The "C" Word Again.

Just when everything seemed to be going well and looking forward to Christmas the "C" word came up again. This time it was my dad announcing the news. In a cruel twist of irony my dad was just diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (the same cancer they thought Chris had).

So I am so sad my dad has to go through this but am grateful I already know a whole lot about lymphoma and know all the emotions my mom and dad are going through. I hope I can help them through this.

His diagnosis was quick. He went to the ER on a Sunday had some testing done on the following Tuesday, got the results on Thursday and even started his first round of chemo on that same Thursday.

My Dad is a total workaholic and always busy. It was hard for him to take some time off work and to feel too crummy to do much but sleep after the chemo. But he also has a lot of gusto and a great attitude and is doing well so far.

I had already resolved to do better at blogging. But now I have even more incentive. I need to keep up on my life so my dad can have something to look forward to while going through all this. So, here is to you dad!!!!! I'll keep the blogging coming.

How Do Your Kids Get Out of Eating Their Food?

I remember not wanting to eat certain things on my plate while I was younger. But at least I was honest about it. I left it on the plate and accepted what ever punishment came with it - early bed, sitting there until I did eat, etc.

Some how Chad has become the master of hiding the fact that he hasn't eaten his food. At first he would very sneakily make his food into very small pieces and then toss them down on the floor. I caught on as soon as I realized how messy the floor was becoming from certain foods Chad didn't like.

After he knew that gig was up he started hiding the food on his chair between his legs. No mess on the floor, but plenty of evidence once he left the table and I started to clean up.

His newest attempt? Sticking it in his pocket!!!!! Yes, the kid is crazy. He loves meat, loves spam, loves bacon, loves deli ham but will not eat just ordinary ham. Before he left the table I checked the floor - the usual mess - and checked his chair -all clean. But as he was standing up while I did the chair check I saw something sticking out of his pants pocket. He had stuffed all the pieces of ham in his pocket. So glad I discovered then and not while in the middle of laundry!!!

What is a mom supposed to do with that? Laugh or throw the book at him?!

Sean is starting to take after his brother now too. I noticed some of my dishes had gone missing (nothing new around my house). I finally found a couple of bowls and spoons strategically placed inside the wood framework of my dinning room table. Unfortunately I found them after the breakfast cereal (oatmeal and cream of wheat) had been there long enough to dry out and start to mold. It was so disgusting I about gagged. I made Sean look at what he had done and more importantly made him smell what he had done - he did not like that.

Tonight Sean was the last one at the table (as usual). I left for a few minutes and came back to see him scooping his dinner into the trash.

Aggh. These things make me so frustrated! I understand that they are not going to like eating everything we have for dinner every single night. But what I really can't stand is the sneaking part - that they think it is okay to not be honest.

What do your kids do? What do you do to encourage them to eat or punish them when they don't?

Gone Are the Days of the PopTart

I've been a failure in the breakfast department for a long time now!

With three young kids and not being a morning person - I've been in breakfast survival mode for many, many years now.

Breakfast has mainly consisted of cold cereal (with or without milk - depending on the child) or pop-tarts with a few mornings (but mostly evenings) of pancakes, waffles, or french-toast.

I decided that I am no longer in survival mode (all three kids in school). So I planned for more cooked breakfasts. No, I am still no June Clever (although Chris' mom certainly was/is!!!!) but I have upped my game in the morning.

Last week we had cream-of-wheat, scrambled eggs and toast, oatmeal, bacon bundles, and zoom.

My kids have not quite yet embraced having a good cooked meal in the morning. They just have to remember that I am way more stubborn then they are!!!!!

What do you like for breakfast?

I'd love some more ideas - so send them my way!!!!!

Bye, Bye "C" Word!!!

Totally, wonderful, fantastic news! Chris does not have cancer!!!!!!!

The last couple of months have been so long and stressful - thinking Chris had cancer and with all the doctors appointments and procedures Chris had to go through.

After each test came back inconclusive I had a little bit of hope build up in me - but didn't let it build for the fear of it being crushed. But now I can finally really embrace the good news and be just so happy inside.

We meet with the oncologist early this morning. He said they have looked, and looked and done every test possible - but there is no sign of cancer. He does still want to keep an eye on Chris though - just to make sure.

Chris will start seeing a rheumatologist, Dr. LaSalle, so he can start treatment for Lupus. Some of the medicine will be the same that he took for his other autoimmune disorder - polymyositis.

Again - Chris is kind of a mystery to the medical world and he will be on a treat, wait and see kind of treatment. We just keep praying that we are on the right track and the medicines for Lupus will restore his health again.

Thank you everyone for your prayers!!!!!! We have really been able to feel them in our lives. We feel so blessed and grateful for all that Heavenly Father has helped us through.

Mouses in the House

Yikes - we have mice in our house!!!!! Right now as I am typing there is a nibbling noise coming from the wall above me.

We have already caught four mice - but apparently there are plenty more.

I can't stand the thought of them chewing up things in my house, getting into my food storage, and leaving little poops everywhere. But I also hate the thought of killing them.

I (the cat lover) thought that getting a cat would be a great solution to our problem but hubby (allergic to cats) thought that was a awful idea. So I guess we will keep using peanut butter and traps.

