Worst Week in a Long Time

This week has just sucked.  I got really sick on Saturday night (Mike and I actually had a date night which was really nice).  It was a really bad cold but I haven't been that sick in a really long time.  Fortunately, Mike let me sleep all day Sunday and even got the kids up on Monday morning and got them off to school so that I could keep sleeping.  All that sleep helped so much.  I'm still not 100% but I'm much better than I would have been had I not been able to sleep. 

Monday morning, when I did wake up, Mike told me that Oriana had pooped in the dining room again.  I cleaned it up and ran some errands.  I actually had to take Jacob to the dentist...I took him to mine since his dentist didn't want to do anything about the pain in his back teeth.  My dentist ended up pulling the teeth (they were not going to come out on their own and the pain was because the adult teeth were trying to come through) and we were out of there in an hour.  If we'd been at their regular dentist, it would have been a fight for him to do anything at all and we would have been there for 3 hours.  I've already switched all of the kids for their cleanings. 

Jacob and I came home and I took a nap.  I got up and picked Daniel and Hannah up from school.  When we get home, I hear Oriana panting like she does when she really has to go out.  So, I called her to the door and I heard a lot of thumping.  I go check it out and Oriana has gotten up but only the front part.  She can't move her back legs at all.  She starts doing this head tilt thing and keeps falling into the couch.  I call Mike and tell him that I don't know what to do.  He says he's on his way, call the vet.  So I do and they tell me to bring her right in. 

Somehow, Mike and I get Oriana onto a blanket and we use it like a stretcher.  We carry her to the car (she's 100 pounds) and we all head to the vet, knowing that this is the last car ride she's going to take. 

We get her into the vet and she just loses all control of her bowels and the vet says she has some thing where her equilibrium is off.  Her eyes look like she's been spun around a billion times.  It could be a thing that will go away or it could be a brain tumor.  We could wait and see, we could do a CT scan or we could  put her out down.  The vet was awesome.  He explained everything very well and really made it our decision.  We decided that she'd had a long life and that we didn't like her being in such obvious pain.  So we put her down.

While the vet went to get the medicine, the boys (Hannah stayed at home with a friend) came in to say goodbye but we didn't think it was a good idea to let them stay in the room.  I sat down on the floor with her head in my lap and Mike sat and took the back end while the vet did his thing.  We told her what a good dog she was and how much we loved her and she went very quickly.  We sat with her for a little while longer and went home.

Alice was confused when we came home without Oriana.  She looked for her for most of the evening and she's been really off all day.  I hope she gets over it soon.  I really feel bad for the puppy.

Today, I go to take the kids to school, come home to find the garage door won't open.  I can't find my house key and the house is locked tight (since we no longer have Oriana, I made sure to lock the doors.  Normally, I wouldn't care).  Since the Holiday Parties start at 10am (I need to leave at 9:30 to get a decent parking spot) and it was already 8:30 and I wasn't even dressed, I booked it to Target to get some needed essentials (a new bra for starters!) and came home to see if the door would magically work.  No such luck.  So, I checked to see if the doors magically unlocked.  Nope.  I walked around to the side of the house and decided to try the basement window.  It was OPEN!!!  I slid it to the side and hopped into the basement, burglar style.  I was never so happy to get to take a shower in my life.

Mike got the spare key back from Stephen and I'm making a ton of copies of those bad boys.

I have to say that I'm really scared to see what's going to happen tomorrow.  Lots of errands to run before our trip to Illinois.  Say a little prayer for me.  I think I need a few.

Sorry About That...

Okay, so it's been a couple of months since I last blogged.  Everything I thought was normal and true came crashing down and it was time to pick up the pieces.  Fortunately, the pieces are coming back together quite nicely and that's a good thing.  And that's all I have to say about that.

The kids have gone back to school and we've settled into our normal, chaotic life.  TKD, soccer, keshet, Sunday School, all Scouts, gymnastics, strings...phew, I'm tired. 

Did I mention Daniel started playing the viola?  He loves it and plays it every chance he can.  Of course, the learning how to use the bow has been awesome.  Ugh.

Emily and I took our (what was to be yearly but has become twice a year) girls' weekend trip.  We flew to Portland to see the Blue October concert but also managed to meet up with Tommy and Matt while we were there.  I haven't seen Tommy in 8 years, so it was REALLY good to see him.  It was also nice to meet Matt, whom I've heard so much about.  They are too cute. 

