a polar vortex

Preston had a basketball game Monday night against Anderson County.  He started varsity, and played really well.  His team about gave me an ulcer with their back and forth scoring, and getting down by several, and then making a big comeback for the win.  Seriously boys -  I am an old lady, my heart can't take this stuff!  haha!

Preston has always reminded me of Cameron.  In looks, and in attitude.  When he was playing Monday, if he made a mistake you could see him grinding his teeth and throwing looks.  A friend of mine leaned over and said "geez is that Cameron junior or what?"  It cracked me up.  I had been thinking the same thing!  They must have gotten their intensity from their dad!

Mike was at the game again.  He does such good work.  I am going to say I love these photos, and will be ordering a few before the season is over.  I know a lot of people video the games, but  I will always love still photos.

As much as we miss Evie, I am sort of happy that she is in Arizona where it is 70+ degrees rather than having to be drug around in this crazy polar vortex weather we are having.  Oh! Never mind, we would just stay home and cuddle under some blankets!  She is getting closer to coming home.  She is making good progress.  She is inching closer to the 5 pound mark, and doing so good with her feedings.  I love this little baby!  I am thankful for cell phone technology!  Waiting has never been my forte'  - this waiting is killing me.

The weather has forced our hands in some critters being in the house.  The twins born Sunday were not born to a very good/attentive mother.  As a result, one passed away, and we chose to remove the other one and bring her inside.  They were both extremely cold, and hungry.  The white one was just too far gone by the time we stepped in. Quincy worked really hard to save her, and it was disappointing.   The brown headed one is doing good.  Her name is Dufensmurtz.  She is pretty sweet, and happy to be inside out of the cold.  

She is also a barnyard animal, and I will happily put her back in the barn this weekend when it is 50 degrees.  Fickle Kansas weather.  Dufensmurtz has the loudest cry I have ever heard!  I am, as I mentioned earlier, an old lady.  I woke up to her cry and had no idea what was happening, or who had broken into the house!  :)  

In addition to the goat being in the house, we also have Mary Goldwater inside.  After Jim puts the kids on the bus in the mornings, he gets ready to go to work.  He said the house is usually pretty quiet (he is the last one there).  He heard something on the deck.  He looked out and discovered a chicken, half frozen and not looking too happy.  He called me when he got to work and told me there was another chicken in the "chicken hospital" (cat carrier inside the house).  We just released a different one earlier this week.  I guess life wouldn't be quite the same if I didn't have a chicken in the chicken hospital!  I cannot bring myself to put her back outside today, since it is literally -4.  She will just have to hang out with us until the weekend when it is warmer.  She isn't loud like the goat, but chickens smell terrible.  :)  Luckily, the kids are off school today, so they can take care of all these problem beasts.  I am thankful for the school calling off today.  I know there will be people who say the roads are clear, and there was not really any reason to cancel, but honestly, I would hate to have a kid freeze if a bus breaks down, or something.  These kids rarely wear weather appropriate clothing, and even if you were wearing a coat, hat, gloves etc (which they won't be) it just is not worth the risk.  Plus, I like a day to hang out with the kids anyway.  Religion Ed is also cancelled, so it seems like a good afternoon for baking, blankets, and hot chocolate!

I never quite know what Cameron is going to be doing.  When he was a little kid, he loved Rey Mysterio.  He had a Rey mask that he wore all the time.  Recently, he purchased a purple one to wear to the KSU games.  He makes me laugh. I prefer this to the speedo!  His friends are good sports.  I love this one of him and his friend Dorian.  They have been bff's since kindergarten!  Now they are both grown men attending KSU together, just like they always planned!

Life is chaos

When Jim and I decided to have a large family, we knew that there would be times of craziness and we are ok with that.  One might even say I enjoy it.  Jim is usually the calming factor, but even he cannot prevent complete chaos on occasion.  Enter this weekend.  Quincy had a basketball tournament at Seamen.  I was excited because Preston's team was also playing at Seamen, and I had agreed to drive the bus, so I thought I might be able to catch both kids!  Nope.  Preston's team played a couple of blocks away at the middle school.  Jim was able to bounce back and forth and catch both kids playing, but I had to stay with Preston's team since I was their chauffeur.  Quincy's team won 1 and lost 2.  Harper took pictures, but Quincy didn't like them, so she deleted them!  I don't think that Quincy was actually upset by the losses this week.  She seemed like she thought they just didn't play as well as they sometimes do.  Truthfully, I think she is feeling ready to move to a new activity.  I am not sure if she has any more tournaments or not.  They were still discussing/deciding.  Quincy was happy because she got to go shopping with Landrie and they picked out crazy "jumpsuits" that they are going to wear every single Monday until school lets out.  Landrie also spent the night Saturday night, and they made all sorts of crazy time lapse videos and giggled all night long.

