Lice and Swine Flu Day

Now I already told you that the life of a nurse is never dull!  I have an office just off the main office where I can hear some of their phone calls and conversations and such...and then I hear, "she can't be back in class before the nurse checks her head for lice".  Oh hurray!  The new nurse that hasn't seen a live lice in her life or nits for that matter.  I sit there for a minute waiting for her to arrive in my office, hoping that they are all dead and gone...but if they aren't, I hope I know what I see...since I've never seen them before. 

Sure enough, there they were!  Really, lice is very common among large groups of school children, a given at some point for a school nurse.  Of course I felt itchy all day after that!  It's such a strange thing or should I say...bug.  They reminded me of tiny fruit flys...although they are wingless and do not fly or jump, they crawl...fast...on the hair shaft. 

They really are amazing little things.  From louse to adult, they live about 25 days.  It takes about 16 days for a newborn louse to become a female adult laying eggs.  Good news: Off the head, adult lice only survive for a day or maybe two; fresh hatched nits only survive for a few hours without a good meal.  Bad news:  you must "nit pick" twice a day for two weeks to ensure they are gone.  Well, I learned a lot today...much like other days.

As for the Swine Flu (H1N1), I just took Saige to the doctor since she has had a nagging fever and cough for 5 days and she tested positive for the flu.  Now I was told that the regular flu season has not hit yet and all the cases they are sending in are coming back positive for the swine flu so they are just sending in high risk positives for Type A definitive flu testing now.  Meaning...they are 95% sure Saige has swine flu...but it was fairly mild and it's almost over...as long as the rest of us don't get it.  Cross your fingers everyone!

Oh, as a side note, I think the racoons got themselves out from under our house without any work from us...except a little dogfood and canned oysters as bait.

A day in my life!

Birthday Bliss

Had a good 39th.  I did work and have curriculum night at the kids grade school with a quick dinner in between and Ryan had a meeting that night too.  At my nurse mtg at work, there is a tradition that the two principals and the security guard all sing to the birthday person...down on one knee.  It was sweet but a bit embarrassing.  We had cake and my fellow nurse and Ryan both bought me flowers too.  It really was nice.  The next night, we went to Seattle for dinner out, some time at REI and a coffee treat all by ourselves.  Fun!  Our sitter is going to nursing school right now and has odd hours, and the kids just love her.

Ryan had a productive week of getting a few things around here done before winter hits.  He pressure washed several things, including the swing/play set that the kids still like to climb on and slide down and swing on.  He then re-stained it to look like new.  Here it is with my model. :)

Here we have the dinner jar.  My new idea...only a week old but working well so far...is that we draw from the meals inside the jar and then put them on the days of the week.  Monday, a non-nursing day, I have more time to make a bigger meal and shop, cook and prep for the rest of the week.  Wednesday is leftover day.  Ryan is loving it.  I must admit it is easier than thinking about "what's for dinner" everyday.

So I have to add one more picture of Saige with her tooth pulled out.  She insisted that she do it herself which was dramatic, but fine.  That one tooth really did need to go (per the orthodontist) since it was part of what was holding her jaw alignment off center and crossed.  Now there is one more tooth to "fix" somehow and she will have a more functional bite and hopefully grow correctly from then on.

September 2009

So we left off in July, after the 2 mile Fun Run, Parade, Ryan's 20 year reunion, and I think my School Nursing College Class. We continued with ortho apts. with Hailey, Dawson and Saige thru the summer and for a few more months yet to come. See this beautiful smile!?Teeth are looking good for the most part. Hailey is mostly done, Logan needs more adult teeth to tell if he needs any more work, but all is lined up pretty good now, if not a bit crowed. Dawson's overbite is pulled in a bit and not so deep now, all done with a retainer device at this point. Saige is expanded and has most of her cross-bite corrected except for one tooth in the way. We'll see what they will do with that. She just lost the one tooth that was really holding things up this week. I'm very proud of her. She pulled it out herself (with a lot of encouragement and cheering from Hailey).

