July 2012

July 1- cleaned, cleaned, cleaned!!, finished packing for MD but got a call from mom saying the derecho (aka land hurricane) knocked their power out so we couldn't come today, later heard from mom that she was coming b/c power wasn't coming back until the 6th, surprised the kiddos w/ her, started feeling achy/stuffy/yucky..thinking i caught it from e, ephram is STILL sick and coughing a ton at night/nap, watched the olympic trials w/ the fam, had a crazy hail storm that we all watched, brian took the oldest three to the Y fireworks while ephram and i went to bed super early and mom watched tv.

July 2- had a rough night and woke up too sick to go to MD so mom decided to take Kinsey home with her for fun (kinsey was THRILLED!!), sweet ephram was very sick with a fever/cough/cold/runny eyes, rested the whole day while cailey and braden played, took 5 baths to help with achy-ness, oldest two went to swim team practice and finally slept all night.

Kinsey- went out for lunch on the way home with nonny, played lots of games, went on a walk with poppy, more games, played piano, and crashed.

July 3- another sick day, three kiddos played outside in a bubble bath pool all morning, made a fruit/veggie platter for the kids to eat outside w/ toothpicks for fun, and cut out first watermelon of the season, and decided to go to mom and dad's.

Kinsey- went walking with mom and rosie, went to the movies to see Madagascar, went to the library, out to McD's for lunch, played with poppy and nonny, and played games.

July 4- kinsey and mom walked, woke up and got great snuggles from my kinsey girl (who I've learned is a HOMEbody and missed her mommy:), brian took the three oldest on a run, had a fun day of playing together, went to the fireworks in Frederick as a fun family adventure, gatorade:), enjoyed gorgeous scenery and great fireworks!

July 5- kinsey woke up with a red/sandpaper like mess all over her face and took benadryl for the itching all day, blackberry picking, indoor pool together, played tons of games, monopoly for daddy and the three oldest, lots of games with just ephram, nonny/poppy time, pretzel from amish place for lunch, and talked to matt.

ephram- loves to play "membery" (memory) and "fribee" (frisbee) with me:)..oh...and he missed the potty and ended up wetting his pants/underwear and snuck upstairs to change!! he came down in new clothes but i knew immediately. first sneaky thing he's done.

July 6- kinsey still had the red face, brian worked from mom and dad's all day, ran errands with mom and the three youngest b/c cailey didn't feel good, chess and checkers for braden with nonny, poppy, and brian, cailey picked cucumbers from the garden with poppy, went on a date with brian to outback/DQ/and the amish place, and talked to mom until late.

July 7- kinsey woke up with scabbing from scratching her face, found some poison ivy spots on my arm and chest, three oldest went on a run, played games with the kiddos, ran errands with mom, drove home in tons o' traffic, unpacked together, early bedtimes for camp, and talked with leigh.

July 8- bike rides for the three oldest, relaxed together, brian had to work for an hour, dropped the big kids at NLC for the week!, crashed from the heat with brian and the youngest two, and read TONS of books to them.

July 9- ran errands with e and k, went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Carter's birthday, kinsey went home with caroline for a playdate (ephram said, "no! who's going to pay yif me?"), met the klick's at Chili's for more celebrating, and had them over for a little bit for outside play.

July 10- had an at home day of swimming, puzzles, play doh, painting, playing, reading, made up 'ventures' (as ephram calls them), airplane rides on his bed:), nerf gun fights, and TONS of books from daddy.

July 11- cleaned, library, didn't feel great so canceled dinner w/ the klick's and kinsey's sleepover, lots of snuggle time, full movie day for e and k, full candy bars:), more books from daddy, and a great talk with kinsey.

July 12- another day of not feeling great so we didn't get to go to Marble's with the klicks as planned, played games/wikki stix/painting/puzzles/board lacing/read tons with kinsey and ephram, they went in the small pool, they ran errands with daddy, and had some fun tickle/family time.

July 13- took the kids to cow appreciation day at CFA for breakfast/lunch/dinner, nicky and abby came to play for the weekend, watched alex, TONS of laughter and playing outside, met the klicks at cfa for dinner, went to pick the big kids up from camp...YAY!!

July 14- rocket day/cookout/playground, carter's birthday party for ephram, kids played in the pool, pictures at Yates Mill, tons of playing together, sweet older cousins reading to younger cousins, and realized that Ephram thought he was going to Llama preschool with a Zebra teacher instead of people preschool.

