Friday, January 25, 2013

Prepping for the Raingutter Regatta

Following a Taco Bar extravaganza, the two middle kids got a head start on building and painting their boats for the February 22nd Children's Center Raingutter Regatta.

All the photos are here: http://worshipweekly.com/130125.html





Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Our School - It's the little things

I love our school.

Coastal Christian School

My kids love their school.  They talk about their teachers and class mates and how they look forward to staying there through high school.

It's little things.



Like the fact I don't have to get out of the car when picking up the big kids.  You just pull up to the cross walk and the teachers send out your kids.  It's amazing.  Sleeping babies love it.

That each teacher knows each student, not just the ones in their class.

They go on lots of field trips.  They get out of the classroom.

They take the extra time to help my child who needs a little extra patients, a little extra teaching, and a little extra time.

The fact that after the recent shooting our kindergarten teacher sent home a note telling us parents how much she cares and loves for each of our children and would protect them like her own.  How she took the whole class into the bathroom to make sure they would all fit.  When they did she called one of the dads whom is a contractor and the next day had him install inside locks up high on both the door to the class and the bathroom.


I love our school.

It's the big things too.

They hold high academic standards



God is present in all they do.

They bow their heads before school, during school and at the end of the day.

They celebrate our saviors birth.

I love our school



Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Confessions from Sick Bay

We are now 7 days into the invasion of the flu/influenza/really bad cold/RSV.

The only unaffected by this rampage of sickness is..

Me 

Which means I have been playing care take to:

1 semi-sick great-grandpa
1 sick husband
2 sick grandparents
3 sick kids

(so I guess in truth the 3 older kids haven't been infected)

Oh and on little to no sleep.

At this point I am hoping to go down with the flu just so I have a reason to take a nap and get a full night sleep.

Although I know if I do come down with the flu I really wont get to take a nap or get a full night sleep, I will just continue to have to care for children while being sick...so I really hope I don't go down.

Yesterday I thought the babies were on the mend but then Jonathan spike a fever mid-afternoon.
David decided to spike a 102 fever in the middle of the night and was hacking up a lung.  

So off to doc this morning for the second time in 5 days. Yes, yes they do have RSV.  

The good news they are handling it well...if you mean well as in up all night crying and wanting to be held all day.

In the grand scheme of things that is well.  

Oh but this mama is tired and she had lots of fun play dates she wanted to attend.  Boo.


Jonathan cuddling up with his fever and mommy.

Monday, December 31, 2012

Santa Barbara Zoo by Train

Our big New Year's Eve day event was a trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo! The three older kids and the three adult fathers rode the train. The remainder slept in a little longer, drove to the SB Zoo, and were home long before the train riders. Here are the only two pics I got as I left the charger and battery on the train (never to be seen again, most likely).

Matteo ALWAYS takes time to study the train materials.

It was an electronics kind of Christmas, and everyone was fully engaged with their electrons...

Friday, December 28, 2012

Children's Museum to Closing McKeon-Phillips

It was an interesting day... Great fun at the San Luis Obispo Children's Museum, fabulous lunch with Trevor and Jen at the new Far Western Tavern in Orcutt, and a strangely melancholy visit to McKeon-Phillips Winery upon the recent news of their closing for good this Monday.


Photos: http://JF2.com/121228/


The picture above is from Trevor and Jen's wedding rehearsal dinner held at McKeon-Phillips Winery in December of 2008. We bought that table today. Photos from that weekend: http://JF2.com/081205/

Thursday, December 27, 2012

God is Good

When we first heard about our boys we were told a bunch of medical jargen:  born at 25wk, 1lb, 12oz, stage 2 ROP, laser eye surgery, grade 2 bilateral brain bleeds, ventilators, chronic lung disease and the list went on.  That night I google every word.  I found words like blindness, cerebral palsy, learn disabilities, respiratory problems, sensory issues. 

We prayed, we talked with good friends, we moved forwarded.

At the hospital we sat with the doctors and nurses and held their tiny bodies hooked to all the alarms and tubes.  They told us then that we were not looking at babies who would be blind, sigh of relief, but they couldn't rule out cerebral palsy or learning and respiratory issue.  

We learned to care for them, how to feed them and bath them and still when we brought them home their overall health outcome was unknown.  With all Jonathan had been through, 3 months on a ventilator, lack of weight gain, brain bleeds and the fact that he was behind in his gestational age, cerebral palsy was brought up. 

So we started early intervention and gave him love and hugs, and slowly Jonathan began to meet his milestones but I was reserved in my excitement because statics said we shouldn't be so lucky.  But God is good and works in such amazing ways.

On Christmas day at 10.5 months (7 months adjusted) Jonathan beat all the odds and crawled

Never in my life have I been more happy to pull wrapping paper out of my babies mouth!

God is good.

God will heal.



Tuesday, December 25, 2012