She's still beautiful.....on the inside:)

Around the 14th of February Ashley seemed to be coming down with a bad cold. She woke up the next morning and her eyes were really puffy and she just generally felt pretty crummy. So she stayed home the rest of that week. Over the weekend her ear really started to bother her too, she was in a lot of pain! Finally on Wednesday when she had been home for a week I took her to see a doctor. We aren't really the doctoring type around here. Actually when Ashley had to go in for her first sports physical for school we realized that she actually didn't have a Dr! I called who I thought was her family dr and was told that nope...Ashley was not a patient of theirs. Apparently it had been over 9 years since she had seen a dr. So anyway, we went in to see if we could get to the bottom of this. Thanks to my love affair with 'google' I had my suspicions that she may have mono. All the signs and symptoms just seemed to fit. So off to town we went. Because I had a bunch of little kidlets with me I let Ashley go into the office by herself with strict instructions as to what she should tell them. 20 minutes later she came walking out and said..."I have an ear infection & she gave me a prescription for antibiotics" Well that was not really the answer I was looking for so I went & talked to the nurse and told her that I really felt that there was something else going on and I would like them to test her for mono. She sighed very patiently and informed me that the doctor would have ran those tests if she felt they were necessary. So being put politely back into my place as 'just the mother' we went back home. She stayed home the rest of that week and did seem to be improving somewhat, but there were a few nagging things that just wouldn't go away. Her eyes stayed really puffy, she was white as a ghost, and just looked crummy. In fact her looks were the main topic of dinner conversation one night. James & Peter were staying here for a couple nights and we were all sitting at the table kinda shooting sideways glances at Ashley, finally somebody just came right out with it..."Ashley you look like crap!" at which point everybody else quickly jumped on the bandwagon & chimed in with their opinions of exactly how crappy she looked. Not surprisingly with such an overwhelming show of support from all of us she actually began to get quite offended so Bob decided he should reassure her as only he can..."don't worry Ashley, we're just kidding. You're still beautiful.....................on the inside" So now that's become the latest catch phrase in our house. "you're still beautiful...........on the inside" I would love to post a picture of her to go with this but apparently there are some crimes which are completely unforgivable!!

Anyway, Monday morning she headed off to school but by the time she got home she was exhausted. And I got lots of feedback from various teachers and students about Ashley just not looking good. So I made another dr. appointment. From no appointments in 9 years to 2 in a one week time span!! Tuesday morning Ashley texted me from school that her neck had a huge lump on it! Thankfully her appointment was that afternoon. The Dr. took one look at her and said, "well I'm sure glad you brought her back in...I'm fairly positive that this poor girl has mono" YA THINK???? (sorry that was uncalled for) When Ashley laid down on the table in their office they didn't even have to feel for her spleen...they could see it! Her spleen was huge. Dr.s did not want her going back to school while the spleen was that enlarged for fear of it being bumped, poked, etc. But things kind of took a steep nose dive from there. Over the next few days both ears appeared to become infected, the throat developed large soars, the lymph nodes in the neck all swelled to the point where she could hardly move her head more than an inch or two in either direction. Various hives and rashes & random fevers come and go. And walking from the couch to the bathroom or her bed to the kitchen is a huge workout. The past two days things seem to be improving. She has started to be awake more than she sleeps during the day, one side of her neck almost looks normal, and her eyes are just about back to their normal size. Today she even went and took her sheep for a walk and argued with Justin for awhile! Of course that much activity required a lengthy nap immediately following. If things continue to improve we are almost starting to hope that by next week she can start going back to school for a couple partial days! That might still be a bit of a long shot but we're clinging to 'hope':) 24 days is a looooooong time to have a sick teenager. I've been trying my best, really I have, but Ashleys starting to pick up on my waning patience. She had to point out that I'm not as sympathetic as I used to be. Apparently I'm not jumping to cater to her every whim as quickly as i did 3 weeks ago!

She misses her friends, she misses her social life, I thought she would appreciate all this quality time she gets to spend with her mommy but I'm not sure she's feelin it.

And the homework.....oh the homework. Two days ago was the first she felt up to cracking a book even for just a little bit. So I nag constantly and she sighs constantly and little by little we're trying to chip away at it but wow. Not sure how or when she's going to catch up on some subjects. Especially geometry! But for now we're taking it one day at a time. Focusing first on getting better, and trying to be prepared for the possibility of missing not just weeks but months of school. In the meantime even though the teachers are saying they miss her and are commenting on how quiet it is without her, I think that's their way of telling me how much they're enjoying teaching their classes uninterrupted!

