Prayers for my Grandpa and Doris

I just found out my Grandpa has cancer. I'm a little sketchy on details, but I know they did a biopsy and think they got it all. He's going to start treatment soon. Somehow they are going to use the tuberculosis virus in his bladder...my Dad explained it, but the details seemed to have escaped me. I'm feeling like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz...If I only had a brain. Will you please pray for complete healing and that the treatment will be easy on him. He's 88. Also, his wife, Doris, is in the hospital after a fall. Thankfully she didn't break anything. The hospitalist thinks it is one of her medicines that's giving her trouble. I was lucky enough to get to see them last week when they were visiting at my Aunt's house. It was a wonderful visit. I also got to see my aunt, uncle and 2 cousins and their children.

ETA - I found my brain and google this morning. This is what I learned about the TB treatment...

Intravesical treatment is placed right into the bladder rather than being given by mouth or put into a vein. The most common form of this type of treatment for
bladder cancer is immunotherapy. This treatment causes the body's own natural
defenses (immune system) to attack the cancer.

BCG is an example of immunotherapy that is useful for treating low-stage bladder cancer. BCG is a type of bacteria that is sometimes used to vaccinate people against TB (tuberculosis). When used to treat bladder cancer, BCG is given right into the
bladder through a thin, flexible tube called a catheter. The body's immune
system responds to the BCG. Immune system cells are drawn to the bladder and
attack the cancer. BCG is usually given once a week for 6 weeks.

Blueberry Picking

Yummy Dinner Straight From the Garden

I found this recipe on Yahoo and used zucchini and yellow squash from my garden.

Tex-Mex Summer Squash Casserole

2 1/4 lbs summer squash, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
2/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
2 1/4 cups grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup mild salsa
4 scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Combine squash, onion, chiles, salt and 3/4 cup cheese in a large bowl. Sprinkle with flour, toss to coat. Spread the mixture in the prepared baking dish and cover with foil.

3. Bake the casserole until it is bubbling and the squash is tender, 35-45 minutes. Spoon salsa over the casserole and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake, uncovered, until golden and heated through, 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with scallions.

I modified the recipe just a little. I scrambled a pound of ground beef and added it to the casserole to give it a little protein and make it a more filling meal. Next time, I'll mix the salsa with the ground beef and layer it in with the squash instead of adding it later. I'll also add crushed up corn chips to the top for a little crunch. It was really good.

Turning Cranky

I promise this will be my last entry for the day. I'll get caught up the rest of the way another day.

Jaelyn got her expander the day that Jennifer and her family got here and Jennifer, being Jennifer, decided that we should name it. I'd forgotten that I named my retainer Fred so I thought picking a name was a great idea. We brainstormed with names like Ella the expander, Eloise, Ernest, and Emma. Nothing seemed right. We were sitting at the table one morning and Jackson says "I know." He stuck his finger up in the air...it was quite the declaration. His name...Cranky! Perfect...we crank it two times a day and Jaelyn is mighty cranky about it. Later that day, we were IMing with Dan. Rich saw me go upstairs and heard Jennifer says "Kelly's turning cranky." He thought Dan had said something to really tick me off. It was hilarious...might be one of those you had to be there things, but "turning cranky" has been permanently added to my vocabulary. Today is our last day of turning Cranky before going back to Dr. G on Thursday. I am amazed at Jaelyn's bite. I'm no expert, but it looks great to me. The only funny thing is that it's pulled her 2 middle teeth apart, but the braces will pull those back together.

The Last Days

The original plan was for our friends to go home on Monday, but they decided to stay one more day at our Bed and Breakfast. I'm so glad they did. They spent the day in Gettysburg while my kids went to VBS at Christ Our King (I'll write more about that in another entry). After VBS, we spent the afternoon at the pool and had dinner. Jennifer and the gang got back in time to get ready for bed. Bedtime was bad for my kids. Caden again got tucked into my bed and the girls in the basement. The basement kids would NOT settle down. Finally, I made the girls go to their beds about 9 and they were not happy with me. Allie cried and cried for her buddy. I rubbed her back when she calmed down and she was asleep literally in 60 seconds. Jaelyn took longer to calm down. I took Caden to his bed and tucked Jaelyn into mine so she wouldn't wake anyone else up with her screaming. Once I got her calm, she was able to go to sleep within 10 minutes, but getting calm was no fun. In between me going up and down the stairs, Rich, Jen and I played more Boggle. I might have created a Boggle Monster in Jennifer. Rich went to bed after 11, but Jennifer and I were up way past one laughing like we did when we were 19 (Have I mentioned we've known each other 24 years this fall?). It was the only night we did that and it was such good silly fun. I loved it. We also learned a new word...nosh - to sneak a snack; as in Jennifer noshed a candy bar in the pantry on several occassions. Dan thought we were crazy when we IMed him in the middle of the night...his morning.

