After 6 months----we are finished!

So this post is a follow-up to Katherine's surgery six months ago. She had a clogged tear duct which we had surgically opened and the doctor also put a stint in to help keep the duct open. She needed to have that for 6 months and today was the day that we finally had it removed. It was a very simple procedure, and I was surprised at how quick it was (only about 5 minutes from start to finish). We met with the doctor and he told us what he was going to do. Then we got started. I was very thankful that Gabe was there as he held her down so they could remove the stint. Actually they had Gabe and 3 other people holding her down---she was not going to let them near her eye without a fight. First they put some numbing drops in her eye, then they put the equivilent of neosporin in there to help lubricate the stint and make the removal easier. Then he took a pair of tweesers and put them next to her eye and pulled on the stint. It came out quite easily and was in a loop.....which he had explained to us earlier he would use to put some of the neosporin into her duct to help keep infections at bay, by pulling first one side all the way through and then the other. After that he took a pair of scissors and cut it and finished pulling it out- and we were done. Now we have to put more drops in her eye for the next few days to make sure that there isn't an infection because part of the stint that he pulled through that duct was stuck in her nose---and we all know how yucky our noses are. But he said that the likely hood that we would have a repeat clogged duct was minimal.....but it is possible. So we are now praying for the best that this cleared it up and we don't have to do it again----although it really wasn't that hard to do----probably one of the easiest surgeries that you could have for recovery and such. We are grateful for the doctor's expertice and knowledge on this and for his help in resolving that bothersome condition.

On a lighter note we were able to make the trip without any problems, although the trip there was a little more hairy because of slick spots and blowing snow. The trip home was uneventful because the roads had cleared considerably. We did see some wildlife on the side of the road. I know we live in Wyoming and wildlife shouldn't be exciting to us. What was exciting was that we drove by them once and said to ourselves that we should go back and take some pictures. So we turned around, drove back, and then came up beside them and sat there for a few minutes to snap the pictures. It wasn't until after we had snapped a couple of pictures that they decided that it was time for them to go. There were actually 6 standing there, I seem to have cut 2 out of their 5 minutes of fame. And there were several cars that passed them before we could get back there too, so it was fun to see them. A little later, there was a mass of antelope that we couldn't get pictures of, because they had decided before we got there it was time to move on.

And of course a big thanks goes out to my mother, this is the rest of the story. We asked her to come and babysit for us, and that makes life easier because then we know that the children are in good hands, but this time we didn't know what we were in for. Mom got here Sunday evening, because she is like me----NOT a morning person, and didn't want to travel that early in the morning. Now we are very thankful that she did come last night. We left after dropping Mariah off at school, and because the weather sucked, got Katherine in earlier and were able to come home earlier too. But that is getting ahead of ourselves. Mom came last night and just after she got here it started to snow. We started to wonder if we were even going to get there and if she would even be able to get home for her trip. (She is leaving tomorrow to go to Georgia for her birthday). We looked on the internet at the road conditions and all around us was no unnecessary travel and closed roads. This morning was the same thing----I thought for sure that I was going to have mom for a couple of days before the roads opened and that she would miss her flight and trip. This morning our roads to Casper were clear, but all mom's roads to Cody were closed. But as the day wore on, they opened and she was able to make it home safely this evening....and will still get to take her trip. Thank heavens for the small miracles in our lives.

Never Mind

You all need to disregard yesterday's post because after getting all excited, these pictures are what we woke up to this morning. It might not look bad, but not only is it snowing, but the winding is blowing and it is COLD. It made the morning rush out the door a little harder, as I had to make sure that the children had hats and gloves. Then I realized that I am missing gloves for the kids---WHY? Because they have been wearing them to school in the morning (it is still pretty chilly) and then not bringing them home after school----because it is too warm to wear them.

I commented to Gabe this morning that it is only right, March came in like a lamb, and now it is going out like a lion. His response, "no, lions are wam and this isn't." So unfortunately, I have to put my excitment for spring on the back burner. It will be a little while longer before I am seeing the leaves on the trees and can go without my winter boots and coat. But I can't complain too much, because we do need the moisture that the snow is brining.

Spring is here?!!

I know that spring is coming, I can feel it in my bones and I wonder when it will appear. Despite the recent weather (snow and looking like it might dump again) I am seeing the signs that spring is really close. Today while reading and the kids where all napping (that is why I discovered this) I heard some meadowlarks singing their songs outside. Then my grass is starting to green up, the flowers are starting to grow again. It makes me excited just to think about all the growth and activity that is happening right under my nose---I just have to stop and look and listen. So my challenge to you today it to stop, look and listen and see what signs of spring you can find.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In hopes of creating some memories for my children, like my mother did for me, I decided to have something special for dinner tonight in honor of the "holiday" of St. Patrick's Day. I of course couldn't do what my mother used to do for us, make us green pancakes, so I did the next best thing. Some of you may wonder why I couldn't make the green pancakes, they are really easy as you just add green food coloring to the pancake batter. Actually it has more to do with the fact that I am NOT a morning person and I struggle every morning to get the children up in time to get ready and make the bus......so hot breakfasts tend to be out of the picture. So instead I decided to do a dinner. We had a green salad, with green jello and then had baked chicken. I know it isn't all green but I thought that too much green wouldn't be edible (too much of a good thing). But then to keep the children busy and not watching too much TV I also had some leprechauns that they could color, cut out and glue together. So our house became the target of 6 leprechauns, unfortunately we didn't find their gold. The older my children get the harder I have tried to create some traditions and things that they will remember when they become parents.....hopefully they will remember tonight and make their families a "green" dinner for St. Patrick's Day.