Any other suggestions?!

Back to School - August 2009

By the time school starts back up it always amazes me how much my kids have grown over the past year and especially the summer! I never think they are ready for the next step - but they are! Chad is now a big 3rd grader, Halle a 2nd grader, and Sean is now in Kindergarten.




They all have a love for school - which I am so grateful for. The first day of school was full of excitement about having new teachers and seeing old friends.




At Adam's the 3rd graders get to have class out in one of the portables. Chad was overjoyed to finally become one of the big kids in the portables. He also graduated to playing in the big kid area of the school for recess. He has adjusted well - and been a trouper at staying positive even though most of his close friends from last year are now in the other 3rd grade class. His only real disappointment about his new teacher is that she does not require them to have a binder (which the other teacher does for her class). He was really looking forward to having a binder (okay, not "looking forward" to but completely OBSESSED!!!!! with having one) - so I let him have one for use at home.




Halle's 1st grade class and teacher looped to 2nd grade - so she has the same teacher and friends. She was so excited to see her friends again. (With all that was going on this summer I just didn't get many friends over to play this year.) She thinks she is getting pretty big. She loves school and was disappointed on the first day when they didn't even do math, science, or writing. Life is much better now that they are back to a hard core learning schedule - she has even completed 3 homework assignments now.




Sean was the most fun to watch. For the past two years he has made the walk to the bus stop and back. He would always try to sneak on the bus - but never quite made it and would always have to walk home again. This year was his year!!!!!




On the first day, we waited and waited for the bus. I usually expect problems with the bus (due to past experience) and was prepared with my van parked right by the stop. Finally it was time to make a decision - continue to wait for the bus and be late for the first day of school or go in the mommy bus/van. All the kids decided they wanted to get to school right away - nobody wanted to be late. Even Sean, who has been literally waiting his whole life to ride the bus, wanted to be to school on time.




So, I drove them to school, dropped them off, and then found a parking spot. By the time I got to school the kids were all settled into their classrooms and ready to go. Chad was ready to get down to business, Halle was socializing with all her friends, and Sean looked as proud as could be coloring away and sitting at his desk.




Things looked like they would run smoothly - but come on, something always happens on the first day of school. As I again waited and waited and waited at the bus stop for Sean to arrive home from kindergarten I wondered what was going on and what time he would actually arrive (on Halle's first bus ride home from kindergarten it took the very confused bus driver almost 2 hours to drop her off at her stop - completely ridiculous).




After waiting for half an hour I got my phone out to call the school. Just as I grabbed it, it rang. It was Sean's kindergarten teacher. She did not put him on the bus. Sean had convinced her that I was coming to the school and was taking him to the school cafeteria for lunch.




I started laughing my head off. First, I have no idea why Sean would come up with a story or a thought like that. We had talked all week about how he would be riding the bus. At the open house the day before I showed him his bus badge he would be wearing and where he would be getting on and off the bus.




I was also laughing at the teacher. Just the day before at the kindergarten open house I had filled out a form saying that Sean would be taking the bus home everyday. The kindergarten teacher knows me and my kids and knows they take the bus. And she mentioned several times that she follows what is on the form (bus kids to the bus, express kids to express, kids to moms - once you see the mom, etc.). Over and over again she mentioned that only a written note would let them change the schedule. So after all that concern and show of rules, Sean had sweet talked her into changing the schedule without at note.




So I know my Sean is a pickle and was real concerned about his behavior in school this year - but this takes the cake. On just his first day of school he has the kindergarten teacher wrapped around his little finger - following his orders instead of his mom's and the school's rules. What else will he accomplish this year?!

Sean shows off where he got his four shots for kindergarten. Turns out he missed a shot so I had to take him back in for another one today. He was very brave!!!!

The many faces of Sean. Sean got to go to school on Wednesday for a kindergarten open house - he counted it as a full day of school. So he has been to school four times now.

All ready to go.

Chad checks out his fun school supplies (minus the binder of course).

Halle excited to be with her friends again.

Sean is ready to get into kindergarten work. (Looks like he is day dreaming about his next scheme.)

Life at the Hospital

This week has been crazy! Chad had his birthday, my parents came to visit (with my mom just leaving tomorrow), the beginning week of school, and Chris having another surgery.

With still no answers we decided to go ahead with major surgery (as suggested by his oncologist) to remove more lymph tissue. This time instead of trying to find a lymph node that was easily accessible (like last time from his arm pit) they wanted to go in deeper where more of the problem is. So on Tuesday Chris checked into Sacred Heart so they could remove some lymph node tissue from his pelvic/abdomen area.

The surgery went well. (Plus we only waited about an hour past the original time instead of almost seven hours like the last surgery).

The surgeon was able to find a lymph node about the size of a plum and took some tissue. Before they closed Chris up they had a pathologist look to make sure the sample was adequate. The pathologist said the lymph node certainly looked suspicious.

Chris felt pretty well Tuesday night - just a little pain from the surgery and a little foggy in the head from the anesthesia.

Wednesday he didn't feel so well. He felt quite ill. His heart keep racing really fast and he was having a hard time breathing. It was a little scary and they even called in the "Rapid Response" team to evaluate him and make sure he was okay.

