Just keep swimming!

When I was 16 I worked at a pet store. Aside from being a Mormon, my pet store life was just "who I was!" I loved every inch of that place. I would go there on my days off because I couldn't get enough of it. My co-workers, the pets, the costumers, the gigantic amount of pet supplies, I loved it all. I know it seems weird. I felt often misunderstood and a bit alone for being kind of "weird". But I loved caring for those animals. I got great satisfaction from giving them clean homes. I still feel that satisfaction when I change my kids sheets and get their beds all clean and tucked in for them. I don't know why but I love knowing they are going to bed in a clean environment. And I loved knowing my little pet store pets had clean homes.

When I was working at the pet store, I never did much with the fish but I loved them just as well. I had a tank at home full of Tiger Barbs. They are just nasty enough to keep the tank constantly full of action. But they never kill each other. Just feisty, pretty, fun, little fish.

I was able to get a tank as an adult by trading babysitting. Not big enough for my tastes. Only a 29 gal. I had it for years until, OF COURSE, some kid put a crack in it. I have gone probably 8 years without an aquarium and I have sorely missed it.

Justine and I were breeding rabbits and trading with a pet store for credit to earn another tank. We had 100 dollars when the pet store went out of business and wasn't able to give me my credit. Made me super sad.

Happily, thanks to friends , Eric and Sandy, I inherited one a few months ago that they were taking down. A 39 gallon. Eww, Ahhh. I was so happy.

The kids were so happy when they saw it filled with water! After you fill it with water you should wait a week before adding fish. The kids thought it was torture waiting. I was really happy because both Rhett and Justine were super genuine when they said they couldn't wait to get fish.

One reason it took me a bit to put the tank up was because I wanted to do something different about the stand. It was an oak veneer tall stand. I really wanted a stand that put the tank at eye level for the little kids. I was so excited! I just took the stand, chopped about 10 inches off it, lowered the frame edge down, glued it back on and repainted the whole stand. Then because I had so many painting errors, I rubbed the whole thing with dark paint and then rubbed it off and it made it look old. Then I sanded the edges. I think it turned out okay. Doesn't deserve to be on pinterest or anything but I really like the height of it. Why do I never take a before picture?

Here are our first fish. "The boys". I thought we had a boy and girl but after we got home they weren't. That's okay. Boy fish are prettier than girl fish. Doesn't it figure? Just like men look better than women as they age? That totally gets under my skin! Sheesh!

Love all the little peering eyes peeking into our boys. Super cute.

Bo is officially all better from his pneumonia! Yay!

After coming home from the hospital, Bo spent the week asleep on the couch. He still has lots of little kindergarten worksheets to make up from his time missing school. He took the last of his antibiotics yesterday. The firt day we were home from the hospital he was suppose to take his antibiotics in liquid form but he hated it so much he threw it all up. So I contacted the Dr. and because we had taught him how to swallow his pill form ADHD medicine (by practicing with tic tacs, lol) we were allowed to get a swallowable antibiotic. It was a horse pill so I had to chop it up into 8 pieces but he was a trooper! He was just glad not to have the liquid. After he had thrown up and was crying he couldn't catch his breath for a minute. That is so sad.

One time when Bo was up and playful he kept trying to tickle me. I tickled him back. He tickled me and then I tickled him back. He was laughing until I saw that it had turned into crying. It had hurt to laugh and then he couldn't breath. Sad. He was mad at me. Sadder. But he had started it and I thought it was fine and didn't know it was a problem until he was crying. I should have known better. Oh well.

He slept on the couch the first few nights. I don't know why but he was comfortable that way.

So Kate and I had a quiet week with no Bo to play with. Here are a few pictures she took. She was thrilled to have access to my camera for a bit. We deleted probably 20 pictures of the floor! Ha ha.














I know it is blurry but cute!













more Kate




















Profile of Bo
























Here is a great one of my with no make up and my messy bookshelves behind me. Lovely.

My Glenny has done it Again!!!!

Thanks to my true friend, who reminded me to check out one of Glenny's awesome going ons...I was able to read about his George Washington Challenge. Super inspired. Really want to do it.

He gives a different virtue each month to work on. This month is Diligence. And he has a tracker to track how you are doing. And here is what he wrote for starting ...I love it. I am going to train my children in it for Family Home Evening and I am going to make some goals and maybe encourage the older ones to do it with me. And of course we all mist have great journals to track it in!

Yay!


