Those 1 Time Diseases??

I'm starting to wonder how true getting certain things once in your lifetime really is.  Chase showed me some bumps on his chest and stomach last night and I realized he has a very light case of chicken pox.  They were mostly on his abdomen, a few on his arms, neck and jaw line.  Then, his legs were covered with poison ivy, so it's hard to say if there was anything there or not, but they seemed to pretty much stop at his waistline, from what I could tell.

I called the doctor to see where he was on his vaccine for it and they said he'd had one at 2 and then again at 5 when he entered kindergarten and he doesn't need anymore right now.  I told her I thought it looked like chicken pox and she said it was funny because just a few minutes before I called she had another mom call with a 12 year old boy (Chase will be 12 in a couple of months) that also seemed to have a case of light chicken pox.  Hmmmm....me thinks they need to rethink the way this vaccine is set up.  Starting to wonder if I should have his titres checked.

Then, as I was telling a girl at work about it we got onto the subject of Kaelin and how even though you're not supposed to be able or shouldn't get chicken pox after getting the vaccine or from the vaccine she got it just a few days after getting her vaccine at 1 years old.  Just a real light case.  Then, a couple years later, before kindergarten, Cole got it and she got it again, but worse...still not terrible.  How are you supposed to know if you're immune to it if you get it a couple of times and the vaccine?  So this same girl who got the vaccine for chicken pox and still managed to get chicken pox twice, also had fifths disease twice; confirmed by a doctor.  I even questioned the doctor when I took her last month and she looked at me funny and said "yeah, you're only supposed to be able to get it once".  So weird!

Make a Wish Meeting Soon

The Make a Wish folks called tonight to set up our first meeting.  They will come out later this week to talk to all the kids to find out what all the likes and dislikes are and to talk, in-depth, to Cole.  We got the packet from them late last week and went through it to see what to expect.  Since Cole's top wishes originally were a car to drive when he turns 16 or a hunting trip and they can no longer grant those he had to rethink.

The packet says they need 2 wishes in case their number 1 can't be accomplished.  Cole told us tonight that his #1 wish it for us all to go to Korea, to which I'm very proud of him for, but don't see how they can possibly accomplish that for a family of 7.  I asked him if he had a #2 he really wanted and he said no, not yet.  He's really been struggling with this.  I told him just to tell them the truth that he doesn't have a #2 that he really, really wants and then they can help him figure something out.

I asked him if he really wanted to go to Korea and he said 'yes'.  I didn't really know he'd thought that much about it. He never talks to us about it.  Teens are so non-verbal....like having a toddler again.  I guess this should be interesting to say the least.  And while I do know of a family of 7 that were granted the trip to Korea, I think they were just lucky enough they happened to find a donor willing to pay for the entire trip.  What are the chances of this chapter finding that person?  We'll see.  All I know is we had to have copies of our drivers licenses and the kids' birth certificates (all 5) ready for the meeting, so Brian did that Saturday.  Aren't you impressed?  Brian figured out how to use the scanner, so I wouldn't have to.

Rolling with life

Still looking for a car for Cole. It's definitely not easy finding something you feel is safe enough for your 1st child and in a budget of about $2500. Hoping we'll find one in the next several months. Still glad we started early.

Beginning to get estimates on replacing our roof, gutters and screens after last weeks hail storm. Have to talk to someone about the truck yet too. I hope the weather calms down. It's not awful, just a pain in the rear! Our roof will never have time to wear out if we get bad hail storms every 7 years that takes it out.

Work, is work. I'm a little worried because we think my boss had a minor stroke today. I'm a little worried about her, but trying to stay optimistic until we hear everything from her daughter. Hopefully tomorrow will bring good news. Hate to be selfish, but I don't care to get a different boss right now.

I talked to Cole this morning and asked him if he had his list or any ideas ready for when the Wish Granters team calls. They called 4 weeks ago and said they'd be contacting us in 4-6 weeks, so it should be very soon. I reminded him of that. He said he had his wish ready, which surprises me. I asked him what it was and he said "I can't tell you". I said "why, do you think I'll be mad?". He said "no, I just can't tell you". He's just like his dad, so who knows if he was just trying to be hard to get along with, thinking he was being funny or if he just really doesn't want to tell me for whatever reason. Not like I'm not going to eventually find out.

Let's see....quarter 3 is over and the kids are doing well. Chase had all As. Kaelin had 1 B and the rest As and Cole had Bs. Hopefully Cole's 4th quarter will be slightly better. He's capable of so much, but as long as he's happy, right now, I'm pretty happy. Chelsi is getting referred for gifted testing next year. Her teacher said they usually don't put you in the program until 2nd grade and she didn't know if they'd have her wait or not, but she wants her tested. We'll see I guess.

Chelsi's had 3 weeks of gymnastics again and is loving it. She's the only one in tumbling this session, so she's getting 1 on 1 for an hour every week. She's learning to perfect her cartwheels and do backbends and handstands. I think she can do it, if she'd just keep her legs straight and trust herself more. She does really enjoy it, so I'm happy.

