Saturday April 30

Dad had to go to work today, and the kiddos slept in.

Port cleaned his room again before even coming downstairs.

I really like when he does that!

If only I could get the girls to do that!

We got Saturday chores done without much problem.

Then Madi and Cassi went and mowed.

I told Cassi maybe it wasn't a good idea yet for her.....

But who listens to mom anyway?

She came in after not too long saying that she wasn't feeling very good.

So Madi did most the lawn, and it looks a million times better than it did before!

Then the girls watched the end of the movie we started last night and the little ones played with max and Graham.

They stayed busy playing all day.

I did laundry and cleaned my room and put away moms and dads laundry.....

Super fun stuff.

Then I went for a run while the kids all watched 'The Peanut Movie' that we also got from Redbox last night :)

Then later tonight, Cassi invited Kiali and Lainey over.

And Madi went to Abby's house with Cam.

Last week, Sister Capell invited us to go to her woman's singing group at the church.

So we went there, and Cassi took her friends from 7-8.

After that, Cassi walked home with her friends and they had fun while I relaxed a bit with the little ones before putting them to bed.

I think we got what we needed to get done today, so that's good.

Friday April 29 (Pictures to come)

So Cassi and I just hung out today....mostly watching 'Fuller house' and 'My girl' :)

She said she was really bored and we had several crying bouts throughout the day.

But overall it wasn't too bad.

She had a few visitors.

Pat stopped by with a rose and treat for Cass.

Then we had Drew and Heather come by and while they were here, Cindy Peterson came by with a mini Bundt cake.

Cassi enjoyed the visits.

I did some house cleaning after a while......

Then Madi came home and I went and got the little ones from school.

Dad came home during that time.

Then Nicole Reid came to visit Cassi with more treats :)

Not too long after that, it was time for us to leave for Port's football game.

Cassi decided she wanted to get out and go to the game.

They played a good game....but lost again :(

Bummer.

But the couch is good about making sure all the kids get to play, not just the ones they know will get the touchdowns :)

Port did a great job tonight.

They were very close to winning......but not quite.

Cassi was okay at the game......until the last 20 minutes or so.

Elsie bumped her and then she felt nauseous......and we tried to help her but all she did was cry and tell us we didn't care about her.

Oh the joys of a preteen :)

She is doing better tonight.

We came home after the game and then Justin and Sherrie Hall came over.

They brought their kids here and then we went out to dinner.

I think the kids all had fun.

Poor little Everly was sad.....but I think it will go better next time now that she knows them :)

But Port had a lot of fun with Koy and Titan.

And it was fun for us adults to get out and talk with each other.

And we are excited because there is a chance they might be moving over this way......and that would be so great!

Thursday April 28 (add pictures)

Well, I think we can all say that we are glad that today is over!

We got the little ones off to school and then I went to Walmart to get some Gatorade and jello for Cassi.

She could have clear liquids until 12.

Dad was up and studying and getting his uniform/suit ready.

We realized that we couldn't find his black tie anywhere!

So I made another run to Walmart.

Dad got all ready to go and headed out.

Before he left though, he gave Cassi a Fathers blessing.

It was a beautiful thing :)

He left and then Bubble had offered to take us to the hospital and hang with us until Dad got there.

She came and got us a little bit before 12:30.

We got all checked in and it wasn't long after we got into the surgery waiting room that Dad came.

So happy to have that test done!!!!!

He thinks he did fine, but I am sure he did awesome.

Those interviews are tough!

But he went prepared and I just know he did well.

So then Bubble headed home, and then she made dinner for our family.

She really is the best!

So we just did a lot of waiting.

And they came and talked to Cassi about what was going to happen.

They put an IV in her.

Then had a few others come talk to her.

Then the anesthesia people came to talk to her.....

And finally it was time to take her.

She was pretty nervous, but she did really good.

They had given her some 'happy drug' before they took her, and so she was pretty calm when they wheeled her off.

