8/25/10- First Day of School

Well there you go folks. That day has finally arrived here in the Reed Family household. Time for school.
Marilyn, Katie , Hannah and Maggie all woke up , got their breakfasts as I made their lunches for the day. They were super exicited and Maggie was disappointed that she wasn't going to start today.She won't start until September 7th but that's okay.
She learned that she can watch what she wants on t.v and play with the toys while her sisters are gone and not have them yell at her. She is a little whinney though so she is definitely going to take a nap this afternoon for sure.

It is so strange not to have them here at home. After homeschooling for 8 years I have found that I'm not sure what to do with myself without the girls. I'm sure I will figure it out but in the time being I'm just going to get some much needed house cleaning done. Its kind of nice to be able to clean stuff up and not have the kids tear it up behind me. For the first time in 8 years my kitchen table is clean.

I am so looking forward to hearing how their day went. Its only 10:24 and am thinking about them already. What are they doing? Are they having fun? What are they learning about right now? Have they met any new friends yet? The only thing I know is that at 9:30 am they have snack. I'm sure I'll get lots of papers to read tonight about what they do , when they do it , and how they do it. LOL.

We will see how this all goes. It doesn't feel quite right but in the same breath it needs to be done this year. I need to get my health in check so I can be the best mommy that I can be that's for sure.



The girls this morning



The girls met up with their friend Alicia.



Out in the parking lot




In the Multipurpose room waiting for their teachers to line them up.

Here is to a great school year for the 2010-2011 school year. I can't believe how my babies are growing up. Maggie starts September 7th, and was a little disappointed that she wasn't starting today. I told her all in due time because I have a feeling that me leaving isn't going to be the easy part for her. Or maybe it will and she'll surprise me. Who knows?

The Countdown is On!

School supplies : Check

School Uniforms: Check

Tugging on Mommy and Daddy's heart strings: Check

With 9 more days to go I think the reality is beginning to hit me that my little girls are all goingn to school. The older girls are enjoying every last minute of their summer vacation and Tim and I have been preparing for everything they will need for school. I'll admit it was quite a bit more work then I wished for but its worth it and I think they will have a positive experience with school this year.

It was quite a roller coaster ride when it came to getting nursing for Maggie. Since our school doesn't staff a full time nurse I had to go private. That didn't come without its 'fun'. First we had to get the diagnosis which led to our trek to Cincinnati. Once we had that getting the ball rolling for nursing was less then fun, but we managed and insurance is going to cover it. So this week we are going to interview nurses hopefully and find someone we are comfortable with.
I am hoping that everything will go alright for Maggie with even going to school in the first place. Whenever she gets sick it always ends up in some drama either taking longer to get over to ending up in the hospital. So we'll see. Even if we just get preschool in it will do Maggie a world of good. It really will.

Speaking of school right now our school is participating in a contest to see if we can will $500,000 dollars. What a blessing that would be. Our little school building is about 80yrs old and is in need of an overhaul. Unlike public schools we don't have money set at our finger tips to fix it up. We depend on fundraisers and everything to just keep it open. Its been sad to see so many Catholic schools close. Less families have the money to send their children to private school. Not that we have lots of money. We surely don't. We took advantage of the scholarship program that they have, which I think not many people realize it exists. So that was how I was able to manage to get the girls into private school. Otherwise we would have never of been able to afford it either. But it would be such a miracle if our little school wins it. So on the sidebar of our blog is a Kohl's Cares button. Click on that button. I'm not sure if you have to type in the name of the school and state but its St. Thomas of Corry, PA. And you have a chance to give 20 votes. You can only give 5 votes per school so don't worry if your school is participating as well as your school can only get 5 votes per person. So vote away and help our school get a much needed makeover!

3 more weeks!

I can't believe in three more weeks the girls will be going back to school. Not so sure about whether Maggie will venture off to preschool yet or not, but the other three will be going.

We've been doing some school shopping and getting prepared. The only think left are book bags, lunch boxes, and school uniforms and shoes. The girls are really excited yet at the same time a little nervous with this new journey. I know they will do absolutely fine.

Unfortunatley Maggie isn't any better off from our trip to Cincinnati at the moment. Don't get me wrong I am so happy that she isn't pooping 24/7. But she isn't out of diapers. We basically traded in one problem for another of course. So we get the constant pooping out of the way but add in cathing every four hours to keep her bad kidney from damaging her good kidney. Plus the fact that we aren't quite sure what to think of the motility problems she has been having. Hopefully we'll get the results of that sometime this week and we can get it figured out. If her blood work doesn't show anything we will do a trial of Flagyl and see if it helps at all or not. If that doesn't help then her GI would like to scope and see if this is allergy related. Sometimes allergy cells can get into the esophagus and GI tract and can lead to diarreaha ( a.k.a hypermotility). If nothing shows up with all of that then her GI suggests looking into her motility then. Even so if it happens to be motility related its not going to matter what type of testing we really do because there really isn't much to do to fix it, other then what we are doing now(Immodium and Enemas). If this is the case that will really stink for Maggie. Even though we went to Cincinnati, saw the Colorectal guru guys and went through the whole bowel managment program. It doesn't mean that Maggie still won't have accidents, and we all know how embarrassing accidents are. The older she gets the more its going to matter to her.

