Late May pictures, a crazy end to the week, and other loose ends

And, the last of the pictures from my phone over the past week. Certainly pictures of happy times, despite the week.

William's eyes had a star pattern in them!

My red raider:

Emily's teacher won (or lost) the fundraiser, and was given a mohawk as the "prize." = )

Emily made a sign to help explain Aunt Rocky's weeds . = )

That sun is bright!

On Friday, my mom, the twins and I went out garage sale-ing, getting in and out of the car half a dozen times. My car called it quits after I filled up with gas at Sam's, all the way across town from where my three big ones were in school.

I called Billy, and he left work to come pick up everyone else, while I waited on AAA. He ended up with car trouble of his own, luckily it was just low coolant. In the meantime my mom tapped one of her friends to come pick them up (as well as the cold groceries) to make sure that they could be back in time to pick up the big kids.

Meanwhile, shortly after Billy made it to me, the AAA roadside assistant had arrived to check my car. The battery was in good condition, so he put in a call to his home base to send a tow truck. Billy waited with my car while I did the other half of my shopping. I had just finished when Billy called to tell me he was loading my car on the tow truck. = (

I called a mechanic that is nearby for us, since the shop we had been using does not keep Friday hours. All we were able to do was drop it off before the holiday weekend.

Billy had to return to work, and my mom had picked up the big kids, as well as Alice's friend who was spending the night. So I did what I could to procrastinate for an hour until Billy finished up.

It was a rough evening, unpacking the second round of groceries and earlier purchases. Luckily I'd put on a slow-cooker recipe from my friend Caroline, that made some pretty simple pork roast sliders to feed all the hungry children. = )

Hopefully tomorrow I will hear something about my car, fingers crossed it is good news.  I also have to call the roofing company now that I've gotten our quote from the insurance company.  = /

later days

Hometown Parade

Our little town hosts a parade to honor the fallen on Memorial day.  We walked down as a group, but before we even made it to the parade route, Juliet fell and scraped her hand.   We attempted to distract her from her anguish with a snow cone, but to no avail.  She and Billy walked back, while the rest of us enjoyed the sights.

William sported the hat from Mrs. Graham's son,

Emily picked out her outfit on Friday,

Alice was mostly about the candy, and Grace was just along for the ride.

There was a parade of tractors at the end, which I found both comical and appropriate.

It was a short event, but sweet and well done.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

What a sweet little community event.

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Tonight, Grace was admiring my necklace.  It belonged to my grandmother, and somehow still smells like her, 7 years later.

later days

Emily's Reading Celebration

Since our week had not been crazy enough with a field trip for Alice, sick Emily, and scare for William, Emily's class was putting on a reading celebration Friday evening!

Billy had taken the afternoon off, so when it was time to pick up the big kids, we left the car at the school and walked home.  Then, we walked up as a family when it was time for the program.  All of the first grade classes came together to make a huge potluck meal.  There were tons of people and even more food!

Aunt Rocky and her neighbor Josh came up to watch the show, so once we finished eating, we headed to Emily's classroom.  It was transformed into a miniature theater with rows upon rows of seats.

Sadly, it was hard to hear our 1st grader perform, but she sure did look cute!

Aunt rocky came and sat with me and the rest of the crew off in the corner, so that they could be fidgety with out being too distracting.

She (and the rest of her class) did fantastic, and it was nice to see them celebrating reading!

When we made it home, I read through the script, so that I could retroactively enjoy the performance. = )

I am going to miss Emily's teacher next year, so much!

later days

My poor William

So, after Emily's visit to the doctor, and day of running around, we picked up William.  He complained that when he ate a chip during snack time it hurt.  I know I've hurt my gums on chips before, so I empathized and moved on.

Around the time Billy came home, he was complaining again, but with dinner on the stove, and other things in the mix, he wasn't too terribly insistent.  When we sat down to dinner, it became a dilemma.  He was in tears over his mouth hurting, not only his mouth, but he was pointing to his jaw.