Dad and I went and got something to eat and then just waited.

The surgery was bout 45 minutes.

Things went good.

They sent stuff off for tests and such.

But we are pretty optimistic that it was some sort of infection/mass that just couldn't find it's way to the surface.

But we will wait and see what comes back from the lab.

That should take a few days.

When we went to see Cassi, she was still pretty loopy.

But she was not at all like I thought she would be.

She was really quiet, and very observant.

She would look around and stare at stuff, very intently.

At one point she lifted her finger with the pulsoximeter (sp?) on it, with the light, and really studied it.

Then asked all kinds of questions about it.

What it did, why it made her finger glow.

Kind of funny.

But she was so serious, and it was so weird!

I had to tell the nurses that she was not like that at all, that she was happy and hyper and bubbly.

And that this is probably the most she had ever held still!

Speaking of nurses, kind of funny.

So our nurse was Bob the builders wife!

Bob, the one who helped us build our house......the one that just came over the other day!

Small world!

She was so sweet and took good care of Cassi.

We were finally able to take her home.

She kind of bummed me out being so quiet....made me sad.

Made me miss my Cassi :)

We got out of the hospital just in time for rush hour!!!!!

And it was bad.....but we made it to Walmart (again) to fill her prescriptions.

Doc wanted to get her on some antibiotics.

Then we got home and got her comfy on the couch.

And when the medicine was ready, I went back to Walmart.

Yep, 4 Walmart trips today!

Cassi had some visitors tonight.

Halle Dastrup stopped by and brought her a bag full of fun stuff and treats.

Jenni brought Ayden by to see her too.

That was fun.

And Avery stopped by.

Cass has such sweet friends :)

I sure hope she can get some good sleep tonight.

I hope we all can!

Wednesday April 27

I am blogging early so that I don't have to tonight.....

It might be a late one.

So Brent left this morning to go teach his class.

Kids got off to school good.

I came home and accidentally took another power nap :)

Then I did laundry, and I made banana bread to take for YW tonight.

After that was done I went for a run.

I ran 5, and I would have done 6, but I had to hurry home to go and pick Cassi up for piano.

Madi had a kind of rotten day at school :(

But she drove Cassi to piano and then we went and picked the little ones up from school.

Elsie also had a bad day :(

What is going on with everyone!?!?!?!?!?!

Came home and dropped the little ones off and went and got Cassi from piano.

Port and Elsie hung out with Max and Graham.

Then Dad came home, and I ordered the kids Book it pizzas from Pizza Hut, and got some pizza for us big people too.

Then before we knew it, it was 6, and Dad left to football practice with Port and Elsie.

The big girls and I will leave soon to go to YW.

Madi has a fun activity planned, so hopefully she will have some pictures I can add to the blog :)

And Cassi and I and the Beehives will be having a hair night.

How to curl your hair, and also fun easy ways to do your hair for camp!
Tomorrow will be a crazy day as well.
Cassi has surgery and then Dad has his captains interview.
I know all will be well, but that doesn't help much with the stress we are feeling around here........

Tuesday April 26

I helped in Porter's class today at school.

I do love helping in class because you really get to know the cute kids in the class :)

It is a fun time.

I got home around lunch and took a power nap.

Port woke me up last night and crawled in my bed and then Elsie was up at 5 :(

So I needed a little bit of shut eye!

Then I got up and went for a run.

I love my shoes......I ran 3 and I am hoping to do 6 tomorrow.....

I think the new shoes will really help with my calf problem.

I came home a little after Madi had gotten home.

And guess what?

Yep, she had a migraine!!!!!!

Good grief guys!

So she laid down and rested for a while.

Cass had a good day, so that's good.

I picked up the little ones and Elsie's day wasn't as great, not horrible, but not great.

She was soooo tired!

Dad got home just a little after 4.

