100th Day of Sickness (at least that's what it feels like)

The 100th Day of School, that wonderful magical day where you are way over half way and your class throws a party.  There are games, everyone brings 100 treats to share, and you count up to the super high number that you have all been working on.  I had been hearing about it for weeks, we had our treats ready to go, and Livi was a bundle of excited-ness the night before.

Unfortunately she had been sick for a couple days  and she woke up that morning still with a fever, runny nose and cough.  She was devastated but we decided we could celebrate at home on our own.  We counted out 100 treats of her choice:

 Then snuggled on the couch and watched a movie.

It's been a long year with a lot of sickness, but this sick day was actually a lot of fun!

Why I Should Always Wear A Wooden Plank Around My Neck...Or At Least A Wood Bead Bracelet

I love the idea of teacher appreciation week, and I think making desserts is a great way to celebrate, but because nothing at the kids school can be easy, this always turns into an ordeal. They don't want cookies on a plate. They don't want a box of doughnuts. They want full on gourmet desserts presented in a classy way, (no paper plates) but you don't get anything back, so it must be displayed on something you are willing to never see again.

The teachers draw numbers and they go in order and pick out what dessert they want. No one wants to be the dreaded last dessert on the table. The "pity" dessert, if you will. Last year I did cake pops in a flower pot, but this year I wanted to try cupcakes. Cupcakes beyond vanilla and chocolate. Cupcakes that make other cupcakes cry in envy. Cupcakes that wouldn't be picked last for the baseball team (or whatever cupcakes play).

I made Hot Chocolate, Strawberry Lemonade, Red Velvet, Cookie, and S'more flavored.  Good-bye waist.

I decided to try 5 different recipes (because I have a stress related death wish) so I could find just the right recipes to present. Of course finding the ingredients required for gourmet cupcakes in Scottsbluff is as easy as finding Tonks when she escapes out the front door, so I spent most of the morning going from grocery store to grocery store. By the time Livi and I got home from morning errands it was lunch time. We have lots going on at our house this week, and because I don't want the other joy school moms/insurance interviewer/cub leaders to see my house in all it's natural glory (I swear evil elfin brownies drop off all the junk they clean from other people's house right into my living room), I spent a couple hours cleaning up around the house, got the kitchen spic and span, and then went on a baking spree.

 It was a well oiled machine in my kitchen. I would bake a batch of cupcakes, and while the next batch was baking I would make the icing for the last batch that were cooling. Things were running so smoothly and I was so happy with how easy it was to make 100 cupcakes that I should have stopped to knock on wood. It turned out I hadn't bought enough red food coloring or powdered sugar so I had to make frantic phone calls to Eric begging him to pick some up on the way home. By the time he got there I had a pile of egg shells and butter wrappers that would make Paula Dean gag in horror, soup on the stove for dinner, and french bread in the other oven. Eric surveyed the mess and calmly walked by with no comment.

 Livi came running around the corner to hug Eric and promptly slipped on the floor. This is when life went from organized chaos to full on pandemonium. Eric offered Livi a hand up and she squirmed and tried to pull away. All of a sudden we had a 3 year old screaming in agony. She was clutching her arm to her side and making noises I have never heard from her before. I was running around frantic saying we needed to go to the ER and Eric was grimacing (I think he was thinking about our deductible) and trying to tell Livi she was okay. Livi didn't believe him so I forced Eric into the car and off to the ER we went.

When I went to the ER with meningitis it took 8 hours from when I went in to when they released me.  It took 2 hours from when they ordered X-rays to when I actually went to have them taken. We have found the trick to a short ER visit: Screaming Toddler.

Livi showing off her stickers for doing so well with the X-rays

With in 5 minutes of us getting there the Orthopod Doctor had popped Livi's elbow back into the socket. A few minutes later she was getting X-rays. We were there for less than an hour overall. Once Livi's elbow was back in place she immediately stopped crying. It was like a little switch had been flipped.

She is totally fine today, no pain, no swelling, just 100% rambunctious little girl. We even had joy school this morning and by the way she was attacking our tree with a lightsaber you would never guess that she couldn't move her arm last night!

One Of My Favorite Days...okay not really

Friday was not a good day. It wasn't horrible, but definitely not going in my top 10. We started at 2:30am with Livi's fever, 5:30am was Ella's fever and 6:00am was Ethan dry heaving in the bathroom. The dryer died a painful, expensive death, and Eric was out of town for 3 days.

There were 2 bright spots:
1. I got to order DELIVERY pizza for the first time in my married life, and I didn't even feel guilty about it!

2. The girls were very happy with the pallet I made for them to lie on since they were too sick to even move around. A big thank you to James and Jes for the giant pillows that made it possible.