We also did some allergy re-testing with Dawson and some of his allergies got worse, so we re-started the weekly allergy shots. It's surprising how fast a week rolls around with a marker like that in the week. Kinda like garbage day. Gotta ask, where did this week go so quickly? The end of July held our 14th wedding anniversary, quickly followed by my surgery. I tried to take a couple weeks off as ordered to recover, but it's harder done than said with 4 kids and a husband and especially in the summer with nice weather. Lucky for us, Mom came again after already helping me with the kids while I took my class and stayed a few more days to cover my surgery day plus a couple. A few days later, we went up to Ryan's folk for a family reunion on his Mom's side. It was great to see everyone again after...not sure how many years.

Later in the week, Ryan took the kids Blackberry picking down on the bike trail by the river. It's turned into a fun annual event for us. Then we put up some jam to savor this winter. The nice weather in July also afforded some time in our large soft sided pool. Between 4 weeks of swim lessons and that pool, the kids were in the water a lot and really enjoyed themselves.

Dawson and Logan both made great progress in their swim lessons this summer. They are both at just the right age and interest level. Saige was only willing for so much, but still did well. More time in the pool at home really helped. It's kinda hard to do in WA.
August held a fun 5th birthday for our sweet friend Anne at the Water Park that we love to go to at least once every summer. Of course Eileen and Paul put on a huge, delicious spread once again. We also enjoyed several days at our annual church conventions. We pulled the tent trailer down and set up for the full first Olympia. Hailey met some terrific girls there this year and they really took her in and made her feel so welcome in their group. They are a little older than her, but Hailey is pretty mature for her age that they really took a liking to her. Saige and the boys got to play with and sit with some of our old friends from Raymond that have moved to Wenanchee now. It was extra special this year as Hailey felt drawn to make a commitment to reading and praying and taking part in sharing at church. She has been so happy and sings hymns most every night with her sister in her room. I love to just listen outside their door. It does me good too.

After conventions, it was off to work for me (Aug 20th) and the kids had sitters for a week or more and then Mom returned for the last few days of August and first of September. Here is Saige on Back-to-School Night.It was quite an adjustment entering a whole new specialty field, starting with a new employer and having so much independance, but so much expected of me right off the bat. School Nurses have a lot to do before school starts: writing care plans for the life threatening conditions and collecting Dr. orders and meds for school, contacting parents about immunizations and possible health concerns. I had a lot to learn about their email and computer system...once they got me on it. I'm in two different schools, an elementary and a Jr High, so it's similar, but double the work. Kids do come to school with a lot of challenges these days from asthma, food allergies and diabetes to ADHD and autism to seizure disorders, trachs, wheelchairs, and other developmental and physical disabilities. That's all before my walk-ins to the health room with cuts, sprains, broken teeth and asthma attacks, etc. I can truly say my job is never boring or slow. I do love nursing. The kids in my district started school on Sept 2nd, but my four kids didn't start until Sept 8th. They have had some great first days of their 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th grade year. Hard to believe. We are already into the back to school events, school pictures, and homework even.

Other September events include the world famous Puyallup Fair starting, pressure washing fences, sidewalks and play structure, staining and painting said fence and play structure, pool cleaning and take down, a super quick visit from Unlce Larry on his way thru town, and my birthday coming up this week. Ryan and I have another date planned. I know...we just had one in July, but hey!Oh, I almost forgot to mention the boys weekend hike and camping trip. They will have to tell you about that, but they were a bit muddy and wet when they got home with plenty of cleaning to do. The hearty souls are game to go again though.

Best get back to the laundry and clean up after the boys haircuts and our yummy BBQ dinner so we are ready for the week.
Happy Fall and good days to you all!

Fly By

Here we celebrate Saige's 6th birthday while at Grandma's house after our big 4th of July.

This is a picture of 30/46 of my classmates that were able to attend our 20th! Great to see them all again after a year of planning, calls and details. What fun to be together after 20 years!

