Four is Crazy

Weird Phase of Life

2012-01-23T09:33:00.000-08:00

Have you ever gone through a phase of life where it seems like life moves on without you? I am feeling that way lately. I know that most of it is because we moved, and therefore life in IL is moving on without us, as it should. It still makes me a little sad that my friends' lives are moving on, their children are growing up, without us. I also realize that we are growing, changing, making new friends here, without our old friends.

I wish I knew how to ensure that the girls and their IL friends, and me and mine, all remain friends despite the distance.

With the consideration of middle school for Diva, I wish for my old support group so that I could discuss it with them. I know there is the phone/facebook/email, but alas, my friends are busy and not able to chat with me about it. Wow! That sounded whiney, and I really do not mean it to.

Reacting to change is difficult....for all of us.
God Bless

Homeschool or Catholic School?

2012-01-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

Where should Diva attend middle school...that is the question. We are close to making a decision, but really want to know that we are following God's chosen path for our little family.

1) - homeschool: easy enough, keeping the status quo, can challenge her when necessary, more one on one, ability to follow her lead, we LOVE using Seton, more time with Mom

2) - Catholic Middle School - we always planned to send them to middle school, more opportunties, more independence, great curriculum, school is able to deal with her individual needs, she wants to attend

There are many more reasons for both choices, right now we are close to a decision. She will attend the middle school next Tuesday as a 6th grader for a day. She is very excited! In the morning, Hubby and I (and 3 little girls) will have a meeting with the principal answer some final questions.

Please pray that we make the right decision for Diva, for our family, and in obedience to His Will.

New outlook on being a woman of God

2012-01-14T08:27:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, I am a very short tempered, quick to yell, mother. Obviously, I would like to change this about myself. I have recently realized that there are factors which make my attitude worse.

1) poor nutrition

2) not taking my vitamins

3) messy house

4) not exercising

5) doing it ALL myself

So, I have also come up with some steps to help.

Obviously eat better, exercise, and take my vitamins.

Also, when I fold laundry, I lay each pile by the child's place at the table. They cannot eat until they put away their clothes. I have a schedule of who cooks and cleans up, but struggle to stick with it. I am selling a bunch of stuff. This house is so small that we cannot put everything away, so I am selling off a bunch of things. My goal is to have them listed on eBay or Craigslist before bed on Sunday night. Lastly, to bring myself closer to God, I try to pray for the person whose clothes, toys, school work, etc that I am putting away. It is really difficult to yell while praying ;)

A year in pictures

2012-01-13T13:30:00.001-08:00

A new daycare family, we all fell in love with Lil Dude

First play for the 3 youngest, 2nd for oldest...Sneakydiddle

1st visit to Dubuque - in the 4th St Elevator

2nd year in t-ball for the twins, Mom's first year coaching

On our way to Disney!

Starting down the Irish Dance path

Yes, Diva was in another play, this time it was "Once Upon a Shoe" - everyone was dual/triple/quadruple cast

Hanging out at the Roshek (aka IBM) building

Saying Good-Bye to old friends

Attended a wedding

Meeting new friends

Welcome to Iowa!

1st day of public school....orchestra

The day we became "those new neighbors ;)"

American Heritage Girls

American Girl Club

New Hobbies

New Look

New Favorite Sport and New Year

Music and dance

2012-01-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

If you are from a non-musical family, like I am, and marry a musician, you might want to consider putting earplugs' and music or dance lessons on your baby registry.

Don't ever ever ever name a child Cecilia if music makes you crazy. It seems that St.Cecilia has blessed our wonder twin C with a love of music and uncanny musical abilities. Sadly, she did not bless me with the necessary love of music to parent this child. LOL

My house is very loud,and yes the girls talk a lot, which adds to the noise, but most of it is music. At this moment, there are 3 violins playing, not the same songs, not together, and one drum pad. Thank goodness we did not buy a drum lol. I may send a thank you card to the man at the music store that mentioned that children usually do not play an actual drum until middle school.

After violin practice,the girls are supposed to practice Irish Dancing, but I think they may have to wait. I cannot handle anymore music right now! I am thrilled that they will be able to go outside and ride scooters at lunch, hopefully some of the energy will decrease.

In the dream house,that I would to build someday, there will be a sound proof music room, with a dance floor...and a bathroom that has a door to the backyard. My friend has a bathroom that opens outdoors (and indoors), best idea ever!

On a related note....anyone know of a good pair of ear plugs...

Homeschooling in Iowa

2012-01-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, we are now living and homeschooling in Iowa. Unlike Illinois, Iowa actually cares what I teach and if/how my children learn. This has been somewhat stressful for me. I have to send in test scores at the end of the school year. This of course means that my children must take a test. LOL They have never been tested in that manner before, so it should be interesting.

Next year to avoid this silly testing, my girls will all be enrolled with Seton Homeschooling. They are accredited. I teach and grade almost everything, there are a few things they test. Then I send the grades to them, and Seton sends me a report card. I turn the report card into the school district.

One thing that is a BIG positive about homeschooling in Iowa, is dual enrollment. Diva is enrolled at the local elementary school, for violin lessons only. She attends school on Monday 8-8:20 am lol. She does not appreciate the time, but loves the teacher.

2012-01-06T05:18:00.000-08:00

My poor neglected blog. You can tell exactly when I opened my facebook account, the blog became redundant. I am going to try to use this blog as a home school review site. We use many ideas and products from different places around the web.

