Eeek! Hoping...

Dang it all I was hoping that I would have had time to update this before now, but NO!  I am quite furstrated with myself.

The Festival of Trees was amazing!  I had so much fun auctioning off the large trees this year, but we were not able to to go as a family since we were doing so much and time just flew by.  I have been busier than I thought I would ever be.  But you do realize that this is December and the busyest time of the year for all of us people.  Trying to get everything done that needs to be done before the end of the year.  There is still so much that I need to do. :(  Oh well I guess it is a good thing that there is only 2 more weeks of the year and then the start of a new year and more goals and  more time to get everything done. LOL!

Rhett has been a hand full between school work and health issues.  He had this issue with something in his back right where his VEPTR is located.  Well he still has the issue since the doctor hasn't done surgery on him to fix it.  There is a ring on the VEPTR that attaches to the ribs going around the rib and around the VEPTR.  It is loose since it is no longer around the rib at all.  So the doctor has to fix that this Spring, as long as he isn't in any pain.  So far it isn't hurting him but it is annoying him.  Grateful that he won't end up in surgery this month.  We will have to keep praying that it doesn't hurt him and that he will be ok.  He gets so bored with doing homework because he is so smart and he knows everything that he is working on already.  I just tell him that it is busy work and he has to do it, too bad.  He was like "But mom..." I then told him that not everything is going to be handed to you and you just need to do what your teacher tells you to.  I am quite frustrated that his grades are not as good as I was hoping they would be, but I can only do so much.  I cannot hold his hand and make him do it he has to choose to do it himself.

Nikole is doing better but still has issues getting her homework done on time. :(  Just like Rhett she gets distracted easy.  But she has been great making sure her room is clean just like Rhett and Gavin.  I am happy to see that she has the desire to keep it clean.  But she knows if it is messy and I ask her to clean it, she only has a little bit if time before I go check.  If when I check and it is messy I get to pick one of her stuffed animals and she will never see that animal again.  She wants to keep all her toys and is willing to make sure that she does keep them.  She is enjoying more responsibility now that she is getting older.  She wants to grow up so fast and I had to tell her that it is important for her to be a child as long as she could since you can only be a child once.  She is trying to accept that and still be a little girl. :)  I hope she doesn't grow up too fast.

Gavin is doing great and trying ot do his best at school which I am grateful for, but he does have some issues getting his anger under control if someone makes him mad.  We are working on it and so is the staff at the school.  I hope between us all he gets over it easier and than remembers how to control his temper.  He is so excited to be in school and learn but he gets grumpy often if he doesn't get his way.  He is doing great at making sure his homework is done before school.  He loves reading and enjoys the fact that he can read on his own now so he can look at more books.  He is understanding more and more.  I love seeing his face as he gets things and knows more and more everyday.  He has also lost 3 of his teeth in less than 2 weeks!  At first he wasn't too excited to pull out his teeth but after the first one came out the others followed very soon after.  He wasn't so scared after that. :)

Dylan loves school and is finally not crying each time he gets on the bus.  He leaves with a smile and comes home with a smile too.  Just the other day he told me as soon as he got home, "Autumn here."  It was super cute to see how happy that he was to come home and tell me about his day.  But what he says over and over again is Autumn. :)  Not sure all the signs other than that one since he still uses little boy signs. :)  He is trying to use the potty more and more but we are so far from having him potty trained.  He does tell mommy and daddy when he is poopy, but mostly he likes telling daddy and making daddy do all the dirty work.  LOL!  Sweet that means I am going to enjoy this while I can.  He loves being such a big boy, but every now and again he tells me that he is a baby and curls up like a baby in my lap.  LOL!  It is a good thing he is so small.  He finally got over the croup that he had, but he did give it to Gavin.  Glad that Gavin is over it too.  I hope that he enjoys the holiday and remembers school after it is over that way it will be easy for him to go back to school.

Oh the days...

Oh the days that have gone by.

I am so sorry I am such a bad blogger at the moment.  Things have been really stressful for me trying to get everything ready for the holidays.  It makes me crazy that I feel like I am not doing the best I can do and that I can do better.

Since I am writing this in the middle of the night I think I will finish tomorrow and post it them too.  I am too tired to try to stay awake.

So here it is tomorrow and things are rolling fast than I want them too.

Rhett is making me crazy.  I have tried to help him make sure everything is ready and have him turn in everything on time but NO!  To no end he refuses.  I finally told him that his grades do not affect me since I passed middle school a long time ago and those grades will just affect him.  He looked at me like but....  GRRRR!  Makes me crazy!  He has been missing out on scouts and mutual since he is not wanting to do his homework and it is taking him forever to get anything done before bed.  He knows it he just doesn't want to do it.  It is so very frustrating.  I would love some input on how to help him since I am drawing up NOTHING, because I have already tried everything that I know already.

Nikole has been struggling in school when I thought she was doing so well.  GRRR!!!  This cannot be happening to me!  She is really struggling with writing and I am not even sure how that is so since she is always making up stories and drawing.  I have informed her that ELP isn't something that she should worry about and that would be considered extra but she isn't in ELP right now anyways.  I told her that I expected her to do better and this show me how she will do in middle school and high school.  I then told her that I am not going to pay for her to go to college and they are going to have to make sure that they get great grades and earn their way through college.  That way it will mean more to them.

OK so I might help a little but I am not going to tell them that.

Gavin is doing pretty good in school.  YEA!!!  He has a few things that he needs to work on but other then that his grades are awesome.  He is having a hard time doing what is right and making right choices, I hope that he will understand that soon and stick to it.  He has been doing great on his homework and I am so proud of him for getting all of it done and heck he can write to the point that you can read it.  I am loving how he does his best just because I make it fun for him. :)

Dylan is doing great in school and is super smart according to his teacher.  He still sometimes has a sad moment when he realizes that him and Autumn are in different rooms but that is ok since she will be in there soon enough.  He has been getting sick quite easy this school year.  I am praying that he gets better and fast since I hate having him miss school since he really likes going and playing with his friends.  But better to keep him home and get him better than force him to school like some other parents probably do.

That was the update on the kids and now to update life.

We had Thanksgiving and I am quite really not enjoying that holiday ever!  It is really frustrating that Dylan gets sick following that almost every year!  What the heck!  I love getting together but not if he is going to get sick right after.  Ok let me back up a little bit.  The week of Thanksgiving Dylan had only one day of school while everyone else had 2 days.  He and of course all the kids were healthy and ready to go play with cousins and maybe eat some food.  So we head out to the place of gathering.  We stayed there for about 5 hours and came home.  Then the next day I went with Nikole and had our hair cut and spent time having girl time which was GREAT!!!  We did that most the day while daddy stayed home with the boys.  Saturday I ran to a store came home and then daddy took all the kids and headed out.  They hadn't been gone for too long before I got a call saying they they were out of gas.   Oh ok so I went and saved them all(I am so happy that it wasn't me this time.).  After I saved them we all come home for dinner and then sent the older kids to the neighbors house for a birthday party, and within 30 minutes we had to get them and headed to a hockey game.  As I am getting kids out the door I notice that Dylan has a whole bunch of green goop around his eyes.  I talk to daddy about that and found out that he has been cleaning them out all day.  Oh ok great just what I need.  We go and watch the game with all the kids and as we are getting ready to leave I am making sure no kids are leaving anything behind and I look around and don't see Dylan.  I ask and then the next thing I know he is screaming from a few seats from the isle and he is quite a few rows down from us.  I know he didn't fall down the stairs but he did manage to sprain his foot pretty bad.  We leave and before we can go very far he is asleep in the back seat.  Gratefully he slept the whole night but in the morning his eye was much worse and he was limping.  My poor baby!  I checked into taking him to the ER or Kids Care and decided to take him to Kids Care but they wouldn't open until noon so as soon as the clock hit noon I ran home from church since daddy stayed home with the kids and planed on just grabbing Dylan and taking him but NO, when I walked in he was in the bath and not even ready to go.  So as soon as he was out he fell asleep I let him sleep a little but then I took him and that is when I found out no school for him Monday but Tuesday he can go.  Great, that was because his eye are very contagious and he needed antibiotics.  They rapped his foot and tried putting a little shoe on him but he has in between feet so nothing fit and that was ok.  So Sunday night after everyone had gone to be I am hearing Dylan cough and cough.  CRAP!  NO!!  It is that horrible barking cough that is totally croup.  So first thing in the morning I took him to the doctors and yep he has croup.  Well no school for a few days for that .  Meaning the whole week for him since he only goes Monday through Thursday.  He has been home coughing and resting I hope.  I hope and pray that he will be able to go back to school on Monday.  But As you can see Thanksgiving weekend I could really live without.  Don't get me wrong I am very blessed and thankful.  I and thankful everyday for more than I can list.  I guess a better saying would be I can live without the drama caused by the weekend.