Ok, so my life is officially flying by months at a time! Since June, we have finished K, 2nd, 4th, and 6th grade, had both Ryan's and my 20 year class reunions which we each ironically planned for each of our classes. I took a week long college class to bridge my nursing into the school nursing specialty while my Mom stayed with us and kept order in our house. The kids have also finished with their first set of swim lessons for this summer and passed onto the next level. So, on to the next class they go, starting on Monday for another (final) 2 weeks. Lessons really fit in best in the summer and just seem to belong there. They come out of lessons all wet into the summer heat and head home to our own above ground pool to practice and play some more if we aren't headed off to the eye doctor, orthodontist or getting an allergy shot for Dawson or another short trip. This next week, Ryan will take few days off to take care of car and household necessities and maybe even relax in the pool if it stays warm. I also have a minor surgery next Thurday that will take a couple weeks to mostly recover from. Then we have convention, back to school prep, and I start work at the end of August before the kids go back Sept 8th. My school actually starts the week before and I will need to have Emergency Action Plans and Care Plans in place and be checking immunization records of all students. I will care for 8 grade levels at one school and 3 grades at the Jr. High every Friday. I think that will be about 1500 students in all plus staff teaching/training. I guess I'll see if I can juggle it all. My commitment is through January, so I will be re-evaluating then if this is working for my family. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. So much to know and do. Kinda like looking down into the water off the high dive and taking a couple deep breaths.

Ryan and Ed at the reunion dinner, followed by the reunion picnic and final reunion bash at the Sports Keg. What a huge weekend of visiting and reconnecting fun. Ryan was voted least changed (just as handsome as in high school I think) and Ed was voted most change...mostly since he's been working out and hardly looks 38.Here we are making strawberry jam to enjoy in the cold of winter as we pack off to school.

This is part of our PC-NET group that we are active in with our neighbors and our enthusiastic leader from the county.

Here we are at Wild Horse Monument headed to Spokane for my reunion in June after school got out. Again, welcome with open arms and a squeaky clean home of my Dad to stay for a few days, along with all the food we could possibly eat. Love you, Dad. (And Happy Birthday!)

Here we are with Grandpa, ready to run (or walk) 2 miles. What a great day with over 600 other runners!Here we are ready for fireworks.

We also had a great 4th of July up in Woolley with a 2 mile fun run, rockin' float ride, and fireworks down by the river. The weather was warm and the smiles friendly all day long! Ryan's folks again provided us with a cozy place to stay and meals ready to eat. Always makes for a great vacation.

Silly Saige

Saige has always been something else. I'm not sure if it's because she is the 4th child, we're more relaxed parents, she has 3 older siblings, 2 of which are brothers, has always shared a room and thus a lot of time with her big sister, she's doesn't miss a word people say or detail of her enviroment...unless she's asked to pick something up...or a combo of it all. Regardless, she says the funniest things. She's still 5 until mid-July but her humor is quite advanced. She and Ryan went to the grocery store this weekend and she noted this boy, Dillon, in her Kinder class in the check out line next to hers. She procedes to wave and tell Ryan, "Look, Dad, there's Dillon in my class." Then the idea hit her and she shared it with Ryan. "Dad, when I get home, I'm going to tell Hailey that I saw Dillon at the store and she is going to freak out." (Background: Hailey also has a Dillion that seems to be sweet on her in the 6th grade that has been in many a conversation all year.) So, thus she did tell Hailey, and she did freak out and then Saige told her, "No, it was the Dillion in my class." Ryan laughed so hard at Saige's plan working so well and Saige enjoying it so much. What a kid!

June Jubilee!

Fun, fun, fun! All the kids are celebrating in all their classes from Books and Beyond reading programs to field day and park field trips. Here we seized an evening during a recent group of unusually hot days to ride along the river and to a park in the neighboring town to do a BBQ and play. The cottonwood trees where dumping their seeds so heavy, it looked like snow in several places.

We also ended Soccer for the boys. They learned so much and had a lot of fun building up their confidence and skills.

Hailey also had the privilege of participating in an all-district band festival that included all the Jr and Sr Highs in our district meeting on our hometown football field. Wow! Have they ever learned a lot this year. She started out, not even knowing how to read music or blow a single note. I'm very proud of all here efforts this year. Practice isn't always very fun when you are just learning.

Just this last weekend, my girlfriend since 3rd grade and I went back to our hometown for the Mule Days Parade and a warm-up to our 20 year class reunion in just a couple more weeks. 12 classmates showed up in all for a ride on the fire truck in the parade and lunch at the Community Hall at our own reserved table. It was so fun to visit a little again and see a few of their kids. The big event will bring several more of us together as well. We had a small class...maybe 45 graduates in all, but 17 of those went K-12 together and others from 2-3rd grade on up together. So, we know each other pretty well and shared a lot of laughs. I'm excited for the big weekend coming soon.