"THE STARTING POINT

Below are some items pulled from the writings of Washington and Franklin (with additional items added by Glenn) that we've identified as key things to start with and focus on every day. Think of these as "baseline" items to have in your life that are in addition to those things you add as part of this challenge.

Many of these will seem daunting at first, but by adding them to your Monthly Tracker and concentrating on them each day they'll become more and more routine."

■EVERY ACTION MUST BE DONE WITH RESPECT TOWARD OTHERS AROUND YOU.
■SHOW NO DELIGHT IN THE MISFORTUNE OF OTHERS, EVEN THOUGH HE BE YOUR ENEMY.
■IF ANYONE COMES TO SPEAK TO YOU WHILE YOU ARE SITTING, STAND, EVEN THOUGH HE WILL BE YOUR INFERIOR.
■BE NOT HASTY TO BELIEVE FLYING REPORTS TO THE DISPARAGEMENT OF ANY.
■ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH MEN OF GOOD QUALITY.
■IF YOU ESTEEM YOUR OWN REPUTATION, TIS BETTER TO BE ALONE THEN IN BAD COMPANY.
■LET YOUR CONVERSATION BE WITHOUT MALICE OR ENVY.
■SPEAK NOT INFURIOUS WORDS NEITHER IN JEST OR IN EARNEST.
■ALWAYS STAND WHEN A LADY ENTERS YOUR CIRCLE OR STANDS BEFORE THE TABLE.
■READ YOUR SCRIPTURES DAILY.
■HAVE A PICTURE OF SOMEONE YOU ADMIRE. WHEN HAVING A TOUGH DAY MOVE IT NEAR YOU.
■MAKE A GOAL EVERYDAY. WRITE AND PONDER IN THE MORNING, REVIEW YOUR SUCCESSES AND FAILURES AT END OF EACH DAY.
■GATHER OTHERS TO SUPPORT HONESTY.
■ALWAYS LOOK A MAN IN THE EYE.
■ALWAYS HAVE A FIRM HANDSHAKE.
■PRAY FOR OTHERS.
■LOOK FOR WAYS TO SERVE OTHERS AT ALL TIMES.
■ALWAYS SAY WHAT YOU MEAN AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY.
■BUILD TRUST THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS.
■DO NOT PARTAKE IN BASHING THE BIBLE.
■DO NOT FIGHT WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT WILLING TO SEE ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE. WHEN IN BATTLE (ARGUMENT) REPEAT THE OTHER SIDE UNTIL THEY SAY YOU HAVE THEIR ARGUMENT.
■BUILD, NEVER DESTROY.
■ASPIRE TO INSPIRE.

Aren't you INSPIRED!!!!!!???????

I love "Build, never Destroy"! Which one do you love?

As if I didn't think about doing laundry enough already! Sheesh!

When I saw this quiet book page I KNEW I had to make it. I thought it was so cute!

So here is my best effort! Sewing all these little socks was hard! I still have no idea why I am even making a book that you can't wash!!!! But I am. I don't spend that much time on it. Only at night sometimes. Just in case anyone thought I was neglecting my house hold duties.

Don't you love that little clear dryer window? I think it is cute. I added the bubbles as my own special touch. Which really doesn't make any sense. Because if there are bubbles n the outside of your dryer then you got problems. And it just occurred to me that bubbles don't even have anything to do with dryers! Crud. I guess this is a washer. See? I can't be a nurse! My brain doesn't work! Now I have to take them off. Grr.

I fell today outside my kids work on a sheet of ice. Luckily it was in between cars and no one saw. Why is that always your first concern? When you fall you hurry to get up so fast so no one sees and then you decide if you are hurt or not. Silly. I fell with my arm under me and that hurt my ribs and my shoulder. So now I am SORE! I walk around terrified all winter long because I am a klutz when there isn't any ice let alone when there is ice. On ice I am just DANGEROUS!

Wax on...Wax off!

I guess I should explain whatever happened with my darling boy and our ADHD predicament.

After much thought and a lot of desperation and a constant prayer in my heart, I decided to medicate him. I do not love the idea AT ALL. I hear a lot, the comparison...If one has diabetes they would take medicine...and yes, you would. But for some reason this just doesn't feel like the same thing.

But....he has done very well since he has been on them. He is much more calm, better behaved in school (although not a complete fix) and in jujitsu his time outs have been way less if even at all. Any of the parents there who saw the before and after in Bo, if they didn't believe before in ADHD before,they do now. He was SO MUCH BETTER BEHAVED.