While we were there, we took the scenic drive around and saw Mt. Hood and a ton of waterfalls.  What an amazing place.  The weather was perfect for a touristy trip on Saturday and, even through it was drizzly on Sunday, hanging out downtown with the boys was a blast.  I also ate at a vegan restaurant and really enjoyed it!  Too fun.

We went to the concert Sunday night and it was AMAZING.  We were very close (third row) and at one point, the lead singer looked me in the eye and smiled.  *sigh*  I almost passed out.  LOL!  After the concert, Emily and I decided to hang out because "I had a feeling," and our patience was rewarded.  We got to meet the entire band.  Everyone but Justin took pictures with us but they all signed our tickets and talked to us.  Too cool.  We were flying back to the hotel.

Sunday, October 3 was the Kansas City Blue October show.  Emily flew in on Saturday and we were having a great time.  We met her friend, Karen, for yoga and brunch Sunday morning and came back early to get ready because I'd won meet and greet passes for the concert.

Yep. We got to hang out at soundcheck (they sang 5 songs!!!!) and then got to meet the band, minus Ryan. Emily made sure to let Justin know what she does for a living and they were all over her. Hugs and whatnot. I couldn't speak. Ugh.  Here's the awesome photo.  *sigh*

Jeremy (drums), Emily, Matt (bass), Justin (lead singer and guitar), me and CB (guitar)

The huge smile is because Justin had just kissed me on the head.  *swoon*  Of course, that's probably why I'm all flushed, too. 

We met Karen and her friend at the concert (because I suddenly had 2 extra tickets) and had a blast.  The opening act was the Parlotones (check them out...they're awesome.  And very good looking) and then Blue took the stage.  AWESOME concert. 

After the concert, Emily wanted to get Ryan's signature or something, so we hung out after the concert to meet him and we got to.  :)  Matt remembered us from the meet and greet (so cool!).  We didn't get to see Justin or Jeremy again but that was okay.  

So, Emily and I have been reliving the weekends all this past week.  Too bad their tour is over.  :(  Yeah, I'm 16.  LOL!

GGGGRRRRRR

This week sucks.  That is all I have. 

Bored

I got bored so I played around with some of the gadgets on the right side of the page here.  I wish there was a Facebook gadget but I can't find one.  However, I did find a Twitter one so you'll get my once a month thoughts on Twitter over there right on my blog!  LOL!  I think I'm heading back over to Facebook right now...

This Weekend's Exhausting Me!

Jacob had his birthday slumber party on Friday night.  I swear this just might be the last one since there was at least one child up at some point for the entire night.  Two boys fell asleep around 1am and were woken up by others playing pranks around 4am.  Those boys fell asleep around 4:30 and the ones that had been asleep stayed up and woke everyone else up at 7am.  The only thing that kept me from being really upset was the fact that they were quiet.  One little boy, John, came upstairs and promptly fell asleep on the couch.  I tried waking him up and Mike tried waking him up with no luck.  Poor kid was bumping into walls when his mom came to pick him up. 

In order to keep Hannah out of their hair, I took her to see Ramona and Beezus during the party.  We both loved it.  It doesn't follow a specific book and they've modernized the story but it's very cute.  I wasn't disappointed at all and found myself crying through the second half of the movie.  Hannah thought that was strange.  I'm a cryer, what can I say. 

Saturday, we spent most of the day sleeping.  Jacob and Daniel both fell asleep on the couch, which was seriously cute.  It was hard to get Jacob up so that we could go see Toy Story 3 while Mike went to see Paul McCartney at the Sprint Center.  Yeah, I could have gone to see Paul McCartney with him, but I don't like the Beatles or Paul McCartney so I figured it would be better if Mike took someone that would actually enjoy the concert.  Mike had a great time and so did the rest of us, so all's good. 

We all slept in this morning and have, pretty much, decided that it's just a lazy day.  I'm thinking it's going to be a taco night and we'll just hang out until the Season 4 premiere of Mad Men.  The perfect end to a very busy weekend. 

Oops!

I need to make a revision to the recipe below.  I can't believe I forgot a HUGE ingredient!  Here is the real list of ingredients...

1 cup butter                                               2 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup white sugar                                   1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar                   1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract                          2 cups chocolate chips
2 eggs                                                       1 cup chopped walnuts

Add brown sugar to the butter, white sugar and vanilla at the beginning.  I used dark brown sugar for this recipe. 

