Nobody Panic.

I knew that today wouldn't be a very good day, especially when Wyatt comes home from school early. Why did I know that? Because I have two other children that depend on that big brother to keep them on target. So today when Wyatt came home early, I made sure that the girls knew that he was sick and that they were supposed to ride the bus home, but stay together. Well, I will give them the fact that they followed the directions....sort of. They rode the bus and they stayed together, they just didn't get home on time. So needless to say we are going to have a lesson on following directions, how to get help and for the older ones the difference between teaching the younger ones and just doing it for them.
So by now you are probably questioning as to what happened. They story is this: for about 45 minutes I was missing 2 little girls. Amanda came home on the bus and she didn't have two tag-alongs with her. I tried not to panic, but that is a hard thing to do. I started by calling the school, although I knew that if they were there and had missed the bus entirely the school would have called. Then I called the bus garage. They are wonderful people there. They radioed the other buses and gave a discription of Beth and Mariah so that they could be on the look out for the MIA girls. When they called me back, I discovered that they had been reported as getting off at a stop in town near their cousin's school. So my next call was to my sister-in-law to see if she had them....not. I called back to the bus garage and told them we still didn't have them, and so they kept looking for them. Then I get a call back that they had been located. They had gotten off at this other stop and went to a friend's house that lived near there. This friend's mother called the bus garage and found out that they were missing and brought them back there, so that I, now the frantic mother, could come and pick them up.
Thankfully, everything worked out fine. But you don't know how close I came to calling the police. I hate when I can't find the children. Even in my own home if I can't find them I start to panic and think bad things are happening. I know now how my mother felt some 28 yrs ago when she gets a call from the school telling her that I was not there when I should have been. I am thankful that the girls had each other and that they stuck together. So nobody panic all is well now.

Big time now!

We are in the big time now. Amanda came home from school on Monday and said that she would be in the paper. I asked "Why?" and she told me that a photographer from the paper was there at school and took a picture of her and some of her friends dancing the "Robot" along with the HS band. I then had to tell her, only because I didn't want her to get her hopes up, that the photographer would take lots of pictures and not all of them would make it to the paper...there just isn't enough space. Now I have to eat my words. Last night we ended up with a paper and I opened it up......and see this. My daughter is on the front page of the paper dancing with her friends. Even before the night was over I had our neighbor bring his front page over so we could have another copy of it, and partly I think because he didn't think that we had seen it. This morning I had my father-in-law call and ask if I had seen the paper. This is just exciting for Amanda, the first time that she has made the paper. But I think it is just a big boost for them too, to know that anyone can be in the paper for doing something fun. Congrats Amanda on making it big!

2 packages

Most of us enjoy getting packages in the mail. As a matter of fact we look forward to them with so much anticipation, it is almost like Christmas. We get so few packages here that for our house it seems like Christmas when we get something. Well, that wasn't how it was today. Today we got 2 packages that contain things that will change our lives as we know it. I am a little terrified of the things in these packages, not because they are scary, but because of what it means that I am going to have to start doing.

Today was the day that we got the delivery of Bethany's growth hormones. Notice that the top package says: "Do not Freeze". It needs to be refridgerated, but not frozen. So I am going to have to keep a close eye on the other littles hands that play with the temperature adjustment on the fridge. In the other box are all the other supplies that we will need to give the injections: swabs, needles, a sharps container and even a travel pack that we can put all the supplies in for when we go somewhere. I am also going to have to find a place that my monkey Jacob can't get to or into as these are things that he shouldn't be playing with.

The only problem with getting these packages today is this: we still don't know how to use it. We are supposed to be getting a visit from a nurse to come and show us how to clean, use and dispose of all these supplies. As of yet we have not had contact from that nurse. I called the company that we are working with and let them know that I have recieved shipment and am awaiting further orders (saying it like that makes me feel like a spy). I guess the thing that scares me the most about this package is the unknown aspect of it. All the things in there are strange to me. I have seen them in the doctor's office but I myself don't know how to use them properly.

