A Beautiful Night

Tonight was a beautiful night. Kenzie had softball practice in Easton so Andy took her, Ty, Connor and Bekah. That left Alex, Tay and Kearsyn with me. Alex had youth group so after dropping him off, Tay, Keari and I headed for Terrapin Beach. Talk about a gorgeous night for a walk along the beach and through the woods. I really think Tay enjoyed his time with mommy and is already talking about doing it again. Afterwards, we stopped for ice cream and ate it while we waited for Alex to get done. All in all, a wonderful way to spend the 1 1/2hrs that Alex was in youth group instead of doing the normal drop off, run home, run back and hr later.

Drs Update

Alex had a recheck for his ankle today. Of course the radiology place hadn't faxed over the written report like they were supposed to so while we were waiting for it the dr took a look CT scan images that we had brought with us but he didn't make much comment other than he wanted to see the radiology report and have his interpretation as to whether there was an issue with his growth plate. The report finally comes in and he walks back into the room commenting that he needs to take another look at the scans. Then he asks Alex how the injury happened and where the pain was. Turns out the radiology report says that he most likely has a Salter-Harris Type II fracture of the distal fibula (now if that isn't a mouthful LOL). Dr doesn't necessarily agree with that diagnosis as Alex's pain isn't where the location of this fracture would be. So we are going to keep in the brace that he's currently wearing full time and reevaluate him in a few weeks. Alex's hasn't made a peep about any kind of pain since he started wearing this brace last week so I was extremely surprised by the diagnosis that came back. We are also going to get him a Little Ritchie brace which will be specially made for him that will be used just for when he plays sports. That way, he'll be able to stop wearing the brace full time and only use it when he really needs it which is during his sporting activities.

Gorgeous Weather

The beginning of this week has been sooo beautiful! It was down right hot on Monday and Tuesday which has made the kids evening baseball games delightful to attend. Connor and Alex both had games on Monday and Kenzie had practice. Kearsyn and Bekah were really good at the boys games considering that we had to be there for a few hours. It was fun watching the boys play although both their teams lost. Connor had and awesome hit his first time up to bat, first pitch of the game. I did come to the conclusion that Connor's team really needs some lessons on how to slide into a base after he basically rolled head of heels during his attempt and another kid did a face during his. Luckily neither one were hurt and it was quite comical to watch. LOL Then there was a whole series of errors strung together that was hilarious. At one point, they had two kids on 2nd base. After a lot of back and forth between first, second, third, first, third, home...the play finally ended with the kid getting tagged out at home. Alex's team didn't fair much better but he looked pretty good at catcher. His brace seems to be working out pretty well as he didn't have any complaints about his ankle after the game.

Crazy, Crazy Day

Yesterday started out with me going to Easton for Kenzie's softball practice with Kenzie, Bekah and Kearsyn and Andy heading toward the fields with the rest of the kids for opening day parade and then games. I left a little early so we could run by the store there to return something. We spent two+ hrs there then returned to one of the fields on the island where the twins were playing their first coach pitch game. Andy came from Connor's game at another field, I dropped Bekah and Kearsyn with him, then took Kenzie over to Connor's field so we could grab him as soon as he was done so we could head to Chestertown for a choir concert. Oh yeah, and we did try to grab something to eat in there but it wasn't easy. Since we had to be at the concert an hour early so they could practice, I took the opportunity to walk down to the river and sat there enjoying the beautiful weather, watching the ducks and the boats on the water and reading a book for a little while. After the concert, we quickly grabbed something for dinner before returning home to change and heading back out the door to church...where both Connor and Alex had alter service duty last night.

Alex got to ride in the fire truck during the parade yesterday, then attended a search and rescue training for the fire fighters where he helped set up the training. Unfortunately part way through the exercise, they got a call and all had to leave. Worked out okay for Alex though cause that meant he was able to get to the start of his baseball game on time.

Today my parents, sister and bil came over to finish celebrating Connor's birthday. It's a beautiful day and they spent a good portion of it outside throwing the ball around. We had to cut short the fun though as Connor and Kenzie have one last choir concert today which Connor was totally bummed about. He would have much rather stayed here to play.

After this weekend, I think I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow for a relaxing day but I know tomorrow evening is going to be crazy. Both Alex and Connor have baseball games and Kenzie has to be back in Easton for practice. It just never slows down...but I know when these guys are out of the house, I'll be missing all the activity.

