The Dyesses: A Series of Interesting Events part 3

We had discussed getting a 12-passenger van to have more room on trips and to be able to have more cargo room in the back for luggage and trips to the hardware store and those times I get larger furniture or appliances off of craigslist or if we just had friends who wanted to ride with us to certain places.  I liked the pluses of something larger like that, but the downsides never quite set well with me.  The gas mileage would be waaay less than our current van costing lots more in gas each month and the larger vehicle would mean parking at the grocery store or anywhere for that matter would be a constant irritation for me.  Plus, I would be the main driver and I just didn't want to have to take out the big mammer-jammer any time we had to go somewhere during the week.

Conversion Vans were our next possibility.  We liked the extra room inside because, let's face it, we've got growing kids and our boys especially will be needing more leg room in the coming years.   They are very comfortable to travel in and the bed that folds down in the back was just a fun added novelty for possible naps or lounging around.  We also wanted a tv and dvd system in whatever we got next and these vans pretty much come standard with that.  Again, the gas mileage is pretty low on those and the ones we were seeing online in our price-range were very high mileage and I really didn't have a peace about it.  

I really kept coming back to Honda Odysseys.  They hold their value well, they are good on gas mileage for a vehicle that size.  They last a long time and I really appreciate the attention to detail that Honda puts into their vehicles.  Even the most basic models have nice gadets. :)

We knew we wanted leather seats.  They are just easier to keep clean and that is necessary in this family!  I wanted a gray interior because it just hides stuff pretty well until you can get to it, but that was just a plus, not a must-have.  We wanted a dvd player already installed.  We've been using two travel dvd players and while we have been very grateful for them, we have had our share of difficulties and hiccups using them in our van.  We also wanted it to be under a certain amount total and monthly.  I called our bank and had our financing all taken care of before we actually found anything because I wanted to bypass all of the frustrations we have experienced with dealerships in the past. I was also able to include gap insurance and an extended warranty that our bank offered so that we wouldn't even have to mess with it at the dealership.

After talking about it with God and each other off and on we agreed that another Odyssey was the way to go for sure and that evening, I found an Odyssey in Austin at a the First Texas Honda dealership that has a no-haggle price policy.  That was another of my hopes.  We bought our van from Carmax and really liked that we didn't have to haggle to get a good price.  It was what it was, take it or leave it.  I really appreciate that.  So, I was really glad to find a place that was similar.  They also do a 100 point inspection with a guarantee on it, which is also like Carmax.  Another point of appreciation.  They had posted the van to their website, but there wasn't a picture.  Just a description with all the details.  It had leather seats, gray interior, dvd player and it was an 07.  I wanted to find something with all that with under a 100,000 miles, but we would have had to fly to a different state to go pick it up. Since that was totally not happening, I was okay with it having 114,000 miles on it. :)  I contacted them via a chat feature on their website, then set up an appointment the next day to look at it.

When we got there, we met one of two of the Product Specialists also know as Salesmen who would be helping us through our van buying experience.  These guys were fabulous!  We seriously had such a great experience because of them.  If you need a Honda and are in the Austin Area, I highly recommend First Texas Honda and ask for DJ or Christian or both. :)  There was a bit of a hiccup at the beginning because the van had not been completely inspected or detailed out.  They were backed up in that department so when we test drove it, it wasn't in its best condition.  We didn't really care though, because we could see that it was a good van in good shape.  The engine sounded good, it drove really well, very smooth and it was exactly as described, except the color isn't a real gray, though depending on the light it can look like that.  Not a problem, though. :)  So, we weren't able to take it home that day, which was a bummer because that meant we would have to make another trip back down there in the air conditionerless Jeep. :/  

That was what we spent our Wednesday day long date doing.  We did go out to eat at BJ's restaurant, which has excellent food and we went and took a really good look at the Domain.  HOITY-TOITY!  Whew!  We've been there several times to go to the Apple Store, but never really got to look around.  I'm convinced those people really like their stuff and really don't want me to buy it. Hahahaha!  The coolest thing we got to do was go into the Tesla shop.  That is a very neat car.  Fully electric and completely fantastic.  We enjoyed speaking with the representative in there.   They sell t-shirts and I may just have to sport one in the near future. :)

We were hoping that they would have the van ready the next day because our original plans were to go back to East Texas on Friday.  It wasn't ready until Friday, so our plans got scooched back a day.  Not ideal.  But, when we went back to pick it up, we were introduced to the free snack bar including free frappuccinos and baked goods while they last and they had a kids play room as well as a stage with instruments where several of the staff have made up a band and play often.  Not your average dealership, I must say.  The paperwork process took a bit, but because I had made all the previous arrangements it went much more quickly than it would have normally.  We did end up staying there for 3 hours, but it was really because we ended up talking, laughing and joking around with DJ and Christian and the time just kinda flew by.  Fun times...

We finally left and drove both our vehicles back home and I really enjoyed driving the van in lovely a/c. :)

Still more...

The Dyesses: A Series of Interesting Events part 2

The next occurrence was the next week full of VBS.  I don't like being so very regimented and on a tight schedule for too many days in a row.  It just flat out wears me out!  The three olders were able to attend so it was fun to have Brea and I spending time together.  We totally worked the free summer lunch program for that week because it was just easier to get us all up, dressed, loaded in the van and over to a place close to the VBS place serving the breakfasts and then hit the same place again for the lunches.  There are some amazing ladies at the place we went and they are such a blessing!

