Tales of Tubes

Yeah, Elyse's tubes are in and all went well. She was such a trooper. She was able to pick a DVD and bring a toy to snuggle with. She picked Frosty, the Snowman (in July) and her little kitty. She watched the video 2. 25 times. They gave her the medication to relax her while she was watching the end the 2nd time through and when it kicked in she became super loopy. She would start giggling over nothing and could not stop. It was funny to watch her. She also began trying to reach for things and missing completely. Tom and I were crackin' up. She kept trying to sit up but could only lift her head an inch off the pillow. She began by slurring her words a little and quickly changed to completely incoherent.

After her procedure was over, we met her in the recovery room. When we walked in, I could her crying. She became the angry drunk!! She was inconsolable. She stopped momentarily to eat a popsicle and started back up as soon as she swallowed the last bite. The nurse gave her a second popsicle while she went through discharge info. The only thing that made her perk up was when we said she could get her clothes on so we could leave. On the way out, I was carrying her and she could barely hold her head up because she was still so out of it.

On the way home, we stopped at McDonalds for some breakfast. While we waited in line at the drive through, Elyse requested Chicken Nuggets and French Fries. As you know, they do not serve that in the morning, she started to lose it. Well, since she was so looped up and tired, we thought we would try to appease her and headed over to Wendy's for Chicken Nuggets and Fries. When we pulled in the driveway of Wendy's, she fell apart and absolutely went beyond reason. She wanted McDonalds and we could not even get through to her that if she wanted nuggets we would have to go to Wendy's. In the end, we caved and returned to McDonald's and ordered her eggs and pancakes. After looking at if for a while, she smiled and decided that was better than nuggets and fries!

Well, when we finally got her home, she really wanted us to stop carrying her. Tom put her down and she quickly figured out that she couldn't even hold herself up. I set up a "picnic area" on the floor so she would not fall out of a chair. So she started to reach for something in front of her and fell flat on her face and proceeded to giggle hysterically. It was so funny.

Sydney clarified Elyse's behavior in her own terms! "Oh so she is like the man in black in The Princess Bride?" We had just watched the movie yesterday!

July (So Far!)

Prayers Please!

On Monday, July 20, Elyse will be getting tubes in her ears. It is a minor procedure, but major for us. She will need to go under general anesthesia and I am pretty nervous about that part. I am not looking forward to Monday at all! Pray that she comes through ok and that God will wrap his arms around all of us while we are waiting for her to come out of surgery!

Anniversary

On July 6th, Tom and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary. I feel so blessed to have such an awesome husband. He is such a loving father. He makes me laugh daily. I can't imagine life without him. I am so proud of all his hard work. He has been going to school since Reid was born 5 years ago. He will graduate this coming spring with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. It has been a long journey, but will be totally worth it when he is doing a job that he enjoys. We have come a long way, baby, and have many years to come.
Our Wedding Day

July 6, 2001

This was taken on our honeymoon on the top to Pikes Peak in Colorado.

I LOVE YOU TOM!!!!!!

July 4th

We had a party at Grandma and Grandpa S' house to celebrate the 4th and Nikki's 30th birthday. Grandma had a pool and slip-n-slide set up for the kids. We also brought some games and the kid's ball gloves and bat and ball to play with. We hung out all day with extended family and friends. Kris provided some of Nikki's favorite foods and we all grazed on it all day long!!!!! Tom's sisters, Amy and Tammy, brought their children as well. We have not seen Tammy in so long and it was really nice to talk with her and see the kids. Our children met their cousins, Isabelle and Carlo, for the first time. It was a fun day.

Chicago Trip

While my sister was here, we took an overnight trip to Grandma's house and to Chicago. On Thursday morning, I took the kids with my sister and her boys and my mom to Indiana to visit with my mom's family. We all met at my Uncle Jack's house on the farm. There were lots of kids who came to play. It was beautiful weather and very relaxing. We were able to visit with my cousins that we do not see very often. Afterwards, we headed to a hotel near my grandmother's condo. My dad, Bill, and Tom, drove out together and came to the hotel. We all met grandma for dinner at her favorite restaurant. The kids all sat a table by themselves and suprisingly behaved very well. We finished off the day with a movie in our room for the kids to settle down. On Friday morning, we checked out and drove up to The Museum of Science and Industry, in Chicago. It was a fun filled day. The kids really liked all the cool hands on exhibits that they had. Our kids all came to the conclusion that the Idea Factory was their favorite exhibit. The museum has so much to do, we did not even get to everything. I guess we will just have to go back sometime. However, we will pack a lunch next time and leave it in the car! We payed more for lunch in the museum than we do for all of us to eat dinner (steak dinners for Tom and I). We knew it would be pricey, but that is highway robbery!
After we left, the kids all fell asleep in the car. So we did not stop for dinner until we got back into town. We ate dinner at Culvers and the kids enjoyed some sundaes after dinner.

June

Well, now that the greenhouses were finally finishing up we had time for some more fun.

We met Tom's sister, Amy, and her family at a Strong man contest. We watched that for a while and then took the kids to the nearby park to play. We don't get to see them very often so it was nice to catch up with Amy and Carl. Alice brought a friend with and they all searched for interesting rocks and stuff. Later on that day, we met Tom's family at a party for his Grandma S. We were celebrating her 80th birthday. We visited with his cousins and Aunt and Uncle who we have not seen it many years. The kids all had fun playing together.

The kids started gymnastics this month as well. All three are taking lessons on Thursday nights. They all love it. It is fun to watch them try new things and get better at things that they already do. They will continue through the end of August and then we will decide if they will sign up again.