We will also keep a record of our girls Irish Dance performances and feisanna (competitions). All 4 girls are part of an ID school here in the lovely state of Iowa. They enjoy classes and are looking forward to competing.

A little background, we moved to Iowa in late August so that Big Guy could start working at one of the big name computer companies. We absolutely love the town we live it, the girls have friends, Diva plays in the local orchestra (along with lessons at the elementary school). We are continuing our home school path.

Happy Epiphany to everyone, God Bless.

Making Picking up Fun

2010-05-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

So today we are trying to pick up the daycare room (aka toss-all-toys-in-here-on-the-floor-room). Curly Girl was getting bored and decided to don a sword (duct tape + pvc pipe + pool noodle) and a hook (AG doll hanger) and become a captain. I became the one who told Cap'n Pain in the Tush (yes CG liked the name) where to put things....

e.g. - Cap't go to Box House City and get the pricess's dress and deliver it to her closet!

Daddy just told her to clean off the table - she was quite upset - I rephrased it to- "please take all dishes from the table and place them in the gally sink" - so much better for the Cap'n. LOL

A little funny for you...

2010-05-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

Today the Wondertwins have decided that their room is off limits to everyone except themselves. The way they announced it was, "Hear Me, Hear Me..."

I just cannot bring myself to correct them LOL.

Unrelated note - I ran my very first 5K yesterday with a time of 37:32. I was thrilled with my time, I wanted to be under 40 minutes.

Also, Friday it seems that I fed Wondertwin A something that is should not have - she has been in pain ever since - poor baby.

A funny for today

2010-03-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

Overheard in the playroom - Curly Girl is playing with Barbie and Ken. Barbie is pregnant with twins and is having a home birth. They wanted triplets but sadly only got twins. They had a homebirth because they forgot to buy a phone to call the doctor. LOL

Her imagination is hilarious!

I cannot believe I forgot!

2010-03-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

I never posted what was determined at the March GI appointment.

Well the most wonderful, fabulous, amazing news is that Wondertwin A has been OUT OF PAIN since the beginning of March!

After the EGD, the GI doc doubled her Prevacid. This finally allowed the gastritis in her stomach to heal. Once healed, she is no longer in pain. Her wonderul, happy, silly, sometimes naughty, often loud true self has been revealed.

We took her off of Loratadine and she takes Periactin as her antihistimine and appetite stimulant. After 2 weeks on the new meds, and being out of pain, Wondertwin A, for the first time ever broke the 34 pound mark.

When we go back in April, I hope to reduce the prevacid and stop the appetite stimulant. I think she will eat now, because it no longer hurts.

melting my heart...

2010-03-18T20:24:00.001-07:00

I was sick this morning, probably a touch of food poisoning. Not so bad that Big Guy had to come home, but sick enough that allowed the Disney Channel Stars (Jonas Bros and Demi Lavato) babysit my children today.

Anyway, while I was sleeping, Curly Girl brought in a newspaper that she made for me (a la Kit Kittredge of the AG stories). Here is the newspaper.

Translation: Mom is sick. Oh, poor Mom. I love Mom. Get well. The End.

I am thinking of counting toward spelling, handwriting, and character development - see I can even homeschool them when I sleep.

Overdue update

2010-02-18T19:58:00.000-08:00

Wondertwin A had another endoscopy and an MMI impedence study. Here are her results.

Endoscopy - stomach lining is still swollen and irritated, biopsies do not show EOS. Doc has never given me the numnbers of eos (if any) that he finds. He did say that EGID is still his number one theory about Wondertwin A. He also believes that we had the trigger foods removed before the first reliable EGD was done.

Impedence study showed that her throat clearing, coughing, and other weird throat sound are not related to reflux at all.

He doubled her Prevacid to 60mg daily. These seems like a huge dose for my little girl.

We go back March 11th. Unless she gain quite a bit of weight, we will schedule the ng tube placement at that time. She had lost weight again between the EGD and the day we were there for results.

A picture of all of her loot from the day! Beary3 from the GI staff, Minnie Mouse from Peds, blanket from Project Linus, Curious George from us, and 2 activity books from her sisters.

Gratitude

2010-01-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

I have been lacking in gratitude, and happiness, lately. I think part of it has been the weather, or maybe I need happy pills. Either way, I figure maybe being thankful for what I do have will help, and at least it will be a good thing, even if it does not help.

Anyway - here goes - in no particular order!
1 - We leave for Disney in 8 mos and 3 days - and the kids have no idea!
2 - I have 4 wonderful daughters who love to make me laugh.
3 - I have a wonderful husband of 12 years!
4 - God watches over me and He seems to have a lot of faith in what I can handle :)
5 - Anastasia is not as sick as she was one year ago.
6 - We have a great house that keeps us safe and warm.

What now?

2010-01-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

Wondertwin A has been having issues again for the last 2 weeks. She is not eating, has tummy pain, throat clearing, and cranky-pants-itis. A call to the GI, and we were seen yesterday. She has gained a pound since Dec (how is that possible? she does not eat!) so there will be no ng tube at this time. We are going to wait and see for 2 weeks to see if the other symptoms go away on their own. If so, great! If no, we will schedule another endoscopy.

Keep praying please!

2009-12-30T18:41:00.001-08:00

Free Disney Tickers

Allergist update

2009-10-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Our allergist is leaving OSF. Sad, sad, sad day. Luckily, she may be going into practice closer to us.

Today - Wondertwin A was put on inhaled steroids to get her "Reactive Airway Disease" aka asthma under control. We also have put in for this nebulizer. It is super tiny, smaller than my digital camera and silent. Since A will be using it daily, silent would be a big help. Please pray that insurance agrees with us.