I can say if we do manage preschool for Maggie this year I will guarentee that it will be the only grade she attends brick and mortar school. With all of the hassle this has been, trying to come up with ways for diapering, which turned out going to Cincinnati. Then adding the cathing, trying to get a nurse for her to do this, insurance , insurance denials,. Its just not worth it in the end. Its a darned shame because Maggie will have so much to offer the world, yet I find that the world has nothing to offer her.

Life Flashing Before My Eyes

Yesterday was quite a day. It started off like any day of course. Getting up, getting the kids their breakfast, giving Maggie her meds and then sitting down to my computer to check my emails for the day. I never know who is emailing to ask me whatever question it is they have for the day.

Of course as I sat down to my computer I felt this wave of nausea and thought to myself " Oh goodie, the stomach flu." It started off very mild with some diarreaha( I know to much information), and ended with throwing up once(thank goodness). It was a quick lived stomach flu and that I was very grateful for because if anything, I mean anything, that anyone here in this house gets sick with I'd rather it not be the flu. It doesn't bother me that they throw up. Just when children get sick it doesn't start with them feeling nauseated and walking to the bathroom to do their business. It usually ends up with someone throwing up all over their beds, the floor and all of their toys that occupy the floor. It also most rarely ever starts during the day. Its usually in the middle of the night at 2 or 3a.m when you've just started in a REM cycle and are at your most comfiest.
Anyways, my stomach flu was short lived and I was finally able to stomach some ginger ale. Of course we had a tiny bit left in a bottle and I poured that into my cup and slowly sipped on that. Then later on I thought, what the heck, I'll have a few pretzels. That I did have and was starting to feel better. As fast as I felt better I began to feel light headed and my ears began to ring. I felt as if I were going to throw up and stood by the sink hoping it was just going to pass. I've had that almost going to pass out feeling before and if I stood in one place, breathed, or sat down I was most always fine and it passed. Not this time it didn't.

All I remember was bending down at the sink and that was it. All of a sudden I was laying on the floor starting up at the ceiling. It was as if I were just waking up in the morning and was looking around the room. Except I wasn't waking up from a full night's sleep. I was laying on the floor in the kitchen with my husband calling my name .. Tracy, Tracy. The first words out of my mouth weren't " What happened, or "Where am I?" or anything like that. The first words that came out of my mouth were" What???!!!!" Then I quickly got up on my feet and walked into my bedroom and layed down.

After everything was all said and done. I laid in bed with Maggie and just cuddled with her. I felt as my life flashed before my eyes. One minute I was at the sink and the next minute I was on the floor. I don't remember a thing. It was like as if I had went to sleep and woke up. I will admit, I know that people pass out all of the time, but it sure did scare me into thinking how limited my time on earth is here. What if that had been something more serious and I didn't know it?
I wish I could of said I saw a bright light, or an angel, or the Lord, but I didn't. I don't even remember anything going black. It was just crazy,and scary all at the same time.

It also scared me into thinking about who would take care of Maggie if I died? Tim tries to help but cathing a little girl and doing enemas make him feel uneasy. I'm the one who pretty much is in control of her care, making sure that she goes to her doctor appointments, her medications, scheduling surgeries, etc. I know Maggie's meds and enema recipes by heart ( though I do have them written down too). Ugh. At the age of 34 I shouldn't have to worry about these things. I should be enjoying life with my children not worrying about things like that. But I do unfortunately.
I wish God knew what he was doing. If he gave me a little child with health problems then He should at least give me good health at the minimum so that I can take care of her.

Oh well, I move forward and keep going. As my mother in law said " I'm one tough cookie". I'm not sure if I hit my head as it doesn't hurt, but between my shoulders and a part of my bottom. I'm sore.

