Me again tonight!

I now have some more pictures from tonight and thought I should post them since who knows when I will get back to update you since we will be going on vacation next week. Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to read my post I put up earlier tonight also.

Merry Christmas!

I can't hardly believe that tonight is Christmas Eve! Everyone in our house can hardly wait for the evening to come. We will be celebrating Christmas here with just the six of us tonight. Scott and I have so many different families to celebrate with we have to do it on other days rather than actually on Christmas. Last Saturday we went to Gothenburg to celebrate with my mom's side for lunch. Then for supper we headed to Sumner to Scott's mom's. We had a great time at both and it was a very nice day. Christmas Day Tj will be going to have lunch with his mom and staying the night with her. We are very thankful that we got to celebrate all of our Christmas' with him being a part of it. And also for both our families accepting Tj as part of our family just as we do! We did have some very big plans for the weekend that may be coming to an end very quickly if the weather does what they are saying it's suppose to. Saturday we are suppose to have Christmas here in Lincoln with my dad's side and also with Scott's dad and Step mom. My bother and mom will also be coming if all goes as planned. So far Scott's dad and Step mom have canceled but we hope that the weather doesn't get as nasty as it's suppose to and everyone can make it still. Also, Saturday is Keely's 2nd birthday so we have plans to celebrate it on Sunday afternoon since a lot of our family will be in town already. I really feel so terrible for Keely having her birthday so close to Christmas since its already so busy and not many people can usually make it down for her party. I guess if everything changes and nobody comes we will just have a party for her with just the six of us on her actual birthday and try and do something fun. I would just love to officially change her birthday to a warmer time of year so we would know that everyone would be able to come and celebrate it with her. We also found out at the end of last week that Tatum's foster parents (nana and papa) will be going to Branson again this year over new years eve. So we all are going to Branson the 30th when Scott gets off work and will be staying until the 1st or 2nd. We may even stop and stay a night in Kansas City to see Keely's foster parents but will have to see how things go once we get to Branson. We have now been to Branson to meet them 3 or 4 times and love getting away and getting to see them. It is so pretty there this time of year. Branson is about half way for both of us so it makes it a little easier for all of us to get together. Since I last posted we had another child placed with us for foster care. Sunday night we got a call to see if we would be interested in taking a 13 year old girl and we said that we would. The state was in the process of doing background checks on some of her family members so we knew that there was a possibility that she wouldn't be with us long. On Tuesday we found out that she was going to be going to stay with some of her family so Tuesday night they came and got her. She wasn't here too long but that was OK at least she was going to be able to go be with her family on Christmas. We just hope that she can get her life on the right track now and learn something from the rough times she's been through. We have all been healthy here for a long time and hope that it continues to stay that way! Tomorrow we have plans of taking the girls to see the Princess and The Frog movie. They are very excited and can't wait to use their movie passes that they got from their grandma. We hope that everyone has a great holiday and a Happy New Year!

Let it snow, let it snow!

We are having a blizzard here and are absolutely loving it! Me and the kids that is, Scott is hating it. The kids had a snow day today and will also be home tomorrow because of the snow. Scott's job requires him to work out in this stuff so that is why he is not liking it one bit. He does get somewhat of a break on the days he is driving a trackmoblie. On the days he isn't driving he is out in the weather. I do really feel sorry for him and am very thankful that he is such a hard working husband and father. Today me and the kids went out and played in the snow a couple times, made cookies, and watched a movie. We aren't sure what we are going to do tomorrow but I'm sure we will find something fun to do. Having 2 days off so far this week just gets us closer to the big kids holiday break! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Guess it's time to update

I'm sorry I've been gone for so long but really haven't felt much like updating it even though there is plenty to update. We had a great weekend last weekend and both Tj and Haley are feeling much better. Actually, I'm happy to announce that EVERYONE is feeling pretty good this weekend! It's so nice to not be worrying about who needs cold or cough medicine. Last week Tatum's headaches continued and actually got worse on Monday. Tuesday she had a CT scan of her head and also of her sinuses. We found out on Wednesday that she had a really bad sinus infection and also ear infection. She didn't appear to have a sinus infection though, just a little runny nose. Now after being on a new and stronger antibiotic she seems to be doing better and only complained of a headache once since being on the antibiotics. They were not sure what antibiotic to give her since she has broke out all over her body from what they think is an allergic reaction to two different antibiotics. The one they gave her this time seems to be working well and so far no reaction to it. Only bad thing is that it's very expensive but guess that's OK if it works and she isn't allergic to anything in it. They are kind of stumped as to why she would be allergic to the any of them because she gets the penicillin injection monthly and never has had any problem with it. The doctor thinks it might be a colorant in them or something. Wednesday Tj went with his mom to his aunts for Thanksgiving and returned on Saturday. We sure missed him while he was gone and everything was so different not having him around. The girls kept asking when he was coming home and where he was. Haley was even missing him and got bored without him around to be a goofball with. I'm so glad the two of them get along so good but they sure are a little on the crazy side sometimes! Scott, Haley, the girls, and I all spend Thanksgiving here in Lincoln and had our old neighbor over for dinner too so she didn't have to spend it alone. We had a great lunch and it was good catching up with her. Friday morning Scott and I got up at 4:30am and went out shopping. We went to a bunch of different stores and got about all our Christmas shopping done too. I don't know if it's really worth going out and fighting all the people but it was fun. Haley stayed home with the girls so it was nice for Scott and I to get out together. We shopped until around 10am then went home and spent the rest of the day at home. Saturday afternoon after Tj got home we put up Christmas decorations and got the tree up and decorated too. Scott worked outside on lights and did such a great job on them even though he really dislikes putting lights up or even any kind of Christmas decorations. That evening my mom and her boyfriend came and helped with some of the decorating and then we all went out for supper. It was really good food and we had a good time even though she was only here a little while. Today we just finished up some of the tree decorations that the girls can't seem to leave on the tree and relaxed all morning. Haley and Tj made cookies that didn't last long either, they were so good! After the girls naps this afternoon we went to walmart and got some groceries for the week. I can't believe that the kids break is already over and I wish that it would last about another week. I love it when they are home and now I will start the countdown to Christmas break just like they are I'm sure. Three whole weeks then they are off for 2 weeks until after the first of the year. I really can't think of anything else that happened over the last week so hopefully I'm not missing anything. We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Time to relex for once, I hope!

