Our Camping Trip

Once again it has been far to long! But fear not, I have not stopped taking pictures and there is lots to talk about. Most of which I won't get to on this post. But the main purpose of this post is to post lots of pictures and tell of our adventures while camping and a little bit of our post camping trip. Lots of drama!! So enjoy :)

A while back, Jeremiah and Kelly and Dan and I had decided to go camping over the weekend that both the guys were in a wedding in the UP. Dan and I did the math, figuring out how much it would cost to simply pull "our" camper up there. Using Dan's truck, it would have cost us around $300. So we decided that wasn't such a good idea. Dan's brother, who lives up in the UP, had recently purchased a "camper". So I decided to call and ask if we could possibly use it for the weekend. Little did we know that the camper was actually going to be nicer than our house, just about. As you can see from the following pictures, there was a little bathtub, a full living room, central air...yep luxury, a microwave, stove and kitchen area. In other words, it was awsome. If we had known how nice it was, we probably never would have asked to use it. But I am glad we did. We did leave a little something for Gary and Fay for letting us use their awsome camper. At any rate..enjoy the pictures, because who knows when the next time will be when I have a free night!!

Josiah loved having the freedom. But he especially loved having the water spikit right at our site.

Josiah and Brayden made it worth taking the picnic table with us!!

Mothers and Sons

This is a picture of Josiah running away. This was the story of our weekend. He was soooo busy and on the go. We would let him go so far and then take off after him.

I was able to get some scrapbooking in!! But it was so windy that my pictures kept blowing all over.

We finally got a picture of all of us. Not the best picture, but still we were all in one picture :)

The first picture is of Josiah driving his truck on Brayden. The second picture is of Josiah giving Brayden a hug and the third picture is of Josiah sharing his water. The kids were too cute this weekend.

Kelly had the bright idea of getting some excersize. So we took advantage of the grandparents taking the boys overnight on Friday night. We had some adult time on Saturday morning and it was so great to just hang out. It was like old times!!

That tetherball ball was really hard and really hurt, but was really fun!!

Brayden had fun in the water, as long as he was outside the pool. It was too funny when Kelly tried to put Brayden in the pool...his little abdomen is so strong that he could hold his little legs parallel with the ground for quite some time.

Brayden was a lot of fun to photograph!! Isn't he such a cutey!!!

Aren't we cute couples!! No wonder we have such cute kids :)

Best Buds

Boys and their trucks

Little did we know that the reason Josiah kept laying down because he had the beginnings of strep throat...and the drama began the morning we were getting ready to head home.

I woke Josiah up so we could get everything packed up, but he was unusally whiney that morning. I picked him up and snuggled him and realized he was burning up. I had had forthought to put the thermometer in and discovered that his fever was 102.7. Needless to say, our trip home was pretty long. Between stops to stretch, go to the bathroom, eat and check his fever/meds...it was a 9 hour trip home. Two nights later he would run a fever of 105 degrees. I was certain we were headed back to the hospital. It was the middle of the night and I already had our bags packed when the doctor returned our page. He told us to put him in a luke warm bath for a half an hour to see if we could get his fever down. Right in the middle of his bath, when were trying to warm up the bath because it had cooled way down, the heating element in our hot water heater decided to die. So no more hot water. I sat in the bath tub with him trying to console him. In the end it brought it down to 103 and many hours later he finally fell asleep. We took him to the Dr. first thing in the morning and they concluded that he had strep throat, the same illness that put us in the hospital with the seizure and high fever only a few months ago. I tell you what, between the seizure (which entailed an emergency room visit, ambulance ride and overnight hospital stay), the cat bite (which entailed 3 emergency room visits, two Dr. visits all with substantial co-pays and his medication) and this last bout of strep throat (which thankfully was only a dr. visit and the medicine), we have about broke the bank. It is unbeleivable how much Dr.'s cost with decent insurance, I don't know what people without insurance do. Anyway, after a week of clingy, whiny, not going to sleep, screaming when dad came near, only wanting mom and wanting mom all the time....Josiah is finally back to his old self (well mostly)! Glad to have our happy guy back, whiny is not fun for anyone.

To top off our trip home, we hit a deer. Actually the deer flew into us as we went around a corner. Never saw it coming! But the damage is going to set us back our deductible of $400, that is when we get around to fixing it. For now, we are content with crawling through the passenger side window, Dukes of Hazard style.