VBS was Monday through Friday and I had Saturday to pack for the kids to go and stay with grandparents in East Texas.  I only packed myself an overnight bag because the plan was for me to take the kids to my mom's house, stay the night and then I was to come back home while they stayed there.  Mom was to take them to meet up with Sam's parents and trade midweek and then I (possibly Sam, too) would return Friday evening, stay the night there and then come back with the kids Saturday.  Sam and I were supposed to have 4 glorious days of no kids just hanging out together.  Sam even took Wednesday off so that we could go on a full day-long date!  Woohoo!  So exciting!  

Yeah, well, that is not what happened.  On my way back from Mom's, I stopped right outside of Tyler and picked up a set of lockers advertised on craigslist.  $50 for a set of six!  Oh, yeah!  So, had those loaded up in the back of the van and got on the other side of Tyler right past Chandler and the a/c started blowing hot air.  I was thinking that the freon needed to be charged and that I was going to have to finish out the drive with no a/c, when I noticed that the engine was actually overheating.  Nice.  I turned the a/c off and slowed waaaay down in the hopes that it would calm things down.  Nope.  Oh, by the way, this was the week when the temps were over 100.  The week before had been pretty cool and the week after it rained nearly every day. :/  I was really concerned about irreparably damaging the engine, so I pulled over and turned everything off.  Of course, I had didn't know how far past Chandler I had come and how far the next town would be.  I called Sam who was just getting off of work and apprised him of the situation.  My phone didn't have much charge left, either.  I had the ipad, but no hotspot, so no help there.  Sam got home and was able to tell me where I was because of a county road sign I could see.  I was closer to the next town, Brownsboro, but was still about 2 miles out.  I was about 3 hrs from home at this point.  Yay.  

I decided to walk into town rather than swelter in the van.  Oh and to make matters just that much more interesting, right before the engine overheated, I determined I needed to find some place to stop due to digestive issues.  See?  Not one moment was boring. ;)  I gathered up my necessities, busted out my bright orange umbrella, locked up the van and aimed myself down the road.  I was pretty sure, that my feet and legs would be pretty red and crispy by the time I reached the town since I had no sunscreen, was wearing shorts and flipflops and the umbrella can only cover so much.  I got about 10 yards from my van, when a truck from the sheriff's department pulled a U-y and came up behind me.  The man asked if that was my van, I confirmed and he offered me a ride to the gas station in town.  I was beyond thrilled!  This was a Daddy kiss moment where I was still in a difficult and far from ideal situation, but He said, "Here, let me help you with this."  He didn't make it go away because I was learning to keep my peace and joy in tact and just be okay where I was.  It was a good lesson and not really a struggle because I chose not to get mad and upset about the inconvenience.

The gas station he dropped me at has a subway and bank in it as well, so after explaining my situation to the ladies behind the registers to make sure it was okay that I would be hanging out for three hours and getting plenty of sympathy, I was told I could sit in the subway seating area for as long as I needed.  The Subway employees were immediately offering me water and could they do anything for me.  So nice.  Yet another Daddy kiss, just letting me know He was right there with me.  I was gonna just play some games on the ipad to pass the time, but discovered the bank had wifi, so I was able to connect and get on the internet and start looking for a substitute vehicle.  Our van has been such a blessing to us.  It is old,  a 2000, and it has had its share of wear and tear.  The inside looks worn out as well, but we've had it for over 5 years and its gotten us where we've needed to go and been super dependable.  However, we knew our time with it would be ending sometime in the near future and had started discussing getting a newer van a little over a year ago. 

All in all, I really had a pleasant wait passing the time until Sam came to pick me up.

When he arrived, I hopped into his Jeep, which has no a/c, and we went to go assess the situation with the van.  We decided to see if we could drive it back towards Tyler.  Our hope was to be able to get it to a dealership in Tyler that would just buy it off of us.  We made it a couple of miles down the road and then it overheated again.  So, we hooked it up to the Jeep and decided to tow it in.  Apparently, when you put an Odyssey into neutral with the engine off, the brakes don't quite work right.  We made it into Chandler and I knew there was no way we were gonna make it back to Tyler towing it ourselves. And don't forget, the lockers are still in the back. :) We found a place to park it for the night and decided to head back to Sam's parent's house, about two hours away.  This was all on Monday.  Sam had to take off Tuesday from work to help deal with all of this.  By the time we got to Sam's parent's house, it was too late to do anything about the van, so we had a circle discussion about options and decided we would rent a tow dollies the next day and tow it back to their house with his dad's truck and then just called it a night.  

The next morning, we went to the rental place and got the worst customer service ever!  I called the head office to see if there were any other places that had a tow dollies available and was informed that we could not tow our van on one because it was too heavy for it.  An auto transport was suggested as an alternative.  Well, that might work, but the truck wasn't heavy duty enough to pull it. Okay.  Thankfully, Sam's parents had borrowed a family member's truck to haul a tractor from Oklahoma and they still had it.  It was definitely heavy duty enough.  This was another Daddy kissy.  Another one was that we didn't have the kids with us during any of it.  I am so glad I wasn't stranded with 4 kids in that heat!  We were able to find a transport at a smaller business place that we had actually done business with before and it was a very good experience.  Sam's parents pulled the transport while we drove in the Jeep and we all went to go load up the van.  We stopped at Sonic and ate and I had my first of several slushies that day.  