The weekend is almost here and everyone in this house couldn't be happier after a very hectic weekend last weekend and busy Monday this week. Tj's game last Sunday night went great and they won again! Now we think he is officially done with football games until next season. He is now getting ready for the conditioning to get started after Thanksgiving. After all of us being out in the cold at Tj's game last Saturday the girls didn't really feel that great the rest of the weekend and we struggled all day Sunday with Keely's breathing. We gave her the breathing treatments every few hours and finally Sunday night after they were not helping I decided I would take her into the ER. By that time she had also come down with a fever. I always hate doing that since it takes so long to get anything done but I was afraid things would just get worse throughout the night. Haley stayed home with Tate and Scott was at Tj's game so I had to take her in by myself. They did a chest x-ray and it showed that she had the start of pneumonia coming on and it was a good thing we got her in when we did. I know that the cold air on Saturday was what made her get so much worse so fast. They started her on a new antibiotic and finally today she does seem to be feeling a bit better. After getting home about midnight we all had to get up early Monday so we could head to Omaha for Tatum and Tj's appointments. For the most part every one's appointments went very well. Tatum first had to get the ultrasound done on her head then to have blood drawn. At her appointment later that morning with the doctor he said that her ultrasound looked great! That was a huge relief since she has been having such bad headaches so often. Her blood work was also pretty good for her being sick with some kind of virus. Her spleen is enlarged but he didn't seem to concerned about it right now. That is something that we have to check often and keep an eye on. IF it ever gets too swollen and quites working they would remove it which isn't something that is terribly uncommon with sickle cell patients. The hematologist said that we will need to do a scan of Tate's head if her headaches continue but we are also suppose to look for things that aren't normal for her. He said to watch for her losing her balance or being out of it sometimes like she doesn't know what is going on. She hasn't had any of that at all so I'm hoping the headaches go away. The only thing that has really changed is that she is getting up tons during the night. She fist doesn't want to go to bed then after getting to sleep she is up sometimes as many as five times a night! That has been over a month now and it is really getting old. I guess we will just wait and see what happens over the next few weeks and if she isn't better we will have her head scanned. We have still been going to the YMCA in the evenings. Tate is loving the daycare so much, she looks forward to it everyday! I wish I could say the same for Keely. She did great the first few days and played but now she has decided that she just wants to cry the whole time. They hold her and she still crys so they come and get me. I haven't got too great of workouts this week because of it either. Then last night we took her and she ran off and played until we left the room. Not even five minutes after I got on the treadmill they came and got me because Keely got so upset she threw up on one of the workers there. They didn't want to keep her after that so Scott stayed in there with her and tried to get her to play. She is so full of energy and usually the one who likes people. I guess I have had her home with me too long and now she doesn't know how to go and play with other kids. I'm not sure what we will do with her but hopefully she will start doing better if we keep taking her there. Haley and Tj have now been sick all week and I have to take both of them to the doctor today to see if we can get them some antibiotics. I think we are just spreading germs around our house from one person to another. Tj has been so healthy the whole winter so far but really is feeling crappy this week. Tj still has plans to go skating tonight. He also got invited to watch the Husker game from Tom Osborne's suite again! So hopefully between times he can get some rest and get to feeling better. Haley was planning on going to a winter wonderland dance at school tomorrow night but after finding out there weren't many people going she decided not to go. She must really like hanging out at home with us I guess! Scott, the girls, and I have plans to go out for supper and then to Chuck E. Cheese for the girls to get out and play for a while.

I also want to share some excitement that we had this week. When we met Keely for the first time we also got the chance to meet her birth mother. I will call her K. Since meeting her that day we have received one very nice letter from her and then we never heard anything and neither had the worker at the agency. We have continued to send letters and pictures once in a while even though we never knew if K would ever let anyone know where she was so they could give her the letters and pictures. We always think about her and also Keely's two siblings that K is raising alone. I had just sent new pictures of Keely and a letter for her about a month ago. I got a email back from the worker that she would keep them on file and that she hadn't heard from her birth mother still. Then this week I got another email that her birth mother had contacted the agency and is doing good! After giving birth to Keely the agency helped her get an apartment. Well she had a fire at her apartment and lost all the pictures she had of Keely from when she was a baby. So we are going to make her a new album for Christmas of Keely from the time we got her until now. I decided to write to the agency again the other day to see if there was any items that we could send that would help her get back on her feet and into another apartment. She wrote back and said that K called the agency again and said she had a letter and new pictures of the kids for us so we are very excited about getting those. She also stated that she had ran into Keely's birth father's mom and she is still upset about the adoption. We knew in the beginning she was upset about it and she had even talked with the agency but nobody had heard from her since then. I guess she did call the agency again this week but the worker hadn't had a chance to talk to her yet. The worker asked if we would be open to sending birth grandmother pics and letters too to hopefully make her feel more at ease about the adoption of her granddaughter. We are fine with that and glad they want to know about her. We also hope to get some information about Keely's birth father since we know nothing about him at all. The worker at the agency is going to be meeting with K sometime and hopefully that we will be able to stay in contact with her now more frequently through the agency. This is such a huge relief for us to know that she is doing OK and the kids are too. We hope everyone has a great weekend and Thanks so much for reading our blog! It finally made 1000 hits!

Ever changing plans

Everything we had planned for the weekend all changed Thursday evening. We were planning on going out for supper Thursday night after being doing some shopping at the mall. When we got to the car I had a message from Tj's coach that they had set up a game for the team to play Sunday night and we were suppose to be at the field at 5:30pm and that was only a half hour away. So we rushed to the field so Tj could check out his stuff again and practice a bit. Well by the time they got their stuff checked back out they had 4 games scheduled over the weekend all in Omaha! So Friday night Scott and Tj went to Omaha for his game and it didn't get started until 9:30pm and they got home late. Then Saturday morning all of us got up early and headed back to Omaha for his second game at 11:45am. These games they scheduled were all star games and he and 4 other boys were chose from the Lincoln team to play with some players from the Omaha team. They won both Friday and Saturday's games by a long ways. When we got back to town Saturday afternoon everyone relaxed a bit then had to go to Tj's step performance that night. It was a lot of fun and neat to see all levels perform with his middle school team, some high school teams, and two college teams. When we all got home we were exhausted and the girls and I went straight to bed. Today Tj was suppose to have a game at 11:45am then again at 3:30pm. After the last two days and the girls not feeling good I decided we would stay home so Scott and Tj went by themselves. When they got to the field they found out that the two teams that they were suppose to play today had forfeited! So after the trophy presentation Scott, Tj, and 5 other boys from Omaha came back to Lincoln to prepare for another game that is set to be tonight at 7pm. Scott dropped all the boys off at the sports complex where the game will be tonight and they have spent the afternoon there and will have supper. Scott said the drive back to Lincoln with six 11 and 12 year olds was very interesting and there was never a dull moment. Haley ended up using Tj's hockey ticket Friday night and had a blast. The girls and I just stayed home and rested. While we were home Tate broke out in a rash all over her body and itching. I called the doctor and they thought it was a reaction to the antibiotics that she had been prescribed a couple days earlier and we were suppose to discontinue them. After some benadryl she was fine. Saturday night again she broke out all over her legs but it wasn't nearly as bad as Friday night when it was all over her body. Then again today she broke out on her face with the rash and itching. I am not convinced that it's from the antibiotics since we haven't been giving them to her and she still is breaking out. The doctor now thinks maybe it's viral hives or something. But the same thing has happened before when she was on another antibiotic last year. Since she gets penicillin shots monthly they aren't sure why she doesn't have a reaction to that but is to these others. Her headaches are continuing to get worse and more frequent so hopefully we will get something figured out tomorrow at her appointment in Omaha. Keely is so stuffed up and still has tons of green junk coming out her nose and watery eyes even after one round of antibiotics. We have started doing her nebulizer treatments every few hours and it is helping loosen some junk up. Hopefully that will get her cleared up soon. I got my first allergy shot on Friday and if I hadn't seem the needle and medicine I wouldn't have even known I ever got a shot. I didn't even feel the slightest poke at all. It really was weird! But I am thankful it doesn't hurt especially since I will be getting them weekly for a long time. We feel terrible that we missed out on the two birthday parties we were suppose to go to today but also know that everyone else doesn't want whatever it is that we have and can't seem to get rid of. After this weekend I think I am ready for the week to begin for once!

