Party Day!

I've been meaning to share these pictures for several weeks, but seem to have had a slight disruption in the routine. Thank you for all of your prayers for Dwight. He has returned to work on a minimal basis - and is being cared for by his woman boss, who sends him home when she thinks he's had enough. He actually made it to choir practice tonight and seemed to really enjoy that. Everyone is so glad to see him back at work and church. And the girls are thrilled to have Grandpa back home. He does seem to have developed a secondary fungal condition on various parts of his body. A trip to the dermatologist yielded a powerful once-a-week pill for six weeks, as well as orders to take 2-3 bleach baths (one cup of bleach in a tub full of water) per week. Crazy!! But he'll do ANYTHING to get rid of this fungus junk.

I started this a few days ago - and today (Monday) Dwight worked a whole day, then went for a short walk when he got home. YAY for improvements every day!

One Saturday awhile back, there were three birthday parties planned. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for the first one. All 4 girls were invited to both of the children's parties that day. The first one was for a 6 year old girl who was born in Peru to her Peruvian mom and American dad when they were missionaries over there. This was a really fun parties with lots and lots of cute little girls. The daddy led in very energetic games. The food was plentiful and good. Then there was the pinata, which they made themselves. It was such fun watching from the youngest to the oldest taking their whacks for the candy.

We went back to our house for a couple of hours, only to return for a "princess party" later in the day. Oh, my goodness, what fun they all had. It was a tea party and they were to all dress up.

The tables were set up with games and puzzles.

Then they were treated to manicures (well, fingernail polish) and "jewelry".






The professional princess serenaded them with Disney songs. She was really good!




Then they had tea and cookies. . .




Followed by the very special cupcakes - showcased by the very lovely little birthday princess --




The birthday princess received so many lovely princess-worthy gifts --




The princess posted with each of the girls, and with the whole group.










That evening, we left the little girls home with Grandpa and headed over to celebrate my dad's 86th birthday.

Thursday night, the 4 girls, Kristen, and I are all going to Disney on Ice. The little girls are used to being left behind, so when Katie asked, "Do we get to go?" and the answer was "Yes, you get to go!" - the reaction was priceless!!

Sorry to be gone so long . . .

It's definitely time to catch you up on what's been going on around here. It was four weeks ago today (Friday) that Dwight went to bed in the afternoon. It's been more than two weeks since I wrote the first post about this physical trial he's been going through. He has been on the i.v. antibiotics this entire time - the schedule was changed from one two-hour infusion per day to one-hour infusions twice a day - 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. His wonderful sister has done this process every day for 22 days. Hopefully this morning's infusion will be the last, prior to his appointment with the infectious disease doctor.

The improvement has been slow, but steady. It was a great day when his voice began to sound like himself. It was a great day when his appetite began to improve. He has spent a lot of time sleeping, reading, and watching t.v. with our brother-in-law, who is disabled. I have been there as much as I could, but have had the girls often, so I haven't seen him every day. I love hearing his voice on the phone, just as I did when we first met.

He did make it to church for the late service last Sunday, and he was so happy to be there. Everyone was so happy to see him. We're all hoping he'll make it back to choir in time for the Easter musical.

We had to go shoe shopping - there was no way he was ever going to put his toes into those possibly fungus-infested shoes. So into the garbage can went several pairs of really nice shoes. He also replaced his socks. I can't say that I blame him. We went on to Culver's and grabbed a bit of lunch together - it felt so good.

He's gradually doing more activity. I think he's hoping to go back to work on Monday - after four weeks off.

Interestingly, we received a survey in the mail, asking about our experience in the ER - I had been planning to write a letter of complaint, and this was the perfect opportunity. We filled out the survey, which went to a location in Miami. That wasn't satisfactory for me, so I sent a letter directly to the CEO of our hospital. Prior to that, and when he was still in the hospital in the town north of us (because his doctor is up there), I had called our hospital to register our dismay, and hadn't heard back from them, thinking that was the end. I don't know if they've received the letter, but they called us from the ER this week for more information. They asked if Dwight would approve the sending of the records from the hospital where he was admitted, to see what they missed. It'll be interesting to see what comes of that.