July 15- outside play, took the boys to the bookstore for new books, kids played, went to meet leigh in gboro for drop off, went to see Chelsea and other college friends and hear more about the ministry they are doing in China, went to the Corbett's for dinner, and surprised Braden and Kinsey by telling them that they were getting 3 day sleepovers with Bryce and Stacy!! (Braden stayed at Bryce's and Stacy came with us.)

July 16- went swimming with the kids, braden still with Bryce, loved matching kinsey and stacy:), polished the girls nails, baked brownies with kinsey and stacy, had kelly and the kids over for dinner during swim team, and snuggled baby charlotte and my biggest and littlest babies.

July 17- braden at bryce's, went to a free movie with Kelly and the kids, took the girls and ephram to chili's for lunch, kiddos played outside in the pool all afternoon, swim meet for cailey that brian went to while i watched winston and met kelly at Moe's for kids night, went to kell's for the rest of the evening so the little girls and little boys could play before coming home with caroline for a triple sleepover.

July 18- met Laura/Kelly/Molly at the pool, got to snuggle my braden boy again!!, cailey started feeling sick after the pool:(, great afternoon with the youngest three back together, swim team practice then braden and kinsey went to the klick's for a sleepover and I read TONS of books to ephram and snuggled sick Cailey girl.

July 19- picked up the kids from the klick's (who were taken out to train by Brandon but Kinsey took a NASTY spill and couldn't do it) took Gracie and Emily Ruth to the pool b/c Cailey decided she was better, got sun poisoning on my lip:(, lots of talking w/ C, played games together all afternoon, did team cleaning, and LOVED having no where to go in the evening!!

July 20- brian took kinsey on a bike ride on the tri course, watched alex, met Zoe for another fun pool day, swim team canceled b/c of storms, listened to Kinsey read Frog and Toad Chapters...well!!, kiddos did a little math, played Pente with the three oldest, and had early bedtimes.

July 21- big kids went on a bike ride on the training course, went to the Life City festival at Lake Lynn (bounce houses/face paint/sno cones, etc.), kiddos played all day, cool but HUMID, lots of thunderstorms, YMCA carb up dinner, played with the kiddos.

July 22- early wake ups for the kids tri where they all did AWESOME!!, kids exchange for 1/2 price day, brian took C to aunt camp, went to cheesecake factory for molly's birthday, and crashed with the kiddos!

July 23- ran errands with the three youngest while cailey was at drama camp at Rebecca's, got a big haircut, date at claire's with kinsey for new earrings, started making decorations for cailey's surprise party (tissue flowers/votive holders) with kinsey and braden, read tons to e, swim team, and caden slept over.

July 24- (Cailey to drama camp w/ Rebecca) met kelly and molly at the movies to see Rio, brought Jackson/caden/caroline home for a playdate, kiddos played outside in the water then the boys played LEGOS all day and the girls played babies, swim meet rained out so we met the Klick's at Nantucket Grill for dinner (super fun!!) and traded kids for another sleepover (boys w/ me, girls w/ them).

July 25- ran errands w/ the boys, met Kelly at the Library for story time, went to CFA with them for lunch where Ephram threw his biggest fit EVER (over having to pick up C's napkin that he threw on the floor), more party errands, came home and stuck a skewer in my hand while making taffy kabobs, swim team practice and ephram played in the pool with Carter while I ran more errands.

Cailey went to drama camp and watched Rebecca get her ears pierced...then went to sweet frog and made a cute picture frame.

July 26- drove to laura's, got great talk time, thrilled to see my Cailey girl after camp, kiddos played together great all day, had yummy ham and cheese pockets from scratch, and caught up!

July 27- drama camp, worked out with Laura at the Y and ran, treated the kids to yummies:), hung out with L, blessed her which blessed me more:), chatted, snuggled my big girl, kids played and had a blast with their friends, watched Cailey's drama show with Auntie Anne there!, and drove home through six storms to see Brian!

July 28- watched the Olympics as a fam, cleaned, brian "fixed" lol the shutter lol:)!!, hung out together, made shrimp and linguini (that cailey requested before her tonsils come out), had a super fun tickle/hide and seek/laughing half hour before bed, more olympics, and enjoyed just being home together.

July 29- church, errands, honey-do list, olympics together, played, kinsey played with the neighbors outside all day, games, started working on another party craft with braden, bbq chicken pizza, and had a nice family night.

July 30- cailey's tonsil surgery while the klick's watched the other kiddos all day (where they played outside in the water then spent their day in the playroom), cailey got lots of phone calls then flowers from nonny/poppy and us, comforted my big girl and stayed by her side all day, swim team practice for the others, talked to Matt, snugged cailey to sleep after she had 2 slushies/8 popsicles/2 italian ices, and crashed.