Today he was much better. Finally off his IV, eating a little bit of real food (hasn't had any real food since Monday morning), and getting up from his bed.

Chris became a human pin cushion. The surgeon said the lymphoma test came back as negative (again we hope this is good news), and she pulled in an Infectious Disease doctor and Chris' arthritis doctor. They took lots of blood, and scans. They also drained a significant amount of fluid from his thoracic cavity (fluid around, but not in the lungs). They will also send this off for tests.

Each doctor thinks they have a diagnosis. The oncologist says you can't prove it is not cancer and wants to keep looking for lymphoma, the Rheumatoid doctor thinks maybe Chris has Lupus and the Infectious Disease Doctor thinks he will find something amid all the variety of samples Chris has provided.

This morning after talking with the Rheumatoid doctor's nurse I thought for sure we had found our answer and started telling people that Chris had lupus and not lymphoma - but I later found out that lupus is a just a possibility - but again not a concrete diagnosis.

I've been trying to divide my time between my kids and my husband - it is hard to be torn between the two and not to be able to be at both places at once.

Hopefully Chris will be well enough to come home and we can all be together again.

I also hope I can blog about more happy things like the first day of school - I already have a great story to tell.

It's a Mystery

Chris got his bone marrow biopsy results back. Every thing was normal! Yeah - kind of. Apparently you can only prove if you have cancer, no way to prove you don't have cancer. So even though all his bone marrow looks good, still doesn't mean he doesn't have cancer.

We are now going in three different directions. We meet with the surgeon again on Wednesday - they want to take a lymph node out of his abdomen (where they are the biggest problem). Then we are setting up appointments with a rheumatologist in case it is some autoimmune problem and also with an infectious disease specialist in case it is some funky bug causing all of this.

I just can't wait to find out what is causing Chris' lymph node problems. I thought the disease itself would be our trial - at the moment it is the finding out of the disease that is driving us crazy. We just hope we can soon pin point the problem so we can start working on a solution.

A Glimmer of Hope?

Chris had surgery last week to remove a lymph node from under his arm. Surgery went well (although we waited for 6 hours! - 3 trauma cases were higher priority than us).

We waited all week for the results so that we could move on with getting Chris better.

After calling and calling - we finally got the results from his lymph node biopsy - inconclusive.

Yeah, we are just as frustrated now as we have been the last few weeks - waiting and waiting and still not getting any closer to what is making Chris sick or how to get him better.

Inconclusive means that they found abnormal lymph cells but they were not lymphoma cells. So the glimmer of hope is that it may not be cancer - but it still could be (see what I mean by inconclusive?!). A lymph node biopsy can have false negatives - meaning that just because they didn't find any lymphoma it doesn't mean they can rule it out - it still may be lymphoma or it may also be numerous other things (what I don't know yet).

So, the next step is for Chris to have a bone marrow biopsy. Sounds horrible, but is supposed to be a small procedure done in the Dr.'s office. Chris will have that done on Monday, along with yet again more blood work.

We meet with the Dr. again on August 19 to get the bone marrow results and hopefully some answers.

We are most grateful for every one's prayers. I feel so grateful to have so many friends that are so willing to help out and be there for us. Thank you everyone!!!!!!!!

The "C" Word

I've always known that I am kind of a spoiled person. I have so much to be grateful for! I have a wonderful husband and three awesome kids (something I honestly didn't think I would have). I have a great home, two cars, my husband has a stable job that he enjoys and I have been able to stay at home with my children. We have the gospel in our lives and many great family members and friends.



Of course I have the usual daily stresses. But I've never really had any hard trials. That all changed a few weeks ago.



On Wednesday, July 15th - 2009, I woke up enjoying my day. It was summer time and I let myself sleep in. I spent some time with the kids - helping them do summer homework and chores so that we could go to the park later. At 10:30am my life did a back flip, and I landed on my face.



My husband had just come home from a Dr.'s appointment. I was sitting at the table with the kids when I saw his face. It wasn't happy or relaxed - it was tight and holding a lot of emotion in - but I couldn't tell what kind of emotion - sad or mad?



He didn't say anything, just looked at me. So I said, do we need to talk? He nodded yes. I stepped away from the kids and into the TV room feeling both curious and scared. As we stood face to face he told me the Dr. had just told him he had cancer.



CANCER?!!!!!!!!!!



Not what I was expecting to hear. My mouth dropped and I think I even stopped breathing for a moment. We both just looked at each other and started crying. We then hugged and cried some more.



Cancer is a scary word. So many words and different scenarios flooded my mind. I was a wreck, to say the least, for the rest of the morning.



I'll rewind for a moment to recall what lead up to us discovering Chris' cancer.



Chris hadn't been feeling real good for several months now. He was more tired than usual (but we blamed that on track and his church calling). He started loosing weight (but again - he was working so hard - of course he was burning off more calories). He also started having pain in his stomach, chest and back. (I thought for sure he was going to give birth to more kidney stones). And he started breathing weird at night (figured his snoring was just getting worse).



As soon as school was out I made an appointment for him at the Doctors because he still just wasn't feeling good. They gave him an exam, took some blood for lab work and then sent him to get a chest x-ray.