We loaded the van and we headed home and Sam's parents took it back to their house.  On our way home, we stopped at sonic several more times to get slushies because we felt like we were being sucked dry by the heat and the wind.  Oh, and we decided to go ahead and haul the lockers home in the Jeep because we couldn't see a feasible way of getting them home otherwise.  Even though we were hot, sweaty, windblown and stinkin' tired, we had a pretty nice ride home.  Our air conditioner at home welcomed us with its wonderfully cool loveliness.  We wallowed in it.  That and a shower. ;)

And more to come....

The Dyesses: A Series of Interesting Events part 1

 Oh man, so much has happened in a short amount of time! First up on the calendar of special occurrences was the washer that had been given to us by our cousins decided it didn't want to stop filling up anymore.  It had already had a couple of other things go wrong and was pretty old. We knew it was just a matter of time before we would have to replace it, but we were fine using it up to the very last bit of its ability! :)  We had already decided that since we have a ridiculous amount of laundry to be done all.the.time, that when the time came to get a different one, we would invest in a front loader again.  I used to have one before our rv saga and I absolutely LOVED it.  Getting a brand new one was just not necessary as far as I was concerned because there is always a bounty of used goodness on craigslist. ;)

So, away my fingers flew on the keyboard and track pad searching through the previously owned offerings.  I was looking at either an LG set or a whirlpool duet set.  I wanted to go ahead and get a matching set since our dryer is the same age as the washer and the sets I was looking at were actually less expensive than some of the single washer ads.  I looked up the reviews on both sets to see if there was anything I should be concerned about with either of the models.  It was interesting to find such a huge amount of dissatisfied consumers of the LG model.  Granted lots of them were about the odor issue many have with front loaders and since I know how to fix that issue and avoid it in future, that wasn't as big of a deal, but there were plenty having to do with the actual mechanical and electronic parts not functioning properly.  I didn't really want to have to do a lot of youtubing how to videos on fixing it and ordering parts and all that, so I was relieved to find that the whirlpool reviews were mostly about the smell and not very many about the machine not functioning properly.

The lady that was selling the whirlpool set was moving and I went to check them out to see if they would work and to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with them.  She was going to need them a couple more days to get all her laundry done, so it was kind of an interesting situation.  We paid a small fraction of what a new set would have cost, actually got them loaded in the van and with much strain on both mine and Sam's part, got them set up in the laundry area.  They can be stacked, so we did that and it freed up quite a bit of space for a new laundry system that will be put into place soon.  Something very similar to this:

   

I will have the six baskets, but it will be all one unit.  I am going to add casters to the bottom and a counter to the top for folding purposes.  I already have the baskets, I just need to have a good chunk of time to cut up some plywood and 1 by whatevers and assemble it all.  I'm hoping this will be a better system than the dirty-clothes-baskets-in-the-closet a.k.a clothes-all-over-the-floor one we've got going on now.

I was loving washing the first couple of loads when I noticed water coming out from under it.  Not a lot, but there was definitely a leak somewhere.  Ugh.  So, I let Sam know about it and started looking up possibilities for the problem.  He said he noticed a small tear in the drum seal and thought that might be it.  I took a look at it and found it, but couldn't tell for sure.  I found a suggestion that it might be the water pump or it could be that the drain filter was clogged.  That one was an easy fix, so I took the front panel off and undid the filter basket.  There was a big wad of lint in it and some coins.  I was hoping this was the problem.   I didn't think the pump was because it wasn't make any non-normal noises.  I cleaned it all out and put it back in and did another load.  I thought it was good until I saw the water coming out again.  Bummer.  At least the panel was still off, so I could see where the leak was.  Sam was right, it was coming from the seal area.  I knew ordering the drum seal would take a while and to be honest, I didn't want to have to pay $70 bucks for one right after we just bought the washer!  So, I had it in my head that there had to be a way to temporarily patch it. ;)  I was thinking possibly one of those pool float patches or something similar.  I actually came across a suggestion of duct tape and thought why not?!  The stuff we have in the garage is the very thin cheapo stuff, but it would just have to do.  I put a little piece on the tear and did another load.  It worked!  Sam was pretty sure it wouldn't hold very well for very long and suggested a stronger tape like Gorilla Tape.  He was right on.  After a couple of loads the leak was back so, I picked some Gorilla Tape up while I was at Lowe's and put a piece over the tear when I got home.  That's been a little over a month ago and its still holding strong.  I'll eventually replace the seal (I've already watched several how-to videos and even found one where I don't have to take all the panels off of the top and front of the machine!), but for now we are good. :)

To Be Continued...

My Husband is A-Mazing!

We are gearing up to start our school year in a couple of days and I had an epiphany...well, of sorts.  The kids usually end up all bunking in the same room, so I thought to myself that it would be nice to turn the other bedroom into a homeschool room.  As usual, I'm flying by the seat of my pants trying to get it done and I've been toying with the idea of a triple bunk bed for a while.  So, Sam went to help our friend move this morning and when he came home, he found me eye deep in pondering how I could possibly turn the boy's current bunk beds into a triple bunk.  Didn't want to spend any money, you see.  Just wanted to use what we had on hand.  He said I was crazy.  He's starting to come around to my upcycling obsessiveness.  Well, after much collaborating together, we came up with a plan and we (read mostly Sam) went to work on it. :)  Poor man is now pooped, but looky at what he built!