Wondertwin C will be doing a pear food challange once our allergist gets settled. We are not confident that she will pass, but we want to be 100% sure that the reactions to unknowns are actually hidden pear.

Curly Girl - starting Nasocort tomorrow. She is pretty gunky, so hopefully this will help.

2009-10-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

The girls at Rock City in Chattanooga TN.

Way over due update

2009-10-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

I must apologize to my real family and my blog family. I know that many of you rely on this blog to keep you updated on the status of little A, but I have been unable to post. So here is the short and dirty version...

biopsies from 2nd EGD came back clear - with means that A does not have EE or that if she does have EE, then we have eliminated the food(s) causing it
We agreed to a 4 week food trial for corn. A failed it in 7 days, we kept her on for 10 to be sure. Symptoms: painful tummy, clingy, crying, insomnia, moody, reflux, coughing
Removed corn from her diet: long term.... we did not remove corn derivatives such as malodextrin, but we did remove corn syrup and corn starch this time.
Accidentally gave her powdered sugar (has corn starch) - painful tummy and clingy
Mid Sept to mid Oct - food trial for wheat. She passed and is eating it in all forms multiple times daily
Weight history June 30, July 31 lbs, Aug 30 (due to corn fail), Sept 31 , Oct 32
Since the weight is going in the correct direction (UP), we will not trial foods at this time.

She has also had a respiratory infection (flu?) which led to a pretty stressful week of ongoing asthma issues. Currently, she is having GI issues (diarrhea) and a cough. I really hope the fever stays away.

In other news - Curly Girl had pneumonia last week. She is better, but her asthma also flaired.

Endoscopy #2

2009-08-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

A had her second endoscopy yesterday.

The one in April looked totally clear, only 1 biopsy taken - from the stomach, no one even looked for eos like they were supposed to GGRRR. Fired that GI when he lied to me and wanted to "wait and see" if my 4 year old would miraculously heal herself.

The one yesterday - New GI. Scope shows esophagus has bumps on it and inflammation, stomach has an irritated area. 8 biopsies from the esophagus and 2 from the stomach were taken. Duodemum was visually clear and no biopsies.

GI said that it could all be related to GERD or she could have EE. We wait for biopsies. Follow up appt is next Tuesday.

I am frustrated that she looks worse, she is on 2 reflux meds (recently increased for weight gain) and off of 20 foods.

School

2009-08-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

Well school is starting soon, the end of Aug. to be precise.

Diva is a second grader, but first she will finish up her 1st grade Math book. She has requested that the entire year be devoted to Abe Lincoln. I am pretty sure that her sisters will not go for that LOL. She would also like to learn to write cursive. Hopefully the left to right progress of all letters will assist her in keeping from reversals.

Curly Girl is a first grader. She wants to learn about dinosaurs and bugs and stuff.

The Wondertwins will be preschoolers again, who are along for the ride.

We are also participating in Classical Conversations this year. This program will be a wonderful way for us to stay on top of things this year.

New GI

2009-08-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

Little A saw her new GI today. I really liked him. He is also thinking that she could have an EGID, but is not limiting his vision to just that. A has another EGD/endoscopy scheduled for this coming Tuesday, please pray for her. Doc will take multiple biopsies from multiple places.

Forgot to update...

2009-08-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

Not long after the last post, we made more changes to A's life.

1 - her patch test should up as positive to pork and beef. We eliminated these 2 meats from her diet, and therefore she is essentially vegetarian. She does eat venison when we can get it.

2 - we fired her GI doc. Well not officially yet. He wants to wait and see for 3 months, to see if she will feel better. This is too long in my oppinion for anyone to be in pain. He also wants to wean her off of her reflux meds in 3 months. He said this right after I said that she refluxes if we miss one does. Lastly, he lied about how many biopsies were taken. He told me that he took one from the esophagus and one from the stomach. The esophagus one was lost. His nurse told me that there is no record of the esophagus one on the surgical report.

3 - A feels so much better on the current diet. I am worried about nutrition and calories. She does not eat enough food most days and has been refusing her Splash.

4 - tomorrow we head to the new GI for A's first appt.

2009-07-16T13:51:00.003-07:00

Another pic of patch testing results... I know that all of these pics have spots that are just a little red, so I am not sure if the results are positive or negative.

Oops - the picture that I was going to post is on the computer whose motherboard just died. You will just have to believe me that the milk patch and whatever was just above or below it (corn?) is also reddish.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my little sweetie.

Patch test results

2009-07-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hard to see, but the spot to the left of the beef is red too.

The beef reaction (on the bottom) - red spot where pork was (on top). Is this a pork reaction?

The beef reaction - kind of looks like ringworm.

Update on little A

2009-06-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy week. A is still being very self limiting on what she eats. She will eat hamburger, apples, raisins, hummus with wheat free pretels; and a few other things. She will drink some of her formula daily, but not enough.

Our wonderful WIC nurse spent the day on the phone trying to get coverage for EO28 Splash thru the WIC office. She was finally successful!

The allergist has officially decided that we need to go back to the GI doc. We are out of her league.

Day 3

2009-05-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

So day 3 of extremely limited eating. At least today she drank 3 servings of the formula so she received 1/2 of a day's nutrition that way. She at 1/4 cup of refried beans, a little bit of pineapple, 6 bites of apple, 1/2 of a hard boiled egg white, 1/4 cup cereal. She is still losing weight and looks sick again. Please continue to pray.

