Thursday, November 29, 2007
Important Note
If you notice on the list I posted a couple of days ago, there is no NASCAR driver listed for Rachel. That is because she has decided that she is not going to continue cheering for Dale Jr. when he switches next season. She has not at this time decided which driver is going to be "hers" but she is up in the air for now. So no more #8's and no #88's in this house at this time.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Catch up
Ok. Here's a post to try to get everyone caught up on our family.
I think most of you have probably heard that Rachel ended up with a hospital stay around mid-Nov. She had had abdominal pain for 4 days and we had made an ER visit the first day because it hurt so bad she couldn't sleep. So after 4 days, we went to our regular doctors office who ordered a second ultrasound. That came back normal and they just wanted us to go home and call back the next day but we pushed and said we wanted more done. So she was admitted through the ER to have a CT scan done and more blood work. It was rather funny when she was talking to our doctor that the doctor asked if there was anything that helped make it feel better and Rachel's response was "morphine". The doctor meant a certain position but all Rachel could think of was the morphine they had given her in the ER. After 2 days and numerous tests, the best educated guess was a virus. Basically, they said that instead of getting a cold that affects your sinuses or the flu that makes your joints all achy this virus went to her organs (kidneys, bladder, etc.). She is fine now and back at school trying to make up all the work she missed.
We were able to make a short trip up to Lake Ann. Mark had a "Camp Captain's Retreat" while the kids had time off from school so we all went and made it a work weekend. The kids and I pulled nails out of boards that were being taken out of a house they were tearing down while Mark was in his retreat. It was rather tiresome work but we got a lot done. What was rather interesting was that the maintenance supervisor told us as we were leaving that we had saved the camp between $3-$4 for each board that we had cleared.
We spent Thanksgiving at Mark's family in Detroit. We went over on Wednesday after Mark got out of work and then came home Friday afternoon. It was nice. We hadn't seen some of them in a couple of years. Mark & our kids did a lot of the cooking which is what they wanted to do. Rachel would have been most disappointed if she hadn't gotten to help bake the apple pies.
Before we came home on Friday, Mark & I & his sister spent the morning shopping. We were out of the house about 4:30 a.m. We knew we were crazy but it was fun too! What was really interesting was the number of times that we ended up with the last one of the items we were looking for. I think it happened at least 4 times that we managed to get the last one off the shelf! There was only 1 item that we wanted that was actually sold out before we got there. Not a bad average.
We came home Friday afternoon because we had free tickets to a GR Griffens hockey game that evening. The Griffens have a program that by reading the kids can get free tickets for certain games. Because there are only certain games you can get the tickets for, this was about the only date left that would work for us. 2 of the dates in Dec. are for Wednesday evenings. Even if we weren't already busy at church on Wednesdays, I wouldn't let my kids go to a hockey game on a school night. That would be way to late for them.
We spent much of the rest of the weekend cleaning up and Rachel working on homework. It would be hard to get out any Christmas decorations with all the mess in this house.
Also during all this, a friend of ours from church brought over his radon tester. He does home inspections for a living and so he thought we should have this checked (especially with all the illness in this family). Turns out that the EPA recommends taking action if your radon level is at a 4 and ours was at a 5.8. So we have got to have some work done around here. We are going to have to clean out the basement and then paint it with some type of special paint. We will retest after that and see if more is needed to be done. The EPA says that the only proven harm of radon gas is that it significantly increases the risk of lung cancer. There is no proof that it causes any other illnesses but I definitely don't like what has been going on in my family's health lately.
The latest being that Joshua has been complaining of headaches regularly. Then over the holiday, he started complaining that his neck hurt. I checked it out and there is was a spot that was tender to the touch. It then formed a lump right behind his ear, most of the length of his neck. By Sunday evening, there was the start of a lump at the same location on the other side of his neck.
I took him to the doctor then yesterday. She believes that his lymph nodes are enlarged due to a virus. She doesn't think that the headaches are necessarily related to the lumps. She ordered some blood work and said that it was possible that he still may come down with a cold or something in the next day or so. Well, by yesterday afternoon, he was not acting himself. He just spent the day on the couch and didn't look like he felt very good.