He is teaching a class all week, so it was nice to have him home a bit early today :)

Elsie had speech, and I was worried if she would work good or not, but Graham was here and we let him play along with her, and she did great!

I helped dad study and go over possible questions they might ask at his interview on Thursday.

Then we made dinner together.

After dinner, I chilled with the little ones while Madi drove with dad and Cassi to Maverick to fill up with gas.

Dad also taught her how to check her oil, and they needed some, so he also taught her how to add it.

Fun times!

Monday April 25

It turned out to be a pretty crazy day today :(

I didn't get as much done as I had hoped to....

I went to the elementary school to help with the IRI testing.

While I was doing that, I got a call from the school nurse at Lake Hazel telling me that Cassi had just thrown up in class :(

So this morning she said that she had a headache, but did not want to miss school, because she has already missed so much.

So she took some Ibuprofen and went to school.

Well, i guess another migraine came on.

I feel so bad for her!

I know that all the stress about this surgery and stuff is causing these migraines.

Makes me so sad!

I went and got her and brought her home so she could lay down.

I told her to go to sleep.

I went back to Mary Mac to continue helping there, but told Cassi to text me if she needed me and I would be right home.

She slept the whole time.

I got home a little after lunch and she woke up and hopped in the shower.

It was about 1 by then and she was feeling okay, just a bit groggy.

We just decided to keep her home.

My visiting teachers came over at 1:30, and we chatted for a while.

Once they left, Madi came home.

Then i got a call from Mary Mac's nurse, telling me that Porter had hit his head on the jungle gym and had a goose egg on his head and his vision was blurry :(

I went and picked him up for the last 45 minutes of school.

He was fine, just has a bit of a bruised noggin.

After I went and got Elsie from school, I went to the shoe store.

I NEEDED to get me some running shoes!

It didn't take long.

The lady at the Pulse was so great to help me out and help me find the right shoe and help me spend a small fortune!

It really is crazy how much a good shoe costs.

ANYWAY....

I came home and we had dinner.

Then I took Madi driving again.

We went to Walmart.

There were a few things we needed to pick up.

She did a great job, even in the crazy wind!

We passed a wreck on Meridian road, and she did a good job going through that.

She is getting the hang of the stick shift.

It is still so crazy that my baby Bell is driving!!!!!

Once we got home it was time to get everyone ready for bed.

It really was a crazy day......I hope tomorrow is better :)

Sunday April 24

It was a nice Sabbath day today :)

Cassi left early again for choir.

The rest of us got ready and got to church....almost on time.

Elsie didn't go to class, and I didn't push it, she just came with me and all was good.

After church we had lunch and Port read all afternoon!

He has been reading Magic Tree house books, and he is loving them :)

And he is doing so good with his reading!

And Madi and I took a little drive.

I had to her drive us to the middle school and practice some parking......with no other cars around :)

I think she is doing a great job, but the manual is going to take some more time....especially at stop lights that are on a hill!

Ha ha......

We did our General Conference talk thing early, because we knew the big girls had a fireside tonight.

We listened to Sister Durhams talk HERE.

It was a good one.

It was about living int his world that is ready to drag us down and how we can teach our children to recognize and feel the spirit in their lives.

Her three tips were to:

First, we can bring to our children’s attention when they are hearing and feeling the Spirit. 

Second, we can prepare our homes and our children to feel the still, small voice.

and

Third, we can help our children understand how the Spirit speaks to them.

It says 'our children' but I also think it applies to ourselves.

We need to know when the spirit is guiding us, we need to have a home where we can feel the spirit, and we need to understand how the spirit speaks to us!

I really enjoyed this talk, and it is worth listening to it, or reading it again!

Then I made dinner and the girls got ready.

We gave Gramps a call.

It was good to talk to him :)

And I found out that Dussy Boy has been teaching him how to use the iPad, and Gramps has been reading the blog!

Very proud of you Gramps!

I know this technology stuff is no fun to learn!!!!