Food is highly over rated

2009-05-29T14:09:00.001-07:00

This is little A's philosophy. She currently has decided that since food hurts her tummy, she will stop eating it. This means that she is eating less than 1/3 of her needed calories each day. She is getting about 450 calories from EO28 Splash. So, I am sure she is losing weight, and she is grumpy!

She will willingly eat rice + apples + beef + muffins + cookies. But not a lot of any of it.

Homeschooling - the Spring Edition

2009-05-19T17:03:00.001-07:00

Curly Girl does not like to come inside and complete her school work. Today, I took the work to her. Here we are in the fort of the swingset, reading.

First Communion

2009-05-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

Diva received the Precious Body and Blood of Jesus for the first time on May 2nd. It was a very special time for her, with many family and friends here to celebrate.

Diva with Emily and Cecilia

Grandpa Gail and Val at the Church.

Diva and Momma

And of course the wonderful cake made by Kris.

GS Day at the Capitol

2009-05-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

Last week we took 8 Girl Scout Daisy's to the state capitol. It was exhausting but fun. Here are some pics.

Diva enjoying her cookies :-)

Diva and a very tired Curly Girl

Curly Girl playing "Graces" - a game from Abe Lincoln's era.

We heard Miss Illinois speak.

Here we are, Diva, me and Curly Girl.

Slugs

2009-05-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

Just so you do not think that A's medical takes up my entire life, though it nearly does, I thought I would share how we spent Mother's Day.

We went on a slug hunt.

Yep, it seems that my little "ladies" love slugs. They are keeping them in a covered bowl outside. They have 5 or 6 I think. I personally am quite disgusted!

Allergist and GI update

2009-05-10T19:12:00.001-07:00

We saw the allergist and GI nurse on Thursday.

Curly Girl and Wondertwin C had their regular 6 mos allergy appointment. Nothing new was determined, no testing done.

Wondertwin A - a different story....

So, A had her scope, and it was visually clean, and the 1 biopsy taken (from her stomach) was also clear. Her GI said that she does not have EE or Celiac based on this one scope and one biopsy. You really do need more than 1 biopsy, more like 15-20 to rule out EE.

We went to our 4 week post scope appt, with the allergist first then the GI nurse. The allergist was confused about the scope. She referred us due to suspected EE and wanted more biopsies taken. A has lost weight in the last 4 weeks, therefore, we were advised to give her 3 servings per day of EO28 Splash or Neocate - these are Amino Acid formulas for children with severe GI issues or multiple food allergies. We have samples of each, and A likes the Splash.

At the GI appt, the doc was on vacation and therefore not available. The nurse was confused about why only 1 biopsy was taken. Based on A's history, she was expecting EE also. She gave us more Neocate and Splash samples.

We go back to the allergist in August for patch testing, with an appt with the GI nurse the same day.

A is currently self limiting amounts of food to about 1/3 of what she used to eat, so less than 1/2 of what she needs.

She is off:
allergies: chicken, turkey, fish, and seafood
sister's allergy: pear
reflux triggers (suspected): tomato, dairy, citrus, mint, chocolate

She also tests negative to all foods on RAST and SPT.

We will continue to call it "multiple food allergies with GERD" and treat her as if she has EE/Eos.

Lab results

2009-04-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

I just received the pathology report the 1 biopsy showed reflux. Yep, they took exactly 1 biopsy from her stomach. Arg! I thought we were scoping to rule out EE and other EGID disorders, but you need 15-20 biopsies to make that call.

Scope results - take 1

2009-04-12T14:37:00.001-07:00

A's scope appears to be clear. We are waiting on the biopsy results.

Scope time

2009-04-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Wondertwin A will be heading to the Children's Hospital for an EGD (aka upper GI scope). They will be looking to see what kind of shape her esophagus, stomach, and upper small intestine are in. If there is a certain kind of damage, they will be taking biopsies. The 2 main things they believe it could be is EE and Celiac.

Another update

2009-03-31T18:30:00.001-07:00

Little A has been referred to a pediatric gasteroenterologist - or something like that.
I am not sure what he will want to do next.
My poor baby is probably in constant pain.

Update on Wondertwin a

2009-03-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

For those of you following our saga, A has added another med to her diet. Zantac. This is for her reflux, in addition to the Prevacid, also for reflux.

We are also awaiting a referral to a Gi doc.

Overheard...

2009-03-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

These twins crack me up...

We were talking about going to the doctor tomorrow, for Curly Girl's flat-footedness. A was sad that we are not seeing her doctor. Somehow it comes out that A and C share a doctor.

C says that she does not want to share a doctor.
A tells her "C, we are twins, we can share a doctor."

Me - I started cracking up.

Too Cute

2009-03-05T11:13:00.000-08:00

Diva's 4th birthday party.
Here she is with her King.

Reflux

2009-02-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

I spoke with the allergist's office today. I wanted to touch base regarding little A's reflux. I was informed that A has severe reflux. Until today, I did not know if she fell on the severe or mild end. Now I know. I also asked if the Prevacid should get rid of ALL of the reflux, or if we would still need to change diet. I was told that once the meds start working, we should be fine to eat whatever we want (avoiding allergens of course).

Where we stand:
- we pulled tomatoes from A's diet, for now, because it is a known reflux inducing food for her
- we know that A does not seem to feel pain from her reflux - or her pain tolerance is very high
- A will be at a 45 degree angle as she falls asleep - due to the fact that her bedtime snack is being refluxed
- A will not be allowed to drink from her water bottle after 7 pm

When I told A that the docs asked for the above changes in her life, she said okay Mom. No arguments, nothing. Thank you God for this little trooper, the only one of our girlies who could handle these changes in stride.