It also causes a bit of excitment because of the potential that lies in this stuff. This medication has the potential of giving Bethany a chance to be a "normal" height. Right now, she is in danger of never reaching the average height of 5' something. She would be lucky to even reach 5'. Now we have the chance to give her that opportunity. She has begun looking at herself and asking when she is going to grow. Now I can tell her that she will with this medicine. We probably won't see a huge amount of growth but little by little she will begin to notice a difference. So for now we are in a holding pattern, we are awaiting further directions. Once we get those we will proceed with full faith that this will help our little girl be not so little anymore. Stay tuned for further updates, as I am sure that there will be more.

Backpacks and Black eyes

So our first day of school was a success. The kids made the bus on time and then successful managed to get home too. I decided that I would go meet them as they were getting off the bus. It was a way to get Jacob and Katherine out of the house, we needed to go get the mail (which is on the way to the bus stop) and I thought it would be fun for them to meet the older kids. So we met the bus and I was shocked to see that Mariah was sporting a black eye. I wasn't sure what had happened and didn't get the full story until this morning. So the story is (which doesn't surprise me) that she was sitting in the seat of the bus, closest to the window. Just before their bus stop is a horrible stretch of road that they tore up last winter and did a very poor job fixing when they were done, so really bumpy. She was either sitting on her knees looking out the window when they went over the bumps OR she was almost asleep with her head leaning on the window. Needless to say she has a real keeper of a black eye.

As for the backpack mentioned in the title. Amanda was fortunate enough to get a new backpack for free from a program here called Gear-up. (they help kids get the skills needed to get into college and all that comes with that.) So when she got off the bus yesterday she had to backpacks. The one that she had taken to school to begin with and her new one. Katherine must have been having backpack envy, because she really wanted Amanda's old pack. So Amanda gave her the old one and Katherine walked all the way home with it on her back (about 4 blocks). She was so cute with it. The cup she has is her water cup, she must have been really thirsty after our walk, she walked the whole way herself. I am just amazed because the backpack is just about as tall as she is and she just walked the whole way home without complaint (other than when it would slide a little).

Back to school time

So most of you might have guessed that this post was coming.....because of the change in my background. So here it is. My kids started school this morning. Yes, there are 4 of them there and they are all going to school for the whole day. That leaves me with 2 at home. "What are you going to do with yourself?" was the question I kept getting. Well I can tell you what I did with today and it will probably be the same for the rest of the year---well I hope not exactly the same.

As far as schools go, I think we are pretty fortunate here. They have 3 elementary schools that are K-3 and then once the kids finish there they bring them all together for 4th and 5th at the Rendezvous Elementary, then the kids go off to the middle school until they are ready for the high school as 9th graders. So this year I have (are you ready for this?) an 8th grader, 3rd grader, 1st grader and one in kindergarten. But between the 4 kids I only have 2 schools. They are growing up.

I will admit last week I was so ready for the kids to be going back to school, but today it has been kind of lonely and quiet without all the activity going on. I am sure that I will get used to it though. They were all excited this morning. I sent them out to catch the bus and I guess that they made it because they never came back.

My day has been the usual, but different. I had errands that I needed to run (post office to mail a letter and then to the grocery store to buy much needed supplies) and with only 2 kids that was a lot different that usual. When we came home I put things away and the kids played quite nicely with the trucks and blocks. We didn't have many major meltdowns until lunchtime, other than the bumps and knocks that come with being a kid. I got phone calls taken care of, I am in the process of finishing 3 loads of laundry with needing to do 2 more (it looks likely that this will happen). So overall I have been pretty productive.

I wouldn't want all my days to be like today, so I will plan other things to do. But other than being quiet....today has been a good day.

CubScout Racing

When I first saw this activity announced in our ward's bullentin, I cringed and hoped that Wyatt wouldn't see it. It was, in my eyes, every mother's nightmare. Scouts racing cars and there is no telling what would happen. Then they started painting them. Once I saw the car, I cringed. How could they let those boys race these things? There is no steering wheel, no brakes, no roll bars....no safety what-so-ever.
Then came the day of the race. Wyatt was soo excited. They blocked off an entire street (with hill of course) for this race. We were challenging the scouts from Lander and so there was so much excitment in the air. I dropped him off and got a picture of him with his cart. It still didn't look like something that I should be letting him do. But something inside of me said, just let him try, so I did.
Fortunately he was not the first racer down the track and I had some time to watch and think about what was happening. They were NOT going as fast as I had envisioned in my mind, there were brakes, they were wearing helmets and there was a seatbelt. The boys steered with their feet and so it wasn't as bad as I had pictured it.
Wyatt raced 4 times that morning. He did not crash and break a limb like I was fearful of. He also didn't win the big prize but he won 2 of his four races. He just plain had a great time. Not sure what my mother's heart was worried about. Will he get to do it again next year? Of course and I won't be stressing as much then.

