Memorial Day

Monday was Memorial Day. To most of Americans this is a Federal Holiday. Holiday to my husband is a subjective term. If he can physically get into his office its not a holiday. However he chose to spend the morning with us and only worked half a day. For this we were grateful.

Early that morning Sam woke up and decided his losing his baseball glove was too traumatic to endure and pleaded with Ronny to get him another. Ronny of course agreed that his son needed a glove. So he loaded up the boys and had quite the adventure in baseball shopping. Evidence of this would be the glove he bought for Sam, the pink glove his bought for Charley, and the new "T" he brought home to practice on. They spent all morning practicing, hitting off the tee and catching fly balls Ronny would throw to them. They all loved it!

Joseph is becoming quite the baseball slugger at our house. His teachers at school have taken Joseph out and pitched to him during outside time at school. They love to report what a hitter he is. He has belted a few right back at them and hurt one. One of his teacher's asked me if we were going to "pursue his baseball career." I laughed and reminded them he was only 4 and the major leagues wanted him to at least see over the wall of the dugout before signing him. He is now just as obsessed with baseball as he is with Star Wars. Unfortunately he missed the age requirement for t-ball by 11 days. He'll have to wait until next year for that.

Diagnosis

We have good news and bad news. Ronny was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EOE for short). This is a rare allergic condition that causes the esophagus to swell after coming in contact with an allergen. It is treated with Flovent. However instead of inhaling the medication, you swallow it. Ronny will probably do this for the rest of his life in 4 week cycles. He will have another endoscopy in the next couple of months to make sure the treatment is working.

We asked why the doctor didn't pick up on this with his last endoscopy 7 years ago and were told they have only started testing for this condition in the last 2-3 years as this condition is so rare. At the same time due to this condition it is very dangerous to do dilations as your esophagus can very easily be perforated. So he was very lucky to not have had that happen in his first dilation and has been advised to never have another one. Ronny may be referred onto an allergist to find out what is causing the problem but even with the testing we may not ever find out.

So this is all the good news. The bad news is that this is a rare condition but that it is hereditary.
We were also told to watch our children for the same condition. The article they gave us said those who typically have asthma, hay fever, severe allergies, and food allergies may have a higher chance within in the family of having this. (That only includes all of our children so far.)

Ups and Downs

Our Young Women's lesson was on journals today and I committed to write in my journal today. (Oh by the way I was called to be the YW secretary two weeks ago hooray!) I have several journals in different forms but at the moment this is the easiest one to do, so here I am. This has been a week of ups and downs for our family, happily Ronny and I ended on a high so all is well. The kids may have other ideas however.

Joseph started our week off with a bang. On Monday he learned his friend Tyler Gus at school had taken his training wheels off over the weekend. Joseph insisted that Ronny take his off when he came home from work. We were a little hesitant as it had been a while since Joseph had even ridden his bike but we gave in. He climbed up on the bike, Ronny held the back for about five steps and off Joseph went never looking back. That was the end of that and now Joseph is off to the races. We were amazed. I promise to get a picture of this when I can.

Ronny had his endoscopy on Tuesday, that brought about its own set of problems and concerns. We still have not heard from the doctor with the results of the biopsy. Ronny is doing well about taking his medicine at least 1/2 hour before eating, he takes it when Ben gets up for the first time about 5:00 am.

Charley finished her first soccer season on Saturday and was given a trophy by her coach. She is so excited about that. Charley came out in the second half crying when she got kicked. At some point I will just tell her to take a deep breath and play on but I don't think we have reached that time yet. We did have a talk about how things like this happen when we play sports and we just have to learn to deal with them. She agreed and stopped crying. Thats my girl! Ronny has agreed to be her assistant coach next year.

Ronny and I went out on a date last night. We went to see Spider Man 3. Pretty good but way too many story lines going on for one movie. Our babysitters were a little young this time (11 and 12 year old sisters) so we were happy to have two. The kids made them work for their money. Apparently Ben cried most of the time and Joseph and Sam would only go to sleep with Charley laying on the floor after much crying. They survived and were happy to see us when they woke up this morning. It used to upset me and give much guilt when I would here the kids cried while we were out. Now I just apologize to the sitters for having to listen to them and shrug it off. Going out with Ronny is far more important to me know than to worry about the kids crying.

Endoscopy Pictures

Here are the pictures from inside my throat:

I was still very much under the influence of a strong sedative when the pictures were explained to me, so the explanation I give to you is purely speculative. Denise should be able to properly resolve any misinformation.

On the upper right, you can see the narrowing at the bottom of the throat. It looks completely closed to me, but you can be the judge of that.

On the lower right, you can see the ulcers (in white), at least that's what I think they are.

If there is anything interesting about the other two pictures, please feel free to share.

