David's New Ride

Last night, David went out and bought this (I would have taken a real pic, but it's been raining):

I was pretty stoked for him...this is the first brand-new vehicle we have EVER owned. My hubby so deserves it too. Now he can stop hauling wood, dirty tools, and mulch in my van. I must say, I took it out to run an errand earlier today...and I felt like a real Texas gal :-).

A Special Delivery

Every fall and spring, our kids are required to do a service project for Formation Class. Last fall, we had a packing party with Joshua's Cub Scout troop for military personnel in Iraq. I was having a hard time coming up with something for the kids to do...until I remembered what happened to Rebecca on our camping trip.

I talked to Rebecca about my idea, and she loved it. We decided to collect stuffed animals and donate them to the local EMS station. They could pass them out to other kids who had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. When I called them to set up a drop-off time, Kendra told me our timing was perfect, because they were currently out of animals.

So we gathered bags and bags of animals...my trunk was pretty full by the time we took them to the EMS station yesterday. Katie and Evan met us there (Evan is in Rebecca's class), and we got some great pictures.

Afterwards, Kendra gave all the kids a paperboard piggy bank shaped like an ambulance, a red coolie, and a spray pen of hand sanitizer...and yes, the kids thought they were totally cool :-).

Joshua and Rebecca still have to write a paragraph about their service project, but it all worked out really well. I am glad we were able to do a service project...that really meant something tangible. When an EMS driver let the kids climb into the ambulance for pictures, Rebecca said,

"Mommy, I remember riding on the stretcher!"

I said, "Yes sweetie, hopefully you won't ever have to again."

"Right Mom!" said Rebecca.

All four of our kids have been to the ER except Christina (the ambulance came to our house after she swallowed nail polish remover, but she threw it up, and the EMS guys said she'd be fine). Hopefully, we are done now!

Gem of the Week

Last night, I watched the season finale of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." I LOVE this show...I cry every time. I love knowing there are still people in this world who truly care, who reach out to help others in their darkest hour, and realize in the end, they not only helped another human being, but learned something about themselves in the process.

In this episode, Bernard McFarland received a new house, a library next door and 15 passenger van for his organization, Packhouse 2000, and a new car for his family. SEARS also paid off his mortgage, and his 3 sons were granted full scholarships to a local university. Wow.

You would never know Bernard was living in a house with his 3 teenage sons--who all slept in the same room (one on a mattress on the floor), only one working bathroom (but the shower and toilet didn't work), a leaking roof, and no central heating or air-conditioning. He was simply dedicated to raising his boys in the neighborhood he'd grown up in, where his parents lived just down the street. Even though he'd seen his home and those of his friend fall into disrepair, he didn't want to give up.

When Ty Pennigton asked Bernard if there was one motto he lived by, this is what he said:

Lift as you climb...

Bernard explained that he didn't just believe in working hard, but to help others up as you went forward in life, even though it might take everything you had. This man lived...more for others than himself. What a example he is to his family, his sons, and the many kids who looked up to him as a father figure. I must say, I was impressed, humbled, and touched beyond measure.

A Saint Jude Moment

Tuesdays are busy days for us. I took Rebecca to swim practice at 4:45, and picked her back up for soccer practice at 5:30. She had to dry off and change into her soccer gear in the car, poor girl, but at least her wet head kept her relatively cool out on the soccer field.

Gabriel would not stay put during soccer practice, he kept running off, and I had to keep dragging him back by his ear. The staff at Christina's preschool have already noticed Gabriel's talent of running off, and asked me if I'd considered putting a cow bell on him before he starts Mother's Day Out this fall. Hmmm...

Once practice was over, I got everyone back in the van, loaded the folding chairs in the trunk, and climbed into the driver's seat. I realized I didn't have my keys...uh oh. I remember Gabriel had them last, and checked around him, under him...no keys...

Rebecca said,

"Mommy, if we don't have the keys, we can't leave!"

Thanks so much for pointing that out sweetie.

I quickly checked the trunk again, and then retraced Gabriel's path from the soccer field to the van...no keys...

The coach saw me looking around, realized my predicament, and joined the search. He checked around Gabriel's car seat again...no keys...

The kids were starting to get restless, I was getting hot...but I knew I could not panic. I've learned the hard way, over the years, that when I lose something, I just can't get upset; otherwise my brain locks down and refuses to remember where I left whatever I'm looking for.

I racked my brain...the keys have to be in the trunk...so I go look again. I have to pull out all the bags of stuffed animals the Formation classes have collected for our service project this spring. I dig around the stroller, folding chairs, portable high chair...no keys...

"Saint Jude," I say out loud, "I really need these keys."

