Easter 2016

Easter seemed to be SUPER early this year... and cold.  It's so unfortunate that it has to be so darn chilly... and rainy during a time when we could do fun things outside!  ha.  Oh well.

This year we celebrated Easter with my family.  Last year we were with the Taylor's...  and this year, we just felt we needed to be in Clarion.  We just don't see them enough.  We headed up to Clarion Saturday morning... got there around 11:00.  Had a quick, easy lunch... then just hung out - played - frosted cookies - and died eggs - laughed - and really just layed low.  It was a super great afternoon.  
Saturday night Jill's and Mom and Dad came into Tricia's... we ordered pizza and again, just hung out.  The kids played pretty good (even tho they were owly!)  We watched some basketball... including a loss by KU.  So disappointed!!!  We all got to bed at a decent time... I think we were just ready for quiet.  :)

And today, we went to a super nice church service...  I really like my old, hometown church.  Even tho it's a different building from when I grew up... it's still 'home'.  I like it there, and really like the pastor.  We then just went back to Tricia's to have lunch.  Everyone came including Greg's Mom, which was great to have her there.  Great lunch... and then more playing.  The kids hit rock bottom around 2:00...  I started loading the car, and we were out the door about 2:40.  They both rested on the way home, the entire 1.5 hours.  

Tonight we've just been laying low... and I've done 4 loads of laundry already, more to go.  :)

We had a nice time...  
An update on Mom - She looks about 80 years old, I think.  She smells, she's not happy and she's not our Mom.  We've been talking more and more about what to do...  and Dad is just not ready to put her into a care center, or even get help.  Which I personally find very frustrating.  But... we just have to pause, and it'll all happen like it's supposed to, sometime.  It's so hard seeing her.  

Here are some pics from the weekend.

Trying out the dying of eggs!

Our babies.

Hardy grandkiddos

Easter baskets from us!

Sick Family... Gonna try Essential Oils

Well, it has been a super interesting couple of days at the Taylor's. 
As I wrote earlier, Ryan wasn't feeling well late Saturday night... and it continued to Sunday...  lots of sleeping, just tired he kept saying.  Monday he ended up staying home from work, which is WAY out of his comfort zone.  He slept literally all morning, into the early afternoon.  He had a little pep to him when we all got home, but soon was sleeping again...  and the coughing started as well.  He went to the doctor yesterday - and was diagnosed with walking pneumonia.  #awesome (sarcasm).  Man, it sucks... and I feel bad... and I just want him to feel better fast!

In the midst of this...  Kayson and Cora have snotty noses.  Kayson actually hasn't been sleeping well (up several times in the middle of the night... just restless).  Tuesday morning he was coughing (it is a pretty loose cough, which is good), but he complained of not feeling well.  Right then and there (at 6:55) I called to get him in... and was able to get him in to our doctor at 7:30.  She looked him over...  no fever, and with the symptoms he's having, she doesn't think strep... but he has a pink ear.  So, she wrote a prescription for us to fill if we want.  Yep, I filled it last night.  :)

And moving to Cora.  She, too, snotty nose and really bad cough.  However, she's been sleeping super good (although, she's just a really good sleeper regardless)... but she doesn't have much of an appetite over the past 3 days or so.  Tuesday afternoon I got a phone call from daycare - "Cora is saying she doesn't feel well."  She had a low fever, and just wasn't herself they said.  I picked her up and was able to get her into the doctor as well.  Seriously - 3 out of the 4 Taylor's at the doctor on the same day!??!?!  NOT GOOD.  Anyway, she, too has an ear infection - but doc said it's really puffy and red...  so meds were prescribed as well, in hopes to knock that out soon.  

So... today is Wednesday - which seems it's been THE longest week ever.  We are all doing our normal thing today... kids are at school, me at work, and Ryan unfortunately, has to drive to MN for a couple meetings.  He'll be back tomorrow night.  I continue to clean and disinfect as much as I can... will continue tonight.  I'm wiped out...  my nerves just get so worked up when family is sick.  

