Festivities, Merriment, and the need for a Maid

Happy December! I am really getting behind in my blogging, and it certainly isn't due †o lack of activity around here. The holidays have swept us up like a tailwind and are carrying us along. Fortunately, I love the chaos of the holidays as long as it is punctuated by stillness. Still waiting for the stillness...

So far this season, we have had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Steph, decorated our tree (which, when purchased for our condo in '94 seemed so big, now seems almost Charlie-Brownesque) put up the lights, played in the snow (we've not had much, but I think God is easing us into the Utah winter- I'm not sure we own a shovel yet), spent a day at PCMC while Hannah had an endoscopy, attended the Festival of Trees, attended (and Brad, Lindsay and Nathan participated in) a live Nativity production called Journey to Bethlehem hosted by our church, scant amounts of shopping, and spent many an evening warming our toes by the fire. Still to come: an evening with the Tabernacle choir, caroling with our neighbors, LCA faculty Christmas Party, Zoolights, Elementary Christmas Program, Christmas Eve dinner and fun with family, hosted by the Cross Clan and HOPEFULLY, some good skiing.

We also were glad to have my friend Jen and her family here for a week. They are hoping to move up here soon, and we hope they will! They stayed in Park City so we spent a day up there. It started to snow a bit on the way up, but cleared up and was beautiful. The kids swam in the indoor pool and we ladies (CR and Amy and their kids came, too) lunched out. (Note: eat a big snack before lunch in Park City. Food is expensive and very small. Paid $12 for lunch. Drank water. Was still hungry. Helped kids polish off cheap snacks back in Jen's room) The guys went to see Quantum of Solace, and gave it pretty good reviews. Said no fun gadgets, though, which truthfully are my favorite part of Bond movies.

I hope I'll get better at blogging regularly. Teaching hs kids really is worth reporting- some crazy things happen! I feel like I'm managing two families, one with 5 kids and another with 80. Some days I wonder what the heck I'm doing, but today was the kind of day where I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Results from Hannah's endoscopy: eosinophils in the distal portion of esophagus, bad. No signs anywhere else (stomach, duodenum, intestines), good. No reason for flare-up, confusing. Medicines to keep flare-up from returning, expensive. Hearing Hannah remind us to give her said meds 3x/day, hilarious. Opinion of new GI Dr., very good. Opinion of PCMC, excellent.

Oh, and I won't post pics of my house, but the title of this post gives you an inclination of its state right now. Where are the Merry Maids when you need them?

I'm having trouble getting the slideshow to embed. Will post pictures later.

Staying Afloat

It's been a busy couple of weeks, just like everyone else's, I'm sure. With all the chaos, I am definitely aware of those things in my life that keep me grounded. So here's the proverbial list of things I'm thankful for- and I'm sure it is far from complete.

God, who gives me all good things
My hubby, who is a source of constant love and support
My children, who give me joy beyond compare
My family, especially Mom, Ma, and Dad, who give to us so sacrificially
My friends, new and old, near and far
My job, my boss, and most of my students ;)
A wonderful school for my children
A new church with new friends and new experiences
Laughter, one of my daily fuels
Grande nonfat mocha half-caff from Starbucks (silly but true)
Snow-capped mountains

It's time to usher the children off to bed, so I'll close. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families. I'm thankful for you!

A Loooooong Week

This week felt like it lasted forever. For some reason, I was a stress case all week Why was that? Could it be because my husband was gone for a few days and my daughter was fed a cookie with eggs in it on Friday at school, leading to wonderful GI issues? Yeah, maybe. Could it be because I didn't vote? (long story) Or because I went to the grocery store 4 times and I still need to go back because I forget something every time I go? Or maybe because no doctor's office will call me back to make a stinking appointment for Hannah? Or perhaps it's the 1,563 assignments, quizzes and tests I just finished grading. Or maybe it's because Kaylee ruined a brand-new pair of pants being foolish. Who knows...but it was a long week.

Conversely, Joe came home safely. Hannah recovered. My vote wouldn't have made much difference. The grocery store is open 24 hrs, and Joe says he'll go for me. The appointment will be made, eventually. The papers are graded. Pants can be replaced, and 6-year-olds are supposed to be foolish.

So I think the main reason my week lasted forever was my attitude. I had a crummy one this week.

I'm ready for a new week.


I think.

Feelin' Fine

Hannah spent the day singing and drawing, her two favorite activities. She showed no real signs of illness today, which still amazes me. I did just have to wake her up to give her the meds because I am dingy and out of practice. She took them just fine, albeit groggily. :) She has preschool tomorrow and since she missed it on Monday, and had to leave early and abruptly on Wednesday, she is very excited to go.

Expect the Unexpected

Still smiling even though it's been a long day!