Today he is still home complaining that his stomach doesn't feel good but he looks quite a bit better. I hope that he can go back to school by tomorrow. He is only slightly sniffly and doesn't have a fever so maybe. The lumps are still there but the doctor said that they could last a while. She actually wants to see him back in 2 weeks and said if they aren't gone completely in a month she is sending us to an ENT.
We still only have 1 vehicle but friends of ours have loaned us their van because 1 of them has been laid up due to surgery. He goes back to work on Dec. 11 and we'll have to give it back before then but it has been a great help. We have seen some different vehicles for sale but haven't tried for anything because of trying to get out from under some debts and not sure about making payments right now. Christmas and birthdays don't help with these things at all for sure.
I know this is long but that about does it I believe. Back to work caring for Joshua, cleaning, and doing laundry.
I think most of you have probably heard that Rachel ended up with a hospital stay around mid-Nov. She had had abdominal pain for 4 days and we had made an ER visit the first day because it hurt so bad she couldn't sleep. So after 4 days, we went to our regular doctors office who ordered a second ultrasound. That came back normal and they just wanted us to go home and call back the next day but we pushed and said we wanted more done. So she was admitted through the ER to have a CT scan done and more blood work. It was rather funny when she was talking to our doctor that the doctor asked if there was anything that helped make it feel better and Rachel's response was "morphine". The doctor meant a certain position but all Rachel could think of was the morphine they had given her in the ER. After 2 days and numerous tests, the best educated guess was a virus. Basically, they said that instead of getting a cold that affects your sinuses or the flu that makes your joints all achy this virus went to her organs (kidneys, bladder, etc.). She is fine now and back at school trying to make up all the work she missed.
We were able to make a short trip up to Lake Ann. Mark had a "Camp Captain's Retreat" while the kids had time off from school so we all went and made it a work weekend. The kids and I pulled nails out of boards that were being taken out of a house they were tearing down while Mark was in his retreat. It was rather tiresome work but we got a lot done. What was rather interesting was that the maintenance supervisor told us as we were leaving that we had saved the camp between $3-$4 for each board that we had cleared.
We spent Thanksgiving at Mark's family in Detroit. We went over on Wednesday after Mark got out of work and then came home Friday afternoon. It was nice. We hadn't seen some of them in a couple of years. Mark & our kids did a lot of the cooking which is what they wanted to do. Rachel would have been most disappointed if she hadn't gotten to help bake the apple pies.
Before we came home on Friday, Mark & I & his sister spent the morning shopping. We were out of the house about 4:30 a.m. We knew we were crazy but it was fun too! What was really interesting was the number of times that we ended up with the last one of the items we were looking for. I think it happened at least 4 times that we managed to get the last one off the shelf! There was only 1 item that we wanted that was actually sold out before we got there. Not a bad average.
We came home Friday afternoon because we had free tickets to a GR Griffens hockey game that evening. The Griffens have a program that by reading the kids can get free tickets for certain games. Because there are only certain games you can get the tickets for, this was about the only date left that would work for us. 2 of the dates in Dec. are for Wednesday evenings. Even if we weren't already busy at church on Wednesdays, I wouldn't let my kids go to a hockey game on a school night. That would be way to late for them.
We spent much of the rest of the weekend cleaning up and Rachel working on homework. It would be hard to get out any Christmas decorations with all the mess in this house.
Also during all this, a friend of ours from church brought over his radon tester. He does home inspections for a living and so he thought we should have this checked (especially with all the illness in this family). Turns out that the EPA recommends taking action if your radon level is at a 4 and ours was at a 5.8. So we have got to have some work done around here. We are going to have to clean out the basement and then paint it with some type of special paint. We will retest after that and see if more is needed to be done. The EPA says that the only proven harm of radon gas is that it significantly increases the risk of lung cancer. There is no proof that it causes any other illnesses but I definitely don't like what has been going on in my family's health lately.
The latest being that Joshua has been complaining of headaches regularly. Then over the holiday, he started complaining that his neck hurt. I checked it out and there is was a spot that was tender to the touch. It then formed a lump right behind his ear, most of the length of his neck. By Sunday evening, there was the start of a lump at the same location on the other side of his neck.
