Fluish Woes

We are all sick and tired around these parts.
Charlie came down with H1N1 on Monday night, and Sammy joined his brother in the high fever wracking cough department in the wee early hours of Thursday morning. This bug is wretched. Sammy's fever was 104.2 at it's highest point, and that just scares the poop out of me. This morning he came into our room at about 6:00, breathing like an old man with emphysema, and he said "Mommy, I just can't breathe!" Which also scares the poop out of me.

So, we've been downing tamiflu and ibuprofen, and taking regular breathing treatments in an effort to get well quickly. Charlie missed the Halloween party and trick or treating fun at preschool, and now I am worried Sammy won't be able to breathe well enough to go trick or treating tomorrow. And is there anything worse than being an almost 3 year old whose mother has told you that you can't go trick or treating?

Evan is not speaking to me this morning after having to reschedule his birthday party for the second time due to germs. He is so incredibly disappointed, but what else can you do? Stupid flu!

The bright spot in all of this is that I got to see my wonderful father in law in action. He called us Tuesday night and told he was coming down one day this week to watch the sick kiddos so that we could work. Bless him! He came in armed with a cooler full of soup and orange juice, and it meant the world to me. The kids are all in love with him. One of the nicest Grandpas I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, and I am so glad my kids can call him their own.

I hope all of you are having a much better Halloween week than we are!!

Today Was a Good Day

Today I got to work with 29 smart, quirky, full of life, energetic 1st graders.

I got to kiss my children awake. I got to watch Charlie and Sammy run with delight on their faces into their preschool classroom which had been transformed into a "spooky house" (preschoolease for Haunted House).

I got to cook dinner for my family, and help my Evo with his homework.

I did many of these things in a home we are blessed to have.

My husband is home from a week in Las Vegas. I was lucky enough to greet this adorable man at the door (in my adorable apron I might add-very June Cleaver!). Is there anything better than being married to your very best friend? I love him to pieces, but especially after he is home from a trip.

I read a good night story and said prayers with my little ones, and had a nice talk with Evan.

I am right now snuggled up on the couch enjoying Monday night football with my gorgeous Mr. Kleffman.

I am so, so, so very lucky. I am so glad I took small moments today to soak it all in. Thank you God, for my many blessings.

And Now He is Eleven!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful 11 year old Evan!

He turned 11 at exactly 2:13 AM. I told him in his birthday card that his birthday always reminds me of what a gift he is to me.

Eleven years ago, as a newly single woman and a single Mom, I should have been terrified at the prospect of raising a child on my own and having two years of college left to finish on top of it. But instead, I was absolutely IN LOVE with my new little man. He was instantly attached to me, and cried whenever I put him down, even when he was only hours old, so I spent the good majority of those first 6 weeks staring into his beautiful face. Having Evan to fight for made the hard work of those first years worth it. Whenever I felt tired, or like I might not make it to my goal of finishing college, I would just need to look at him to find strength.

And now, when our life is much more stable, I am finding new reasons to look at him and find more strength and patience. I know he is not officially a teenager, but boy howdy does the age of 11 bring hormones, mood swings, and tempers. If I had a dollar for every time the phrase "You just don't love me!" or "You are SOOO not fair Mom!" came out of his mouth, I could retire early. And when I am ready to pull my hair out at the complete craziness of his 'tween logic and view on life, I make myself look into his beautiful brown eyes and remember what a gift he is. And sometimes, when I am really in need of patience, I look into his face and remember the tiny little baby that arrived on October 20, 1998 . I see the little one who brought magic to my heart.

Happy Birthday Evan! I hope the next year goes very slowly, because I am not ready for you to grow up.

Update on GG

My Grandma is still in the hospital today. They have been working hard to get her lungs free of fluid, but it has been difficult because she is still in atrial fibrillation . They even used the paddles to try and "zap" her back into rhythm on Tuesday, and it only worked for about 5 minutes. The doctors have done many tests, and have discovered that she has calcification in her aorta and an enlarged right side of her heart (probably the cause for the irregular heart beat). They are beginning to think that she may have to remain in the atrial fib, and take blood thinners to reduce the chance of blood clots. One doctor even recommended open heart surgery for her in the future. While I want for her to be with us forever, and comfortable and healthy while she is, how much is too much intervention for an 88 year old woman?