May Daze!

Here's the new and painted and roofed dog house for our sweet Louie.

Here is Dawson at 8!

Wow! I can't believe how fast May went. More track practice on Mondays and Wednesdays after school, Soccer every Tuesday 430-530, PTA and Booster meetings, Dawson's 8th Birthday, a visit to Michael Perry at a local bookstore, and lots of other kids' school trips and projects (on the Grey Wolf for Dawson and on a strange book for Hailey) being crammed in before June and the close of school for another year.

Aunt JoAnn's visit was coming to a close, but she really wanted to get those spiffy new soccer clothes for the boys as birthday presents and they just loved them and felt so cool. Dawson just loves the color orange...not sure why, but it's always a safe bet. Mom stayed here too, so she could enjoy the days with her sister and the kids as well. He even got new running shoes. He is the real runner of the family (because he just loves to do it and does plenty of it). At the Husky Hustle, he ran over 5 miles while the other kids walked, snacked and some just threw water. It's just his thing.


Here is a picture of us visiting a terrific writer at a local Seattle book store. He was visiting from Wisconsin. We learned that we had even more in common with him than we realized after Ryan read several of his books. What a nice evening.

Of course Mother's Day is in May...and we all went out the the Delta for a relaxing hike around and a look at the wildlife. I should just take a moment to say...my kids are absolutely terrific. Some days are long at times, but the years glide quickly by.

May also happens to be the annual Art Walk at school, encasing creations from every class, project tables to try your hand at some more art and a snack cafe'. My friend Lisa does a terrific job overseeing the Art Docents and finalizing the year with this beautiful creation for us all to enjoy.

Even with all this going on, a job basically fell in my lap.

I decided in March to interview for a part time vision/hearing team in the neighboring school district for a short fall job since all the kids will be in school 5 days a week next fall. Hard to believe it's been 12 years of staying home most all the time except for a few sub teacher jobs. It has gone so quickly, but I'm not ready to work full time by any means for start into the daycare scene. Mommy is still my primary job. I just like to get out a bit and interact with adults at times too...or even other kids.

Since the district was getting ready to lay people off and they didn't need me until fall, they put my completed application packet on the back burner. After checking back a couple times, the nursing coordinator for the district that had technically hired me to join the team of 10, decided to offer me a long term RN sub position she would rather have me do if I could jump through all the hoops of an online application process, ESA certification, update my CPR/1st Aid, get three letters of recommendation and three reference forms filled out ASAP. Then I would be able to go through orientation and precepting in June so I could start late August, just before the kids go back. Seeing that this might be a perfect little part time job for me through January of next year, using the nursing stuff I love, I dove into the whirlwind. I made it through all the hoops so far and get my new badge tomorrow. It will be a steep learning curve and a bit of a juggling act at first, but it really feels right. I would only be working 2 days a week and home when the kids got home, but learning a ton in this new specialty.

Among all of that this month, I made several trips to the dentist, orthodontist, and eye doctor with different kids in tow. Saige even got a new pair of sun glasses out of it! She felt so cool. Things are all clean now and well examined for most of us...only a couple more left to go.

It's time for a new set of lenses and frames for me and I'm repairing a cracked tooth with a porcelain on-lay. Kinda like a pseudo-crown. It still involved a couple appointments, a temporary that fell off twice and being numbed up twice for the big appointments. Uggg! I love my dentist, but still hate going to visit him with my mouth open.
At the end of May, the boys and Grandpa Ressie all went to Tonasket for a couple days of camping while Grandma and the girls shopped, ate, read, walked and relaxed at Grandma's house for the long weekend. As we returned with laundry and a long "to-do" list, we ran smack into June.

Later in the week after the 3 day weekend, Grandpa and Grandma came down to attend Hailey's band concert and Logan's choir concert and the Grandparent Breakfast at Logan's school.

During the end of May, I also took a class with my friend Eileen on parenting teens and tweens. I guess it was more of a talk...entitled, Getting to Calm...from a prof at the UW. We had a nice evening and learned quite a bit. I will use it before her, but it was all very applicable. This parenting this is quite a job and so multi-faceted. It's a wonder any of us turn out decent.