Ok that is everything for now I hope to update sooner since things go quite quick this month.

Oh my... long over due!

Now that things are less crazy at my house I hope to be able to blog more.  LOL!  I am feeling really bad about not keeping up as well as I was but I can only do so much.

Rhett is doing so much better at school than he was.  The staff have talked to the kids and let them know if they bother Rhett again then they will have some major consequences.  That made my day.  Since one of them didn't stop and was not able to attend school for a little bit and that changed that child's mind about giving Rhett a hard time.  The other one stopped after the school staff talked to him.  I am so very grateful.  I ask Rhett all the time how school is and if everyone is being nice and he tells me all the time so far that they are being really nice.  (SMILE)  I am so glad since it makes it so much easier for him to be able to go to school.  Now the pressure for him to get all A's is on.  I made a deal with him that if he got all A's I would get him a cell phone with conditions.  Meaning he cannot have it out playing it at school or calling weird people that I don't know, and he has to keep it safe.  He is working really hard since he really wants it.  It is good that he is willing to work so hard for something like that.  Once he gets it the only way to keep it is to keep his grades up, that way he knows it is a privilege not something that you get for free like everyone on his bus thinks.  He asked me the other day why am I the only one that doesn't have a cell phone on my bus?  I said because maybe the parents don't care how their child is doing in school, but it really didn't matter because I expect a lot from you.  He looked at me like this isn't fair and I informed him that life is sometimes not fair and he is going to have to get over that.  It is the beginning of a new term so he has all A's right now and I told him that he just has to keep them there.  No problem.  He looked at me like I had green hair or something.  I love being a mom!  It is great to see him be more focused and ready to take on the task of being responsible.

Nikole is doing ok, could be doing better.  She was worried so much about her reading group work and her ELP work that she forgot the focus should be on the class room work.  So her and several other kids that were in those have been pulled back into the class room to make sure they understand that the work in the class comes first no matter what.  She tells me she is ok with that but then acts all depressed and sad.  What the heck little girl!  What will it take to motivate her?  I have to come up with something and fast before it affects her school performance more.  She loves reading and would rather read than do anything else that I can think of right now so it is good.  She is such a great reader that I am not sure why she does some of the things that she does.  She enjoys walking to school with Gavin, which I think is great!  I tell them everyday that I love them and to take care of each other as the go to and from school.

Gavin is super smart!  He now has to come up with sentences with his spelling word in it and he gets them off the top of his head!  Man I wish I could have done that at his age. :)  He is getting better and better at waking up when I call his name to get him up which is great!  I ask him how he is doing in school and the only struggle he has is staying on "wonderful day" so that is pretty good right?  We are working at getting him to the point that he will be great at school and be on task the majority of the time if not always.  He gets all his homework done before he gets home and if he doesn't he gets it done in less than 5 minutes that little stinker.  He loves to read and reads every night no matter what.  I am happy that he enjoys books and I hope that he always will.

Dylan loves school!  Well that is what I tell him.  LOL!  He is normally one of the first 3 people to wake up and get going in the morning what is crazy for a 3 year old but heck I hope that he will always be a early riser.  He gets on the bus all grumpy in the morning after smiling and being happy.  WEIRD!  Then after the bus starts moving and he leaves the street that we live on he is all happy according to the bus driver.  What is up with that little man?  What a funny boy for sure!  Every now and then I will send some fruit for a snack to school with him.  Today it was oranges, and he looked so excited to take them to school.  Cracks me up!  He is so expressional and you will almost always know what he is thinking by looking at his face.  He loves mimicking what mommy and daddy say and do so we are working hard to make sure that we are saying and doing what we need to do right so he isn't doing anything we don't want him not to do.  Just yesterday I said "Oh boy" and this little boy sitting next to me tried saying "oh boy" it was so funny having it come out of his mouth because it isn't every day a 3 year old says that.

I am trying to stay busy and sometimes I do and sometimes I don't it is normally a hit and miss thing.  The kids we so cute for Halloween and I was surprised how well everything went together.  They costumes were GREAT according to me and they even liked them which was brownie points for me.

Here are my PUPPIES!

This is one of my Black Labs that I had.

My other Black Lab.

My Dalmatian, look at them spots.

And my little brown puppy.  Not sure if he is a mix, a lab, or any other dog.

Yep here they are in all their excitement.  Well as for me I was the dog catcher.  I do it all the time anyway so what is wrong with me doing it on Halloween anyways?

See piece of cake!  Thanks Brynne for the awesome idea!

My sister helped me make some awesome cakes for the scout auction and ward party that I couldn't attend since I had other places I had to be at.  She was amazing!  See how cool she is to help me with all of these?

Chocolate Cat aka Black Cat.

Bag of Trick or Treat candy.  Yummy!

Trick or Treat!  Yummy!

All 3 of them together!  

Thanks Hillary I couldn't have done it all with out you!

Now I am looking forward to getting my house clean and ready for the rest of the holidays that are fast approaching!  I will have to update more later but for now this will have to do. :)

Holy Crap!

So much has happened since I was able to make my computer work well enough to blog.  So here's to hoping that I can get it all in before it over heats and shuts down.

