Let Her Eat Cake!

I made Myshel 2 cakes for her birthday. The first one, kind of a gag cake, was a guinea pig. Maybe I should explain a little..... When we lived in Virginia, Myshel had a dream, more like a nightmare about a guinea pig attacking her. She came running and screaming into my bedroom at 2:30 in the morning and scared me to death. (Chad was deployed, so I was alone, even more scary) She told me that a guinea pig was scratching at her face and when she jumped out of bed and turned around to look at her pillow, it was sitting there staring at her, so she ran into my room.

Unfortunately for Myshel, her nightmare has become a little family joke about guinea pigs attacking. We'll scratch at her bedroom door and make little wheeet, wheeet guinea pig noises. She won't admit it, but she thinks it's funny, too. So, I just couldn't resist making her a guinea pig cake for her 16th birthday. I thought it turned out rather cute. The pan says, "Happy Birthday Myshel, See you in your dreams!" Ornery aren't we!I couldn't just make the guinea pig because that would be mean, wouldn't it. This is her "real" Sweet 16 Birthday cake. She loved it, so all was good.
It was the first time I'd worked with fondant. I think it turned out pretty good. If I can get it to taste better, I'll like it a whole lot more. The electricity went out while I was piping the white on top, so most of that was done by candlelight. It says "Happy Sweet 16, Myshel" on the top in pink.

We had fun with her cakes this year and I think that she liked them a lot, too.

Happy Sweet 16!

Myshel's 16th birthday was Wednesday the 26th! I can't believe she's 16. That makes me feel a little old, you know. I shouldn't be old enough to have a 16 year old daughter. She was actually born on Thanksgiving morning, which, of course, made 1992 our best Thanksgiving ever! Not only did I become a mother on that Thanksgiving morning, I was Myshel's mother and what a amazing blessing she has been! She is truly a wonderful daughter of God and we are so proud and honored that she is a part of our family.

She doesn't get her present until this weekend, but she did have a couple of her friends over on her birthday. She's been waiting anxiously for months to see the movie Twilight (she even decided to not see it on it's opening night so that she could see it on her birthday) so we took her and her friends to it . It was very good, I have to admit.

This was her official "first date" with Cody. There was her, Cody, her friend Savannah, Vance, Chad and me. That's the kind of dating I like my daughter to do!!! She didn't mind at all and we all had a fun time. We came home and ate cake and ice cream. I think she had a great day and is just excited that she can say that she's 16 years old, although, it makes me cringe a little! Happy Sweet 16, Myshel we love you soooo much!Savannah, Myshel and Cody

The Highlights of our Week.........

So, this is what we've been up to:

Friday night Vance camped out with the scouts. The temperature was somewhere in the teens during the night! I can't believe they even wanted to go. Vance had fun, though, except for when he caught his pant leg on fire. They're all having a great time joking around about it, but seriously, he's sooo lucky he wasn't hurt. It burned through his pants and his thick wool sock, but didn't burn his leg. Scary! I'm so glad I wasn't there to witness it for myself.Myshel slammed her thumb in the door. I'm not sure exactly how that happened, but I know it hurt. I felt really bad for her. The ice and Motrin didn't seem to help much. She's not particularly thrilled that her nail will probably fall off either.What's taking the most of our/my time is the packing. All the kids are questioning why we started packing so soon, since we won't be moving until Dec 10th. My answer, "I have to! I have to pack when I have the chance." I know that Dec 10th is going to sneak up on me and I'll wonder how that happened. Not to mention the fact that we'll have Thanksgiving and Myshel's birthday between now and then. I'd like to have quite a bit of the cleaning done ahead of time, too. So, our living room is starting to look like this..............I think the kid's are used to me/us packing anyway. We don't usually have to pack our own boxes! That's what the moving company does, except we're the moving company this time.

We can't get inside the new house yet.....frustrating because we know it's empty! Chad and I did go check out the backyard/garage/storage, though. (All the places we could check out) We're excited about the yard. It's nice sized, protected by a little hill and the best part, it has grass!!!!! It looks like we'll have lots of storage, too. I'm getting excited about this move. It will be nice to get everything done and be in the new house.

A Busy Night with a Helping of Guilt........