The kids are giddy with excitement!  They are loving it.  We have a few more boards to add after some more money gets allotted for this project.  I'm also going to put up curtains on rods for the two lower bunks and a tent for the top.  We had all that wood on hand and the two upper bunks are the same metal bases from the previous bunk beds...Now, I need to figure out what to do with the head and foot boards from the other bunks.... ;)
I so wanted to paint the kids' room today.  I have some paint out in the garage and was sorely tempted, but I figured I could get to that another day.... I might paint the school room first since it will be mostly empty for a split second before I start setting up shop in there...  All I know is that it will feel better in both rooms once the unfortunate colors get hidden under much more soothing neutrals.  I think almost 3 years is enough time spent with those colors. :)

Ailey and scissors and somewhere in between

Ailey found a pair of haircutting scissors that I had totally forgotten about in one of the drawers in the bathroom and decided she needed to give herself a "little" trim.  I think the normal response to seeing your child give themself a mullet is to come close to tears.  I had to try hard not to bust out laughing.  She is just following even further in my footsteps.  I nabbed a pair of my granny's sewing scissors when I was right around Ailey's age and got under the kitchen table and went to town on my nearly waist-length long pretty locks.  My mom apparently didn't take it well. ;)

I took some pics first and then set about trying to fix it the best I could...

 Self-inflicted mullet :)

 pixie cut...I tried to leave her with bangs, but there was that large chunk missing and no amount of combing over worked....

 So, I went with bangs just a tad longer than her cut line.  Little stinker looks cute with her hair like that. hmph.

Others who were in attendance of this event...

What a WEEK!...in review

Why don't we start with two Saturdays ago.  I will preface the coming whirlwind with anyone reading this needs to keep in mind that I was a "wee bit" driven to get all prepped for the girls' birthday party.  Okay, with that said, let's begin with after everyone left after the party, Brea started having a fever.  Poor baby!  It was never more than 103 tops and mostly in the 102 range.  She is rather quiet for the most part about not feeling well.  She had this fever for 3 days where it would spike and then come down a bit and repeat.  Then, when she still had a fever on the fourth day, I was tired of it and got busy bringing it all the way down.  I was trying to let it do its job, but there were never any other symptoms.  I would give meds at night so she could rest well, but let it do it thang during the day with the help of wet washrags and tepid baths and cool drinks and all that jazz.  I know that one of the other kiddos had a fever like this once before, too...maybe Ailey?  Can't remember.  Anyway, by day four I was done.  I only had to alternate tylenol and motrin for one round and then when she woke up from her nap, she was fine and continued on to be.  I think it was teething to be honest.  I know there are plenty of people out there who will say that teething or pain does not cause fevers, but I have observed and experienced differently. :)

Anywho, in the mean time, right after the party, I had a big WHEW! moment where I felt my body kind of start coming down off of the adrenaline high I had been running on for the last half of a week and I knew I was in trouble.  I had trouble sleeping the couple of nights before the party because I was mulling over all of it in my mind.  Yeah.  That tendency needs to depart this here person.  God is in progress on that and it may not happen in a way that makes me feel good during the process, but the outcome is absolutely desired, so...Please put the pressure on Lord!!!  Ok, so I knew I was going to have some issues because I always do when I have prolonged adrenaline/stress/anxiety.  My back had started to hurt a little that Saturday and then a bit on Sunday, but I thought I had possibly pulled a muscle and didn't give it more thought than that.  Well, I wasn't able to rest like I had planned because Brea didn't feel good and I had to get the house back into some semblance of order.  Like I've said before, if I concentrate on getting a particular thing done like cleaning the house, prepping for a party, any sort of craft thing, etc., something else always has to give.

Well, we were running out of snacks and stuff that I usually make from scratch, so I had to play catch up on that.  Plus, my dad was flying in on Tuesday, staying the night and then flying out the next day on Wednesday.  After that, my mom was scheduled to come in on Friday and stay until Sunday.  So, my week was already looking pretty crazy.

My dad was supposed to get in at noon on Tuesday, so I packed all the kids up and took us all to the airport to pick him up.  We sat there and waited for about 30 minutes and then I heard something about weather issues in Dallas and thought he might have gotten grounded there, so we headed back home.  After several hours of waiting and texting and calling back and forth, it ended up that Dad would not be getting a flight out that day because of the tornados and all the planes had sustained hail damage and would need to be inspected before they were cleared for flight.  He would have to wait until the morning.  Okay.  Then around 5 ish pm, I think, Dad says he's getting a ride with a lady going to Copperas Cove.  Okay.  I told him he was looking at about a 3 hr ride, so I was expecting him around 9 ish.  Well, at around 8 ish, I call and they are stopping in Waco to stretch their legs.  No prob, totally understand that. At a little after nine, I find that they are still in Waco because they stopped to eat. (It is about 45 mins - 1 hr away depending on route and traffic.)

Now, I'm going to tell on myself here.  I was getting a wee bit agitated.  I was tired.  Really tired and super sleepy.  I was grateful that someone had compassion on my dad and had given him a ride, but my dad has a tendency to not communicate well at all and so my agitation wasn't with the people he was riding with so much as my dad not keeping me apprised of the situation, plus other factors I won't go into.  Trust me, I could write a book about that subject, but I'm totally not going there. :)

Anyway, it ended up that they dropped him off where I met them down the road a bit at 11:15 pm.  Tiiiiiiired!  So we came back to the house and basically it was a straight shot to bed for me....except, that I couldn't go to sleep.  My back started hurting pretty bad and I couldn't find a comfortable position.  Sam woke up around 4:30 and I was still awake and he prayed over me.  I think I must have slept for a few hours until a little after 8.  I got up and I was hurting even more by then. :(  At that point, I thought I was dealing with a kidney stone and was waiting for it to pass.

