First five before seven

There was a sudden silence in the house after the first five of my seven children got on the bus this morning shortly before 7 am. I'll be thinking of them throughout the day, hoping all is well. Avery and Bryson both woke up in tears claiming to have not slept all night! I told them that was normal first-day-of-school jitters. After breakfast and showers, they seemed fine.
Avery

Bryson

Ashton and I found this skirt for Kassie yesterday at Kohl's while school shopping. (On clearance for $8.00) She loved it, and had to wear it on the first day!

Brady refused to take a lunch today, saying he didn't know anyone in his lunch period. Last year he didn't eat lunch for two weeks before becoming comfortable with the new school year. I couldn't even convince him to take a protein bar.

Here's Ashton sporting one of her "new" outfits from a yard sale! I actually found seven shirts to match this one pair of shorts, and she loved all of them! Her "new" Billa Bong back pack was a bargain too for only .50 cents! The Converse sneakers were something she just had to have when she saw them at Kohl's. They were on sale for $30. Not a bargain in my book, and she didn't need them, so she had to help pay for them.

Here they are, my first five before seven.

Waiting for the bus.

Couldn't help but take this embarrassing picture!! Aren't pictures of your children getting on the bus only for the elementary grades? LOL! I'm sure I'll hear about this when they get home this afternoon. It didn't help that this was also garbage day, so that's in the picture too!

Time to get Kenzie up and ready for her bus coming around 8:15 am. Look for pictures of her later!

"Please take me to the creek!"

When the weather was warm last week, this was all I heard from Bryson, "Please take me to the creek!" He had been asking everyone deemed old enough to take him: Dale, Kassie, Brady, Ashton and myself. No one else had the time, or felt like going. In time I caved and took the three youngest boys down to the creek. It's about two tenths of a mile from our house.

Avery gives Kaden a little help through the mud.

As a child I loved playing in the creek near my home. Lifting up rocks and finding crayfish was so much fun! Now I prefer to watch... and take pictures.

I just love this picture of Avery and Bryson!

It was time to leave after Avery came running and screaming out from under the bridge saying, "A snake just hissed at me!!"

It was hard for Kaden to walk home in saturated snow boots, so Bryson decided to lend a hand!

I'm sure this is just the first of many trips to the creek this spring!

The day Jeff moved

Last Saturday, March 6th, we helped a friend and fellow CCR band member to move. It was to be a family event, but Kassie was invited to spend the night at a friend's house the night before, so she wasn't with us. Avery woke that Saturday morning around 7 am complaining of stomach pains. This is not uncommon, so we had him come along, thinking the pains would pass as they normally do. As we were moving Jeff I would check on Avery from time to time. He was staying in our 15 passenger van, trying to rest on one of the bench seats. It seemed each time I asked how he was, the pain had increased and there were more and more tears. I would resume my duties helping with the move thinking Avery just needed to pass gas or have a bowl movement. That always helped in the past, but this time it wasn't!
Ashton, sorry to tell you this, but you look an awful lot like Kassie in this picture! (She hates hearing that!)

This depiction of the Last Supper was on display in the apartment complex where Jeff will now be living. I loved it!! Had to take a picture!

Alas we had Jeff moved! Time for an early lunch from Subway! This is when I knew Avery was sick... he wasn't feeling well enough to eat! I called our doctor. He wasn't on call so we had to see one of his associates. Dave, another friend and fellow band member, drove Avery and I to the doctor's office and dropped us off. This way Dale and the other children could finish up their meal and meet us at the doctor's office when done. The doctor's visit went quick. After examining Avery she told us to go over to the emergency room at the hospital. The problem was, I had no way of getting us there! The only cell phone we have is Dale's work cell. Fortunately, I had that with me, but unfortunately I had no way of contacting Dale. The phone at Jeff's old house had already been disconnected, and that's where everybody was. I called Bonnie to see if she had any cell numbers for the other family that had helped Jeff to move, but she didn't. It's a good thing we were only two or three blocks from the hospital. Even with Avery doubled over with pain, we had to walk/run to get there! Meanwhile, Dale misunderstood which doctor's office I went to with Avery, and went to the wrong place. His second guess was that we must be at the ER, which by then we were. We got there at around 11:45 am. Just before 1 pm Avery started drinking the thick white Barium in order to then have a CAT scan.