But our drama didn't compare with that of Jeremiah and Kelly. When they got home they discovered that their house had been vandelized. they had taken their DVD's, video games, jewlery and some other stuff. But the worst part about it was having their home invaded. The purps tore apart their bedroom and kicked down their doors, among other stuff. To top off the whole experience, Brayden decided it was a good time to choke on a penny. Timing is everything;)

However, even though all that stuff happened..we had a wonderful time up in the UP once again!! Even though I had apprehentions about taking an 18 month old camping...it worked out great and we all had a really fun time.

A Fun and Productive Weekend

We got so much done this weekend, I can hardly believe it. It all start on Friday when mom and Bob came down to help with Josiah and aroudn the house. Then on Saturday it was really crappy outside so we got going on garage sale sorting. Dan had a few boxes from the attic that needed to be sorted through. He got those mostly sorted and a few more boxes for the garage sale. I was able to go through all the clothes in my bedroom that hadn't been put away and through all the winter clothes for garage sale potential. Two more bags for the garages sale.

We went and bought our plants with our Menards gift card and by Monday afternoon our Garden was completely put in. I can't wait for the fresh salsa!!! If only the woodchucks don't get to the plants first :(

I was also able to get all the stuff for our camping trip out of the camper and then I started cleaning out my car. I did a once over vacuum of both my Aztek and Prism. Today I am going to go through with a fine tooth comb and try to get them spotless...or mostly so and ready for our trip this weekend as well as ready to sell!

Josiah's room is finally finished!!!

Even though it took us a year and a half, we have finally finished Josiah's room. I hated it for a long time because the trim was alternating the color of the walls (red and yellow as you can see). However it looked like McDonalds and I hated it. It was supposed to be a Mickey Mouse room. So I finally got the bright idea to take down the trim and get Mickey border and walah! I love it!!! Once we got going on the border we got everything else hung up too. The only thing I have left to hang is one of the drawings I did myself and I just got the frame for it today!! Very exciting!!

p.s. Karen...if you happen to see this post, that picture of Mickey golfing was a graduation from high school gift. Thanks for the inspiration for Josiah's room :)

The Boys get their Hair Cut

A few weekends ago, my mom came down to help clean and sort through stuff for our garage sale. And last minute I asked her to bring down her clippers because ours were way to loud to cut Josiah's hair. He wouldn't stand for it. These clippers were perfect. We placed Josiah in front of the TV with his favorite movie in "Happy Feet" and away we cut. He did really well and I think it turned out really well!

Josiah's Hair Before

Josiah's Hair After

Dan's Hair Before

The progression....top of his head was so shiny, you can't even see it.
Dan predicts that this is the pattern in which he will lose his hair (yikes).
Finished Product!!!

Both my boys after their hair cut. Aren't they handsome???

Things are Better :)

I have now had time to process getting turned down for the job on Friday and to realize that God does have a plan, I just don't know what it is yet. I am sooooooooooooo looking forward to this weekend that is coming up. We are heading to the UP for a wedding. Dan and his best bud, Jeremiah are in a wedding. So we all decided to go camping for the weekend. We each have our own camper, so that will be nice. But it will be so great to just get away and have some much needed relaxation away from everything. We are heading up on Thursday night and you know me I have started my lists :) I think there are 6 of them right now: stuff from our camper, food stuff, Josiah's stuff, extra stuff, food menu ideas and shopping list. Still have to get with Jeremiah and Kelly to get the shopping list more put together, but still having fun with the lists :) I am very concerned about our money situation right now as many of you know. So taking this trip is going to cost a big chunk of money between gas, food and camping. However, God is truly good. Yesterday I got my credit card rewards statement saying that I have enough points for $100. So our camping is going to be paid for. So cool!!

Another God/$ moment happened yesterday. We are planting a garden this year, both to save money and just to have a garden again. But the plants for planting a garden cost money. So I was cleaning out my purse and wallet yesterday and I found a $25 gift card from Menards that I had completely forgotten about. Yah!!!!!!! We only had to pitch in $10, and that was only because we needed to buy a new sprinkler, both for the garden and for JOsiah to play in this summer.

I have also been scrapbooking a ton. I figured out how to get paid to scrapbook :) When I substitute teach, I take all the stuff I need in a plastic carry along thing that is 12x12. Big enough to hold all my paper, pictures, tools, etc. So over the past month I have completed 32 pages. I am so proud of myself. Plus it has made subbing bearable!!!