    Ok so the week that I posted last was the week of parent teacher conferences for Nikole and Gavin.  On top of that was also the bookfair at their school that I told them I would help with.  But since Rhett was having issues Sunday I stayed home to make sure he was ok after school.  He came home and almost instantly fell asleep and slept for 3 hours!  Ok he does realize that bedtime is 7:30 pm and I don't make exceptions on school nights.  He did go to sleep around 8 pm.  I hope that he is ok.  Monday nights are usually hard trying to get them back in the swing of things.
     Tuesday I was a good day and I was able to help in the bookfair.  Rhett was told to sit and do homework while I was busy helping.  Did he NO!  What is wrong with him?  Maybe it is his age thing but still it would sure help if he would do what he is asked to do without a lot of drama.
     Wednesday this got crazy trying to fit in both parent teacher conferences.  We were really late for one but daddy doesn't get off in time to meet earlier.  But both Gavin and Nikole are doing great!  They need to stay focused and have better behavior but other then that their grades are GREAT!  So proud of my kids!  They are super smart and they know it. LOL!
     Thursday I was able to help in the bookfair again for a little while but then it was like I was running to make sure everything was taken care of since that is a crazy night for me because daddy has things he has to do and is not available to help with anything on those nights.
     Friday is finally here!  So happy to be able to say we got through that week, but I guess I spoke too soon.  As I was watching Dylan and helping in the bookfair I was told that we were going to draw some classes to break pinatas since the theme of the bookfair was fiesta.  After calling down the 1st class and having a great turn out, the 2nd class came down to break their pinata.  Oh the joys of pinatas!  Well after we started not to far into the class there was one girl that found the rope that I was hanging onto with the stick and swung at my head.  It was like I saw it in slow motion.  As she swung I just dropped the rope and fell backwards on purpose.  Didn't hurt me but I wasn't sure if I would make it out of the way of the stick before I would get hit.  That was goal was not to get hit with the stick.  Well didn't get hit and didn't get hurt.  Scared the crap out of everyone there but I was having a blast!  Then the next girl started swinging towards Dylan who was very close to the windows and as she got closer to him I moved between her and my baby with the rope in front of me hoping that we would all make it out alive.  Did I mention that this was a 5th grade class?  Opps I guess I left that out.  Anyways since I could see that this was going to end badly if I didn't do something I reached out as she swung and grabbed the rope and the stick at the same time without getting hurt.  Put a end to that.  Finally they broke it open and that was that, or that is what I thought.  The principle saw what had happened and came to ask me if I was ok since all he saw was the girl swing and me fall.  LOL!  I told him that I was fine and dandy.  Well then I was told that we were going to finish breaking all of the rest of the pinatas which meant 3 more classes to swing.  Oh boy oh boy...  Well I was the only crazy one willing to hold the rope and have the kids swing a stick around close to me.  he he he So I went out and we got through almost 2 classes before my phone.  Well it was my husband and when I tried answering it I couldn't hear anything since the kids were all screaming and having a grand time.  So as soon as we were finished with that class I called him back to see what was going on before the next class came for their turn whacking that candy out of the paper.  This is what I was told on the phone...
     Rhett's school called and there was an issue that happened and they couldn't get a hold of me.  I asked what happened and I was informed that Rhett admitted that he had smeared poop on the wall in the bathroom.  I was like WHAT!?!?!  Ok now what do I do?  I asked my husband if I needed to go get him and he said that they didn't say, so I hung up and he called me back within 2 minutes and said yes you need to go get him.  OK!  GREAT, not really...  Ok it is going to take me at least a half in hour to get there.  I hung up and realized that I had one more class to go.  CRAP!  Ok let's get this party started and get it over with.  Well this class took it's time and I had to let them know that they had to wrap it up before the bell rang and then Rhett's school was calling me asking where I was and how soon I was going to be there etc...  I told them that I had to my car and then I would head out ASAP.  Hoping to be there before 12:30pm.  Well I raced home with Dylan after I had let everyone know that there was an issue that I had to leave for and I was sorry that I couldn't stay and help them like I had planned.
     I pull up to Rhett's school pissed off since this is something that he knows he shouldn't do.  There were kids outside ready to get on the bus that were middle and high schooled age children.  As they saw me get out of my car there eyes went from normal size to big.  I hope they were thinking oh crap don't mess with her.  Since that is how I felt.  I was so mad it wasn't funny.  I go in and the school psychologist was there waiting for me.  She explained to me that what Rhett was saying  about wiping poop and writing in wasn't adding up and she also explained to me that it took them over a hour to calm him down since they had informed him that I was going to be told and that he was going to have to explain everything to me.  I guess he knows that you just don't mess with me.  They were hoping that I could get more info out of him but nothing that they haven't heard.  It still didn't add up and make much since but oh well...  There was nothing I could say or do to get new info from him.  As he was telling me all what had happened he did say that he was just so very mad since there was at least 2 people that have been picking on him.  OH MY &%*^$!!!!!  I was pissed but I contained it.  I found out that some of the kids have been swearing at him since the 5th day of school and then they started playing the "F" game meaning that you would get hit if you saw the letter 'F' below the waist but he was getting hit no matter where the 'F' was.  I WAS SO PISSED!!!  At this point I wanted to clobber these kids that have been hurting my son.  I asked him to hit me as hard as this one boy has hit him, and he told me that he wouldn't.  I informed him that I could handle it after almost being hit in the head, but then he told me that he cannot hit me that hard because he can't hit as hard as this boy.  OH MY GOSH!!!  Can you say MAD!!!!  I wanted to do more damage and I was so glad that there were some days in between that day and the next day of school.  It took such a long time to talk to him and get all the info out of him, I mean I got at his school around 12:30 pm but I didn't get to leave there with him until almost 3:30 pm!!!  Holy CRAP child when I want answers you better give them to me faster than that!!  I had planned to take the kids to a pumpkin patch at 3:00 pm but no...  I called and let CR and Amy that we were running late and we would be there as soon as I could.  Then I had to find Nikole and Gavin since they were in the after school program and I had told everyone that I needed them at the school and to keep them there.  Found out that they were out on a field trip and I had to stop by the place that they were at and pick them up.  I headed home to pick up daddy and then hit the road to the pumpkin patch.  We got lost trying to find it and then when we finally found it the kids were so excited since they have never been to a pumpkin patch.

Here are some pictures of each kids and their pumpkins.  LOL!!!

I will post more pictures trying to catch up a little later.

The kids loved it!!!  It was fun being able to do something that we have never been able to do before.  I was so happy that the day was over since it was a very long day.
     So Saturday it was S.I.B.S. (Super Important Brother and Sister) day at PCMC (Primary Children's Medical Center)!  I was so happy since this is something that is just for Gavin and Nikole.  The hospital puts this program on for siblings of children with special needs.  I am glad that it gives them some place that they can meet other kids like them that also have a sibling that has special needs even if they are not exactly the same as Rhett and Dylan.  I had to take Rhett with me to the hospital because he had so much homework that he needed to get done before Monday.  So while daddy took Dylan to baseball I took all the other kids up to the hospital.  I dropped Gavin and Nikole off and then took Rhett with me to the parent hour they have, so parents can meet other parents dealing with some of the same problems.  I sat Rhett down at a table and informed him that he was going to sit here and do homework the whole time. while Nikole and Gavin are playing.  After meeting with the other parents I sat down with Rhett and read my book while he did homework after homework.  After the end of S.I.B.S. day I went home with all the kids thinking that Rhett had actually finished all of his homework.  I found out Monday morning that Rhett missed one subject and could finish it.  But other than that he got the rest of it done.
     Sunday I informed Rhett that he would have to talk to the bishop about what had happened at school and his eyes size went from normal to golf ball size really quickly.  I am hoping that he has learned his lesson and will never do anything like that again.  He had a great talk with the bishop and worked everything out.  I am so very grateful for having Christ in my life and showing my children that they are important to him and to my family.
     So come Monday I had to take Rhett to the orthodontist since he had a tooth fall out that that had the band on it.  But before I went on a field trip with Dylan's class to the fire station.  We walked there from the school and they had a BLAST!!

Here are some pictures of the great time that they had.  LOL!