The continuing saga of "Tylerisms"

In an effort to provide ongoing coverage of the twisted workings of a 5 yr olds brain......Yesterday our friend Justin was asking Tyler about the whereabout of "bad Tyler" "I brought him to the junk yard a long long ways away so it takes him a long time to walk back to our house" Later on that evening it was very apparent that Bad Tyler had returned with a vengeance! So I commented to him that the junkyard must not be that far away cause Bad Tyler sure found his way back. "Mom, I think Bad Tyler went and got ahold of a map of the WHOOOLE world! And I think there's a little flashing green light on the map that shows him where I am so he can find me again!" Well shoot, he made a serious effort to lose the little bugger but with technology like that at his disposal Bad Tyler's gonna find his way home everytime! But then Tyler came up with the perfect solution. "I know! I'll leave him in Canada!!! There's no way he'll ever find me then!" Apparently this map of the WHOLE world does not include Canada. So all we need now if to find some cooperative Canadian willing to hold onto "Bad Tyler" for us:) In another 'techno world' dilemna....Today was a beautiful day so I told Tyler he had to go play outside. No more tv, no more video games, go play outside! So they were digging in the dirt and chasing bugs and doing all this great little boy stuff. Suddenly they came running back inside "mommy mommy can you help us build a fly trap?" Well of course I could do that, after all I was the one who wanted them to go outside and play in the dirt! "I have the perfect idea for a trap mommy! I'm going to get some old rotten cheese and lay it on that board & then we're going to put a net hanging way up above it & then we need to hook up the computer to it so we can put a special camera on it and it will scan all the bugs that come to the cheese and the good bugs will be able to fly away but when it scans a fly the computer will send a message and the net will plop down just like that! It'll be super duper cool! Can you get the computer mom can you?" Um ok honey...uh ummm...yeah. How about maybe you ask daddy to help you with that one?

A Classic Tale of Good vs Evil

Oh Tyler. Sometimes he leaves us speechless, sometimes he leaves us giggling hysterically and sometimes he just leaves me very very worried. He has been overflowing with attitude lately. He has an answer for everything, a mind of his own and very few social graces. Not a stellar combination. He's had some serious 'sit downs' with daddy and things were improving...or so we thought. His preschool teachers have taken to threatening to call his Dad, that seems to do the trick! I have told him that if he isn't behaving himself at preschool and his teacher has to call me I will come there and paddle his hiney in front of all his friends! So the other day when his teacher commented that he wasn't participating and it was like pulling teeth to get him to do the letters with his class that day, I let him know in no uncertain terms how disappointed I was. "But mom! I think she forgets or something that we do the same letters every single time!! Why can't we do some different ones?" Perfectly logical really. I mean who's idea was it to only have 26 letters in the whole alphabet. Booooorrringg! Yesterday I go to pick him up from preschool and his teacher says...."ummm what side of the bed did Tyler get up on this morning?" I replied "uh...I'm guessing the wrong one?" Apparently he was really pushing the limits all day. grrrr.... again we had to have a discussion about what was happening at school.."mom seriously i sometimes forget how i'm supposed to behave at school!" the same way you are supposed to behave every single day. be kind, be polite, be respectful" "I have to do that every single time?" One day he was having a great day...he was being helpful, being polite, being kind to his friends, so I told him that evening that I really appreciated what a good boy he had been that day. oh boy....I opened a can of worms on that one. "that's because this morning I took bad Tyler out of my body and put good Tyler in!" where's bad Tyler? "I shoved him into one of the apple bins" Well I like this good Tyler much much better! "but you know mommy that tonight bad Tyler will probably sneak into my window and crawl back into my body" Well from now on every time bad Tyler comes out Bad Mommy's coming out too! "oh no! Bad mommy is scary. Bad tyler doesn't like bad mommy!" So we reached an understanding that good Tyler = good mommy. Bad tyler = bad mommy. Not sure if I should find this funny or be somewhat concerned over his apparent recognition of two very distinct 'Tylers' !

A typical Saturday

I remember a time when Saturday was the day to do your housework, run your errands & clean up the yard! That doesn't work so well around here. I try to have that stuff all done by Friday night but to be completely honest, that's a lofty goal that I only acheive maybe 25% of the time! Usually we end up having to sneak some housework in on Saturday morning. Doesn't go so bad when everybody pitches in. And she wonders why I sometimes make her turn over her phone:)

As soon as we're done, or we run out of time, which is most often the case, it's off to some sort of games. If we're lucky we play at home, not so lucky it's pack a backpack of toys and snacks and hit the road! This particular day Brandi had a game in Mabton, Kendra had cheer practice, yes I caved and allowed my daughter to do cheerleading...sigh....she went to a camp during the day, then cheered at the varsity game halftime show. After that game it was over to the auxillary gym where she cheered for freshman girls. I think Ashley might be a tad embarassed but Kendra doesn't mind at all that she's the sole cheerleader. And Ashleys teammates happen to think its kinda cute! Even the coach thanked Kendra after the game and said it was all because of her encouragement that they turned things around and pulled out the win!

Brandi's team heading out to take care of business:)

Ashley ready to head out to her game

After the last of the games were over, (9:30pm) we stopped at food depot to get a redbox DVD and Ashley ran into a few team-mates. She decided she should bring them home with her so they stocked up on icecream and movies and we called it a day!

Eating some icecream and preparing to do a little waxing! These guys are scarey!