With all of this (and I've been thinking about this for months)... I've ordered some essential oils to use in our house.  I have a friend (actually a couple) that use them and swear by them... I've heard several success stories, so we are trying them.  With us all being sick over the past couple weeks - this just confirmed that we need to try them.  More to come on that... 

Weekend

Friday:
I took Friday off from work for a 'me' day.  I just needed it.  We hadn't been very busy, and sometimes I just need it.  I have the time, so I used it.  We got the kids off to school, and I was back home - working in the storage room.  I REALLY need to start prepping for the garage sale, so I started sorting.  I found that we don't have a ton of toys to sell, which is awesome... and the big ones that we had - I already sold on a Facebook swap page.  SCORE!  I continued to work - just sorting, and tossing a bunch of stuff.  Basically I now need to figure out what to do with ALL the clothes - I have at least 6 huge rubbermaids of kids clothes.  UGH.   
From there, I got cleaned up - and did some errands... some returns, and then purchased a few things for myself (Spring clothes).  I came home, did some laundry, sat, and it was great. :)

I got the kiddos on time... and just came home expecting to just hang out/maybe go out... and then got a text from Jess - requesting a very impromptu dinner with them and the kiddos.  Ryan was ok with it, so we did that...  Quick, and back home for bath and bed.  It was a pretty quiet evening. 

Saturday:
Ryan worked a little... and the kiddos and I just hung out.  Played and really layed low.  It was a nice morning.  We grabbed lunch out, then back home for Cora to rest.  I ended up resting as well.  Ryan took off around 3:00 to go watch the NCAA tourney here in DSM.  Mike (Colleen's hubs) had an extra ticket for their suite, and Ryan was all over it.  I'm so glad it worked out, and he had a great time!  KU win too!  :)   The kiddos and I got rounded up, and headed over to spend time with Colleen and three of their kiddos.  Colleen and I had such a great time... the kids did AMAZING, so we really didn't have to be stressed about them.  Cali and Kayson hit it off again, didn't skip a beat - they played the Wii for hours.  Shae and Cora played dolls, colored, and did random stuff.  And Mr. Bo was just a good little boy...  walking around playing so well.  It was a great evening.  

Back home for bath and bed - later than I wanted, but they were doing so well.  Ryan got home around 10:15...  and had a great time.  

Sunday:
Church - and the kiddos sang for Palm Sunday.  They did well - well, Kayson did great, Cora just stood there.  Stinker.  Ryan wasn't feeling 100% when he got up, but fought through it (I thought he was just wiped out from the bball games)... and we ended up going down to Creston right after church.  Since we'll be in Clarion for Easter, they wanted to see the kids and have a mini Easter lunch and egg hunt.  We had a very nice time...  Ryan rested, and the kids played with the Grandmas (including Grandma Janis) quite a bit, and just did pretty well.  We didn't have Cora rest, so it was kind of a mess, but not too bad (until tonight!!!)  

Anyway, we are home... I got groceries, started laundry, kids to bed... and Ryan's resting again.  He has a low fever, and just not feeling the best.  I feel bad - hope it's a quick illness.  I've tried to clean stuff... and disinfect, again.

And that's that - a freaking busy weekend.  Again.  Good grief.  :)

Here are a few pics. 

With Cali - we love that little girl.

Ready for church - and the goofy smile by Kayson.

Spoons with Great Grandma Janis

LOVE.  Finally they are both smiling and looking at me.  :)

Spring Break 2016 & KU Jayhawks Practice!

And again, Spring Break is gone and over with... we didn't do anything, just a our normal stuff.

Ryan was actually in Kansas all week - through late Thursday night.  But Kayson didn't have school, and Beyond the Bell spoiled those kiddos.  Thank God for that place!!!  Kayson and his friends saw a movie, went bowling, went skating (which he does not enjoy!) and went to the Science Center.  

