The return of the children

Aunt Mimi took the kids over to their grandparents today for me to pick up. From the sound of it there was desperation going on. I, of course, didn't realize this because I was having a pity party for myself( long story and it's not fun) and shopping. I rarely do shop for myself without kids--and I got myself a nice outfit. Then I get the phone call and I hear screaming in the background. Ok I'm coming--but first I stopped to make a phone call and check my email. What do I find in my email but a note from Aunt Mimi with "I am about to put my head in the toilet and keep flushing!!" and "I don't know how you guys do it!!". After I laughed my ass off (I can only wish) and forwarded the email to Ted so he could laugh, I loaded up the dogs and took off to Janesville. I walked into the backyard and Mary took one look at me and --I'm paraphrasing now "Thank God I'm rescued"! I understand Bumpa had a little "come to Jesus" talk with Rauan over his smart mouth, Alihan took up a serious whine and Julia just looked tired. I can't help laughing over all of this because my in-laws and Aunt Mimi have the patience of saints with the kids so I know they were wild. Again--there is another reason I work besides the paycheck! Rauan threw a holy terror of a temper tantrum tonight--way overtired. If the boy would sleep past the crack of dawn--maybe he wouldn't be so tired. Yep, turned the tv on and ignored. He eventually wore himself out. Going to work tomorrow will be nice:)
Again,hahahahahahahahahaha

Ahhh--alone at last

I've picked up a couple of days at work, so I made arrangements for the kids to stay at Grandma's and then their Aunt Mimi's. It's a big vacation for them. Grandma has a HUGE backyard. I know--I used have to mow it :) So, plenty of running around for them. Then Aunt Mimi--well she spoils them rotten. Literally--candy, chocolate milk, sweets ,etc. I sent their toothbrushes along--but hopefully they crash before I pick them up! I'm taking advantage of them being gone and tomorrow morning the van gets cleaned. I just picked up stuff in it tonight and it's DISGUSTING-major disgusting. My kids are total pigs. Then came the cleaning out of the boys' room--just to find their underwear so I can wash it. I refuse to fold their clothes anymore and they are "supposed" to put everything in the hamper for me. Yeah right. As we're packing up for their little trip do you think we could find any clean underwear??? Nope. Nada, zip. Luckily we found enough--but now the wash has started--again. Right now Ted is cleaning the bathroom so I'm in hiding in the basement. I hate cleaning the bathroom, especially since I'm not the one that gets it dirty. Boys!! It sure makes things interesting. I cleaned the rest of the house--so I figure fair is fair. Ted would disagree--but he knows when to shut his mouth. 10 years of marriage will do that (12 if you count how long we've been together. Dad said we were married from the moment we met. Hey when you know you know).
Ok I better rescue/supervisor him.

Now I've seen everything

I wish I had my camera handy. Ted called me to the patio door and there is Miss Julia leash training Belle! They are just walking around, Julia is talking to her the whole time and Belle is looking up at her with a "love puppy" look. Then Julia crouched down next to her and they were giving each other kisses! I wasn't sure if I should cry since it was so sweet or laugh because they were being silly! Belle is so different from Callie. Callie just didn't have the time to bother with the kids, although Julia learned to walk holding on to her. When the kids got loud, she would just walk away. Not a bad thing at all. Now Belle--she's so in love with the kids and she plays and plays with them. When the kids are tired-yep it does happen occasionally--they just crouch down a bit and Belle comes over wagging her tail.
Belle was supposedly a submissive dog. Yeah--NO!!! I think she had just been so mistreated. Barb, her foster mommy, started to get her to come out of her shell and then once she came here and had Loki to beat on and tug at and then 3 children that just love to play--well, that personality came out. I keep saying she's just like every other female in the house--headstrong and opinionated! Right now, Loki and Belle are laying side by side chewing bones--Belle no shoes for once! and I look over a couple of feet and there's the children watching tv. This is what heaven is like. Again--I'm the luckiest person in the world!

Chewie's birthday

Today Chewie turned 5! Since they don't celebrate birthdays--this really is his first one! Tomorrow is going to be the "big" birthday party. We're going to his grandparents where his cousins, Aunts and Uncles and his grandma (my mom) are going to celebrate. Ted's folks have a pool too--so it's going to be a big pool party with ice cream cake too. Yummy! Since today is his actual birthday we did a little cake here. The one picture is the kids watching mom light the candle--not so easy when the overhead fan is going--and the second one is when we sang happy birthday to him and he(yes Chewie) blew out the candle.

That's my girl!!!

This just goes to prove that Julia can do anything she sets her mind to! Special needs my ass! (a rather large one!) Now if I could just get her to apply that determination to her school work!!:)

Be careful what you promise

To setup this video:
Julia: Daddy if I score a goal can I play with Tori ?
Dad: Yes Juju if you get a goal I will put you and Tori on the field at the same time !
Julia: Let's roll..........