A couple of days later the doctor called back saying that Chris' thyroid was low, that he was anemic, and that his testosterone was low. No problem - there was a pill that he could take for everything and then he should start feeling good again. The chest x-ray was a bit of a puzzle. It came back showing fluid in his lungs - but they didn't know why and had already ruled out pneumonia. They wanted to have Chris go for a CT scan to show them more.



Unfortunately they couldn't schedule the CT scan before our trip to Utah. While in Utah Chris took his medicines but didn't feel any better. In fact he stopped taking the thyroid pill because it was causing his heart to race and couldn't sleep at night. A few more days later he broke out in a rash - probably due to an allergic reaction to one of the new medicines.



We drove home from Utah on Monday - July 13th. After arriving home we checked our phone messages. One message was from the Dr. saying they were ready to schedule a CT for Chris. The next morning Chris called and they arranged for a CT scan that same afternoon.



On Wednesday Chris had a scheduled appointment with the doctor to talk about his medication and his new symptoms. The doctor came in and told Chris that the results from the CT scan were in and that it was bad news. He had cancer. (That is how she said it). She then said that there was a 90% chance that he had lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes). They would refer us to an Oncologist and take it from there. And then he came home.



After breaking the news to both of our parents we waited all day for the phone to ring to take the next step. Finally at the end of the business day they had made an appointment for Chris with Dr. Bruce Cutter of Northwest Cancer Care for the following Tuesday (July 21).



Tuesday was a whole week a way and seemed like forever to wait when you had just been told you have a horrible disease. Chris tried getting an earlier appointment with some other doctors but no one could fit him in any sooner.



We were a little discouraged and in major limbo - not knowing much about the cancer and not knowing about what was going to happen to Chris. But during this time we talked to several other people that we knew had been through cancer. The good news is that Chris' doctor came highly recommended.



Tuesday (July 21) finally came - although it seemed like the longest week of my life ever! We were so anxious - hoping for more answers about Chris' cancer diagnosis and what we should be expecting our lives to be like the near future.



We meet with Dr. Cutter - he seemed like a good doctor. He couldn't give us much more information on Chris' diagnosis but was very good about explaining about lymphoma. He told us the next step would be to have a biopsy of one of Chris' lymph nodes so they could determine the exact kind of cancer it was (he explained that cancer comes in many different "flavors.") Once that happened and the lab work was done then we would know exactly how to treat Chris. (Most probably chemotherapy). Chris may also have to have a bone marrow biopsy and other test depending on the results.



Life has become a waiting game now. They told us we needed to schedule the biopsy. As we went to the scheduling desk, all their computers had crashed and they said they would call us when they were fixed and could make us an appointment. We were told surgeries were being scheduled a week to two weeks out.



We were happy to hear back first thing the next morning and that the appointment was just one week out. But disappointed to be told that our appointment was for a surgical consultation - not for the actual surgery. So now we have to meet with the surgeon (this Wednesday - July 29) and then still schedule the surgery.

Despite all this we are doing fine. Honestly! The shock has warn off and we are just ready to get to work in making Chris better. Plus we have learned that if you are going to get cancer then lymphoma is the kind to get. It is very treatable and Dr. Cutter seemed to think positive about Chris' prognosis.

Our Bishop, Bishop Porter, gave Chris a blessing soon after his diagnosis. It was a great blessing. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us and loves us. I know that it is going to be a rough road for Chris but that we will get through it. I am so thankful for the gospel, for the priesthood and for the level of technology we have in medicine today.

Sometimes You Feel Like a Smuck

Sometimes you feel like a smuck. Especially when the tooth fairy forgets to come again!

My daughter has been wiggling one of her teeth for a whole month now. It finally came out yesterday - right before bed. She was so excited.

This morning as I was getting ready I heard big sobs coming from Halle's room. So I went down to see what was going on. And there she sat with a red face and tears smeared all over holding her baggy with her tooth still in it and no money.

I already feel horrible, but this is not the first time the tooth fairy has forgot to come. I wonder what her excuse was this time?

Subliminal Messages That Make Your Mama Proud

As I was checking in on my kids before I went to bed the other night I caught Sean sleep talking. I stood silently over him trying to make out what he was saying. It was all a bunch of mumbling until the very end when he very clearly said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." I love that he is praying in his sleep!!!!

Today I announced that we would have a picnic and go play at the park. My very excited boy announced that he would like to do those activities at "Beethoven" park (I am sure he meant "Ben Burr" park). I love that he knows composers better than the actual names of the parks.

Easter Weekend

Easter was a busy but really fun weekend. I was so glad for having General Conference the week before to help center my thoughts on Christ and the whole gospel plan. Easter always reminds me of how blessed my family and I are.

Thursday

Thursday was a busy day with a track meet at Ferris and soccer practice for Halle down town. But we still managed to get our eggs painted and all ready for the Easter weekend.

Sean thought this was the funnest thing he had ever done. He actually did a really good job this year!!!! And to top it off he didn't get dye all over the place.

Chad had a carefully worked out plan for each egg.

Halle has to make sure every egg is perfectly painted.

Good Friday

"Good Friday" was really an awesome Friday. It was the night of our second annual "Glenrose Glammies." This great activity is headed up by our ward Activities Committee (way to go Andrea!). We had an evening of wonderfully delicious food and hilarious entertainment.