Tonight, I made a White Chocolate Macadamia big cookie for Jacob's birthday.  I used the same recipe EXCEPT I:

**omitted chocolate chips and replaced with 2 cups white chocolate chips

**omitted walnuts and replaced with 1 cup very coarsly chopped macadamia nuts

**used light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar. 

I also only cooked it for 19 minutes and that seemed to work perfectly.

My apologies to anyone that tried to use this recipe without the brown sugar!

Big Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich Photo Post

Okay...so here it is.  The recipe.  I've also got photos of each step because I'm anal that way.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
1 cup butter                                       2 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup white sugar                            1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract                   1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs                                               2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
                                                         1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugars and vanilla. 

Cream until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

Gradually add flour mixture to sugar and butter mixture until well blended. 

Stir in chips (I used 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup crushed Andes mints...and omitted walnuts).

Spread dough in greased 9inch pie pans (or 1 14 inch pizza pan) and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Do not overbake cookie!!!

Allow to cool in pans on cooling rack. 

Remove cookies from pan and line one pan with parchment or plastic wrap.  Place one cookie in pan.

Cover cookie with softened ice cream

Put other cookie on top. 

Cover and freeze for several hours to allow ice cream to resolidify.

Decorate as desired and enjoy! 

I did discover that the top cookie gets a little hard...the bottom one stays soft because of the ice cream.  I'm going to try to see if not placing that top cookie on until right before serving helps so that it's not frozen.  Otherwise, it was delicious! 

Epilepsy Part III

Through my own stupidity, I missed this morning's neuro appointment.  Not only did I get yelled at when I called to see if we could still make it in, I had to make 4 calls to make another appointment because the first lady wouldn't make one for me.  Then, I got yelled at AGAIN by the scheduling lady and was told that we now have to go to the end of the line and wait until October 19th.  When I asked if I could get on a list for any cancellations, she told me that was, "doubtful as the list is very long."  I was so mad when I got off the phone that I was shaking.

So, I did a little research and called KU Med.  They were EXTREMELY nice on the phone...already a bonus.  The earliest they could get us in was September 2, but that's still 1 1/2 months before the other guy.  AND they put us on the cancellation list.  She couldn't guarantee us anything but said they'd try. 

Now, I'm just waiting to call our pediatrician to get Daniel's records transferred over to KU. 

And we wait again...

Epilepsy Part II

Since I'm writing this after midnight, I guess I can say that Daniel has his second opinion with the neurologist later this morning.  I'm really nervous but kind of excited at the same time.  This has just been the longest process...waiting 6 months just for the second opinion...and I'm hoping we can get this done and over with.  We're at 10 months since this whole thing began at our pediatrician.

I'm just so confused at to why all this stuff isn't lining up.  Why has Daniel had one abnormal regular EEG and one abnormal 24 (48) hour EEG with the spikes lining up in the correct area of the brain for seizure activity but nothing is wrong with that?  Why are they dismissing family history of this particular kind of seizure (this is where I really wish Mike had gotten tested, too)?  Why, if it was no big deal, did they keep us for 48 hours when the test was only supossed to be 24?  We were told you cannot "turn off" seizures and therefore it's ADD...which you can't "turn off" either.  Why is my child so special that he's the "1 in 100 that can walk around with these misfireings in his brain and it's nothing when 99 other people would have Epilepsy?"  But we were never able to push that stupid plunger when they happened.  Because of that he's fine...go home and wait for a real seizure.

I'm so mad that we were dismissed like that.  "He doesn't have Epilepsy so go home."  Awesome.

We, kind of, know this new neuro.  His son was Hannah's kindergarten Sunday School teacher.  Rabbi Vered, our educational rabbi, put us in contact with him.  After having a long conversation with Vered in the middle of Wal-Mart on a random day in January around midnight, she made sure she hooked us up the following Sunday after Family Service. 

I'm hoping that, at this time tomorrow, we have some answers.  I'll keep you posted. 

Feels Like Friday

We spent last weekend in Peoria and came back on Monday.  Since we usually leave on Sunday, I feel like I'm a day behind and have all week.  We had a very nice trip, though.  We got to visit Mom in Sterling (I haven't been there in two years) and went to the Olde English Faire (could have done without that...too hot!).  I also got to hang out with some old high school friends on Saturday night.  It was a ton of fun.  One of our friends couldn't be there since he was just transferred to Edwards AFB so we made a little cutout of him and took him along.  Oh boy.  Flat Kris got into so much trouble.  The police officers we asked to pose with him were awesome.  They thought we were either drunk or insane but they played along.  We probably had a little too much fun with it but that's okay.

