Monday, September 29, 2008

Smores anyone...

Well it is official OUR CUPBOARDS ARE IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Menard's Guy called us tonight at 9:45 pm...how is that for service. YIPPEEEE!!! Casey might go pick them up tomorrow!

In celebration, Casey thought he would attempt at making smores. No not the chocolate gooey graham crackery snack we all knowand love...right Mom? Try bath towel, plastic screw container, screw kind. Yes, Casey did plug in the stove so that we could get that back into business and went back to his movie. Meanwhile I was paying bills and balancing the check book (OUCH AND I HATE MONEY AROUND THIS TIME OF THE MONTH WHILE PAYING BILLS), when I hear Casey say, "Is that you?" "Huh..." I didn't fart (sorry too much info...but that is what he usually says. Then I thought...no I didn't and how could he smell it clear in the back room even if I did (but I didn't!). Then I hear an "OH CRUD!!!!!!!!!!" followed by crashing of everything in the kitchen. I decided to see what the problem was and the minute I took 4 steps I could smell that he failed at his attempt to make a "shop" smore.

Him being the great and loving husband says, "WHY DID YOU TURN ON THE STOVE!!!!" Me being the innocent wife (always) says, "I didn't...why would I turn on the stove with all these things on top (two towels covering it, numerous tools, paint sticks, screws, light fixtures, honey bottles, etc)??????"

"Don't you think you could have hit it when working around it?" was my next question. "NO WAY!" Umhuh I agreed with him. After the stove and Casey cooled down he did agree that he probably hit it and it was only on low. My next response was, "We are very lucky that you didn't turn the power on and then leave." PRAISE GOD!

Well God has shown his light (literally) in our home again tonight! Thank you Jesus!

Love you all!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Our Month of September!

Well here is our month of September. I can't believe it is over and boy am I thankful that it is ending way better than it began. I have found in this month the love and support of so many is so hard to pay back or even attempt to. The prayers, thoughts, meals, gifts, and friendships that have been strengthened this month is just AWESOME! We are so thankful to be in our home and able to love two little healthy boys again! Here is a recap of our month of September! Love you all!

One way to share the one tractor we have!

Bubbi and Kenner in the bathtub with the fun foam Mommy found while cleaning out the down stairs bathroom!
sorry deleted...due to some one being nude in the bathtub and his name rhymes with Cubbie!


Love this picture! Bub is into wearing hats and hats backwards these days. Who wouldn't love this kid? Happy Birthday Jenna! Birthday lunch at Noodles!!!
Splish Splash fun in the rain! We finally got to take advantage of the boots we received from Great Gpa and Gma Kenner!


Look at the heighth on Patton's splash! So that is how you don't get stuck in the mud (thought Bubbi)
SCREAMS!!! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!
My attempt at taking pictures like my friend Rebecca Treadway A sign of a good day's work (or play)
While at home with the boys after being released from the hospital, Kenner was learning to do many things over. This one was a new one:) He sat in the chair that he usually sits in with Daddy when they do the breathing treatments very well! Daddy usually reads him a story while they do it. Kenner thought he would try it out on Bubbi. Here he is saying, "Come here Bubbi (in a high pitched voice), I will read you a story."

Here Bubbi willingly let me put him on the chair so Kenner could read him his story.

Kenner knows this book inside and out! It was one that I got him for Christmas two years ago and we read it every night...Daddy brought it to the hospital when Kenner was sick, because he knew Kenner would not be able to sleep very well without it. Wow am I THANKFUL that we can hear him read it to us these days! Ep Mommy Ep! Note his brother's boots and how they are on his feet!
Thanks Mommy! That feels so much better!
Mommy's new rule for coloring...THE COLORS/MARKERS CAN ONLY COME OUT OF THE TUB THEY ARE IN WHEN THE RED HUSKER BLANKET IS DOWN. This allows the blanket to be markered up and the colors/markers have a single place they can be in our house...this will hopefully cut down on the coloring of the walls! Lovely...yes?!?!
Good concentration is noted when you have to stick out your tongue to color:)