But I also found out that is how Dustin hacked into my account!

Ha ha.....

Anyway, then Stacia invited us over for some dessert before the big kids went to the fireside.

Madi drive us there in the suburban.

She did really good.

Stacia had a few families over.

There is a new family that moved in our ward, so that was fun to get to know them too.

One of their kids is in Port's class at school, so we knew him.

But it was fun to get to know his family a little bit.

Before the big kids left, they had to go back to our house to take some pictures by the Lilacs :)

They are so pretty right now!

Then they left to the fireside and the rest of us stayed and talked.

It was a nice time.

We got home a bit late, but waited for the big girls to get home and got everyone into bed.....except for the big girls who stayed up late braiding hair!

I hope they all sleep good :)

Saturday April 23

We saw our Bob, Bob the builder, at the soccer game last night.

We, the Edwards and us, made plans for Bob to come over and see how things are going at the houses.

He worked at Billy and Vern's place too.

He said he could come over between 9 and 9:30 Saturday morning.

Great!

But I wanted to have stuff kinda clean, so I told the kids they had to wake up at 8 and get all their chores done.

And guess what......they did!!!!

Port woke up and cleaned his room before he even came downstairs at 7!

I love it when he does that!!!!

It was so great how everyone did their jobs and we got everything done in about an hour and a half.

If only they would do this every week!!!!!!

It doesn't need to take up our whole Saturday!!!!!

Bob went to the Edwards house first, and so they didn't get here until about 10:30 or so.

After cleaning, Madi got to work on passing her permit test.

Some of the questions were so ridiculously worded!!!!!!

But she FINALLY passed it!

Yay!

Then Bob came and we hung out and talked and showed him around the place.

I made his favorite cookies for him, Oatmeal raisin.

Bob the builder is just so cool :)

After he left, we had planned to get yard work done.

BUT.....it rained all night and was raining all day.

So Dad decided it would be fun to go to a movie.

Max and Graham were still at our house, so we decided to take them too.

We went and saw the new Jungle Book.

It was so good!

There was a lot of jumping in the seats though with the tiger jumping in the shot at unexpected but expected times :)

But it was really good, and I like that they stuck close to the story we are all familiar with in the Disney movie.

We got home and I made all the kiddos do their homework so we wouldn't have any to do tomorrow.

Then about 6, Madi's driving instructor brought over her permit :)

So very exciting, right!

Well, she had to get out and drive, of course!

So after dinner, dad took Madi and Cassi and they did some driving.

She still has lots of practice to do with the stick shift.....but she is doing well.

While they were gone I cut Port's hair and got both the little ones bathed and showered.

I feel like I have become a crazy woman these last few days without getting any running in :(

I NEED that stress relief!!!!

First thing Monday morning (after I help at the school for IRI testing) I am going to go buy me some new running shoes and just go run!!!!!!

Friday April 22

So we took Cassi to her Dr. appointment today.

I had a YW meeting this morning, and dad had some irrigation stuff to do.

Then Cassi told me she forgot her lunch, so I just picked her up a little early when her lunch started and brought her home to eat.

So we had lunch then left for the Dr.

Still no real idea of what it is.

But the surgeon recommended we remove it.

So Cassi is set for surgery next Thursday.

We feel like it is the right thing right now.

Since no one can really tell us what it is, it will be nice to actually take it out and get eyes on it to see what it is.

And hopefully removing it will make it go away forever.

So that took pretty much all day.

I didn't take her back to school.

But we did stop by Dutch Bros.

Cassi BEGS all the time to go there for a smoothie.

We had a coupon for a free one, so we took her on the way home.

Dad got one too, and the kid said since it is his first time, he gets a free one!

When we went to pay, the other guy was like, well that's the new guy and we don't really do that, but okay.

So we got them both free.

Ha ha....but they did get tipped.

Got home and Madi got home then I went and got the little kiddos.

We left a little after that to go for Port's game.