We were at the doctors office a lot longer than I thought.  So I took him back to school after and headed home.  By the time I got home the kids were getting out of school.  What the heck the appointment was at 11:00 am.  Oh well at least that is taken care of and he isn't scratching the inside of his mouth like crazy any more.
     Tuesday was a normal day!  It is about time...  I am grateful for at least one normal day in my life.  LOL!  Usually they don't last long and I was right it didn't  By Wednesday there was no school for Nikole, Gavin, and Dylan.  Rhett was the only one that had school that day.  So Wednesday morning I took all of the 3 younger kids with me to the dentist but the appointment was for me not for any of them.  ARGH!  Having the kids run around while they clean my teeth really sucks!  Find out that I have some cavities and I am not happy about it but at least it isn't too horrible.  But I am working really hard to make sure I don't get any more.  Next time I go I will NOT take any of my kids.  he he he...  Then as soon as I was done there I headed toward Rhett's and Dylan's school because both of their IEP's were set up for that day.  But before the IEP's Rhett had to meet with the school director, the psychologist and myself.  So they grabbed him and went over what had happened on Friday and told them that there are consequences for his actions and that we were all there to discuss what was going to happen.  So we went over a contract that Rhett needed to sign since he was the one that confessed and admitted that he did something that he shouldn't have.  Then after we went through that and signed it then it was IEP time... Oh the joys!  NOT!!  Rhett's IEP was first and come to find out he should have had an interpreter ever since first grade but that is a long story and it is all in the past.  Then because he is so stinking smart he doesn't qualify for an IEP if he doesn't have speech or speech goals.  Oh I am so pissed about getting all this info that would have been nice way back then.  Then Dylan's IEP was right after and he is behind but ready to move forward.  He is going to be going into a new class starting Monday.  We will have to see how things will go since he will be in a different class than his friend Autumn.  They have been together since the beginning so we will have to see how he handles being separated from her.  LOL!!  After the IEP's it was time to go and we walk out to the car and I ask Rhett where his backpack and stuff was, at this he looked speechless.  GRRR....   So I sent him in and told him to hurry and I waited in the car after 30 minutes I sent Nikole in to find him and she came back out and couldn't find them.  So I get out and start searching the school for Rhett.  I was getting more and more frustrated the more I looked.  I finally found him in his science class.  After he gathered everything up I sent him out to the car and talked a little with the teacher and left.  I didn't get home until about 6 pm!!  WHAT!!!  It shouldn't have taken that long.  Oh well.  I went to my meeting Wednesday night and had a great time learning and being away and out of the house by myself. 
     Thursday was a day that I was glad that it ended.  We stayed home and I was telling Rhett to do his homework all day long.
     Friday was just like Thursday!  GRRR.....  I told him that if he didn't get what he needed to get done then we would not be going to U-fit.  He finally finished everything that was homework except for his airplane project.  Oh man it is going to be a long weekend!  All the kids were lucky enough to be able to go to U-fit and have fun.
     Saturday was a day.  WOW!  First thing in the morning we had Gavin throwing up until at least noon with the 24 hour stomach flu.  On top of that Dylan refused to eat dinner so he was so hungry that he threw up too.  Then we were suppose to meet with someone but we had to let them know that we couldn't since we had sick kids.  Rhett was working on his project using my computer starting at 8:00 - 9:00 am.  well he worked on it the whole day.  Since Gavin was feeling better and so was Dylan was too.  Nikole did was she was asked to do all 3 of them were able to go to a birthday party with daddy for their cousin.  They had a great time.  I was bummed and so was Rhett, but since his project wasn't finished we both stayed home and he worked on and on.  He got it all finished by 9:00 pm.  YES!!!  Now on to the next project. :(  He has at least 3 other math projects that need to be done this school year.  One every term, but still it is crazy!  It is nice that he is being pushed at school to his potential, but still it is a lot of work for me trying to keep him focused and on task.  The end of the term is October 27th.  I am looking forward to starting a new term and informing him that he has to work hard to get good grades.  LOL!  We will see how he is doing soon.
     Sunday was a pretty relaxing day since Rhett's homework was done and of course the house that was clean was not so clean anymore but at that moment I really didn't care since it was such a long weekend.  I am looking forward to school Monday morning and the craziness that happens at those times.  I also have to figure out costumes for all the kids. :(  Oh heck I am going to need prayers and lots of them.

I am so sorry it took so long to update you all but with my computer having fits I never know how long I can be on the computer before it dies.  I hope to update more often and post more pictures.  I know I will update the photos first but still...

Can you believe it!

There is so much that I have to do and not even enough time to do it all in.

Rhett has a huge math project that is due this month and of course he has left it to the last minute.  Then it is I who gets to help him try to figure out everything that he needs to do.  I expect him to get good grades and I told him that.  He can get good grades and I demand it.  Maybe I am a mean mom but I know he is able to get this amazing grades if he tries a little bit.  The topic of his project is Airplanes and Aviation.  He has to present it and make sure that it represents math and how math is part of Airplanes and Aviation.

He just wanted to do that subject because he likes airplanes.  GRRRR.....  He doesn't want to explain anything about math he wants to show pictures, and just tell everyone how big they are or how fast they go.  So now I am in the process of trying to get him to understand that he needs to do more than just say this airplane is big and can hold lots of stuff, or this airplane is the fastest ever built.  That is not how it works!  Thankfully he has a little time before ti is due but he had this weekend to do the rough draft and turn in that Monday so we have placed many hours studying airplanes but mostly looking up the "cool" airplanes according to him.

I guess you can say he has his work cut out for him.  For me too even though I am not going to school. :(  That is a Bummer.  I have thought about going to school again but that takes a thing called money that I am still working at acquiring. LOL!  Before next year I will have it all!  HE HE HE! 

What would you do if you felt like you didn't have anyone to talk to about things close to the heart?  I find myself holding it all in trying to keep it at bay and hoping that nobody will notice.

What now???

It has been very hard for me.  

I will have to explain a little later in the next post but first thing first.

Rhett saw the Orthopedic surgeon the end of last month and he had some x-rays done.  We also went over all the things that happened health wise last month.  His knee is actually moving or should I say correcting itself and hopefully in 6 months they can take the pins our of his knee and his leg will be straight.  The doctor went over the pulmonary reports and has decided not to do a chest expansion this month.  It makes me wonder if he is nervous about what was going on with Rhett's heart.  It wouldn't surprise me since I am nervous but I doubt that I will get any answers anyways.  It has been hard on Rhett watching from the side line and having no control over his body.  He has told me once again how much he hate his oxygen, and I looked at him and said I am sorry too bad you have to have it.  I was helping him do his homework and he kept kicking my butt getting it done before I could even help him.  Why does he ask for help when he doesn't need it?  Maybe he just wants to see the look of shock on my face as he gets his work done?  LOL!  That wouldn't surprise me at all.  It is amazing how smart he really is.  It has to be hard on him with his health problems being what they are and having such a smart little head on your body.  We got the heart monitor that Dr. Day wanted to have Rhett use for a month he has had a few episodes where his heart is pounding but he forgets to push the button to record it.  ARGH!  That is frustrating to say the least.  And then to top it off when he wasn't having the issues he would push the button to test the monitor to make sure it is working.  WHAT?!?!  Seriously can't he just do what the doctors have asked him to do or does he need a babysitter?  I guess we will see what this week holds.  He got a stomach bug from Dylan that only lasts 24 hours and it was horrible for each of them, throwing up all night and then really tired during the day hours.  That can make for a long night but lucky for me he is better and so is Dylan and they are both sleeping.  Now all we need to do is pray that the other 2 kids do not get sick at all.

Nikole is going to be getting her grades next week and I cannot wait to see how she is doing.  She has a hard time staying focused and getting her work done.  She has started getting it done before she comes home but there has been a few times that she doesn't and it makes for a long night.  She has been bonding with Gavin and that has been a good thing for each of them.  They go to school together and come home together and I want that to stay that way for a couple of year but I have to think of schooling for Nikole for when she goes to jr high school.  Sad to be thinking about that at the beginning of 4th grade but the school I was thinking of putting her in you have to start in 5th grade and that just really sucks since I was hoping that she and Gavin could keep going to school together for a little longer.  So now I have to look for a good school to put her in for jr high since I would really want her to stay at the school where she is at a while longer.

Mr Gavin is also going to be getting his grades next week too.  I am almost giddy. LOL!  I know I shouldn't be but I really want to make sure he is getting good grades and see where I can help him improve.  He tells me every day that he was good and I sure hope he has been.  He has been doing great at getting his homework done.  There have been a few times I have to correct him on his homework by telling him that the "b" or the "d" is backwards and that it needs to be re-written.  He doesn't like that at all but he does it willingly.  He is ever so helpful if his reward is going to be video games.  LOL!!  It is amazing how much that little boy can get done in such a short period of time just to be able to play video games.  He is also very into Star Wars and last year dressed up as Darth Vader.  So on my cell phone I have his ring tone the Imperial March.  As I was playing a whole bunch of possible ring tomes for the kids his face lit up the most from the songs that they were.  I try to play them more just to get a small smile from that little handsome boy.  He also has 3 loose teeth.  Of course they are all in front.  I wonder how cute he is going to look after he loses his baby teeth.  I guess I will find out this school year.  It is nice to see the bond that he has been forming with Nikole.  Trying to get them to play together and be nice has always been hard until this year when they starting going to school together.  I hope that they get closer over the years.