Bubbi doing his favorite thing these days...eating cookies or nacks! Quite the HAM! Well another Kenner child does it again...close but not good enough:) Just joking. It is a huge compliment to make homecoming and be able to represent the school...way to go Caleb!
A rare photo opp of the big sisters with their little brother (or it should be the other way around!?!) Thanks to Aunt Kendra and Uncle Craig! Aunt Kendra stayed at my house, so that I could go down and watch the Homecoming Game. Thanks to Uncle Craig for driving me! You guys are the best and I am so glad that I didn't miss it...rain and all! It was my little baby brother! Note: Annie and Becca were in the car the entire game and I wasn't! Wimps!
Where is dad? Great question? Good pic anyway!
Daddy stayed home with the boys, so Mommy could go to the game with Gpa, Gma and Uncle Craig. I can't even tell you who we played...GOT IT New Mexico State! Phew...I thought I was loosing my mind (make a note of this...because I am blogging backwards - I am commenting on the last photos first so they all come out in the correct time order on the blog!





Ahhhhh! Scoring in the first 1/2 of the first quarter. Although it was against a bad team (which I can't remember who it was...), it is nice to see the option being played again. Look! We do have a parade in our front yard each year! It is the Fall Festival at the Sprague Community Church. Although we are only "bad" weather attendees, we are HUGE supporters of their one fundraiser of the year! This year we even upped the anti by entering a float!

Look at all the floats! This was the biggest parade that we have seen (three years). The theme was Favorite Holiday. It was a great theme for lots of people to be involved in.
Even Thomas the Train made his debute (sp?). Darrel is the man who made this by scratch! Kids can drive it and he sits in the back to make sure they don't wreck...isn't it cool?






The FIRST PRIZE FLOAT (in the bikes and wagon's division which there were 4-5 entries). The chef caught the turkey (or chicken in this case)
The Pampered Chef lady was hauling quite the load!
Kenner was the first to ride the donkey. He wasn't sure about it at first, but loved it by the end.
The Duck pond as well as all the other games were quite a hit!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Honey is Harvested!

Casey harvested the honey and extracted today. Yum Yum! I am filtering it as we speak...so if you want some give us your recycled containers!!!

Have a great week! Busy one for us! Tomorrow curriculm night at school, Wednesday night Awana for Kenner (walking with Aunt Becca for Bubbi and I), Thursday getting our float ready for the Sprague Fall Festival!!! Friday mowing the lawn, because the Fall festival is in our lawn (practically...it is in our front yard!), Sat fun at the Festival, Sunday BBQ at Aunt Kendra's

Saturday, September 20, 2008

SaturDAY not WEEK?

Well this weekend (the whole day of it) has been long but REALLY FUN! I can't believe all the things we fit into one day. I guess it helps when your boys wake you up at 6:30 am! I was a bit tired, because on Thursday night I decided to stay late (if you consider leaving the school at Midnight late) at school to attempt to get caught up from being gone and also count the money with my friend, Heather from our fundraiser. I say, "our" because Heather and I are the Elementary Stu-Co sponsors. Any guesses as to how much we sold (or have counted so far)???


34,000. No I didn't put too many zeros in it! Red Apple Fundraising is who we used and their products are great. We have to finish counting the others tommorrow (see here I go thinking that today was an entire weekend) ON MONDAY we will finish counting it.

The boys and I sorted out toys, re-arranged toys in to bigger/smaller boxes in order to keep our house look somewhat put together...I guess as much as you can when you don't have the most important part of your house the KITCHEN!

While the boys and I had fun doing that, I did 5 loads of laundry and stripped beds. I am not sure what it is with Saturdays in the Fall...but I love them. It is nice to open the windows, clean your house, and listen to football (unfortunately for us it was an off week for the Huskers).