Tuesday morning, they got ready and headed out about 10. We were so sad to see Rich, Jennifer, Cassidy, Delaney, Jackson and Brody go. I can't begin to express my appreciation for their visit. They could have gone to Disney World for Rich's vacation, but instead they drove for a total of 4 days to spend 5 nights with us. I think it was the highlight of my summer! Thank you from the bottom of my heart - we love you guys!

(There's an unwritten rule that says Jennifer and I must take self portraits even when there are capable photographers available.)

Bye!

Day 4 - Birthdays, Kilgore Falls, and Slumber Parties

The plan for Sunday was to get up in time to go to church. That didn't happen. Everyone slept in AGAIN. I loved this new trend, but I knew it wouldn't last. Jennifer's girls helped me bake a cake in the morning. We had lunch and then celebrated Jaelyn and Brody's birthdays.

After the party, we loaded back up in our cars and headed to Kilgore Falls in Rock State Park. We've been once before in the fall. It was cool and no one else was there. I was not prepared for what we encountered on Sunday. It was packed. We lucked into parking places and then started the 1/3 mile walk to the falls. I was amazed at the people. They were everywhere...on the rocks, playing in the water. We hadn't planned to let the kids go swimming. Our plan was to let them walk in the water up to their knees if they wanted. We left the bathing suits at home...that was a mistake. The kids quickly waded into the water and started collecting rocks to build dams. Everything was going good, no one had gotten wet and then Allie must have stepped off a ledge because she went from knee/thigh level to her neck. Allie is so my Murphy's Law child. Things went downhill fast from there with Caden slipping and landing on his bottom and then Jaelyn just sat down in the water. I don't think Jennifer's 4 got wet, at least not like my kids.

That evening, we let the kids have a slumber party in the basement while the grown-ups played games. Caden made it in the basement until I finished tucking everyone in. He ended up sleeping in my bed. The kids actually did good this night; although they didn't go to sleep until at least 10. I got out Boggle for us to play. Jennifer, who has apparently never played, fell in love. We must have played 20 games that night before heading to bed. Sunday was a great day!

Day 3 - Ice Skating

We slept in on Saturday. Everyone was so tired from our long day the day before. It took a while to get us up and going, but going we did so that we could go ice skating. We've only been one other time since we've lived here and this time was much, much better. I'm sure it was a combination of my kids being older, having more adults skating, and the new "double walkers" at the ice rink. It was fun. Jaelyn started out with a walker, but by the end she was skating on her own close to the wall. Allie wouldn't try skating on her own (probably a good thing) because she could go so much faster with the walker. When I used the double walker that had a bar for the grown up in the back to hold onto, she literally pulled me around the rink like a husky on a sled team. Caden was the calm child in the middle, content to use the walker slowly and not get too daring.

Allie pulling Delaney around the rink.

Jackson and Jaelyn - my arranged marriage if I could manage it. Caden loved ice skating.

Evil Kneivel cruising around the rink.

Taking a break to watch the zamboni clean the ice.

After ice skating, we came home and made pretzels. That was a fun experience and was oh so yummy. I think those pictures are on Jennifer's camera. Anyway, that night, Jennifer's family went to visit some friends who live close by and I was able to get my kids into bed at a decent hour to get them a good night's sleep.

