Could Use Some Of That Global Warming About Now

Boa Constrictor

Boa Constrictor
Oh, I'm being eaten
By a boa constrictor,
A boa constrictor,
A boa constrictor,
I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor,
And I don't like it--one bit.
Well, what do you know?
It's nibblin' my toe.
Oh, gee,
It's up to my knee.
Oh my,
It's up to my thigh.
Oh, fiddle,
It's up to my middle.
Oh, heck,
It's up to my neck.
Oh, dread,
It's upmmmmmmmmmmffffffffff . . .

Shel Silverstein

Livvy had to memorize a poem for school. She choose this one to memorize. She did a really good job and uses lots of expression.

A More Real Love Story

Saw this on one of my friend's blogs and wanted to share.

First Day Back to Work

The alarm went off and I didn't want to get up. I was having pain issues this morning. Not sure if it was anxiety or I slept wrong. Jenn came to help get Devin in the car but at Angie's house he wouldn't go in and kept running off and screaming. She had to come out and get him. Then when I got in there he just kept clinging to my leg. I didn't want to leave him. I have my leg propped up but I am pretty sore. The first class loved the Playing Battle Botz. It was nice to have the 6th graders to help the Kindergarteners. 6th graders didn't show up with the 2nd group of Kindergartners so I am having Garrett help. I am going to take some medicine at Recess. It seems like a long day and I still have 3 classes to go, plus physical therapy later on today.

But on the up side my husband had flowers delivered to me today. What a nice surprise.

So Sweet

Devin is so sweet. He knows that I have a boo boo. So he will come up to me and point to my leg and say "Boo Boo" then kiss my scar to make it all better. And when I am walking he will come up and grab my leg and give it a big hug. I love this kid.

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Three Funny Kids

1. Jeremy is going to take Garrett to school tomorrow so to speed up things in the morning. Jeremy told him to go head and change into what he wants to wear tomorrow. Garrett come back up stairs wearing pajamas. If we had asked him to put on pajamas he wouldn't have.
2. It is 8 o'clock at night, Devin my two year old goes to the fridge gets out the cheese sticks. We tell him no. He then go and gets out the left over lasagna and gives me the most pathetic look to tell me how hungry he is. How can I resist. So even though it is bedtime he gets to eat again. I swear I feed the kid.
3. My crutches got knocked over the other day and Olivia turns to me and says, "Mom, your crutches are so annoying." (That is her new word)

Freaky Weather

Yesterday it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining it was warm. The kids actually wanted me to let them play in the water hose because they thought it was so hot. Well today a storm came in. There were lots of clouds and then suddenly it was pouring hail with lots of thunder and lightning. It was pretty crazy.

Trampoline Ramp

I sent the boys out to play outside on Monday. I went and saw them playing like this. Somewhere they found some two by fours and then they thought to build a ramp, then slide down the ramp. How do they come up with this stuff and I wonder if they will ever just jump on the tramp.

Tuesday Complaining.

I was reading my friend Marianne's Blog and she did this on her blog. I was thinking about doing this before I read the blog. So here I am complaining on my blog again.

1. I kept Garrett home from School yesterday from school because I didn't want to take him to school and then drive and pick him up.
2. In my mind I thought he would help entertain Devin! Boy was I wrong. He was driving me crazy. "What can I do?" "I'm hungry." "I'm bored." "Can I play the wii/computer." " I don't want that for lunch."
3. Of course he played the wii, computer, and watched t.v. but the minute he was done he was bored again. I told him to go play on the trampoline with Devin. Two minutes later he was back bored again. Why did I keep him home again?
4. My husband's i-phone drives me crazy. It beeped every 2o minutes last night because it was reminding him to do something today.
5. I hate being on crutches. I can't do anything. I can't even get the milk out of the fridge! I tried taking a few steps without the crutches but it is too painful.
6. Since I have had surgery I have not kept up on my diet. But I should have because I haven't been exercising so I am sure I am gaining tons of weight. Which is discouraging because back in Dec. I had lost 30 and hadn't gained it back yet.
7. My kids are so messy. We did clean up before they went to bed last night and there are things all over the floor. Which on crutches is hard for me to pick up. So I stare at my house in disgust.
8. I feel guilty because I sent my 2 year old to the babysitter even though I am home.

Okay enough complaining now What I am grateful for: One for every complaint and couple more
1. I am grateful that the pain is getting less.
2. I am grateful for Netflix and the movies you can watch instantly
3. I am grateful to have another week off from work
4. I am grateful for Jennifer for helping out as much as she can with Laundry, picking up kids, dishes.
5. I am grateful for the beautiful weather and to be able to hear the birds sing.
6. I am grateful for lots of books to read.
7. I am grateful that my friend printed my sub plans and helped the sub.
8. I am grateful for the frozen dinners in the freezer
9. I am grateful for the friends who came to visit and just talk yesterday(Aimee and Kindra)
10. I am grateful for my children and my husband.