Random updates

This week is actually going by much faster than I anticipated it would so that is a plus! We joined the YMCA this week and Haley and I have been going every night so far. Last night Tj went with us too and swam while we worked out. Keely stayed home with Scott and I figured Tatum wouldn't want to go since Keely wasn't but she was very excited to still go, even by herself. She doesn't seem to play with anyone really but I know it does her good to be out and around other kids. The night her and Keely went they just stuck together the whole time and I'm hoping they start to play with new friends and figure out that they don't have to stay together when they are there. It is so strange to me that a child could be so excited to go to daycare but since we have started going Tatum ask about a dozen times a day if it's time to go to daycare. I guess since I went all the time as a kid and hated going it just surprises me. Guess it must be because it's something new to the girls, but thankful they enjoy it. They can be there up to two hours a day and hey, who wouldn't want to get 2 hours of free daycare each day! It's a nice break and gives me time to actually relax a bit. Friday Tj is going to another Lincoln Star's hockey game with our friend and Haley is going to babysit her youngest son while they go to the hockey game. It's nice that she has been able to do a little babysitting for her and earn some extra money. Saturday we will be watching the Nebraska game I am sure. Tj has another step performance on Saturday night at Wesleyan and there will also be high school and college step teams performing so it should be a lot of fun to see. Sunday we have a full day of birthday parties planned. Scott's little brother is having a birthday party Saturday and also our friends little girl is turning one tomorrow so they are having her party later Sunday afternoon also. Already sounds like it's going to be a busy weekend.

I think I have mentioned before that I have been having a lot of problems with my sinuses and did finally have a scan done on them. It just showed that I had acute sinus infection and that was after about a month of being on different antibiotics. So the specialist put me on a very strong antibiotic again. I also went in for allergy testing last Friday and that reveled that I have an allergy to dust mites, and a couple different grasses. They now believe that a lot of my sinus problems are coming from these allergies. Since the dust mites are virtually impossible to stay away from they suggested that I start doing allergy shots and I agreed that was what we would do for treatment. It is called immunotherapy and I will be getting shots for 3-5 years. Starting out I have to go in weekly for these shots then after 3-4 months and they have determined that I have reached a maintenance phase Scott and I will be trained to give me these shots ourselves so I don't have to keep going into the clinic weekly. That will be very helpful for my schedule! These maintenance shots may not be weekly later on but will be at least every other week for 3-5 years. I am suppose to see an improvement in my symptoms in 6 months to a year so I am trying to be optimistic. The scan also showed that I have a deviated septum which I have no idea how I got but he said most likely from trauma to my nose at some time. With that my right nostril has some obstruction so that could be another cause of all the congestion and reoccurring sinus infections. IF we don't see improvement after a while from the allergy shots then I will have surgery to fix the deviated septum but the doctor doesn't think that will be necessary. Lets hope not. I think if that was the main cause of my problems I would have been having trouble long ago and all this started a little over a year ago. I go for my first shot on Friday and also have been started on another round of antibiotics since Scott and I both have strep throat and my congestion started coming back within 4 days of being off my last antibiotics. I am also taking prednisone to help with all the inflammation I keep getting in my sinuses and that is one of the most effective things I have ever taken and it helps me breath. I forgot how good it felt to be able to breath out of my nose and not be all stuffed up, it's a great feeling! The doctor things I haven't been able to fully get over everything from all the factors I talked about like the deviated septum, allergy, and also getting the H1N1 really brought my body down and it's not recovering very quickly.

I have wrote on here before about Tatum going to the hematologist twice a year for a check up for her sickle cell. They also do a transcranial doppler which is an ultrasound that checks the blood flow in her head to make sure she isn't at risk of stroke from sickled red blood cells blocking oxygen from her brain. Well we were scheduled to go back for that check up December 10th. Well, Tatum has continued to have headaches almost on a daily basis since she had the H1N1 that was about a month ago. There are days that she will complain of headaches several times a day and even wakes up crying in the night complaining of her head hurting. But then the next day she might be fine and not have a headache for a day and sometimes even longer. There have for sure been more days with headaches than not though and I just continue to give her ibuprofen for them and it helps. Then when she got up yesterday crying first thing and wanting to be help all morning it seemed to me that these headaches shouldn't be happening so much so I talked to our pediatrician and he talked to he hematologist to see what he thought. He thought that we should do the scan earlier than in December since it could actually be related to her sickle cell. When Tate was in the hospital they really thought it was just left over from the H1N1 so I was blaming it on that. Plus, I really didn't know that she could be having a problem with her sickle cell with only her head hurting, its always her arms or legs hurting when there is a problem. So now we go to Omaha Monday. Which works out great because Tj also has an appointment in Omaha on Monday. Now we will just have to leave a little earlier since Tate's ultrasound is at 8:30am then we will get blood drawn. Tj's appointment is at 10am at a different hospital so we will go there and then head back to where Tate's appointments were and meet with the doctor to go over the ultrasound and blood work. Going to be a busy morning but glad we can get it all done in one day! I am hoping nothing shows up and all her blood work is good like it always has and hope the headaches just quit coming back.

Report cards came out last week for the big kids and Scott and I could not be so proud of them both! From the midterm report Tj improved a lot and is doing so good. Haley has always struggled a little in school but since the move she is doing better than ever and had all A's and B's with the exception of math and that was a C but we are very happy with that considering she struggled to even pass math last year. For all their hard work we want to reward them and Tj is planning on getting his hair braided hopefully this weekend! He has been growing it for quite a while now with the goal of being able to get it braided. Haley hasn't said what she wants but probably just wants money so she can get what she wants. It's amazing how less hectic things are when they are doing good in school and know what is expected of them here at home and at school. Well if any of you are still reading I hope that you have a great weekend!

Monday again

Here are a couple pictures from Tate and Tj's party that I never got posted and thought you might like to see.