There is another boy in Jujitsu who is very young. And because of his age he is running around a bit and a little rowdy.B o actually tattled on him like he was just this pro at behaving now. He would watch this little boy like... what is up with that!? It was funny. And good that he becoming aware of how one is supposed to act.

And to ALL OF THE JOY in my heart, Bo received his first "bar". Who the heck decided a little stripe of tape on your belt is your promotion? I haven't a clue, but he received one. A black piece of duck tape with a white piece of medical tape and he was promoted. It represents attendance, behavior, and learning new skills. It was so stinking darling I could hardly stand it.

So there you are. That is what I have done about ADHD. I have no idea what others should do and I have no advice for anyone else but it does seem to really be helping Bo. As always...ADHD is just a puzzle but it greatly affects our family.

When I was 18, I got a really serious case of pneumonia. I was OUT for days, in a world of delirum and slumber. I was hospitalized for 7 days racking up an enormous amount of hospital debt for my parents, whom had been unemployed and without insurance at the time. They didn’t get that bill paid off until I was well into being a married woman (should I have taken that one on? Maybe?). I remember my mom calling me to tell me when they had finally paid it off.

When I was in the hospital I remember I had a few not so helpful nurses. I am sure there were some great ones but I remember the two not so great ones and the incidents surrounding them. My mom had to stay with me practically the entire time to insure my care.

But I also remember I had one male, really nice, nurse. Back in the day (ha ha, I love to say that) male nurses were not common. I remember implications and teasing being made about my male nurse being feminine. I never thought so or even cared. I felt very defensive for him because I remember so much his kindness. One night when I was in my delirium, I remember the male nurse coming in and putting my oxygen back in my nose. I remember he stroked the hair away from my face. And that was all.

Well, fast forward 20 years….What in the world happened to male nurses!!!! No more teasing around these parts. Male nurses are HUN-KY

I had to take Bo to the ER for his pneumonia, because of course these kinds of things can NEVER happen during the day. Holy Moly, the ER was full of very manly, very handsome, very kind, very manly, (oh, did I say that one already?) male nurses! I didn’t think that much of it at first but after a bit I was like…Wow! What is up with all the male nurses!

When I asked one of them about it, (I had four hours of free time to talk) he said there were so many of them in the ER because of the adrenaline rush involved there.

But then there was another one in the Peds unit. They all did a GREAT job and were every bit as kind and caring as a female nurse. And nice to look at.

Pneumonia hides in X-rays!

My little Bo is such a lovie. He really, really, is. I love how each mom is just in love with her own child. Just as it should be. And I think my Bo is the sweetest little guy around.

Friday the 13th Bo told me, while he was in his bed going to sleep, that his tummy hurt. I got him a bowl in case he threw up in the night. I moved books and debris from the floor because any mother knows the worst thing is for a kid to puke from the top bunk down onto whatever lays below. Uck.

Saturday was a busy day for our family, involving basketball games and a few trips into town. Bo told me about noon, that his stomach hurt and it was making him so he couldn’t breathe. I though, “huh. Strange”. But he was playing around and didn’t seem bad so we went about our day. That night I got home from a major grocery trip and when I finally sat down and watched Bo play, he was holding his little shoulder up super high and kind of walking around contorted. It was quite strange. And as he would talk he would stop to catch his breath a tiny bit but then he would continue on being active. I also saw him just breath strange every now and then. Like he would suck in every so often. And when he would talk he would run out of air.

Watching him I started getting so worried. I get totally freaked out when my kids are sick. I told Corey I wanted to take him to the Dr. but by that time it would have to be the emergency room. That is such a HARD call to make. But by about 11:00 (yea, my kids were still up, no one will sleep at my house!) I just couldn’t contain it any more. I was getting sick inside. I had turned super grumpy and was just sick. "There's yer sign!" So I just got him and decided to run him to the ER. I din't even tell Corey. I just left.

The ER couldn’t decide what was wrong either. SO they did X-rays, didn’t show much. They did blood work, didn’t show much.
My little Bo did not even CRY for the blood work. He just took his IV so great that the male nurse commented about him being tough as nails. We were in the ER about three hours. Thankfully we had a TV and I just held him in the way he was most comfortable. He couldn’t lie on his back or he couldn’t breathe. So sad. He could barely even tolerate the X-ray where he had to lay on his back. He sat up from it and just gasped for breath. I just assumed it was from something causing him pain. He wouldn’t let me carry him. When I tried (because he had to walk all the way to and from the parking lot) he wouldn’t bend his body at all and he just stiffened like a board.