Try as he might, that Barium was hard to get down!

I kid you not when I say it took him an hour and a half to drink about 1 1/2 inches down from the top of cup! I was becoming frustrated and impatient! I kept saying, "Avery, MAN UP and drink it!!" Nothing I said was helping. It wasn't until the doctor came in and told Avery that if he didn't drink the Barium, he would have to put a tube up Avery's nose, down his throat and into his stomach to get the Barium into him that way. That did the trick! Now Avery was drinking, perhaps a bit too fast, because when he only had about a half inch left in the cup, he threw it up!! He had to start over! UGH! After more than three hours of Barium torture he was ready for the CAT scan. During this test Avery was to lie completely still. I was watching Avery during the CAT scan when suddenly his body started to jerk. I thought he was having some type of seizure! I said, "What is he doing?" Very matter of fact the technician replied, "Throwing up." The test didn't seem to be affected by his movements, thank goodness! Back to the ER to continue our wait. It was nearly eight hours after entering the ER that we knew Avery would need an appendectomy... that night! The surgery started around 8:30 pm and was over by 9:30. All went well. The doctor was able to remove Avery's appendix through laparoscopic surgery. Avery has three small incisions on his stomach with stitches under the skin. There were no other children currently at the hospital, so they had to call in nursing staff just for Avery! Once the nurses arrived, Avery was moved from recovery over to pediatrics. After drinking all that Barium and having an IV all day, Avery literally had to urinate every 10 to 15 minutes! It's after midnight and I'd like to get some sleep on the chair next to Avery's hospital bed, but I'm having to jump up every 15 minutes to get him to the bathroom! I finally told Avery, "Just to go to sleep, then you won't know you have to pee!" When the nurses came in at 2:30 am, they helped him. At 4 am when the nurse came back, Avery waited until she left and then told me he had to go. I told him, "Why didn't you ask the nurse to help you? She was just here!" I was exhausted! It was like having a newborn again! Later in the morning Avery was able to have a liquid meal... broth, jello and juice.

By 9:30 am the doctor came in and gave Avery the go ahead to be discharged. I was to use my best judgement on when he could return to school, but the doctor said no gym classes for a week to ten days. That's what hurt Avery the most out of all of this -- no gym! Avery was home Monday and Tuesday, returning to school on Wednesday. It seems the teachers were surprised he returned so soon, but Avery is doing well, so why not? I don't want him running around and playing basketball at recess, but he can certainly sit behind a desk and do school work. He is also glad to be back in school.

End of the Season

This morning Avery received his basketball trophy. He really enjoyed playing and plans on doing it again next year. After watching Avery, Bryson and Ashton also want to give basketball a try.
Coach Brown with Avery and Victor Brown.
Avery's team had ten players total, but only five play on the court at a time. Avery and Victor were in the same group of five. The two of them worked well together -- two of the three highest scoring players on the team!
Good job, Avery!!

Avery's honor

Yesterday I was invited to attend a short program at Avery's school to see him inducted into the Thunderbolt Society. Four forth graders and five fifth graders were chosen to receive this reward for good character, citizenship and academic performance.

Besides this certificate, Avery received a Thunderbolt cup and a Thunderbolt Society pin.

Avery with his school principal, Mr. Mitzel.

Congratulations, Avery!!

Avery joins the club!

Avery has now joined Kenzie in the 200 Club at school! It shows he has been a good role model for others by following the school rules and being a good citizen.
Way to go Bo-Rob!

Avery's favorite gift

It was this simple $4.00 Christmas gift that Avery enjoyed the most! He has had a love of basketball for years now. Once he's old enough to join a school team, I'm sure that he will.

Boys will be boys

I almost forgot I had these pictures and wanted to blog about them. Two weekends ago we were with Dale at the Arcadia Fire Company as The Carroll County Ramblers put on an indoor Bluegrass show. After the show, as we were taking down the sound system and loading it into the trailer, three of my sons were outside being boys -- running crazy, wrestling, jumping on each other, etc.

At one point Brady said to me, "Hey Mom, watch this! This is how a hillbilly wipes his butt!"

He then jumped a bush, giving himself a nice clean wipe! LOL! That's my boy!