I took him to the doctor then yesterday. She believes that his lymph nodes are enlarged due to a virus. She doesn't think that the headaches are necessarily related to the lumps. She ordered some blood work and said that it was possible that he still may come down with a cold or something in the next day or so. Well, by yesterday afternoon, he was not acting himself. He just spent the day on the couch and didn't look like he felt very good.
Today he is still home complaining that his stomach doesn't feel good but he looks quite a bit better. I hope that he can go back to school by tomorrow. He is only slightly sniffly and doesn't have a fever so maybe. The lumps are still there but the doctor said that they could last a while. She actually wants to see him back in 2 weeks and said if they aren't gone completely in a month she is sending us to an ENT.
We still only have 1 vehicle but friends of ours have loaned us their van because 1 of them has been laid up due to surgery. He goes back to work on Dec. 11 and we'll have to give it back before then but it has been a great help. We have seen some different vehicles for sale but haven't tried for anything because of trying to get out from under some debts and not sure about making payments right now. Christmas and birthdays don't help with these things at all for sure.
I know this is long but that about does it I believe. Back to work caring for Joshua, cleaning, and doing laundry.
Lists
I know that I owe you all a real post on what's happening here but let me do this first. I emailed this list to Mark's family and thought I would post it here for anyone else interested.
Here's what the kids are really into & you could get most anything that has to do with them and they would be pleased:
Rachel:
Hannah Montana
High School Musical
Jonas Brothers
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (This is a gospel group that travels with the Gaithers.)
She wears an Adult Medium or Large depending on the cut
Stephen:
Home Depot - Tony Stewart
Pittsburgh Steelers
Football Cards (but not baseball)
Cars (the movie)
He has also recently been reading Hardy Boys and lots of Calvin & Hobbs
Wears a size 12-14 (Pants should be slims if possible.)
Joshua:
Go Diego Go!
Jeff Gordon
Webkinz - He would especially like a Chihuahua but would be happy with any.
Cars (the movie)
Anything doing with cars & trucks
Wears a size 6-8
All the kids also really like the show from Disney channel called "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody." They also all have Build-A-Bears that they like to get new clothes or accessories for.
Here's some DVD's that the kids would like that we don't have:
Ratatouille
Night at the Museum
Santa Clause 3
Meet the Robinsons
Firehouse Dog
Herbie Fully Loaded
Jump In
The kids also really like it when we can go to activities together as a family so tickets to see the Grand Rapids Griffins, West Michigan Whitecaps, or races at Berlin Raceway would be a big hit too.
I just like to give lots of choices for you to pick from. Email me directly if you have any specific questions. Rachel reads my posts regularly so more info is not secret here.
Here's what the kids are really into & you could get most anything that has to do with them and they would be pleased:
Rachel:
Hannah Montana
High School Musical
Jonas Brothers
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (This is a gospel group that travels with the Gaithers.)
She wears an Adult Medium or Large depending on the cut
Stephen:
Home Depot - Tony Stewart
Pittsburgh Steelers
Football Cards (but not baseball)
Cars (the movie)
He has also recently been reading Hardy Boys and lots of Calvin & Hobbs
Wears a size 12-14 (Pants should be slims if possible.)
Joshua:
Go Diego Go!
Jeff Gordon
Webkinz - He would especially like a Chihuahua but would be happy with any.
Cars (the movie)
Anything doing with cars & trucks
Wears a size 6-8
All the kids also really like the show from Disney channel called "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody." They also all have Build-A-Bears that they like to get new clothes or accessories for.
Here's some DVD's that the kids would like that we don't have:
Ratatouille
Night at the Museum
Santa Clause 3
Meet the Robinsons
Firehouse Dog
Herbie Fully Loaded
Jump In
The kids also really like it when we can go to activities together as a family so tickets to see the Grand Rapids Griffins, West Michigan Whitecaps, or races at Berlin Raceway would be a big hit too.
I just like to give lots of choices for you to pick from. Email me directly if you have any specific questions. Rachel reads my posts regularly so more info is not secret here.
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