Update on us

Well...the results are in. Samantha has Lyme Disease. I'm so glad I took her to the doctor, and didn't ignore her pains. (Last Monday she couldn't walk, couldn't climb stairs and was in a lot of pain.) She is now on an anti-biotic that she has to take 2 times a day, for 3 weeks. She has to swallow them, which was tough for her because she is really scared to swallow pills. The first day, she opened the pills and put them in food, but it really grossed her out. Today she swallowed them!! She was so proud of herself!! She is still in a bit of pain (it's only her second day on the antibiotics) and has a headache. But the dr. says the meds should pretty much get rid of it, though it may show up in the future.

Art is still working on the house. Still.

And the other day (the 12th) Samantha informed me that it was her half-birthday. She is now 12 and a half... 6 months until she turns 13. Oh no!!

Summer is going well. We're finally getting really hot weather and getting use of our pool!! Today there were 8 kids in there! it was fun.
I also set up Owen's little "pool". He likes it. But he's rather just eat leaves and dirt. He's weird. Ha ha ha.

Small update, but I gotta head to bed. Enjoy the photos!!

Back from Virginia!!!!!

It is SO good to be home!!
We left bright and early at 4 am on Wednesday morning. Poor Owen had a 102.8 temp the night before so I worried he would be sick going down. Luckily, it went to 100 by the time we left, and by the time we got to VA there was no temp at all.
We drove, 2 adults and 7 kids, for 11 hours to get to VA (added time for bathroom breaks, nursing breaks, eating breaks and traffic). Owen cried for almost 2 hours of the trip down, right in the beginning, which was pretty hard. Thankfully he settled down and slept a lot. He also ate anything the kids would feed him!
The kids were amazingly well behaved during the drive down.
We got to VA and Mike and Renee and Leah were still there. It was raining, so we couldn't go to the lake that night. Instead we visited with everyone and got acquainted with the house, and were able to tour Wally and Mom's new 4,000 square foot house on the lake!!
On Thursday and Friday we spent lots of time at the lake. It rained on and off on Thursday but not at all on Friday. We all swam in the lake (which felt so good, like bath water!) and went on Wally's boat. We tubed a bit (my arms are still sore) and some of us went on the jet ski (not me). Owen was only in the lake for a little while, he didn't like the life jacket at all. He did enjoy the boat ride though.
On the top of Wally's "dock/boat house" is a roof, and we all jumped off of it! I only did it twice... once willingly, and the other time because Colby decided he wanted to do it and then we spent 45 minutes trying to get him to jump. We finally had to get him back down the ladder, and I had to jump.
On Saturday Wally's sons and their families came to spend the day with us, partly the celebrate Wally's 60th birthday. We had cakes, gifts, and lots of fun. His grandkids were really nice to our kids, about the same ages, and they all got along very well. They exchanged email addresses before they left!
We talked for a long time with them all, and it was great to finally meet them.
"Dzia Dzia" (what the kids call Wally) was so nice to offer his home to us, and we hope to go back again!!

One minor emergency we had though... on Thursday morning, Will woke up covered in poison ivy, and his face was swollen from it. Mom and I drove him into town to the local CVS to ask them what to do. The pharmacist was worried that it was too close to his eyes, so we had to call the doc in NY, get them to call in a script to VA for a steroid, and then wait to get it filled. We also got him zyrtec and benadryl and oatmeal soap because he was really uncomfortable. It's a lot better now, somehow the lake water helped it dry up while we were there. But I forgot the steroid in VA... my mom is bringing him home today.

It's so nice to be home. Not so nice to be in this humidity with no lake! But, we have a pool and the kids are in it! Yee ha!

July 27

at least, I *think* it's July 27. Time is getting away from me, and quickly!!

The big news in our house: Samantha and Will have gone to Camp Fowler for the week. We dropped them off yesterday. The camp was a little over 2 hours away, not bad. Owen slept most of the way up, and all of the way back!! We were able to leave Colby with a friend, and Sam and Will actually got along :) It was NICE. Will was excited for camp, and as soon as we got there, he made friends and started playing. Sam was nervous. She really didn't want to be there, but I think secretly she did and was just shy. She didn't know anyone (Will did) so it was even harder.
I MISS THEM ALREADY!!!! I thought about them all night long. I'm sure they're fine, but....

Colby started his final week of summper camp today. He's loving it so I'm a little sad it's almost over.

Next week we will go to Virginia for a few days.

It is really hot today!!! And I have no ice cream so that's a bummer.

I'm hoping to go to the house tonight and work on the clothes we found in the attic. I'm hoping to have them all done by the end of the week. Art has been doing so well on the house, it looks awesome! Now to decide what to do with it....

Owen is walking and trying to talk and being a troublemaker and getting into everything. He's a monkey! Climbs on everything. And a dog, eating the dogfood. We love him!!!!

Wednesday!!!

A very quick update. Will update again tomorrow (if I remember, ha ha)
Samantha jammed her finger on Monday, had to have an x-ray but it's not broken. Hard to tell in the photo but it is bent and at a weird angle. And it hurts and pops. With her, if it's not one thing- it's another. We haven't been to PT in a while. Her knees are okay, and her hamstring is *almost* healed. I guess.
Next week Sam and Will head to church camp, and they are both excited!! They're starting to pack (and of course, realize what they need and don't have). I will miss them! A whole week.
Owen is doing good. Walking all over the place. And now he can "click" with his tongue. And he makes this really funny face (I tried to get it in the pic above)

It's 10 PM... so I need to go to bed. Will update again in the morning.

Friday

Here are some pictures from the last few days. The weather is finally getting HOT and so we are enjoying the pool more and more. It's nice to jump in and just cool off. We only have one floatie, but we somehow managed to "borrow" a couple from a neighbor and the kids are loving it. I love to see them in the pool. Last night they got in around 9 PM!! And the other day we were able to swim and watch a neighbot take a tree down at the same time!

Colby is two weeks into summer camp today. He opted not to go today and see a "girly play". That is fine with me. So he's home and there is a full house here. Not only are my nieces and nephew here, but so is a neighbor kid!!

We had fun at Hoffman's the other night. The adults went on the bumper cars, that was fun!!!

Sam and Colby and I (and Sam's friend Kylee) went on a "field trip" with the library on Wednesday night to the Mill at Miutziskill (or something like that). The woman there is a very neat artist. She had us draw landscape pictures. There is a nice waterfall on her property that Colby loved. Kylee had a lot of fun drawing dresses. Sam drew a wagon wheel. Colby drew a tree and the road. I drew the girls. It was fun. Owen was eaten by the bugs though and has quite a few bug bites. :(

Happy Friday!

Surprise, Wally!!!

Some pictures from Wally's surprise birthday party at Hoffman's!

Owen's 9 month stats

This is always fun!

Owen at 9 months: Weight 19 lbs. 4.5 oz height 28.5 in

Sam at 9 months: 17 lb. 12 oz. 28 in

Will at 9 months: 23 lb. 4.5 oz 29 in

Colby at 9 months: 23 lb. 8 oz. 30.5 in

Wow!! Owen is much closer to Samantha's size than he is to the other boys' size. I am amazed. And happy!! I love my little baby so much. My big babies were awesome too but it's nice to have Owen stay little a tiny bit longer.

And just today he got tooth #7 in.