New Blog -> Mama 13.1 -> go there

I've been having many troubles uploading photos on this site, so I have a NEW blog, where I will continue what I've started here....

http://mama13point1.blogspot.com/

Marijke

Welcome to USA, Marijke!!!

For this school year, we are hosting Marijke, a German exchange student who will be a senior at MHS.

It was a long wait for her, but she finally made it to Cedar Rapids from Chicago.

Random Thoughts

So, apparently I've been "too busy" to blog. Well, here are some random thoughts:

1. Brooke does NOT have Lyme Disease. The "Western Bloc" test, a more thorough test, revealed that she does NOT have the disease. However, she was instructed by our pediatrician to finish the antibiotics, which she did. This would cover any bacterial infections that may have triggered the Bell's Palsy.

2. Today was school registration day. The girls are going full-time this year. Brooke in 6th and Haley & Moriah in 8th. Luckily, all three are at the same school.

3. Marijke comes THIS SATURDAY! I feel like an expectant mother or something, as I have been "nesting." Last week, I cleaned out the garage--I can park in it again! I've been cleaning a little more than usual. And today, I actually put the new cupboard drawer pulls & knobs on the doors and drawers. They'd been sitting in a bag for about a month and today I managed to get inspired. HGTV was on in the background...maybe that helped?

4. We have now just 1 cat. Blossom, a nine-month old kitten herself, gave birth July 24th to four premature kittens. The girls managed to keep 2 alive for 5 days by feeding them around the clock, but in the end, there were four little graves in the side of our yard. Blossom, who wasn't doing so well herself, ran away the 29th. We suspect she found a bush to die under, poor thing.

5. We are going to Colorado soon! Dan needs a vacation after a tremendously and unusually busy July at work. I'm looking forward to catching up with Diane & Pat, and my good friend, Deb & husband Mike. The girls are looking forward to seeing Rachel, Deb's daughter. And, of course, we all are excited about seeing those fabulous mountains again!

6. Just made brownies...mmmm...chocolate.

Update #2

Brooke's Lyme test came back positive, so she has Lyme Disease. The amoxicillan antibiotic is supposed to take care of it.

Update

Brooke had a follow-up appointment today in Iowa City with an ENT pediatrician.

It went very well.

He was impressed with how the Mercy ER treated Brooke, and believes they/we caught the palsy at the very beginning. So, treating it at the beginning will cause it to go away sooner.

Whew.

Her "funky eardrum" is just fine.

I think she's already getting better. Her eye is blinking farther than it was yesterday.

Brooke has Bell's Palsy

Friday was quite a day!

After missing Brooke at camp all week, we went to pick her up at 9 am. She looked tired, but that's to be expected after a week at camp, staying up late, getting up early, and non-stop fun.

Unfortunately, I sent her on Sunday with a massive headache. Monday morning, she had thrown up and was still feeling ill. But, by Tuesday, she said she was much better. She stayed at the camp all week, and insisted she was fine.

Apparently, sometime during the week, Tuesday or Wednesday, one of her eyes became swollen and almost shut. But, later in that day, the swelling went back down, and she was ok.

So...it's Friday, and I have an appointment in Iowa City to get the VW looked at, which I had rescheduled due to our visitors earlier in the week. And, of course the 90 minutes I was quoted turned into about 140 minutes of waiting.

I made it back to Muscatine around 3:30. Brooke seemed ok, but I was wondering why her smile was crooked. She said one side of her face felt stiff and bruised. The other side was soft and squishy. By this time, it was about 4 pm. I called our pediatrician, knowing full well the answer I'd get: "it's Friday afternoon. Go to the ER."

Well, we've done the Muscatine ER enough times to know we should try a different ER. Dan said Mercy in Iowa City. Off we go.





Brooke had an MRI of her brain. She had to stay completely still. She did great. She had her blood drawn for blood tests, specifically the Lyme's Disease. And, she had a throat swab. Tests. Tests. Tests.



Conclusion: Bell's Palsy

Course of treatment: A lot of pills

Full Pool

I think I counted 6 adults and 20 kids!

Case is in the car, while Sam is watering.

At the John Deere Pavillion, Moline, IL

Case, Moriah, and Fernanda

Case sure enjoyed himself!

No, not our feet!

My dad

Case and Haley

Monopoly!

Haley, Moriah, and Fernanda played HOURS of Monopoly!

More from our visit

We had a lot of conversations.

Hartmut's wife, Maleike, and my father, Fritz


We were looking at pictures of Hartmut's houses in Brazil and in Holland.

Brooke's first year at Camp

Here are only a few of her cabinmates. There will be 11 girls in all, plus the counselor (the tall girl on the left).

Unfortunately, Brooke wasn't feeling well when I dropped her off. She has an ear infection, and has been battling a major headache all day.

The counselor called this evening to ask permission to administer ear drops and ibuprofen.

Hopefully, she'll be better in the morning and have an enjoyable week!

Visitors from Holland/Brazil

Dan is talking to Hartmut and his wife Maladje, while Fernanda is sitting with Haley and Moriah during our boat excursion on the "Pearl Button" paddleboat. We had about an hour ride in the light sprinkling rain on the Mississippi River.



Here we are taking cover from the rain at the front of the boat on the second level.

After our boat ride, we came back home to watch the disappointing loss of the Netherlands to Spain in the World Cup.

We had a barbeque supper and the girls (minus Brooke) went to the movie, "Eclipse."

Brooke began her week at camp this afternoon.