Yes the video is in real time and yes the girls played together the rest of the game!!!!

Windy City Visit

We just got back from our visit to Chicago. Due to limited money and vacation time, we decided to visit Shedd's Aquarium and then Rainforest Cafe. Ted and I took Julia and Rauan last year and they had a blast! So, today Chewie got to experience it. Plus, we went for a long walk along Lake Shore Drive and saw Lake Michigan (plus we got rained on). It was a long long day and we have 3 exhausted children(hehe) and a couple ticked off dogs--one who demostrated her displeasure at not being included. It's much harder training a puppy when there are children in the house who seem to have a problem with picking up their shoes! Anyways, here's a couple of pictures. Yes, my children got tatoos (sprayed on). They picked them out--Julia has a dolphin (her favorite),Rauan choose a octopus that has orange in it and Chewie picked out a turtle. I wish there was a way to share the ooohhss and ahhhs that I heard today. Plus, alot of dropped jaws and staring. What a blast!!
Tomorrow, the craniofacial picnic at the zoo and a birthday party. Then mommy and daddy get a chance to pass out. Oh yeah--and replace the boys' bedroom door that they like to hang off of---yes hang off of.

It's been a year now

Last year on this date, heaven gained a new guest. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year. Although he is gone physically, I know my dad is with us in spirit. I swear that he had something to do with Chewie coming to us. Dad knew that I wanted another child and I think when he got to heaven he started checking around and he knew that Chewie was his grandson. With all the weird things that happened, I know someone was manipulating something! In the past years' time, he also gained another granddaughter. 4 grandsons and 4 granddaughter. HA--finally equalized! Poor man had 3 daughters and no boys. As he said "even the damn dog is female!" He rebuilt the bathroom because that was the only way he could get into the bathroom--one of us was always hogging it. Now, having Julia (the princess) and knowing what ONE daughter is like--I sometimes wonder how he made it through with his sanity. OR maybe he didn't. Yes, heaven gained a special new member on July 16, 2007.
In happier news--depending on how you view it--Chewie made his visit to the urologist today to get set up for the snip snip. OUCH! This is the final bit to coordinate everything for his revision, ear cleanout, circumcision, and hopefully a good dental evaluation. I made Ted take him since this really is a boy thing. I'm not overly thrilled with the idea of an older boy having this done--and I wasn't thrilled when Bubba had his done. But, the male members of my family presented some pretty convincing arguements. So, I let Sara know that everything was done so she could start setting things up. I told her any week but the week of Sept. 17 since my SIL is getting married and that simply wouldn't work. I honestly don't think it will be set up until Oct. I know what the schedules are like and with the availability of surgical suites---well, this isn't an emergency. I would like it done by cold session with his poor flat nostril--but we certainly have time.
So, besides wallowing in my self-pity today and getting my family to move their butt and get the house cleaned up for the social worker tomorrow, life is good. My mom came up and rescued me today--cracked the whip with the kids to make them get their rooms cleaned up. Poor Mary,my SIL. She took the kids to spend the night with her and I thought--great I get to clean house without them destroying another room. Yep--then, as I leave work last night--"Oh shit! Chewie's urology appt!" So, called Ted and he started calling her. She moved quick to to get them up here today.
Ahhh vacation starts at 11:30 tonight. YEAH!!!

Chewie update

Boy do kids recover fast!!! By Sunday, Chewie was acting as if nothing had ever happened--of course he slept really well that night! Gotta love the happy drugs. Today (Friday), I can't even see the stitches and he has just a teeny tiny pink area at the corner of his lip. Next weekend is the picnic for the craniofacial team, the kids and their families. I'm hoping that when Chewie sees our doctors in "human" clothing and sees them interacting--that will ease his discomfort somewhat. Of course, Rauan can't wait to see Dr. Del. The boy is a flirt!
Julia is sleeping over at Tori's tonight. I dropped her off and see didn't even look back at me. I talked to Tori's mom for a bit and all we heard from the house is giggling. Julia said that they are going to have a tea party tonight. Huuummm. Tori's a bit nervous around the dogs, so maybe once we get her more comfortable around them--I'll get the fun of two giggling girls. Of course, I had that when Levi stayed over too.
Bad news with Julia. The speech therapy isn't working. So, she's going to have an evaluation on Aug. 22 and some decisions will be made. I'm sure we're looking at surgery, the only question is when. She usually does surgeries on Wed.--so, with looking at our already tight schedule--I'll probably take the Wed. and Thurs. as my off days and then back to the usual on Friday. As Ted keeps reminding me--he is perfectly capable of taking care of the kids. I think we'll do the same for Chewie's repair also. Shoot, if something happens, Ted can just bring them to the ER and have me meet them downstairs! Julia will still have do speech therapy--but this will give her the "tools" to use.
It rained yet again here last night. Come on already!!! We had straight line winds of 50-70 MPH and there were trees down all over the place--except for that damn cottonwood. Every other tree will come down and that stupid cottonwood will still be standing. So much for a dying tree that is hazardous.
In other neighborhood news--Jabba (our nasty neighbor two houses down) is basically running retail out of her front lawn. It looks like a fricking junk heap. A yard sale every weekend and they just cover it with tarps. And the language that comes from there!! I mean, I know quite a few four letter words and have used them--but every other word at the top of her lungs--and then you get her mother involved. I think the nicest term to use is white trash--and that's insulting to white trash!! So, anyways, the newest man over there (yes, we can't keep track of which man for this day of the week--YUCK!!) was outside one day and Loki was outside and he started barking. Now I don't let the dogs bark. The time it took me to get from the front of the house to Loki was less then 30 seconds. As I get outside I hear "Shut that f-----g dog up before I shut it up". WTF!!! Oh that crap does not go for me! Hurt my dogs, hurt my kids---you better run asshole! So, the Madison building inspector has been called, the police have been called (they already have a file three feet high)and I don't care how much it costs--there is a 6ft. privacy fence going up on that sign of the yard--to within 10 ft of the street. That's the legal limit. So, that's pretty much every house in the neighborhood that has a big old privacy fence. Hummm--all around one house--think they would get the message? Nah--either too stupid or too arrogant. And yes--that is Jabba as in Jabba the Hut from Star Wars. The resemblance is uncanny. Yes, we will be moving for high school. If I can take it that long. Earplugs anyone???

