Not even realizing it was the week before Easter. Well, with the help of Todd and Jody taking Clint for the week, and Megan helping out before school, we were able to still pull the trip off. It was so nice to get away, just the two of us. I was nervous leaving Clint....not for his sake, but scared for Jody, to have two little ones at home all day by herself, plus Garett!! So, I thank her for even offering. So here is how the trip went. (Mind you, this was my first time to the East, besides an 8th grade trip to the D.C. area!!)


It was so beautiful!! Everywhere you looked was like a postcard image!! My neck actually hurt from all of the head turning I was doing!! This is a picture of an Ice Cream Factory. The Velvet Ice Cream Company, if you've heard of them! Unfortunatly they were closed for the season, but it is on our list of things to do this summer when I take the kids back!! This is an actual working wheel that powers the entire mill!


A little history on the wheel!


After a few days of working, Adam was able to take the day off, so we planned a trip up to "Omish Country" as the locals call it. What an awesome day. I totally felt like I had stepped right back in time!! These signs were everywhere, and you really had to watch out for the buggies. You could always tell when one was near, cause there would be fresh horse poop right in the middle of the road!!


They literally drive their little buggies right down the main roads!!


here is another one.....


And at the local grocery store there is a hitching post, so they can go in and do their shopping, or trade their goods.....


This is the general store:

Their store was awesome!! Everything in it was home grown! They even had a container of what I thought were peanuts for sale, until I noticed the lever on it. When you pulled down, it released fresh peanut butter!! We were like 2 kids in a candy store there. We had to buy some fresh dinner rolls, still warm, along with some cheese!! We also found this purple popcorn and potatoe soup mix, (which we will try when Adam gets home this weekend).



This was the popcorn. It still popped up white, but the kernal parts inside were really purple!!


We found this guy out plowing his fields, getting ready for the summer planting season...

Notice his dog running right next to him!! Loyal little buddy!!

They use this little wagon thingy as a way to spread fertilizer on their feilds!!


My dang camera delayed when I went to get this picture below: it was such a funny site. This gravel truck hot on the trail of a buggy!! I wonder if they ever get ran off the road??


And this is the house that Adam will buy me BEFORE I move there!! It is was so beautiful. Up on the hill and down below there was a pond!! Someone just decided to build it and then never move in!! I think it's waiting for us!!


It was a wonderful 5 days. But I couldn't wait to get home to the kids. I missed them so much! I took these on plane coming back. I thought it was so pretty up above the clouds!


And another one....

I can't wait to go back with the kids!! It will be much more fun having them there, and not worrying about them! Thank you to my family for letting them stay. They all had a really great time!!

April Fools Day 2008....