What a great weekend it was here! Great weather, Huskers won, and everyone had a great time this weekend. Last week I really can't even remember what all happened other than Keely was sick with pink eye and yucky ears and nose. She is better now and ornery as ever! Thankfully nobody else has got the pink eye like I thought we would. Oh, and I almost forgot the craziest part of the week. I think it was Tuesday the girls and I were going to goto the zoo with a friend of ours. While we were out Scott wrote and said that his company, BNSF was bought by Berkshire Hathaway. I asked how it was going to affect him and he wasn't sure. Then he text and said that they just had a meeting and were told about the sale. I of course wanted to know what they said and how are we going to be affected. He proceeded to tell me that he would be out of a job by December! I said "You better be joking!" After a while he finally told me it was a joke and that he shouldn't really be affected. In fact it might even be a good thing for the company. So I was very irritated with him that he pulled such a prank that really wasn't too funny to me. Later that night he went to Jui Jitsu. It usually gets over about 5:30. He called me at 5 and told me I had to come get him. I was thinking oh great I suppose he got hurt since he is really accident prone. But no he tells me that our car was getting towed and I had to come get him to go get it. Since he pulled a prank earlier in the day I thought it was a joke again and said yea right! But it was really true! He had parked in a no parking spot and when he went to get a drink during class he looked out the window to see our car on a tow truck. He went running out and told the guys it was his car. Since they already had it off the ground they couldn't just take it off and give it to him. They had to charge him the 120.00 and let him go to and ATM and get cash then they took it down for him and let him go one his way. Needless to say it was a very stressful day and I was not too pleased with him.Thank goodness we don't have those kind of days all the time. Friday evening Scott's mom came to spend time with the girls and I think they had a lot of fun hanging out at home, watching Dora, and going to the park. While she was here with the girls Scott and I took Haley and her friend to the movies, went and picked up Tj's friend, took them to skating, then went on a dinner date all by ourselves! It was great and we got to try a new Chinese restaurant here in town. It was so good and now we have finally found a good Chinese buffet here in Lincoln that we love. They had crab legs, and tons of them. Scott and I both love crab legs but they don't have them that many places where they are all you can eat. After we got done Scott took me home and I got the girls ready for bed and he went and got Haley from the movies. Later Scott and Haley went and got Tj and his friend from skating. Tj's friend was suppose to stay the night but decided he didn't want to because of our dogs. Tj had told him how hyper they are and he thought they would bite him. Hopefully he can come over and spend the day one of these days so he can get use to them and figure out that they won't bite him. Saturday morning everyone slept in a little bit. Tj had practice at 10am till noon then him and Scott went golfing for the afternoon. The girls spent the morning with Scott's mom and Haley and I went and got some groceries. Everyone had lunch together and then Scott and Tj left. The rest of us took naps. I hated taking a nap on such a nice day but Scott and I hadn't been feeling good and all I really felt like doing was sleeping. When we all got up from napping Scott's mom headed home. We of course watched the game Saturday night and were very pleasantly surprised that we played pretty good AND won! It was a very lazy night for everyone. Sunday Tj had a game at 3:30 so he had to be at the field in Omaha at 2pm for pre game practice. We dropped him off and went to a couple of the malls in Omaha to look for something Scott had been looking for and before we knew it it was time to head back to the game. Tj's team played hard but the other team was much larger and beat them pretty bad. Today they will check in all their uniforms and be done with games. November 30th they will start winter conditioning and that will be four days a week for an hour each day. It's not required that they do it but is an option and Tj is excited to get started with weight training and position training. Scott is still doing Jui Jitsu 2-3 days a week and I think Haley and I are going to start going to the YMCA by our house a few days a week. We took a tour of it one day last week and the girls loved the daycare they have there for them. That was a good sign because Tatum use to sometime throw a fit when we would take her to the YMCA daycare. Hopefully they both like it and give Haley and I some time to try and get in a little better shape before the holidays come. Speaking of holidays I can't believe that Christmas is in only about a month! I need to get busy that's for sure. Hope everyone is enjoying this warm weather we are having here in November.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

We had a great evening of trick or treating and the kids were all so into it! Tate even ran from one house to another once in a while and would say Thank You like 3 or 4 times before leaving the houses. Keely was lagging behind the whole time but was VERY proud of her bucket full of candy. So much so that she wouldn't let ANYONE carry it for her even when it was so full it was jerking her around when she walked. They were all so cute! When we got home we had a few kids come over and trick or treat but not as many as I thought there might be. Today went by so fast and its hard to believe that the older kids vacation is almost over. Tj has started playing football even though the season ends in a couple weeks and him and Scott went to his football practice this morning from 10-12. Haley, the girls and I went out and did a little shopping and got started on Christmas gifts. Tj and his friend went with Tj's mentor to the museum today to the day of the dead celebration and seemed to have a good time. Tonight Tj went to the Lincoln Star's hockey game and Haley is going to go babysit for our old neighbor's kids. Seems like everyday is so darn busy anymore! Tomorrow Tj will get to play in a football game for the new team he just joined and it will be in Omaha. They have games every Sunday and they all are in Omaha as far as we know. So tomorrow will be spent there and it's suppose to be a nice day out so that will make it even better. Then its back to our normal school day schedule on Monday!

Lots of catching up to do

I really thought I was going to be getting new post up more often and then I had to ruin it by going way over a week without posting. Everyone did seem to get better last week with the exception of some of us still coughing. Tate continued to have a fever off and on all though the weekend and even this week. We went back to my hometown of Sargent last weekend. Tj didn't end up going with us because he was offered the chance to go watch the Huskers play again in Tom Osborne's sky box and couldn't possibly turn it down. We missed him but know he had a much better time staying in Lincoln than he would have had going to little ol Sargent. When we were back in Sargent we didn't really do a lot. We had dinner at my grandma's on Saturday and all our family was there. It was a great time and the girls had fun playing with my little cousins that are their age. We too had to watch the Husker's play on TV but I didn't watch for long since it was such an awful game. We got to go to my dad's grave and put out some flower since it had been 4 years since he passed away. While we were back we just had to go and eat supper at The Ritz! It's a little cafe that has such good food and even better ice cream and all of us seem to miss it so much. During the week sometimes we talk about how we are hungry for some ice cream from the Ritz or food from there. Sunday when we got up we all got ready and got left by 11am. It was nice to get back to Lincoln early afternoon so we could get ready for the new week. Haley and Tj haven't had school this whole week so it's been nice having them home during the days. Tj seemed to keep pretty busy and he can hardly believe the week is almost over. Tuesday afternoon he went with one of his mentors to a place called Spring Creek Prairie which is a 808-acre tallgrass prairie nature preserve located 20 minutes southwest of Lincoln. He said it was really cool and was so pretty it looked like it was just a big picture. Wednesday he had a dentist appointment then went and spent the afternoon and night with his mom. They went to the Michael Jackson movie he had been wanting to see. Tuesday and Wednesday Tate was so crabby and only wanted me to hold her both days so finally after Haley, the girls and I took Tj to his moms I decided that Tate had been sick long enough and took her to the doctor. By the time we got there she was so lethargic and didn't even wake when the doctor was looking in her ears, nose, and throat or pushing on her belly to see if her spleen was enlarged. Since she had really had a fever and the coughing for over 10 days off and on he decided it would be better to admit her and get all the blood work done along with a chest x-ray. He also thought maybe she was getting dehydrated and needed IV fluids. So we headed to the hospital and Scott met us there since it was time for him to get off work. They got her admitted quicker than ever and lab came and got blood work and before they even left radiology was there to do the chest x ray. It was great that the doctor called up before we got there so they could get right on it. All her blood work seemed to be OK and her Hemoglobin was 10.3 which is in the normal range. That is usually what indicates if she is having a crisis but when you get dehydrated it makes the hemoglobin go up so it's hard to tell. They do believe she was having a crisis since the hemoglobin was even lower than when she was in the hospital in March and having a bad crisis. It was also lower than it was in August when we were on vacation and she had the pain crisis. The IV fluids seemed to help a lot and they also gave her IV antibiotics to make sure she didn't have any infections. She had a good evening and we both even got some good sleep until 6am Thursday morning. They had given her the hydrocodone right before bed and it wasn't even 5 minutes before she was asleep. Thursday morning the doctor came in and saw us and decided that Tate looked good enough that we could go home. She thinks she is having the crisis from being dehydrated which was caused by the fever she has had off and on for over 10 days. It all come from the H1N1 her and I had almost 2 weeks ago. We got out of the hospital around 11 am and went and got TJ from his moms. In the afternoon we met Scott after he got off work and headed to Omaha to Coco keys water resort in the holiday inn. We had planned on going the whole week since the kids were out of school and are thankful that we were still able to go. We debated on taking Tate since she always seems to have a crisis after she gets cold from swimming but too her anyway. We had a great time and Tate even had a good time thanks to the pain meds. Keely played more there than she ever has and loved going down the slides. Haley and TJ and Scott went on the big slides quite a bit and had a great time. When we left around 8pm everyone was so exhausted. Today me and all the kids went out to Walmart and Sam's to get groceries. When Scott gets home we are all going to carve pumpkins. Tj is going skating and I am going to color Haley's hair later tonight. Tate still seems to be kind of grumpy but hope she wakes up from her nap in a good mood. Keely is doing great and seemed to love the one on one time with Haley while Tate and I were in the hospital. Tomorrow Tj is going to a museum here in town that is having a day of the dead celebration and if everyone is in a good mood tomorrow the rest of us may go too. I think that is all I can think of that we have been up. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Here is the link to the spring creek prairie if anyone is interested in it
http://www.springcreekprairie.org/spngcrk.htm