On Wednesday, I got him early and we went downtown to watch the Kansas Jayhawks practice at Wells Fargo - getting prepped for the NCAA tournament.  K and I had a good time... I think he enjoyed it, however, I do think he gets so overwhelmed, that it exhausts him so quickly.  We were there for about 2 hours... and he fell asleep on the short drive home?!?! 

Anyway, here are a few pics from last week. 

Janelle - Allergies - Part 2

After two full days of allergy 'testing', I called in my results last Thursday.  

Results:  
Tuesday - I had the instant reaction to ragweed, cat and dog.  
Wednesday morning through Thursday, those spots were actually gone, but I had four different ones that were raised, red and the size of 9 mm.  I was told last Thursday that those 4 spots are different types of molds.  Interesting and yuk.  

So...  the nurse talked with the allergist... and gave me a call yesterday. 

In a nutshell, I'm a very good candidate for shots...  so I could do the shot route which would be a shot a week for up to 2 or 3 years, depending on my reactions.  OR, I could just do an antihistamine and my nose spray daily, no skipping and see if that solves things.  

I think I'm just going to do the Allegra and nose spray, for now.  I'm not a huge fan of doing shots that often...  so I'll try this route and see how I am in the dead of summer and when the ragweed hits, which will be August/September. 

Cora's Shopping Trip & Saturday Eve

Over the past week or so, I've been talking about getting the kids some spring clothes...  cuz Kayson thinks it's been 'so hot'.  He wants to wear shorts.  Good grief.  Anyway, Cora has mentioned a couple times she wants new clothes.  Yes...  that was the plan.  :)  So finally I said that her and I could go shop this morning.  She wanted Kayson to come, no - only girls.  :)  

Ryan had a work meeting, but took Kayson with him... and Cora and I were off.  We were only going to Kohl's - one stop shop.  I knew it would be a lot, I knew she would meltdown, I knew it wouldn't last long.  And I was right.  Mom's know best.  

We headed to the clothes area... she was instantly distracted by flip flops.  This was her first meltdown, cuz she didn't want to stay close to me.  I think she dragged herself on the floor a couple times. So that was awesome.  We finally got some tops and a few dresses.  Jammies were next - but she was soon wanting toys and then saw a small onesie (like a tiny 3 month size) and she wanted that for her baby dolls.  Um, no.  Meltdown #2.  

We moved on, went potty, then decided we needed to try on a few of the dresses, just to make sure.  That went better than I expected...  so we were out of there quickly.  She then brought up the flip flops again...  I decided to just take her to the shoe area.  Big mistake.  Three pairs of shoes later...  and one more meltdown... we were out the door.  Good gravy I was exhausted.  :)

So... in a nutshell, she was cute, half interested, and very much demanding and all girl.  We probably won't do that again for awhile.  I may not be cut out for it.  :)

On our way - happy.  :)

Tonight we met up with Trish, Greg, Hope and Logan for supper in Ames.  I've really been missing them.  It worked out well... and was a very nice time.  Kids were wiped out afterwards, and soon in bed once we got home.  

Kayson - Lost 4th Tooth

and #4 is out!!!

Kayson lost the tooth at school today... and the nurse gave him the little box to hold the tooth.  How freaking cute.  He was SOOOO excited to tell me when I picked him up.  It was by far the best part of my day!  :)

Kayson 1st Grade Winter Conference

And just like that... we are done with 'winter' Parent/Teacher conferences, and school will be out in about 2 months?!?!?!  WHAT?!

Ryan and I met Kayson at school... off we were to meet with Mrs. Turner. 

Kayson continues to do really well --- 

• addition is good!  He just passed +9 and +10 today!!  We just need to have him be a little more fluent with them (so quicker), but he's got it.
• subtraction - just starting, but doing well
• reading -- FAST score is 496 (which is at 3rd grade level).  YEA!
• reading independently at level J, and starting with K and feeling comfortable
• he participates in class, has a positive attitude and gives his best effort (I love to hear this!)