Bridge Over Troubled Water...

Okay, well maybe the water wasn't so troubled the other night but I did have to travel across the bridge more times than I wanted to Friday night. The first time was to get Alex's CT scan done. It was originally scheduled for Monday evening but he has a baseball game so I thought I'd check and see if there were any cancellations Friday evening and there was as after getting my temporary crown work done, we headed across the bridge for his appt. We came home with lots of pictures of his ankle...none of which mean a thing to me. I'm sure when we get back in to see his dr we will find out that the CT scan doesn't show anything wrong either. The good news is that the brace really seems to be helping. He hasn't complained about his ankle since getting it on Thursday.

Upon returning home from that appt, I was met with Connor complaining about his ears. He's has a cold for about a week, ran a fever for a day or so early on and then settled into his throat and ears aching/feeling stuffy. I figured since there was no way I'd be able to get him in to a dr on Saturday with all the craziness going on that I'd better call and have him seen at urgent care Friday night. Thus the second trip across the bridge in as many hours. Turns out it was a good decision as he has an ear infection in both ears. Poor guy! We got him some meds so hopefully it will clear up quickly for him.

Specialist Appt

Alex had his specialist appt yesterday to get his ankle looked at. Nothing diffinitively came out of because, of course, it didn't hurt yesterday. That's the problem with having to wait for an appt...by the time you get in, the pain has generally gone away. He say that there has to be something going since it's been such a pervasive problem for the past couple of years. He's speculating that it has something to do with his growth plate but he couldn't confirm that with the x-rays he did yesterday. We are scheduled to have a CT scan done on Monday so hopefully that will show something conclusive as to what is causing he periodic pain. He also gave Alex a brace to wear which Alex is loving! He says his ankle feels great and was even able to go for a 6 mile walk with his dad last night.

I get to go to the dentist in a couple of hrs to have my crown work started. I'm hoping that will alleviate the pain I've been having while eating on that side. That will make two crowns on that side in less than 2 yrs. Let's just hope the other side doesn't decide to start acting up. ;-)

Test Day

Today was Alex's 3 hr placement test for school. Even though he wasn't able to make it through all the questions in some of the sections in the time that was allotted to him, he's feeling pretty about the questions he did answers. He gets very nervous when taking tests, and this is really his first standardized test in about 5 yrs so he's not at all used the format, so I'm just happy that he's happy about how he did. The school uses this test to determine how they will confirm their classes for next school year. He has to take the math placement test on May 3rd and thankfully that one is just an hour test.

I spent the morning in library while waiting for Alex to finish up. I figured there was no sense in me driving 40 minutes home to turn around and drive 40 minutes back a little over an hr later. It was a nice relaxing morning...I got to read a book and purused some of the newspapers although they were filled with stories of the Virginia Tech shootings. They were quite sobering to read.

Now it's time for the evening craziness...Kenzie is at extended choir practice. Connor didn't go with her as he's not feeling well. Guess that bug finally caught up with him although it's given him a sore throat and an earache. Alex, Tay and Ty are off baseball practice. Opening day is this Saturday so they are all getting ready for their first game. Alex has his drs appt tomorrow to get his ankle looked at so I told him I wants tons of running around at practice tonight so that he's hobbling when we go in there tomorrow. I figure if we are going to take the trouble to go see a specialist, he might as well be able to see something wrong when we are there, right? I know, I'm a bad mommy. ;-)

A Milestone

and I missed it. :( Kearysn rolled over for the first time today. She's been so laid back and has shown no interest in rolling over. Guess she decided that it was time. Way to go, Keari!! Hopefully she'll do it again when I get home from work tonight.

Another Crazy Day

They switched Kenzie's softball practice from Thursday to tonight which throws everything out of whack. Thursday we don't have anything going on other than her practice. Mondays we have Alex's youth group and we also found out that they do clean up work at the firehouse on Mondays so Andy dropped him off at the firehouse when he left to take Kenzie to practice. I just picked him to take him to youth group and then have to go back out at 8:30 to pick him up as Andy and Kenzie won't be home in. Also, because Connor went with Andy tonight that means that I will have to pack up the twins, Bekah and Kearsyn when I go to get Alex. I sure hope they don't try to make this a permanent switch. One night of messing up the bed time routine is okay but I wouldn't want to do it more than that. And thankfully because of all the rain we've had, baseball practice for Alex and Connor was cancelled otherwise the night would have been even crazier.

