What a summer....

It's been awhile, life has been a bit crazy. To sum up my summer it has been camping, strep throat, camping, strep throat, camping, strep throat. I think you get the picture. It has not been the healthiest summer for me, but i am hoping that we have finally figured out the problem.

Today was the first day of school for Morgan and Dylan, and that's when it hit me that summer is actually over, but how can that be because i swear there last day of school was just last week!!!! So i suppose before i know it, it will be Christmas, and that's just not something i want to think about yet.

As for my strep issues, well after my 5th episode of strep the doctors suggested having everyone in the family test to see if they were possibly a carrier. Meaning the have the strep bacteria in their throat but don't ever get sick from it. Well needless to say my family was not real impressed with me making them do this, but hey, i had my throat swabbed 5 times over the past few months it was time that someone else had it done:) Well i hoped it would be Brian because that would make the most sense to me, he was tested first but was not the guilty party spreading the germs. Next came my four kids, at this point i was really not hopeful that any of them were a carrier and i was feeling a bit frustrated because we just could not figure out why i kept getting sick. Well the doctor called me back after the 4 strep tests and not only did i have one, but i had 2 children who tested positive for strep!! Jackson had it, but Logan we think is the carrier. He is rarely sick, has never been tested for strep before, shows not signs at all, his throat is not even red! So Jackson, Logan and I were all put on antibiotic's in hopes of getting rid of this stupid germ. WE left for vacation and two days later Morgan says to me "mom, my throat hurts." Just what i wanted to hear! So i called our doctor who nicely called in a prescription without seeing her because we all new she most likely had strep as well (her 3rd time in 5 months) So needless to say that past few weeks have been very busy with me disinfecting everything i can think of, and praying that once i go off the antibiotic i don't get strep again....ever!

So that's about sums up my summer. Well that and the bugs, did i mention bugs before? How much i hate them? Well i finally had to call a pest control guy to come and spray my house, not just for the earwig bugs that were all over my house, but also for mud wasps, or the technical term Cicada killer. I just love that i have a bug with the name killer in my back yard!! Not only did i have one next but i had FOUR!!!! So they sprayed the nests (all but one, it was hidden) and told us that might help, but really cicada killers are hard to get rid off. Oh joy! The good news about them i guess is that they don't life long, usually from July- September...so i guess i only have a few weeks left of the lovely little killers.

So maybe winter isn't so bad...i am sure i will change my mind when its -20 and blowing 40 miles an hour, but i don't really want to think about that.

camping, camping and more camping.

Its hard for me to believe that its July already...were does the time go??

This summer has been a busy one so far. In early June we took our first major road trip and went to St. Paul to see my sister. It was a great, and exhausting time!!

Last week was the first time we took our camper out since memorial weekend, we went to Yankton with some friends and had a very nice time. That was the kick off of a four weekend in a row camping spree. This could truly test the camper in me.

Tonight we are headed to the Lakes for the 4Th of July weekend, hopefully we will get some boating and beach time in, but the weather does not sound all that great.

Then Next weekend its off to Rock Valley for some more camping with friends.

Then the weekend after that is a family reunion at Storm Lake for Brian's side of the family and we will spend a Thursday-Sunday there.

I love camping, i like relaxing, i like that my kids have so much fun, i like that my kids have so much fun and stay up so late that they sleep so well! I like bon fires, roasting marshmallows, the big breakfasts, getting a tan and making memories. What i don't like is the laundry, laundry, laundry and more laundry.

So if you wonder why i have not posted much, i have been doing laundry, and that's what it looks like i will be doing the rest of the summer!

I will include some pictures from our camping last weekend. More pictures to come in the next couple of weeks. I am the annoying mom that can't stop taking pictures:)

Six years ago....