There are always a few things we can do to help - 

• keep working on math - adding and subtracting.  In 1st Grade, they'll go up to +10 and -10... 2nd Grade will go up to 20, plus 2 digit adding/subtracting.  So we just keep practicing!
• pay attention and focus when the time is needed...  K is still our social butterfly, but Mrs. Turner said it's better... but always more room for improvement
• reading - think beyond the text.  So basically - when he reads, he needs to understand it - he needs to be able to tell us what he read, what the characters felt, etc.  That's a hard one - I even have trouble with that! :)

Overall, another successful conference!  We are so proud of him.

Janelle - Allergies - Part 1

Over the past 6-8 months, I've been diagnosed with sinus infections.  I start to sneeze like crazy... and just really explode and it just turns into a terrible outbreak.  So... the last time I saw the family doctor, I was diagnosed with sinus infection. Along with that - the doctor just felt like something wasn't right.  She was concerned that I had had "too many" of these...  so in a nutshell, she referred me to an allergist to get some answers.

Fast forward to middle of February.  I met with an allergist... and his first question to me was - "How do you know you have sinus infections?"  Well, I first thought it was a trick question, then I thought - "is he being a prick!?!?"  haha.  But basically he was getting to the fact that he didn't think I was actually suffering from sinus infections, solely because I don't get fevers with these (and infections typically come with a fever).  Many questions later, he basically needed to see what was going on in my head.  Literally.  So I had a CT Scan.  The CT Scan came back 'perfect' - meaning, no surgery needed/no sinusitis...  we've just got an allergy problem. 

So... today - I had a round of allergy tests done.  30 injections of low dose random items.  I was a little nervous going into it...  but figured it would be similar to acupuncture.  Um, no.  Those were full blown needles and they hurt!  All 30 of them!  :)  But I survived.

Instantly I reacted to a few things - ragweed is one of them.  The 'bump' was instantly red and swollen and itched like crazy!  So interesting.  I'm also allergic to cats, and some dog dander.  (And not Murphy).  From here through Thursday, I need to measure the 'bumps' to see if any have gotten bigger or redder...  and as of now (4 hours later), I don't feel like any are bigger.  Which is good.  The question is tho -- why do I have such a terrible reaction in the dead of winter if I'm 100% allergic to ragweed!??!?!  And I strictly stay away from cats.  I don't know...  but we'll hopefully figure it out. 

More to come!!

Weekend

This weekend went super fast!!
Friday we did dinner out... then back home, and just hung out.  The kiddos were pretty good... 

Saturday Cora was up early - 6:05.  WTH.  We can't get her up on the weekdays at 6:40... but on a weekend, she's up at 6:05.  Grr.  I took her back to her bed 3 times between then and 6:30.  It wasn't happening, obviously.  So I layed on the couch while she played with her baby dolls and watching cartoons.  

K and I went out to Lacey's salon to get his hair buzzed... then back home and we just hung out.  I cleaned a little, and did some laundry.  Then we went to Kayson's last basketball game.  He did good, and it was fun to watch him and his team do well.  I think Ryan enjoyed coaching as well...  

Back home - Cora rested, and Mike and JeanAnn stopped to chat for a bit.  Kayson was wiped out from playing almost the entire game, so he had some quiet time in his room.  

Saturday night we went down to Nikki and Eric's for pizza.  The kiddos were wound up, but I think they played pretty darn good.  Cora, on the other hand, wasn't interested in playing with the boys.  So she stayed pretty close to the adults most of the night.  Regardless, we had a nice visit...  hoping to do that more - but let's be outside.  Here's to Spring coming SOON!?  

And today - Church, groceries, and more laundry.  We had a really nice day... just hanging out here.  The weather was pretty nice too, windy, but nice...  

Here are a few pics from the last couple days.

Nice season Kayson!

Son and Coach

Playing with baby dolls

She wanted to wear K's turtle costume - weirdo!