Dad and I went through a bunch of my grandma's old scrapbooks and then Dad pulled out her old journal.  I didn't even know this thing existed.  Her thoughts from January 1941 through 1970.  It's mostly typed but there are a few handwritten entries.  It is, quite possibly, the coolest thing I've ever read.  I'm only up to 1946 but I'm trying to read slowly and piece together who is who (aunts, cousins, uncles, great grandparents).  I've heard of these people a billion times but to hear them spoken of so casually is very cool.    It's also funny to read about just how much help my grandmother had (a lot!).  This journal is truly gold.

Fun with Blogger

I got bored earlier and decided to change my template.  I really like it.  It's not as customized as Sara's Blog but still cute. 

The gadgets feature popped up with a Video Bar.  Ooooo...it let me link my YouTube channel (yes, I have a YouTube channel) to my blog.  Nice.  So, scroll down and look to the right and you can all see my wonderful camera work from the Blue October concert at the House of Blues in Chicago.  Because those are the only videos I have on my YouTube channel.  Yeah, the camera work is awful.  Mostly because I promised Emily that I'd be paying more attention to the concert than to the camera (she was afraid I'd be seeing the whole thing through a camera lens...and I only got about half of the songs...so you get me dancing and singing.  Yeah, that's me singing and screaming.)  I can't wait to get a few different concert videos up next month from the Counting Crows/Barenaked Ladies concert we're going to.  And, of course, I'll be posting more Blue after the Portland concert in September. 

I'm such a 16 year old.  With a plane ticket to Portland...and a partner in crime (Emily!).

Camp Update

Jacob made it back from Boy Scout Camp yesterday.  He was seriously tired,  kinda filthy from not showering for 10 days (apparently, the pool and lake are good enough) and he'd lost some weight (10 pounds to be exact) but he looked great and seemed to stand a little taller.  Not like he got taller but like he was more confident.  He seemed as relieved to be home as we were to have him home.  Jacob and Mike shared story after story about camp...most revolved around the fact that the other troops were annoyed with how spirit filled our troop was.

A good deal of the kids in our troop woke up Sunday morning with orange paint all over their faces.  Some of the kids in the Mic-O-Say tribe (the honor society for our district) thought it would be fun to paint the faces of some of the younger scouts while they were sleeping.  Jacob wasn't amused.  Sounds pretty funny to me. 

Overall, Jacob had a great time and walked out of camp as a Tenderfoot.  Yeah, I didn't know what that was either.  It's the second rank in Boy Scouts.  The ranks go:  New Scout, Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, Eagle.  Mike only made it to Second Class so once Jacob hits that milestone, he will have tied him.  If (Jacob says, "when," since he says he's going to get his Eagle) he hits First Class, he'll have gone farther.  Nice.  I hope he does get his Eagle.   

I got the pleasure of washing everything.  We encountered 4 spiders and countless ticks as we washed everything...in blazing hot water.  My poor washer was very tired by the end of the day. 

Speaking of ticks, I was joking around with Mike about a tick check last night as he was heading up to bed.  He said he was fine and I headed outside to watch the incoming thunderstorm with Jacob.  A second later, Mike opens the door and says he does have a tick.  Can I help pull it off?  Sure.  I head inside and grab some alcohol.  After further inspection, we discovered three more ticks that had latched on.  One on his back, one on his stomach, one on his hip and one on his leg.  The one on his leg had been there for a while and actually backed itself out when we put alcohol on it.  The others were more stubborn and had to be pulled out.  Gross.  I hate ticks. 

Next up to camp is Daniel.  I'm breaking out the DEET.

Finally Photos!!!

I'm finally able to post photos!!! It only took me two days. Oh well. Here they are!

This makes me nervous.  The campsite (think unit from Girl Scout Camp) Storm Shelter.  Yeah. 

Jacob by his tent on the "younger boys'" side of camp. 


Jacob and his homesick tent mate, Shane.  I don't know if you can tell he'd been crying. 


Inside their tent.  What a mess!

The Ico.  This is the gas station/general store/ice cream parlor.  The line was for ice cream, which seemed to make an elderly gentleman with a gas can agitated since that one pump was right by the line.  

The Toad Suck.  I don't know if it was even open since the lot was pretty deserted. 

The kids at Osceola Cheese. What a great place!

