Family Update

Sorry, no photos with this post. Just updating all on the last week...

The kids enjoyed Spring Break last week, and it extended into today. Just in case a week wasn't enough time off?! We really enjoyed our visit with Nonie and Grande. It was great to have a little help (for me!) and company, and it gave Nick and Ellie someone else to jabber at non-stop for hours on end. Thanks Nonie and Grande! I am sure you are enjoying the peace and quiet back home though... FYI: The kids are still sleeping in their sleeping bags! (Although on top of their beds now, not on the floor!)

Nick has now announced that he doesn't need to go back at all, school is boring anyway. Get used to it kid, you have 16 more years to go, at least! He did spend time with his Dad learning how to throw and hit a baseball. And did so well that Paul bought him his own mitt and bat. Shockingly the kid can hit, and with both hands apparently as he is a leftie. Had I known this about two weeks earlier I could have put him in Little League this spring, but we just missed the deadline. Oh well, next spring for sure. I have plans to keep him very busy this summer just the same...

Ellie is having surgery on Thursday for her third set of ear tubes and an adenoidectomy. Say a prayer for us! She actually has had an ear infection for a month that does not respond to any outpatient antibiotics. Her hearing impairment (hopefully reversible) is noticeable and she complains of ear pain every day and night. We have been waiting on pins and needles waiting for a surgical time. She is our virtual "girl in a bubble" as we pulled her out of preschool and have been keeping her away from other kids as much as possible to ward off infection. But we were very blessed last night to learn that Children's Hospital has managed to squeeze her into the OR schedule early!! Yeah!! We are optimistically hopeful that this surgery will do the trick for her and she will be able to enjoy a more normal, pain-free life after this.

William has been sick the last few days with a 103-104 fever and not much else. I am guessing either the beginnings of a viral fever (aka Roseola) or an ear infection? I will probably take him in tomorrow unless he has magically recovered overnight or develops the classic rash. Other than that he is teething like crazy, even eye teeth are starting to pop through. He is trying really hard to play with the big kids. If only they would be a little more gentle and sweet! He is also trying so, so hard to speak. It is really cute! We are working on animal sounds this week- cows say "oooo"(moo), dogs say "woo woo" (woof), and chicks (thanks to Easter) say "pee pee" (peep). He learned "blue" after pressing the buttons on Paul's alarm clock. Bananas are "nana" and food is "yum"!

Payton is still her same clunky old self. She sleeps most of the time either inside or out. Unless there are visitors or food is being thrown about. In which case she turns into a 75 pound bouncing bunny. At 8 years old we are just waiting until the day she throws her back out doing this. Oh the vet bills!! This crazy weather is wreaking havoc on her coat. It gets warm and she starts blowing her winter coat, then the next day is cold and snowy and she is inside shedding like crazy. Today (snowy) it looked like a blizzard had hit the downstairs. I'm not sure if I am going to mentally/emotionally survive this seasonal change. I just keep telling myself to do some yoga breathing, have a cup of tea, and this too shall pass. And in the meantime, we are single handedly financially supporting the Swiffer and Hoover (vacuum bags) companies!

Paul and I are hanging in there. Paul is working like crazy, gotta' love tax season! Two sick kids to deal with. The ever present shedding dog. And of course something in the house must self-destruct about every 10 days. Next project, the powder room floor thanks to the kids overflowing the toilet one too many times. Actually pretty much just one kid... I'll leave it to you all to guess who! We have been really trying to reinforce the fact that you don't need to use an entire roll of toilet paper in one flush. Please?!!?

Best wishes to all! We miss all of you in MI/PA/AZ/CA/TX/WI!!
Will post pictures soon. Promise!