here is the link to coco keys and now until November 19th there is free admission of you get there before 5pm Monday-Thursday. Get the passes online though so you are guaranteed a ticket.
http://www.cocokeywaterresort.com/Locations/omaha/index.aspx

Recouperating!

Tatum and Tj's party turned out great and they got so spoiled! Of course everyone had to watch the football game after we got done having cake and opening presents. Too bad it couldn't have been a good game! Everyone left around 6 Saturday evening. My mom, brother and grandma stayed in town at a hotel. Tatum had been asking all day if she could stay at the hotel with grandma. I really didn't think she would want to when it really came down to us leaving her there but she did and had a great time. When we saw her Sunday morning she said she wanted to stay at the hotel again. Late Saturday night I started not feeling good at all and my cough that I had through out the day got much worse. It was a long night Saturday night and when I got up Sunday morning my whole body hurt and my fever was 102.6. I guess I am glad I was well for the party but am worried how many people are going to now get sick because I might of been contagious Saturday. Sunday I continued to get worse and decided to go to the doctor. They said my sinuses were inflamed again and I had just finished a round of antibiotics so now I have an appointment at an ear, nose, and throat clinic this week to figure out why they won't stay normal. I also was tested for H1N1 and found out I have that. They prescribed me the antiviral medicine Tamiflu and also another antibiotic for my sinuses. I called the girls clinic as soon as I found out I had H1N1 to see if they would treat them just as a preventative and they told us to come to our appointment Monday morning for Tate's 3 year check. All I did Sunday was sleep and lay in bed and rest. Thank goodness for Scott and the older kids helping out around the house and entertaining the girls. Monday morning I didn't really feel any better but knew I had to get up and get ready to take Tj and Haley to school and care for the girls. Our old neighbor Roxanne called and said she would keep Keely if I wanted her to so I took Keely to her house when I took Haley to school. Keely is such a busy girl I don't know that I could have kept up with her or not I felt so awful. I ended up taking Tate for her 3 year check. It went well but by then she had also come down with a bad cough. The girl's doctor decided to treat them both with the tamiflu just as a preventative. After we got done at the doctor Tate and I came home and took a nap for a couple hours. After that nap I knew I felt a little better and my fever had not come back. As the evening went on Tatum got a fever and we have been having to give her ibuprofen since yesterday evening. She did sleep OK during the night and only woke up at 4 am with her fever at 103.5. Today I am feeling way better with the exception of a little cough and lots of congestion from my sinus problem. Tatum woke up in a great mood but still has the fever. Even with the ibuprofen I haven't been able to get it under 101. She is drinking good but not eating too much. As long as we can keep her hydrated that will help a lot. Keely doesn't seem to be showing any symptoms of the flu so lets hope the tamiflu keeps it at bay. Thinking back to last week when Scott first got sick he really did have the same symptoms as I have had. When his started out he had the fever and body aches. By the time he went to the doctor his fever and body aches were gone but had the horrible cough so they just thought it was bronchitis. So the virus has probably been in our house over a week and Haley even may have had it last week when Scott was sick. Tj is doing great so far and doesn't seem to be getting sick yet. He said he doesn't get sick very often so hopefully he doesn't get this. Today the girls and I are just staying home and getting some rest. I am going to try and disinfect everything I can to hopefully kill any virus or bacteria that might be floating around here. Today the kids both get out of school early at 2 pm for a teacher planning day.

The weekends finally here!

We sure are glad that the weekend is here! Scott ended up having to go to the doctor Thursday because he was not getting better. It turns out he has bronchitis and after some meds and rest last night he seems to be a little better today. The cough is just terrible and takes his breath away. It doesn't help that he has been working outside a lot and its been so cold, wet, and windy. Hopefully with the weekend here he can get a little extra rest and be feeling great to go back to work on Monday. I kind of have a weird feeling in my chest tonight and have started coughing also. I am really trying to ignore it and get some rest because with all the activities going on this weekend I can not be getting sick! I am on antibiotics right now so hopefully that will keep me covered from anything too serious. Tate's appointment on Thursday went OK. They really are at a lose as to why she can't possibly gain weight and had even lost some from the last time when we thought she had gained. As far as her weight they don't think she needs the feeding tube right now but if she continues to have pain crisis like she has since April she will be getting one. When she is healthy she doesn't eat enough to continue to gain weight and grow but when she is sick it only gets worse. The last couple crisis she had luckily she did continue to drink and eat some but not enough. Since we have been through almost all testing to try and find a reason why she doesn't eat without any answers they are again trying to tell me we need to have her behavior observed at mealtime to see if that is the problem. I know I am her mom but she is one of the best behaved kids I have ever seen. I have even questioned Keely's wild and crazy behaviors just because she is so much more active than Tatum. I am told that Keely is a normal kid and Tatum isn't as active and into everything as normal kids because of all her health problems. They are wondering if we let her get down from the table and play to avoid eating and other kinds of behaviors like that. That is not the case at all. She sits at the table with everyone during mealtime. She simply doesn't eat enough calories and has been that way since she was 4 months old. If this was an issue that just started then ya I would think maybe it was a behavior but I don't believe a 4 month old would purposely not eat! So when we talked with the nurse to go over the appointment I told her that we aren't interested in seeing if she has a behavior problem concerning meal time. She has been evaluated by a feeding specialist at the hospital here in Lincoln and was also evaluated by Lincoln Public Schools. All said she was doing great and didn't have any behavior issues. I think they are just trying to come up with something to blame. He also mentioned doing a endoscopy which she has already had one and it showed nothing. We will just continue as we have been and I will continue to call in her weight checks. If she continues to lose and they get alarmed they will call us otherwise we will proceed as normal. Also if she has more crisis or a lot of illness this winter and isn't able to take in enough fluids they will want to put in the feeding tube. Last night Haley and TJ went to a Lincoln Star's hockey game and had a lot of fun. Neither of them had ever been to a hockey game before. Scott, Tate, Keely and I stayed home most the evening and tried to get things ready for the party today. Speaking of the party. I can't believe that my first baby is 3 already! The time has gone so fast and it seems like just not too long ago we were on our way to Mississippi to meet her for the first time. She is such a strong, smart, loving, and all around amazing girl! TJ is going to be 12 on Friday but we are having his party today with Tate's as well. Even though we haven't had him since birth or even half his life we love having him in our family. It's hard to believe that I have a 12 year old now too. We love you Tatum and Tj and hope that you have a great day!