I have been cleaning like crazy...a sure sign that I am feeling better. When I am depressed, I simply do not clean anything. The house gets completely let go. But both Dan and I used the rain day yesterday to sort through stuff for our garage sale that we are having later this summer. I have gone through about half of our attic. A big chunk still to go, but huge progress has been made already. I also started going through all of my clothes, getting winter clothes put away, summer out and stuff sorted out for the garage sale. So far I have 3 big bags of clothes. and tons of other stuff. It's going to be a big sale!!!

So once again thank you for the prayers. I have felt them a ton lately!!

And the week continues...

The Good News: Josiah is doing great!! The swelling is almost completely gone and after hopefully the last dr. visit for a little while, he said his hand looked good. He was doing so great that he would have the energy to throw an all evening tantrum. Good fun!!!

More Good News: My mom and stepdad, Bob, came down for a visit while I went on two interviews today. They took Josiah to his Dr. apt and then came back and helped with some much needed cleaning. Bob lit a fire under Dan's butt and our front yard is almost completely free of great big logs that have been preventing us from mowing our yard. Yah!!! We were gratefull for all they did for us today!

Not so good news: Dan and I had applied to the same place a couple of weeks ago for a Programmer Trainee position. The training was on the job for 3 months and then upon completion, you would be hired and given a raise with benefits. A person at our day care happened to work there and I had asked her if she anything about it. She checked into and let me know on Thursday that they had already chosen their candidates. On the upside, the person asked if I might be interested in another position they had available. Who knows.

More not so good news: I had the two interviews today, one at a bank and the other at a temp job doing filing and data entry. I was so excited after my first interview for the bank job. It was 4 weeks of training and several on the job rotations. The benefits were fenominal and would start on the first day. I thought I had done really great and that I had made a connection with my interviewer. They would let us know today if they would call us back for a second interview. I guess in my mind I had already gotten the job...not sure why, I just felt really confident. So when I got the call at 3:00pm saying they had selected other candidates, I was shocked and then really down. Thank goodness my mom and bob were here...a great distraction and I didn't really have time to shed many tears. I am trying to look at it that it just wasn't meant to be and I didn't have to make that decision, it had been made for me. I think the second interview went well. I was so confident after the first interview that I had a hard time getting focused. But I finally convinced myself that I should really take this seriously because you just never know. I think the interview went well, but that's what I thought about the first one too.

Just plain down and out: It is just soooo frustrating when things just don't seem to be going our way. I have no idea what God has planned in this for me, I sure wish I knew. I know for sure that he is testing our ability to live with less and spend less, because we simply don't have it anymore. We haven't been in this position in a long time, or maybe ever in our marriage. So its really tough knowing that we have all these bills coming, when I have no idea how, or where I will be able earn a living when school is out in less than 3 weeks.

We are now talking about trying to sell or trade in both our Aztek and Prism to get out from under at least one monthly payment and use the profit (if there is one) to get a car that is already paid off. We can always get something newer when I am able to find a stable job (if there is such a thing in my future).

On the sort of upside: I got our travel rewards statement from our credit card and we have spent enough money (yah, they sure do get you here...spend more to get a few bucks but still something) to pay for our upcoming trip to the UP. OK, not the whole trip, but it will pay for our camping and a few miles of gas :) I was pretty excited when that came in the mail today.

Yah, pretty down and out...and really trying not to be. So, I am sorry if my bloggin is really depressing right now. I will let ya know when things are starting to turn around. Hopefully that will be really soon! Thank you again for all the prayers. We have never needed them more and are so grateful, for those of you that have kept Josiah and our family in your prayers!!!! Who knows what tomorrow will bring!!!!

What a week!

SUNDAY NIGHT: We ended our weekend with Josiah getting bit or scratched by a cat (we weren't sure at that point). Our cat at home is very mellow and he has started carrying her around and can pretty much do anything he wants with no response. This cat, on the other hand, does not like kids. We were trying to see if he would simply learn not to pester this cat. He had already been scratched several times, but he was simply determined to make friends with this cat. Well he got in the cats face one to many times, and no one could intervene in time before the cat had had it. He had also taken a fall onto his face that night, giving him quite a swollen lip. Thank goodness kids heads are as solid as rocks at his age and that swollen lips heal quickly because the rest of the week would be tough. At any rate, I called my doctor immediately on our way home and he thought that we would be ok to wait until morning and he would call an antibiotic in. My initial reaction was panic. I have heard so many horror stories about cat bites and in the hand is the worst place to get bit. Plus there was cat scratch fever if they weren't bites, but scratches. Whatever they were, they were deep and we had a feeling that there was a good chance for infection. But we waited until morning.