It never did and a bit before noon, I decided a doctor visit was needed.  I was able to get an appointment for 1:45 and Sam came home to hang with the kids and Dad was to take me to the doctor.  I was in a huge amount of pain by then and couldn't hold back from crying.  On a high note, the kids were loving their visit with their grandpa!  I was really grateful for that.  He was also such a distraction for them, that I was able to rest in bed that day without any sort of interruption by the older three!  That's pretty amazing, I must say. :)

Sam sent out an SOS to our prayer warriors and off we went to the doctor and by then I could hardly walk.  They got a wheel chair for me and wheeled me around.  I was ushered in more quickly than I would have been, I think, because they were very concerned with the amount of distress I was in.  I was so touched by everyone's compassion and gentleness!

I peed in a cup for the usual testing...I have to pause right here and follow a tangent.  I know, shocking...  The cup I was given had a handle attached to a ring that screwed onto the top of the cup.  The package also contained the little wipies and had the lid that screws on for after the filling up.  The handle was far enough away from the cup that there was no messy hand situation.  Fantastic!  In all the years I was in the Air Force and got "randomly" chosen to go pee in a cup for drug testing purposes and the peeing in a cup while preggers with Braden and then afterward with Zekey, never once did I get handed this fabulous cup with handle.  I mean, if you have to go pee in a cup, it should at least have the handle to keep you from peeing on yourself!  Potty training was supposed to encourage that whole idea and all...just saying.

Okay, so after the urine was tested, the PA said it could be a kidney stone or it could be a kidney infection.  I hadn't even considered that because the last time I had a kidney infection, it started out as a UTI, worked its way into a bladder infection and then to my kidneys.  I didn't experience any of that, but it made more sense the way it felt after she mentioned that possibility.  Okay.  At one point, she asked me if I had ever had Strep B.  For any who do not know, you are usually tested for that near your due date or when you go into labor to make sure you don't pass it on to your baby in delivery.  I was tested for it with Braden and Zekes because I had them in the hospital, but not with Ailey and Brea.  As far as I was aware, I'd never had it. Right.  So, she prescribed an antibiotic that was not in the penicillin family (the culture that was taken wasn't going to be ready until a few days later, so it was a guessing game at this point) as well as Tylenol 3 and then ordered a steroid shot for the pain.  The shot did help a bit, but just kinda took the edge off.  I also asked for a prescription for Flonase while I was at it. ;p  Every little bit helps, right?!  Anyway, there was a lovely mix up at the pharmacy.  I called them to make sure they had received the prescriptions and to check on a time so that Sam could go and pick them up.  First of all, it was going to take them 3 hours to fill them.  Yeah.  We aren't talking Walgreen's or the like.  I won't say which pharmacy, but I will say this particular one needs a major system overhaul!  I had instructed that the flonase not be filled just yet and to just fill the antibiotics and the tylenol.  I was hoping it would speed things up a bit.  So Sam goes and picks them up and gets back home and I open them up and find the tylenol and the flonase...no antibiotics.  This particular pharmacy closes at 6 and it was 5:15.  I was trying to keep a good attitude, but I knew that I wouldn't actually start healing until the antibiotics got in there and got a hold of the infection, so I was a wee bit in desperation mode.  I called the pharmacy and asked if the prescription could be transferred to walgreen's or somewhere like that because I was thinking that if it took them 3 hrs to fill just those other two then it would more than likely take longer the the time left before they closed.  Yeah.  The lady on the phone told me that she could do that, but that the prescription could be filled in 15 mins.  REALLY?!  Does this make absolutely no sense to anyone else?  They filled the prescription, Sam went and got it and  I took it as soon as I got it out of the bag.

Time for another tangent.  During all of this, I kept wondering how on earth I managed to get a kidney infection first and it not start out as a UTI.  It didn't hurt to go to the bathroom at all, just my kidney was hurting.....still a head scratcher.  Plus, I only drink water except for the occasional lemonade every two weeks or so when we go to Chic-fil-a.  Hmmmmmm.....

Okay, all that occurred on Wednesday.  Now, I did start feeling better after a couple of doses of the antibiotic, but not like I thought I should.  Usually two doses and its waaaaaay better!  Not so this time and I had to take more T3 than I thought I would.  I was grateful for it the first day and part of the second, but I shouldn't have had to take it after that and I did.  Thursday, I actually felt pretty good by the afternoon, but still really tired and I could still feel discomfort in my kidney.  I just thought it was sore from being inflamed for such a long time.