Did you know?

2009-02-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

Please tell me that I am not the only person who did not know that you can make your own colored sugars. I found out today that white sugar + food color + ziplock + 3 year old shaking = colored sugar. We made purple.

Also, color paste does not work, it must be liquid. Found that one out by trial and error.

Lent 2009

2009-02-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

Lent begins tomorrow. As a family we are preparing for this special time, mostly with discussions. Lent is the 40 days (excluding Sundays) that are between Ash Wednesday and Easter.

Preparing our home. We are preparing our home for Easter. I plan to complete my first ever Spring cleaning and purging before Easter.

Preparing our hearts. We are preparing our hearts for Jesus. Diva has requested reconcilliation tonight. So we will be going to that, followed by Mass.

What to Give Up? Traditionally Catholics fast from something they love during this time of preparation. As a family we are fasting from meat and eating out. Diva is fasting from candy and gum. Curly Girl is fasting from juice.

What to Add? As a family we will pray the rosary, at least 1 decade daily. We will attend Mass on Tuesdays as often as possible. We will "put away" the alleluia (as soon as I make one to put away).

With all of that, our regular life stuff, and medical appointments, I think that is all that I can handle as a Mommy.

Moms

2009-02-23T06:15:00.000-08:00

This is floating around in cyberspace - so I thought I would ask my oldest 2 girls and see what they say. :)

Why did God make mothers?
CG - so they can take care of you
Diva - so they can take care of their children
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How did God make mothers?
CG - I have no idea
Diva - out of love
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What ingredients are mothers made of ?
CG - love
Diva - skin and hair
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
CG - because He wanted someone who love and my mom is pretty nice
Diva - cuz she's caring and helpful
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What kind of little girl was your mom?
CG - one with blond hair
Diva - American
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
CG - if he was the right guy for mom
Diva - that he loved her
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why did your mom marry your dad?
CG - cuz mom thought he was handsome and good
Diva - so she could have us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who's the boss at your house?
CG - mommy
Diva - Momma and Dad
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What's the difference between moms & dads?
CG - b/c they have mommy and daddy parts
Diva - daddy is bossier
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What does your mom do in her spare time?
CG - clean the house
Diva - clean, help the kids, and do daycare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What would it take to make your mom perfect?
CG - take out for ice cream each week
Diva - just loving her
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
CG - that is hard...i don't know...change her into being flat foot like me cuz I like having flat feet.
Diva - her clothes because she needs more clothes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life is Good

2009-02-22T05:03:00.000-08:00

There is more to our life than medical appointments...

- Wondertwin A is officially fully potty trained
- Hubby bought a car for himself
- The house is fairly clean - hubby and the girls picked up the playroom without me asking
- I am taking the girls to a basketball game - a pink Illini game to be exact
- Curly Girl is reading fairly well
- Diva is a math wonder
- The Wondertwins keep me on my toes.
- Hubby has a good job
- We live in a house we love - though we would love it more if it self cleaned LOL
- We have food in the freezer

What more could we ask for....

We have news

2009-02-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

Little A's sweat test came back negative - she does not have cystic fibrosis. We pretty much knew that, this was a formality.

Her upper GI test came back - she has reflux. I do not know how severe. I do not know what is causing it. I do know that as of tomorrow, my baby girl will be taking yet another medication. This one is Prevacid.

Wontertwin A update...

2009-02-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Little A went in today for a sweat test and an upper GI.

For the sweat test, she did great! She sat there, and waited, very patiently.

For the upper GI, she drank the Barium, blow bubbles, and did exceptionally well. We did see some reflux on at least 1 of the x-rays. The Radiologist will look at the pics and decide if she has GERD or not.

We should know tomorrow.

Today is the Day

2009-02-17T07:22:00.001-08:00

Today we head to our hotel for the night. Little A's tests are tomorrow. Please pray for answers and cooperation from A.

Happy Birthday President Lincoln

2009-02-12T11:15:00.001-08:00

Anyone who has read my blog knows that Diva loves history, and her favorite subject is Abe Lincoln.

Today we went to an Abe Lincoln Birthday Celebration here in town.

We gathered at the flagpole,

heard the story of his birth,

heard from his "dad,"

and even ate cake. Fun was had by all.

Did you notice that Diva is dressed in her prairie dress and bonnet?

Small Successes 1

2009-02-12T05:41:00.000-08:00

Danielle Bean has started something called Small Successes. Basically, moms need to recognize the small successes in their everyday lives. 3 for each week. Here are mine.........

1 - I managed to get A's appointments all arranged, and care for the other children.

2 - I did not lose my temper this week.

3 - I allowed the children to play outside, in the mud, despite the knowledge that they, and their clothes, would be totally trashed.

Tagged

2009-02-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

I love this tag. I was tagged by Word from the Herd. I now tag: Jennifer, Sharon, Mimi, and Tracy.
Here are the rules:
1. Choose the 4th folder where you store pictures on your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder, and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag four people to do the same.
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)

This picture was taken in the spring of 2007. We are at our local U-Pick farm getting ready to pick blueberries. This picture is on their website!
Diva and A are in the back, Curly Girl and C are in the wagon.
This is my picture.

Confusion fixed

2009-02-11T11:59:00.001-08:00

Little A will go in for an upper GI (aka Barium swallow) preceded by a sweat test next Wed. Her first appt is at 8.