MONDAY MORNING: An infection had definately set in and his hand had already started to swell and turn red. But we got the antibiotics going at around 11:00am. I was still really concerned about his hand, it was just getting more swollen and more red. So I made an appointment to see the Dr. When we got to the dr's office, they got us right in, but instead of seeing the Dr. who we had been talking to, the PA came in. He barely looked at it and said he was on the right antibiotic and sent us home, telling us to watch it. I was pretty mad that he didn't even take the time at that point to check with the Dr. on the situation. But we went home and kept him on the antibiotics.

TUESDAY MORNING: Now the hand was very swollen. But the redness hadn't spread, so I took him to day care and I went to work.

TRIP #1 TO THE HOSPITAL

TUESDAY AFTER WORK: By the end of the day, the day care provider said that it looked much redder and it did look more red. We went home and ate dinner and finally I decided to call the dr. By now it was 7:00pm. He told us to go immediately to the Emergency Room in town. The ER close to our house couldn't handle this. So we packed up and prepared for a long night.

Dan met us up at the hospital where we waited for an hour and a half to get a bed in the hall way. Ok, now. Picture an 18 month old simply hanging out on a bed in the middle of a hospital hallway. Yah, that's not going to work. But because we had been in a hospital with him before, we had discovered the best thing for a child his age that has to be restrained to a small area. The portable DVD player. He wasn't interested in any of the toys or books we brought for him, but the movies, he watched endlessly. I truly can't believe how much he sat and watched and was good for us, the DVD player was definatley a blessing. Because we would go on to spend many hours in the hospital over the next 24 hours.

They finally came to see us and said immediately that he would need IV antibiotics and may have to be admitted over night. We were prepared for this, because our doctor had given us the possibilities. From the time we had arrived at the hospital and the time we got seen by the doctor, the infection had spread from the base of his fingers to his knuckles and up. The infection spread so fast, but the dr. informed us that that was the danger and problem with cat bites, was that once the bacteria set in, the infection can move very quickly. He also let us know that it was a cat bite because of the progression of the infection. Cat scratches result in enlarged lymphnodes and his were fine. I was just glad it wasn't both at the same time. He was running a fever, but the dr. said it was just due to the body fighting the infection.

So it was a very good thing that we had made our way to the hospital when we did. We finally did get a room and then things moved quick for a few minutes anyway. They were getting him prepped for the IV and to draw blood. The nurse that did his IV this time was a pro. When we took him in for his seizure, they kept poking and poking and finally had to put the IV in his foot. That was so traumatic for him and so much for me that I had to leave the room. This time he cried and cried (which still breaks any mother's heart), but they were pretty quick about it. He continued to cry out of pain and now exhaustion for another 20 minutes and finally crashed.

We then waited another hour or so for the antibiotics to arrive because the dr wanted a higher dose than the pharmacy would allow. But they finally arrived and got his IV going. They also said that his blood work looked really good and that if we felt comfortable doing so, that we could go home and sleep for a few hours and then come back for the next dose of antibiotics. So we sat watching Happy Feet and Cars. He was so tired, but he wouldn't fall asleep. I think the IV was really uncomfortable on him, the tape was to tight or something.

A half hour later the IV was done and they unhooked the IV but left the stint in so that when we came back in the morning they wouldn't have to poke him again (what a great idea). We got home at about 12:30am and he was still wide awake. A bottle later, and he was out. It took a little while for me to settle down from the nights events, but I was finally able to get a few hours of sleep.

TRIP #2 TO THE HOSPITAL

WEDNESDAY MORNING: Josiah and I were up at 6:30am so we could get back to the hospital for his 2nd dose of antibiotics. Dan ended up going to work, because Josiah's hand was looking alot better and we were pretty sure they wouldn't have to hospitalize him at this point. I stopped and treated both Josiah and I to donut holes :) Nothing like a little sugar to get going in the morning!!!

We got to the hospital at 7:30am and we waited for another hour and a half to be seen. Finally they came in and then we had to wait for another hour for the IV antibiotics. So much down time for a 1 1/2 year old. I was starting to get warn out. He did watch his movies and was pretty good natured through it all, but he is still a toddler that wants to toddle!!!