Sam and the kids took my dad to the airport and I stayed home and rested.  There is another story there, but I won't go there. :)

By Friday, I was still doing about the same as Thursday until a couple of hours after I woke up.  I could now feel pain in my bladder and it was starting to burn when I went #1.  I was thinking to myself that this didn't seem normal, so I gave the PA a little ringy ding and had to leave a message.  I hadn't heard from her at 1-ish, so I called again because by this time the pain had come back in full force and if not for the T3, I would have been having a Wednesday all over again.  It was still very painful even with the T3.  I was told that she probably wouldn't be able to return my call until Monday.  Well, I certainly didn't relish going through the weekend getting worse, so I planned to go to the urgent clinic the next day, but she did end up calling me and had gotten my messages and the results of the culture.  Guess what grew.  Strep B.  Yeah.  The irony was not lost upon me, I assure you.  In addition to that, the antibiotics I was on wasn't the kind that kills Strep B.  That would explain why it felt like it was spreading.  So, she prescribed the antibiotic I needed and somehow in our conversation, I made a comment about THE pharmacy and she recommended we go with Walmart.  So we did.  She sent it in, they filled it in under 10 mins and I got a text about it and we went to go and pick it up.  I think we'll stick with Walmart. :)  Two doses later and I was a new person.  Amazing, right?  God is that way, though. :)

Okay, let's recap for just a moment before moving on....yep, there's more!  First, we had crazy party mania, then Brea's fever, then my dad's visit, then my kidney infection, then my dad's departure.

Friday evening, my mom came in for a visit.  Poor mom. :)  She had already arranged to stay at a hotel, so it wasn't a big deal trying to get anything ready.  She got in and I was feeling a little better and was able to hand out in the living room for a while.  She left for the night and came back the next morning and she was sitting out on the front porch when a police woman came up to her and asked if I lived here.  She said that she had received a phone call from my dad asking for someone to come and make sure I was alright.  I was still trying to recoup in bed when she walked in to my room.  Yeah.  She explained that he had tried to call me, got my voicemail and then all of a sudden heard a very disturbing conversation between two men and a woman and not nice things happening.  After the policewoman left, I checked my phone and he did call and he did get my voicemail.  I listened to the message and heard him say hi and then he paused and then he hung up.  Now, normal procedure by most people would have been to try and call the person back or perhaps text them to make sure that it wasn't a weird mix up, but my dad decided to call the police.  yeah.  Whatever.  I called him and we had a difference of opinion on whether that was appropriate and I had to cut the call short and text him the rest of what I was trying to say.  Let's just say that it took a full week for me to want to speak with him again and the Lord had lots to work on in my heart during that time. :)

Saturday went along after that and then that night the older kiddos were to go and stay with my mom at the hotel.  They were super excited. (Afterwards, Zekey got it into his head that my mom had moved to the hotel ;)  Braden started saying that his throat was a little sore, but I didn't think too much about it because we all had drainage and I thought it was allergy related.  Mom ended up having to give him motrin during the night and his throat was worse the next morning. :(  She brought them all back to the house and by then, I was pretty sure we were dealing with strep throat....again.

I called for an urgent care appointment and we got one and headed on over to the clinic.  Sure enough, that's exactly what he had.  The time before that a few weeks ago, I had him get the shot.  He was absolutely adamant that he did NOT want the shot!  We got the liquid, but because it was a Sunday and Easter Sunday at that, only CVS was open and they were extremely busy.  I had intended to use the Walmart pharmacy, but it was actually closed.  Craziness!  I got Braden a shake at Whataburger to help soothe his throat while we waited.  We got his meds and then headed home.  My mom had stayed with the kids so that Sam could go to church.  It was a good break for him. ;p

Mom left that afternoon for her house.  Braden was feeling a bit better by that evening and then much better by the next day.  Yay!

We were good until Tuesday when Ailey started having a fever and then the next day Zekey had one.  Yep.  They were right as rain a couple of days later, though and never showed any other symptoms.  The funny thing is that aside from Ailey and Zekey, no one's sickness was related to anyone else's.  Well, it really and truly never is boring in this house.

If you were able to read through this whole thing without a potty, coffee, meal or sanity break, I congratulate you.  Well done.  I'm done now, so you can go take a jog around the block or just stand up for a minute or two to allow the feeling to return to your legs and head. :)  Here are pics from my dad's visit:

Shamefully Overdue!

Well, the title says it all.  It has been way too long since I have done a post.  Me thinks this will be one of my usual marathon posts, so you may want to go ahead and use the restroom, get a cup of coffee or cocoa to keep your eyes open and find a super comfy chair so your bum does not fall asleep.  Don't say I didn't warn ya!  Ready?  Here we go....

First up, here is our new bunny, Strawberry the 2nd:

This one is, indeed a girl.  Yay.  On the other hand, she is rather aggressive.  Not yay.  She chases Shortcake around and nips at her hiney and pulls tufts of fur off of her bum.  Poor Shortcake!  The funny thing is, shortcake still really enjoys her company...as long as they are in separate contained areas and can still see each other. :)  Anyway, this means we will have to have a unit with two separate living quarters for the bunnies.  Just keeps getting interesting!  I let them run around the living, dining and kitchen areas in the evenings because they will go back to their cages to do their business.  That's a plus. :)  Oh, and in all the reading I did the night Strawberry started getting all Kra-Z, the consensus seems to be in favor of getting them both spayed since I have no intention of breeding them.  They are apparently quite susceptible to getting cervical cancer.  Not so yay, again. :(  Oh, well, they are already part of the fam, so we will just figure it all out. :)

In other happenings, Brea is doing lots!

She is still very serious about her food and can pack it in like nobody's business!  Its quite amazing to behold, to which many who have been present during the process of this astounding feat can testify.  I think the most astounding part of it is that she is so stinkin' tiny and we are all very lost as to where she stores it all before it makes its way out of the southbound end!  Remarkable, I'm tellin' ya!