Going (and staying) Crazy on the 405, or Julia and McKay Get Married

It feels a little overwhelming to be back from California with so many fun stories and hundreds of photos. We've had 2 birthdays, a trip to Disneyland, a trip to the beach, time with Grandmas, and of course, a wedding. I guess all I can do is bite the bullet and give my own scewed take on our vacations.
Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start: Wedding!!!! We were able to leave on Friday, since Nebraska employees get Arbor Day off. We noticed more policemen out on the roads on the way to Denver and were confused until we realized that it was Arbor Day, and as everyone knows, Arbor Day is a big party/fireworks/drunk driving day.
I realized in Cheyenne I had left my recommend at home, and then had a panic attack when we couldn't find Livi's blankie (it was behind her car seat where she had chucked it in a fit). We made it to California after a very bumpy plane ride, with a very unhappy, uncomfortable baby (remember the rash/illness). It took forever to get our rental car, we jumped on the 405 and proceeded to take 5 hours to get home. The trip normally takes about an hour and a half. Needless to say (but I will anyways) the kids were practically hysterical by the time we got to the Stott's house. Livi was literally rocking and wail-moaning in her car seat.
Julia and McKay got married the day after we got there. We left Livi with the Stotts (we didn't think she could take the car trip so soon after the traumatic trip the day before. (As it was she cried everytime we put her in a car seat for the rest of the trip). We headed down to the temple, trying to get there early so I could get in to see my baby sister get married. I hurried out of the car and rushed to the temple entrance only to see my entire family on the lawn talking on cell phones. Seems Julia got a little lost on her way to get married.
Eventually they were married in a beautiful, short and sweet ceremony and we were able to celebrate the rest of the day. There were only a few other mishaps, but all in all it was a great day and I am so glad I got to be there. Aunt Diane took the wedding photos (which I am totally jealous about) so hopefully there will be a photo of me in my "wonderful" 1980's prom/bridesmaid dress. My photos aren't the best, but they do give you an idea of our day.
The kids favorite part was playing with Ebby while they waited outside the temple. Okay, Ella's favorite part was having Aunt Diane take hundreds of photos of her posing in various places on the grounds, but playing with Ebby was a close second. Livi eventually made it to the reception, but only stayed long enough to dump food on my dress. Luckily inbetween throwing food on my hand-made masterpiece we were able to get a few pictures of her.
My brothers and their wives waiting for the restaurant to find our reservation. Speaking of the restaurant, Ethan and Ella thought feeding Ebby was the best entertainment they had ever seen. Seriously. They fed and fed and fed that poor little guy. He probably thought they were trying to torture him, except he kept opening his mouth, so I think they are in the clear with Aunt Joy.I have to post this just because it is SOOOO James. (That's my dad, and James' wife Jes in the picture too)

Because Life Wasn't Crazy Enough...

So, it has been a crazy week. I have been trying to get the house ready to put on the market, I have been making my bridesmaids dress (that should have been cute, but with my weird body is turning more and more into a freak show), I've been packing for us to leave for California, and Eric is in Lincoln arguing in front of the Nebraska Supreme Court as I type this. It has been a crazy week, but I felt pretty on top of it...until yesterday morning.
Eric got up to leave early, it's a 6 hour drive to Lincoln, and called me into Livi's room. Poor baby, she had a rash ALL over her abdomen. We spent the morning going to the doctor and picking up various medicines. I guess she has a virus, a cold virus that has given her a runny nose, sore throat, and a body covered in the worst looking, probably worst feeling, rash ever. The doctor said this was just how the virus exhibited itself in her. She's about as contagious as a regular cold, and although the rash will get worse for a few days she will probably be fine in about a week. That would be great if my sister weren't getting married in 2 days! My poor baby will be puffy, red eyed, and sore all over, but at least she will have a beautiful princess dress to wear over the itchy red rash (on the bright side)!

Creative Ways to Increase Fluid

Well, we've had an "interesting" couple of weeks. 2 weeks ago I had all three kids home ALL week because of GI illness. It was not the most fun, and I will not tell you all the "joys" I had. (most involve various types of cleaning gross things up) Ella never ended up getting sick, but Ethan and Livi were hit really hard. Finally we felt like we were back to normal this last week, and the kids resumed their school (YEAH!) and various activities. On Wednesday night Livi started throwing up (which she hadn't done the week before) and had some other fun symptoms, and we ended up in the ER again (I don't like the ER. We seem to end up there a lot, because my kids get super sick at night, and the nurses at Denver's Children Hospital tell me to go. So far every time we've gone there HAS been something wrong. Sorry, just feel defensive). After a thoroughly traumatic x-ray where Livi looked and felt like a baby stuck in a well, we found out she had gotten a bladder infection from all the GI gunk. Lucky baby.
So super long story to lead up to these videos. Livi was placed on a clear liquid diet for a day and was hating it. She didn't want sippy cups, and all she wanted was whatever I was eating (I took to hiding in the stairwell to eat). We took a break from crying and watching videos to give Ella a bath. Livi was in the bathroom with us, and pulled the stool over to the sink herself. After screaming repeatedly at me I finally turned on the water to let her play a little and here is what she did: