2nd Week of July

127th Day of Quarantine

The expected high today is a respectable 90F.

Today we made a birthday cake for Avia to eat for breakfast after we call her in the morning!

For dinner we had leftovers.

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126th Day of Quarantine

The high today was a pleasant 86F.

I spent the first few hours of my day trying to get a hold of someone at the insurance company, since they are denying the kids medicine, again, due to some missing records from long ago.  I'm pretty sure the records are in California, but they might be in Houston.  So, I've secured forms from everyone, and I'm in contact now with Jacq, our contact at the drug company, and their current endocrinologist' office.

It's so frustrating, but I think that I made some good progress yesterday, and am hopeful that it will be resolved before their current script runs out.

For art this week, we made paper airplanes!  The assignment was to create one from the booklet out of scratch paper, then they could choose one piece of  "nice" paper to create the final product if they wanted.   The only one who wanted to improve her plane was grace. = )

Billy had to run into work today, while he was gone I knocked out a couple of masks to mail to Chelsea.

Once Billy came home, I left to retrieve groceries from Carl's to deliver to Alyssa.  Her baby was in the hospital, and my heart just aches for her her.  Thankfully the babe was released yesterday evening with a round of antibiotics and seems to be on the mend!

For dinner we had pizza.

We finished off the day with a few episodes of Kim Possible.

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125th Day of Quarantine

The high today was 78F.  It was dreary and misty all day.

Another moth picture, this time for Juliet, to draw into the nature journal today.

After our morning lessons, and knocking out my chores, I finished sewing my pile of started masks.  Then I cut out my next round.

I threaded ear straps, stamped my mark, then packaged them up for delivery.  These three are being mailed out to some special people tomorrow! = )

Billy made a trip to Menards and picked up lunch from Bob Evans.  We still had a gift card leftover from Thanksgiving, so I called it in so that we could use it up!

Once he returned I ran to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and some empty syringes for a project he's working on next week.

For dinner we reheated some of the leftover Bob Evans.  I do love their green beans. = )

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124th Day of Quarantine

The high today was 88F.  We didn't see any rain today, so according to Swithin's Day lore, we will have 40 fair days to follow. = )

Does this tree look like it's leaning to you?

In our nature journal this week the kids are drawing moths.  Emily and I studied one the night before her day, and she drew it from memory.  William picked one from the nature guide.  But today, Grace and I found where one sleeps!  We snapped a picture, and then she drew it from there.

We picked up Billy's car, and the check engine light came on on his trip home.  Sadly, we will not have time to take care of it this week or next. = /

I finally scored some chocolate bars in my grocery order yesterday, so we made a little fire and cooked up s'mores tonight!

And Billy trimmed William's hair for the second time this quarantine.

For dinner we had steak fajitas.

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123nd Day of Quarantine

The high today away 84F.

I picked up groceries, despite that it was a Tuesday.  William's Monday surgery is making my week feel all kinds of weird.

I took Billy's car in with Sarah.  She met me in Mason and gave me a lift home, since she was coming over to mow the lawn anyhow. = )

The twins were singing along to parts of the Frozen II sound track.  It's a little annoying and very adorable.

We had Lunchables/light fare and leftovers for dinner.

Billy and I finished season one of  Carnival Row.

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122nd Day of Quarantine

The high today was warm with a cool breeze, topping out at 78F.

William and I woke up at 5am, so that we could be in the hospital by 7:15.  We made good time, and pulled into the parking garage just after 6:30.  We were quickly taken back, then had a lot of waiting.  Once the time drew near, the surgeon came in and went over the procedure.

Then, it was time for William to have the pre-anesthesia anesthetic.   He seemed to take to it slowly, then it hit hard.  He started talking in mumbles and then laughed an almost maniacal laugh.  Just a few minutes later they wheeled him back.

They had a coffee station in the waiting area, and so I enjoyed a cup while waiting.

His procedure was super short, and he was in recovery longer than he spent in the operating room.  The surgeon came to let me know that it went well, then a while later they called me back.  He woke a little fearful.  He did not like that he could not feel his toes.

The nurse put on a show for him to watch, and when he was coming back around to himself, she brought him a frozen cherry treat!  Once he finished that, he had to be changed back into his own nightgown.  He was excited to ride in a green wheelchair all they way back to the car!

We left the hospital just after 11, and continued the tradition of going to Sonic as a treat.  When we returned to Lansing, we picked up McDonald's for everyone else.

William was charging around and dancing within just a few minutes of returning home.

We bid adieu to our kitchen rug of 13 years, since my new  one came in.  I was sad to say goodbye, but it was frayed on the sides and was developing some pretty big holes in in the middle.  Our new one looks pretty good, since it was purchased to match our current kitchen.

For dinner we had lasagna and the rest of the avocado ranch salad.