This poor child will be awakened at 1 am for some yogurt. She will not get any food until after the upper GI scheduled for 9:15 am.

Please pray for her.

More confusion

2009-02-11T08:15:00.001-08:00

A is not having a GI scope to test for EE, she is having an upper GI (aka Barium swollow) to test for GERD.

Step 2 - date set

2009-02-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

We are going to Peoria for testing on Thursday Feb 18th. She will have an upper GI and a sweat test at that time.

Step 2 - pending

2009-02-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

I just received a call and A is being scheduled for a sweat test (to check for cystic fibrosis - I doubt that she has this) and for an upper GI (to test for EE).

We are thankful for all of the prayers, and especially for our good friend who is willing to take the big girls for an overnight if it become necessary.

Step 1 - compete

2009-02-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

A had blood drawn today for a RAST test and a chest x-ray. The x-ray was a repeat to see if an abnormality that was on the previous one is gone. The x-ray was clear. Because of this, the pulminologist has passed up along to the allergist.

Step 2 is wait for the RAST results.
Step 3 - who knows...

Oh My Goodness - I forgot the best part - the clear x-ray means NO CT SCAN!

2009-02-04T13:24:00.001-08:00

Here are my 3 youngest at the same age. They all look really similar. Above is C, then A, last is curly girl.

Anastasia - Just Starting

2009-02-04T05:56:00.000-08:00

Little Wondertwins A was at the allergist's office on Monday. The allergist was a new one, and we competed a very thourough history. We realized that A has the symptoms for various GI and lung disorders. We being testing this Friday to determine what is going on with her.

Some ideas being looked at:
asthma
more food allergies
environmental allergies
Eosinophilic esophagitis
GERD

Please pray for our little girl.

Spanish

2009-01-26T15:03:00.000-08:00

Ana came in and asked me where her Princess pelota was. I knew that pelota was Spanish for something, but could not remember what. She found her princess pelota - and showed me her ball.

The Dentist

2009-01-22T06:20:00.000-08:00

Pics at the dentist watching a video of how to brush your teeth. (L to R) - Curly Girl, A, Diva, and C.

My girls love going to the dentist. They actually get jealous if their sister gets to go and not them. Lately I have over heard them playing dentist. They even brush and floss each other's teeth. If you know how I feel about teeth, you will realize that they do not get that from me!

Too cute not to show you...

2009-01-20T06:23:00.000-08:00

Wondertwins C on the left in pink, and A on the right. They are just a little crazy.

First Reconcilliation

2009-01-20T06:15:00.001-08:00

On December 13, 2008, Diva made her first reconcilliation. She was very excited and said it was fun. We are so proud of her. She is growing up.

Please pray for her as she prepares to receive her First Holy Eucharist in May. She is ready, just a little way to go.

I love seeing them learn.

2009-01-20T06:02:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of enjoyment out of watching my girls make discoveries. Just before this video, Ana squealed when she realized that red and blue make purple, her favorite color.

What color is yours?

2009-01-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Today Wondertwin A received her new MedicAlert bracelet. All 3 little girls had outgrown their bracelets and their allergies had changed, so replacements were ordered.

Today they were comparing colors. WT A said that hers was the same color as purple cabbage, which she then requested for snack. While, Curly Girl's is orange, her favorite color. WT C's is pink of course, because every princess needs a pink allergy bracelet.

Strange child

2009-01-09T08:50:00.003-08:00

So do you think Curly Girl would be allowed to sit like this for Math class in a public school?

Gentleness

2009-01-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

After reading on 4real the last few days regarding gentleness, I have decided to try to put it into action. Now whenever one of my little angels enters the room, I try to look up and smile at her. When I am frustrated, I try to speak more quietly, rather than louder.

It has only been 4 hours, but so far so good. I have only yelled once. I am typically a yeller.

My word for 2009 is patience. I think that gentleness goes along with this.

Wondertwins

2009-01-08T06:32:00.001-08:00

C to A: I am going to sing "Go My Own Way." Come on, there are 2 parts, for bof us.

Now - how on earth does my 3 year know that there are 2 parts, one for each of them?

3 year olds are overrated

2009-01-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

C: Those are your 2 choices. Dairy Queen or let me watch tv.
Me: Neither
C: Mom, those are your choices. What do you want?

So Gross

2009-01-01T17:01:00.001-08:00

Diva was eating an apple when she asked my why it was red, inside.
Her very loose tooth was bleeding.
I had to pull it out cuz Daddy Bear cannot handle anything remotely related to blood.

EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW

Carry on....

Overheard...

2008-12-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

All 4 girls were playing and this is what I hear....

Diva says: We do not eat pie and cake in this family. We eat healthy fruits and vegetables.

Now where would Diva hear such a phrase. LOL

Christmas

2008-12-24T09:01:00.001-08:00

I would like to wish everyone a:

Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Caking with the kids

2008-12-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

My friend Kris held a cake decorating class for the children. My girls had a ton of fun, and made a huge mess. Thanks Kris - let's do it again soon. Above is C enjoying her sprinkles, um, I mean cake.

The Cards are in the mail

2008-12-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have not mailed Christmas cards since the twins were born.

Well I am happy to say -

The Christmas Cards are in the Mail!!!

If you do not receive one, and wanted one, please drop me an email. Our mail is notoriously bad here in hicksville.

I need help...

2008-12-19T20:27:00.001-08:00

Due to allergies, the only meat we can eat is pork and beef. Well after 3 1/2 years of pork and beef, I am stumped on how to make it. The girls love beans, and pasta, and cheese, and eggs, but not rice.