Chad had to work last night. We don't feel like we've seen much of him lately. Yesterday, I had a parent teacher conference at 4:20PM, (with McKaylie's teacher) which went great. She's doing really well. I got home around 4:50PM. I left again at 5:15PM to do a primary presidency service project at the church. At 7PM I went home and checked on the kid's. You know, make sure they haven't killed each other, that they've eaten dinner, they're not plotting a riot.............I was home for about 10-15 minutes before I had to leave for a "Girl's Night Out". It's a potluck where the ladies in our ward get together once a month and celebrate the birthdays for that month--not an official church activity, but usually ladies from church. As I said my good-byes (for the 3rd time that night) McKaylie came and gave me a big hug.

"Please don't leave again, we need our mommy!"

That hurt! I went anyway, filled with a sufficent amount of guilt. We were having a little good-bye for my visiting teacher partner this month, so I wanted to be there. I left the Girl's Night Out around 8:30PM, made a quick stop at Walmart and got home around 9:15PM. I had been home a total of 35 minutes since 4PM and my kid's had spent the entire time on their own (Chad was at work the whole night), on a school night. They lived, yes. They were fine, yes. But, I still went to bed feeling very guilty.

Because I Don't Do It Enough...............

We're moving.......about 2 blocks from where we are now! Is it worth it? Yea, I think so. We'll gain over 400 sq. feet, it will be a house, not a quadraplex, and it has a garage. It's also a ranch style, so it will be much (I assume) easier to maintain the heat inside. We're considering ourselves lucky that housing is allowing us to switch to the ranch house. It could just have come at a slightly more convenient time, though. We'll get the keys December 10th, 3 weeks from now. We'll also be moving ourselves, too..........."Hello Elder's Quorum President?".........

We're excited about getting a bigger HOUSE, just a little overwhelmed at how soon it happened. (We asked housing about it less than a week ago) So, I guess I have a whole new list of "to do" things now.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...............

It's unbelievable to me that next week, the week with Myshel's 16th birthday and Thanksgiving and all the kids home from school, is going to be my calm week. But, it is. I have 12 appointments (so far) in this work week. I don't know how that happens, but it does. Everything seems to fall on the same week........When it rains, it pours, sort of thing. I will be at the church 3 nights in a row and Chad's also working all those nights! It's going to be very crazy trying to get everything done. It is strange that I'm looking forward to next week, because it will be less hectic?!?

I'm Gonna Tell........

When someone does something that Noah doesn't like, he comes to me and tells me that I need to talk to them about it. Probably because when he would tattle, my answer was often, "I'll talk to (culprit's name) about it". On Sunday I had a meeting with the stake primary presidency after church, so Chad and all the kids were hanging around outside waiting. Myshel's friend, Cody, was there, too. It had rained for several days, so there was a huge puddle right next to the church building. The older kids told Noah that they were going to throw him in there. He thought it was funny until Cody picked him up and pretended to throw him in. Noah was not pleased! I came out of my meeting shortly after this all took place and we headed home. This is the conversation on the way home.

Noah: "Mom, you need to talk to Cody," and then something I couldn't understand
Me: "I need to talk to Cody? About trying to put you in the puddle?"
Noah, very adamantly: "No, mom, you need to talk to Cody's mom about Cody trying to put me in the puddle!"
Me, trying not to laugh: "You know Cody wouldn't really have thrown you in the puddle."
Noah: "Yeah, but it still wasn't nice and you need to talk to his mom about it."
Me: "Ok, Noah"
Noah: "I'm serious"

Mary Engelbreit Monday

The little things are most worthwhile--
a quiet word, a look, a smile.
**Margaret Lindsey

Another Day's Ramblings......

I managed to get all my kid's off to school again today. That's 2 school days in a row! WhoooHoo! It feels like they were sick for such a long time. I'm getting a little congested myself, but trying desperately not to get any worse. I just don't have time to be sick.

At our house is always so busy this time of year, actually from about mid October until the end of the year, it's a little nuts. I'm really in awe, though, that it's already November. This year sure has seemed to fly by......so, mid October, we're getting ready for Halloween and Noah's birthday, then we move on to getting ready for Thanksgiving, and Myshel's birthday (she'll be 16 this year!!!!! YIKES) and then on to Christmas and New Year's. It sure seems to keep us running. I'm trying to take a few breathes, remind myself to just enjoy this time of year and relax a little. I'm not sure how well it's working, though. It's so easy to lose track of the important things, isn't it? This year, I'd just like to appreciate the blessings of the seasons (Thanksgiving and Christmas), the blessings of my family and stress a whole lot less on the "other stuff".

Chad is doing really good after his shoulder manipulation on Friday. The pain isn't nearly as bad as we anticipated it would be, which is always nice. (Priesthood blessings are wonderful!!) There is a physical therapist out there that is now on Chad's "bad" list, though. Apparently, she's awfully rough. I'm just wondering if the others weren't too soft!?!