Six years ago my life changed forever. Not just my life, but my perspective on life. It was one of those days that i will probably never forget. I know what i was doing, the time of day it was, and how heartbroken i felt. Six years ago today, i received a call that my precious baby boy would not ever be like other little boys. I was given a list of things that he would probably never be able to do, and told that his was just the way that God had meant for him to be. Six years ago today we got a diagnosis of a Porencenphalic cyst on Dylan's brain, causing him to have Cerebral Palsy.

Now i am not meaning for this post to be sad, because really i am not. Six years ago i was heartbroken, scared, angry, many different emotions. Today, i see things differently, and mostly in part to my brave little boy. He has taught me to never say never and that the impossible, is possible. I swear he got the list of things his doctors said he would never do and decided to one by one prove them wrong.

Dylan is also a brave little boy. He has been seen by specialists, therapists, neurologists, pulminologists, cardiologists. He has been poked, blood drawn, x-rays and numerous other tests to even mention. Yet rarely did he shed a tear, he has always had the best attitude, and that in itself has taught me a lot.

Things still are not always easy, and i know he gets frustrated, but what child wouldn't when they can't use one arm or hand. When everything needs to be done one handed, things that those of us who have two hands take for granted. He has come a long way, as time has gone some issues have been figured out and new ones have replaced it. Now that he is starting school we are not just dealing with some of the physical limitations that he has but also some of the learning issues. He is a very, VERY smart boy, but focusing seems to be a problem. We start seeing a new doctor in a few weeks that i am very excited about, one that can hopefully shed some light on what goes on inside that amazing boys mind.

I just feel very blessed to have him in my life. He turns Seven in just a month, and like most kids he has been counting down the days to his birthday for, oh the last year or so:) He wants two things, and ipod and a skate board. The anxious mother in me thinks that maybe the skate board is not such a good idea. He struggles with balance, he will fall, he might get hurt, but maybe i need to listen to that little boy, and remember that he likes to prove people wrong, and to never say never to him.

Nervous Nelly....

That would be me. I am by nature a nervous person, always worried or having anxiety about something.

Well tomorrow we are going to St. Paul to visit my sister. I am excited, i know we will be doing fun things, i am anxious to see where she lives etc.

Yet i am also having major anxiety. What if i forget to pack something? How will the kids sleep in the hotel, its the first time for them. What if we get lost trying to find Kim's place? Will the kids stay healthy? Will Brian and I? Have a packed enough toys, books, movies, to keep 4 kids entertained on the four hour drive?

Hopefully by this time tomorrow we will be in St. Paul and i will be able to relax a little....maybe.

not sure what happened.....

I guess what happened is i got a little busy...imagine that.

I new the month of May would be hectic, i just didn't realize how hectic.

Here is a brief list of what we have been up to.

Camping-we went to Sandy Hollow on mothers day weekend, for a gift i got strep throat, it was a a wonderful weekend!! Then for Memorial weekend we went to Yogi Bear Campground by Sioux Falls and had a very nice weekend.

Dylan graduated from Kindergarten!! We made it through the first year of school...only 13 more to go!

Tulip Festival, i have no idea what i am going to do when all of my kids are involved in Tulip Festival trying to get two kids where they needed to be was exhausting!!

I turned 30. I can type this, i just can't really say it yet.

I took my accounting exams and PASSED!!!!!!!!!! I am now done with accounting and will start two new classes in two weeks...hopefully they will not be as hard!

Had my first root canal. It was a blast. Only 20 more teeth to fix. I could cry.

The kids last day of school was yesterday!! Now comes summer rec, swimming, vacations, etc.

So that's why i have not written much lately, i have not had the time, or really the energy.

I might be ready for winter.

If you know me, you know how much i HATE winter, i dread it, and mourn the loss of summer. I just hate being cold, i hate the snow, i hate bundling up 4 kids just to go a few feet to get in a van, i hate trying to strap bundled kids in car seats, I hate the constant missing mittens, gloves, boots, i just hate winter.