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121st Day of Quarantine

The expected high today is 81F.

Billy broke out the jumper cables from his car to see if it were indeed the battery, and it is.  Sadly, Walmart's automotive is currently closed because of the corona virus, and this battery is well within it's warranty. = (  AutoZone and the like will not touch Billy's car because of the terrible engine configuration that makes changing the battery challenging*. So, on Tuesday, because tomorrow is William's surgery, we will have to take it in.

It doesn't escape my notice, that I was finally going to take my car in to the dealership for a laundry list of small issues as soon as this surgery trip was over.  But instead, we'll be taking in Billy's car.  Sad times.

For dinner Billy cooked up some steaks.

I made cupcakes for William so that he could store up some calories before his morning of fasting.

later days

*compared to my Chrysler Sebring, it is an improvement. At least Walmart will change it despite the additional labor.  My Sebring required taking off the left front tire to change the battery (I'm not kidding) so Walmart wouldn't even touch it.

Delayed Ophthalmology Visit

This is the latest post in the series of William, grace and Juliet's journey with hypophosphatasia. And now adding Emily to the list.

Due to some strange circumstances, William, Grace and Juliet's ophthalmology appointment was moved to early June from March.  With the corona virus closing everything down for a while, this turned out to work in our favor, since we were able to keep this appointment.

Sadly, the appointment was at 8:10am, which meant a 6:30 departure time for us, on a Friday, the last day of instruction for the school year.  

We made it on time, but Grace forgot to pack up her mask, so she wore on of the back up ones I carry, until we got inside and they made us all trade them out for paper ones.  In an unusual turn, I've been up to this hospital twice with Emily since the last time they came up, so everything was very different for them.

This was a dilation appointment, so we were there a while waiting for the drops to take hold.

Everyone received good reports and new prescriptions.  She also said that we could move out to a 4-6 month recall versus our current 3 month!

It's almost dystopian seeing my sweet little twins all dressed up, with bows in their hair and masks on their faces. 

We went to sonic afterwards, and I made a few phone calls that I needed to make.  One of them was to the eye glass center in Holt to see if they are open.  No one answered, so I left a message, but Friday messages are rarely returned on the same day.

We have a virtual appointment later this month, and William has an Ear Tube Removal surgery scheduled for July, but more appointments are rolling in now that things are reopening.  It's sure to be a busy summer full of doctor visits!

later days

<what happened previously

what happened next>

January 31st, Grand Rapids Trip

This is the latest post in the series of William, grace and Juliet's journey with hypophosphatasia. And now adding Emily to the list.

The expected high today was 36F. When we left Lansing (before dark) it was dry. By the time we made it up to Grand Rapids, it was snowing on us!

Emily's day (and mine) actually started at midnight.  We got up, set up some space heaters in the girls room (that no one was sleeping in) and did our ablutions. Then it was time to knock out some chores.  I started some laundry, we unloaded the dishwasher, made lunches for the day, I paid an online bill and blogged my second QR code label!

Once all of our duties were fulfilled we brought our snack kit (jolly ranchers, cotton candy, ring pops, cheese popcorn, dr. pepper (for me,) apple juice (for Emily) into the warmed room.  Since we keep it at 61F at night, the room was very warm by contrast.

I felt bad for Emily, because I was dragging, even with the aid of caffeine, and she couldn't have any caffeine (including chocolate.)  We watched some of the new Scooby Doo episodes, and sorted through the Legos.  She put together all the people, while I sorted out some of the "useless" pieces that they add to the modern sets just to up their count.  Anything that can only be placed on top, as in no connecting piece to build on, had to go.  We didn't eat much of our 'party' food, I guess we just aren't hungry during that time of day. = )

Around 4:15 William woke up in panic thinking that we had left him, but him trying to sleep on the bed in a lit, noisy room was not happening, so I tucked him in with Billy.

At about 5am Emily and I finished up the Legos, the morning passed surprisingly fast, then cleaned up and headed out to buy donuts!  By the time we got back, Avia was here, Billy and William were awake.  We passed out donuts, and packed up poor William's.  Fasting is much harder when you are around people eating their breakfast.

Everyone except for Juliet was awake when we left, and Avia was preparing to spend the day at our house, with a sick Grace.

We got on the road a little after 6:20, and I put on The Land Before Time for William and Emily to watch.  Billy was driving, and the longer we were in the car, the harder it was for me to stay awake, and I kept having to rouse poor Emily.

As we pulled into Grand Rapids, the snow started coming down, and the sun wasn't yet up.  We were early for William's 8am appointment, but the waiting room was open.  We were a tired crew!

The first step was to weigh and measure William, then they applied some cream to numb the area they would be inserting the IV.  After about 20 minutes we were brought back into his room.  He was very brave for the IV, but still not happy.