Day 2 - Washington DC

Dan and I have planned several trips to DC for the kids, but for one reason on the other, we've never made it. I had incentive with company. We got a little bit later start than we planned, but when you think about the energy it takes to get a couple of kids out the door (and we had 7), I think we did pretty well. We drive south of Baltimore to the DC Metro. That was a big hit with the kids. They all wanted to stand and hold on to the poles. We started out wanting to see where the money gets printed. That would have been fun if there had been any tickets. Next we walked up towards the National Mall and saw the Washington Monument. Again, it was fun to look at from the outside, but had there been tickets (we didn't even try), the view from the inside would have been really cool. I've been to Washington 3-4 times in my life and I've never gone up the Washington Monument. We are going back this fall and I'm going up! :p

Lunch was a hot dog from a street vendor. Paying $4 for a hot dog was a little tough, but it was all part of the experience. What did we do next? Honestly I don't remember...in random order, I know we walked down the reflecting pool (yelling at the kids to avoid the goose poop the whole time), saw the Lincoln Memorial, went in the American History Museum and the Natural History Museum. Both of those were a lot of fun, but kind of crowded. We went to National Arboretum (was that the name). I loved that and would have loved time to enjoy the plants without keeping track of the kids. They had a wonderful children's garden that was a huge hit. We walked within view of the capital, the White House and the Jefferson Memorial, but my legs were tired. No one seemed to want to get closer; so I didn't suggest it. We ended the night with a metro ride to Union Station for dinner and then headed back to the cars. We didn't get home till around 11. My kids slept till 8 the next morning...a record, I think.

Is it okay to admit I was stressed the entire time about keeping track of the kids? They picked buddies and for the most part did a great job of staying with their buddy. There were just a few times of kids running ahead or lagging behind that were freaking me out. I also had our jogging stroller. Brody enjoyed that the most :p. Overall though, it was a great day with many funny moments. My favorite, which will become a lifelong joke, I'm sure, was Jennifer calling us a Mormon family...Rich with his 2 wives and 7 kids. We were quite the spectacle, I must admit. We also almost lost Jackson on the way back to the car when he jumped off the metro at one of the stops. I saw him and grabbed him to drag him back on very quickly. That could have been bad.

Did anything else funny or memorable happen, Jen? If so leave a comment and I'll add it in.

1st Night With Visitors

I think I need to focus on one day at a time because we did so much with Jennifer and her family. I'm a little overwhelmed at the prospect of blogging all the details and not leaving anything out. Jennifer said it was the best vacation they'd ever had and we had just as much fun. They made it to our house after dinner on Thursday night 7/9. There was so much excitement when they first got here.

Once we got the kids in bed, the grown ups went to bed as well to get ready for our busy Friday in Washington, DC. We were all tired...them from driving for 2 days, us from a busy day getting Jaelyn's expander and going to the swimming pool.

Streamers and Balloons

Happy Birthday Jaelyn!

My dear friend Jenn shared about filling her daughter's room up with balloons for her birthday. I love making memories and decided this would be a fun new tradition to start with the kids. Last night about 10, I blew up 40 balloons (which ended up being much smaller than I planned - I needed 80...lesson learned for the next birthday). I scattered the balloons on Jaelyn's floor and strung crepe paper streamers all around the room. I made so much noise, but the kids thankfully slept through it. I didn't sleep very well last night. I think I was half listening for popping balloons.

I woke up to "Mommy, what did you do?" Jaelyn was thrilled with her decorated room. I cannot believe she is 7 years old. Want to stroll down memory lane with me? This is the first time we saw our Jaelyn Karina just a few weeks after her 1st birthday...

Busy Fun - A Teaser

I promise to update my blog Wednesday or Thursday. My friend Jennifer and her family have been with us and we are having the best time. We've explored DC, gone ice skating, played games, hiked to a waterfall, gotten wet :p, and laughed and laughed and laughed. We've had a wonderful visit. They leave tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon we are heading to Philadelphia to see my Grandpa who's visiting my aunt. I have loads of videos and photos...be patient and I'll share all the fun with you soon!!!

Jaelyn is Being Expanded

Jaelyn got her expander today. I'll crank it twice a day for a week and then we'll go back in and have it checked. She did really well getting it on. Her whining comes and goes. I'm trying to keep her happy with tylenol and smoothies.

Dr. G said to have her talk out loud a lot or have her read to me to get her used to talking with it. There are a few sounds that are really hard and I'll admit to making her say words just so I can laugh at how funny she sounds. She's being a good sport and even let me film her reading "for Daddy." The rest of you get to enjoy it as well!