But I had to stop by Winco because I was in charge of snacks for after the game.

The game was a good one.

They played an undefeated team, but they held their own and only lost by a touchdown.

But they are really catching on.....and it is so fun to watch and cheer for them!

We dropped Madi off at her friends birthday party and came home.

Dad did some more irrigation stuff and prep work to get the cows....

The kiddos and I hung out outside....it is cooler out there, but it was a nice night to be out.

Then we came inside and watched 'The Water Horse' and ate popcorn :)

Elsie's Emmy blanket comes with her downstairs every morning!

Just had to document.

I see things like this on the floor more often than not.

All ready for him to come home from school to put it on.

Cracks me up and I just love it :)

Elsie had marker in her eyebrow, so she told me to take a picture so she could see :)

Cutie patootie!

Madi, matching pants with her little boyfriend Graham :)

Yep, he was batman as soon as we got home from football!

And P.S. totally loving my lilacs!!!!!!!!

Thursday April 21

It wasn't too long after I dropped the little ones off at school that Cassi called and needed to be picked up because she had a migraine :(

Man....that girl is missing so much school!!!!!

I am sure the stress of everything lately is getting to her, and this is about the same age Madi and dad started getting migraines.

No fun :(

So she went up to bed and slept a couple hours.

Dad worked on the fence while I went running.

I got back and got ready to head back to the school for one last art installment for the art gallery night tonight!

I told Cassi to jump in the shower while I was gone and maybe that would help her feel refreshed.

She did start feeling better.

I got back in enough time to talk to dad real quick, and grab some snacks to go back and pick Elsie up for PT.

She worked great today for Katie....so that is good.

We left about 15 minutes early so we could get home and get dinner and get to the art gallery night.

We had dinner, and Dad drove Madi to a science thing she had at the school.

Then Dad has been talking to a guy in our ward about cows lately....and tonight (after we gave him a quick tour of the art gallery) he and Cassi went to pick out cows.

We should be getting them the beginning of the month.

Kind of fun :)

Anyway....so I had Elsie and Port at the Art night.

They had two rooms set up with art, a local artist, and then art from the MVHS students.

Then they had a room with face painting and a room where the kids could make screen printing type prints.....and fingerprint bugs.

It was a fun time.

But I am sure glad it is over and done with!!!!!

I brought the little ones home and got them bathed/showered because they were stinky sweaty kids!

Madi came home and then I left back to the school to clean up after Gallery night was over.

Whew!

I still have to take more down tomorrow, but taking down is much easier then putting up!!!!!

The little ones got to bed at a pretty decent time, which has not been the case lately!

I feel so ready for a vacation right now!

This is Elsie's class that we presented in the gym....

Our Georgia O'Keefe flowers

Elsie's beautiful flower

Port's self portrait :)

This was what they presented in the gym for his class.

Their artist was William H. Johnson.

And this is the look they were going for with their self-portrait.

A cute shot of his class :)

One of the classes had this up.

How fun is that....but so much work!

In the hall this cute girl tapped him on the shoulder and said 'Hi'.

I said, 'Who's that?'

He said, 'Just some girl who likes me'.

Then later we were in line for the face painting and Bubbles came to see the art, so I asked Port if he wanted to come with me and Elsie to show Bubbles their artwork, or stay and wait in line.

He was perfectly happy to wait in line ;)

Little lady killer!

Wednesday April 20

Have I mentioned before how BUSY Wednesdays are!!!!!!!

I made a cake first thing this morning.

After I took the little ones to school, I went to the church to set up for the YW/YM activity tonight.

Then I got home and made two more cakes then went for a run.

I was planning to do a 6 miler......and try it with Madi's shoes, hoping it would help my calves.

It was not better, it was worse!

I ended up running 3 miles, but not because of the shoes.

First of all, that HAWK dove at me twice!!!!