There's nothing better than knowing the kids have rules and structure and are finding contentment in their life. It leaves me with a lot of peace. Maybe it's just this spring weather, but it's just been so peaceful lately. I'm not on as much medication for my allergies, no asthma meds, pretty much only vitamins and life's been better!

The Help

Okay, those that 'really' know me, know I have problems reading and therefore hate it with a passion.  I can't even read a short article without losing interest.....on any topic!  It kinda stinks.  I just have so much trouble with comprehension and always have that it's like someone's torturing me with some horrible device if I even think I have to read something. 

So, Lois brings in "The Help" for another girl to read, but she's already reading something else.  Since I haven't seen the movie yet and really want to, but by the time it comes out on cable it will be a few more years, I say that I'll try it.  I mean, I can always try and since I really want to know exactly what the story is about it's worth the try. 

Who would have thought that me....who has only finished about 4 books in my ENTIRE life, and I use finished loosely, finished a 500 page book in 4 1/2 days.  I stayed up late reading.  I couldn't sleep.  When I did sleep I dreamt about the dang book.  I'd be trying to figure out what's going to happen next in my dreams.  Then, I'd wake up all made at myself because A. I wasn't sleeping well dreaming so much and B. I was getting things mixed up in my head creating the book ending in my dreams.

I finished it tonight.  I read the last 70 pages and didn't want to go another night like the last few.  I totally ignored the kids, bad mom, but I just had to finish it for my own sanity.  I had to know exactly how it turned out.  Now I really can't wait to see the movie because it's the first time "I" get to be the one who can compare the book to the movie.  Hopefully, I can remember until it comes out on cable.  Really wish we had a video store around here.

Lois, by the way, if you're reading this I totally blame you for my lack of sleep.  ;)  Enjoy Florida!

You sleep in you bed

That's what I got told last night.  Hard to believe that less than a month ago I was struggling to get some sleep because Jaemin was waking up every night and sleeping in my room and has been for 1 1/2 years.  Hard to believe all it took was reasoning with him to get him to stay in his own bed.  Reasoning with a 3 1/2 year old?  Can you really do that?  Apparently sometimes, at least.

Jaemin doesn't even try to come in my room.  Occasionally, he has a bad dream and cries at night, but that's it.  We just have to go in there for a second and it's not every night.  Last night Brian put him to bed and I came in there to tell him good night and I laid in his bed for a minute and he tells me "you go sleep in you bed, I sleep in my bed".  It makes him sound so big.  And remember when I told him to stay in bed 'til the sun comes up and that's when he can get in my bed.  Well, that works well on the weekends and he gets up as early as the sun and tootles around the house until someone gets up to keep him company.  But, weekdays are another topic.  He fights us tooth and nail to stay in bed.  He suddenly absolutely adores his bed and his sleeping time.  If you turn on his light he jumps out of bed, turns it off and covers his head back up. 

Once he gets going he's ready to go and good mood as ever.  It's time to watch the Lion King and he goes around the house singing "eeeiiihhhhaaaa peanut!".  This is what he thinks they're saying on the beginning song to Lion King.  You know the one where we all think they're saying "pink pajamas penguins on the bottom".  I think it's really called "The Circle of Life".  It took us two weeks to figure out he really was saying peanut and that he meant he wanted to watch Lion King and not Jeff Dunham.  :)

Happy, happy birthday baby

To my oldest baby who turned 15 today.  You are the happiness I discovered in the darkness.  When we lost our first baby and found out we were having you shortly after, the world was so much better.  And it got even better the day you were born.  I never thought I'd be happy or life would be so great and you proved me wrong.  I know you have so much potential and if you have confidence in you natural abilities and personality you'll be fine and do great in life.

Love you very much.

Mom

One Broke Family

Of course, I jest when I say broke because there is a savings still and we are still very much trying hard to get to Korea.  But sometimes when I see my excel spreadsheet budget dwindling down, in my head, as unexpected expenses come upon us I think of the show "Two Broke Girls".  If you've never seen it, it's about 2 girls trying to save up money so they can open a cupcake business.  At the end of each show it pops up their savings amount from the last show and either goes up or down, depending if they lost money or earned money that episode.  And, of course, as it goes up or down it sounds like the old cash register that used to be at our tiny town's local grocery store when they had dime candy and an antique register. 

Brian called me today because we've had insurance adjusters coming out.  Last week was a hail storm and the truck's paint was chipped so the guy came out Saturday and said, yes it's hail.  We also asked them to send out someone to check our roof to make sure we didn't have any damage there.  I didn't think we did, but wanted to be sure it was reported if we did.  Brian happened to drop by the house today as she was leaving and she broke the news.  We do have roof damage and we have 2 years to have it replaced.  Here's the kicker.  Our company only offers homeowner's insurance with a $1,000 deductible.  So, in my head, there I was at work, seeing my excel spreadsheet and our Korea savings going down by $1,000.  And if you knew how many years it takes us to save $1,000 you'd take a gulp too!

Such is life!