Glimpses of February...enjoy the show

Sickness abounds. Again.
As soon as I can stop coughing long enough to load pictures I will. Oh and I have to finish sterilizing the house from top to bottom. Again.
This one I'm blaming on Doug. ;-) He came home Monday not feeling well and was full-blown sick by Tuesday.
And it's supposed to hit 80* today! Too bad we'll all be too sick to enjoy it...

Emma participated in an annual art competition here for 5th grade students. Each fall, the Symphony Guild holds an "Art to Music" Competition. ALL 5th grade students in S.A. compete in this competition...I think the number is around 1500 (can't find the letter that says exactly how many, but that's the ballpark). The students were split into groups, each group listening to one of the 4 movements of Respighi's The Pines of Rome. As they listen, they create a piece of art with their interpretation of the movement. The pieces are then submitted and judged. Emma placed 4th for her movement, making her one of the 16 finalists...out of the 1500 participants... Next Saturday we will attend the Symphony, along with the other 15 students and families. The Maestro will recognize the students prior to the piece. The winning artwork will be displayed in the atrium as well as during a slide show during the actual symhpony performance. It's all quite exciting for Emma. Can't wait to see what our little artist created!
This is Everson and his best buddy from church, Joey. They bought these matching hats at AWANA Cubbies "store night". And yes, Everson has this little 'attitude' much of the time LOL.

Sickness...

Have been to the dr 3 times in 3 weeks with sick kiddos. Having 5 makes me wait until I'm really sure they need to be seen. Erik had the sore-throat-swollen-tonsil-thing from October and was given more antibiotics. Elisha now has RSV. Thanks to his age and, ahem, girth, he doesn't need hospitalization. Just nebulizer every 4 hours. Fortunately, Erik knows all too well how to use the nebulizer, so he and Emma are the "lucky" ones to do most treatments. (I knew I had so many kids for a reason).

Funky yuccy weather...happens each January for a few weeks. Then our winter should be ending.

I resolve...

On this something-teenth day of January 2008, I resolve to update the blog weekly...as long as you, my dear reader/visitor/lurker resolve to leave a comment or email me at least once a month with an update on YOUR life...it's the least you can do ;-) I mean, it's just not fair not knowing what's going on in your world.

Erik's Teeth...

We saw the dentist this morning...Erik will not have to get braces in the new year. Just a retainer for 3 months to pull the tooth back a bit. The orthodontist will use the retainer to pull back BOTH of Erik's teeth. We go next week to make the impressions for the retainer, then a 2-3 week wait for it to arrive, then visits every 3 weeks or so to adjust the retainer.

Erik was relieved to learn that he won't be getting braces...tho he was quite excited at the notion of having yellow and purple rubber bands to show his support for his Minnesota Vikings...

Here's our not-so-little 4 month old. He weighs 18 lbs now! Started cereal today. I think he liked it. The kids were a bit disappointed...I think they thought he'd eat a whole bowlful of cereal!
Everson is ever bit the 3 year old in this picture. Now that he's 4, I doubt he'll do such silly things anymore...ha ha.
Emma, Stephanie and Madison in their Nutcracker Party Girl costumes shortly before the curtain went up. These 2 girls are Emma's closest friends here. Homeschooled and in her ballet class, they see each other many hours every week.

Why Erik?!?!?

First, the cleft lip. Then the allergies. Then the fractured and extracted front teeth. The double-hernia surgery...

Well yesterday, Erik, Ellie and Everson were playing some new game on the trampoline. Erik came running in the house with blood streaming from his mouth. Trying not to FREAK OUT, I assessed the situation, while trying to understand what happened. Apparently, this new game entails Erik jumping and diving to tackle Ellie. She jumped out of the way while Erik was in the air. He hit the net and one of his front teeth (you know, the ones that JUST grew in this summer) hooked on the net of the trampoline as he fell. The tooth was jerked into a new position and is sticking out.

