Our week

This week has been one crazy up and down week! First off, allergy season has hit us all full force! Everyone but DD2 that is. DH and I are both struggling the most, and DD1 has itchy eye problems.

We thought Grace might be having allergy problems too but today her runny nose turned green. So most likely she has a cold. In addition to that, she has a rash. It's kind of all over her body in spots, but the most prevalent place she has it is on her wrists. I think it must be related to a change in something: fabric softener, baby wash, sizing in new summer clothes,...? I really don't know what it is. It doesn't seem to be bothering her, and I've been putting hydrocortozone cream on her skin. That seems to be helping too.

Besides that as of last Friday, I officially changed my work day, from mornings to afternoons on Friday until Grace is done with her physical therapy. I asked her pt last week how long she thought Grace would have to continue pt. She said that it was kind of early to tell, but she thought by fall she'd be caught up. So that means all summer I might have to work afternoons instead of mornings. Oh well. It might be a challenge to do so when the older girls are out of school, but I'm sure we'll work it out somehow.

The past two Fridays I've been starting work at around 1 p.m. when Gracie goes down for her nap, and working until 5. When DD1 gets home from school at 3 she watches Grace for me while I work. So far, so good.

The other big thing this week is Dance Recital! We've had picture day, and dress rehearsal, and tomorrow is dress rehearsal at the theather. All leading up to the actual recital on Sunday. It's a BIG deal to DD1 and DD2! They are both excited. I'm anxious to see the recital, but by the time we get through it and the dress rehearsal I will have seen it 4 times. So I may not feel that way come Sunday evening!

Well, off to take DD1 to the Middle School talent show! The fun never ends!!!

5.4 Earthquake or wait 5.2

I wanted to document when the earthquake of 2008 hit, where we were and what we were doing, so that in the following years I'll remember. So here's goes.

This morning at about 5:40 a.m. I was laying in bed waiting to get up to wake up the two older girls to have them get ready for school, when I felt the shaking. The bed shook and the windows rattled. It really wasn't bad, but initially I didn't know what was happening. I got out of bed trying to figure it out (not that I knew how to figure it out?!), and then got back in bed figuring it was earthquake. A few minutes later DD2 came and knocked on the bedroom door. When I told her to come in, she opened the door and asked me what happened. I said I didn't know, but thought it was an earthquake. She asked me if it was a tornado. I reassured her that the skies were clear, so no it wasn't a tornado. She went back to bed, although I don't think she or DD1 went back to sleep.

When we turned on the tv, it was obvious that yes, it was an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter scale. That seems like a pretty big earthquake, but on the news I heard that you don't really seem too much damage until you get to a 6.0.

So we started our morning out with a shake-up! It wasn't really scary, but was a little confusing just because none of us had ever felt anything like it before. DH is in LA, so of course, wouldn't have felt it. It's funny that he's in the part of the country where you hear about earthquakes happening all the time, and the girls and I are the ones that experienced an earthquake! Kind of ironic I think.

The epicenter of the earthquake was in West Salem, IL. I'm thankful that there appears that there is no major damage, and that noone was hurt.

Update: Now they are saying it was only a 5.2 not a 5.4. I'm not sure how much difference that makes, but just wanted to make sure I got it right!

Gracie's first bike ride

This past week, we were on Spring Break. We went to an indoor water park for a couple of days, and I'll post about that later. Before we went, we had an opportunity to be outside in some beautiful weather. One of the things that we did during that time was to take Gracie on her very first bike ride.

One of Grace's 1st birthday presents last October was a bikeseat and a toddler bike helmet. Of course, once she got her present, the weather turned too cold. So we never got the chance to put the bikeseat on my bike, and so it was packed away until this spring. Well, last week, I was determined to get it mounted whether the weather cooperated or not. It was supposed to be a pretty easy installation, but as is typical, it wasn't quite as easy as the directions indicated. So DH came to the rescue and helped me install the bikeseat, adjust it, and get it working for Grace. I rode up and down the street with Gracie in the seat, and DH did too. She loved it! Of course, right after we returned from the waterpark, when I could take her out for a longer ride, the weather turned way too cold for any riding. So I can't wait until I get another chance to take her out for a real ride.

Here's a photo of us both on the bike.

Oh, and BTW, you may notice that I've gained some weight since we got back from China. I've had some trouble staying on program with WW, since we got back, and as a result I'm 10 lbs heavier than I was before we left for China! Ugh!!!

aoljpictureUpload, aoljpictureUpload_1

Bad Blogger!

Okay, I know I've been lax in keepin up my blog. I started a post on Easter Sunday, but never got it finished. To try to get caught up, I'll post that Easter Sunday post and then go forward from there. Here it is:

Easter. What can I say about it? I have memories of Easter as a child that are precious to me, especially since my mom has died. I remember getting a new dress, new shoes, and a new hat to get all dressed up to go to church in. As I recall, these typically came from JC Penney. Usually we would all get up very early on Easter morning, go out to the kitchen, and find our Easter baskets filled with candy along with a big basket in the center of the table which was also filled with candy and a big chocolate bunny. We would each have a hard-boiled dyed Easter egg at our place at the table. The egg usually had our name on it and was always placed in a blue willow egg cup. My mom collected blue willow dishes, so blue willow was all over our house! For a long time there were 6 of us kids, so there would be 6 Easter baskets at the table along with 8 hard-boiled Easter eggs. There was always LOTS of candy and eggs to go around!

The way I remember it, although it may not be accurate, is that my parents would let us eat as much candy as we wanted before we had to get ready for church. Then when it was time, we'd all have to be cajoled to tear ourselves away from our Easter baskets to get ready. After we were all dressed and ready to go, and my mom had put a ham in the oven to bake for Easter dinner, we'd pile into the station wagon and head to church. After church my dad would take a photo or maybe an 8 mm movie of us outside all dressed up in our Easter best. Later we'd eat a huge Easter dinner, sometimes at the dining room table, and sometimes at the kitchen table. And that was our Easter. I know it doesn't sound like alot, but those memories are precious to me. Not because we got lots and lots of candy, or because we got new outfits, but rather because we were a FAMILY. A family that celebrated together, that loved together, that most likely fought together, and that built memories together.

I know that there are many other reasons to be happy about celebrating Easter. The big one being the Jesus rose from the dead and gave us all new life in doing so. And I know that the fact that God did that for us is incredible. But this Easter is different for me. It’s a little melancholy for me, as I did not spend it with DH and the girls. That is even more true, since this is Grace’s first Easter. I’m at my father’s house with my brother because my dad had surgery last week and needed someone to take care of him. He was in so much pain though, that he thought it wouldn’t be good for the children to see him. He thought that seeing him that way would scare them. So he asked that the children not come. So my Easter this year was sleeping in, talking with my dad and brother, and eating hash for lunch. The day was pretty quiet. No Easter candy, no Easter egg hunt, no Sunday morning church dressed in our new spring clothes. But even with that there were some good things about this Easter. My dad felt a lot better. So much so that he went out with my brother in the car for the first time since his surgery. He was joking and laughing, and I think enjoying the day with his children. My brother and sister-in-law were over, and my sister was there too. So it was a good day for him.

As for DH and the girls, they did have the Easter baskets at their place at our kitchen table, they didn’t go to church, but they did have an Easter egg hunt at DH’s parents. I missed being with them, and I especially missed not being home with Gracie on her first Easter with us. But she won’t know the difference. I have a few photos that DD2 took of their day.