Alberta Bound!

Bob headed off to Alberta this week....he had to go do some training at the Lucerne plant up there. He was a little unprepared with his materials and was hoping he would have some time when he got there to figure out what exactly he was going to teach. hmmm...procrastinate much? shocking! He was also a little unprepared for the road conditions on the way up there. For some reason we were gliding on into spring mode....lots of blue skies & sunshine...even a couple days of t-shirt weather. Reality came back with a vengeance and reminded us that it's only February! He hit temps of 4'F! When he checked in at his hotel up there he asked the desk clerk if it was supposed to warm up soon. They looked at him and started laughing. oh well....Maybe it will make him really anxious to come home:)

He should be back either Friday or Saturday. Praying he has better roads on the way home!

And he's off.....................again.

And he's off................again. Very thankful that the weather has cleared somewhat as Bob headed over to Seattle to catch a plane! He & two other guys from work are on thier way to Ames Iowa....not quite as warm as his December trip to Australia but I have to say it's kind of good for him to have to go somewhere just as cold as we are! They left extra early as they were somewhat concerned about the pass -"they" as in the guys he was going with...NOT Bob...he refuses to ever be concerned with little details like road conditions. Which kind of drives me batty but you do get used to it. So anyway, they allowed for lots of extra time which they did not need for the roads but apparently did need at the airport. They got there and were told thier flight did not exist!! So I looked up the credit card statement which verified that the price of 3 tickets did get charged to my account but somehow these tickets do not exist.....hmmmm. A lot of research and phone calls later and it all got straightened out but the moral of the story...there's a reason they tell you to get to the airport 2 hours early!! The reason for the trip? I think its some sort of GPS training seminar....but I could be wrong. Don't get the wrong impression, I do listen when he tells me stuff. I'm just easily confused:) The older kids deal with him being gone pretty well. They are of course busy with their own stuff and completely self absorbed in their own little world which apparently is common with kids that age:) Tyler complains and whines some, but Kenny...oh man. Kendra takes the opportunity to be Kendra! She stands by the window with tears rolling down her face watching him leave, which would be absolutely heartbreaking if it weren't so common. If there is ever a situation that may or may not have the possibility of driving someone to tears you can be assured Kendra will have hers running! She is more sensitive than all the other kids combined and twice as dramatic. The water works can be turned off and on at will and at completely random times. That being said though, the truth is she really is just extremely sensitive! The first couple weeks of school are always accompanied by lots of tears....she never wants to leave her mommy. Conflict makes her tummy hurt & I've seen her get teary eyed over tv commercials! - Almost reminds me of my little sister:) The good news - this is a short trip. Bob should be home by Friday sometime. They land in Seattle 11ish thursday night so I'm thinking rather than stay the night there, he'll probably show up about 3am on Friday. Hate it when he leaves but pouting and feeling sorry for myself hasn't seemed to help so instead we try to make the best of it. 5 nights of cereal, casseroles(which Bob hates) or other simple stuff for dinner that we just can't get away with when he's home! And just because no one will complain, I'm not even going to make my bed for the next 5 days either. And Kendras new kitty will probably get allowed into the house. And those are the silver linings we hang on to to make it seem not so bad everytime he leaves:)

SNOW SNOW GLORIOUS SNOW

It seems as though the weatherman has been teasing us for weeks with the threat of "the big one" this illusive impending snowstorm that it seems has been dumping on everybody else but us! We've been pacing back and forth from one window to the next anxiously looking for those dark snow clouds only to be disapointed by the big patches of blue sky. Ok, I should clarify that....the kids and I have been disapointed by the blue patches, Bob has been glaring at us everytime he caught us looking and telling us over and over (& over again) to "stop wishing for snow!" Apparently it makes his life miserable...well ya know, sometimes buddy you take one for the team.

Finally this morning it happened! We woke up at 6 to a very light dusting but it continued to fall and fall and fall......and guess what? Mr. Snow Scrooge himself seems to be enjoying the snow just fine!

He went on a local call this morning then suddenly ended up back at home....decided to do a bunch of phone calls & computer work from home then hooked up the sleds and went to go play!

Our friend Aiden was over today, he seemed to have a great time riding the sled with Kendra!

Aiden used to be scared of the dogs....now they're his best friends! He loves the fact that "Sami has the same color hair as me!"

Yes, that is pink on Tylers hat, sometime when you have three big sisters you just end up with a pink hat or purple mittens!

Our friend Luke, the michelin man! He LOVED the snow but did not want to keep his confining mittens on....didn't take too long before we had to go inside & warm his pink fingers back up!

Aiden loves to eat snow, He should be well hydrated today as that is what occupied most of his time outside, the hunt for perfect snow to pop into his mouth. He gave me a mini lecture this morning on exactly what kind of snow you should NOT eat....so he know's his stuff when it come to the snow eating business!

Preschool has been cancelled for tomorrow and all the other schools are on a two hour delay, so all fingers are crossed for a school closure by morning!!!