Here is a picture of his hand on Wed. morning after all the redness had gone away. Still pretty swollen and you still couldn't see his knuckles, but better. The blue marks are wear the infection was the previous night. The dr. wanted to make sure it didn't spread any more.

Finally at 10:30am we were on our way home. Josiah fell asleep on the way home and would continue to sleep until 2:30pm. He was tired. He got up from his nap, ate lunch and we were on our way back to the hospital for trip #3. The bummer about all this is that we are going to get charged for all 3 ER visits. At least they let us go home over night, but it still sucks that they are going to get us for all 3 visits. Such is life, we had to get his little hand better.

TRIP #3 TO THE HOSPITAL

WEDNESDAY EVENING: Josiah and I got back up to the hospital at 4:00pm. Even with a nap, I was still wearing thin with the whole waiting thing. It is soooo hard to keep a child entertained. And I was by myself. Dan was working in the morning and he was so exhausted by the end of the day, he had to get a nap in so he could go to work the next day rested. Josiah new right where the toys were in the waiting room were and went right to them. Not a good thing really. However I wish the toys were portable and could be taken into the rooms with you because the center of this toy kept him kind of contained, but as you can see he did figure out how to climb out.

This time they sent us over the urgent care. The dr. that saw him this time asked if anyone had drained the puncture points. I told her that Dan had tried and had gotten some puss out on Tuesday. She felt around and decided it would be a good idea to try and drain them. So I sat on the bed, with Josiah on my lap. They used a needle to numb up the area and then a razer to cut it open and get any puss. This was not a fun time at all. He did as well as anyone getting a shot in their hand could have done.

After that, we waited again. Finally at about 6:00pm they finally started the IV which was only supposed to take a half an hour and we could have gone home. An hour later and it was finally finishing up. She had put the wrong drip speed in the IV, which I had asked about but she said it was fine. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh! I just wanted to go home and by this point Josiah was restless, tired and now hungry because it was now past dinner.

After all that we were able to go home and be done with the hospitals for the time being. In all this I have found something to be thankful for. The things that have brought Josiah to the hospital have been minor in comparison to other child hood problems. We were able to go home after a day or two and be done with the whole thing. I cannot imagine what it must be like for parents and children with childhood cancer. But for us, at this point in our lives, it was still a tough week and we are just thankful that Josiah is healing up very quickly and well. Now we just have to battle the yeast infections that come with antibiotics...nothing compared to the hospital visits, but still not fun!!! Thank you for those of you who knew about this situation and were praying for Josiah. Every prayer helps!!!

It's a Boy!

Meet the newest member of the Mindy and Mike's family!!

Luke Edward

Born: March 17, 2007

Weighed: 6lbs11oz

Length: 19"

Time: I think they said 11:46am.

Isn't he just perfect!!

Proud papa Mike!! I didn't even get a picture of Mindy with Luke. Maybe later, or check momteacherfriend's blog or insert title here.

It's Been a Long Time

...and I still don't feel much like writing. I think Mindy and both caught the same "blog" bug. EDS completely drained me of everything and the only thing I had energy for was playing with Josiah and watching TV.

For those of you who I haven't talked to yet, I no longer work at EDS. I couldn't handle the stress anymore. I don't deal with stress very well and I tend to duck out when the going gets tough. The reasoning is two fold: they had changed my schedule 5 times and were about to change it again in less than 4 months on the job. They told us we would have our schedules changed every 3 months or so. They told us alot of things that they didn't hold up their end of the bargain. At any rate I am substitute teaching until the end of the school year. I have no idea what I will do beyond that. I am trying to trust that God has something in mind, but sometimes that is hard to do when you see the paychecks ending. Please keep us in your prayers, as we will be needing them lots over the next months!

I will try and post a happier blog with pictures of our happy little (now getting very big) guy!!

New Babies!

All of my college friends got together during hte week last week because Tierney was in from out of town. Beth and Kari had new little ones in tow and I wanted to post a couple of pictures. Samantha is Beth's little one. She is the one that I had written about quite awhile back about being 9 weeks premature...but she is doing great now and putting on lots of weight. She is tooo cute! Kyra is Kari's litte one. Kari just recently adopted Kyra and she too is a beautiful baby!!! So much fun to have two more little ones to add to our crew!!!