It's a 4 Ring Circus!

rainbows, dahling, rainbows

{my little Kool-Aid faced monkey with her rainbow-painted fingernails}

Didn't have the best week ever, but we're still hangin in.  We are making some progress with Delaney's anxiety issues, but not hearing anything new about the school issues.  I'm waiting to hear some more from her teacher before I decide whether to leave her in the K12 program or not.  Sadie needed to have some bloodwork done this week before her routine checks coming up.  It took us four tries on three different days (first two couldn't get the right authorizations at the closest lab, went to a different lab, then couldn't get her veins to cooperate on the 3rd try -- but got a hole in each arm, then let's just say she wasn't much in the mood on the 4th try, but at least we got the blood they needed!).  Mind you this is in the midst of various other doctor appointments for Delaney, and our "regular" crazy routine.  I think that about sums up what I'm willing to put out on the internet.  ;-)

Lucky for us one of our longtime homeschool friends is having us over to celebrate a birthday this afternoon, and we will all R E L A X !!  I think I'm finally figuring out how to take some of this in stride, but it has been an exhausting couple of months.  Yeah for Friday!

eww

Finally figured out what the icky smell was in the kids' bathroom.

I DO NOT GET PAID ENOUGH TO DO THIS JOB!!!

Carry on.

happy birthday to me

My new Fuze is charging up as we speak!

On a side note, I had a follow-up at the dermatologist today.  Of course my eyelids are perfectly healed now, but he noticed my zitty chin and gave me some Rx for that.  I go back next week for the patch test to see if I have any allergies.  He basically said I am free to put whatever on my face again in the meantime, but I am rather nervous.  If you had seen the eyelids in their 3rd-degree-burn looking glory, you'd understand why, but I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture of it.  :-D  I also REALLY need to get my hair done, but am a bit nervous to do that before I find out if it's hair dye that I'm allergic to.  Can I last one more week?  We'll see.  I'll probably have to cave and at least use some eyeliner/mascara because I am not a big fan of the au natural look.  As most "G.R.I.T.S." girls understand, God gave us makeup for a reason!

hub-bub

Well -- never a dull moment here, as you already know!  The last couple of weeks have been busy.  Ryan coming home with all of our CA belongings was a mess, the girls' dance recital was a laborious yet worthwhile event, my van has had ongoing but finally resolved issues, and I've been having some strange stress & allergy-related medical issues that have resulted in my being banned from putting anything cosmetic on my face or hair for three weeks til I (1) get allergic reactions under control and (2) get back in for a patch test to see what I'm allergic to.  At least my tension headaches seem to be gone for now.

Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

SO NOT THRILLED about going make-up-less and hair-dye-less.  I feel like an old lady hag.  But, it's better than my eyelids looking like they had third-degree burns!  (Did you know that regardless of what kind of product you're allergic to, even shampoo, etc, it is most likely to show up on your eyelids?)

The good news of course is that Ryan started his new job last Monday and that seems to be going well.  It is strange but nice to have him around and the kids are a bit confused.  Ava can't figure out where he is and what he's doing and if we're getting in the car to pick him up at the airport, or what.  :)

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My girlies in their stage make-up, ready to head out for the recital!

Ava trying out one of Sadie's costumes the next day:

In my old hag glory:

My attempt to get the queen bed frame from my bedroom to the new guest bedroom without taking it apart hit a bit of a snag:
(This one's for Misty!)

Upcoming projects:  painting girls' bedroom, putting girls' beds together and rearranging/organizing their bedroom, getting the fence up in the backyard, and getting Ava's birthday present built -- a backyard playhouse!  Many projects to follow all of that, but that'll keep me busy for now.  :-D

you may not want a ride in my van anytime soon, and other assorted topics

In order to make my niece's piano recital yesterday, we had to head straight out from our 2 hour block of dance classes over to Sonic, and then hurry over to the recital.  Of COURSE we got a trainee at Sonic who, no lie, after the 5th attempt at taking my order passed me off to a supervisor after a LONG, comical pause.  I later got the privilege of listening to him screw up EVERY single order he took at any car anywhere near me!  (I was of course missing Delaney's drink when all was said and done.)

