Love parties!

Okay, I'm still trying to figure out some formatting stuff on this blog. I can write real html, but this is new! So I'm sorry for the weird stuff, but I wanted to post and go to bed!

(below) Sunny ready to dive in to the sawdust
and look for money!

One of my favorite things about parties is letting the kids run wild with other kids! And passing the baby around is lots of fun, too...

Phew! What a fun Saturday. We had a stake Emergency Preparedness Fair today, and Ben and I both presented. He talked about the importance of document scanning, and I made my half-wheat cookies and brownies. At the end, they brought some search and rescue dogs. I am used to service dogs that have to be "on duty" and can't play much, but these dogs are quite the opposite! They are trained to be friendly, sociable, and people-loving. They had them on leashes throughout the presentation, and then they turned them loose to socialize. The kids had fun--especially Kandy who got to be the "victim" for the demonstration. She hid, and the dogs had to find her.
Kandy and Missy digging

After the Fair, we went a Kendrick Family Reunion party in Farmington for Ben's grandfather's descendants. We didn't know many people there, as usual, but the kids had fun running and playing on the playground. Buster had fun being passed around between his aunt, grandma, and grandpa. Sunny took a nap on the floor at the Fair, and she did really well at the party. Sunny's turn to dig

She was quite exhausted by the time we came home, but we managed to keep her awake long enough to feed her dinner and wash the lemonade and sawdust (from the party) out of her hair!

And here's a cute picture of Buster:

Diagnosis

Okay, I can spell the name now! The disease is called Henoch-Schonlein Purpura. It's kind of an immune or allergic response to illness or drugs. The doctor said she thinks it's environmental, too, because she saw it more in Oregon than she sees it here. At any rate, it is something triggered internally, not caused by a virus or bacteria.

Sunny is feeling pretty good this morning after 12 hours of sleep. We'll see how long she keeps up her energy before she gets pitiful again. I'll probably have more to say later in the day.

So I wasn't cracking up!

I actually went to the office to do real estate this morning. My kids had a blast playing with some friends. They went swimming! Well, except Buster--he napped.

After I finished work, I called the doctor's office to tell them that Sunny now has a rash and absolutely refused to take her medicine because it is yucky. (She spit it out the 2nd and 3rd time we gave it to her...) I left a message for the nurses. I guess they were unusually busy today, because it took about 2 hours to return my call, which is not normal for them! I called them again, they called me again... Anyway, they wanted to see Sunny again at 3:20. I managed to find another wonderful friend to watch Kandy and Missy for me, but Buster was napping in his car seat and just came along.

The doctor took one look at Sunny's rash and promptly told me what it was. I'm not sure how to spell the name, but this is an illness that isn't contagious--in fact, no one is quite sure where it comes from or why some kids get it. They don't know if it's a virus or bacteria or what! Patients can have a painful rash, tummy ache, headache, a mild fever, and general malaise. Oh, and swelling of the feet and hands. Poor thing! And it will last about 4 weeks. I think we may have already lived through one full week. I hope! So I guess all the chasing around the other day wasn't for nothing, it's just that the swelling kicked in before the rash.

And I did that for....

So last night we did get an antibiotic for Sunny's foot. She took it this morning, but even before that, the swelling was down and she isn't favoring it at all. I poked it, and she didn't complain. I don't know if this Murphy's doing or the prayers we have been saying for her. In either case, I'm glad she's doing better.

I, unfortunately, have a cold. Colds in summer are very obnoxious. And my body is just screaming at me to get more rest, but I am having a hard time getting more with all these cute kids running around. So I walk around feeling like I'm in a fog. Today has been rather uneventful, or rather, the events have been mundane. The little fights that break out between siblings and the inevitable bonks and bruises, but nothing specifically worth mentioning.

Adventures in Medicine

Sunny has been complaining that her foot hurt since Saturday afternoon. Sunday she walked on it fine in the morning and started complaining in the afternoon. We figured we would watch it. Yesterday she was running around as usual, but this morning, the swelling was worse, and it was a little red and warm. Time to call the doctor!

So today has been an adventure. I loaded all 4 kids in the car, and we went to the doctor's office for a 10:15 appointment. She sent us up to Primary Children's for an x-ray. A very kind neighbor agreed to watch the other 3 kids on the spur of the moment so I would just have to deal with Sunny. It was odd to carry her around the waiting room to the different toys she wanted, but I must confess that it was nice not to have to chase her all over the place. I was worried about leaving Buster with no bottle, but he blissfully slept until I came to pick the kids up. Thank goodness he is such a good sleeper!

Well, there was no fracture, so the doctor prescribed an antibiotic to try and clear up an infection in case that's the cause. I don't know what the deal is, but she is decided to milk this and be pitiful. I do feel bad for her, though!

Fun weekend and a little old news.

We are thrilled that Buster is already discovering books.

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We had a good weekend overall. Saturday the kids had a Primary bike parade, and I had some real estate showings. We also had a chance to play a fun new game this weekend called Ticket to Ride. I can't wait to play it again!

Sunny ready for the parade!


Kandy, Ben, Sunny, and Missy in the parade. Sunny couldn't keep up on her trike and ditched it after just a couple minutes.

Last night was rough, though. Everyone woke us up except the baby! Potty breaks, general need for comfort and the like. Buster slept great until 7am. If only we hadn't had the interruptions at 2, 3:30, and 5, we might have had a decent sleep. Thank goodness, though, that this is not the norm for our children as I know it is for some.

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I also wanted to include a few pictures from last week. Sunny celebrated her 3rd birthday last week on Father's Day.

Sunny blowing out her candles while sitting on her cousin's lap.

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Sunny opening a quilt made for her by Kandy and her grandma.

Here are our girls on the day of Buster's blessing in April: Sunny, Kandy, Missy

New Blog!

A friend was recently complaining that I never update our website. I told her it is because it does take a while to edit photographs to the right size and write the code. She mentioned blogging with a blog server, which is easier. Well, since we are planning on changing ISPs anyway, I figured I would cave to the generic blog.

So a few notes: I have some friends that don't put their children's names on their blogs for privacy/security purposes. Since noting that, I have been a little concerned with how much information is on our old website. I'm going to follow the trend. To make it easier, however, I will start all nicknames with the same letter as the real names: Kandy, Missy, Sunny, and Buster. (If you know Ben and me but don't know our kids' names and want to know, feel free to e-mail us!)

So we'll see if I can keep up with this any better than the old way...