Something better..

So here is something good. I guess if it isn't about complaining then it is about happy basketball. Kelsea went to school as long as she could so she could play in the game today. That was like 3 or 4 classes. It was their last game of the season and they are heading into the tournament this weekend. Of course she wanted to play. She didn't start today because she wasn't well But she played. I thought she would collapse but she didn't. She played well and ran out gas pretty quick. In the end the other team tied with them. She had made 2 of her free throws earlier. She got fouled again. She went up to the line and sunk her 2 free throws. Up by 2!! Then she is still in and the time is running out but the other team wants a foul to try and get possession. They foul her. She is up to the line again and sinks one of her two. We are up by 3! There is not much time left but enough and she managed to intercept or rebound, I can't remember which and holds the ball for the buzzer. WE WON! Then she sickly walks off the court. Now she can be sick again.

My doctor was wondering if Amber was tested for mono so that is I guess a suggestion we should get her tested. I will probably see if Kylee has it too. We will have to see what happens with Kelsea. She hasn't been sick long enough.

This is my note to self: Do not let Hannah sleep with me when I have to be up early in the morning. She is one wild and crazy sleeper. She was kicking me and kicking covers off half the night. I went to bed early for me too. What is wrong with that child?

The sun was still shining. I am still pretty happy about that.

You all must suffer with me...

If I must suffer, I suppose I will make all who visit here suffer. I really want to whine and complain about it right now. So I somewhat apologize as I agonize. ACK EEK big stinky horrible stupid crappy illnesses can just go take one giant hike RIGHT NOW!!!!! I am sick of the sick in my house that is making my poor kids miserable and adding to the already busy stressful time this month already brings. Kelsea, poor kid, always gets things the worst. She ran a fever that hit a high of 103.7 last night. We got it down and she is on Tylenol every 4 hours because it climbs right back every time. It was 103 again this morning and it was about 102 but looks like it could be 103 a little bit ago. Good news--Kylee is getting through school, even with all the coughing and hacking and Amber made it back today. She has a big homework load and will be missing tomorrow for an all day band thing. She is at pep band tonight-I forgot about that. She already missed one and a concert and that will probably affect her grade. Her boyfriend's dad (our doctor) and mom do not want him in our house because of the whatever that is here. I don't blame them but I think it is too late really because he has already been here several times when Amber was super sick. I am wondering about Hannah. She is so strange sometimes. Her glands are swollen and her voice sounds like her tonsils are sore and she says her throat doesn't hurt. I have heard a cough from her that sounds pretty yucky, sometimes barky but she says she is faking it. And she is kind amped up like some of my kids get when they are getting sick. Hmmm, she is a mystery. No symptoms yet from Autumn. I got rid of my headache only to have it back again this morning and somehow by 10am it just disappeared so that is better.

So the man of the house is out of the house and down in Ely moving hay with cousin Dell. That almost sounds like some sort of goofy kids song. We might see him at the end of next week for Amber's birthday. Oh, here is a by the way. My oldest baby will be 18!!!! in 10 days. I can not believe it. So the scary part is, if he is gone and the 2 youngest get this or I do it is going to be really rough. I am afraid of how much work I might miss. But I think he is getting it. And he is away from all of us to help him. I feel a slight feeling in my throat that makes me nervous. THIS IS GETTING OLD!! Aren't you tired of hearing about it yet? I am tired of this going on and on and on--the illness-And I am tired of hearing coughing from everywhere-you are probably tired of my blog.

So the sun was shining today and that made me very VERY happy.

Rescue me!!

That is my theme song for today. Play that song in your head for my little blurb here. I am going to bed in a minute. I came home with another killer headache. I keep hoping I am warding off the really evil illness that is lurking in my house. Kelsea has really been nailed now. She has a fever. Amber went to her concert last night and didn't play. Everyone was so happy to see her though. She was still coughing and had a really bad bout as we left. Kylee made it on Monday but still coughs all the time. I am under serious stress even if the kids weren't sick. I won't go into it. That just adds to it all. And Lee Joe is going out of town tomorrow so I will be on my own as I hold my breathe and hope the 2 youngest can steer clear of it along with myself.

Can we make it?