That being said, at least in the winter i don't have to deal with bugs!!!!! I HATE BUGS!!!!! Oh i am ok with a few Fly's lady bugs, ants (although they do annoy me when they get in my house), but the rest of the population of bugs, i just don't care for them.

Also if you know me you probably know that i run screaming when i see a wasp or a bee. I will leave my children behind, just to get away from them, i hate them!! So far i have not seen any yet this year, but i know that any day they will arrive. Then last year, much to my horror, we had wasps/bees on steroids. I don't know what they are called, but they are HUGE!!!!! They scared the you know what out of me, almost to the point i dreaded going outside. I am not being overly dramatic, these bugs were huge and scary looking!!!

Ok, so aside from all of that, its the bugs i find in my basement laundry room that have me troubled and might just be whats sends me over the edge. I am not sure what these are called either, but i am guessing they belong in the centipede family. They are about 2 inches longs, have a zillion legs, look kind of hairy, they make me want to gag!! So last night i was sorting laundry and one fell out of some clothes i was folding (pardon me while i stop to gag and shudder) anyway, i quickly stomped on it, the legs separated from the body and started wiggling on their own (more gagging and shuddering). I had to stop doing laundry and just go upstairs and compose myself, i HATE THOSE BUGS! Its just a matter of time till their close relatives show up, they are a hard shelled smaller version with a few less legs, these also gross me out, but not quite as much.

How do i get rid of them? I can't stop doing laundry, but i don't know if i can survive a summer of these bugs in my house.....

In sickness and health.....

Yesterday Brian and i celebrated 9 years of marriage. I can't seem to grasp that we have been married nine years, so much has happened!! Here is a brief run down of our 9 blissful years of marriage:
April 14, 2000 we were married.
May 1 we moved into our new but very small house
Middle of May Brian starts his new job at American Identity and i start working at De Jong Oil
August 10, we have our first child, the one we thought we would never have, and figured she might be our only...if we only knew....
Fast forward to September of 2001, we decide that maybe we should try for another child, it could take awhile if ever and we wanted Morgan to have a sibling...we got our wish!
October we discover that we are expecting our second child, evidently its not really all that hard for me to get pregnant.
July 31, 2002, we have out second child, a boy
October of 2002 we discover that our house is a bit small for 4 people so we decide to add onto our house. We double the size of our house thinking this should be plenty of room for our family...again, if only we knew.
May 2003 our house is finished and we are excited to have all this new space.
June 2003 Dylan is diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, its a blow but its one we get through together and are still getting through.
October 2003 Brian starts a new job at Revival animal health.
January 2004, we learn that once again we are expecting a child, not planned, but we are excited.
September 22, 2004 Logan is born.
October 2004 Brian starts another new job and Walstra Plumbing and heating and i am happy to say he is still working there!
March 2006 we once again discover that i am a fertile Myrtle and i am yet again pregnant. Brian comes close to passing out, but again, once the shock wears off, we are looking forward to another child.
September 2006 we decide again that maybe our house is still not big enough. So we should finish off our basement, we need a place for all our kids to go and play. Plus we needed another bedroom. We decide to remodel our house.
November 22, 2006 Jackson arrives-red hair and all!!
December 22, 2006 we decide that our family is complete and Brian goes running to the doctor to make sure it stays complete:)
June 2007 our remodel is done and our house is finished!!

I guess its no wonder that the past 9 years have flown by, we have been really busy. Its nice to know that after 9 years the romance is still there. This year i was sick on our anniversary, i had strep throat. Strep throat can be misleading, its not just your throat that hurts, although that does really hurt. Your entire body HURTS!!! I was feeling fairly miserable. Brian comes home from work, grabs my hand, shake it and says "happy anniversary, this is as close as i am getting to you." Awww...he is so sweet:) I guess i can't blame him. He did however buy me roses and he NEVER buys me flowers so that was really sweet.

So i am excited for the next nine years, anxious to see what the future holds....hopefully not any more babies or home remodels....