Family Day at Boy Scout Camp

Sunday was Family Day at camp. It was a long drive down and back, but it was awesome to see Jacob again. We drove through a bunch of teeny, tiny towns in Missouri, which was fun. The little town outside of the camp is called Iconium. It had a cemetery, a gas station (one pump)/grocery store/ice cream parlor, a "restaurant" (hot dogs and root beer floats), a fire station and two houses. The sign outside of town said, "Iconium Population abuot 16." Yep. "About" was misspelled.

Jacob seems to be doing well. He is homesick, but not like his tent mate, Shane. That poor kid was crying when his parents arrived. He also holed himself up in the car for a while. Shane was pleading his case to his dad, who kept telling him that it was going to be fine and that he really doesn't want to go home, to which Shane would say, "you keep saying that but it's not true!" Poor kid. Out of all the kids there, I really thought it would be Jacob that would be demanding to be taken home.

In typical camp fashion, the only dirty laundry I took home with me was one shirt and the pair of underwear he'd been wearing since Thursday night that I made him take off. Note to self, you do not need to pack 8 shirts, 6 pairs of shorts, 12 pairs of socks and 11 pairs of underwear that you packed for Jacob's 10 day camping trip. At least they've been swimming everyday. I seriously wanted to rip the Class A uniform he was wearing off of him. I think that thing's going to be walking all by itself by the end of camp.

We were able to take Jacob into "town" (Osceola...pop. 800) to the cheese store. That was so much fun. What was even better was that I scored some cheese curds and a 12-pack of peach Nehi. Next time, I think we'll skip the Nehi and get more cheese curds.

I wish I could post pictures but Blogger's being stupid lately. I'll try again tomorrow.

Off to Camp

Jacob left for Boy Scout camp this morning. He was so excited about going, especially since he was going alone with his friends. The first 5 or so days, he'll be there alone and then Mike will come down on Wednesday and stay until the end. It was sad to watch them load up the bus and then head out, but I know he'll have fun. Here are photos from this morning.

Jacob and Jack hang out while waiting for the bus.
A photo of all of the first year Scouts that are heading out to camp for the first time.
All of the boys from Jacob's school. Jack, Shane, Dean, Jacob and Andrew.
Waiting to get on the bus. Jacob and all of his friends lined up quickly and an Eagle Scout came over to tell them that, as first year Scouts, they'd be the LAST to get on the bus. It was pretty funny.
Still waiting.
Jacob was the very LAST Scout to board the bus. He didn't care, though. He got a seat next to his friend, Shane, in the very front. They were very happy.
And the bus heads out. It was everything we could do to NOT hop into our cars and follow.
We will be heading down on Sunday for Family Day. I can't wait to see the camp!

What a Difference a School Year Makes

This was the kids last August, on the first day of school...

This was today, the last day of school. I didn't notice how much taller they got!
Daniel was not happy about school ending and was in no mood for pictures this morning. That's why he looks like he does. LOL!

5th Grade Farewell

Jacob's 5th Grade Farewell was tonight. I cried, but only during the slide shows. They had one where they took their kindergarten picture and morphed it into their 5th grade one. It was really neat. If I can figure out how to copy it to my computer, I'll post it. Anyway, here are some photos from tonight. I can't believe Jacob's in 6th grade!!!





They asked us to bring in photos of the kids as infants and their current picture. They hung them up like this.
The 5th graders line up for a song.

Jacob gets his certificate from Mrs. P, the school counselor (remember her? I haven't mentioned her in a long time!) and from Mr. L, the principal.
Jacob with Lanston and Louis
Jacob and Andrew

Jacob and his best friend, Kellan. Kellan was smiling right up until I took the picture. He did the same thing to his parents when they tried to take one. Gotta look tough, I guess.

Jacob and Mr. L. See that chair to Jacob's right? There are a couple of moms that call it my chair because that's where I usually sit to wait for them to get out of school. LOL!

Photo Post

Here's what we've been up to this month...in pictures!

Jacob playing 2nd base
Jacob batting

Hannah's music program

Daniel's pack graduation cookout
Bears becoming Webelos I
Getting the new neckerchief
Playing spoons at the Daisy campout
S'mores!
Hungry Daisys!
Getting ready for a hike
Brownie Bridging. Make new friends but keep the old...
Hannah crosses the bridge and earns her Brownie pins

Hannah's troop leader made this cake. Isn't it adorable? She even gave the girls patches for their smocks!
We still have 5th Grade Farewell and the last day of school this week, so I'm sure I'll be posting more photos!