Dylan is a cutie!  It is funny to see how happy that he is to go to school and after he walks out to the bus so happy he gets on and starts crying and doesn't want to go. LOL!!  Very funny to see the drastic change in his attitude.  But after a while on the bus he is fine and gets happy.  So weird!  He got sick this past week and had to be taken out of school at lunch time since he started throwing up.  He didn't stop until really late that night.  He stayed home the next day and then went back the day after just fine.  I am ever so glad that it ended.  I felt bad that he got sick at school.  I told them that if I had known he was sick I wouldn't have sent him.  They knew I would never do that.  He loves school and he loves signing and being able to communicate with other people.  He likes to try to be a big boy but sometimes doesn't realize that he is still a little boy.  He was doing something that was quite funny yesterday, he was drinking some milk and with his mouth full of milk he would knock on my head and when I would turn to look at him he would do everything that he could to keep his mouth closed but if he smiled he would leak milk out of his mouth.  I couldn't help but laugh at him doing it again and again.  But he is healthy and happy and I hope that he stays that way for a while.

I know.... So much info

Well man this last 2 weeks have been a killer with things that we had to do.  I hope that it isn't too long for you but hack it was a lot.

For starters I had to take Rhett to the cardiologist Tuesday morning and that was a hard thing to set up since they wanted to wait until the end of the month and I told them that I wouldn't have that and he needed to be seen sooner.  So we got in and saw the doctor which I was happy about.  The doctor said that Rhett will start to desat in less than 5 minutes.  His heart sounded great and his blood pressure is great.  So they asked me to come back Wednesday and get a ECHO done and then they would call me with the results.  So after I took it him on Tuesday I took him back to school.  Then Wednesday right before the ECHO I took all the kids to the Fair to get a hand stamp and that way we could go back after they get out of school and after daddy comes home.  So after we went to the Fair I took all the kids but Rhett to school then headed to PCMC to get Rhett's ECHO done.  We had the ECHO and then I took him to school.  After that the day went pretty fast and the doctors office called me that afternoon and told me that they couldn't get a very good reading on the pressures that he has, but that he does have some flatting of his heart.  There was a slight elevation in his pressures that they could measure even though it wasn't a lot.  They did tell me that when he does strain his heart and turn blue it does elevate his pressures but no idea how much.  Too bad that he does that more and more every week.  Then Thursday I had to take him to the pediatrician.to make sure that he was in the loop with what was going on and get his input.  He said Rhett looks healthy and hope that all the testing and seeing all the doctors will provide answers that would not be available otherwise. Lucky for me the weekend was a little relaxing.

Then the following week I was grateful that my husband had work off and that we were able to spend the week together.  Monday was fun after a meeting that I had first thing in the morning we went bowling.  It was so much fun!  Of course I am not very good but I hope that I will get better and so I can beat my husband more often. :)  LOL!  Then we planned our next day.  We just had so much fun spending time with each other.  So Tuesday was our anniversary!  It was so much fun to spend the day together.  He took me to a meeting that I had that morning and then we had decided to go hike Mt. Timpanogos, but when we got there we found out that it was closed.  I had planned a babysitter for the evening so we had the whole day together.  Since we were down that way we decided to hit up some Deseret Industries looking for bowling items since my husband is on a bowling league.  We found some bowling balls that we could use and some bowling bags since he wanted me to have my own.  LOL!!!  We went bowling again that afternoon.  Then we went out to dinner and then to a movie.  Grabbed some ice cream for us and the babysitter on the way home.  It was a great day!  Wednesday was a crazy day that we had.  We found out Tuesday night that Rhett had parent teacher conferences and the last day was Wednesday between the time school got out and 7 pm.  I had called to get Rhett dropped off at the same school Dylan was at and I could pick them up at the same time.  There was some communication error and we were told that he was at the other school after I had told them to take him to this school.  So as we were going to the other school I called the bus driver to see if he had Rhett, and he told me that he had done what I asked and took him to the same school as Dylan.  So then we turned around and drove back to the school and found Rhett.  As soon as we got him we headed to the other school for parent teacher conferences there and then head back to the deaf school for their parent teacher conferences.  Well there are some classes he is doing great in, but most of them he is figuring out that it takes work to get good grades.  He has so much work to make up.  It really sucks!!!!  We headed home about 7 pm so then at 7:30 pm Rhett was taken to scouts  As he was being dropped off I put the other kids to bed and then Rhett came home almost at 10 pm!  Crazy late since he does get up about 5:45 am.  At this point I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  So I took some meds and went to bed.

Thanks to my husband who let me sleep a little longer Thursday than normal.  But not really late since I had to be at court by 8:15 am.  I was told I had to be there to testify against the man who had broke into my house a year ago.  Lucky for me my husband was there to help calm my nerves.  I talked to several police officers and they so nice.  Lucky for me the man that broke into my house and stole stuff he left his DNA that the police got a match on it, and that person was in the prison when they found out there was a match.  Going into the courtroom and having someone from the DA office ask me a whole bunch of questions was very... how do I put this...  I was trembling!  He was sitting there shackled and there was an officer sitting right behind him.  He had that expression of I can get away with anything that I do and I am going to just get a smack on the hand for this.  the detective that worked on the case was also there after someone that he works with called him and told him that he had court.  Glad that he got there before it was our turn.  The Judge decided that there was enough evidence to hold him and charge him with all the things he is being charge for that was just for our case that didn't include the other things he is being charged for.  After going to court we went bowling with Mr. Dylan since he was the only one that was not in school.  We had so much fun! 
Friday was a strange day since there was no school for Rhett and Dylan but not for Nikole and Gavin.  Which was good since Rhett had a pulmonary appointment Friday morning since we needed to measure his lung volume to see if his lungs have grown from the last surgery that he had in April.  His total lung volume went up a little but I guess it is better than nothing.  He had 1.09 February and he now has 1.33.  The only problem that I saw was that the other numbers went down.  After every blowing test that he had he was blue around his lips and he told the techs that he needed a oxygen break.  As soon as we were done at the hospital we went and got the other kids from school and took them bowling.  By that time my arm was killing me!!  LOL!!  I couldn't even bowl normally, he he he.  Oh well that is ok.

During this time I have had a cold and it just got worse and worse.  Finally by today I am finally starting to feel a little bit better but I am still coughing and my voice sounds horrible.  I hope that it goes away and my kids don't get any of it.

Sorry this was a long post but trying to cover everything that has happened in 2 weeks is a little overwhelming.  I will be posting more now that there isn't one thing after another I hope. :)

How much more can I take??

So many thing have happened since I last blogged that I have to play a huge catch up on information.

This past week Rhett has been complaining about his heart hurting meaning that his heart is pounding so hard that he is feeling it through his whole body.  At one point I had him check his oxygen levels since he looked pale and was telling me that he was having a hard time.  He actually wanted to wear his bypap at 5pm since his heart was pounding.  When he checked his oxygen levels he was at 96 and sitting there not moving.  I was not happy about that since he is on about 2 liters of oxygen and that for him is A LOT of oxygen.  To top that off Friday when I picked him up from school he was completely out of oxygen and around his lips were blue!  I was so frustrated with him.  He decided not to tell anyone because at the school he was at there was no other oxygen at all.  It is a good thing that I carry oxygen around with me just in case things like this happen.  But as we left the school we were on the road maybe 10 minutes Rhett just fell asleep in the back of the car because he had been without oxygen for so long that it made him really tired.  It is a good thing we are going to be talking to someone soon about this.  It is quite scary for me having him do this to me for a whole week.