How the summer flies by

Wow! All I can say is I can't believe how much time has flown by already. The girls have had so much fun this summer. They were in the Alice in Wonderland play. Which by the way they did fabulous. They worked so hard on that while Tim and I were gone with Maggie in Cincinnati.
That all went well too. I always enjoy going down there. Cincinnati is such a live and bustling city. It just seems to interesting. More so then the little island I live in here in Corry, PA.
Anyways our trip yieled answers and of course new medicines, procedures and equipment. I'm finding out that we need more room to live in and store stuff. Maggie just keeps us on our toes every day. She was a trooper through all of the testing and such. Mommy had to learn how to cath and do enemas all in that 10 days we were gone. There was even a moment that I had when I broke into tears because I was just so frustrated with it all, and my sweet, sweet little girl looks up at me and says " Smile, mom." So I looked at her and smiled and she then turns and says, " See, mom, I knew you could smile." With a bright beautiful smile on her face. She was the one going through all of this stuff and she was telling me to smile. Bless her little heart. I just hugged her and we laid on the hotel bed and cuddled. God has given Maggie such a beautiful personality. She has to have it to get through life.

As to the fun stuff we've been doing since we've gotten home. The girls continue to go to swim lessons, gymnastic lessons. We go to the lunch time at the Y for lunch and swim. Today we went to the library to check out some books. The girls always enjoy going. They really do. We're hoping to go see the play Annie Go Get Your Gun, which is put on by the Community Play Theater.
The girls cheered on their friend Abbey this year for Little Miss Corry. Marilyn didn't get to run this year. But she'll try again in a few years. It was fun to cheer on our friends.

The girls will be starting school on August 25th. I'll admit its still July and I already miss homeschooling them. Even though I've been doing bits and pieces of stuff with them throughout the summer. I'm not sure how to let go. I really don't. I'm sure I'll manage somehow. Right? I think I may just keep Maggie home. I haven't fully decided yet. I'm trying to determine if its worth sending her yet or not. I probably will but that little voice in my head or my gut feeling whatever it maybe. Is telling me to keep her home, yet at the same time she needs to get out a little bit. Maggie's life has been being at home and hospitals. She doesn't know how to play with children her age at all. She shuns anyone who isn't mom, dad, or grandma. So I feel like I'm in a pickle in a way I guess.

Well time to end it here. Its almost midnight. I need to quit staying up so late.

Its Summer Time!

All I can say is Wohoo! This is my favorite time of the year. Its warm, there is no snow, and lots of fun things to do throughout the summer. We've started out our summer with the first Vacation Bible School of the year. I wished I could say I have pictures but I don't. Our flash on our camera broke so its hard to get good pictures on it. The girls had tons of fun with the Egyptian themed VBS this year. They are looking forward to more throughout the summer. The girls are also participating in the free lunch program at the YMCA. They get a free lunch and swim or gym. They enjoy that a lot. Its a shame more people don't take advantage of it. The food has really improved from last year. Last year was mostly sandwhiches, which of course were made with white bread. My girls aren't used to that. I've always used wheat bread. This year they have had chicken alfredo, spaghetti and lasagna to name a few things.

We are also going to Cincinnati here with Maggie on Wednesday. This is a 'business' trip only. Meaning that we are going down for medical stuff and not for pleasure. I'm hoping we can get a plan going otherwise I'm not sure if Maggie will be able to attend preschool or not. We'll be there for about 10 /11 days so I'm hoping something will be accomplished there for being there down that length of time. I'll admit I look forward to going though because Cincinnati is really a nice place. We will be staying at the Raddisson hotel, which is located in downtown Cincy. So we'll be closer to the hospital this time.

I will admit that this summer is already going by super quick. By the time we get back from Cinncinati it will be almost July. Then we'll have August and then its back to school! Such a short amount of time to enjoy the summer. Which also leads to the fair! The Spartansburg fair is always so much fun. We've been going to this fair for a little over 12 years and its always a great way to end summer vacation. The fair isn't a big one , but its just right. Of course it gives us all summer long to work on our crafts and grow our vegtable to enter into the fair. The girls always enjoy that part. Which reminds me, I need to get the fair book so we can go down our list of stuff. I've also was inspired to get our tags for our entries in such a neat way. There are a few families that enter under ever catagory. They come down , get the entry tickets , and then put them on everything before they even come to the fair. So simple, yet so inspiring. So that will be our method of delivery. It will make it so much easier. Each year we go and get the entry tickets and sift through them only to find out that we forgot something at home or we take up to much time in line.

Well that's it folks. Summer is hear and its meant to be enjoyed! So we definitely plan on enjoying it that's for sure.

Pennywise Give a Way

Why not do something fun and educational this summer? Sign up for the Pennywise Giveaway. I copied and pasted the info from their blog as I don't know much about the item other then it looks pretty cool if you like to disect dead things.

This week at PennywiseLearning.com, we’re giving away an Ein-O Science Nature Explorer kit.

Explore 10 Gritty Activities

- Nature Lab (plants)
– Growing Plants
- Plant Survivors
- Bug Eye
- Nature Lab (bugs)
- Light Shelter
- Antzville
- Germiniator Lab
- Plant Preservations
- Bug Viewer


Visit the Pennywise Blog to enter today...