I called Aunt Kendra and she invited (or maybe I asked for her to take them:)) the boys to Uncle Curtis' cattle pinning competition and to a soccer game. I dropped them off at the soccer complex (HUGH BTW). They had never been to a soccer game, so they were amazed. I bet we begin to kick more things!! I went and ate a grown up lunch with my friend Sarah Ahrens. We talked shop (Speech Language Pathology) then I debated...hmmm run errands or get a pedicure. You know what I chose...pedicure. I thought I might need to since the last time my nails were even touched was Kendra's wedding...July 5th. YUCK yes but Ahh so nice!! La Guna Nail Spa is awesome. Thanks to my friend Jenny Piening for pointing that place out. Hot rocks, orange peels, hot towels...ahh I really could go every other day. I could forgo the painting of the nails...it isn't necessary. Could I sub that for more massaging?

Back to the real world rhiannon! While I was basking in the aroma of a pedicure, the boys went with Craig, Trevor, and Kendra to the cattle pinning contest. They finished a little before my pedicure was done, so they got to go to Aunt Kendra's house and watch CARS! THEY LOVE THAT SHOW!

On our way home I knew that Daddy wasn't going to be home soon (he had guard drill this weekend), I called my friend Heather to see her new house. We went and saw it. IT IS AWESOME!!! So cool!! Then we got to play at her mom's house and just hang and talk girl talk with an intermittent scolding of our sons throwing sand, not sharing, hitting. Gotta love when boys play.

We stayed there and then came home around 7:30, ate supper while watching Ratitoulle (sp?). Daddy had never seen it. I really like that show:) took a bath and hit the sack (or should I say the boys did). I have managed to do two more loads of laundry, finish Casey's painting (Because he was beat from Guard Drill and painting last night), grade my language books for school and BLOG!

I am tired and need to go to bed, after I post grades...ugh!

Update on the kitchen. Cupboards arrive 10/1 or that is when they tell us. All sanded and mudded, ceilings done, and 1 1/2 coats of primer. I need to decide what color for the walls and counter (concrete).

Have a great Sunday! What a day...fun but boy am I tired!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

it's hiding...

We have had a great week getting back into the swing of things (which by the way I have no right blogging right now...6:30 and I haven't even gotten into the shower...oh well good story!). Kenner and Patton have had some hard times in the mornings adjusting and I have had to stay at school longer to catch up, so they have to stay at daycare longer:( Oh well! We have made up for it by going to the park and have fun with this beautiful weather!!!! Today I promised them that we would go get something to eat and take it to the park. We did and it worked out great! They had fun playing until Kenner came over in a panic that he had to go to the bathroom. Hmmm no bathroom around, so I said, "Let's go to Walmart and go potty." Good way to get out of the park without too much of a fit and then to Walmart to get the necessary items for a fridge (no we haven't had milk since we tore out our kitchen...a little too much going on!) So on the way Kenner says, "Mom it's coming out!" I asked him to squeeze it or pinch it. I asked if he had to go pee or poop and by the way it was smelling in my car I knew what the answer was going to be.

We made it to Walmart without an accident and then immediately went into the bathroom. Kenner proceeds to sit on the potty and go pee. I asked, "Do you have to go poop?" Kenner replies, "Ummm, It is hiding." "Really?!!?" I said. The little one is going to stay home with his mom!" "Oh," I said trying to not to bust a gut, "they don't want to come out yet?" Kenner replied, "Not yet Mom, they like to come out at home."

I guess I now know that Kenner doesn't like to go poop in public places! Lovely:) We did make it through Walmart and home so he could go #2. Have a great Wednesday!
rhi
Now on to the shower and to wake two boys up. Tonight we get to eat supper at Aunt Becca's house and go walking! I am so excited!!!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Prayers needed

For all of you blog checkers out there, please pray for my two blog friends...they are in need of desperate prayers! (I do not know either of these two personally, but Jessica works at my Aunt's school in AZ)


www.stephanievest.com


http://web.mac.com/rohloffx5/Jessica&Justin

Prayer has worked wonders in the past couple weeks. Keep it up! The Lord has a plan for all of us and sometimes it is difficult to know why, but there is a reason for everything!

Rhi

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

First trip to the ER Cost...

Anyone wanting to guess how much Kenner's first trip to the ER was back in the beginning of August?