I need some dinner ideas. Please help! They need to be pretty high in protein for little C who eats at least every 45 minutes, more if there is no protein around.

We cannot have chicken, turkey, fish, seafood, or pear.

The Vock family Sugar Cookies

2008-12-18T06:14:00.000-08:00

Many of you have asked for my sugar cookie recipe lately, so here it is.
This recipe has been double and makes A LOT of cookies.

- Cream together 2 Cups sugar and 2 Cups butter.
- Add 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla.
- Add 6 C flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp salt.

Chill for 2 hours.
Roll out using powdered sugar to help with sticking.
Cut out.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

If you let 3 year olds share a chair....

2008-12-18T06:02:00.000-08:00

If you let 3 year old share a chair at a meal....they will spill something.
If they spill something...they will want to change clothes.
If you let them change clothes...they will come out of their room wearing shorts and a t-shirt in December.
If you let them wear the shorts and t-shirt...they will complain of being cold.
If they complain of being cold...they will convince you to snuggle in bed with them to get warm.
If you snuggle in bed with them...you will fall asleep.
If you fall asleep...the twins will climb on the cupboards and get into the cookies.
If they get into the cookies...they will spill on their clothes.

All because they shared a chair.

Just not normal

2008-12-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

So the twins do everything in their own way and own time.

Overheard - C saying: The princess has go potty, make way....pause...ok, now all I need is paper, the princess NEEDS paper.

I look that direction, A is taking care of said princess.

Just thought you should know :P

Allergies Suck!

2008-12-15T07:03:00.000-08:00

I am glad that C cannot read cuz I would not want her to feel bad, but allergies suck.

C was being sneaky on Saturday and ate a piece of candy cane. Now, this candy cane was in our home for approximately 5 minutes, I saw it in the wagon and planned to take care of it as soon as everyone was settled. She was sneaky, went into the daycare, ate the candy cane, - all in the 2 minutes that she was out of my sight!

Within 5 minutes her nose started to run, she started to cough, and she broke out in hives. 2 minutes later I used the Epi-Pen Jr. on her.

We left for the er soon after. While there (for 4 1/2 hours) she received 2 albuterol treatments, oxygen, Predisolone, Benedryl, and a shot of a steriod.

It was terribly stressful, but I am grateful for the prayers of many friends.

She still needs Benedryl every 4 hours to keep hives at bay, otherwise, she is doing fine.

UPDATE: I just received an email back from Spangle Candy Canes, their candy cares are free of pear and pear juice! YEAH

What do you get....

2008-12-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you mix 4 girls, 1/2 a package of white chocolate (melted), and pretzel rings?

One 3 year old licking the spoon...

4 girls having fun...

a huge mess...

a batch of pretzel cookies that are JUST for at home...

and a serial shower, the kids are put through one at a time at a quick pace.

On the crazy meter: a mere 3

God Bless

Breakfast Casserole

2008-12-11T05:25:00.000-08:00

So, in keeping with a simple Christmas, I am going to make a breakfast casserole for the extended family. The problem is, I have no clue who to do this.

Please help! Post your favorite breakfast casserole recipe.

We are avoiding, due to allergies: fish, seafood, chicken, turkey, all edible birds, and pear.

Love the Gov - NOT

2008-12-09T09:39:00.001-08:00

It is so not a go thing when your govenor is the headline on cnn.
This is such a great state, that 2 govenors in a row have been indicted.

Bahraini clothes

2008-12-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

Here is Diva modeling the clothes that Bill sent from Bahrain. First she is dressed up as a Bahraini boy, and after are pictures of the girl clothes. Bill sent us these for our geography boxes, that have yet to be started. We also received some more casual Bahraini boy hats to wear when the ones below are not worn. Also in our continent boxes, from Bill, are Bahraini coins and coins from the UAE. Thanks Bill!

More Christ the King pics

2008-12-09T04:15:00.001-08:00

Earlier you saw pictures of our beautiful cake, here are pictures of us making Christ the King crowns.

MaryRose's best friend's mom even played with us.

Daddy Bear

Wondertwin C

Wondertwin A working in the foreground and B in the background.

Even Julie and Ivy, the American Girl dolls had crowns.

Christmas Music Meme

2008-12-09T03:35:00.000-08:00

If you were trapped on a desert island and it was Christmas and all you had was a small generator, Christmas lights for your coconut tree, an endless supply of Christmas cookies and eggnog, your CD player and 6 Christmas CDs , which 6 albums would you want them to be? If you can find Amazon links, we can listen to ...

I love Christmas music, and actually listen to it year round.

I only have one CD uploaded to my Ipod, it is 50 Songs of Christmas.
I have other CDs here someplace, including a Handel's Messiah (which is not actually Christmas), an Elvis one, a kids one, and who knows what else.

There is no way I could pick 5, so I am going to just list the one above. One of my favorite songs on the CD is Joseph's Song by Michael Card.

Chorus 1
How could it be this baby in my arms
Sleeping now, so peacefully
The Son of God, the angel said
How could it be

Lord I know He's not my own
Not of my flesh, not of my bone
Still Father let this baby be
The son of my love

Chorus 2
Father show me where I fit into this plan of yours
How can a man be father to the Son of God
Lord for all my life I've been a simple carpenter
How can I raise a king, How can I raise a king

He looks so small, His face and hands so fair
And when He cries the sun just seems to disappear
But when He laughs it shines again
How could it be

Chorus 2
Chorus 1

Do you know....