She is very vocal while she eats, too and will let whoever is feeding her know in no uncertain terms if she is not satisfied at the speed at which her food is being shoveled down her gullet.  Its pretty funny. :)  She is a bananaholic.  LOVES her some bananas!  She can also put away some grapes.  I'm thinking we need to plants some banana trees and some grape vines to keep up with her!  Whew!

Since I am really bad with the concept of time and keeping up with dates and all, I will just go with its been several weeks plus, since she started mimicking sounds.  Her first full word is Mama, but I'm pretty sure she tries to say banana, too, which comes out more of a Bah.  She is pretty equally partial to both Sam and I, so I'm working on her saying Daddy, too... ;p

She has been able to toddle along holding on to the edges of furniture for some time now, too and was able to stand up, unassisted for a second or two at a time for a week or so, but I just witnessed her do the whole shebang and then stay standing up all by her lonesome for many seconds 'til she decided to squat down to crawl some more this very morning.  She's getting there and then they will all be running around after each other.  Curiouser and Curiouser! :)

We have had a bit of craziness for the past 3 weeks.  Braden got strep throat, then antibiotics, then we went out of town to see Nina and Padrino (that will be a separate post after picture editing has been achieved ;) and the last day we were there, Braden's strep throat came back.  Ugh.  So, we traveled home and the next evening he was seen and sure enough it was a reoccurrence!  This time I requested the shot.  Braden tried so hard to be okay while it was being administered, but didn't quite succeed.  Poor little guy! :(  It did, however, make him feel better in a jiffy, so yay!  The rest of that week was a blur while I readied us to travel once again.  This time it was to East Texas for my Granny's surprise 80th birthday party (this, too, will be a separate post :).   I really went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to go, but I'm really glad we did.  We have double dvd players for the car that were bought quite some time ago, but for a time we could only use one of them because the cord that came with it would not reach across both rows of the van.  Bummer.  Then, at some point, said cord became lost in the shuffle that is the garage.  Double bummer.  So, I ordered two cords and this trip both players were in operation along with a set of headphones that got passed to whoever was sitting in the solo seat next to Brea.  We also had a set of legos that was great entertainment.  Both the drive there and back were quite tame and pleasant, I must say.  I think we may have found a winning combination.  I'm not willing to try it out again just yet, though. ;)

I have to mention something Ailey said the other day.  We were driving in the van and I had the windows rolled down and we got going at a higher speed and she said, "MOM!  You're blowing my head off!"  Hahaha!

We have a little wrist rest for our track pad and one day Zekey came up to me with it on his chin and said, "I'm a daddy."

 Then it became a mustache...

I honestly don't know what Braden was using it for....a sleep mask, perhaps?

Braden has taken to doing this, um, interesting facial expression with his face lately....Kid phases are so funny!

All the kids are doing well and really enjoy playing together....usually.  We do have the occasional non-enjoyable occurrences, of course. ;p  I will have to do a more detailed update later.  Right now we are so stinkin' busy and I'm ready for things to SLOW DOWN!  We'll see how that goes.

CHRISTmas

Its coming up on Christmas and I did it again.  Sam got down all the decorations for me and I went to work.  Granted, I took more time doing it this year.  I wanted to be relaxed and not get crazy and irritated.  Things were fine the first day.  I got the nativity set out in its box for Braden to set up the next day and then, I got the shelf top cleared off and the entryway landing strip cleared so we could set some stuff up.  The next day, I got the tree out and set it up in preparation for the bazillion ornaments to hang on it.  That's where the detour popped up.  All sanity and goodwill and graciousness went away as the grabby hands came out of the woodwork.  After the second glass icicle met its demise on the floor, I lost it!  To be honest, I wasn't upset about the ornaments.  They are actually not beyond repair.  I was not in control of the situation and my kids were not obeying and I was not responding at all well or in any manner worthy of emulation.  I threw a little mini tantrum, growled my irritation and clenched my fists up on either side of my head.  I then stood completely still with my hands over my eyes while I prayed that the Lord would take my irritation and agitation and help me restore order to the chaos.  That's when He began to ask me if it was that important.  Yes!  Of course it was!  I wanted to get it done and done in a certain way and my kids were not getting the memo.  They were messing up my plan!....Okay, no, its not really important.  I don't want them to remember Christmas as being a stressful time, when the Crazy-Eyed Mom Monster makes everyone miserable and sets a completely wrong example of how to handle situations that aren't going according to The Plan.  So, we stopped right in the middle of decorating the tree.   It was the right choice.  I had to ask forgiveness of the Lord, then I asked forgiveness of Ailey and then Braden.  Yeah, totally in the running for Not-So-Mom-Of-The-Year Award. ;)  It also gave me the opportunity to get somewhat back on track for our day.  You know, get some school work done instead of the "oh-so-important task" of tree decorating.  Yep.

After dinner, I decided to resume my decorating escapade while the boys were at Awanas.  I was getting a bit overwhelmed at how I could set everything up.  (Its funny, I get that way about my house, but no one else's. ;)  I was googling for inspiration and tweaking here and rearranging there and finally just gave up after everyone had gone to bed with the intent of starting afresh today.  I started with God this morning instead of the myriad of other distractions that I generally get caught up in and my what a difference that has made! I also came across this link in my fb wanderings this morning and I needed to read this! http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/11/29/the-christmas-conundrum. I don't think coincidence had anything to do with it, either.  It is exactly the way I feel about this time of year and God has been doing quite a bit of gearing us toward simplicity for the last few years....I think it might have finally sunk in.  I have to admit that I like the lights and decorations of this time of year.  What I don't like is the misappropriated focus that tends to lead the way.  I want my kids to enjoy this time and have fun putting up a tree and lights, but I don't want it to be the focus.  Sam and I also need to talk about presents for the kids.  I'm not so sure I want to do that anymore.  We were going to get each kiddo one gift that they could open, but was for sharing with the other kiddos, as well as stocking stuffers.  We'll see.