This week began normally, but has taken a few major twists and turns. As you might know, Hannah has eosinophilic disease. Hers presents in her esophagus, which means that when these white blood cells get out of control, they eat her esophagus. We've had it under control for over 2 years, but it seems the disease is rearing its ugly head once again. After 3 days of vomiting (just in the middle of the night, so we were suspicious pretty soon that it was acid reflux, a side effect of eosinophilia) she started having acute diarrhea. So off to the children's hospital we went, as she was looking dehydrated, lethargic, her eyes were slow to respond and they were puffy. It was seriously a breath of fresh air to have doctors know all about eosinophilic disease and not have to explain what it is! I can see why Primary Children's is ranked one of the top ten children's hospitals. Despite the unpleasantness of having to be there at all, the staff made it so bearable and showered Hannah with gifts and love. (she accepted the gifts cheerfully, but she's less willing to accept "love" from strangers.) :) In all we were there for 8 hours, mostly because she needed IV fluids and meds. They gave her IV Prevacid, an acid reducer, and Zophran, an anti-nausea med. You wouldn't believe the difference in her by the time we left! The blood test results show that her eosinophil count is double what it should be, so we will be going in to see a pediatric GI doctor hopefully within the week. She'll likely be having an endoscopy soon, and I'm not sure if they'll test her entire GI tract or just her esophagus. Steroids are usually the treatment, but for some reason antihistamines seem to help also. So, for the time being we are giving her Prevacid solutabs and liquid Zyrtec. When we are able to physically see the damage to her GI tract (on the endoscopy scan), then the doctors will decide whether she needs the steroid treatment. She will also be seeing an allergist within the week to test for more food and environmental allergies. (she's been through that twice before, hopefully she has forgotten!) :)

All that being said, thank you so much for your love and prayers. We know God is taking care of every detail in Hannah's life. She was very brave today. She immediately told Gramma that she didn't even cry when she got her IV. (which is amazing, because she had already had 2 pokes from blood draws!)

October Fun

Here are some pictures from October, not including the Hopekids event. CR started a blog for HK so instead of duplicating, I'll just link to that website. Michael and Joanna took a lot more pics of their visit, and I thought Michael uploaded them to my computer, but I can't find them. I'll post those later.

Things are going pretty well. We are feeling the economic crunch, but we are also trusting God to get us through this time. We are loving the fall weather, and the first snowfall was amazing! It snowed all day on the 11th and the kids made snow forts, snowmen, and had snowball fights. We did have to rummage through many boxes to find our snow gear (purchased end-of-season last year!) but once the kids were outfitted they were on their way. A few days later the snow had all melted, but they eagerly await the next storm! It was especially fun to have the Torlas here visiting from AZ. To see all those desert kids out there in the snow was great. We'll be heading to Bear Lake soon for another HK event. The kids are really hoping there is still snow up there. As long as we don't have to drive in it for 3 hours, then it sounds great to me, too.


Hope all is well with all of you!

Insomnia

Well, frustration from not having posted for awhile will now be alleviated and replaced with eye strain and exhaustion, as I am having one of my normal bouts with insomnia. It happens about once or twice a month, and after 3 or so years of this, I'm pretty used to it.

I didn't get a chance to post yet about our HopeKids event. It was on Sept. 27 and it was at Classic Family Fun Center (or something of that sort). It was a great success- over 100 attendees, 40+ volunteers, donations of time, money, energy, and a generous discount on pizza from a local restaurant. We had the whole place to ourselves for the majority of the morning and it was so much fun to see families connecting, kids laughing, and people serving. I'll post pictures soon. Please be in prayer for our second event, a weekend camping trip in a couple of weeks. Cabins were donated, as were meals, snacks, and again, time and money. Despite desperate times economically, people are still willing to give and serve and that is so encouraging!

This past week our good friends Michael and Joanna and their 3 kids (Jessica, James and Christopher) came up for a visit and boy, were they a sight for sore eyes! The children picked right up where they left off as if those 3 months had never passed. We enjoyed every minute of their stay. We spent Friday afternoon (Lindsay's 11th birthday!) at Antelope Island (for those of you non-Utahns, that is an island in the Great Salt Lake). The causeway is right off the road near our home so it was only about a 20 minute drive. The weather was chilly, but we had a wonderful time. Friday night Joanna, Amy and I were able to tour ye ol' Bountiful so Joanna could see where I grew up. We also went to dinner at Robintino's-mmmmm. Saturday was supposed to be spent touring SLC, the temple grounds, Fort Douglas Museum, etc...but instead we played in the snow! It started snowing early Saturday and didn't really stop until Sunday night. We had a record-breaking amount of snow. We had about 5 inches at our house and after we dug out all the Lands End boxes from last year (no stickers inside telling us not to eat them- I guess sometime in the last year that need came about...) the kids headed outside in all their gear and had a blast. Sunday, after church, we celebrated Nathan's 10th birthday and Amy's 40th birthday and then the kids spent even more time in the snow. Michael and Joanna left late that afternoon, and we were sad to see them go. It was a wonderful week, and now I'm yawning, just thinking about how busy it was! :)
We also were gifted with an afternoon touring the LDS cannery, dairy, and bakery in downtown SLC where they make all the food for welfare recipients and for charity. What an amazing operation. My neighbor is the overseer of all those operations and he graciously offered to take us on the tour. He even arranged for a large van to tote 3/4 of us together! All but Joanna, Lindsay and I were also able to tour the Kaysville LDS grainery and see flour and cake mix being made. Lindsay had an earache so we took off after the first tour. The kids all had a great time and learned a thing or two, also! This same wonderful neighbor had us over for a bbq (before it snowed!) and allowed the kids to pick melons and veggies from his huge garden. The next day we had a wonderful feast of stew made with his fresh veggies. Watermelon from his garden was dessert- it was delicious! Almost makes me want a garden...almost. I need to learn a thing or two about it, first.
Well, my eyes are actually getting heavy so I'll go to bed now. I'll post the pictures tomorrow.