So we went to the dentist this am. This 'injury' did not damage the nerve (as far as he can tell). But we have to go back in 2 weeks to reevaluate. Oh, and the timeline for braces has been moved up...likely to 2008...thanks to this 'injury'. I'm to keep him on a soft food diet for a few days and give him ibuprofen to keep the swelling down. Forgot to ask about basketball - which starts tomorrow. Gotta go make our follow up appointment and ask about a mouthguard. Will keep you posted.

How's Erik in all of this? Relieved that the tooth wasn't pulled. Wondering what color rubber bands he'll pick for his braces...green, red, purple/yellow alternating for the Vikings...decisions decisions.

NUTCRACKER CRAZINESS!
So this weekend begins our final descent to the Nutcracker Production. V-E-R-Y long rehearsals for Emma beginning today. We are supposed to move props into the Theater this afternoon...with bazillion-miles-an-hour winds :0 We'll keep you posted and I'll try to take some pics during dress rehearsal.

Snow?
We were expecing 3-6 inches of the white fluffy stuff overnight. But alas, the temps did not drop enough, so we got a good, soaking rain. The kids were disappointed to wake up to rain instead of snow. But it did snow a bit when we were coming home from church. It's 39* here right now.

Thanksgiving was fun...and cold. It was warmer in NY than here...there's just something WRONG with that! We had my mom, step father and stepbrother over, along with a friend and her 6 children. Their dad is an Air Force chaplain and is currently deployed to Qatar. So we had a total of 11 children and 6 adults! It was a great time.

Emma was on one of our local news channels on Friday. She and another cast member were promoting The Nutcracker. She did a FANTASTIC job. One more week until we move into the Auditorium and begin the daily 5 hour rehearsals before the curtain goes up. I'm really enjoying Nutcracker this year...mainly because my only responsibility (other than getting Emma to/from rehearsals) is to sell the DVDs! Quite a difference from being in charge of props last year!

Erik starts basketball practice in a week. He's been practicing this fall with Doug's jr high team. Doug's team is 1-3 and he's still having a good time with them ;-)

Had Erik's birthday party yesterday. He invited 7 boys and they brought new unwrapped toys for Erik to donate to Toys for Tots. They had a great time...even though it was cold and rainy and they had to be inside...the...whole...time. One thing he really liked was the special cake I made. It was made from a mix, but one specially formulated for folks with egg, milk and nut allergies. I wasn't sure what the guests would think. Erik was thrilled that they ALL liked it! "Nobody ever wants to eat my allergy food. I can't believe they liked it!"

That's all for now.

Back from our trip off the face of the earth...

Not really, just busy. Seems most of my computer time lately is with one free hand...the other, holding Elisha. It's not very easy typing with one hand ;-)

Here's a glimpse of the last 3 weeks:

My stepbrother, Jason, visited for a week. He is a Marine and just finished his SECOND 6 month tour in Iraq. The kids loved spending time with their Uncle Jason. Erik even tried on his pack filled with tools Jason used to break down doors, etc when he would 'sweep' neighborhoods...It was HEAVY.


Then my Aunt Lou and Uncle Ed came down to TX for a long weekend. They were only here in S.A. for 2 nights, but we spent a whole day with them. I think they enjoyed the 3 ring circus that is my life. I haven't seen them since Everson was an infant. It was a great time. I think the kids especially liked being treated dinner at Olive Garden!
Two days after they left here, my brother, Dhamon rolled into town. He spent a week here catching up with family and playing with my kiddos. Here's a pic of Dhamon and Erik playing HORSE. Emma suggested that they play ESOPHAGUS if they wanted their games to last longer LOL. They had a blast with Uncle Dhamon...and Grandpa Quale. My dad drove into town 3 days after my brother...in my brother's truck with a special bed that he has had in his garage for us since BEFORE we moved here over 2 years ago. It didn't fit in our moving truck...so he brought it down himself. They left on Saturday.
Here's Everson on his new bed...did I mention that it's a WAGON?!?!? There's even real wheels!
Oh and Elisha continues to be a sweetie. He loves the kids and is quick to flash a smile for them.