It was really heartbreaking because of the strange way he held is body. And he was very pale and very slow. The Dr. decided he was miserable from constipation. But he was definitely perplexed. He sent us home with magnesium. So by the next afternoon Bo had gone to the bathroom but was still uncomfortable. I did what the Dr. said and called the ER and went back in. It was so confusing because at the same time he had these symptoms of losing his breath and walking with this contorted little body, that I can’t even describe adequately, his hips even looked crooked and his shoulder was raised up so tight to his face it was just strange,, he still played throughout the day.

So back to the ER. They were so very busy. They put me into a room with no TV. The night before I had brought a big book for Bo and I to read. But this time I took it out since we had had a TV. But this time, no TV. So we colored, blew up blue latex gloves and drew faces on them, and fortunately, Rhett had cashed in all his change for two buck in my purse and I had oodles of change. That truly kept him busy for hours. Sorting, counting, recounting, making pictures out of them, etc.

Holding up his shoulder...

The people in the room across from us were getting very angry. How much longer did they have to wait? Not to sound all wonderful or anything but I was just so grateful to be somewhere safe for my boy where they could monitor his illness, whatever it may be, that I didn’t even care about a wait. And it was a good thing too! The nurse came in and told these annoyed people the the average national wait time in an ER was 6 hours. WHAT THE WHAT?????

Guess what? We were there for FOUR hours!

He had to have the IV again. Same nurse did it, same brave little boy didn’t even cry. Had to have X-rays, blood work, the whole bit again. And they found nothing. A little elevated white blood cells that indicate an infection of some kind but they didn’t know what. At some points I was near tears filled with worry and weary, second night at the ER until 2isham. What could this be? His little body was so very contorted.

Here is a not very good picture but you can see how high up his shoulder was.

He could lower it but wouldn’t. Because he had to get up and down several times off the bed, he and I had it down as to how to carry him with the least amount of pain. I would just scoop him without putting any pressure on his stomach or lung area. It was all about holding his weight through his sitting area. Me helping him was really a bit of a bonding time. I couldn’t have loved him more. And he kept telling me, I love you mommy and kissing me and telling me I was awesome. Lol. Love him.

Finally at 3 in the morning they came in and said they were admitting him for observation because they didn’t know what was going on. I hadn’t expected that and hadn’t prepared for that but was relieved to be in their care. What if he coded or something? I was scared of his little breathing issue.

We went up to the peds floor. They put us in a room and the nurse was ready to lift Bo in the bed and hisn body language was very clear and he said “I wan’t my mom to do it”. He knew that I knew the most comfortable way to pick him up.

So we put in movies for Bo and just let him watch TV. I drifted in and out on the bed and Bo kept paging the nurse to take him to the bathroom. And then I would have to tell the nurse that I was there and could do it. Then I would take him and an hour later he would page them again. It was hilarious. So the little booger stayed up until seven o’clock the next day!!!! I just kept putting in new movies for him! It was a long night. He was literally up the whole night. And he was SO VERY proud of that!

So because we played so much in the ER the night before, and he was so lively in the hospital that next day (they finally gave him some pain killers) I was started to second guess the situation. Maybe it was just constipation, and he was feeling better after taking care of some business. They wanted to do a cat scan but because he seemed to be doing better I wasn’t sure what to do. But thankfully, the Dr. wanted to anyway. An hour and a half and one beyblade later, he had finally dranken all the barium for the catscan and was good as gold for the actual scan. He earned a white teddy to add to his orange one.

A few hours later my favorite Dr. P. came in and said “that was an expensive way to diagnose pneumonia!” I was surprised and relieved. That sounded like the lesser of illnesses to me and the Dr. agreed. I had been so worried about what in the world was going on with my sweet boy. Why was his body so distorted and achy?

So we stayed another night. Bo was very happy with a new Lego set from Grandma and Grandpa, a puzzle and coloring book form Aunt Sherri and Uncle Frank.

It was quite a relaxing little hospital stay for me. Just one little sleepy kid to take care of compared to my wild life at home…I quite enjoyed myself. We were released the next day and now he is on the mend.

Thank Heavens. So grateful for medical resources and the people who help us. So so grateful. Did I mention grateful?


He put together this 100 piece puzzle all by himself!

Thanks for all the concern!