Stitches anyone?

Here's the picture I took last night of Chewie after we got home. Can't see the sttiches too clearly, but you get the idea. From his eyes you can see he is still a little loopy!

The other picture is from when we went swimming on Tuesday. He loves that pool!

Doing the Beck--aka spending time in the ER

Yes, nothing like spending a beautiful day in your local ER. Nothing like calling into work and saying I can't come in, my son needs stitches--and quite honestly due his traumatized past--both parents are needed.
So, I'm getting ready for work and Ted starts yelling at me--"Your son is bleeding" yeah ok that happens. "No, I'm not kidding he is bleeding BAD!" Ted drags Chewie in and there is blood EVERYWHERE. I put pressure on it and started checking things out--while Chewie is screaming at the top of lungs--making it that much easier. He fell on the deck and his bottom teeth went right through his upper lip and it wasn't about to stop bleeding. I call into work and say yeah I'm not coming in--feeling a little guilty--but they could hear Chewie yelling his bloody head off in the background. Off to urgent care--who HEARD him and said--off to the ER cause they are going to have to sedate him. When we got to the ER, the triage nurse called childlife because he was completely inconsolable. Of course, after we had got away from all the medical stuff, he calmed down. By the way, the University has a really nice peds ER waiting room now. Anyways, in comes Kris from childlife. She plays with him a bit, leaves, Ted comes in and after a while they come to get us. Chewie starts screaming at the top of his lungs and carrying on. He settles and then the resident (Beth Becker who is super nice) comes in. She looks at him in the middle of his screaming ( oh yeah he did a number on his arm too) and says yep stitches. To make a long story short, Chewie had to be sedated--which, since he is like Rauan in more then one way--took first versed(oral), then 45 minutes later, a shot in the leg of ketamine. All the while with Kris trying to distract him. Total time at the ER--4 1/2 hours and 3 stitches later. So, I worked--but its going to cost me $75 in a copay. I'm waiting on my frequent flyer points because between Bubba and Chewie--I'm going to either live in the ER or go back to school so I can start stitching them up!
I do want to say I sure am impressed with our ER, despite the fact that I work at the hospital and I know alot of people there. The nurse who took care of Chewie was awesome. Childlife--well, again they are invaluable. The medical staff was so kind and caring.
Now, if I can just get my children to injure themselves on a weekday when I'm not working. Yeah--pigs may fly, right? Again--frequent flyer points!! I'll post a picture later. Julia and Chewie now have matching puffy lips!

Blast from the past

http://depts.loras.edu/marketing/college/winter2004.pdf


Wow I forgot about this article on Page 35-36. Yep I was a Duhawk! I wrote the article, but I am not sure what I think of it.........

Ah ha and I found Rauan's article too. Page 15(slow download)

http://www.brittanyshope.org/info/newsletters/06Sep.pdf

Yep, he's a Pritchard

As I am typing this, Chewie is following his daddy around saying "doughnuts","doughnuts". Ted sits down and there is a little body next to him constantly repeating the word "doughnuts". Daddy asked about an off button for the boy, I told him it's over on Washington Ave--where the doughnut store is!
In other news, Julia looks like someone punched her in the lip. For some reason, this last filling and the numbing shot that went with it, gave her a puffy upper lip. I'm calling her fish lips right now--but she isn't liking it. Poor baby. Oh well, by Monday she'll be back to her normal pouty lips.