Andy has put us in a real pickle. ;-) After Alex had his interview with SPPS, Andy and Connor were talking and Andy said that we would also try to get Connor into the school hopefully by the time he was in the 8th grade. Andy has recently been emailing with the principle of the elementary school to see how we would go about getting Connor (and Kenzie) onto the waiting list for the school. There's always a waiting list for the elementary school so we figured if we got them on now that they would be in a good position when it came time for them to each enter 8th grade. Turns out, because Alex is enrolled in the high schools, that moves Connor and Kenzie way to the top of the list...there are only two other kids ahead of them. Ack! While that's good it's also bad because we haven't figured out how we are going to pay for Alex to go there, let alone anyone else. I know everything will work out however it's supposed to...just have to have a little faith.

A Bug in the House

A stomach bug, that is. Yuk! So far it's hit 5 of the kids and me twice...started with me and came back to me last night. How'd I get so lucky??

Whew it's been raining cats and dogs here all day. So far we've gotten over 2.5 inches and our back yard looks like a wonderful place for ducks to hang out. Amazing how much water is laying out there. And I don't think the chickens are enjoying all this wet weather, either.

The kids all went to the eggstravaganza at our church this afternoon. It got postponed last weekend due to snow...still can't believe we actually had snow Easter weekend. It would have gotten postponed again this weekend due to the rain but they decided to hold it in the hall. The kids came home with bags of candy and all kinds of goodies that they'd won some of which included a really nice backpack that Connor won, a big chocolate cake that Tyler won and a plate full of cookies that Taylor won.

I stayed home with Kearsyn...was hoping to get a little nap in since I was up most of last night not feeling well but Keari had other plans. I ended up going through all the clothes in the twins rooms and cleaning out their drawers. Also went through a bunch of boxes of baby clothes that had been given to us. Got tons of boxes of too small clothes ready to go back in the attic. Now if I could only find our 3T girl clothes up there we'd be all set. That size seems to have completely vanished while the <12 month girl clothes seems to have multiplied while they were in the attic.

Long overdue update

Things have just been crazy here lately. It's been a rough year but we've made some changes and I'm hoping things are starting to smooth out some.

Here's a quick up date on what's been going on (or not so quick now that I see how much I've written. Yikes!):

Alex got accepted into the Catholic High School that he applied to...I think I told you guys that he was applying. He has to take a 3hr placement test next Wednesday and then has to take a math placement test sometime in May. We still have to figure out to pay for this but we did apply for financial through the diocese and the school so hopefully we'll get something from either one or both of them. Alex has also become a jr volunteer firefighter. We haven't quite worked out what all that entails but he's gone to a few meetings and he's allowed to do some of the training sessions. Since baseball season has started back up again, that of course means that Alex's ankle is hurting him again. Happens everytime he plays a sport. We took him to his pediatrician the other day who has referred us to a specialist He thinks he has an issue with a ligament in his ankle. He has an appt to get it looked at next Thursday. Alex's confirmation is coming up on May 3. My sister is his sponsor which has been nice because she's been over once a month to go parent/sponsor days with him.

Connor and Kenzie had their big choir festival in Frederick in February. This is where 4 choirs from around the state get together for the day to practice then give a combined concert that night. It's awesome! They've also done a couple of piano recitals (along with Tyler) with another one coming up next month.

Kenzie has her first softball tournamment of the year this weekend. Our course the games tomorrow will most likely get rained out with this nasty storm that is heading our way...Andy called a little while ago to say the it was already raining where they are. So far they've played two games today with on more to go. Unfortunately they've lost both games so far.

Bekah is doing great. She's still doing speech therapy twice a month and she is now talking up a storm. She's babbles so much now that it makes me wonder why we were so anxious to get her talk...it was kind of nice to have her quiet. LOL Actually, it makes communicating so much easier with her now. And it's funny because as soon as she started talking she stopped using the majority of the sign language that we had taught here. Guess she figured that she didn't need it anymore since she now can say the words. There are still a few signs she uses but not many.

