Our visit to Idaho is underway

Victoria and I are in Idaho for a week visiting Manna and her family. We're having a great time, as are the girls, for the most part. Of course, there are the usual breakdowns when they both want the same toy, but it's been great. The weather so far is WONDERFUL compared to what we left behind in Michigan. It's been nice enough that the windows pretty much stay open all day, the sun's always shining, and this afternoon, Victoria was hot with her dress on outside.

Here are the only two pictures I've managed to take since we got here.

The many faces of Miss Victoria

Nothing much going on, just trying to survive day-to-day life. Neither of us is back to 100% healthy, yet, but hopefully we're on the mend.

I try to keep the camera on the end table in the living room so it's handy when I sense Victoria's mood is picture-friendly, which of course, is pretty frequent :)

Pure solicitation for thoughts/prayer

Amanda's surgery is tomorrow morning. She has to be there at 9:30am, the actual surgery will start an hour or so after that. Surgery expected to last 6 hours, then she'll be in the ICU for a day or so. This is scary - for her, and for all her friends and family. No matter how you look at it, it's brain surgery.

If you pray, please pray for her. If you don't, please keep her and her family in your thoughts for the next 24-48 hours.

Low energy girl

Victoria got to go to school this morning, but came home a little early. She was running in the gym, and of course went into a major coughing fit, so she and her teacher decided she should come home. She asked me numerous times today if we could go on a bike ride (it's raining and really windy here today). After the last time about 5:30 this evening when she threw a fit because she couldn't go outside, I found her like this 5 minutes later.

We also had one of her follow up appointments this afternoon. Luckily for us, the doctor she saw in the ER on Saturday (Dr. Kris) is one of the partners at V's pediatrician. I learned why she has to have another Xray in a month to make sure the pneumonia is gone. Apparently there *might* have been an enlarged lymph node in her lung that they want to check on. I also found out the pneumonia was probably worse than I was led to believe. When we were in the ER, I forgot to ask Dr. Kris how bad it was (assuming it wasn't too bad, as she couldn't hear anything, and upon asking the nurse, she said if it was too bad, they'd have admitted her.) We saw Dr. S today (same one we saw on Friday), and she said she could now hear some noise in her lungs, and upon discussing the situation with Dr. Kris, I was told that V's x-ray looked like it had come from a totally different kid (that she would never have believed she couldn't hear anything when it was that bad).

So, doc's appt next Thursday to make sure V's getting better, then X-ray in a month. Fun stuff.

Sickie :(

This morning, Victoria woke up with a 102 fever that couldn't be tamed with tylenol or motrin. She spent the morning on the couch, and had to miss her first school field trip to the local fire station. Victoria didn't want to do anything this morning - she said walking hurt her legs and her whole body felt funny. She just pretty much stayed on the couch and cried because she didn't feel right, till she passed out.

Twice.

After her second nap on the couch, she woke up soaked and asking for ice cream. Hopefully it's on its way out, but we'll still head to the doc this afternoon just to be sure. After the ice cream, she's a new girl.

What's the haps?

Some more great one-liners:

One nation, under God, congratulations to all.

I wanna watch "Humfalump Hears a Who!"

On another note, per her teacher's suggestion, Victoria and I are trying out a different system of rewards and punishments. This has come about for a variety of reasons. Her two favorite things are her new bike and school. The bike's already been taken away for a week, and if we kept her from school, we feel like we'd be sending the wrong message (tho she LOVES it). As Miss Michelle put it, "That's what you have to deal with when you have a child with the mind of an 8-year-old and the emotions of a not-even-4 year old."

The new system? Good Behavior Tickets. I created tickets (simply 8-per-page layout), cut them apart, and explained them to V. For every good thing she does (doing something after I ask ONLY ONCE, eating all her food, helping around the house), she earns a ticket. When she gets in trouble, a ticket gets taken away. Ticket may be redeemed for a bike ride, a cartoon, or a treat. Day 1 went pretty well, and she told me as she was getting ready for bed that she wants to get 5 tickets tomorrow - setting goals!

Dead Buell...Alive Rod

As many of you may know, I wrecked. Nothing serious, but enough to total out my bike. Today was a sad day for me...not here to witness, but Kristin took photos of my bike being taken away by the auction company. Possibly the end of my riding days...

Today's One-Liner's

We were on our way into Kroger today, and V told me, "I love Meijer, it's my favorite store!" I said, we're not going in Meijer, we're going in Kroger. She said, "I know, but Meijer is my favorite because that's how God made me!"

Back home when we were unpacking the groceries, I hollered from the driveway thru the screen door to her to put her sunglasses away. I heard from inside: "Aye, Aye, Captain!!!"

Camping trip 2

Just a few photos from our Labor Day Camping trip. We had a blast!

Vacay 1 of 2

Last weekend was camping trip 1 of 2 before school starts back up. Here are a few pics from the fun times!

Rod versus the kids...

Finally warm out, and ready for school!

Now that it seems we're finally getting a few warm days, we can actually use our little pool, and V can get some use from her many bathing suits.






I told Victoria that I spoke with Miss Michelle (her teacher) yesterday, and since then I've overheard many school conversations:

V (yelling out the screen door): SCHOOL! Wait! Don't start until I get there!

V (pretending to read a story): Hello. My name is Victoria. And I can't wait to go to school. The end.

Basketball

Thankfully Victoria seems to have gotten Rod's athletic abilities. She loves playing kick ball, can hold a ball with one hand and hit it with a "bat" (really a plastic bowling pin) with the other, and daddy's teaching her the basics of basketball. In this one, she's practicing what he taught her. As she told me, feet facing the basket (or shoot, as she calls it), and bend your knees!

What's going on

When we were up north last weekend, Stefan's dad lit off some small fireworks. Note the hair - not bad for day two of the braids!





Elisabeth turned 4 on Monday, and we were invited over for a small party. Elisabeth is in the middle, V on the right, and Elisabeth's friend Katelyn (who will be 4 in February) is on the left.

We met Lauren and Elisabeth at the zoo yesterday, and were just heading out when the downpours began - perfect timing! The morning was beautiful, tho a little chilly.

On the way home from the zoo, in the rain, we were talking about stopping to get some produce from our neighbor. I told V to look for the farmer in the red truck. She repeated it back to me, then said, "I don't think so, mom. That's not right." When I asked her to clarify, she said, "Not the farmer in the red truck it's the Farmer in the Dell!"

Snacking

Just a pic, showing how much V loves veggies (today it was cauliflower), and hummus, of course! This girl is going to smell like garlic all the time!

Peas, trees and V

Though it was a little chilly the other day, and D didn't sleep too much, V and I still got a little time outside. We got some bricks that Rod started putting around the base of a few of the trees, and I found V over there like this (on a side note, she's now reading as fast as I type, sitting next to me):


Be sure to check out the video, as it will explain the toothy grin by the tree :)


And we have edible peas on the vine! The only downside is that there were a handful we got yesterday, but now V wants to check today to see if more grew overnight. Still working on timelines and patience.

A new face around the house

We have a new daily visitor... For the most part, Victoria is handling Delayney's presence pretty well. She wants to fix everything. Whenever D cries, V offers up any suggestion she knows - maybe she's sleepy, maybe she wants a bottle, maybe she needs her diaper changed... whatever she can think of!

The gifts

Among the father's day gifts were the aprons the girls made for the guys. Jeff and Jaja got theirs when we were in Ohio last week, and Rod got his yesterday.

Complete with personally written message from V!