High Priest Group




Young Men Leaders



Young Women Leaders

Relief Society Rappers

The Bishopbric danced and sang to N'SYNC's Bye, Bye, Bye. They practiced for weeks and weeks! They were totally awesome and definitely the biggest hit of the evening.

Chris does his solo.

The boy band of the Glenrose Ward.

I'm Chris'#1 Fan!!!!!!!!!

He even let a groupie give him a kiss. (And no restraining order either!)

Saturday

The Easter bunny comes to our house on Saturday - so we can have all the fun on Saturday and then focus on Jesus on Sunday.

Saturday was a crazy day though. Halle had her first soccer game ever. In fact she had two soccer games. One at 9:30 and one at 12:15. It was a brutal day. It was cold, wet and rainy.

Once the games were over and we were dry and warm again we enjoyed munching on Easter candy and playing with the cool balls the Easter bunny brought (big huge bouncy balls with swirling glitter inside - they were a huge hit with the kids).

Chris had track and was away all day.

The kids discovering all the goodies the Easter bunny left for them.

Sunday

I love Easter Sunday. It just has a wonderful feeling about it.

The kids all looked wonderful in their new Easter clothes.

I did something new this year. I sang in the choir. Yes, I know some of you reading this just fainted or plugged your ears or both. But I thought I would do something out of my comfort zone and I'll do it until they can't stand to hear me sing any more and I get kicked out of the ward choir. (But they are pretty desperate you know - so I just might be there a while.)

Anyhow, Grandma and Bompa sat with the kids while the choir sat up front. It was so peaceful to be sitting by adults I could feel the spirit so wonderfully.

After church we had a fantastic family Easter dinner and Grandma and Bompa's. It is always fun when family is around.

All dressed up for church.

Caviness Family Announcement

We have some very exciting news. We now have a new addition to our family. Actually two new additions. We are now a family with pets . . . gerbils that is.

I promised my kiddos a long time ago that when they turned 8 they could have a small pet. I was trying to make turning 8 something special and memorable.

Well our oldest turning 8 happened way too fast and before I knew it I had a promise to fulfill. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the parents) said oldest child made a few bad choices that put him on pet probation.

Pet probation finally ended during spring break and we now have one very excited boy.

Chad actually had been dreaming about getting mice (a much better choice after already talking him out of a snake, frog, and tarantula spider). But we ended up with gerbils.

We thought gerbils would be the best choice for a pet. Cute and fuzzy, they had tails like mice but were bigger and easier to catch (or so we thought), and because they are desert animals they don't pee very much. (But they really do poop a lot!)

We were warned that they like to chew plastic. But if gerbils and hamsters like to chew plastic why is it that all their cages and toys are made of plastic?

Chad named his little guys Chedder and Chester. I call them the "chewer-poopers." So far they have chewed a quarter of their steps away and just last night chewed up their exercise wheel. If you put a toilet roll tube in their cage they can shred it to tiny little pieces in less then a minute! And when you pick them up they bite you! (Just ask Chad and Halle and they will dramatically tell you all about their terrible gerbil bites!!!)

But there you have it - got to love them (smell and all).

So now that you have all this information, any one up for gerbil-sitting when we go on vacation?

Halle and Chad watch the gerbils run around in the bath tub.

This one is Chester. He is quite a bit bigger than his brother. He is also the one that had bitten my children. (Naughty, naughty gerbil!)

This one is Chedder. He is small and hyper. See the green plastic steps and the yellow plastic wheel? They don't look like that any more! Those little chewer-poopers!

If they know these animals chew up plastic why do they make things for them out of plastic?

Xanadu

Anyone ever watch the movie, "Xanadu," with Olivia Newton John? I'm not claiming I have actually watched the movie, I just know of it (wink, wink). Halle was invited to a Birthday party at the Valley Roller Rink last weekend. With all those cute girls and the disco music going "Xanadu" was the first thing to pop into my head. (That is what happens when you have a RAM brain like mine - randomly accessed memories with a side order of useless trivia.)

I am certainly not the queen of roller skating but I can get around without looking like a complete idiot (just a mediocre one). I used to go skating all the time when I was younger. It wasn't until Halle received the invitation to go skating that I realized none of my children has ever been roller skating before.

Even though she didn't know how to skate Halle still had fun. Especially when I walked around with her and pulled her along. Now she can't wait to go again. So now the pressure is on to have a family trip to the local roller skating rink.

Taking a break for a bite of Pizza. Halle, Haleigh (b-day girl), Katie, and Leighton.

Roller skating girls Leighton and Halle.

I Have a **** in My Leg!

The other day in the mad rush to get out of the house to school Sean came up with a new funny. While I was making sure Chad and Halle had everything they needed for school Sean was jumping on the couch (an illegal activity). All of a sudden he yelled, "Ow," on one of his jumps. He hurt his knee somehow.

I gave him a stern look of, "It serves you right for jumping on my couch," while I gave his knee a kiss to stop the crying. Then I put on his snow boots. While I was kneeling down I got a bad cramp in my leg. So I yelled out, "Ow!" Sean asked what was wrong and I told him I had a "cramp," in my leg.