Suprise middle of the week update!

Gosh I sure am tired of this cold and rainy weather already! This week has seemed to really go slow but then again tomorrow is already Thursday. I just had a few minutes and thought I would update you all about the week since there is a party here this weekend and I might not get time to update. Scott and Haley haven't been feeling good but seem to be getting better tonight. Lets hope that continues and the rest of us stay healthy! Monday Scott and Tj went to Jui-Jitsu and had a great time. Scott must really be in bad shape though cause he came home with sore muscles and even some bruises. They are having a great time learning and will be continuing several times a week. Tj is doing step at school which is kind of like dance where they clap a lot and stomp their feet. It really is cool to watch and he is doing great. They are now practicing everyday of the week for a while because they will be performing in November sometime and need to get the routine down perfect. Tuesday Scott and I went to a meeting with our foster care agency to get updated on all the new changes that are coming to the foster care system in Nebraska. It really is quite overwhelming but hopefully for the sake of all the children in foster care all the changes will be a huge improvement over the current system. Tonight a friend of mine and I went out shopping for supplies for Tate and Tj's party this weekend. I got a call yesterday from the feeding and growth clinic in Omaha to tell me that after I called in Tate's weight check on Monday she has seen some improvement. In June when we were last there Tate was 11.4kg and now is up to 11.7 kg! To me that doesn't seem to be good improvement but hopefully they think it is enough for her to not a feeding tube again. Last week when we talked they had asked if we still had any of the supplies from when she had the feeding tube before. Since we rented the pump we don't have it anymore and I never want to have to deal with that stuff again so I am glad we didn't have it here on hand. They called again today and said they had a cancellation for the feeding and growth appointment for tomorrow. So now we will go to Omaha in the morning instead of the 29th. I am kind of glad that we will be getting it out of the way and see how the team thinks Tate is progressing. Keely is staying with a friend of mine so that will be a huge help so I can concentrate on what they say about Tatum. On Friday our friend is taking Tj and her kids to a Lincoln Star's hockey game instead of skating this week. Haley was going to go too but decided she doesn't know much about hockey and wasn't sure she would like it or not. That's OK with me cause I could sure use her help around here! Saturday is Tate's 3 rd birthday and next Friday is Tj's 12th birthday so we are having a combined party this Saturday. Actually it will be a birthday/husker party. I hope we have a great time and the weather cooperates. I will try to update tomorrow after Tate's appointment if there is anything alarming but we're hoping all is OK with the team and they tell us we don't need to come back for some time. Hope you all are having a good week!

Finally got the pictures taken!

Well it's been a long time again since I have posted. Sorry! Last weekend we did have the 12 year old boy that I told you all about and boy was it a busy weekend trying to keep him busy. We did have a lot of fun with him but he definitely has way more energy than any of us! TJ ended up spending the weekend with his mom so he didn't have TJ to hang out with and was really disappointed with that and he also could not quit talking about how bad he wanted to move in with us. I just kept having to remind him that we were going to have a great weekend and enjoy the time he had here. We really didn't go do much the whole weekend and just stayed in and relaxed. Scott has been talking to a friend who helps at a gym in town that does martial arts training and decided he wanted to go and try it out. Tuesday afternoon Scott and Tj went down to this gym and tried it and really liked it. They are trying to convince me to join. Tomorrow they will go again and try it out. I am sure they will end up joining and when they do it will be for our whole family. As of now I am not really sure I will ever go but should probably at least go see what its all about and who knows maybe Haley and I will like it too. Thursday we did finally go to our appointment to get the family pictures taken. It was a long evening but we did get some great pictures! I hate getting pictures and when its all done I am usually happy with the outcome at least. Keely's hair too 4 hours total to do this time but it turned out so cute and lets hope it will last at least a month before I have to redo it. I am sure some of you can't possibly understand how she would let us work on it for 4 hours. We had to do it in 4 hour and fifteen minute sessions and she did so good! She's so tough when it comes to getting her hair done compared to Tate. Tate doesn't even want you to tug a little on her head and Keely can take so much before she even starts to fuss. During hair time we have found it's easiest to sit the girls at the table and let them color or read books to them and that helps a lot. Snacks do wonders too! I have been sick this week with sinus trouble again and had to go back to the doctor to get more antibiotics and steroids for my sinuses. I am feeling 100% better today and can actually breath. They aren't sure why I keep having problems with my sinuses but if I don't get better soon and stay better I will have a scan done on my sinuses. They think there may be polyps in there causing all the trouble. I was just sick with the same thing in August so it wasn't too long ago. At least I am better now and I am so thankful we live in Lincoln where there are urgent care clinics open till 10pm that way I can go to the doctor after the girls have gone to bed. Friday Haley had a friend over after school and so did Tj. We all went out for supper then took Tj and his friend skating like usual on Fridays. Today we got around and went to Walmart to get groceries then I spent the afternoon cooking chili. Tj and his friend went with Tj's mentor to the wildlife safari that is between Lincoln and Omaha and had a good time. When they got back Tj went to spend the evening with his mom. Haley is having a friend over tonight and they are watching movies and eating popcorn and M&M's. Tate and Keely are doing good and actually have stayed healthy over the last week. Tate isn't doing too well eating again. Actually some days she does OK but she has grown taller again and really is so thin again. We go back to our feeding and growth appointment the 29th and she has her 3 year check on the 21st so I am sure someone will have something to say about her weight but lets hope not. At the end of the month Haley and Tj have a week off of school so they are looking forward to that. Tate can't quit talking about her birthday that is coming up and wants Dora everything! Guess that is all I know for now and hope you enjoy the pictures!