I start to replace all the bags of animals. One bag was a large paper gift bag, open on the top...I heard a little jiggling noise when I picked it up...I dug around...and THERE WERE THE KEYS!

"Thank you Saint Jude!" I cried.

Thank you Saint Jude.

Gem of the Week

Here's a little antidote a friend send me:

What is Your Personal History Telling You?

Acts 13:13-25 / Jn 13:16-20

It’s interesting sometimes to watch people projecting their own foul motives onto other people. In doing so, they not only miss the truth, but they also reveal more than they intend to about themselves. And that probably contains the answer to a question that occurs to priests very often: Where do we get so many strange and unhappy ideas about God? The answer is that it probably comes about by our projecting some of our more miserable qualities onto him, most especially our desires for revenge and getting even.

St. Paul knew that about us human beings, and throughout his career he repeatedly reminded his listeners of what their own history made so clear: how consistent God was in loving them, guiding them, forgiving them, and giving them life.

If we are paying attention, our own personal history is telling us the same thing. The perfect counterpoint to our endless ups and down, God is eternally constant, eternally committed to all of us without exception. Take into your heart the comfort and joy that God’s unshakable commitment is offering. It will give you the strength and courage to finish your journey well.

~ Monsignor Dennis Clark, PhD ~

First Swim Meet

Joshua and Rebecca had their first swim meet today. It was a practice swim meet, and a good learning experience for both of them...and Mom too!

At first, I wasn't sure I would make it though today. I got home from my FAMILIA class, finished packing things up, and got into bed around 11PM. Well, by 12:30, I was trying not to freak out, because I was wide awake, and couldn't figure out why. David had the hindsight to go see what the side effects of all my meds were. Turns out the new antibiotic I'm on "may cause trouble sleeping." Oh great! I took 1/3 of a sleeping pill and finally fell asleep around 1:30AM.

The alarm went off at 6:00AM, and I was so jittery, like someone might be on a caffeine kick...I kept dropping things, and it was awful. It took me forever to get ready, but we finally got out the door and got to the pool...late. I just couldn't make my limbs move fast enough. The shaky feeling lasted until around 10:00AM, thankfully after that, I felt much better.

The kids got into the water, warmed up, and then joined me in the age group tents while the other team warmed up. I got one pic after warm ups...don't they look all bright-eyed and bushy tailed?

Then it was just waiting for their events to come up and swim in their individual heats. I got some great pics of Joshua and Rebecca, and tried out the "sports" setting on my camera...it worked beautifully.

Here's Rebecca waiting for her first event, the freestyle. She was SO excited!


GO REBECCA!

Later on, our girl was getting tired, but she rallied for her last event ;-).

Joshua did fairly well, and I was so proud of him, but next week we'll put him on his ADHD medication. He had a hard time concentrating, especially during the 100 meter individual medley. I saw one of the coaches repeating the order of the strokes several times...just to make sure he got it. He did do all the strokes in the correct order...whew!

GO JOSHUA!

By the end of the swim meet, Joshua was cranky, and started to come unglued, which didn't surprise me. It was too much for him...he needed some down time...preferable in front of the TV or computer. But we had to go straight to Rebecca's soccer game after swimming...and my poor boy just lost it. He didn't calm down until the soccer game was almost over. Once we got home, I told him to just go chill in front of the computer, and he was fine afterwards.

Rebecca was a trooper, I was proud of her too. She was nervous about doing the backstroke (since she's really learned only the freestyle), but I told her to just go for it. Well, she made it down the entire length of the pool without turning around or touching the ropes! Her coach came over and told me,
"You know, she's really petite, but so buoyant, she floats like a cork!'

(I guess that's a good thing, right?)

Honestly, neither one of our kids had great times...but they did their best, and that's all we wanted. For their first time on a swim team, they jumped right in, and weren't intimidated by all the other kids...'cause I sure would have been!

We had pizza for dinner, since everyone was pooped. Both Joshua and Rebecca ate like crazy, even though they'd had snacks all day long. Good thing David made that run to SAM's Friday night :-).

Only 5 more Saturdays of swimming to go, (6 if they make it to divisionals)!

GO CROCS!

My 5 Drug Lineup

Last night, I went back the doctor because I just didn't think I was getting better. I was still coughing a lot, and I could feel all this congestion in my chest. Once there, Dr. D listening to my lungs, took x-rays, and told me I didn't have pneumonia. Okay...that's good. But I still had bronchitis (well...duh!).

I explained to Dr. D. that I wasn't sure the amoxicillan was curing the infection in my lungs because I was still coughing morning, noon, and night, and I was really tired. I also said I really needed to get better because I had 4 kids to chase around, and no time for pneumonia, let along bronchitis. I mentioned last time I was prescribed amoxicillan (for mastitis), it didn't work either. He said he would prescribe something stronger, so I felt relieved.