Kearsyn is now 6 months old...wow where has that time gone?? She had her check up last week and now weighs 16lbs 3oz and is 25in long. She can sit on her own and thinks she is such a big girl in doing so. LOL No interest in rolling over yet. And she still hardly eats anything. I still have milk in the freezer that I pumped back in November...makes me wonder why I'm still pumping as we seem to have plenty in reserve. LOL I think she is trying to cut some teeth as she is constantly chomping on something...she is particularly fond of your shoulder and chin. She also likes to try and shove her entire fist in her mouth. Silly girl!

Andy is getting ready to go on his annual vacation with his dad. They are going to the Grand Canyon this year and are leaving May 4 or maybe it's the 5th. I can't remember as it had to get changed because of Alex's confirmation. This means I'll get to spend the week at home with the kids. Wonder what trouble we can find to get into. ;-)

Things at work are finally starting to settle down. I think we've finally gotten out of the mode of putting out fires everyday and can focus on the work we are supposed to be doing. It's been a tough year so far with getting the news of my bosses cancer...latest report is that the radiation and chemo have not been able to shrink the tumor at all so they are looking for a new drug to try him on. I also found that another friend I used to work with has had is cancer come back and has metastized to other areas. He's now diagnosed at stage 4 which totally depresses me. On the good news front, my sister is going to have a baby. Her due date is Halloween whch would 5 members of our family with October birthdays if the baby comes then.

I'm sure there is more but that's all I can think of for now. I'll try to see if I can get a few pictures up so you can see how much the little ones have grown.

Ice Skating

First it was a dance, now it's ice skating...how sad is it that my kids go to more activities than I do? LOL Andy and all the kids except Kearsyn and Bekah are off to to an ice skating party with their 4-H group.

Kenzie and Andy had a great time at the father/daughter dance the other night. Andy didn't even embarress Kenzie with his dancing...he'd threatened to do the PeeWee Herman dance. LOL Here's a pic they took while at the dance.

No matter how many projects we do around the house, there are always more to do. This weekend Andy removed some old sliding glass doors from the doorway between our old family room and old screened in porch. We converted the porched into the classroom a few years ago and kept the doors in so that room couls be shut off from the rest of the house. We have since converted that room into our family room, classroom has moved to a room we built in the garage and old family room has been turned into te game room complete with pool table, air hockey table and foosball table. Here's a pic of the doorway...really makes things feel much more open. We have a small gas stove next to the bookcase that you see in the pic. We're going to move the bookcase and put the gas stove where the bookcase was, that way it will be able to heat both rooms better.

Lastly, I worked on sorting Kearsyn's drawers earlier today. She's grown so much that it was time to get bigger clothes out for her. And here's a pic of the little sweetie. =)

Father/Daughter Dance

Kenzie and Andy are off to a father/daughter dance at church tonight. Kenzie is so excited about this and has been talking about it for weeks. It will be fun to hear what she has to say about her very first dance.

Kearsyn had her 4 month check up the other day and is doing well. She now weighs 14lbs 1oz and is 23 inches long. She's gaining weight again now that she's no longer on her eating strike during the day from last month. Stubborn child! I think we're going to be in trouble when she gets older. LOL

I finally got all the data run from my programs...only took me 15 days when it normally takes me 2. Yikes! Of course, there are a still a few small issues that we are finding but we're cleaning them up one at a time so that hopefully we'll get them all and we'll have a smooth month next month. Hard to believe I'll be starting the process all over again in 8 days. Ugh!

Snow Coming?

While it's still a little early, they are calling for some kind of snow/icy mix to hit our area tomorrow night thru Tuesday and wouldn't you know that we are due to have baby chicks arriving tomorrow. Those are going to be some cold little chickies. We also have Kearsyn's drs appt on Wednesday morning and then I've got one in the afternoon so lets home hope if it does snow that the roads are clear by then.

Alex had a great time skiing. Apparantly he and another kid were the first ones on the slopes and the last ones off. He's ready to go skiing again already. LOL He's off to play indoor soccer tonight.