Progressive Dinner

Last night as a ward activity we participated in a Progressive Dinner. It was a lot of fun and we met some new people. We hosted at our house and provided the main course. Two couples came for salads and rolls and stayed for an hour.

Then 3 couples different couples came for dinner. We bought lasagnas and one of the other couples brought some baked asparagus.


Then two different couples came for desert. One of the couples brought a Chocolate Trifle. It was very yummy.

It was nice to spend the evening with other adults and meet new people. I had never participated in one of these before and it was really fun.

Need a good laugh

Why Dinosaurs are Extinct

My sister sent this to me and it made me laugh so I thought I would share.

Things To Do While Mom Is On Crutches

I knew that while I was on crutches the kids would need things to do over spring break so before the surgery Jeremy and I on our date night went to Walmart and bought several small things that would help the kids from being so bored. We bought go fish, bubble wands, sun catcher art kits, candy pezes, battleship, coloring books and a puppet making kit. They got to pick something out of the bag each day. The last day they picked out the puppet making kit. It was so cute. Everything had velco on it so the pieces could be reused. This kit kept them busy for over an hour. Then they would put on puppet shows like the "Three little monster and the Big Bad Alien." I love the phrase that Livvy came up with in the story"Not From the wart on my nose to the hair on my toes" when the big bad alien came. They have even gotten this out since to play with it. So I was wondering why did I wait to give this to them last. Here are some pictures of their cute monster puppets.

Post Op Picture

I finally got around to scanning the post-surgery x-ray of Robin's leg. And now you can see why the pain has been so bad (The light gray blob is the cement they put in to replace the tumor):

The Results Are In

Well, we got the phone call from the Doctor. The diagnosis is: Grade 1 Chondrosarcoma.

What does this mean? It means Robin had a rare but non-matastisizing form of cancer.

We found a good website that talks about it and here are some facts from the website:

Chondrosarcoma is a cancer of the cartilage. Chondrosarcoma is usually a slow-growing tumour and the most common sites are the pelvic bones, shoulder bones and the upper part of the arms and legs.

The exact causes of primary bone cancer are unknown.

Pain is the most common symptom of bone cancer.

Grading refers to the appearance of the cancer cells under the microscope and gives an idea of how quickly the cancer may develop. Low-grade means that the cancer cells look very like normal cells, and they are usually slow-growing and less likely to spread. In high-grade tumours the cells look very abnormal, are likely to grow more quickly and are more likely to spread.

Chondrosarcomas are graded from 1 to 3, with grade 1 being low-grade cancer and grade 3 high. Most chondrosarcomas are low-grade. Higher grade chondrosarcomas are more likely to recur and may spread to other parts of the body. Chondrosarcoma can occasionally develop into a more aggressive type of bone cancer known as dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma.

If the cancer comes back after initial treatment, this is known as recurrent or relapsed cancer.

As chondrosarcomas are very rare they are usually treated at specialist hospitals by a team of doctors and other health professionals.

Some people with a chondrosarcoma will need to have a combination of different treatments. The treatments that might be used are surgery (where this is possible), chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, chemotherapy or radiotherapy are not very effective for most chondrosarcomas and therefore surgery is the main form of treatment.

Major improvements have been made in surgery for bone cancer. In the past, if chondrosarcoma was found in a limb (arm or leg) it was often necessary to remove (amputate) the affected limb. Now, however, it is often possible just to remove the affected part of the bone and some of the healthy tissue around it. The bone is then replaced with a specially designed metal replacement (prosthesis) or a bone graft (bone taken from another part of the body).

After your treatment is completed, you will have regular check-ups and x-rays. These will continue for several years. If you have any problems, or notice any new symptoms in between these times, let your doctor know as soon as possible.

You can read the whole article at this website: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertypes/Bone/Typesofbonecancer/Chondrosarcoma.aspx

Since there is a chance of a chondrosarcoma spreading the doctor is going to have Robin get at CAT scan of her lungs in about 5 weeks. We'll put a scan of her post-op leg x-ray up here as soon
as we make it.

Here is a picture of the scar after surgery


Here is Robin on her Crutches.

Easter

Coloring Easter Eggs

One of the kids' favorite traditions is to color eggs. Jenn came over and colored eggs with us. I don't know what I am going to do with 18 hard boiled eggs though.

EASTER EGG HUNT

We invited some neighbors over and had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard. There were 14 kids. It was a lot of fun. I stuffed the eggs and Jeremy hid them. Each neighbor that came brought eggs to hide as well. It was a lot of fun and the kids got a ton of eggs and candy.

Bunny Cake

This is another one of our traditions.




We do these fun things but we always remember that the reason we celebrate Easter is because of Jesus and what he did for us.

Dinners for us

After I had surgery we have had several people bring us dinner. It has been so nice and we appreciate all of the people who brought them to us. They were all delicious!

Devin and Marbles

This is one of Devin's favorite things to do. He loves to play with the marbles and he loves for Jeremy to build courses for him.