Oh those eyes... 

We played outside for about 10 minutes.  Chalk was her choice!

Wacky Wednesday for school - mismatched clothes!

Kayson

It's K's turn for an update on him.
Right now, today... Sunday, March 6 - I feel Kayson has been a challenge.
He's growing up... yes.   He's learning things that are good, and bad.  He's seeing other boys and girls do things that aren't good.  It's all normal.  It's all common.  It's all school age 'stuff'.  But I can't say that I love it.

Sleep:  Kayson gets tired... he needs his sleep.  Period.  I've said this for years... he's our kid that just needs sleep, including the routine.  I do feel, however, he's done really well at adjusting to busy weekends...  but still - just needs good rest.

He got good rest this weekend really... we weren't that busy, besides him playing nearly the ENTIRE basketball game yesterday.  He did great... but I could tell in his eyes, he was exhausted.  Don't blame him at all.

Peer pressure? Wants to be like others: With all of this - and the 'learning things from other kids'... he really REALLY wants to do things other kids do.  I get it.  But there are rules here, and we obey the rules at our house.  One thing that's so simple and irritating --- he wants to wear certain things.  --- running tights with shorts over them.  Now, I don't technically mind it, but I'm also not crazy about it.  He says the 4th and 5th graders wear stuff like this.  Um... he's in 1st grade.  I don't know, as I write it out, it seems dumb to get irritated... but at the same time, he's very disrespectful about it, and his attitude if he doesn't get to wear something like that is ridiculous.  It wears us out... and pisses us off too.  #awesome

Food:  I also think he's going through a growth spurt.  He's been eating pretty well... still wants a snack all the time (this might be where sister gets her problem!!)  But overall, he eats pretty well.  He's somewhat interested in meats - chicken for sure, hamburgers and pork.  He also likes corn and mashed potatoes mixed together.

Independent:  He's starting to do some more things on his own.  Being the first child - we did and still do a lot for him.  But he's starting to do more like --

• get his own milk/drink, and not spilling, yet.  
• getting his own snacks/breakfast
• using the electronics - he can run the TV like a master, and the wii, and of course his iPad
• bathing himself - pretty well... but I still want to make sure he's actually cleaning himself!

Kayson is such a good kid...  but also a typical 7 year old boy.  He doesn't want to disappoint, but he sure can flip an attitude in seconds.  

Mom & Alzheimer's

Well, my Mom's terrible disease has not gone away.  And it won't.  Ever.  
I have so many emotions... so, SO many thoughts... so many feelings.  It would be nearly impossible to write them all done - or even try to express all of them.  

Right now, my feelings are sadness and worry. 

Tricia and I talked earlier tonight...  we talk often, typically over text or snap chat, but when she calls; I know it's not necessarily 'good'.   In a nutshell, it's been a bad day for Mom.  But every day is a bad day for her.  She doesn't know anything, she doesn't know anyone (besides Dad), she's confused, she doesn't know what to do.  Every damn day is bad.  

Trish and I talked about stuff...  Trish did a lot of talking - a lot of telling me what's she's experiencing, what Mom does, what Mom says.  I listened, and ached inside.  It hurts so f'ng bad.  (I can say that - it's my blog!)

I worry about Dad.  We have to keep him healthy... and somewhat happy...  and sane.  He is doing an amazing job with Mom.  He's strong...  and stubborn.  We all think the same thing -- 'we need to do something, we need to get more help with Mom, she probably needs to be in a facility' -- but with that, that's a hell of a lot easier to say on our end, then on the man that's been married to her for 50+ years.  I can't imagine the feelings he's having.  So many ups and downs... same as us, but different.  

I literally could go on and on.  I could explain all the stories Trish tells me... someday I might (so I remember!)  But for now, I'm just sad.  I'm scared.  I'm worried - for many reasons.  For me, for my sisters, for my Dad, for Mom, for Ryan, for our kids... for the other grandkids.  So many people affected.