As we are walking to the bus stop Sean leans over and grabs his knee and is moaning. So I ask him what is wrong. He responds by letting me know he has a "crap," in his knee. I gently correct him and tell him the word he wants to use is "cramp."

But for the last week he doesn't care what the correct word is. Every time he gets a bump or pain on one of his legs he loudly lets everyone know that he has a "crap" in his leg.

I'm A Potty Fixer!!!

Ever heard of water torture? If you are a light sleeper, like myself, then water torture is hearing the toilet in your bedroom gurgle and make sputtering noises every night while you try to sleep for months and months and months.

Our house is about 20 years old. New enough that we still live in a nice neighborhood and not everything is completely outdated, but old enough that everything is starting to break down and needs to be replaced. Being the proud owner of a home = responsibility and hand over the $$$.

Our toilet has needed help for quite some time. After both Chris and I attempted to fix the problem with a little wiggle and jiggle here and there of various potty parts we finally called for help. Chris had a friend, who is a professional plumber, come to the house to solve the problem. 45 dollars later he had replaced the screws and attached some kind of floaty device to the chain. The water still ran, but he said to just play around with the bulb until it settled down. Um, I might be kind of stupid here, but isn't that what we paid you for?! I guess you get what you pay for (he did give us a 50% discount - seeing as we were friends and all that.)

After much more wiggling and jiggling, the water still ran it's course taking my sanity with it. Knowing that Chris would not approve of paying for another plumber to come I decided to take matters into my own hands. I drove all the way down to Home Depot and purchased a complete toilet repair kit.

Since no amount of adjustment to the old parts seemed to work I decided to rip out all the old and replace it all with new potty parts.

So I spent most of my Saturday rummaging through the garage in search of tools that would fit and work (the instructions assured me that all I would need were one pair of pliers and one wrench - ha, ha, ha!). Several hours later I had a toilet with a new flush valve, fill valve, gasket, flapper, and tank lever.

When everything was once again assembled I was so proud of myself (and also forgave myself of any unwomanly words I might have uttered during the process). I called to my husband to show off my handy work only to notice that my toilet was now leaking in two different spots. Water was dripping onto the floor. And like any composed woman who has used up her whole day on a stinky project I created some new words and had a nice tantrum.

I once again turned off the water valve and emptied the toilet of water. I put a towel down on the floor and waited until I cooled off to fix the problems.

Well, two days later I finally got back to my project. Now that I had the right tools and knew what to do I had that tank off and tightened up all the leaking parts and reassembled it all in less than 30 minutes. Wahoo. And this time - no more leaking!!!!!

I am now in Heaven. The night is still and quiet - not a drop or drip to be heard. And if I need to get up in the middle of the night I no longer have to stumble down the stairs in the dark into the other bathroom.

If any of you are having problems - call me over - I'm free! And by the way, just call me Josephine (Jo for short) the plumber. Thank you.

January -- So far . . .

Already the year 2009 is passing quickly by. It's the middle of January and I am not quite sure how that happened. In a few weeks my main project will be to get my in-law's house ready for them to move back into. Looking back, this year has gone by so quickly. One minute I am wondering how in the world I will survive without my in-laws and the next I am hardly noticing that they are missing. Not that I don't want them back - I just learned to live without them -which was good for me.

Okay, now what have I been doing in January?

SNOW DAYS

After 5 days off of school (before and after Christmas break) because of snow and ice it has been wonderful to get back into a schedule. But being on a schedule does mean I'm busy from sun up to sun down and beyond. The school district will be making up all 5 schools days this year (last year they loop holed out). My kids are quite devastated that it will encroach into their summer break.

SPORTING EVENTS

Just before January, Chad won some tickets to attend the Spokane Chiefs hockey game. With all the crazy snow we didn't know if we would be able to attend or not. So I didn't make a big deal out of it (or even remind the kids) until that night when we had decided it was a go. This was the first time our kids got to go to a hockey game. They really had fun but were a little confused to see professional grown ups fighting during a game. But they were highly relieved when they learned that there was a time out box (penalty box) for those that were fighting. They liked seeing the players be sent to time out.

The Spokane Chiefs getting ready to play.

Getting into the game.



Sean and I were there too.

One sporting event we never miss is the Rubber Chicken Game. It is the big rival basketball game between Ferris and LC. It is a competition of basketball and spirit. This year Ferris choose the theme of Chuck and the Chocolate Factory. (Chuck is the name of the rubber chicken you are awarded if your team has the best spirit.). LC's theme was Geek Week. (Extremely lame if you ask me.)

The girls game didn't go so well, LC beat Ferris by a lot. The boys game was great. It ended with Ferris winning after over time.

I thought Ferris was way more creative in their spirit theme, but LC did have a lot more members in their crowd and I have to admit, a lot more spirit. (Halle wanted to be a traitor and join the LC crowd because she thought all their props were way cooler than ours.) So LC won Chuck again this year.

It was still a lot of fun to go to.

Cheering with our purple handed props.

The Principals dressed up as the Grandparents in the bed.

Dancing Wonka Bars.

The "Geeks" of LC. They are masters of military drill dance, but not as creative as our dance team!