Yes we can!! I think that will have to be the mantra for a little while. I can tell you the past two weeks have been more than nuts. It is not letting up for awhile. I think if we can done with all this sick crud that will help. Kylee has been sick for two weeks. I think she will FINALLY make it back to school on Monday. Amber has been running a fever for 5 days. We took them both in on Friday. They gave Kylee a cough medicine because I asked for it. Her body hurts from all the coughing. It keeps her up at night. Amber was put on penicillin but they have something else that came with the strep and my gosh is it a nightmare illness. I don't think she will make it to school on Monday either. Her fever was 102 this evening. She hurts all over and just feels crummy but is sick of doing nothing at home. I had Autumn's mild flu Thursday night and Friday. It hit me real hard after I came home and I slept half the day on Friday. I called a sub. We have had practice for basketball and had 3 games on Saturday. Autumn's team won. But she took a really hard fall towards the end of her game. I thought she hit her head the way she fell but she was trying to stop her head from hitting the floor. She bruised her hip pretty bad. Kylee's team lost-the team we are coaching. I was frustrated afterwards. I got there at the half because their games overlapped a little and were at 2 different schools. I knew we could have been better prepared but I had to tell myself I saw half the game and the other team was so much taller than ours. They just had a run of baskets in the end. It was a really low score. They are shooting at 10 foot baskets now instead of 8. It is an adjustment. Kelsea's team lost but they played really well. Kelsea fell pretty hard once too and has a nasty bruise on her knee and elbow. It is so pretty. AND I have been trying to remember for the past 2 weeks-the busiest ones in a long time-that I has a talk this Sunday. That turned out OK. I was the last speaker and I didn't know that. I knew my talk was a little longer than the 10 minutes they asked me to take. They always give the last speaker a lot of time but if the youth speaker and other 2 speakers take too long then you have no time. I didn't know what to cut out if I had little time. I cut out a little part and we went over by 5 minutes. I started my delivery slow at first because I tend to go through my talks fast but then it picked up momentum and got a little faster and a little faster so I could get what I felt I needed to say. It turned out fine. But man, I feel like I have running in high anxiety mode for too many days and felt like I was going to loose it Saturday. I took a nap today. I slept so hard I was completely disoriented waking up. You know how you look at the clock and you can't tell what time it really is on what day. Yeah. I just hope nobody else gets what Kylee and Amber have because otherwise this will go on a really long time. Remember the mantra--Can we do it? Yes we can. I think. I really hope so.

Quote of the day

I want to write a book called "They call me Duty, Tales from the Playground"

Today was a classic. This cute 2nd grader in Hannah's class was in the nurses office. She had stepped out to warm up her lunch. I asked him if he was sick because he was next to a trash can. He said no. Then he stood up and I could see he had an accident. I asked him if he had and he tells me this story. "I was playing with my friends. he pushed me and I fell in some slush and started sliding." There hasn't been any slush for a long time. "So I fell and was sliding in the slush and I kept going and it stinks. I slid into the grass and got some grass sweat on me. The grass sweat just stinks." Ok I say back as I stifle my smile and a laugh as I try to find the boy a pair of pants.

A few days ago we were trying to find a little boys coat that a little girl ran off with. I said "Does Bailey have it?" one of them says "Who is Bailey?" and the other boy says "You know that girl that was new a long time ago?"

Kids are so good for a laugh.

Sick update-Kylee has missed 7 days of school as of today. If you count the 3 day weekend then she has been really sick for 10. Amber does not sound like anyone I know. She was running a fever last night and is asking me if she can go to school tomorrow. Kelsea has that crud now. She is in the beginning of the sore throat. Autumn went back today-YAY-we will see if the two littlest can escape this nasty stuff. I am surrounded by sick people everywhere and becoming more and more afraid. So far I have escaped it-so far. It is a couple hours later. This last sentence just bit me. I feel a flu coming on. I do not feel well anymore.

Quarantine

I think we need to quarantine my house now and we need to have a sick day at school instead of a snow day. 3 of MY kids were home today and the 4th went home after lunch. I had one healthy kid. The school wasn't much better. Lee Joe was home with the kids and there was no nurse and our secretary was out today to be with her father during his surgery. So I was the nurse. I sent home about 5 or 6 today. We had a bunch of kids out. Autumn's teacher went home with the same stuff Autumn had. The phone never stopped ringing and if it did I was with a kid or kids in the nurses office. The phones and the computer went down as I was trying to look up two kids phones numbers so I could send them home. Such fun. I came home exhausted with a headache. I don't want to hear a phone ring.