634.40...how much do we pay? $50.00 THANKS TO GOOD INSURANCE!! I am sure we might have to pay more for this last visit. But thanks to any help, because they saved Kenner's life!

Monday, September 08, 2008

Children's Hospital Pictures

Here are some pictures of Kenner's journey through PICU at Children's to home!!! This will allow me to move on and not have to blog about these anymore!

Here were our two favorite people - the Respiratory Therapist on the left and Becci a nurse from Weeping Water on the right. All the nurses were great, but these two were just there on the day that life was maybe getting harder to comprehend and such. Thanks to such a great and caring staff at Children's!!!

Kenner and all his machines! Ugh! We were trying to make light of the situation (or should I say I) by trying to create a cartoon for kids. Anyone seen Handy Manny...if not, check out their characters (i.e. Phillipe (phillips screwdriver) for the corny names. Pictured here: Vern, the Ventilator, The Sheriff (blood pressure cuff), Shirley the shot, etc.
His nurse Jess, the first nurse, who was also very good...said that he had more visitors in the first 30 seconds that he was here than she did the entire time she was in the hospital.
This was Kenner on Game Day. Thanks to a nurse for using a teddy bear for a leg prop. I put the mask on the bear, because Kenner was really stinking up the place with his horrible diapers from all the meds he was on.
The first accomplishment....eating a popscicle. He still wasn't responding, but he was copying what we were doing. So when Grandma would open her mouth, Kenner would too.
Note to self: Don't feed a child a blue or purple popscicle after taking the vent off...because it might look as if he isn't getting enough oxygen. Oh how I loved to have colored lips from a popscicle!!! Making the trek from PICU to the Peds floor!
Grandpa and Kenner's first play date. As you can see Kenner couldn't hold his head up very well. It wasn't that Grandpa was moving too fast. We did this while we could, because we knew they would eventually put us in lock down!
Breaking into the giant play room!
Kenner's not sure who we are, where he is or what he is doing!
We got our first 1/2 smile when he tried hitting Grandpa's fooze ball!
Kenner with all his stuffed animals. He has the stickers on the side of his face for his oxygen tube that was taken out in the PICU.
Kenner's new strategy to ignore and get out of PT. He closed his eyes and hoped she and anyone wanting anything out of him would go away. This is how much support he needed to sit up...crazy little things like sitting up all by yourself at 3!
Kenner and Mommy blogging for all to hear how he is doing.
Kenner and Mommy having a picnic on the floor in order to increase his gross motor skills like sitting up. Note to self: Be careful when attempting to get up, because you will slip with a blanket on the tile floor and bruise your knee and almost break Grandma Carlece's glasses.


Look at Kenner STANDING and wanting to hit the ball off the tee!
Kenner sitting in his little wheelchair, while opening present from Aunt Becca!
Yes that is a Dorito! He is gradually getting his appetite back:)
Ahh! I love my Daddy! Thanks for all your work at home Daddy...I did miss you.
Kenner and his balloons! I think he is feeling a bit better. Kenner's room on the Peds floor.
Kenner feeling more comfy in the wheelchair. Because he was in isolation we couldn't go anywhere except in our room. So we took many 10 foot trips from the bathroom to the bed:)
He did have MRSA Staff Infection, so all nurses and personel had to be in gowns and masks. None of the family members had to though...confusing!?!?
Kenner taking one more look at his hospital room that he will hopefully never see again!
Ridin' on out! Kenner didn't want to go in a wagon, but rather his wheelchair.

After traveling through Omaha with our car stopping several times, we were successful in getting it started again. It took it's final stop about a mile away from home. Here is Daddy walking to Sprague to get the truck to tow it home.
Seeing his brother for the first time in a week and 1/2. Bubbi kept on saying, "Nenna! Nenna!" All brotherly love is great!
Isn't our little girl...I mean boy adorable? After a bath at the Elge's.
Kenner takes his horrible tasting antibiotics like a champ (for mom) and does his breathing treatments like a champ (for Dad)!