Haircutting 101

I have never taken a class. I have never wanted to learn how to cut hair. I am not a professional by any means. But I can cut hair one way and that is like this.
Wyatt had his hair cut a while back by Gabe's Aunt June....she is a professional. It started by just being a normal cut so that he could spike it and ended in a buzz cut. It has been quite some time since that cut and Wyatt's hair has been looking pretty shaggy. He came to me this morning and had his bangs in a "pony tail" with his fingers and asked again to get it cut. This afternoon I saw our neighbor walking in her yard and on a whim asked if she had clippers (ours are done--they are really noisy and dull). She let me borrow them and this was the end result. He wanted it short and I tried to leave him some, but it wasn't possible as I had no idea what I was doing. He seems to really like it and was thrilled when we were done. We, as in the little girls (Amanda, Bethany and Mariah) tried to convince Jacob that we should do his, but he refused.
This picture is one of the aftermath of cutting his hair. I should have had someone take some while I was cutting it, but I didn't think of that until I was all done and cleaning up. I did think ahead enough to do it outside, so that minimized the mess. But it was a lot of hair to look at on the ground.
On a side note, I took the last 2 children (Amanda and Mariah) into the doctor for their well child checks. I was amazed when the doctor told me that Mariah was in the 98th percentile for her height. That means that she is tall! I don't think that I have ever had a child measure like that before. Maybe she is going to be the odd ball in our family and be the tallest one! Everything else checked out fine. They are just where they should be for everything else. Overall today has turned out better than it started.

And the story continues.

Thank you for joining us in our lastest installment of BETHANY'S SAGA: The quest for answers. Today finds us wondering if what we heard yesterday was really the truth or if somone is going to call us today and tell us, no sorry you were given the wrong information. Yesterday life as we know it changed. It went from never having to give our children medications unless they were sick and that is only once in a great while......to now (at least when the approval comes through) giving daily injections. The doctor believes that she will benifit from taking growth hormones. He still isn't sure that she has GHD (growth hormone deficiency) but her tests are all coming back as fail, so if she is producing some, it isn't enough and we are going to suppliment her.

As a mother, this fact is hard on me. I don't want to have to give my child a medication everyday of her life....at least for the next 10 yrs. I don't know if I CAN give her that injection....I may have to make Gabe do it. But I also know as a mother I am going to do everything in my power to make my children heathly and strong. If I have to give her those shots to help her grow normally and catch up to her peers, then I am going to. I am tired of having strangers ask if my girls are twins and when being told no, they assume that Mariah is older because she is taller. I am tired of hearing Bethany's responses to why she is so tiny, she shouldn't have to answer that.

I would rather not have any comments if you please questioning our decision as parents to follow through with the growth hormones. We feel that this is the best course of action and don't want to have to explain to Beth later on that we are sorry that we didn't do anything and that now it is too late. Our window of opportunity for helping in this situation is fast closing. I know that it is a struggle for me to deal with this, but we will survive. I look at it this way, soon we won't bat an eye about giving her the meds and we won't know what to do when it is time to stop. This is our new life and we are going to embrace it. I have been blessed with otherwise healthy children and am very thankful to my Heavenly Father for those blessings.

On a ligher note....for the trip we borrowed a car from the bosses.....we figured that we didn't need to haul our beast to Casper when there were only three of us. So we got to drive a 2006 Ford Mustang convertable. Talk about a sporty car. Bethany was so excited to get to ride in it. We drove to Shoshoni with the top down just for her....then put it up cuz she was asleep and getting fried by the sun.

While you were away......