July 31- took care of cailey, cleaned fridge and microwave, did 10 loads of laundry, played games with ephram, hung out with braden, read with kinsey, watched Olympics with the kiddos, cailey felt sick and napped, brian fixed the water pressure (YAY!!), and snuggled my big girl.

surgery day

I was never worried about Cailey's tonsillectomy until they wheeled her away. But I still wanted to get pictures with her before, or as she says, "her last pictures with tonsils".

The other kiddos came to drop her off then went to Kelly's for the day. I got Cailey these new slippers (plus 5 different packs of gum) as a gift.


She was thrilled when a man walked in and told her that she could draw all over her sheet with magic markers! She wrote names of everyone praying for her and then some bible verses. Then he came in and gave her stickers to decorate her mask...who knew she'd get to do arts and crafts:)! I took this picture after she was LOOPY because of her "relaxing medicine". It was hilarious! Love that girl!!

She was SO SO sad and confused after she woke up from surgery and her throat hurt very bad. They gave her more pain meds and she fell back asleep for a little while. They took her tonsils and adenoids so that hopefully we won't have to worry about any more fevers! She brought her baby, Molly, with to the hospital. The nurses (I assume) gave Molly a matching bandage which Cailey still hasn't taken off her:). She thought it was so neat that the tape around her IV was matching:).

She came through everything great and day 1 lived off popsicles, jello, and slushies. She couldn't STAND the taste of the tylenol with codeine so she's just been on Motrin and is doing really well. There have been a couple of rough times but I honestly think she's been a trooper!

The second day was worse than the first after she woke from a nap. She went from 1-7 without wanting to take medicine or drinks because she was nauseous. When she finally came around and took her medicine she was chipper and hungry again and ate a little ice cream and a piece of bread. Nonny and Poppy got her pink flowers and we got her the turquoise ones and her balloon. She's pretty much had blue teeth the entire time because of all the slushies!

Day three she didn't feel great in the morning or afternoon but then in the evening she perked up and was ready to have company. We played some games together, she ate soup, TONS of popsicles, jello, and a Chick Fil A milkshake. The Morgan's came over and they played hide and seek, Just Dance Kids, and tag. She was DEFINITELY feeling better all evening! It was nice to see my old Cailey girl back!! Before bed she was back to having a stomach ache and tired. We've been waking her at night to give her medicine...which makes her super sleepy. I looked in the back of her throat tonight and could see the scabs formed.

Day Four was fine all during the day. She ate the most popsicles by FAR (even more than on day 1) plus another milkshake, TONS of cookies and cream ice cream, a slushie, soup, and more popsicles. She basically played on her IPOD touch and watched the Olympics with me...with a few games thrown in. Brian and I just talked about how well she's handling the pain considering she is taking only Motrin every 4 hours. Everything changed in the evening into night. She was in terrible pain and couldn't fall asleep. At 1 am she finally gave in and took some Motrin but suffered until it took some of the pain away. She woke up several times because of pain but wouldn't drink or take more medicine. It was a rough night for us both.

Day Five she woke up with a dry throat and terrible pain. We tried to beg and bribe her to take the codeine. She wouldn't even take it for 100 dollars!!! She said she'd rather deal with the pain than take it. I was thinking the day was going to be bad after the long night and waking up not feeling great but around noon she started back eating popsicles and ice cream which felt good on her throat. I started back with the meds every two hours alternating Motrin with Tylenol to help ease her pain.

Day Six...during the night we made her take the tylenol with codenine at 8, 12, and 4am. She woke up in a lot of pain again and didn't eat or drink most of the day because of the pain. This was by FAT the worst day yet. She was finally hungry enough at dinner time to deal with the pain and ate a little soup, a couple bites of jello, a bit of soft bagel, and a little milkshake. Even popsicles hurt so she didn't even eat a whole one today. I gave her tylenol with codeine before bed and am hoping the worst is over.

Day Seven- I thought she'd feel a TON better by this point but she's still having problems eating and feeling dizzy. I think maybe the scabs are starting to fall off. I looked and could see one of them almost all off.

Anxious.

Cailey is ready for her surgery tomorrow but can't sleep. She's anxious about waking up during it...or hurting afterwards. Really I think the worst is that it's just an "unknown" for her because she's never even been in a hospital as a patient other than birth. She's having her tonsils out to hopefully cure her PFAPA which would be GREAT as she's had several fever episodes this past week.