Update on Erik:
We saw the pediatrician this am then went across the street to the hospital for more IV antibiotics and a steroid push. Now we are home! The swelling/infection seems to be responding to this course of treatment, so we are not going to any more doctors...unless the bugger flares up again. We have 2 more days of steroids and antibiotics. Erik is feeling great, and in fact is at his acting class with Emma this afternoon. On to normal life!

Peritonsillar Abcess...and Erik

On Monday, Erik started to complain of a sore throat. By Tuesday, I looked in his throat and was AMAZED at what I saw: swollen tonsils, but one was SO SWOLLEN, that it went ACROSS the 'dangly thing' in the back of his throat! So I called the dr. The nurse asked how long he's had the symptoms. When I said 24hrs, she said, let's make an appt for Wednesday, and cancel it if he feels better. If anything, his throat seemed to get more swollen and painful as Tuesday went on.

Wednesday rolls around and I pack up my FIVE children to go to the drs. She takes one look and is concerned. She leaves the room to call an ENT. She returns. Rather than rush to surgery, which has been the traditional treatment, they decide to take an aggressive with drugs treatment first. Because of age/weight/required dosages, Erik needed FOUR BIG HUGE PAINFUL shots...in his rear end. Dr. S offered to admit Erik to the hospital to take the drugs with an IV. She said if it was 1 or 2 shots, she'd recommend we take care of it in the office. But FOUR is a LOT for anyone, especially an 8 year old!

So we go to the van, get the stroller, and walk ACROSS THE STREET to the hospital. This time, we're on the 1st floor. Elisha was born on the 2nd floor. We are admitted to a room and the FIVE children start to watch the Disney Channel. We get the pre-IV numbing cream for 30 minutes, then the IV, then the STEROID push and antibiotics. TWO HOURS after walking in the door, we leave.

We're home now. Taking MORE antibiotics and steroids. We go back to the dr tomorrow at 9. We'll do the hospital thing AGAIN, then likely go see the ENT to have the abcess drained...surgically.

We'll keep you posted.

I get the hint...you are all checking my blog daily wondering what's going on here...Finally Angie has the NERVE to comment on my LACK of blogging. Seems like most times I get on the computer I have only one hand free...holding/feeding Elisha limits my ability to type ;-)

So since having Elisha 8 weeks ago, we:
*Had Nutcracker auditions
*I facilitated a Homeschool Association meeting for 40+ moms
*We traveled to NY (1900+ miles with a 3 week old!)...while there attended a wedding, visited with MANY friends and relatives, went to an amusement park and a zoo
*Visited the Memphis Zoo on the way home to see the Pandas
*Got back to kids ballet, nutcracker rehearsals (Emma has 3 parts), drama class and running
*Doug started coaching a homeschool boys jr high basketball team 2 nights/week
*Attended a seminar/luncheon with the president of the Texas Homeschool Assn.
*I facilitated another HS assoc meeting (these are monthly)
And we JUST started back to school this week!

So we are a B-U-S-Y family of 7! I'll try to get back to updating more frequently. Check in with us and let us know how your fall is progressing.

Check out my Slide Show!

Elisha John...taken October 3...8 weeks old...and obviously starving ::snort::

Elisha John Armstrong
08/07/07
1:19 pm
9 lbs
20 3/4"

Check out my Slide Show!

Ellie's Birthday Party

We celebrated Ellie turning SEVEN a few weeks early...due to the pending arrival of another child in the family. So on Saturday, we had a dozen or so kiddos over here for some water fun and home made ice cream sandwiches. I think the kids had a great time...and I enjoyed the low-key-ness of the day. I had Doug helping, my mom made the ice cream sandwiches, Emma and 2 of her friends (older sisters of Ellie's friends) ran some of the games. All in all, it was 90 minutes of fun for the kids.

Ellie asked her friends to bring gifts to send to her Uncle Jason (my TX stepbrother), who is serving his 2nd tour in Iraq. So we collected 48 pairs of socks, 153 packs of gum and 15 boxes of powdered drink singles for the Marines. She was quite excited to receive so many goodies to send to her Uncle and the other 7 members of his unit to thank them for fighting for our freedom.