It's so hard to watch loved ones be in pain. It is certainly taking a toll on my Mom and her sisters to watch their Mom go through this. I wish that growing older didn't have to be so messy.

She Hit the Nail on the Head

Go read cjane's post today. She hit the nail on the head, and said everything I have been trying to write here within the last couple of months. Only she did it much more eloquently.

In fact, cjane is one of the most eloquent ladies I know.

So! Go read. What she says is so true, and I am so there with her. Are you?

GG

My grandma, whom we affectionately refer to as GG Rosie, was admitted to the hospital today. She has lungs filled with fluid, and she is in atrial fibrillation.

I am so lucky to be 32 years old, and still have my Grandma here. I am doubly lucky to have this amazing woman as my grandmother and role model. I take the honor of bearing her name, Rose, as my middle name very seriously. I want to live up to the wonderful example of mother and wife that she set. (I really wish I had inherited her talent for having baby girls-she had 6!)

So, I am saying lots of prayers tonight, and sending her lots of love. She means the world to me.

Fall and...Snow?

On Friday night we went to a small, family run pumpkin patch. There is a HUGE patch here in Omaha that is more like am amusement park, which is fun but also super expensive. We were excited that our daycare (who planned the outing) chose this smaller, more family friendly venue.



I am in love with this picture. I know next to nothing about photography, and my camera is anything but fancy, but once in awhile a picture comes out that amazes me.

The weather was perfect. Temps were in the low 50s when we arrived, giving the air a fall crispness, and making it too cool for the bees to be much of a problem. The kids had fun checking out baby chicks:



Visiting the petting zoo:



getting their faces painted (Sam and Charlie both went with John Deere tractors, and Evan with a traditional pumpkin):



and riding horses:



Charlie and Sammy's favorite was the trike track where they sped around with their friends, pretending they were in the Indy 500. It was actually pretty momentous, as it was the first time both boys actually mustered the leg strength to actually pedal a bike, instead of doing a Flintstone push. As a result, we were forced to spend over an hour here so they could practice their new found talent.



For Evan and I, our favorite part was taking the hay rack ride and picking out our pumpkins. I got some great shots of the kids.






My Mom and Charlie:



Strangely enough, when we woke up the next morning, this is the scene that greeted us:



Yep. That's snow. On October 10th. We got roughly 4 inches of the stuff overnight. So Saturday morning as I processed our 30 pounds of apples, made homemade applesauce, and baked apple pie, my time clock was very off. It should have felt very much like fall between the pumpkin patch and the apples, but instead I felt like I should be pulling out the Christmas decorations. Very unsettling to have your seasons confused like that.

At least we got both trips in before it froze!!

Apple Orchard 2009

I love fall. I love the way it smells, the way it looks, and the way it feels. But most of all, I love all of the fun fall activities there are to do as a family. One of my favorite is our annual trip to the apple orchard.

We go to Ditmar's Orchard, right outside of Council Bluffs. This year, we had the pleasure of going with some of our favorite people: my friend Christi, and her two delicious children Alyssa and Joel. (Joel is one of my very handsome Godsons).





We rode a tractor up to the orchard, where the 5 kids got down to the serious business of selecting the best apples and finding the perfect tree.



My kids outdid themselves, and they picked 30 pounds of apples. The good part of that is that I had enough to give some to my Mom, and we will have plenty to turn into applesauce, apple pie, and apple butter. The bad part is that the bags became to heavy for Sam and Charlie to carry and I had to cart them around. Worth it for the apple desserts though, right? That's what I'm telling my aching arm muscles anyway.



We had lunch after all of our hard work. It's nice to see all of our kids together on outings. When I look at all of them together, it almost looks like they could be cousins. It must be all the blond hair and blues eyes!



It was a wonderful morning!