I know they are protecting their babies.....but man oh man....it has to be one of the most terrifying things ever!!!!!

But I kept going.

Then, while running up a hill, I was looking to see what my mileage would be at the top of the hill.

When I put my arm down, there right in front of me on the path was a RATTLE SNAKE!

I jumped over it just in time and it curled up and stuck it's head and tail up, and twisted my ankle doing it :(

And oh did I scream!!!!!

I had to take a picture of it because I don't think anyone would have believed me!

So, ya, that is when I decided that 3 miles was enough for today.

I got home and showered and went to the school to hang up the Art Smart stuff for Art Gallery Night tomorrow night.

Luckily Vern was there with me, so she made it a lot easier than doing it myself!

While I was doing that, Dad got most of the fence wire put up.

I got home and made another cake, and frosted them all.

I took Elsie to her friend Brynlee's house.

That was a lot of fun for her.

I made dinner, then went and got Elsie, we all ate dinner as a family, then the girls and I left for YW.

We did a missionary experience tonight.

We had 4 rotations.

One was a Q&A panel of returned missionaries in our ward.

Then we had a room with two other returned missionaries in the ward, one that served in Finland and the other Japan and they talked about the language and culture.

Then we had a Preach my Gospel room where the currant missionaries serving in our ward was in charge of.

They talked about what the different chapters of Preach my Gospel were about.

Then we had a P-Day room.

They had cards to write to our missionaries that are serving from our ward, and they also each had a Book of Mormon to write their testimonies in and they are supposed to give it out to someone they think could benefit from it.

Then we had cake :)

Lots of it.

I think it was a great night.....except we just did not have enough time for all the stations!

But it all worked out.

It was a fun night, but I am so glad it is over!

Tuesday April 19

After I dropped the kids off at school, I went for a quick run.

I needed to get something in, because it was going to be a busy day and I knew if I didn't do it right away, it wouldn't happen.

Then i showered and went and picked Cassi up from school.

She had another appointment for another ultrasound today ....then was SUPPOSED to see the pediatric surgeon after that.

But the surgeon got called out of town on family business, so that is postponed until next Tuesday.

The surgeon requested a specific person to read the ultrasound.

So she was in there with the tech, and they both seemed confused as to what it was too.

It looked like a lymph node, but it was in an odd spot for that.

And it is very close to the surface of the skin.

Also, they said it could be a cyst, but that a cyst wouldn't have blood flow, and this thing showed blood flow.

They also said the edges looked clean on some spots, but jagged on others.

They really gave us no ideas on what they were looking at.

So we just wait another week to see what the surgeon feels.

After our appointment, we went and had lunch at Cafe Zupa.

So that was a fun time.

It was nice to have some one on one time with her :)

She is a good kid, that has had a lot of those FUN (not fun) pre-teen attitude stuff lately, so it was nice to see her not in that way today!

I dropped her off back at school, then I went to get some Lularoe clothes because I am having a party in a few weeks, and wanted some stuff to wear so that people will ask, 'where did you get that super cute dress' and I will say that I am having a party, come check it out! :)

I got some super cute stuff and can't wait to get more!

I got home and cleaned up the kitchen.

Then I went to the school to help get stuff hung up for Port's class for Art Gallery Night on Thursday.

I have to go back sometime tomorrow to hang the stuff for Elsie's class too.

Came home when the kiddos got out of school.

Elsie had speech, and she was a good girl and worked hard.

Then I made another cake, because I was supposed to make one for the Relief Society activity tonight....

Then dad texted and said that there were some hours available to take, and that he was coming home!

Yay!

He is pretty beat!

They had a big rescue up in the canyon today, and he loves that kind of stuff!!!!

After we had some eggs for dinner (we have so many eggs!!!!) I took Elsie and Cassi with me to the RS night.

It was a Humanitarian project and we made 10 fleece blankets!!!

It was amazing how fast those blankets got done!

And so cute to have all the sweet little hands helping out.