So I debated which of these posts to put first and I decided on this one.....just because it is less stressful to write than the next. We took Bethany to Casper yesterday and my Mom came down to watch the rest of the kids while we were gone. If you have children you understand why.....a 2 hr trip with 6 kids, waiting in the doctor's office and then trying to hear what they have to tell you and then another trip to get home....not fun. Beside look at what they got to do while we were gone.

Mom came to stay and she was lucky enough that of her 7 kids, she saw 3 yesterday: Eric, Jeff and myself. She didn't know that Jeff was coming until I told her. The reason for Jeff's visit was to drop off some clothes that Becky had for ME.... I got the hand me downs this time and it was wonderful. I think that I got a whole new wardrobe yesterday. But that is a different story.

So while Jeff was here he gave them a big treat. They are always fascinated by other people's vehicles, and when your uncle drives a big rig, that is a pretty sweet deal. So these are the pictures that Mom took of the kids and their Uncle Jeff with his big rig.....and this is what happens while the parents are away.

Family Reunion

Every year in Byron there is an event that can only be called chaotic. And the only reason that it can be called that is because it is a meeting of sometimes complete strangers that are also related. It all stems from one man, his wife and their children. But over the years it has grown to include the spouses of those children, their children and now spouses of those children and their children....you get the idea. So you attend this reunion and you don't know half the people because they are only related to you through either marriage into this family or because they are the son/daughter of one of the original husband and wife's other children. Yes, it sounds confusing and truly it is confusing while you there trying to comprehend how exactly you might be related to this person you are talking about.
But we still had fun. We left our house and thought that we would give the children a treat. We bought dougnuts from the store as we were leaving. After handing them out I turned around and see Jacob with chocolate all over his face because he just had to have a chocolate one. Luckily I was thinking ahead enough to not give Katherine one, or we would have seen the same thing. I just thought it was cute as the both were chowing down on their doughnuts. It was really a treat for them as we don't get doughnuts very often.






While we were at the park, it started to get chilly. Luckily I had remembered that Wyoming weather isn't very predictable and put jackets for everyone in the car. Katherine looked so cute just standing by these flowers. The funny thing was just before I snapped this picture I called her name. She turned saw me with the camera and grinned behind her binki, just adorable.
Other members of the family were there with their cameras and were taking LOTS of pictures. One lady had a printer with her. She was kind enough to print a couple extra pictures of my children that she had taken.





This first one is of Amanda and her second cousin, Shayla. Shayla is actually Gabe's cousin, but because of the ages she seems more like Amanda's cousin.



















This other picture is of Bethany and Mariah as we first arrived at the park where the reunion was held. They are always running around holding hands like this and it is very typical. I really like this picture although it makes me sad in some ways with respect to Bethany being the older of the two, but looking like the younger sister. From this photo you can see why I get a lot of questions as to whether these girls are twins.










Overall we had a wonderful time. We enjoyed seeing and being with others in our family, albeit very extended. And it gave us a break from our normal routine.

Food, Family and Fun

We decided that we would all meet in Thermopolis and have some fun today. Mom was taking the boys back to Laramie after staying with her because of the new baby. So we all meet and had some lunch and then we let the kids play on the playground. So we had all the requirements for having a good time.....we had our food, we had the family there and then we had some fun with everyone. The neat thing about all this was that each of the families that had to travel didn't have to travel very far. Thermopolis seems to be the central meeting place for us now.

This picture is of all those (except mom) that were there. The funny thing was, she had 10 of her 15 grandchildren there. My friend Liz posted something on her blog about having all the grandchildren together.....Liz that is pretty easy when you only have 4 and 2 families to juggle schedules with. To have all my mom's grandchildren and children in one place we have to do some mega planning. The last time that we were all together was for Becky and Jeff's wedding.









This picuture of Katherine and Megan was just too cute. Cousins hanging out together.
















This is just one of the pictures of the scenary. We love Thermopolis because of the hot springs, but not many people stay to see the things that it does as it flows away into the river. We crossed the swinging bridge (with much carefulness on the adults part and not so much for the kids) and turned back and this is what you see.

These fish were in a pond in the park area by the swimming pools. Normally fish are just a passing thing, but it was neat to see that they were such a vivid color compared to the murky water. The water farther away from shore was a deep green, but you could still see these bright orange fish swimming around.