In the meantime, life has gone on with the kids as usual, except for missing their grandpa, who provides so much fun. I can assure you that Grandpa will not be renting skates again! I miss him in so many ways, but I really miss his awesome help with the kiddoes! Most of my days haven't been this crazy, but here is yesterday's madness:

7:30 - the girls had spent the night, as they always do on Wednesdays. It was "Crazy Hair Day" at school, so they needed to stop by their house on the way in order to do the crazy things to their hair, as they had forgotten their accessories at home. Got them to school and left the twins with their mommy for a couple of hours.

8:30 - went to the gym for a bit of "me time."

10:30 - picked Kristen up to take her to a meeting in Fort Collins (she was out of gas and doesn't get paid until today). Stayed in the car with the twins while she was in the half-hour meeting. Traffic was crazy both ways, so she was a bit late for her meeting, therefore late getting out of her meeting, therefore late to work. Had a headache from that madness, but it went away soon.

12:30 - dropped her off at work and went home for a few minutes - Emma was desperately asking for something she had left here.

1:30 - went to Taco Bell for lunch - we enjoy that little routine about once a week, usually on Tuesday after Bible Study. But today it was God's timing for sure, because there sat my other sweet babysitter for my kids, the one I mentioned in my last post who has 8 kids and is a fabulous mom. She's here visiting her folks and had brought her 4 youngest kids with her on this trip, whom I had not met before. We had a great time visiting while the little girls were on their best behavior. It was such a nice treat.

2:30 - went to Sam's to get gas, but realized it was now too late to go in there and get my glasses adjusted - Emma and I had collided heads the night before, and besides the knot on my forehead, I have wonky glasses, which is definitely not a good thing when you have lineless bifocals! So we headed out to school, even though it was a bit early - no sense trying to get anything else done, or go home. So we sat in the car again for a half hour, waiting for Livi to come out. Hayley had yet another after school activity, which would last an hour, so again, no sense going home. We could have gone to the grocery store close by to get some things I desperately need, but I didn't have the energy to drag all of them in for that adventure. It was a beautiful day, so Livi and the twins went to play in the little park right by the school while I sat in the car, reading and watching Livi be in charge of them. I dozed off a a couple of times in the warmth of the car, but all was well.

4:30 - Hayley was finished with her latest activity - a 5K run coming up in May for girls - they're beginning training. She also stays after school every Tuesday for Battle of the Books, which is a district-wide contest of teams reading and retaining details of the books in a showdown in April. They both also stayed after school Wednesday to try out for their (silly) talent contest coming up, which is not really a contest at all, because nobody gets judged - it's one of those politically correct affairs where they all get to "perform" but nobody gets their feelings hurt. I have to go every year, but can barely bear watching it! I am urging the girls to do an actual talent next year, such as buying a track tape and singing something without the backing of Taylor or Miley or Selena. Or singing one of Hayley's own songs that she has written. For crazy scheduling of Kristen's work reasons, I had to pick them up all three of these days - if she picks them up, she can just get Livi and go home, and go back for Hayley later because they live so close to school.

5:00 - grab a quick bite to eat, get homework done, and run back out to the south end of town for the 4th time.

6:00 - Family Math Night at school - timing is everything! This turned out to be a very nice event, but I was beyond tired by this time. They had a great time, and the twins were well behaved, so it was worth the time.

7:30 - back home to get baths taken and jammies on so they'd be ready for bed when we picked up Mommy from work.

8:15 - sit outside Hobby Lobby and wait for Mommy to get her closing rituals done - the store closes at 8, but it takes a lot of time to get out of there - we sat there another 15 minutes, them asking every few seconds when she'd be out. The answer - "when she's finished with her work."

8:30 - headed for their house - the 5th trip to the south end of town for the day. I'm hoping that they went right to bed and to sleep, as they were told they must do the minute they got into the house. I came home and breathed a huge sigh of relief that the crazy day was over.

So - hopefully today's trip to the doctor will see the pic line and all the paraphernalia hanging from Dwight's arm removed, him coming home, and life returning to some semblance of normalcy. I have a 9:20 appointment with the podiatrist and he has a 1:20 appt with his doctor, so the day promises to be busy as well. As for my foot - it's gone backward, I think. I really can't even think about the "S" word and being off my feet for 6 weeks. (NOTE: Dwight is home and so glad to be here! His numbers were very good, and the exhaustion should dissipate soon, since he is DONE with antibiotics. I, on the other hand, am back in a boot - ugh!)

Thank you all, dear prayer partners, for your love and concern and prayers! I'll be back again with more of the crazy saga that is my life.