Nikole is still not doing her homework!  What the heck!  I am getting not very happy with her.  I tell her you are in the after school program so you can get your homework done before you get home.  Since as soon as she gets home it is like let's play with my brothers!  So happy!  So I had to inform her that since she didn't get her homework done that I will have to talk to the after school people and there is a good chance that she will not be able to go.  ARGH!  Not happy mommy right now.

Gavin is doing great at getting his homework done even though he is in the after school program too.  Very cute seeing him come home all happy after fighting with him to get him out the door in the morning.  It is good that school is so much fun for him and I hope that he starts loving it and wants to go to school.  He does like walking to and from school with Nikole and it is great not having to drive everyday like I had to the many year since Rhett cannot walk that far.  I hope that They will walk all year long. :)  Happy dance!

Dylan is having a hard time keeping his health good since the weather has been changing radically.  It is quite cool in the morning and by the afternoon it is around 80 degrees!  So he has caught a cold and his poor nose is green I am going to have to take him into the doctors eventually.  But his little bottom is also very sore from his cold. :(  It is like we are always having to stay on top of the diapers since he has no want or desire to learn how to use the potty.  They are helping at school too but the teacher also tells me that he has no interest in learning.  He loves going to school and playing with his friends mostly Autumn.  LOL!  She is a sweetie and he is so cutie if you ever mention her name he just grins and says that is is his Autumn. :)  They are the same age meaning born the same month so they will always be in the same school class which I am very grateful for since they get along so well together.

Finally this past Friday I took my test and PASSED!!!  I am so excited!  I was scared that I wouldn't pass since there was a lot of grammar and reading things on the test and to be honest I am not very good with things like that.  So scary for me as I was taking it I was second guessing myself and and knowing that I am not very strong in those areas.  So after I finished the test I made sure that I answered every question but I refused to change any of my answers.  I had prayed that I would be able to pass the test and when I was having a hard time deciding what answer to choose I just went with the answer my gut told me to pick.  The passing score is 460 and I got 478!!!  I did my happy dance and was singing "I like to move it", but then Dylan got mad at me and told me that he likes to move it.  LOL!  I love how he tries to sing that song.

Now it is a new week and a pretty crazy one here.  I will have to post some pictures before I post anymore since it has been a very long time.

The end of August

Oh boy the end of August was a very frustrating time for me.  I cannot even go into detail about it because so much happened.

Rhett has been trying to get into the swing of things and so far has been doing good at school.  He has left his homework till the last minute which is driving me crazy!  If he keeps this up I might have to admit myself to the funny farm for sure.  He has almost been late for the bus a few times too.  ARGH!  He is going to give me gray hairs if he doesn't stop this, ok I refuse to get any gray hairs so he better knock it off.  His bus driver is amazing!  He picks Rhett up first and actually comes to the door to help carry Rhett's things to the buss and make sure that he is on the bus ok.  What a great guy!  Thanks Ryan!  I really wish Rhett would learn to listen better and follow direction but I guess he is at that age where he is just going to do what he wants to do.

Nikole is doing great but has also been leaving her homework till last minute too.  NO!  Not another child that procrastinates.  She is understand more but tells me that she needs help.  LOL!  It is like mom I need help and when I try she says oh I got it.  What a funny girl.  She is a great big sister and makes sure Gavin gets too and from school safe and her too.  She is doing great nad I know she will get better this year.  Nikole did get the teacher that I had requested!!  I am so excited!

Gavin is I hope doing good.  I forgot to take him in for his testing since they yelled at me the first day of school to let them walk themselves home.  Oh man that was bad!  I guess I am going to have to talk with his teacher and let her know that I am really sorry that I forgot.  Gavin also got the teacher I had requested!  YEAH!!  I hope that this school year will help him more and more so then emotionally he will be great by summer and have no more melt downs.

Dylan has a new teacher this year and she is really nice.  I met with her this past week and talked about all the things that is Dylan that I have noticed at home, since she needed to get some paper work on all the kids that she has only known for about 2 weeks finished.  LOL!  Like the teacher really knows their kids they teach within 2 weeks of meeting them.  I wish the state would give them a little more time to get to know the kids.  The school got a new playground since they didn't have one before and it was really cute seeing him run outside and want to play.

So happy that school is back in, for now I guess it might change in a day or two we will have to see.

Well well well...

When I started this blog it was to help my family (mostly siblings that live really far away) stay up to date on the goings on in my house.  Since there are sometimes that we have a really hard time and other time it is great.  Also to help other families try to connect.  I have been searching for other families like mine.  Trying to find people that have what Rhett and Dylan have is very hard to do when we have stumped doctors all over and they are not even sure what the boys have.  I was hoping to find someone that could relate.  No such luck but I have made many friends and it is nice when there are things going on in my house that is making me crazy I know I have some support.  It is nice that I don't have to repeat everything over and over again and I can just let people know they can look here ot find out the goings on.

On a different note....

What have we here?  Somebody decided that it was in their best interest to gossip about me.  I am very disappointed.  I sure hope it was worth it to them.

Rhett was late for school because the time I had was right and the bus driver's time was wrong.  LOL!  He has got a awesome bus driver.  He had to drive over his route again today after he dropped Rhett off to see how long it would take and try to calculate the time with the traffic to see what time he will have to pick up Rhett.  I got a call tonight and Rhett is going to have to be picked up about 6:30 am.  Oh the mornings that we are going to have here.  Two buses and then two kids either walked or dropped off.  I almost feel guilty for being happy that I will be childless.

Gavin and Nikole met their teachers and saw where their desks are and also found out who is going to be in their classes with them.  They are SO EXCITED!!  They have been getting along great together mostly when the other boys are at school and when they have a little problem they actually work it out pretty fast.  I witnessed it all day and I was just amazed at how well they played together.  I am glad that they have each other.  They are happy that there are so many things that they get to do together that they were too small to do before but are now big enough.

Oh man!!

Oh man!!!  School starts tomorrow for Rhett and Dylan.  I am so stressed about it.  The school sent me a schedule for Rhett saying that school starts at 7:50 am Mondays and Tuesdays through Fridays school starts at 7:30 am.  But the bus coordinator has the schedule is set to have school start at 7:45 am everyday.  ARGH!  Why can't they send out all the same information?

Last year they had something that the older kids could do after school but this year I was told they didn't.  So now I have kids getting out of school at different times but at the same school.  I was hoping that Rhett and Dylan could come home on the same bus at the same time.  Rhett will be getting out of school at 2:50 pm, but Dylan will not get out until 3:30 pm.


They are also being picked up at different time Rhett for now is going to be picked up at 7:00 am and Dylan will be picked up at 7:45 am even thought school for Dylan doesn't start until 9:00 am.

Oh the numbers in my head are spinning.

The schedule for Nikole and Gavin have not changed for a while which is good.  Since I know the school time by heart and have no worries about it.  I hope that they will be able to walk to school together often this school year.  It has been hard for them not being able to ride their bikes or walk to and from school because it was so hard on Rhett we just picked them up and dropped them off 99% of the time.  There was that 1% when we walked or rode bikes but it was really hard to since I had to have the bike trailer just for Rhett's oxygen that he was going to need at school.  But that is quite sad that we only live 5 blocks away and from the time Rhett started 1st grade to the time he finished we hardly walked over there or even rode our bikes.  I hope that can change with just the other 2 going to school there for at least this year.