2008-11-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

how hard it is to remain stern with a 3 year old physically pushing your cheeks up into a smile?

I was trying to show C that I was "sad" that she put glue on the school lectern. She grabbed my cheeks and pushed them up and told me to be "be happy." It caused me to laugh, but she still had to finish her 3 minute time out. :)

More thanks

2008-11-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

1 - a little girl's smile - I just love seeing my girls smile
2 - IM - the ability to tell my husband the little things that happen during the day
3 - a clean house
4 - a nice cup of tea
5 - the ability to laugh at this

5 more things

2008-11-23T18:52:00.002-08:00

1 - Family coming for the holiday
2 - The ability to serve ham for Thanksgiving
3 - A long weekend
4 - Peppermint tea - buying this for me is one way I told my hubby he could show love for me
5 - Friends - I know I already stated this one, but I am thankful that I have friends who can help me out in a pinch, who offer to help clean my bathrooms since I do not really know how, who can prepare meals and snacks for my girls and not cross contaminated the foods.

Happy Christ the King

2008-11-23T14:01:00.000-08:00

Today is the last Sunday in the Liturgical year, we celebrated with cake! Here is a picture of our Crown Cake. I made a chocolate bundt cake, glazed it with melted yellow icing. The girls added cranberries and gummy savers for the jewels. We had so much fun.

Funny thing - I had offered to buy M and Ms for the cake, but they decided upon cranberries!

Later on, we had some friends over to make crowns, eat cake, and play.

5 more things

2008-11-21T06:58:00.001-08:00

1 - I am thankful for big girls who have discovered a love for reading!

2 - Coffee - it helps me face the day ahead.
3 - 3 year olds who actually use the potty once in a while
4 - mouse traps - because I am not thankful for mice!
5 - friends - we are meeting some at the indoor park today

5 Things I am Thankful for today

2008-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

I have been asking the girls to list one thing each day that they are thankful for, I also do this this. We write them on leaves and glue them to our "thankful tree."

Today, I decided to write a list of what I am thankful for. I am striving for 5 things, but may end up with more as the day wears on.

1 - I am thankful that I have all of my children with me each day, all day.
2 - I am thankful for Diva, who is very dramatic and challenges me to see the world through her eyes on an hourly basis.
3 - I am thankful for Curly Girl who has helped me embrace her love of all things creepy and crawly.
4- I am thankful for the Wondertwins who have allowed me to watch them develop into two totally different little girls.
5 - I am thankful for my husband. He works all day every day so that I am able to be home with our little girls. He does this without complaining, and often has to listen to my complain.

I challenge all of readers to list 5 things they are thankful for on their own blogs. No blog? Just list them in the comments section.

The Wondertwins stike again!

2008-11-14T15:23:00.000-08:00

No pics, but a play by play....

The twins were happily watching Dora in the playroom while the big girls and I played Wii. We checked on them often, at first. Then we got into the game and did not check on them for about 10 minutes.

In that time....

C pushed the chair over to the counter, climbed up, and learned a few life lessons. A was also there learning lessons.

Lesson 1: Just because it looks like chocolates does not mean it is tasty. The sampled some unsweetened baking chocolate.

Lesson 2: Same as one! They also sampled some concentrated (for candy) toffee flavor.

Lesson 3: Sprinkles are yummy!

Lesson 4: If you lick the top of the cinnamon and sugar, it is very tasty!

Lesson 5: Do not take the blame for the problem, blame your twin. A came in, showed me the baking chocolate bar, told me it was yucky, and blamed C.

Lesson 6: Mommy will turn Dora off if you do all of the above.

I love homeschooling

2008-11-10T07:48:00.001-08:00

Today reaffirmed one of the reasons that I love to home education my children.
I love seeing the light bulb go off when they "get it!"

Diva doing Math: "Mom it is like it is backwards!"
Me: "What?"Diva: "Look 2 + 6 = 8" - the actual problem was 8-6=___

She realized that addition is the opposite of subtraction.
The best part - she realized it all on her own.

For Bill

2008-11-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

I love givaways

2008-11-08T14:36:00.000-08:00

Earrings!

2008-11-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

Last night we braved the Mall on a Friday night to get our girls' ears pierced. Curly Girls's were done awhile ago, so it was just the wondertwins and Diva.
Here is Curly sporting some cute "Daisy blue" earrings.

Wondertwin A chose a crystal set - cuz it shows the rainbow.

Diva has pink ones! I am sorry, rose colored ones.

Wondertwin C - has rose also, of course.

Now we can use earrings as a way to tell them apart in pictures! At least until they learn to change earrings.

Fight FOCA

2008-11-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas Cards

2008-11-04T03:41:00.001-08:00

Christmas cards are ordered!

I Won! I Won! I Won!

2008-11-02T06:20:00.000-08:00

I entered a few bloggy give aways last week! And look at what I won!!!
Thank you much Kelli at La Vida Dulce.

High School Musical 3

2008-11-02T04:06:00.000-08:00

Go Wildcats!

The girls have been waiting "forever" to see High School Musical 3. The third installment of the Disney Channel hit was released in theaters. We went as a family. As seen in the picture, the girls had a blast!

She is so big!

2008-11-01T15:47:00.001-07:00

First Haircut!

At the ripe old age of 41 months, A finally gets her first hair cut. I could not believe that pieces were almost to her tush! So, I cut off about 6 inches! Now she looks so big. Milestones make me cry.

C has not had a hair cut yet. She will not allow it.