I was hoping to have new family pictures for you all to see on this post but we had to cancel our appointment we had last night. Keely has been sick with a lot of trouble breathing from her asthma acting up. I also need to do the girls hair and didn't get that done yesterday and the weather was rainy and cold. We have it rescheduled for next week so hopefully we will have new pictures up then. Everyone around here has been sick with something it seems. Tj is the only one who hasn't felt bad this week. Haley was home from school on Tuesday and I took her to the doctor. They gave her some antibiotics and she is feeling better. I think it's going to be a long winter since we all already have had some kind of sickness. Keely struggled all winter last year with respiratory problems and after getting her on her treatments for asthma it helped a lot. It's looking like this winter is going to be the same story. Last week our old neighbor and I had our garage sale on Thursday and Friday only. When I got there Saturday morning to put stuff out there weren't a lot of people out so we decided not to have it and went to garage sales ourselves! Later in the afternoon Tj's mentor came and got him and they went to the game. Scott and I went out on a little date when Haley offered to keep the girls. We just went out and did some shopping for Tj and Tate's birthdays that are coming up and then went out for supper. Of course the game was on at the restaurant so we did get to watch some of the game. We got home around 9pm and put the girls to bed and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Haley, Tj and our neighbor's 13 year old daughter stayed up almost all night playing wii. Thank goodness they have the basement to hang out in and were quiet. Sunday when we got up we all loaded up in the suburban and went to Fremont to meet my mom. My brother had a little car that we decided we wanted to buy from him to cut out some of the money we are spending on gas every week running kids here and there. While we were there we went out for lunch then came back home. It was a very quiet trip home since everyone was so tired from staying up all night the night before and it was the girls nap time. This week has been a good week and we sure are glad it's Friday! At the beginning of the week we got a call from our foster care agency and they wanted to know if we would consider taking a set of twins that were a month old and just being released from the hospital. It was very shocking to get a call like this since they did know that we had changed our mind about wanting an infant right now. We did really consider it and after deciding it isn't the right time we told them we didn't want to be considered. Then again yesterday we got another call for a 2 day old baby boy. We also told them no to this situation. I am sure we will adopt an infant again someday but we know these two situations weren't for us. We will know when the right situation is presented to us and we will want to be considered. If that is next week or next year we will wait until its the right time. We are doing respite this weekend for a boy we have had before. He is a real talker and asks tons of questions about everything. He is 12 so hopefully him and TJ and Haley get a long good. Haley is also having a friend over tonight so I am a little worried about what I could possibly make that is going to feed 8 people. I am thinking maybe spaghetti. I have finally figured out how to cook for 6 of us but even then there are no left overs. Scott misses that because we use to have so much left overs and he could take it for his lunches. Tj will go skating tonight and I am taking Haley and her friend to get their nails done. As soon as she gets her allowance she thinks she needs to spend some of it I guess. With all this cooler weather we probably won't do too much this weekend but I guess you never know.

Seems I can't seem to get our blog updated enough lately and the post seem to be quite boring if you ask me. I have been wondering weather or not I should just quit it altogether or keep it going with the details of our life. Anyone have an opinion about if we should keep writing or are you all bored with it? I guess today I could update you all on our future plans for adding to our family since the whole purpose of our blog to begin with was to talk about adoption. I have talked before about the fact that we don't plan on adding any infants or toddlers to our family anytime soon. By that I mean we do have a completed home study but are not actively seeking younger children right now and don't have our home study with any agency at this time. So that is our plans but there are quite a few people who know we are all approved to adopt so you just never know when we might get a call if someone thinks of us. We love the way things are right now with our family and are quickly figuring out what its like to be a family of 6! We have been discussing getting another foster child sometime but not sure when that will be. We have got several calls about placements but the situations seemed more than we could handle. I am sure some of you were wondering if we would ever turn down a child and yes we have be its hard every time. We do know our boundaries and that we can't take every child presented to us.

Last week seems to be a blur to me. We did go to my grandpa's funeral Thursday in Kearney and then to the burial in Comstock. It was a long day but also great to see a lot of people we don't see often. Too bad we have to meet up on such bad circumstances though. Friday was a very stressful day as we lost Tj for about 2 hours. It ended up being a huge case of misinformation by his school and him not having a way to contact us. He is doing step class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until 4:15 after school and Friday he was to ride the later bus. The school had told me on Monday that the bus stopped at a certain spot close by our house. Well they actually told me wrong and he had to get off at a different place about two blocks from where we thought he would. He ended up calling his mom from the library the bus dropped him off at and couldn't get a hold of her. He didn't have our number with him either and no cell phone. I knew he wouldn't go with someone he didn't know and suspected he was walking to our house or his moms but didn't see him on the route to our house. Then Scott decided to go the direction of his moms and didn't see him. Then we got a call from his mom and he had walked there. He was very upset and scared not knowing what to do and wasn't able to get a hold of anyone. Needless to say he now has a cell phone to call if something like that ever happens again. It was such a relief when we found out where he was and was OK. Haley also had a friend stay overnight Friday night. Saturday Scott, the girls and I went to more garage sales. Scott found a golf bag and some clubs so decided he's going to start golfing with Tj now. Around noon Scott and Tj went golfing with our friend Alan. They had a great time and can't wait to go again sometime. We watched the Husker game all afternoon and had snack food. Tj went to stay with his mom Saturday night and came home Sunday evening. While he was gone the rest of us just relaxed and cleaned house and the garage.

This week is turning out to be very busy already and it's only Tuesday. We had parent teacher conference tonight for Tj and it went pretty good. He's just too darn quiet and needs to communicate more with the teachers but is soo smart they all said. We already knew that though! Tomorrow I have to get Tj out of school early for an appointment that shouldn't last long. Then he will go back to school for step class. We are doing respite tomorrow night until Friday night for a girl we use to do respite for about once a month but haven't had for about 3 months. We are looking forward to having her again and she goes to school with Tj so they can ride the bus together. She also goes skating on Friday nights so her and Tj know each other from that too. The girls are excited for her to come and her and Haley also get along great. Today my old neighbor and I started getting ready for our garage sale we are having this Thursday to Saturday. We have a lot of stuff that is really cheap so hope we get rid of lots of it because we aren't having another one anytime soon and I don't want to bring any of it home. Then tonight on our way home from parent teacher conference Tj's mentor called and said Tom Osborne called him again to see if him and Tj would like tickets to the game this weekend again. He of course said yes and can't wait to go again. They won't be in the suite again but Tom said they were very good seats! Tj said he actually likes watching the games better from the stands because its easier to see than clear up in the sky boxes. Scott is so jealous! Other than him going to the game we don't have any plans again! I love weekends with no plans because you never know what will happen or what we will decide to do at the last minute. Tate and Keely are doing great as usual. Most days are great but let me tell you when one of them has a bad day they both have a bad day and those are the days I think it might be easier to have a real job! Tatum for some reason can't quit talking about going to school and she has everything you could think of in her backpack! Not really but anytime someone asks for something she will tell you "I have that in my backpack for you" Then tonight to my surprise she was drawing/scribbling on some paper and told me she was going to write a T for Tatum. I could hardly believe my eyes when I looked and she really did! It was a small t but still I was amazed. Keely is changing more every day and has almost as good of vocabulary as Tatum. Her talking is doing great. We tried potty training this weekend with out much success. She can tell us when she goes but I guess hasn't got it down that she needs to tell us BEFORE she goes cause she didn't make it in the potty even once. Maybe we'll try again this weekend. She is young but is interested since big sis does it all the time. Well I better get to bed since tomorrow might be busy. Hope you all are well and enjoying this cooler weather.