As for me I am studying for my test that is coming up on September 9th.  We are going to pray really hard that I understand what I need to and pass the test.  I know I can do it.  Wouldn't it be nice if everything worked on faith and faith alone?  Ahhhh.....  What a life that would be.  Oh well it is going to take Faith and lots of practice and studying to make sure that I pass.  It is going to be great after I pass.  I can hardly wait!  Ok maybe that was a little too much excitement.  LOL!  Just thinking about it freaks me out and makes me worried and stressed so I am trying hard not to think about it too much as you can tell.

This is going to be a good week!  Positive outlook as you can see.

Clarification..

Ok so I have been told that there are people getting the wrong impression about my knowledge for who my kids are going to have as their teachers this year, meaning Nikole and Gavin.  Just to let you all know I have requested certain teachers for them and I have been presuming that my kids will be in the classes that I have requested.

There is nothing in stone and I have not been told that they are or are not going to be in those classes, I am just going with my mind in thinking they are going to be in the classes that I have requested.  If they are not then bummer since I worked so hard finding out who the best teachers would be for my kids.

I just wanted to set the record straight that I have not been given any information regarding the school year.  I am like all the other parents out there not sure but hoping that my requests have been heard.

My mind.....

With all the things on my mind there are good days and not so good days.  Today was not a good day.  Yesterday was different it was a great day.  Man sometimes I feel like I am on a roller coaster and there is nothing that I can do to get off or even make it not so up and down.

There are several things happening at the same time in my life and so I cannot focus on just one thing at a time.  The kids are starting school next week and I am happy that they will be going back I just need to make sure that I have something that I can do while they are at school to help pass the time.  I am going to miss them while they are gone but I will not miss the fighting and the not listening.  the owner of the buses that will be taking Rhett and Dylan to school called to let me know that they have to make sure the oxygen is attached to the bus while he is taken to school and returned home.  But I have not heard back from him and school starts in a week!  He better give me a call soon so we can get this taken care of before school starts.

Rhett is suppose to be on Flovent 2 times a day but he is just not doing it.  We are going to be going in for a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) soon, but the doctor thinks that the Flovent will help improve the results of the PFT.  I highly doubt that but whatever.  I got the medicine and he isn't using it, GRRR!  That was $120!  I told him when I brought it home that he better use it all but ARGH!  Not like I can tie him down and force him to use it.

There are many people that will see Rhett at an event that we go to with Hope Kids and/or Angel's Hands Foundation.  They always think that he is a such a great kid.  Which he is but sometimes it goes to his head and then he feels like it is all about him.  LOL!  That is Rhett for you.  Give him a inch and he takes a yard.

Thanks to Angel's Hands Foundation we were invited to a Monster Truck show just yesterday and it was so much fun!  The kids even had a lot of fun.  To only problem was that we didn't know the thing that they put on the oil when it spills is toxic!  What the heck!  They kept repeating over and over again that any eye contact with the dust from it should be treated by the medics.  Oh that is great what if it is inhaled?  They never said anything, but my lungs felt horrible last night and most of the day today.  I also had a sick child this morning even though we left before it was all over.  Our family had such a great time!  We have never been to an event like that before and all the kids liked it except for maybe Nikole, but she did have fun.  LOL!  Thank you Angel's Hands Foundation! You can see more about them at angelshands.org they have a new site.  It looks great.

There are things that I would love to write to help get them off my mind but I cannot seeing as I don't need the wrong people reading it.  I know most of the people that read this really care and are such an amazing support to me.  I am grateful for all the support and love that I get from those that have been following my blog.  Thank you.

Let's think

Ok so I know it has been a while but things are snowballing here.  we are down to less then 2 weeks before school starts.  I am so super excited to have the kids going back that I cannot stand it.

Rhett, Nikole, Gavin, Dylan and daddy all went to my family reunion since I had other obligations and couldn't make it.  They had a blast and I was glad to have some quite time at night.  They left Friday while I was busy and made their way to my aunt house in Idaho.  I missed them but seeing the pictures that people took was great!  How I love my family!!  I was glad that they were able to go even though I couldn't go.  They did some service projects and many other things Saturday and then came home Sunday.  They got home around 4:30pm Sunday and I was so happy that they had made it home safely.

I have registered all 4 kids for school and am waiting to hear back from the transportation company that will be taking Rhett to and from school since he needs to have oxygen.  I heard from them once but haven't since then.  I think I will call them and see what I can do since there is less than 2 weeks before he has to go.  We are thinking about getting the portable oxygen concentrator out making sure it works and then having him take that.  But the only problem that I have with that is the battery would die often and he wouldn't plug it in and charge it.  It makes me so mad that he thinks he can do whatever he wants even though it make breathing really hard and he will also turn blue very quickly.  Oh the stress he puts on me.

I informed Nikole and Gavin who their teachers were and they were happy to know that their classes are going to be next to each other.  I am happy that I only have to go to one door to drop them off.  I am glad that they are actually happy to start school again.

I asked Dylan if he wanted to see Autumn and his other friends at school.  He looked at me like I was crazy and then when he saw school his face lit up and he nodded.  At least he is happy about school even though he is only 3 years old still.

Now all I have to do is get them on a schedule before school starts so they are getting enough rest at night in order to function through the day.  That has been a bit of a challenge more so than thought it would be.  Mostly because Rhett is now 12 and wants to do what other kids do and be up all hours of the night.  ARGH!  That child can push some buttons and needs to learn that he cannot get away with that.

I have the camera it is just hard getting the pictures off but as soon as I do I will be playing catch up with pictures.

WOW long time

Ok so I know that it has been a while since I posted.  I am really sorry.  Things have been crazy busy here.  After Nikole's pageant, was Gavin's birthday and the day after that we headed out to a family reunion in Las Vegas.  That was quite a trip.

Thursday was Gavin's 6th birthday.  He had a blast!  The house was all clean and of course I didn't get too much sleep trying to make sure the house was clean and decorating and getting ready for our trip all in one.  We had his party where I had rapped all of his gifts and then put them in a big box and rapped the big box.  It was great to see him all excited about being 6 and is now very excited to start 1st grade too.  We actually ran out of cake and ice cream which was quite sad since he didn't get any because he was busy opening presents and didn't want any at the time.  Oh well there is always later right? :)

We left here Friday after work and got there around 3 am Utah time and 2 am Vegas time.  I was saying weird things and so not able to drive since I hadn't gotten a good nights sleep in a few days prior to leaving.But after we got there we slept in the next day and then went swimming first thing in the morning which the kids loved.  We actually swam everyday that we were there and I was sad to realize how much I miss swimming.  We met with family and had a great time.  We walked around some of downtown and saw many things and got a whole bunch of pictures I just have ot find the camera.

We left Vegas Wednesday to come home since Rhett and daddy were planning on going to scout camp Thursday morning.  We made it home before midnight which was great and Rhett was able to pack everything he needed or more like everything that we had that he needed to take with him.

Thursday was a busy morning and then came to a stop. LOL!  As I was helping them get ready to leave Rhett tells us that he doesn't want breakfast and he was coughing quite a bit.  Which is a sign that he is having a asthma attack. :(  Not a good way to start off scout camp.  I give him his Flovent and his Albuterol and sent the inhalers with him.  I was still worried and said a pray hoping that I didn't get any phone calls the rest of the day.  Good thing he is already on oxygen and that daddy was with him.  After the boys made sure they had everything they were off and me and the other kids stayed home which I was happy to do since I was so very tired from our trip.  We all veggied and cleaned up from our trip which was easy since most of the clothes that they took with them were clean thanks to the washer and dryer that we had in our condo/hotel.  Later my mom came over to watch my kids, but then I get a call telling me that Rhett and daddy were headed home and he would be able to have all the kids while I went to work.  It was great to have that time with adults.  It worked out great!  Rhett had a great time and had stopped coughing after being up there for a little while.  He did need his inhalers at least one more time, but that was it.  Glad that Thursday was over.