Braden and I had a talk about presents a day or so ago.  He mentioned something about presents going under the tree and I told him I didn't know if we were going to do that or not.  I said its Jesus' birthday, not ours.  He understood perfectly and was quite satisfied with that answer. We are going to shop in the World Vision gift catalog as a family and decide what to get Jesus for His birthday. :)

I really like how Octamom puts it:  Jesus is NOT the reason for the season, but He IS the answer for it!  She is sharing a series called Christmas Secrets and I have found the first installment VERY interesting.  If you've ever wanted the history of how the celebration of Christmas came about, you can click here and listen to her speak on this subject.

So, to end:  Merry Christmas!  I hope you are having a very joyful, relaxed, enjoyable holiday season with your loved ones. :)

Crafts and Craziness and Monsters, OH MY!

I worked my first Farmers Market yesterday.  Craziness, I tell ya!  I was a Momma Monster the week leading up to it trying to get all my crafts finished and prepped and the table "scape" prepared.  I have been in many conversations with God through the whole process and I kept asking if I should be doing this.  Did He want me doing this?  Had He made this the path He wanted me to walk down?  I wasn't really getting a clear answer to be honest, but I will tell you what I was getting.  Agitated.  I wanted to have certain things made and prepared and ready to go and it took away from my family, made me into a bit of a Momma Monster and as a result, my family suffered.  The night before, I presented a request to my Father in Heaven in much the same way Abraham's servant did when he was in search of a wife for Aaron.  I asked God to make it abundantly clear whether having a booth at craft fairs on a regular basis was something He wanted me doing.  I asked that if this was a green light, that all my stuff would sell...every single thing...nothing left.  If I had even one thing left, then I would know it was not a go.  Haha!  God totally answered.  I had all of some things and just a few of others left over.  I do believe I now know for sure! ;p

My dear friend Lucy went with me and totally blessed me with her time, company, help and previous fair expertise.  She helped me set up, took turns holding/feeding/entertaining Brea and just hung out with me.  It really was lots of fun, but it was lots of work for little return as far as the business side of it goes.  We did get to meet some interesting people and got to get back into the practice of saying MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Many people thanked us for saying that instead of Happy Holidays.  :)  We also came across plenty of people who were doing whole body cleanses and so did not partake of the tempting samples we had laid out.  I thought that was particularly interesting.  Especially at this time of the year.  Here is what our booth looked like at my house the night before when I set it up to see how I wanted everything:

 The bumbo in the background was not a part of the display...;p  Everything was squished at the house, but not at the actual event.

 I love that I got to use my Pampered Chef stands and platters for my display.  Those things are mighty handy and can be used for so many things!  Hey, hey!

 I put my business cards on the stems in the vase.  I saw it while googling and really liked that idea.

You know those cube shelves you can get at Target and they click together with the little discs?  That's what the display stands are.  I just used silver twisty ties to connect them.  Ghetto, but effective AND nothing a little ribbon or lots of scarves won't hide! ;)

Here is what our booth looked like at the market:

 That is my beautiful friend Lucy back there.  She's feeding Brea while I take pics.

I was rather surprised at what sold and what did not.  I only sold one bag of chocolate chip cookies!  What?!  That was unexpected!  I really thought those would disappear.  You never can tell, really.  I really didn't expect the tutus to sell and they didn't.  The lip balm sold rather well.  The bread sold pretty well and even some of the apple butter found new homes.  No jewelry was adopted and neither did the flower bow/pins take new journeys. :)  They will be going on the website.  I will also list some of the lip balm, although some of it will be going in stockings. :)  I don't think I want to mess with trying to package and shipping the apple butter.  Those will be given away, I think, along with the cookies as Christmas goodies for the neighbors.


After it was all said and done, I came home with stocking stuffers, bread to eat for breakfast and some things with which to set up my online store...finally.  I have decided to go ahead and actually do something with the business fb page and blog that I started over a year ago.  Yeah.  I started setting it up yesterday afternoon and even listed a couple of things.  I was going to list some things in my Etsy store, but found that it had been suspended.  I found out why this morning and it has now been reinstated, but I don't know if I want to mess with Etsy for the time being.  I am able to have paypal on my business blog and people can buy it directly off of there instead of me having to mess with listing and selling fees on Etsy.  We'll see.  I still have to link my fb and blog pages together and also finish listing all my stuff.  Once that is done, the bulk of the work will be done and I can just list stuff as I randomly make it.  I've also decided to take custom orders on a limited basis for now.  This is a much more do-able format for me than booths at a market or fair.  I think it would be fun to do that occasionally, but only if I have plenty of things already made up and I have a friend to make it fun.  I would also want to look at it as a ministering opportunity.  If I don't ask God into all that I'm doing, then what is the point?!  I'm still learning to do that and it is just so lovely when I do and He is there with me in all of the details!  So neat!  When I get everything listed and linked, I will put a link on here as well as my usual fb page and see what happens from there.  It should be interesting at least. :)