Kylee is still sick

Kylee has been sick for about a week. She was out of school starting Tuesday and out all week. She started with a sore throat that has gotten worse and worse. We took her to the doctor on Thursday and of course they say it is a virus. Then on Friday she starts running a fever. On Saturday her chest hurts and she coughs when she breathes in. She might be a smidgen better today but she is still running a fever. I am wondering how much longer this thing will last. We got a call at 8:30 this morning telling us the 2 day strep culture came back positive. Of course the 2nd day would have been Saturday so the poor kid has had to suffer through the weekend. Amber might have it now too.

This past week totally kicked my butt. I did not see the inside of house but for a few minutes each day except to eat and sleep. I am so glad for this 3 day weekend. I can tell this week has been hard on Hannah. She was sick on Tuesday with Kylee. Lee Joe was here during parts of the day while I worked. But the rest of the week was so busy. She has been asking to sleep with me at night. I told her I would spend some time with her. On Friday I guess I said I would but the week has had a mind of it's own and I spent another 4 hour evening watching basketball again. The kids were there and Lee Joe was too but that didn't count so Saturday I spent some time with just playing and drawing on her back with an unsharpened pencil and comb. She drew on mine and brushed my hair. It is really long again. So I got some time with her. I sat with Amber talking to her too. She had a rough moment so we had some bonding time on the couch as well. She laid on me and I stroked her head and we talked. I asked questions and she said I don't know to most of them. It was nice to have some time with the girls that needed me and at least recover from a crazy week.

What the!!.....

So Kelsea had a glory moment already this year. The overtime causing shot was AMAZING!! She had another one and the coach made the mistake of her LIFE!! I watched it this time!! They had this amazingly close game. It was tied and went back and forth the whole 4th quarter. I was a mess. My neck was already trying to go into spasm and it really went for it. Kelsea played most of the game. The clock was ticking down and we were down by 2. They were bringing the ball down. Kelsea had the ball well behind the 3 point line and for some reason the coach wanted to call a time out. The ref blew the whistle as or just after Kelsea launched it. AND THAT STINKING BALL WENT IN THE HOOP!!!!! The clock was stopped at 2 SECONDS!! They would have won by one!! The crowd couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe it!!! The coach about died right there. Of course not in the literal sense. Close enough. They were able to set up a play in that 2 seconds and another girl made the game tieing basket and they went into overtime. Kelsea scored the first basket in overtime, they answered back. The other team won by one free throw. ACK!!!!! Now I am speechless.

Trying to be less pessimistic

I think I really a lot better at pessimism than optimism. I do recognize that. I try to work on it. But if you ask me if I like my job-sometimes. It's not my favorite. I have benefits. I get to have vacation with my kids. I get paid like a teacher, all year. Ok. But I don't like being outside so much. It has been so cold all week long. I don't like wondering if the cars are going to decide to stop so I can get kids across the street. The days are always unpredictable. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes, not so much. Yesterday a couple of 4th grade boys had a calendar that was NOT appropriate. The teacher showed me what she found. Caught me off guard. It became quite humorous. We had to keep kids off the playgound equipment because it had ice all over it from the fog. You try to keep 500 kids off playground equipment for almost 2 hours. How mean. Today seemed to be kindness day. A girl that is known for her little mean streak was really kind to a special needs girl today and played tetherball with her all recess. Another girl fell on the playground and one of our down syndrome girls gave her a kiss on her hand and put it on her hurt and then they walked off with their arms around each other. It was nice to have a day like that instead of tattletale day. Anyways, doing this is tough. I knew it would be. I had 2 sick kids so far this week. They both missed Tuesday-we sent 7 kids home sick at the school on Tuesday. Hannah went back Weds but Kylee has been home all week with a sore throat. It was worse today. I was concerned about strep. That was negative. So of course it is viral. She has been home on her own but I have been there for my lunch and Amber and Kelsea have half days for finals this week.
I really don't have time to blog. We have to coach basketball practice in a few minutes. So off I am in the world of perpetual busy that I do not thrive in like some people.

Something Exciting

It is only exciting if you haven't had insurance coverage for a really really long time---I got my insurance card today!!! It is active on Feb 1. WOO HOO for me!!

GRUMPY

I am grumpy, the kids are grumpy, the husband is grumpy, the pets might be hiding, the house is sort of quiet with all grumpies mulling in their grumpiness. But that could change in an instant. It has been a full moon. We are all sleeping which is nice and something positive. To try and say something else positive........tic...toc...tic...toc.......crickets chrirping. I guess it will have to wait awhile until I think of something.

This week has so much on everyday that I think there are maybe two days I might be able to write something else in the little box on the calendar. I hope I don't have to. I may disappear this week from the computer. Or I will come back for a diversion and an escape from my busy mind. We will see. I guess I did have a choice in how out of hand things are but it always seems like an OK idea until you actually look at it. Lee Joe and I are coaching Kylee's Y basketball team. Lee Joe OK'd that one. He has been talking about leaving town all week for moving hay in Nevada and he is trying to get mine work out of town too. So guess who is really the coach. The problem is we are not getting along so well together in the same place doing the same thing. Like somebody trying to be in charge of something. HMM. I might have to wait until he does leave before I take part in it for the sanity of us all. I was suppose to assistant coach Autumn's team but that didn't work out like I hoped for with the guy I was going to help. He is the assistant coach and not the coach. So how did all turn out so backwards? Oh well. We will take it day by day.

I am tired

I am so tired. I should be crawling into bed. I got home for the first time today at 9pm. I spent about 4 1/2 hours at basketball games tonight. All 3 teams lost. I am so tired it was hard to do anything all day and it was a very long day. I have slept great all night the past 2 nights. It was not cold or sloppy today. Yesterday the blacktop on the playgound was one big enormous slushy puddle. My arms are sore from pushing slushy water in the drains. I was hoping to burn lots of calories. That is it. I am beyond sleepy and I think the prednisone is the only thing keeping me slightly buzzing. Yeah....

I remember when....

Today it snowed a ton until about 11. I waited at the crosswalk for awhile this morning before the kids came to cross. The flakes were so big and pretty. It was kind of cold but the snowfall was one of those that could almost put you in a trance. I love how quiet it is outside when it snows. I love it when all you can hear is the snow falling gently on the ground. At the crosswalk it is not that quiet. I have lived in many states with real snowy winters. Colorado had snowy winters. We were in Kansas for a blizzard that gave us a snow week and enormous snow drifts that were perfect for tunneling. I remember being outdoors all day for days digging and digging and sledding down the hill at our house. Then we would visit all the kids in the neighborhood to see what kind of caves they had built. You know how to keep your feet dry in snowboots? Put a large ziplock or plastic grocery bag over your socked foot and put it in your boot and you can play for hours. My step brother tried to convince me to test the ice on the pond. He was trying to show me it was solid only to have the ice give way and he was up to his knees in water. That was the funniest thing I had ever seen when I was 11. Then when we did get to go to school I tried to see how deep the snow was in the ditch and about paniced to get out because it looked level with the snow but it was super deep. We moved to Alaska. Our first winter there I was 12 and in the 6th grade. It was the best winter ever. We could ice skate and sled at recess. All the elementary schools and high schools had ice rinks. We would bring our sleds and skates on the bus. You needed snow pants and snow boots all winter long but it was the best. There was a hill at the elementary school and most of the school at recess was on that hill. There was one icy path that you could slide down without a sled. Snowpants were great on it. And then there was the lower part of the hill and the kids would build little jumps. That was where we would sled. I would take my saucer sled, jump on my knees and go upright down the hill. I would take that jump and My knees and shins were always black and blue. Then the ice skating where I would go so fast and run into the walls. My mom bought me knee pads because of how bruised my knees would get from crashing the walls. Then we moved across the street from an elementary school and I spent every night there ice skating. I was 13 and my mom and stepdad were hardly ever home so I would bundle my brother up-he was 2- in all his snowgear and then he would have to go potty. I had to undress him and redress him again. It took FOREVER to get him out the door. I would bring his ice skates, put them on him and skate. It was always dark by the time I got home at 3 or 4 but when there is that much snow in a city there is such a glow. Matt never lasted as long as I wanted to skate though. The snow would be on the ground all winter long and it seemed it was never hard to find a hill to sled on. So winter in Alaska as a kid can be a blast.

Here in Idaho, on this side of Idaho, we have hardly ever had that kind of snow. Usually if it snows in the morning you better get out and play because it will be gone by noon. But last winter was different and this one is too. As an adult my perspective is so different. I never had to drive in it much so it scares me to drive if it's bad. I can't stand the mountain of wet stuff the kids track in. It is worse than the towels and swimsuits in the summer because there is more of it. Where do you put it when the snow doesn't stick around? The front doorway is always dirty and usually wet, so watch where you step in socks. But today, at the school, I was reminded of those pleasures of youth, where you can play for hours and really don't feel cold even if you are. I am such a mom telling all the silly kids to put their coats on. I can really like the snow in winter. I showed about a dozen 2nd graders how to roll enormous snowballs today. I properly wore them out, and myself, in the process. It was the funniest thing to see all the enormous snowballs all the kids were building and trying to push and all the snowmen that were built today. It was sad to see it rain this afternoon and turn everything into a nasty slushy mess. It rained lightly during lunch recess and I was wet through my coat but the kids were having such a blast we didn't send them in. It was the best kind of snow. Snow is fun-I guess I am too picky and want it on my terms, but it was fun. I asked the other gal I work with if she wanted to go outside and build a snowman with me before all the kids went to lunch. It would have been funny if we did, but we didn't. We had already been outside plenty by then. When your old, compacted snow is hard on the back and the legs. Our backs sure have hurt the past two days. I have some great hair. My bangs were curled under this morning. Now they curl out all stringy looking. I remember the days I could care less about that too. But that is a topic for another day.

It's COLD outside

We actually got the snow the news said we would get. When they said we would get it too. But they said it would turn to rain later-It did not do that. In places it was about 4 inches. I spent much of the day out in the snow at the school. No inside recess. My feet are still cold. I am so tired too. I woke up at 4 from the headache I had all afternoon yesterday and the smoke alarm was beeping from the battery dying. How come it doesn't start doing that while everyone is awake? So I looked at the snow, pulled out the battery and took medicine at 4. Never fell back asleep. I was debating and debating calling in a sub. I was sort of hoping for a snow day but there wasn't enough snow. My headache finally left around 1 today. I came home and had chicken noodle soup. But I need to warm up my feet still. Not much happening tonight--I should stop rambling. I do that too much when I am tired. Better make dinner and do all the things I couldn't do yesterday.

Ummmm

I wish I had something to say. It has been a rather quiet Christmas vacation. Most of the snow is gone except for the mountains that were created from clearing sidewalks and driveways. It has rained a bunch.

We went to the movies on Hannah's birthday. We saw Bedtime Stories. It was cute. Amber and her boyfriend have spent a lot of time together. He went with us on Monday and she has been to his house. There have been several movie nights. A couple of movie watching nights here and at other people's houses. The last movie night here ended in a marshmallow fight with Marshmallow shooters. 6 kids and a dad shooting marshmallows at each other. I have been finding marshmallows for days since. But the boyfriend tried to stay up for 48 hours and got really cranky-imagine that. We had a night where I had to tell Amber to get off the phone several times. At 1:30 she lost her phone. She got in trouble and she rarely gets in trouble. So Amber has mellow Amber like dramas with that. Not really a drama. More of a dilemma I guess. The drama was between Kelsea and the boyfriend. Kelsea does not want to wait for their goodbye's anymore. So they, Kelsea and the boyfriend, had a real spat and drama over that. Kelsea has had practice all week. She has a game this afternoon. The little girls have been house bound since our outing on Monday. But they have been busy having fun. We spent New Year's with the 3 little girls while the 2 oldest went to the church dance with lots of friends.

My own Christmas vacation is winding down. I don't have much to show for it except a lot of rest, kid chasing and another visit to my sinus doctor. I am STILL going to be on antibiotics and prednisone until I have insurance and can have CT scan. Yuck. I have not had one pain free day. But Magnesium is helping a ton so it is mangeable-or should I say a tolerable amount of pain.

Yep, that was pretty boring. I am sorry. I should probably accomplish something before I become too busy again to get anything done.