Night Time Visitor

We've had a visitor to our yard at night. He likes to munch on my day lilies and has been nibbling my zuccini. We managed to see him today. Poor little guy was so scared as the kids chased him all over our yard.

Swim Graduation

Allie and Caden took their swim tests today and they both passed. Allie will be moving to Level 3 and Caden Level 2. The summer has been divided into 3 three-week sessions. We were going to skip the middle session because we have VBS next week and would miss the first week. I talked with the director and she's going to let me pay for half of the class and the kids will take the last two weeks of the next session. It works out to $5 a class (plus I might get one child free because Dan's deployed - I love deals). I'm excited that we'll be able to continue with the lessons with only a week break. Jaelyn most likely will be starting in Level 1 with all the little kids and she's okay with that. She won't go underwater without holding her nose and she needs 2 hands free to be with Caden's group.

Another Swim Video

Here's the video I shot this morning of swim lessons and then a few hours at the pool afterwards. Since I know you'll ask, Caden did not get hurt, other than a little scrape, when he fell backwards off the diving board (oh my) and wow, look at my Jae-Byrd! She might just become a fish yet. Allie and Caden are firmly in the fish category now. Wednesday, they test the kids and give them certificates. We'll have 3 weeks off to practice and then we'll do another round of lessons for all 3 kids!!!

Our 4th of July Weekend

We've had a good weekend, interrupted by only 1 explosion (progress over last weekend). Saturday morning, we packed snacks and water and headed to Jerusalem Mill. We only walked about 20 minutes on the trail because I knew we'd have to walk an equal amount of time on the way out. Sure enough at about 35 minutes, I heard "my legs are tired" and "when are we going to get to the creek." It was a fun walk...until we hit the mud. Allie is a mud magnet, let me tell you. I made them turn around and retrace their steps to a different exit trail.


We had a snack on a bench underneath a beautiful oak tree and then headed to our creek. It was such a pretty day. We picked wild daisies and day lilies to put behind our ears on the way.
We couldn't stay long unfortunately. There was a man painting at our favorite rock pitching spot. I didn't want to disturb him so we headed to our 2nd favorite spot and there were people fishing on the opposite shore. They didn't take too kindly to me letting the kids throw rocks. Oh well, it's a free country right? That's what yesterday was all about. I only put up with the dirty looks for about 5 minutes before heading the kids back to the car.

We had lunch and then Caden and I apparently slept through Tales of Despereaux. I wasn't planning on taking a nap. I really wasn't. I wanted to watch the movie, but Jaelyn woke me up when it finished and I'd missed a good hour. Caden was sacked out on the opposite end of the couch. I guess we both needed some beauty sleep.

Dinner was KFC/Tace Bell since I'd cooked at lunch and the kitchen was clean. I hate dirtying up a perfectly clean kitchen. Don't you? Putt Putt was nearly empty so after dinner, I let the kids play a round of golf. I gave up counting strokes after the 2nd hole. My kids don't hit the ball, they kind of nudge it along in one single motion until it's in the hole. I got tired of trying to show them how and just let them have fun. We had speed baths since we were late getting home and I had everyone in bed and asleep before I started hearing the boom boom of fireworks.

Today, we headed to church and Caden had a good time. He went into his room without looking back or giving me a hug. Little meany - I wanted a hug. We hadn't been in 2 weeks because of laziness and airport duty. The sermon was good today - all about Joy. I spent the afternoon cleaning and playing with the kids. Jaelyn and I had a Sequence tournament. I won 3-2, but that last game was tough! She's good.

Next week, we will be busy. We have swim lessons Monday and Wednesday. Anna is coming on Tuesday for my lonely time (yea) and then Thursday is a big day. Jaelyn is getting her braces in the morning AND RICH, JENNIFER AND THE KIDS ARE COMING TO VISIT. Yes, I'm yelling because I'm so excited. They are staying through the weekend and I think heading out on Monday. It's going to be so much fun. I know we are going to DC one day. I'm not sure what we'll do the rest of the time, but who cares because my bestest friend will be here!