Even after the sun came up, it was still snowing.

Once he was all settled in, with the movie, he was hungry but content.

At 9 am, it was *finally* time to head up to Emily's appointment!

Her room was in the same group of rooms where Grace had her sleep study!  She was barely hanging on as the tech hooked her up!  She had no problem falling asleep for the sleeping section of the test!

After her 20 minute nap, she had to wake up enough to do the flashing light test, but still keep her eyes closed!

She did awesome, and I don't think her entire process took longer than about 30 minutes!

We headed back to William's room to find him and Billy sleeping!

I snagged one of his discarded pillows, and tried to help Emily get comfortable enough on the bench to sleep, but she couldn't fall asleep again.

We were trying to be quiet, so she played on her tablet and I watched some Supernatural until the nurse came back in.  William only had one blood draw left when he woke up!

He was a very happy boy to eat his rice krispie treat, and drink his apple juice.  He was given a game to take home, and we were out of there!  Some of the medicine they gave him made him sleepy and unsteady on his feet, so I held on to him as we headed out the car.

Since we don't have any Sonic's in Lansing (?!?) we went to the one just south of Grand Rapids.  It was the first time we'd been in almost 3 years!  I swear, it was a weekly staple in Texas, but not worth driving the hour to indulge.   

Both William and Emily were asleep when we ordered, so we got them some kids meals to go, since Aunt Rocky was getting pizza for the other 3.

Emily and I had researched 'fun' things to do in Grand Rapids after their appointment, but none of us were in a condition to exert the energy needed to "go have fun." lol

We headed home, and though it felt late in the day, it was just after noon. ugh.  William and Emily slept the entire drive home, but I set a goal to stay up and get my body back on a regular sleep schedule.

Since we were home so early, Avia headed out, and so the other three did not get something special from Aunt Rocky.  

The nurse called after the Doctor reviewed William's results, to let us know that everything was normal!  Both his growth hormones are acting normal, so we just need to push the protein!  I am so relieved.

We aren't expecting Emily's results for another week or so.

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When I picked up Alice and Juliet, we headed to Wendy's to get their dinner.

I got an email from Alice's teacher that she was not wearing her shoes in school.  After discussing this issue with her, we decided that her shoes must be too small. = (  I knew if I stopped moving that I would crash hard, so we made a trip to Target.

She was wearing a 5.5 last time I bought her shoes, so she tried on the size 6.  She said it was too tight, and sure enough, her toe was pressed against the edge.  So, she tried on a 6.5.  She said it was tight, and yep, her toe was right at the edge.  The 7s were perfect.  

No wonder she wasn't wearing them at school, her shoes were 1.5 sizes too small!  Oh, Alice.  So, we discussed that if her shoes felt uncomfortable, she needed to tell me, so that we could get her some bigger shoes, but not wearing shoes in school was not appropriate. 

I thought certainly it would be time for me to head to bed when we got home, but it was only 5:15.  I had to putter around for 2 hours.

Grace and Juliet had their 100 day project to do, and they were sooooooooo excited to use the stamps that we have been 'saving' since Halloween!

After giving shots and giving Grace her medicine, it was finally 7pm, and I could go to bed!

It was a looooooooong day, but at least we have some conclusion for William, and will have an answer (good or bad) for Emily soon.

later days

<what happened previously
what happened next>

New Year's Celebration

Billy had to work New Year's Eve, and it snowed.  Sarah came over and kindly cleared my sidewalk and driveway, since she'd already finished hers.

 I was glad she put down so much salt, because it snowed the majority of the day!

We played an abbreviated version of Bunko.  Each person rolls and whomever scores the highest in consecutive rolls (or a Bunko) takes the round.  All the other rules are the same.  The twins were able to play with us too, which was really nice, since the big kids tend to pick games that require reading.

We kicked off celebration just before Billy made it home.  We made a 7up and lime sherbet punch.  It's my favorite.  Only Grace seemed to enjoy it as much as I do.  I made a rookie mistake though and chilled the 7up which made the sherbet not melt as quickly so it was not as good fresh as it was after a little while on the table.

I had collected a nice group of hats and noise makers for my crew.  Note everyone participated :cough::Billy::cough: and Grace fell asleep, but the rest of us rocked our decorations!

Also, the kids discovered the sonic racing game on the Wii and have been having a great time with it. = )  William has been a super patient teacher with the twins, it's been really good.  Of course, after a while, the twins like to fight about everything, so the game quickly dissolves from there.

Eating our Christmas dinner (on New Year's Day) because my oven is back in buisness!

The holiday (today) was above freezing, so most of the snow on the roads and sidewalks started to melt.  It was a mixture of sunny and cloudy, but the high was probably around 40F with no new precipitation.

later days