At the end of the month, my sister, Karen, and her family came to visit. Tom and I picked them up from the airport. Sydney had a day at the beach with her teachers earlier that day and so we were already halfway to the airport. They have only been able to visit once a year, so we look forward to it every time. We stayed busy for the two weeks that they were here. We went to the beach, the Air Zoo, the park, shopping, the movies, and Chicago. The pictures in this slide show are from the visit ot the Air Zoo. It is free this summer, so we hope to go back with Tom.

May

In May, we had a few end of the school programs and trips to go to. Sydney had her first grade play. She played the role of the teacher in Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. She had a pretty big part and did a wonderful job. She remembered all of her lines and used good expression. She surprised a lot of people, because she can be so shy with people. They thought that she would be more nervous than she was. Tom and I were so proud of her.

Reid had his end of the year program. It was very cute. The kids sang some songs and shared some of their favorite stories and things they learned in preschool. Afterward, we saw some of their art hanging up and celebrated a wonderful year with a light lunch with all the preschool families.

Sydney in her teacher costume!

Reid, standing proudly in front of his artwork.

The Dairy Farm

Reid's very last field trip with his preschool class. We went to Maggie's Dairy Farm. We started out in the nursery, checking out the calves. We then were able to go into the room where the cows are milked. The milking station is like a giant lazy susan. The cows get on and are milked as they turn slowly around to the exit. Next, we went into the barn to see where the cows live. We saw an adult cow that was able to get out of the gate and it started walking towards all of us, so we quickly left the barn. We each were given a carton of milk to taste. At the end of our trip we went back to the nursery so we could feed the calves their milk.

April

April was busy, but mostly with working in the greenhouses. We did not have many other things going on outside of work and school. So I put in a few pictures that were taken during the month. I caught a few of our children spending time together without fighting. The next photos are of Easter morning. The dresses that the girls wore were made by mom. Then, I took more pictures in the greenhouse. Elyse learned how to plant on the line by the planting ladies, and we found her sleeping in the office on one of the chairs. My grandmother came out and helped clean up some baskets. She is 97 years old and misses her days working with the flowers. I think she really enjoyed herself.

March

We had a busy month in March. The greenhouses were getting busier and we had lots of fun activities. It started with Reid's trip to the Nature Center where we learned about maple syrup.

A Surprise Trip

We had a few days during Tom's spring break that we were not busy in the greenhouses. So Tom and I decided to surprise the kids with a trip to the indoor waterpark hotel. We sent Sydney to school on Thursday morning without telling her our plans. We packed up and picked Sydney up from school and left for our trip. She was the most suprised to find out that we were leaving immediately for the hotel. We had been there before and they knew what they were in for. In fact, the last time we were there, the kids hardly dared to go on the water slides and were deathly afraid of the big bucket of water. They had been practicing in the shower with water getting dumped on their face ever since so they were ready. Sure enough it worked. The kids tried every slide except for the Vortex (which is thrilling for adults) and Sydney even stood under the big bucket and waited for it to dump thousands of gallons of water over her head. We stayed in the water all day on Friday. We left at dinner time for home. Before leaving town we stopped at Subway for a bite to eat. Elyse struggled to stay awake while eating. She fell asleep the minute I buckled her seat belt in the car. The kids all slept the whole way home! We had a blast and the kids did too!

Class quilt

In March, the Christian Schools held an auction to raise money to support the schools. This is the second year that I helped a class create a quilt using their artwork. I was able to work with the first graders in Sydney's class this year. We used crayons on satin fabric to draw out some insects. The students had just finished learning all about insects. We then ironed the picture so the color would be permenant. Their artwork was adorable. I found fabric that was based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This is the back side of the quilt.
Here is Sydney's Walking Stick and Butterfly. If you look closely you can see that she wrote labels for her insects.

My mom quilted it for us. The details that she added really made the quilt special. You can see that she put dragon flies in the the yellow triangles.

Even though it is a lot of work, it is fun to see the excitement that the kids have to create this special project.

Reid's Birthday

For Reid's Birthday we let him pick two friends from school to take with us to Jungle Joes. He picked his friends, Cameron and Drew. The kids all had a blast on the slides and bouncers. By the end of the hour, I think they were all exhausted. We then stopped at McDonald's for lunch and some cake. I think the boys had so much fun together. After we brought Drew and Cameron home, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa S' house to celebrate some more. It was a long but fun filled day. The next day we went out to Applebees with my parents for one last celebration (at least until next year.)

February

In February, I was able to sub for a few days in Reid's classroom. I was filling in for Miss Sandra. She usually runs the program in the gym for the group rotation. I was happy to have the opportunity to experience a different part of the preschool program. When the kids have their special days, then the parents work with the kids in the classroom during the rotation time.

We also had a field trip to go on this month. Elyse and I joined Reid and his class at the Museum downtown. The kids had story time and were given a chance to create their own unique snowmen. Then we explored the rest of the museum. Afterword, we all went out for pizza together at a pizzeria downtown. It was fun to visit with some of the other moms and dads during lunch.

Greenhouse season also began in February. We started planting and Reid and Elyse enjoyed coming to the greenhouse to get dirty everyday.

January

Reid and I were able to go roller skating with the rest of his class. It was difficult to get my body to do what it once did so easily. It was fun once I got the hang of it again. Reid had lots of fun and did not get discouraged after falling often. It was really cute to see all the kids trying so hard to keep their balance.

Reid went from clinging to the wall to going around on his own in no time.

One of Reid's friends, Maddie.

I also had some cute snapshots that I took of the kids in January.

Updates

Well, I am finally getting to our blog since the busy spring season is done. I want to try to go back to January to show what our family has been up to since then. I will try to update month by month. Now that we are already halfway through the year!