Look Who's Cooking

Back in March we decided that the kids needed to help with dinners. We thought this would make them be more appreciative and complain less. The kids like when it is their turn to cook. So here is Garrett cooking Spaghetti. Of course they still need help. We hope this works. So the schedule goes like this: I cook Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Livvy cooks on Tuesday, Garrett cooks on Wednesday, and Jeremy cooks on Thursday. We haven't done it as much since I had my surgery but Livvy made muffins this week and Garrett made pizza (with Jere's help). They get to pick what they want to cook and it can't be cereal or popcorn or the same thing they did the week before.

Trampoline

Since we knew I was going to have surgery and the kids would need something to do over Spring Break we bought a trampoline. The kids were really excited but the weather has not been cooperating to let them play on it. But the first day after we put it put they wanted to play on the trampoline. So they went out to play. I went to check on them and they were playing in the box that the trampoline came in.

Physical Therapy Day 1

Today I had my first physical therapy visit. It was so painful! He was checking my range of motion and it is bad 58 degrees They want around 115 degrees or so. All the work I went through to get my knee working properly after my ACL surgery is gone. He had me bending my knee, he rubbed a lot around the stitches on my leg, and he had me do leg pushes. I actually had tears in my eyes and I was gritting my teeth trying not to yelp. This just seems so much more painful than last time. I know I am a big baby. But it HURTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a nicer note my husband made me a smoothie and brought it to me when he came to pick me up from physical therapy. That made my day. He is so thoughtful.

Daredevil

Some Things about Surgery

Things I Learned About Surgery:

1. They took me down to the surgery room but the surgeon wasn't finished with his other surgery. So I got parked in my hospital bed outside. This was not bad except that there was a big window where I could look in and watch the other surgery. It is not a good thing to watch them do surgery on someone else right before you are going to go in and have them cut you open. It really freaked me out.

2. The last thing I remember is my anesthesiologist saying this was his first time. AHHHH! I sure hoped he was joking.

3. When you are coming out surgery you are freezing. They put about 5 heated blankets on me and I was still shivering.

4. Having a morphine drips makes your oxygen levels go down so you have to have oxygen on. Having a tube up your nose is very uncomfortable. I was curious to see if the tube actually helped me so I removed it and my oxygen levels went down pretty fast. I put the tube back in.

5. Being on bed rest after surgery means you can't get up at all. Not even to go the bathroom, so I got to use a lovely bed pan. It was so embarrassing. There is no dignity in a hospital.

6. A morphine drip is a fabulous thing. You don't realize how much it helps until they take you off the medicine and then you feel everything. Boy I sometimes wish I still had that morphine drip. (It wasn't really morphine but some other narcotic.) I am living on my pain pills right now and often am counting down the time until I can take my next dosage.

7. Staying in the hospital is supposed to help you rest. Well what they don't tell you is that every hour someone comes in to check your blood pressure, make you wiggle your toes, or check your fluids. My favorite is them coming in to take blood and then missing the vein at 3:30 in the morning. Or when the saline in the IV runs low and the most obnoxious alarm goes off but no one is at the nurse's station to come and help you. So much for sleep and rest.

8. After surgery, even though you feel hungry you can't eat and when you do eat you feel like throwing up. They hurried and gave me anti-nausea medicine.

9. When you have surgery you realize how many people actually care about you. People call to check on you, bring you dinner, make you care packages, and send you flowers. I am so grateful to all of these people. It makes all the other things bearable.

April Fools

Olivia really wanted to have some fun with her classmates for April Fool's Day. Robin came up with the idea to have them go on fake treasure hunts. We hid these clues in 6 kids' desks after school yesterday. None of the teachers listed are in on the joke! Here are the clues we wrote:

To find the treasure
First, collect three small stones
Second, go to Mr. Hunter
Third, give him the stones
Fourth, tell him, “Ooga Booga Boo!”
And then ask him for the treasure!

To find the treasure
First, draw a picture of an Easter Bunny
Second, go to Mrs. Cox
Third, give her the picture
Fourth, tell her, “Happy Halloween!”
And then ask her for the treasure!

To find the treasure
First, pick up 10 pieces of garbage
Second, go to Mr. Coalwell
Third, give him the garbage
Fourth, tell him “My frog has chubby ankles!”
And then ask him for the treasure!

To find the treasure
First, choose three crayons
Second, go to Mr. Bowman
Third, show him the crayons
Fourth, ask him, “Te gusta frijoles?”
And then ask him for the treasure!

To find the treasure
First, get three bandaids from the office
Second, go to Mrs. Watson
Third, give her the bandaids
Fourth, tell her, “I saw a purple elephant at 9 o’clock”
And then ask her for the treasure!

To find the treasure
First, find a lunchbox with black on in it in lost and found
Second, go to Sra. Duran
Third, give her the lunchbox
Fourth, tell her, “Eres hermosa”
And then ask her for the treasure!

New Job

We found out that I will be the Principal at Cedar Ridge Elementary School next year. Wahoo!