Last year on this day, I remember laying in bed. I had just had my "pick" line put in the night before. ( I know "pick" is not how to spell that abbreviation, but anyway it is basically a long term I.V. port) My nurses were coming to the house today, for the first cleaning and maintenance on it. I was scared. There was a lot of tape around it, and it looked awful. It was very sore, and the thought of it, to this day, still makes me sick. My girls were home from school. It must have been spring break. They were anxiously coming in and out of the room, asking me "how much longer, mom?" Finally the nurses arrived. They had lots of bags with them, and lots of medical supplies, that they were leaving with me, so that I could "take care of myself" and not have to go back and forth to the hospital. They started setting up, and told the girls they couldn't be in the room with us. Because it was such a sterile process, even I wasn't able to watch what they were doing. Not that I minded that one bit! I had to wear a mask over my nose and mouth, and keep my head turned away from the site. Even the slightest germ from my own breath could have caused a serious infection. As she started removing the tape and poking and proding at the line, I remember thinking "how in the world did this happen to me?" The tears were rolling down my face, because it hurt like no tomorrow. The stuff they used to clean it burned and they had to force it down inside my arm, to make sure no infection could get in. The nurse doing it, was in training. It was her first time. She was very nice, but a little rough. I was sitting there all alone. Adam had meetings in Texas that week, that he just couldn't miss. And the girls were quarantined from the premises. If you don't already know, I hate needles, doctors, medicine, anything that has to do with getting poked, I just can't take it. Even getting blood drawn, usually takes me out for the rest of the day. I always insist that Adam is right by side, to let me crush his hand in mine as they look for veins. So it was very tramatic for me to go through this alone. After what seemed like an eternity they were done. They showed me how to hook up the IV bags, and how to clean the two ports. How to hook my "chemo pump" (as we called it)up to the port, and how to change out all the pumps that were connected to me! It was alot to remember, and I was more nervous now than ever. Not only, had I not eaten in weeks, I was so sick, that I could barely remember where we were half the time, and now I was responsible for maintaining myself as well!! I remember thinking, "ok, I can do this, I only have to hold out a few more hours and Katie will be here! She was coming to stay with us, til Adam returned from his business trip. By this time the girls were crazy excited waiting for her. Not only were they happy to see her, but they had planned an Aprils Fools day joke for her, to break her in right when she got there. Katie can not even stand the thought of throw up. It just grosses her out to the max! As soon as she pulled in the drive way, out they ran! "Katie, Katie...oh thank goodness your here, mom is so sick, and just puked all over herself! Come and help us!" At that moment, I'm not sure why she didn't just get back in the car, and go home! But she stayed....she stayed to stick out, what she says was the "hardest week of her life." From that day, my condition worsened. We literally spent the next 2 days, going from the dr. office to the hospital, back home. Finally, after 3 days of pure hell, my dr. said he could do no more for me. It was time to go somewhere else. I was sent to Memorial Central (I think that was the name) in the down town area of Colorado Springs. We had never been to this side of town, let alone Katie. So not only was I sick, now I was lost, and not really sure where I even was. On top of it all, a big snow storm was brewing and it was freezing! They admitted me to the hospital that night. Katie stayed til it got dark. At one point they drugged me up with something, and we went from being very serious and scared to just about splitting our pants in laughter!! Imagine that, me and my sisters finding something to giggle about, in a desperate moment! It was short lived. I laughed so hard, I was throwing up, and Kate had to leave!! She was such a trooper that week! Going from hospital, to home. Taking care of my girls. And everything else. What a wonderful gift family is. I am not sure how we would have made it through this without her. She is the only one (besides Adam) who saw me at my worst! I feel bad for putting her through it, but am so thankful that I had her by my side. I know there were moments when she wanted to break, but she didn't. She kept things together for the sake of our girls, until their dad could back. BTW.... at this time, one of the airlines were having issues and all of the planes were grounded. He didn't even know if and when he was gonna get home. I spent the next 8 days there. They had me on who knows how many different medicines. And nothing to eat. Not even a stick of gum. Nothing!! I had not eaten in 7 weeks. I was seriously thinking that by now, I should have starved to death. I lost almost 25 lbs. Not a recommended crash diet, but it did work. After 3 days there, they decided to start introducing me back to food. By day four, I had mashed potatoes!! I never thought hospital food could taste so good! Before long I finally had a little bit of life back in me. Some days I think back to those months and wonder how can it be so easy for some and so difficult for others? Why was this time so different from the others? I don't know those answers, but I do know this: my life has been so blessed with a perfect a little miracle. He has already brought so much joy and light into our world. I look at him and see him smile, and know, that if someone took him from me, and said "the only way you get him back is to do it all again", I would do it. A thousand times. Just to have him in our lives! So many times, I wanted to give up, and thought I didn't have it me to go on! So glad I didn't give up.......




Oh, how I love this boy!!! I will forever remember April fools day, as being no joke!! It will always be a day that I remember no matter how big life's challenges are, there is always and end. A silver lining. Clint is the light at the end of my tunnel. And will always be my reminder: to choose the right, and stay close to the things in life that are good. That with your family, you can get through anything. They are my world. I love my family!!