Case, the aspiring artist

...drew these all by himself!


This is Moriah


This is Haley

Photos by Haley

Sporting some new shoes

New Hair Do

Haley and Moriah decided to get a fresh look for their hair, and it looks fabulous! Behind Haley is their hairstylist, Vicki. She did a fantastic job!

Happy Independence Day!

Every July 4th, Muscatine hosts a parade. This year's theme was Mark Twain, famous American author, who lived in Muscatine for some time. This was the coolest entry in the parade, in my opinion.


We were joined by friends Katie and Emma at the parade. From L to R: Katie, Emma, Haley, Brooke, Moriah.

Earlier in the day, we went to ToyStory3, the movie. Even Case went, and we all thought it was a VERY good movie. Highly recommendable.

Later in the day, we went to fireworks.

Happy Independence Day!

Ring! Ring!

The girls have phones now. They are so excited and are quickly getting the hang of texting. We upgraded our phone plan and have unlimited texting and free calls amongst our phones, free incoming calls, etc. The girls each purchased their own phone and are paying the monthly insurance fee from their earnings.

C U L8R!

Messy

I've come to the conclusion that having a boy just means mess. Here's the evidence of the writing on the wall...and the floor...

Soccer Summary Spring 2010

The Mystics U10 Soccer Team finished the season at the Muscatine Summer Classic this weekend. From left to right: Tessa, Brittany, Brooke, Hannah, Annabelle, Allison H., Chloe, Allison M., Callie, Hunter, Moriah (not pictured: Paige)

Brooke scored a goal with assist from Tessa in the final 30 seconds of the last game! Yeah! She had many shots on goal this tournament and finally, one got past the keeper!

Our final league record was 3-3-2.

Our tournament record was 1-2.

04/18/10 - Sun	12:00 PM	MCS Mystics	DSC Wildfire	Bettendorf 5	0-3
04/25/10 - Sun	4:30 PM	NSSC Extreme	MCS Mystics	Bettendorf 4	2-2
05/01/10 - Sat	4:30 PM	MCS Mystics	EISA Buzz	Muscatine TBA - Medium 1	5-1
05/02/10 - Sun	3:00 PM	MCS Mystics	MU 99G Maroon	Muscatine TBA - Medium 1	5-1
05/16/10 - Sun	1:30 PM	QCS QC Tigers	MCS Mystics	Muscatine TBA - Medium 1	1-3
05/22/10 - Sat	1:30 PM	RIFC Rebels	MCS Mystics	Bettendorf 7	3-3
05/23/10 - Sun	12:00 PM	EMSSC Firecrackers	MCS Mystics	Muscatine TBA - Medium 1	2-1
06/06/10 - Sun	12:00 PM	MCS Mystics	GSC Spitfire	Muscatine TBA - Medium 1	2-3

Severe Weather

A pic from my phone of downtown Muscatine as the storm approached fast and furiously.

Sleepover Success

4/5 of the kids ranked this Last-Day-of-School-First-Day-of-Summer-Sleepover "the best one yet." Among the various activities, which included an exchange of items-no-longer-wanted, swimming in the pool, makeovers, telling stories, playing tennis, and a modeling show, was the Iron Chef Cook-off. They did something similar last time with the brownies (see March 19 entry).

This time around, the rules were changed up. Each team was made by drawing names from a hat. It was a little worrisome when both sets of sisters ended up on the same team, but it worked out very well!

Each team was given these ingredients: Box of macaroni 'n cheese, toothpicks, Cool Whip, hot dogs, Refrigerator biscuits (crescent rolls), bananas, yellow cake mix, 9 eggs, stick of butter, bag of mini-marshmallows, a loaf of bread, and a Wild Card. The Wild Card could be used towards any other ingredient in the house. They also each had access to Pam spray, oil, and milk. Each team could ask permission from the other team to add one extra ingredient if they so desired....so one team asked for shredded cheese and the other asked for smoky cheddar cheese. The Wild Card for Dining Room team was used for a can of tomato paste, while the Kitchen team used theirs for syrup.

Judges: expert food tasters Dan & Linda Steele :)


"Dining Room Team" and "Kitchen Team"
Moriah, Moriah, Sydney Case, Brooke, Haley


Working on the side dish - cheesy mac with dogs

Working on the presentation of foods

Dining Room Team: Pigs in a blanket, cheesy mac 'n dogs, & pizza

Kitchen Team: Smoky Pigs in blankets, smoky mac, and smoky eggs on bread

Dining Room Team: Braised Marshmallows on Yellow Banana Cake with Cool Whip

Kitchen Team: Yellow Marshmallow Cake frosted with Cool Whip & banana slices, topped with syrups

And the tasting commences...

And the judging continues...

Soccer Weekend

Wow, I only wish I had a video camera for what happened before this picture. It would've been shown on ESPN for sure. Tessa kicked and made a goal from almost the half-way mark. The wind helped push the ball, but it was a perfect arc and it went high and wide. The goalie didn't have a chance. Seriously, it was a goal of a lifetime.

Anyways, here's Brooke (closest purple player) playing her final spring Illowa game. We had a scrimmage after this in Burlington and still have several tournaments this summer. Then, I think, this fall the U11 girls will be a different league, which probably means driving farther.



This is our team: U10 Mystics

This is the pizza party after the scrimmage in Burlington at the RecPlex. This is an annual/semi-annual thing we've begun with the Burlington Yellow Elite team. Our scrimmage ended in a tie 3-3.