Since she won't be eating solids very much for the next week I asked her what meals she wanted this weekend. She picked her favorite first for Saturday which was shrimp and linguini and then today she wanted bbq chicken pizza. (Of course I wanted her to have the "B" plate too:) We've also been trying to get her to drink, drink, drink since she tends to get dehydrated and doesn't like water. Yesterday we got her a slushie with dinner and today it was a gatorade. I'm guessing we are going to go through a TON of those over the next week. I've bought 5 boxes of different kinds of popsicles and Italian ice...along with lots of things she'll actually drink. Plus jello...and maybe pudding??

I'm praying that she will drink since I know that's what's going to help her heal. Praying for little pain. Praying for fast healing. Praying for a great attitude. Praying for extra Grace. Praying for healing period. Praying for patience for all of us. Praying against fear. Praying for the doctor.

I love you, Cailey girl!!

Quick SURPRISE stop:)!

On the way home from Greensboro we surprised the kids and went to the Corbett's house for dinner! We had another surprise for them too. We were 'trading' kids and I was taking Stacy home with us for a few days while Braden stayed with Bryce. They were TOTALLY surprised and Braden couldn't believe I had packed up his clothes secretly right after camp. He had only been home for one night!

Timeline: New Life Camp until Friday, Cousins at our house until Sunday, then Braden at Bryce's until Wednesday! (Then Wednesday he and Kinsey spent the night at the Klick's!)

They were all very excited for some fun days together!

College Friends

The reason we met Leigh in Greensboro was so we could go see Chelsea's family and hear about their mission work in China. It was such a bigger blessing that I ever could have imagined. We were able to see lots of people we went to college with and catch up but more than that I was able to hug Chelsea's neck and learn about their amazing work with the Deaf in China. I could have stayed for hours catching up but we had to leave after 1 1/2 hours:(.

We got to see the Lutes, Maggie, Caroline, the Gilberts, and a few others. So fun!

Chelsea and David sharing. Last time Cailey and Joshua were together was right after Kinsey came home. They are only six months apart and had a blast back then but were a little shy this time. I didn't get a picture of all the kids but there were lots running around:). SUCH a blessing!!

Cousin Time...and Rocket Day

We dropped Ephram off at Carter's third birthday party for a fun time of playing in the water and celebrating his bff.

Then we headed to Rocket Day at Blue Jay Point where Braden was able to launch his rocket all three times! Thankfully it didn't get caught in any trees this year:). It went so well that now he and Brian are talking about making their own launcher. It was so fun for all of us to go out and support our sweet boy and watch all the rockets.

Braden's rocket coming back down

they had a cookout for all the scouts and their families.

After we picked up Ephram from Carter's party the kids decided they wanted to play in the pool for a couple hours. Then the boys played LEGOS while the girls played ponies, dress up, and pet shop.

After dinner they played marble mazes all together.

Apparently Ephram decided that he wanted to dress up too!...as Tinkerbell.

After buying the cousins some books (Magic Tree House and Princess)
we met Leigh in Greensboro as our cousin weekend came to an end. We had to
be very creative with fitting everyone in the van.

Week of Two

The week when Cailey and Braden were at New Life Camp was also fun for Kinsey and Ephram. We went to the pool together, the movies, had lots of playdates, ate yummy treats, did crafts, and loved being silly together.

sweet boys!

On Friday it was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fil A so I took them both for breakfast. Kinsey helped me puffy paint the shirts so we'll be able to use them every year and ephram's was the same one from last year that I colored with a sharpie. After playing for a while we came home and got to play with Abby and Nicky until it was time to pick the older two up from camp.

full, fun days!!

Kinsey woke up with scratchy red cheeks while we were at Nonny and Poppy's house that stayed around for a few days. We kept giving her Benadryl to help with the itching but she was pitiful.

We took the kids blackberry picking with Nonny.

Then they ate a pretzel for lunch from the amish place before having a blast at the pool. Ephram went down the slide for the first time and did NOT like it. The rest of the kiddos had a GREAT time going down and jumping off the boards, though.

Kinsey and Cailey went down the biggest slide until they told Kinsey she wasn't tall enough.

Braden and Kinsey attempted flips:). Ephram had the most fun playing in the wading pool.

Then it was time for games...first up...a favorite for these three at Nonny and Poppy's house; monopoly

Then Braden played checkers with them both.

Mom and I played LOTS of Sorry and Candy Land with them, too. Ephram and I had a fun time building dominoes out of Jenga blocks.

One evening Rosie came over and taught these three how to sew their names on material. They all had a fun time learning and even Ephram stayed occupied the whole time!

Piggy backs with Cailey girl...and precious time baking a blackberry pie with Nonny.