Preston's team played 2 games.  The first game, they looked awesome, and lost the game by 1 point in a heartbreaking, hard fought game. I really thought they played as well or better than I have ever seen them play.  The second game was against Washburn rural and I am pretty sure that those boys all have futures in the NBA.  Just kidding, but they really were pretty good.  Preston's team just didn't know what to do with them and lost pretty handily.  The good part was that we were home in time to watch the KSU game, although as it turned out, that game wasn't too fun to watch!  

Mallory fell down the stairs and thought she broke her ankle.  Turns out, she just has a very bad sprain.  She got her first ever substitute and had to make lesson plans and panic a little bit from home.  I took her to get an x-ray this morning, and we managed to get her into an air cast, thanks to my friend Dodie loaning us one for Cameron a while back that I forgot to return.  (Thanks Dodie - we owe you bigtime!).  One injured party is just never enough.

Last night, we had a set of twins born.  I am thankful they were born before the Arctic air comes in tonight.  While Mallory and I were in town, we stopped and picked up a couple more heat lamps and some extra bulbs.  This little white one is so cute!  Can't have her freezing!  There are still 2 does who have not had their kids, but one is starting to seem barren, and the other one isn't bagging, so I don't think she is due any time real soon.  I always appreciate when the babies aren't born when it is horribly cold!  We should be having puppies next week.  All these babies mean spring should be getting here soon!  We hope at least!

Speaking of babies, our sweet Evie is really filling out!  Yesterday she weighed 4 pounds 13 ounces.  She is doing so good!  She is taking roughly half her feedings from a bottle now.  I am proud of her!  I just can't get enough of this sweet baby!  Madison said they have started to pack.  That sure does make me happy!

Preston had a game last night at home.  It was a little bit wild, and felt to me just one elbow drop short of street ball.  Sometimes it really makes me wonder what the ref's are doing.  Preston's team didn't win, but I thought Preston did a great job.

We have a couple of guys in our community who come to the games sometimes and take pictures.  I love this one.  Think I will be ordering a copy.  He made the basket too I think.....he had several points, so I am going with it!  :) 

We had great news about Evelyn yesterday.  They removed her PIC line, took her off of all her IV's and moved her out of the NICU into a private baby room.  She is doing so good!  She also got to take her first tub bath, and is no longer in an incubator....which means she has to produce her own body heat to stay warm.  I am proud of the progress!!!  

Another snow day.

The kids have a snow day today.  The roads went from ok to absolutely not ok in about 15 minutes time last night.  I was driving kids home and admit I had a couple moments where I thought I was going to need new pants.  Luckily, I made it home with everyone getting home safely, and the bus all in one undamaged piece!  I was definitely dreading the morning routes, and was not one bit sad when they called school off last night!   

Jim is attending small government day in Topeka today.  Because of that, and the fact that the Buick isn’t doing well right now, I decided to stay home rather than being trapped in town.  The kids and I are having a fun day.  We have made Jim some breakfast foods, cleaned up, and watched a little tv.  Evening activities are all cancelled as well, so I am happily holed up and enjoying the free day!   

Quincy is enrolled in the wildlife project.  I mentioned a while back we have been enjoying watching the birds at the feeder.  I got a huge kick out of Saige and the cat watching all the birds out there.  Saige is more likely to give the birds girly names like “Susan and Ellie” rather than learning any type of actual bird breeds.  But that’s ok.  Life is full of all kinds of people.  The red birds (cardinals) would probably all be horrified if they learned they all have woman names!  

Blitz is going to have puppies.  This morning I asked Preston if he would help me take some pregnancy pics of her.  He said and I quote “I will help you if and only if you agree to never say pregnancy pics in my presence again!”   He helped me and I made no such promises!  