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July. We have no plans for today. I might take the kids to the creek to have a picnic and throw rocks if they behave this morning. It's a beautiful sunny day!

Swim Lessons

I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but swim lessons are going wonderfully! Allie started the summer being really comfortable in the water, but she is blossoming as a swimmer. She is learning specific strokes and can swim underwater for the longest time. Today, she was working on swimming between my legs, retrieving a ring, and then swimming back through my legs before coming up. Caden has also advanced quickly. He now waves the life guard away when he jumps into the pool. I was only needed today to help him get a breath when he came up and then he'd kick off my legs and swim underwater about 7-8 feet to the steps (without holding his nose). He can float on his back for about 5 seconds. I talked with the swim director yesterday and they are moving him up to Allie's level for our next session in August. The biggest news about swim lessons is that Jaelyn has finally relented and agreed to take them. They are going to start her at level 1 and she is sooo not going to like Caden and Alliebeing ahead of her. I had to make Dan the bad guy to get her to agree to the lessons. When I told her she was taking them, she flat out refused and wasn't budging (hence sitting on the side of the pool and watching right now). A few days ago, I told her I'd talked to Daddy and he said she had to take swim lessons...period...end of sentence. And her response...okay! Insert a picture of me rolling my eyes here.

These pictures are from Friday when Kelley and Alyssa joined us at the pool.

Jaelyn balancing on a ball. She did some bobbing and putting her head underwater today. Progress!

Allie practicing her kicking and keeping her head way out of the water.

Caden loves his wobble goggles for swimming.

Allie is unhappy because the girl she was playing with wouldn't share her doll. :p

I tried my best to get a picture of all 4 kids playing, but they wouldn't cooperate.

Tuckered Her Out

Of all the kids, Allie is the fun, mischievous one at night. She loves for me to go downstairs so she can get out of bed and play. Well, today I wore her out so much that she went upstairs on her own before I announced it was bedtime. She got ready for bed, picked up her room, said her prayers (Please God, let me play with Alex tomorrow and help Jaelyn and Caden not be wild. Amen.) and tucked herself in. She put her book down and had her nightlight out while the other two were heading up the stairs to start the process. The hour at the pool in the morning, hour at IKEA playing and other 2 hours at the pool in the late afternoon apparently totally tuckered her out for the day! Now if Jaelyn "I'm not tired" will just give it up tonight, I'll have a peaceful evening.

Dirty Worms for Dinner

This is a 1st and I need to document it quickly, because it may never happen again. I know I've shared over and over with how picky Caden is when it comes to eating. His only vegetables are pickles and french fries (and do either of those really count as a vegetable?). He won't eat pasta of any sort. He gags and will throw up everything else he's eaten when I force him to chew a green bean or a piece of mac n cheese. Lately, I've been making him lick any food I know he doesn't like. That way, at least he gets the taste but without the throwing up.

So that brings us to tonight. We got home late from the pool and I heated up some frozen spaghetti for me and Allie. Jaelyn chose cereal and Caden chose peanut butter. In the middle of dinner, Jaelyn decided to eat plain noodles (which she does sometimes). She started telling Caden she was eating worms. He thought that was pretty funny and when I offered him a worm, he took it and ate it. I was shocked. Caden loves pizza and sauce so I told him spaghetti sauce was the same sauce on pizzas. He licked my fork to get the flavor and decided it was okay. Next thing I knew, his plate was filled with dirty worms (I picked out the noodles so he wouldn't have any meat - didn't want to push him too hard). He had a ball eating it. It took him several tries to learn how to suck in a noodle. I can't believe I was encouraging it, but anything to get him to eat something new, right? We can work on manners later. Jaelyn also got adventurous and tried the spaghetti with sauce. She asked me later if I'd fix it for her again sometime. I can't tell you how many times I've fixed spaghetti and had them turn their noses up at it.


Another big thing happened with Caden this week. I threw away all of his sippy cups. The girls lost theirs at 2 and 3 and Caden's 4 1/2. It was time! Lately, he's been bad about throwing them down on the furniture and a couple have leaked milk on my couch. That makes me very unhappy. I gave him 1 warning, I found another milk puddle and bye bye sippy cups. Oh, how he cried at me, but Mommy was feeling especially mean that day. No more sippy cups in our house!