Uncle Frank and New Years Eve

This is Uncle Frank. We like him a lot. He knows a lot about everything. And I mean that in a good way. Bo took this picture. I think it is the greatest.

Uncle Frank is Corey's sister's husband. They got married when she was 4o and he 52. It was both of their's first marriage (did I say that right?). I always tell people that Sherri loved Frank her entire life. I think it is true too. She first started loving him when she was 15 at his 26th birthday party. He was kind of foxy back then.

And she loved him all that time until they finally got married. Before they got married they were sort of on again off again. They were often buddies and would do lots of things together. But then there were times they weren't friends.

I remember when Sherri's dad died though. Frank came to the house and Sherri sobbed big gigantic sobs in his arms. I remember him wearing a brown leather jacket. It didn't matter that they were "off", he was there for her.

Frank is always up for a good session of teasing the kids and they love it. We have to watch him though. He says a few curse words that he swears aren't real curse words. But they are, Frank. They just are.

Anyhow, we love them both. Sherri knows how to make things nice. THAT.IS. FOR. SURE. And she has mad cleaning skills that would make any OCD person jealous.

So... about New Years Evening....

I loved that when I was growing up, on New years eve my family would hang out together and watch movies and have snacks. Which ALWAYS included Spanish Olives, which I ADORE the taste of, oysters, which I totally adore the taste of, and Vienna Sausages, which I really liked.

My brother and I would sleep on the hide-a-bed couch. If both of us sat at the back where our heads would lay, the whole end of the bed would rise all the way up. We thought that was great and then we would crawl to the end and the bed would fall back down. So exciting back then.

When I was a teen and the hide-a-bed days were over we would still celebrate Family New Years Eve. I liked it that even as a teen. I really had a HARD choice deciding whether I wanted to hang out with friends that night or hang at home with my parents. I was always so torn.

This year, I felt like our family must be doing something right that Kassidy had plans to go to a dance New Years Eve but changed her mind to stay home and party with the family.

We had tons of food and tons of games. Which is just as it should be...
Shermiester!
New FIL Dale, Kassidy, and new Nephew in Law, Jason. Our family is GROWING huge lately!
I love that Aunt Sherri and Grandpa Dale took time to play with the littles.
Aren't they darling? Bo, Kate, and cousin Macie.
Bacon covered chestnuts are Justine's favorite!
Stuffed Mushrooms? You know it! Justine will only eat the stuffing because she hates mushrooms. Ha Ha. The inside is mushed up mushrooms! I love it.

My cute boy! (Sorry Dave, I should have edited you out.)

Head Bandz. You know it!
Bo loves cousin Ethan. All the boys do. Glad they have such a nice cousin who still will spend time with them.
We LOVE Clue! Corey and Uncle Dave like to psych us all out like they know stuff we don't about who it it. It annoys me! Because I get sucked into believing them. And I don't think they even know more either!

I thought this was a cute picture of my Kate and her cousin Aubrie. Kate loves people so much! She just does. She is so open and loving. Aubrie was carrying her downstairs for some reason and she just snuggled right into her.
Little Niece, Ellie
My BIL Dave and SIL Tracy
Justine and cousin Aubrie
Isn't that a beautiful picture of my MIL? (Secretly she has food in her mouth. Hee hee. I made her pose anyway. I didn't have time to wait.)

My new FIL Dale always has sea food on New Years Eve.

Because we wanted him to feel happy, I wanted to make him homemade oyster stew. But the recipes all looked like too many steps for me.

So Frank(who knows a little bit about everything, remember?) said it was easy and he whipped it up right there. It was great! And I think the pictures I took make it look so beautiful! Don't you? I totally should be a food photographer.

He's a Silver Fox.

It was yummy! And a tiny bit yucky. Those were some big oysters. For a minute I thought I was eating poop! But Frank assured me it was seaweed. Phew. See? A little bit about everything.

I was so happy when Ethan had to try a gigantic oyster. He cracked us all up. "It's chewy. And Gritty" Bahaaaa. If you eat them you'll know what I mean.

My boys LOVED every second of it!

And....Baby New Year made it. Yay for Baby New Year! Come on! Everyone should do it.

Kassidy only got some left over party poppers. I totally messed up and didn't buy enough color wonder sets. I wrote her an IOU. She was a great sport about it. I told her ahead of time. I figured she was the oldest and would be the least to care. Thanks, kid!

More to come later this week about my crooked little Bo. It was so sad.