HAIR TROUBLE

As soon as you mention the word, "hair," all sorts of complaints come spilling out. Who likes their hair? It is either too thick or too thin. It is too straight or too curly. Someone else's hair is always better than yours. Halle and I were blessed with the very thin kind of hair. Thin hair is hard to rein in, it defies gravity, it breaks very easily, and any little amount of damage is very noticeable.

I always figured we would have the haircutting incident and braced myself for that event. Well as of yet it has not happened, at least not how I thought it would happen.

Halle loves playing with her hair. She is always twisting it and pulling it, putting elastic bands in and pulling them out. Well thin hair is not meant to be played with. At first I noticed the sides of her hair getting a little shorter and thinner. And then the back of her hair became an odd angle instead of a nice straight line. As I started brushing her hair I noticed huge chunks that were way shorter than the rest of her hair. Having her hair straight down looked like a mess - like her head had been caught up in some machine and ripped out.

So finally I had to do it. I had to get her hair cut. It made me cry. I love long hair. I thought that cutting her hair short would be a sort of punishment (she keeps saying she wants to be like Rapunzel). It wasn't, she loves it short. And I do have to admit it rather suits her. Oh well.

Halle and her new look.

December 2008

Getting Ready for Christmas

December is always a very busy month. It doesn't seem to matter how much I plan ahead, there is always so much to get done after Thanksgiving and before Christmas day. (It also doesn't help much when the weather goes completely bonkers and you are stuck at home.)

Our tradition is to put up the Christmas tree on the first Monday after Thanksgiving for FHE. We have an artificial tree and the kids are getting quite good at knowing how it is all put together. The tree and the lights usually get done on Monday, but then it takes the rest of the week to put the ornaments on and to decorate the rest of the house.

Once the tree was complete I took our family photo for our Christmas cards. I usually get them professionally done but was too worn out to try and arrange it this year. So after lining everyone up and constructing a tower to hold my camera we took some pictures. It was kind of hard because I have horrible lighting in that room and I couldn't look through my view finder the way my camera was positioned. So, I would take a picture and then look at the picture after it was taken and try to adjust the camera accordingly.

This is the best I could get this year.

After having a wonderful adult only Christmas party at church the kids had a Christmas primary activity the next day. The primary presidency and bishopbric (minus Chris because of a teaching workshop) made waffles for the primary kids and of course the best part was that Santa came to visit. (Although if you ask Sean, the waffles might have been the best part). I am so glad the primary did this because it was the only chance they got to see Santa this year.

Halle was the first to sit by Santa.

Sean carefully explains and gestures with his hands what kind of giant water gun he wants for Christmas. (I'm truly glad he wasn't at all disappointed when Santa did not bring him a water gun, or any other gun, for Christmas.)



Chad tried to act cool as he asked for more bionicles.


My Christmas cuties.

Christmas Traditions

1. Twelve Days of Christmas

A tradition that I started last year was "Mommy's Twelve Days of Christmas." On each of the twelve days before Christmas they get a little present and we incorporate it into the tradional song of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Halle loved this last year and insisted that we do it again this year. So it seems we have a new tradition.

This is what I did this year:

First day - one Christmas pillow case

Second day - two yummy suckers

Third day - three Christmas pencils

Fourth day - four laughy taffies

Fifth day - five glow sticks

Sixth day - six feet of gum

Seventh day - seven coloring pictures

Eighth day - eight pixi stix

Ninth day - nine square bingo

Tenth day - 10 shinny dimes

Eleventh day - 11 sucker sticks

Twelfth day - 12 rainbow skittles

2. Reading Christmas Stories.

This year I started a new tradition of wrapping up our Christmas books. So each night after singing our Mommy's Twelve Days of Christmas song we would unwrap one of the books and read it. I didn't have enough books for 25 days like some of my friends do, but the 12 worked fine. This is definitely a keeper tradition.

3. Christmas Eve Dinner and Program.

Every year since I have been in Spokane (and those years that I visited before) we have always had a Christmas program and dinner on Christmas Eve.

We always start dinner off at John and Lisa Erickson's house. John always fixes the most delicious meal of prime rib. Then after dinner and cleaning up we head over to Herm and Jeraldine's house. There we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and sing Silent Night. Then everyone has to share something, whether it is performing on the piano or another instrument, singing, or reading a story. We always end it with a game (it would not be a Caviness Christmas without some competition!) Mike (Chris' brother) is in charge of the game, it consists of being divided into teams, using tissue to signal an answer, and being able to answer questions about It is a Wonderful Life and anything else to do with Christmas.

This year was a very different one. Our friends, John and Lisa, moved to Springville, Utah (my old home town) and Chris' parents are on their mission out in Ohio. We also had my parents join us for Christmas here in Spokane (their first time).

I wasn't brave enough to cook prime rib but we did have a great Christmas eve dinner of "yummy chicken", rice, rolls, and jello. Our little gang consisted of my family, Jeff's family, Mike, and my parents. We then had our little program. Chris took the place of Herm and read from the scriptures while I took the place of Jeraldine and played Silent Night on the piano. That was definitely the weirdest part of the evening - being my mother-in-law. That is when it all sank in that they weren't really here with us.