The Buckler

Today I took Saige to see an orthopedic doctor.  When we arrived, they gave Saige a squirrel necklace and notified us that today is Squirrel Appreciation Day.  They must have known Saige LOVES made up holidays!  Now she thinks we need a cake after school!  :) 

Express care told us that she just needed to wear a brace for a week or so.  The orthopedic doctor said otherwise.  She said that it is a much better idea to cast it to basically protect the injury for 6 weeks.

So Saige picked out a green cast and will be wearing this for approximately 4 weeks and then we will go back and probably get a second cast after they do x-rays.  She was very good while they set it, and she pointed out that before she could go back to school, we needed to stop and get some markers so her friends could sign it.  Easy enough!  We also made a stop off to pick up Harper's glasses because apparently at some point the dog thought they were a chew toy.  Always an adventure.  Always!

What a weekend!

Cameron and Colin left on Friday in both an effort to beat the incoming snowstorm, and because Cameron had to work all weekend.  They were both excited.  Cameron is starting his second semester at KSU.  Colin is off to Manhattan Tech to attend lineman school.  I hope the semester goes well for both of them!  My house sure got quiet!  

Quincy was in a basketball tournament.  The weather was not too good, we heard the roads were pretty bad, and we really thought it would be cancelled.  It wasn’t.  We made the decision that Jim would take her and I would stay home with the other kids.  She had a great day playing, although they had a pretty hard bracket and lost all three games.  Quincy was excited because dad took her to lunch at Border Bandito, a place that no human should eat.   She also got him to buy her some new basketball shoes.  A good day for her.  

While Jim and Quincy were at basketball, the kids and I were cleaning house, and doing laundry.  Saige and Preston were supposed to be tasked with cleaning the basement.  Somehow that lead to Saige falling off a desk.  Cleaning injuries are the weirdest.  Saige is sort of dramatic.  She cried a lot, but I gave her some motrin and an ice pack, and she sat happily and watched a movie.  I figured she would be fine in a few minutes.  She wasn't.  She refused to use her arm at all, and by Sunday, was still not using it and crying if we tried to touch it.  Jim and I decided she better have an x-ray.  Since he sat at basketball for literally 13 hours on Saturday, I took on Express Care duty.  :)  Saige has a buckle fracture near the wrist.  Apparently, little kid bones are somewhat soft, so instead of breaking, they buckle or sort of accordion up.  They put a splint on it and told us to follow up with our regular doctor.  She said the splint helps keep it still and she is not in as much pain.

Saige did feel well enough to attend the 4-H cooking project meeting on making homemade cakes.  It was a very good meeting that we all enjoyed!  Quincy enjoyed it so much that she came home and re-made the recipe for the people who didn't attend.

Of course, we all enjoy our daily Evelyn updates.  She is growing!  Up to 4 pounds 4 ounces!  I love the way she has her feet propped up and looks like she is just chillin'!  She is doing good with her bottle!  Hoping that the progress is steady and we will have her home soon!

The kids and Jim have today off for Martin Luther King day.  I don't.  But that is ok because at my office, I can sit down and breathe and that seems like a nice break to me!  

Thursdays are for....

Jr. high basketball.  What would we do if we weren't watching that?  :)

Preston's team traveled to Osawatomie last night.  For as upset as Preston was last week about his performance, he did a great job this week!  He had several points, multiple steals, a bunch of assists, and a lot of rebounds.  I think he was actually happy about the game.  The win was also nice!  I enjoyed watching!  (Preston is number 2 in blue).

In addition to basketball watching, we also do a lot of baby gazing.  I am happy to report that Ms. Evie weighs 4 pounds now!  One of the requirements for getting out of the NICU is to weigh 4 pounds - since that is the minimum weight for a car seat.  Of course, she has a few other hurdles to jump over, but we are celebrating small victories!  She is still having a few issues with her digestion.  I know they are running a lot of tests, which at this point have been normal/negative.  It is hard for all of us to wait, and be patient, and not know if the problems are some sort of disorder, or if they are a result of an immature digestive system.  We have to leave it in God's hands, as we have no control here.  We will just continue to pray, wait and pray some more.  Loving her is easy, waiting for her to come home is hard!

A friend of ours took some video of the game last night and sent me these highlights.  It really was a fun game.