I personally have 3 appointments in the next 3 days and that's not counting the church acitivites for the kids, school things and Chad's work. It's just that time of year at our house! Better get going............

Updates.........

McKaylie--Home from school 5 days---diagnosis--sinus infection--currently taking antibiotics
Vance--Home from school 4 days---diagnosis--sinus infection--currently taking antibiotics
Noah--Home from school 2 days--diagnosis--ear infection/wheezing--currently taking antibiotics and inhaler
Chad--Home from work 2 days--shoulder manipulation successful--currently on pain medication
(So that would be 4 out of the 6 people living in this house on medication)


I sent 4 children to school today! YEAH!!!!! ( I think it's unfortunate that they have tomorrow off for Veteran's Day, though. Not that Veteran's Day shouldn't be a holiday, but because I'd rather they were in school) Chad has today and tomorrow off for Veteran's day, so it is nice to have a day off with just him around. He's doing really well and isn't in as much pain as we anticipated. My visiting teacher/friend brought us dinner Friday night, which was so awesome of her and appreciated so much. I can't even begin to tell you how much. Our house is slowly getting back to normal and we're hoping that it will stay that way. Last week was insane and stressful. I can do without them!

Mary Engelbreit Monday

Carry Laughter with you wherever you go.
**Hugh Sidey

The Fun Continues......

I am so tired!!!! That's all I can think about today. I am just sooo tired. I'm not grumpy (believe it or not), I'm not in a bad mood, I'm not even all that frustrated. I'm just so very tired!

NOAH: Yesterday I sent Noah to school. He had been rubbing his eyes just before he got on the bus, but I didn't think much about it. I called the schools to let them know that Vance and McKaylie were at home sick and that I wouldn't be able to join Noah for his speech therapy that day. Later that morning I got an email from Noah's speech teacher that she had gone to get him and he was on his way to the nurse, looking rather sick.............So, I waited for a call from the school nurse telling me to come and get him. I called Chad to see if he'd be available to go and get him if I was at the doctor when she called. I waited, but the call didn't come. So, being the mom that I am, I worried about him, but didn't call the school. Since I was trying to get Vance and McKaylie into the doctor, I decided to trust the school nurse and his teachers to make the best decision for him.

When Noah got off the bus, he looked like he'd been in a fight. I couldn't believe it. Apparently he'd spent the whole day rubbing his eyes, until they were red and slightly bruised around them. He looked terrible. (I wish I had thought to take a picture of him) So, I picked him up and carried him home. I asked him how his day was and he said, "not good". He told me that he went to the nurse, but he didn't have a fever and they couldn't find anything in his eyes, which was all true. He actually was fine staying at school, but he just looked so miserable with his big black eyes! I gave him some cold medicine to help with itchy watery eyes and cold rag to put over them. It seemed to help.

MCKAYLIE & VANCE: I did get Vance and Mckaylie to the doctor's office. All the doctors were completely booked, so we ended up seeing the nurse practitioner. I like her, but I'd rather have seen the doctor. She checked them both out, discussed everything and then sat there trying to figure out what, if anything, she should do. She finally decided to put McKaylie on an antibiotic, thinking that she might have a sinus infection (not really sure, though) There was no obvisous reason that she has been running a fever for 5 days. She decided to do some blood work on Vance, thinking that he might have mono, again, really not sure. She said his throat looked terrible, but his strep test was negative and his lymph glands were the size of golf balls. That just can't be good.

So we left, feeling like we hadn't gotten much information, though. Vance reluctantly let them take some blood, we picked up McKaylie's prescription and went home to wait for the blood test results. Around 7PM the nurse called me and told me that Vance's test for mono was negative. They would get the results from his blood count the next day and call me. I'm predicting that they're not going to find much. It's probably a nasty virus strain and we're just going to have to wait it out.

Vance was in bed and asleep at 6:30PM, McKaylie fell asleep on the floor around the same time. Noah fell asleep around 7:30, but his cough woke him up consistently throughout the night.

Today, I have 3 kids home from school. Tomorrow Chad goes into the hospital for his "procedure", so it would be very nice to have everyone healthy enough to go back to school. I wonder what kind of small miracle that would take......

Chad's Going Back.....

Back to the hospital that is. Chad's shoulder is all locked up and the physical therapists just can't get it moving. He can barely lift his arm to should level. So, Friday morning, he'll go back into the hospital, get a nerve block in his shoulder, go under anesthesia, and the doctor will move it for him.