Another weekend gone, ready for another week! I think. First I should mention that after Scott's softball game Thursday night we got a call from my aunt that my grandpa that we went and saw a couple weekends ago passed away. He had cancer the last couple years that would get worse then better. He has been in the hospital the last couple months but fairly comfortable. We are so glad that he didn't have to suffer and be in a lot of pain throughout his battle with cancer. Friday TJ went skating then spent the night with a friend. Scott's mom and her husband came to spend the evening with us also and we all went out for supper. After supper we went and watched TJ skate for a while and got to see a girl that we use to do respite for. It was great to see her and see how she was doing. It's hard not to wonder about kids we have had in the past and just hope they are doing well. Saturday morning Scott, Haley and I got up early and went to garage sales. It was a lot of fun and we found some great deals. Mostly clothes for the girls. After we went to some garage sales it was time to go get TJ and take bring him home so he could go to the husker game with his mentor. How lucky to be able to go to a husker game! But you know what is even more awesome? He and his mentor got invited by Tom Osborne to watch the game in his personal suite with him and his wife! He had a great time and it was probably a time he will never forget. There are probably many husker fans who only dream about getting to watch a game in one of the suites let alone with Tom Osborne. Scott and I took the girls to get their flu shots then to Walmart for some shopping. It was a nice quiet afternoon. When TJ got back from the game he was really tired from all the excitement and staying with a friend the night before. Haley and I went to the movies and Scott stayed home with the girls, TJ, and his friend Garret. They spent the evening playing wii. Today we had high hopes of staying home all day and relaxing but every time I think that is going to happen I am wrong. The girls have now got into the habit of getting up at 7am so that includes the weekends! Doesn't give us much sleep in time on Saturdays and Sundays but oh well at least that's 1 hour more than during the week.. No rest for the wicked right! We spent most of the day running errands and taking the kids to PETsMART for the first time. The girls weren't too sure about some of the fish but love to watch the kittens play in the cat house. Well we better leave for now, we are all tired from just playing in a 4 person wii bowling tournament. My arms going to hurt tomorrow..

Monday night

I sure hope you all had a great long weekend! We had a great weekend and it was so nice to have a weekend with no set plans. Friday night we did go to the state fair with Haley and Tj. My friend and her boy also went with us. The kids had so much fun and rode until they were sick! Literally! Well just Tj, he did ride one too many rides and as soon as we got out of the car at home he got sick. I felt so awful for him but at least after he got sick he felt much better. My friend that went with us got a babysitter for the girls and her 3 year old son so it was kind of a relaxing night just walking around and enjoying the fair. The girls had a great time with the babysitter and got to go play at our playground across the street. I was a little worried they wouldn't want to stay with the girl that was babysitting but they did great and told Scott and I both bye bye. Saturday morning we did NOTHING! Haley and Tj didn't even get up until noon and Scott, the girls and I just laid around watching TV. My mom ended up getting to Lincoln in the afternoon. We spent the evening eating out, shopping, and having some fun time at Chuck e Cheese. Sunday we decided we would have my neighbor friend and kids from our old house over that evening for a cook out. Scott smoked a pork loin all afternoon on the grill and I made beans, strawberry salad, and macaroni and corn casserole. It was so yummy but we had way more food than we could all eat. At least we will have some leftovers for the short week this week. Monday most of the day was spent going to the park with the girls several times and while they napped in the afternoon the rest of us took turns mowing the yard. We showed Haley and Tj how to trim with the weed eater too. It was surprising that they both wanted to help out with the mowing but is also good for them to help out with the chores. Speaking of chores, they both have jobs that have to be done and without Scott or I having to ask them to do them. If we have to ask them to do their jobs then they lose money from their allowance. They are doing great with the new allowance system and are learning quickly. It's not much fun losing money that is going to be for weekend fun! I guess I am ready for another busy week to start and hope we can all stay healthy. There is a lot of flu going around Lincoln lately. One of the high schools in town had 220 kids out one day last week. The girls are scheduled to get flu shots next Saturday and Tatum will get a swine flu vaccine as soon as it is available since she has a weakened immune system and needs all the protection she can get from the nasty bugs going around. Tj has had a cold most of the weekend and we hope that's all it is. He seems really tired with a headache and runny nose but no fever thank goodness. I have been meaning to mention to you all that Tatum has been eating so good lately and has learned to snack! I know snacking isn't a great thing to do but she wouldn't even do that before so we are happy with any progress. She has been eating meals really good too even with the snacking in between meals. She really hasn't gained much weight but has grown quite a bit taller it seems. She will be having her 3 year checkup next month so we will see what she weighs then. I don't weigh her often at home anymore and just try to forget all the feeding struggles we have had in the past since she is doing so well now.

Haley and Keely at Great Wolf Lodge

All the kids the first day at Great Wolf Lodge
Tatum and Keely goofing around at the mini golf course

Haley and Tj's first day of school

Scott and I at the fights

Where did summer go?

I really can't believe this cool weather we have been having and we are enjoying it so much. As I mentioned in the last post, Tate had a pain crisis while we were gone on vacation last weekend but it didn't last long. By Wednesday she was down to just being on the ibuprofen and active as ever. This was the shortest crisis she has ever had. Hopefully there won't be any more now! It is really sad to see this disease limit her from doing things like swimming. It seems we just aren't going to be able to let her swim if it is even a little bit cold. Three of the last 4 crisis have been linked to her getting too cold from swimming. We finally were able to close on our new house on Thursday. We are so glad that the other one is sold and this new one is purchased. There seem to be one thing after another come up with the whole process and we were beginning to wonder if the new buyers of our old house were ever going to get their stuff all together. We are loving the new house and got the garage all organized last weekend. Friday night TJ went roller skating and my friend Roxane and I went out for supper. Scott and Haley stayed home with the girls. They had a great time and spent the evening over at the playground by our house. Saturday TJ went to spend the night with his mom while Scott, Haley, and I cleaned and organized the garage. Later Saturday afternoon Roxane came over to watch the girls and Scott, Haley, and I went to the Tri-State Cage fights at the Lancaster Events Center. We had a great time and saw some good fights. Sunday we got up very early and headed to Kearney to see my grandpa who is in the hospital there. It was nice to see some of my family again including my aunt from Texas who was here visiting. After visiting for a while we drove to Grand Island for my aunts little girls 1st birthday party. The girls had a lot of fun and played so hard they were exhausted. When we got back to Lincoln we got TJ and came home to try and get ready for another week! We are finally getting everything organized and feel like things are starting to slow down a bit. That is a great feeling but won't last long I am sure. We are looking forward to the weekend. My mom and brother will be coming to stay with us Saturday. The state fair is also going on and I think we are planning on spending Friday evening there. We got unlimited ride passes for Scott, Haley, and TJ and I am sure we will have to have some fair goodies! Later today I will try and get some pictures up since I have a bunch from the last couple weeks.