When we got home from the recital, I reminded the kids to make sure that all of the Sonic trash was cleaned out of the car before going in the house.  They quickly got distracted by various things in the yard and I wound up cleaning up instead (in the dark).

On the way home from a friend's house this morning, I hear the kids squealing about how there is still a container of Sonic milk underneath the back bench of the van.  A detailed conversation then occurs about the dangers of leaving milk in the car during hot summer days . . . la, la, la.

A few minutes later I hear Josh starting to laugh and he asks Ava, "Ava, is that your GRILLED CHEESE from last night under your seat? (also the back bench of the van)"

Ava, in her very calm, serious baby voice:  "Yes.  I am full of it."

Yes, indeed.

Another fun tidbit:
I bought Delaney some new shoes right before Easter this year, since she had just outgrown her other shoes.  I was able to get a "buy one, get one free" deal, so it was 2 new pair.  Also hit a Gymboree sale, so she actually had 3 new pairs of shoes.  This was about one month ago.

In the meantime, I have noticed that Sadie and Delaney both suddenly have voracious appetites, and I knew that I was in trouble, we were on the cusp of yet another growth spurt.  Sure enough, Sadie's little spider legs are now too long for those 6 slims I hunted down awhile ago.  Mind you, her waist hasn't seemed to grow at all so now I'll be looking for 7 extra slims, I guess??  Then on Sunday I happened to notice Delaney's toes hanging off the ends of her sandals.  I gasped and checked to make sure she had them buckled right.  She did.  [insert eyeroll]

Just got around to measuring her feet a minute ago.  After triple checking, it has been discovered that her foot has grown a size and a half in the last month.

Let me just add here, that not only does that mean that she'll need new sandals, etc, but that I will have to go through her dance bag to figure out if her three different types of necessary dance shoes still fit.

I am now looking for any corporate sponsors who'd like to help me continue to outfit these children of mine who refuse to stop eating or growing!

And on that note, I'll finish off with the great news that Ryan just accepted a new job at AMD, and will start June 1.  He is still out in CA trying to get things packed up at the old office (as well as our apartment) and might have it all finished up by next weekend.  We won't know what to do when he's actually here at our house all the time! 

lice theory

(to go along with Ben's germ theory)

I have overcome the urge to strip all of our carpet, replace all of our furniture with plastic IKEA versions, and install a detox shower in our house.  Between our encounters with lice, and the fact that all kinds of nasty flu, strep, and stomach cooties are striking all around me, I feel a wee bit paranoid.

I have still not found a single live bug this round, but have found a couple of eggs here and there on the two girls throughout the week.  I know that it's going around in our area, so I really don't even know if this round was from something in our house or they got lucky and picked something up somewhere else.  My brain is a pile of powder from figuring out where I could have missed something.  I know, I need a chill pill, bad.  Nonetheless, I took advantage of Ryan's presence this weekend and had him totally remove the girls' beds from their bedroom (they're taken apart and sequestered to the garage) and then vacuumed and steamed their carpet really good.  I am planning to paint the girls' room finally while they're out of there, and then sometime soon when Ryan brings our stuff back from CA they will use the beds from out there.  I have psychological issues with their beds here now.  :-D

I ordered a super duper magic lice comb that will come this week.  I also spent a good chunk of yesterday reading about and then ordering some magic lice potions, that will also come sometime this next week.

Lice -- BRING IT.

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For those of you who would like to close your ears and sing LALALALALALALALALA really loud when I talk about that, here is a nice picture of my kitty.

She doesn't give a diggity dang about lice.  Or germs.  She sneaks into the bathroom after someone uses the shower, and licks the leftover wet spots.   Mmmm.

I'm gettin old, dang it

I used to be able to get away with the $5 flip flops.  They were my go-to shoes all year long.

Then my feet let me know, time is marching on.  Welcome to my first pair of old lady flip flops, substantially more than $5.

My feet are very appreciative.

I think I'm on the downhill slide now.

why do I ever even leave the house?