We were told that he's just one of those people that builds up a lot of scar tissue and that scar tissue has healed everything all together and it's keeping him from making any progress in his physical therapy. Basically, the doctor will knock him out and then tear (for lack of a better word) the scar tissue free from his muscle and bone. He told Chad that if he were awake it would sound like pulling apart velcro; doesn't that just give you a warm, happy feeling inside!?! After the doctor does his thing, the physical therapists will come in and move his arm every hour for the first 24 hours. They'll teach us how to move his arm, too, to keep it loose. He'll also have to go to therapy every day for a week and then every 2-3 days for the next 2 weeks after that. The doctor told Chad that it's going to hurt....a lot.....and that he's just going to have to work through it, or his shoulder will freeze up again.

Sounds like lots of fun!

Sick, Sick, Sick and Tired......

McKaylie's fever continues........

She's now in her 5th day of having a fever and her 3rd day of missing school. If it doesn't break by tomorrow, she'll be going back to the doctor. I feel terrible for her. You can tell it's just wearing her out.

Vance came home from school Monday looking terrible. He's now on his second day of missing school. He hasn't been running as high a fever as McKaylie, until today....I know he's feeling pretty miserable, too.

Noah's school teacher told me that there's a girl in his class that has had a fever for 10 days. It finally broke, but then she had to rest for several days just to get her strength back. I sure hope McKaylie and Vance's fevers doesn't last that long!

Noah doesn't have a fever and he hasn't missed any school, but he does have a lousy cough. His teachers told me that it was ok to send him to school with it. I hope that's all he gets. Between Noah coughing, McKaylie's fever and Vance's congestion and pain, I literally got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night. Gee, I wonder who will be getting sick next????

Check this out!

Go check out this give-away!

Photo tag.....

Marie tagged me.......This one is a little different, a photo tag! You have to go to your pictures folder and upload the 4th picture in the 4th folder and the 6th picture in the 6th folder. I thought this tag sounded like a lot of fun, especially since I have no idea what the pictures will be. So, here goes......

4th picture in the fourth folder......half of us have our eyes closed!!!

6th picture in the 6th folder.....the hanging of Blueberry.....A very sad day indeed!

Ok, so I'm going to tag, Joey, Debbie (you have to do this one!), and Lyndsey (1st time I've tagged you!)

Carving Pumpkins, Halloween, and Fevers.....

Thursday night we carved our pumpkins. The kids always love carving them and Chad and I enjoy it a lot, too. Even the dogs were enjoying it, a little too much if you ask me. This was the first year that Noah actually carved on his pumpkin. He really enjoyed hacking away at it, and I mean hacking away at it. Chad helped him and it did turn out looking pretty good.

We took McKaylie and Noah trick-or-treating in the navy housing in Brunswick. They certainly had a lot of fun and came back with a whole lot of candy. It wasn't too cold either, which made it much more enjoyable for everyone. Myshel and Vance might not have been able to go trick-or-treating, but they sure are enjoying the fruits of their sibling's labor!

Saturday morning we had a primary activity. They kids helped make letters for our missionaries. We had a pretty good turn out considering it was the morning after Halloween.

We stopped by Walmart before going home and ran into 3 other families that were at the activity. McKaylie started complaining that she didn't feel good and when she asked if she could just go home and lay down, I knew something was wrong. We brought her home and she had a fever of 102 degrees. I felt so bad. Sunday she was still running her fever and at one point it was 103.5. I hate that. I've never liked it when they run high fevers.
This morning her fever was still hanging on, so I decided to take her to the doctor, just to make sure it wasn't something more. (I'm so grateful we have the insurance to do that!) They assured me it was just a virus. We stopped at Walmart (again) on the way home to get juice. While we were waiting to check out, McKaylie told me that she hated this store. When I asked her why, she said, "because it always makes me feel sick". I took a closer look at her and she was looking really pale. I looked at my watch and realized that the Tylenol I had given her wore off about 20 minutes earlier. I hurried and got her back home, took her temperature again and it was 103.8. Yikes!!!! She was so miserable. I gave her some more medicine, a popsicle to eat and a cold rag on her forehead. After about 45 minutes you could tell she was starting to feel a bit better. I sure hope her fever breaks soon. It's one of those difficult things about being a mom. It's just so hard to see them suffer and not be able to do much. This little rollercoaster she's on isn't very much fun for either of us!

Mary Engelbreit Monday

The sound of laughter is like the vaulted dome of a temple of happiness.
***Milan Kundera