Little did I know he was going to give me not one, but FIVE different medications. He gave me samples of 2, wrote up prescriptions for the other 3, and I left feeling completed overwhelmed.

So...here's the lineup. I have a cough suppressant, an inhaler, a nasal spray, an antibiotic, AND a steroid (in the box).

I quickly discovered I really cannot take the cough suppressant unless I'm desperate (I was last night, but I'm certainly not anymore). It contains codeine, which makes me loopy, jittery, and I do NOT like that feeling at all. (I'll bet it has something to do with the fact I get motion sickness rather easily). Hopefully the rest of the drugs will take care of the bronchitis.

Two days after I started this drug regimen, I realized I'd severely pulled a muscle in my left side because I was coughing so hard. I couldn't pick up Gabriel without tears coming to my eyes, or sleep on my left side. Oh man...talk about offering up pain...which I did, otherwise...it was almost unbearable at times.

And I'll say it one more time...I hope I NEVER get bronchitis again. Cough!

Not me Monday

I've decided to follow McMama's example and do a "Not me Monday" post. I'm not sure how this will go, but since the past week has been so nuts, I figured I'd give it a shot.

First of all, I did not develop a horrid cough and wait 2 weeks to go see the doctor until last Monday. He told me my lungs were a mess, gave me prescriptions for 3 different medications, and orders to back on Wednesday for a pulmonary breathing test to check for asthma. I told him I certainly did NOT have asthma (after all, I had just done the March of Dimes Walk the day before without a problem), but he gave me a stern look and said,

"I want to make sure you don't have asthma, and I'll see you back here on Wednesday!"

(Of course, I obeyed doctor's orders, went back on Wednesday, and was told I had a bad case of bronchitis--not asthma. I was given yet another medication--an inhaler, and sent home).

I will never, ever wait 2 weeks to go see the doctor again, since I am STILL coughing just a bit, and probably made everyone nervous in church yesterday. We've got this swine flu scare going around, and I'll bet people wanted to avoid me like the plague.

Nope, Not Me!

I did not get all upset on Saturday when we found out the kids' school would be closed for 2 WEEKS because there was a "probable" case of the swine flu at their school. Not confirmed mind you, "a probable case." Even when we got an email today from Christina's preschool asking us to keep her home as well, since her siblings' school was closed and to limit exposure to the rest of her classmates, I held back my tears. I was praying they would still have a Mother's Day Lunch with Christina and any other children who would miss it; because it's my absolute favorite event every year...my special time with my sweet little girl, who will make a placemat, craft, and lunch for me, sit next to Mommy while I smile proudly, but secretly grieve over the fact she'll start kindergarten this fall.

Nope, Not Me!

(I did get an email from my friend Katie later on, saying the preschool staff would likely have a lunch for the kids who would miss the Mother's Day Lunch...so I managed to stop crying and breathe a huge sigh of hopeful relief).

I did not sit down after the kids were in bed last night, and make a list of all the things we were going to do for the next 2 weeks (not including swim lessons, swim team practice, playgroup, a jaunt to the library and Daddy's new office):

* Pick the green beans in the garden (which we've already done this AM, nearly 4 pounds!).

* Pull up the largest leeks, scallions, and onions from the garden, clean, blanch, and freeze them for later.

* Clean out all the junk from their rooms (although I daresay I'll have better luck and throw away more stuff once they go back to school).

* Take a day to visit the Museum of Natural Science (I'll bet there won't be any crowds during the week). Heck, maybe we should go down to the Space Center in Clear Lake :-).

* Work with Rebecca on all the craft kits she got for her birthday, her Marian lantern, and the assignments she missed from Formation Class.

* Definitely take one day to pull out the finger paints, play-dough, and stamp art kits, spread them all out on the kitchen table, and let the kids have at it (all the while not thinking about how long it's going to take me to clean the mess up afterwards. It's not great being a recovering neat freak you know!).

I did not think about how I'm going to steal Easter candy from the kids' bags in the pantry, because now I might have to wait until they're either all outside playing or asleep for the night. Never mind the fact I've eaten WAY too much of it lately, and I haven't even started on the solid milk chocolate bunny David got for me.

Nope, not Me!

I definitely did not let all the kids pile into our bed this morning. They immediately asked if they could watch TV or play on the computer. Of course I said, "NO"! because I firmly believe too much TV and computer will turn my kids' brains into complete mush. We're going to find constructive, educational activities and spend the next 2 weeks cramming as much academic knowledge into their heads as possible, right?

Nope, not Me!