The End of Boy's Week

We did end up going to see Meet the Robinsons yesterday. They only had it in 3-D, so I'm not sure how much Sam got out of it, because he refused to keep his glasses on. Of course, with as much popcorn butter as he ended up getting on them, he could probably see more clearly without the glasses.

Last night, after some frantic cleaning and occasional glances at game 7 of the Jazz/Rockets series, I woke up Sam, and the four boys went to the airport to pick up Charley and Denise.

Boy's Week is officially over, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Boys Week: Day 5

The first Saturday of each month Home Depot has a "Kid's Workshop". We've never done this before, but after I heard about it I knew I would have to make it a part of our Boy's Week activities. I was told that we should get there early, because when they run out of supplies, the workshop is over. The workshop runs from 9am to noon, and we got there just after 9am.

Today the project was an herb garden. One of the Home Depot Helpers was kind enough to snap a picture of all four of us. Either I trust Sam implicitly, or I know that he can't get much power into his swing (I'm holding the nail for him). I had to chase Ben around the store, and Sam was grumpy because he had fallen back asleep this morning after waking up at 6am, and I had to wake him up when we left for the workshop.

Sam didn't want to put on the apron, and he was reluctant to show off his finished project. Joseph had a blast. He loved hammering, and actually did a pretty good job. He has already asked if we can go next time. All in all, it was a fun experience. Maybe we'll try to make this a monthly affair, although next time I think I would prefer to leave Ben behind.













Funny story: We have to go by the movie theater to get to Home Depot. As we passed by, Sam announced the he wanted to go to the "Popcorn Store". Apparently we don't all go for the movies. I told them that if I could get the house clean this morning, that we would be able to got to the popcorn store after lunch. I guess we'll have to see if the boys cooperate. If we go, we'll be seeing Meet the Robinsons.

Boy's Week: Day 4

Today was the day the weather was supposed to clear up for us. Well, we've had light showers off and on, spending as much time in the sun as there was sun to have.

This afternoon, we headed out for some baseball.

Tonight, the Stensons have invited us over for dinner.

Tomorrow, Denise and Charley come home.

Boy's Week: Day 3 (dinner edition)

Tonight for dinner, we had a well-rounded meal (translation: Pizza). Lest you be doubters, I provide scientific evidence:

Grain food group: pizza dough
Dairy food group: Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheeses (we also drank milk)
Fruits and Vegetables: Pineapples and Tomato sauce
Protein food group: Pepperoni



Dinner was followed by various combinations of watching soccer, watching baseball and watching basketball, which was followed by baths and bedtime.

Boy's Week: Day 3

Sam took a really long nap yesterday, so we all watched Episode 6 after dinner (fish sticks). Everyone slept really well through the night, which allowed me to get some needed work done on my project last night.

Working last night left me short on sleep, so I took a nap this morning from 7:30 to 8:30 with Ben. I woke up to a naked Sam running through the house (sorry, no pictures), and Joseph still in pajamas. We got both of them dressed just in time to get Joseph off to school on time.

I printed some Lightning McQueen coloring pages off the computer for Sam to color. Hopefully Ben will take another nap so I can get some more work done before my meeting with my professor at 2pm today.

Boy's Week: Day 2

Last night was rough. Ben woke up at midnight, and then again at 3am. His crying woke Sam up, and I gave in and let them both into my bed. This was a big mistake. Ben was in the middle and kept hitting both Sam and I. After about 15 minutes of this, I put Ben in his crib and closed the door. I put Sam in his bed, and told him Ben was crying so he needed to stay in his bed. Sam went right back to sleep, but Ben cried for a half hour or so until he went back to sleep.

So, we woke up tired this morning at 6:45am. After breakfast and scripture time, the kids had about an hour to watch cartoons while I tried to pay the bills. I came up one stamp short, and so after we dropped Joseph off, we ran some errands.


After we got gas, and returned the movie, we stopped by the local farm supply store to get Denise her Mother's Day present from the kids (mine is the haircut she's getting while in Utah).

Happy Mother's Day, Denise. (They're magnets for the refrigerator)

Then we went to the grocery store. Ben fell asleep on the way. We woke him up and went in to get the stamps, along with other sundry items that we don't seem to have enough of (raisin bran, yogurt, apples, oranges, chocolate cereal, ... etc).

We came home to get lunch for Ben and Sam. After that, we picked up Joseph, and now the kids are once again on my bed watching Mickey's House of Mouse Christmas movie (and hopefully getting tired).

Boy's Week!

Denise and Charley left today to spend a week in Utah with Denise's sisters for BYU Women's Conference, leaving me at home with Joseph, Sam and Ben. And thus Boy's Week begins. As the week goes on, I'll try to keep you updated with the most recent events, and hopefully some enjoyable pictures.

Ben and Sam and I drove Denise and Charley to the airport, and said goodbye (Joseph was at school).

When we got home, we had to get right down to business - LUNCH.

Right now, the boys are watching a movie (Happy Feet), in hopes that they will fall asleep.