My Budding Musicians

Bethany had a music "concert" today for her kindergarten class. They don't do a regular concert like they do for the older kids, we just went to the school and got to sit in on one of her music classes. Although it wasn't a full blown concert it was still fun to go and see how they teach the music classes. They sang a couple of songs in French and had lots of actions. What was even more fun to see was Wyatt and Katherine. They called Wyatt down from his room to watch too and Jacob loved seeing his Wyatt. Then while Bethany's class was singing I looked over at Wyatt and he too is singing all the songs right along with them. After they were done Katherine jumps right up and sits down on the risers and looks at me like, okay now it's my turn. After the program the kids all got to go into the lunch room and have a snack. I think that Bethany and Wyatt enjoyed having a snack with their siblings....and I know that Katherine loved being the big girl and sitting on a chair all by herself. We are so proud of Bethany---she has come a long way this year and is doing so well in school.

Birthday--revisited

Since Jacob is lucky enough to share a birthday with his cousin, who also lives about a mile away from us, we have decided to split the parties into two seperate occasions (see the previous post 3yrs and counting). We did have a small party with Grandma Sherry, Grandpa Lyle, Uncle Eric and Aunt Mindy on the 1st (his actual birthday) only because they were unable to attend the party date that we selected---today. We did have cake and ice cream for him today and it was pretty special for him. We had both friends and family over, and had a really good time.

Unfortunately for pictures he aslo has a great bruise on his cheek from 4-wheeling with Amanda earlier today. The way that she explained it was that he wanted to go over a big bump, they did and he hit the handle bars with his cheek......but I think that the desire to go over the bump was from another source.

He wanted a "Cars" cake, so I did the best that I could and put Mater and Lightning on his cake. I also do cupcakes for the kids as it seems to waste less cake than doing a big piece of cake.....and those had the lightning bolt on them (or as close as I could make them) surrounded by a "tire".

He was really excited about the whole party, until it came time to blow out the candles. He was smiling and just tickled pink while we sang to him, but didn't want to blow out the candles. Finally Dad had to come and help us......meaning he blew them out. Overall he had a great time and loved the whole idea.....I think that this will be the first party that he remembers.

Odd Girl

The other night as Gabe and I were headed to bed, we looked over at Katherine's crib and discovered that our littlest girl sleeps very weird. I have noticed it a lot lately, but Gabe was the one that actually took the pictures of the way that she sleeps. She likes to sleep on her belly with her legs tucked under her......which causes her butt to stick up in the air. And then the last picture is just Katherine wanting her attention too. As I was taking pictures of the boys in their new doos (see previous post) she sat on the stairs and wanted to get in on the action.

My Boys

I just had to post these cute pictures of my boys. They both needed haircuts, desperately, and as I have no haircutting skills, I took them into Gabe's Aunt June (who is a stylist) to have their hair cut. Wyatt went first and on the way there had told me that he just wanted his hair short and to be able to spike it when he was done. After she was all done doing just what he wanted, he told her that instead he wanted it as short as the sides were all over.....meaning that he wanted it buzzed. She was going to make him wait, but after consulting with me, we decided to just go ahead and do it now. Hence the buzz cut you see in the picture. Then Jacob had his done, and just had it like Wyatt's before he decided to buzz it. I just think that the picture of the boys together is priceless. I am glad that they have each other and are the best of friends (I hope it stays that way). There is nothing in the world like a brother, I would know as I have 5 of them, and I love everyone of them.....granted they gave me a lot of grief, still do, but they are family.

More Hawk Pictures

Sometimes it is nice to have someone else experiencing the same things and taking pictures, they get a whole different angle. Thanks Kelli, because I borrowed these two pictures of the hawk incident from you. She got a better picture of the hawk in the coop and then one that I really like, Wyatt taking pictures.

3 yrs.....and counting

Wow, it only seems like yesterday that we brought little Jacob home from the hospital. But here it is 3 yrs later and holy cow. So Happy Birthday Jacob!! He had a pretty exciting day today. Besides going to church and being the birthday boy.....he got to see Grandma and Grandpa. They surprised us along with Uncle Eric and Aunt Mindy----the kids always like to see them. So we had a sort of impromtu party for him and went out to dinner. It has been hard for Jacob because he has to share his birthday with his older cousin who lives in the same town---so we have to have 2 parties on this day and this year we were slacking and so cousin got the date today and we are going to do it later. I am a firm believer that each boy needs to have his own party for now....if later they want to share it and do something together then that is fine, but for now this is how it is going to be. So my birthday boy got a party with Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Lyle because they can't be here this weekend when we do the real deal with the cake and ice cream. He really enjoyed himself. In church, I took him potty and commented about his birthday and as he was walking into the bathroom he said "Happy birthday to me!!" I am amazed at how far this boy has come in the short three years of his life. He always seems to be happy, but when he isn't it is so far the other end of the spectrum, that he only seems to have to 2 opposite emotions---elation or utter saddness. He is always talking and usually says to me (to get out of trouble sometimes) "mom, I still like you". He always has to give HIS Wyatt, Bethany and Amanda hugs before they go off to school......and that is the way it is--Wyatt isn't just Wyatt, he is Jacob's Wyatt (the same goes for the rest of the kids too). He has been so fun to have in the family and can usually make us laugh at something he does and says. And I can say that I am so glad that he is a big boy and potty trained, if it could only be that easy for the next one. Happy Birthday to Jacob!!