Chad and Halle played the piano and Sean sang I am a child of God.

For Jackson's, (my nephew's) part of the program, he let me pull out his first wiggly tooth. He was a pretty brave little boy. (I should have been a dentist - I love pulling out teeth!)

My parents shared stories of English Christmases and taking a 36 hour trip with me as a baby to London.

We did play Mike's game and all seemed right with the world and Christmas eve.

4. Christmas Eve Presents.

Our children get to open one present on Christmas eve. Each year in their Christmas Eve bag they get new pajamas, a new book, a new ornament for the tree, and then something else that differs each year - this year they each got a little webkinz.

Getting ready to open their Christmas Eve sacks.

Tearing into the presents as quickly as they can.

Sean very carefully puts his new ornament on the tree. This year I made each of the kids an ornament with a picture of the Kirtland temple.

Halle was the first one dressed in her new pajamas and is affectionately holding her new webkinz kitten appropriately named, "Snowy."

Sean loved his new pajamas and his bear.

Chad was happy with his new book and doggie, "Tickles."

My parents first Christmas in Spokane - the kids were so excited to have them here with us.

5. The Night Before Christmas.

Our traditional story on Christmas eve is of course, The Night Before Christmas.

Me reading the story.

6. Sleep Over

For Christmas Eve the kids all get to sleep in one room. This year it was Halle's turn to have everyone in her room. The kids think it is a blast and it also helps out Santa because he only has to listen out for one bedroom. (We also hang bells on the door knob to let us know if anyone is trying to sneak out.)

This year Nanny and Grandpa joined in a quick nap on the floor too.

A big old sleep over on Halle's room floor.

Christmas Day

We told the children they were not allowed out of Halle's room before 7:00 am. They are pretty obedient and waited until 7:01 am to wake us up.

On Christmas morning our kids are not allowed to go and see what Santa brought yet. They must wait until everyone is ready and then they must wait their turn (a Caviness tradition). It took a while for Nanny and Grandpa to be ready so the kids waited and waited.

It was Chad's turn to enter the Christmas room first this year. He was really hoping for a wii, but as soon as he found that Santa had left a DS for him he totally forgot about a wii. (Maybe next year.)

Christmas totally brings out the material girl in me. I love getting gifts for my kids and love seeing their faces when they see what Santa has brought. I'm so grateful that we can provide nice things for our kids.

Waiting so patiently to see what Santa has brought. Chad is still praying for a wii at this point.

Chad totally delighted with a DS.

Halle's main wish was for a Hannah Montana DVD.

Sean is thrilled that Santa finally brought him some bionicles.

While everyone plays with their Santa gifts it is my job to prepare our traditional breakfast. Every year we have "Breakfast Lasagna" and muffins. Breakfast lasagna is made with hashbrowns, eggs, sausage and mozzarella cheese - and it is delicious!

After breakfast it is then time to open all the gifts under the tree. Again, as in true Caviness tradition, we do each present one at a time and in an orderly fashion (not how the Hansen's did it).

Then it is time for more playing and napping. Christmas dinner is a turkey dinner for us. It was a great Christmas day.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

I thought last winter was bad with the snow - it was nothing compared to this season! We started off Christmas break a little early with two snow days off of school. It was a little disappointing because the kids had their presents ready to give to their teachers and Sean's preschool was supposed to get a visit from Santa Claus.

With record snow falling it made it hard and also impossible in some areas to get around. It took my mom two days just to fly into Spokane. The day she was supposed to fly out was the day the first and biggest storm hit and Spokane airport was closed. The next day the Salt Lake City airport was shut down for a while, but she was finally able to come that night into Spokane.

Chris and I only have a small car and a minivan - nothing good on lots of snow. We also live in a cul-de-sac that is downhill. Sometimes it is impossible for us to get out of our neighborhood. We were thinking about all sorts of ways to get my mom from the airport to our house if they did let her fly in Thursday. Our ultimate plan was to hire a cab or shuttle to get her from the airport and up the hill. We would then have them drop her off on the main road by our house where we would met her with sleds to help carry her luggage to our house. It is probably a good thing she didn't come until the next day and Chris was able to get out and get her.

I just heard that tomorrow will be another snow day - with no school. We are supposed to get another 4-8 inches tonight and a couple more inches tomorrow. I am so ready to move! I am really, really, really done with snow!!!!!!!!!!

A view from our back deck after the first snow storm that hit December 18.

The view from my front door. Everything was white!

The view from my basement back door.

Our little trampoline is about level with the first snow fall.

The snow is up to Chad's thighs in this drift by our back fence.

After several more snowfalls, there is plenty of snow for the kids to play on.

After all the snowfall and plenty of shoveling there is enough snow for a sliding hill.

A picuture to show how high the snow is.

Halle and Chad make their way over to the slide.

Halle goes head first.

With lots of indoor time we played lots of games. Chris taught Chad how to play chess. Halle wanted to learn too and Grandpa was the one with enough patience to play with her.

New Year's Eve

The kids were pretty excited about New Year's. We let them have their own little party downstairs while we had ours up stairs. They made their own posters, watched movies, popped English Christmas crackers and then went to bed totally exahusted (about 10:30pm).

Happy New Year everyone!