His miracle drug has done amazing things to reign in his hpp, but when one of my little ones complains of any sort of bone pain I pay attention.  So, William and I packed up and headed to an evening dentist, to see what we could find out.  The dentist ran "new patient" x-rays on him, and did an oral exam, but found nothing.  By this time, his ibuprofen had kicked in and he was content as we followed our normal evening routine.

There were no issues in the night, and when he woke up the next morning all seemed normal.  I called his normal dentist, but despite their early ours, I had to leave a message.  All was well until breakfast.  Once again he was in tears, and I could see visible swelling!

By the time the dentist returned my call, I'd already decided to bring him into urgent care.  Of course, I had given him another round of pain meds, so by the time they saw him, he was back to normal, just had a swollen jaw.  The doctor there gave me a list of things to ask his PCP, and I was literally calling to make an appointment before we even left the exam room of the urgent care doctor.

The tested him for strep, which came back negative, and we were free to go.  We went straight to his usual doctor, and she immediately found that he had an infected/obstructed gland in his cheek.  She put him on some antibiotics and recommended probiotics (incase of upset stomach) as well as pain meds until he was on the mend.  This seemed to do the trick and he was back in class that afternoon.

I'm super impressed with their doctor here, and very thankful for all of her experience!  I'm also glad that it was an infection and not a fracture.

later days

Emily Came Home Sick...

...again.

My poor Emily, all year, but particularly this semester, she would be fine in the morning, then suffer and be sent home in the afternoon.  Some mornings she would just be whiny and sad, until she had breakfast, then she would perk back up to her normal self.  

Her grades never suffered, and when we brought her in for a doctor's appointment, she saw one of the other doctors in the practice. Since she was not running a fever, or displaying any other symptoms, he sent her back to school.

So, finally, when she came with me, tearfully, the afternoon following Alice's field trip, I brought her home with me.  I made an appointment for the next morning with her regular PCP.

She had to come with us to the twin's speech appointment, and was her normal cheerful self.

When we went in, she knew exactly what the problem was from my description of Emily's symptoms.  Apparently Emily is protein deficient.  This does not come as a surprise considering how picky she is about her meat.  She gave us diet guidelines to follow, and sent us with bloodwork orders.

Sadly, these were fasting orders, and since my mom was in Texas, our only option was to head out early (6am) so that we could be back before Billy had to leave for work.

She was quite cheerful, despite the circumstances.

We made it back in plenty of time for our normal schedule, and with her new, improved diet, she had a much better day.

Her results came back normal, so we've just been supplementing her diet with high protein options of snack bars, joghurt, and in class snacks.  She's also become more self-aware, and will step out of her classroom with a snack if she feels an 'episode' coming on.

I'm glad we finally have answers to her chronic issue, and that my Emily is feeling better than ever!

later days

2nd Grade Field Trip

Billy had some PTO to use up (they have a june 1st start date) so I was able to accompany Alice's  class on their field trip!

I had her friends Willow and Zoey in my group.  Luckily, Zoey had a chaperone arrive at the center, so I was actually responsible for only 1.5 children. = )

Pretty sure she had a great time, and museums are way cooler than they were in my day!

later days

Early May pictures

Like clockwork, as soon as my mom boarded her flight for Texas, one of my dear ones fell ill.  This time it was Alice.  When this happens, sadly, the sick one must load up and come with the twins and me on our usual routine*.  She read them their book while waiting for the speech therapist.

Only Grace, Emily and William unloaded the car earlier in the morning:

Rainy days are a favorite around here.  I'm super possessive of their umbrellas, so they only get to use them at home. The twins were excited for a rain shower:

And for garage sale season!  They are learning about "free boxes" and how to budget the coins they are given for our trips "shopping" = )

William was particularly quiet one morning, so I had to investigate. amazingly, this is what I found:

this little boy is ready for kindergarten!

"The asphalt is lava!"

Dress up, by grace:

And, my car, before it went into the shop, hit a milestone!  Look at that lovely, perfect number!

later days

*obviously, if they are ill, like stay in bed ill, we come straight home and ignore all of our responsibilities.