So -- the latest report to give is that we have 3 strep patients (Josh, Ava, and Sadie) and one broken thumb girl (who can't get her arm wet or do anything fun -- bike riding, monkey bar climbing, etc -- for 4 weeks).  I don't think we have lice anymore.  I think I have had strep, too, but hopefully it will stay mild enough to not need to go in for anything, because frankly I don't have time.  I can't even go into all of the details about how every single thing we've had to do this week (dr appts, Rx pickups, arm casts) have been fraught with things-gone-wrong that had to get fixed and took twice as long as necessary.  But in the end everything always worked out, so I'm grateful for that.  And Ryan is home for the weekend, and is still employed, so I'm grateful for that, too.  Last night I got to go to Costco and Target while Ryan had the kids, so I am stocked up for whatever this coming week may bring! 

This morning we are home from church again, obviously.  Josh taught Primary (Sadie got to be the song lady).  I like it -- church only lasted about 30 minutes.  :-)  We will spend the rest of the day doing paper dolls, playing chess, and whatever else the kids have dreamed up for me.

(Josh shared the Good Samaritan story, complete with visual aids)

seriously.

Good thing we decided NOT to go on our trip this weekend.

This one now has strep.

This one thought it would fun to get strep, too.  For the second time this month.

This one fell off her bike yesterday and had x-rays today -- she officially has a broken right thumb.  Awaiting appointment with the orthopedic specialist.

At least this one (and the above one) don't seem to have lice anymore.  I am very nervous to say it's gone yet.  Just for the record, two straight days without a single nit to be found.  She has beautifully soft hair from all of the mayo.  ;-)

This one -- going to stop planning trips to Utah.  They seem to be cursed.  Maybe Vegas next time?  Also, gets to add "bleach the hell out of my house" to the list again.  Wouldn't you think all of the hell would already be out of my house???  There is apparently still a little bit left somewhere.

that which doth not kill you, makes you eat chocolate

The last several days haven't been very fun.  I had two sick kids and two licey kids.  That involves a lot of things that kids think are pretty darn boring, like laundry, sanitizing, isolating, don't sit over there, don't touch that, don't go in that room, etc.  To top it off, I was feeling sick for a couple of those days.  I have tried to make it as fun as we can, though.  For the last two nights we've had a mayo-head sleepover in the living room, and the night before that we had lice cupcakes.  I am happy to report that our encounter with lice seems to be coming to a close, and Josh and Ava are not running fevers anymore.  If I can keep things under control, Ryan and I might actually be able to continue with our plans to go to Utah this weekend (!).

(Josh is the only one who literally made lice cupcakes and is explaining to me what the different sprinkles on top represent -- some were lice, some were poison)

(Do ya think Sadie likes to pose for the camera, or what?!)

(Josh has been passing the time with LEGO activities, of course.)

(Happy that she didn't have to sleep in mayo last night -- wooot!!!)

Good grief, I sure hope that no one gets lice again anytime, ever (and that this particular bunch doesn't come back for another round).  I can attest to the fact that lice are pretty well immune to the chemical treatments.  My methods have involved extreme sanitation (keeping in mind that lice can't take heat); one-time use towels, clothing, pillows, sheets, blankets; overnight mayo heads; using tea tree oil shampoo; using the blow dryer on extra hot until your kids think their scalps are cooked; checking hair and picking out nits every two hours (sanitizing that comb inbetween uses); shutting down closets/dressers for 2 weeks -- only using clothes that are very freshly laundered and are kept in the hallway away from beds, etc; ANYthing fabric moved out to the garage for 2 weeks, including rubber bands/hair pretties, Barbies, doll clothes, etc; spraying furniture, mattresses and car interior with chemicals (twice), vacumming them, steaming them, and now spraying them with tea tree oil; throwing out all of our hair brushes; taking all of the jackets & coats out of the hall closet and washing them; wrapping the girls' mattresses with painter's plastic, then putting sheets on them.  If the lice come back, I think my only other option is to burn the house down.

ETA:  Erin reminded me that yes, everyone got haircuts this weekend to make lice searching easier (and the boys short enough to make lice inhabiting impossible).  I am also adding a few drops of tea tree oil to each load of laundry that has any bedding in it.

I forgot -- there is one more thing that helps.