Friday was a little different since it was the day that Rhett was going to be spending the night at scout camp and I was scared to death!  I was worried since this was his first overnight event with out me being there and I had a hard time with it.  No wonder I couldn't sleep very good.  They packed up a tent sleeping bags and everything that they were going to need for at least 2 days.  Man was a I mess.  I probably didn't look it I guess it was because I just told myself not to think about it.  I went to work and my parents had the other kids until I got off work and then I took all of them out to a play at the Off Broadway Theater.  It was great to get out and get my mind off of not having Rhett or daddy home.  I can handle not having daddy home since he does travel for work some times but not having Rhett was another thing.  He has always been with me and it get hard not knowing if everything is ok or if he is waking up or if if if.....  It is like a million things that could happen and I wasn't there to make sure or know anything about it.

Saturday was a hard morning for us all. the other kids were not feeling great and I was just stressed to say the least so the plans we made fell through since I didn't want to take any type of sick kid out.  Lucky for me they got over it by lunch time and were ok the rest of the day.  I have 3 kids all playing nice and making sure the house was clean and just playing it was great!  There was a whole bunch of peace in my house.  Rhett and daddy came home around 1 pm and then we had a whole yard to care for since we have been very neglectful. LOL!  That is what happens when you have to take care of yourself and not the house.  We got some of it done and then I got sick from the heat and was done for the day.  I let the kids play outside on the slip and slide that Gavin got for his birthday.  Then we went and got some cute clothes for our new niece right before we went to dinner with the scouts.  I never know scouts were so weird.  I guess it is a boy thing.  LOL!  It was great seeing Rhett with these boys that he was at camp with and seeing for myself that he was being treated like one of them.  Made me smile to see that they treated him nice and it was the same for all of them.  They were being nice to each other which was great.  After we were finished we went and said hi to my sister in law and saw her new baby and the rest of the family.  After coming home I decided to give the boys hair cuts and started with Gavin.  After I was finished Dylan was eager to jump in and be second to have his done and of course Rhett didn't want his done but got it all cut off anyway.  Then I made them all jump in the shower and make sure they all got clean.  It was great to have them clean and with hair that is not blocking their ears. :)  While I cut their hair daddy went out and finished up cutting the grass.  The yard looks so much better then it did.

I found the camera but I have not gotten the pictures off of it yet so as soon as I do I will post some pictures to show you our grand month of July.

Be prepared!

Here is a great opportunity for everyone to come and learn what they can do to help their families in case there was an emergency.  It is always good to be prepared.

Please save the photo and come and learn lots of stuff that I am sure will help.  Fun things and a great way to learn new things even if you think you already know everything.

NAMISS Pageant Saturday!

Gratefully Saturday was not as crazy busy as Friday was at least I think.  LOL!!  The worst of it was that we had to be there by 7:30 am.  But it was the whole family so we all had to wake up very early and we did!  We made in time!  Then Nikole had to do her personal introduction at 8:00 am.  That is where she had to get up and introduce herself and tell a little bit about herself.

They are all sitting here getting ready for the personal introduction.

He is so ready for food since that is the only thing on his mind. LOL!

Getting ready to practice since they are getting their photo's taken.

She said "Hi."  LOL!  Getting her photo taken.

She is actually on stage next in line to speak in front of the judges.

She is giving her speech that she has practiced so much.  I didn't hear very much of it, I guess she will have to speak up.  Since Dylan was talking and throwing a fit.

She did great and I am so proud of her!!!  After she got up and introduced herself they had all the young girls including her go and do interviews which is where she sat down with a judge one on one and talked with them.  We were not able to see that or be able to support her except from a distance.  When she came back to the room where we were waiting we all cheered and and I gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was of her.

After that we had a little break and was able to go get some breakfast since of course none of us had eaten anything before we left the house.  We were lucky that the next time she had to be somewhere was at 11:30 am to practice her dance number for the final pageant.

Well she just didn't want to wait so I took her in and got her ready while daddy stayed with the boys and did some stuff with them.  After she was changed and ready we still had 1 1/2 hours to kill before the practice.  So we went in the hall and found some of the other parents that had girls that were her age and in her group.  They sat there and played and when they were not sitting there they were running around.  LOL!  Thank goodness for technology!  We had a great time visiting.  It was too bad that we couldn't do that too much before, since Nikole had to pick out who she thinks would be Miss Personality in her age group.  But they had a lot of fun running around and playing.

Caught her off guard.  LOL!!

They are all watching a video or something on a phone.  He he he!  So happy that they made new friends and hope we can keep them as life long.

Then they had to get to the room where they were to practice that dance.  Here are a few picture from the practice.  She doesn't know how to dance very good but she gave it her best.

They are all visiting before all the girls get there.

Making sure they have enough space between them.

I cannot believe it they are all standing still.  He he he!!  I wish I could get her to do that at home. :)

From the picture they are all suppose to be listening but as you can see Nikole is playing. LOL!

A group shot that is the end of the dance where they all scream as you will see in another picture.

I am glad that she is standing on the back row at the end.

Let's take it from the top!

Let the screaming start.  I am now a deaf person hearing all those girls scream at the top of their lungs.

Then they were told to run to their moms.  LOL!  Nikole is a blur...

Nikole sitting in my spot that is what I wanted her to do since then she is sitting near her friend.

In the dressing room making sure that she knows where we are going to meet after the dance number to hurry and change her into her formal wear.

This is the last picture that I took before I had to take the camera to daddy.

After that I was at her side the whole time and had to give the camera to daddy and he got the rest of the pictures until we left and got home.  Here are some of the pictures that daddy took.

Dylan signing that he wants to take a picture with the camera.

Rhett taking a picture as they are waiting in line ready for the final pageant.

The stage is set and ready.

The Princess group are giving their performance right before the Jr. Pre-Teen group.

Nikole's group and the beginning of their dance.

Most of the next pictures are blurry so I will only post the ones that are not as blurry as others. LOL!  Since she is dancing and so is everyone else.

They only learned the dance about 2 hours before they preformed so she is concentrating really hard so she only smiles a little bit.  They wanted all the girls to smile like crazy the whole time but they were all trying to get the dance right.

Yeah she is smiling. LOL!  I couldn't see her very well where I was sitting.

Doing her thing.  He he he!

Like I said concentration.

A little blurry  but it is expected when you try to get a picture of someone dancing and you are not a professional photographer.  Well daddy was taking all the pictures since I couldn't see her.

All the girls had a chance to stand in front and since Nikole started in the middle since ended in the back, but that is ok.  Since she is taller than many of the girls.

Twist and shout. LOL!

Yep the shouting, ok for like screaming.

This is where I jumped up and headed to the dressing room to make sure that I am ready to help her change.

As Nikole was changing this lady was starting to introduce the princesses.

Then they started with the Jr. Preteen's and Nikole is number 4 so she is at the beginning.

Here is my princess!!!  Isn't she beautiful!!!

Than they handed out awards for all the things that went on this weekend.  She got 4th runner up for the actress, runner up for the art contest, and she won the best thank you card!  I knew that she would win best thank you cards, since the thank you cards that she wrote was the best ever!

Here are all the girls that have a chance of becoming the new Queen in their division.  No Nikole isn't up there and she was ok with it.  I am glad that she has shown such great sportsmanship.

Here is the new royalty with all the other girls with crowns.  The new ones are the ones with the flowers.  They did a great job and are going to have a busy year.

Here is Nikole with her awards and ready to go home since it was a long weekend.  LOL!  But she does want try it again next year so watch out world Nikole is on the lose.  :)

I had asked her if she wants to do it again next year and she said she would think about it.  Then after we were in the car headed home daddy asked her if she wanted to do it again and she said yes.  I guess she didn't have to think about it too long.  LOL!  She is actually looking forward to next year.

You all have been a huge support and we are so very grateful for all of you.