Kearsyn is getting another cold so she was up pretty much all night last night. Poor thing...although I didn't really have much sympathy for her around 5am. ;-)

Ski Trip

Alex left last night for his very first over night event with his youth group. They are going to spend the day skiing, snowboarding or tubing...whichever activity they chose...at Roundtop today. Alex chose to try skiing. They left last night, spent the night with their sleeping bags in a church up there and then were hitting the slopes early this morning. The camping in the church was good because it saved on expenses...they got to sleep at the church for free so only had to provide money for food last night and for the activity today. I'm anxious to hear how he did as this will be his first skiing attempt. I'm sure he's having a blast right about now. =)

Andy and Kenzie are down in Trappe for her Saturday softball practice. She's discovered that she loves to pitch the softball so we'll see how much of that they are doing today. I logged onto work for a little bit to get some programs started that take about 5 hrs each to run. Thought I'd try getting a jump on things so I'm not waiting around Monday morning for the data. I'm already running about a week behind getting this particular data updated so hopefully this will help me catch up a little. Now I'm off to try and clean the house a little.

Hope all is well with everyone out there and hopefully it won't be another 2 weeks before I'm able to get back here again. ;)

Quick Update

Just thought I would give a quick update in case anyone is wondering where I've been lately. Things have been really hectic around here...work is just crazy busy...I've only been back 3 weeks and I'm already super stresed...and home is just as nuts right now with running the kids everywhere to all their different activities. Kearsyn has been sick so I haven't slept in days and prior to that it was Bekah who was sick. Ugh! So I'm around and doing okay just busy, busy, busy and very, very tired.

Happy Birthday

Today is Alex's birthday. It's hard to believe that 14 years have gone by already. It seems like just yesterday I was holding him in the rocking chair in his room looking out the window of our West Virginia home at a snow covered mountain. Now he's goes off and does his own thing. It's been so amazing to watch him grow into a young man. He's been such a blessing in our lives and he is such a big help with his siblings...the little ones love him to death. Happy Birthday sweetie!! Hope you have a wonderful day!

March For Life

I took the 3 older kids...Alex, Connor and McKenzie...to Washington, DC today for the Annual March For Life rally and walk. Wouldn't you know it that after all the nice weather we've been having that it would snow Sunday night. Have I ever said how much I hate being cold...well just in case I haven't, I hate being cold!! My feet and hands turn numb in an instant no matter how many socks or gloves I put on. That being said, it was a nice day even if it was cold and muddy on the mall. It was definitely for a good cause. We went with a school bus full of people from our church...how awesome that we were able to fill a bus when they were originally afraid they would have to cancel the bus because of not enough people. We got to the mall early so the kids got a little bored hanging around waiting for the march to start...I can't say they were too interested in the 2hrs of speakers...and Connor was freaked out by one of the abortion posters people had. It was definitely an eye opening experience for the kids. I've never been to a march before so it was a new experience for me and a little nerve wracking trying to keep track of every one with thousands of people around. Here are a couple of pics...one of some of the kids that went and the other from the top of Capital Hill looking down Constitution Avenue...there were people marching on the road as far back as the eye could see. Too bad I don't remember what street we started on...I know we got off the bus on 7th street and walked several blocks to the main part of the rally, then walked from there to Capital Hill...a pretty significant hike. Funny how it doesn't seem to be that far when you are with a group of people. I was surprised that we didn't see any counter demonstrators...I'm sure they were around but I don't remember seeing any. I find it very sad that there wasn't much about this on the news...I saw about a 5 sec clip on the news channel we were watching and my mom said she didn't see anything on the news channel she was watching.

Happy Birthday

Today is McKenzie's 9th birthday and she was quite excited about it. She even called me at work this afternoon to find out exactly what time she was born so she knew when she was officially 9. LOL I think she had a nice birthday although since it's Tuesday it was super hectic at home today between running to Secret Garden, Alex and Connor starting their composition class at the college, piano practice this afternoon. Made me glad that I was at work. ;) Kenzie seemed quite happy with her pink softball helmet, pink bat and bright yellow softballs. Combine these with her pink glove that she got at Christmas and I think she's all set for baseball. =)

And now I'm off to bed as I'm super exhausted. Work has just been crazy and that combined with Kearsyn being grumpy in the evenings hasn't left much time for blogging. Hopefully I'll be back to a normal update schedule here soon.

Unconscious Mutterings - Week 206

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Episode :: Fit
   
2. Source :: Code
   
3. Jerk :: Around
   
4. Introduce :: Meet
   
5. Ralph :: Lauren
   
6. Stare :: Look
   
7. Cast :: Iron
   
8. Scenario :: Play
   
9. Flu :: Bug
   
10. Mad :: Angry
    

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