In case you were wondering....
...Why I haven't updated the blog, "I" was wondering how long it would take for s-o-m-e-o-n-e to call or email and ask WHY I haven't updated. Sometimes I wonder if a-n-y-o-n-e out there actually reads this thing ;-) or if it's worth my time to keep updating ;-) The winner is my college chum, Karen, who lives in Metairie, LA. Karen emailed me today wondering if I had had "Elvis" early and was too busy to update :-0

Rest Assured...I AM STILL QUITE PREGNANT. Less than 3 weeks to the due date...which we all know is a joke when it comes to these Armstrong babies. My dr has assured ME that she won't let me go more than 1 week past the original due date. So, no later than 8/18.

So what has been going on here:

FINALLY stopped school last week. Have a few loose ends to button up, primarily a 4-week radish-growing study the kids are doing w/Doug. After almost a year of school, we are ALL ready for a nice long break. Not planning to start back up formally until October. Want the time to plan Ellie's 7th bday party, have a baby, pack and travel to NY for Megon's wedding, then come back to get used to having FIVE children...and all the activities of the older 3 (ballet, Nutcracker, running, AWANA).

FINALLY received Emma's standardized test scores. After 5 years of homeschooling, we decided to have Emma take a test to see how she's learning (but more to see how her MOM is doing as a teacher...grin). She did REALLY well on the test - her first actual test ever. Language Arts, Math, Social Studies (NOT history knowledge, "Which of these people is celebrating Kwanzaa?" no kidding), Geography, Science, and Reference Materials. Essentially, I was affirmed as teacher to my children. Emma scored well above her 4th grade level in just about every subject and right on grade level with a couple. The most outrageous score, though was her vocabulary...10th grade level...must have something to do with the 1000s of pages of books Emma has read over the years (another bibliovore in the family to join Aunt Buffy and Grandma Maureen LOL). Anyhow, it just helped me to see where I need to concentrate in the coming year and affirmed what I already knew about Emma's abilities.

Doug offered to coach a jr high boys basketball team this year for our homeschool association. He's really looking forward to doing this, Erik is h-e-a-r-t-b-r-o-k-e-n that he's not old enough to play. Doug has assured him that he can be the Ball Boy LOL.

Everyone is still running. Haven't been going to practices. They are at 7:30am and this old pregnant momma can't seem to get it together to make it out the door that early ;-)

Emma and her father made a deal regarding running: to prove her dedication to ballet, she could be excused from running IF she practiced ballet for 1 hour each day. The first day, she woke at 5:30am...and did her workout. We told her we appreciated her committment, but a 5:30am workout was unnecessary ;-) But she is still working out. AND she asked if she could still run in races...but run with Ellie, Everson, or a friend who is just starting out and much slower. So she ran with Ellie this past Saturday and the coach commended her for running with her sister.

Erik is trying to break a 7 minute mile. This past weekend, he ran 7:09...so he's getting painfully close. The painful part is mostly on Doug, though...Doug runs with Erik and sets the pace for Erik to get these times...

Friends from church had a baby shower for me and "Elvis" yesterday. It was very fun for the girls to go. I was overwhelmed at the # of ladies there. And overwhelmed at the volume of diapers we now have ;-)

Kids have Music Camp at church this week. They'll perform the musical Sunday night. Emma has a leading role, Erik has a small part and will sing in the choir, as well as Ellie. So this week will be a lot of Mommy-Everson time. He has GREAT plans for the week. I'm hoping for some naps ;-) We'll do some baby shopping, though. Everson really wants to give his baby brother his Lambie...I think we'll get something different.

Not much more to update. I'll post some pictures this week as well. Feel free to let us know how you and your family is doing...

What do you do when it's 71* in Texas in June and everything is wet from DAYS of rain and the mosquitoes are everywhere, and the sun isn't shining, and your mom won't take you to the library or clean out the pool?

Draw, color, and just look cute!