The Little 4 Wheeler

Papa and Grammie Olson got the Little 4 Wheeler fixed for the grandbabies to ride.

I told our kids that when I was little I used to ride this 4 wheeler, they then told me that the 4 wheeler must be REALLY REALLY OLD. Nice.

The kids were so excited to go give it a spin in Papa and Grammie's backyard.

Ava is obsessed with the wheeler. She laughs hysterically the entire time she is on it.
PK is getting pretty good at driving it.

Check out this little babes smile. She is in heaven. Every time PK would slow down she would bob her head back and forth to go faster.

You must be very serious when it comes to riding 4 wheelers. Do not crack a smile of any kind.

PK giving Hanny a ride.

Carter, Hannah and PK.

That is Hannahs new smile she gives me when I pull the camera out. Nice, huh?

These kids are going to really enjoy the 4 wheeler, just like I did when I was little.

New Haircut

Hannah got a new haircut and she looks super cute and sassy.

She loves it!

She wanted it super short and with bangs. Um, no. I said you can get it cut to your shoulders and no bangs, we compromised and I think she looks pretty dang cute!
After it was cut and we got home, she said, "Wow, my hair feels so healthy and looks so nice."
She is so funny!

Backpacks

Every day when Parker or Hannah comes home from school, Ava takes their backpacks and puts them on. She thinks she is so big and cool when she marches around the house with these backpacks on that are bigger than her body. Unfortunately, the kids don't like Ava wearing their backpacks or dragging them all around the house. This of course starts a fight, Ava screams and the kids get mad. The other day, I remembered that Grammie Olson had bought Hanny a little backpack a few years ago and so I went on the hunt for it and luckily I found it in a closet.

I brought it to Ava and she started clapping, she was so excited.

It fits her little back just perfect and she thinks she is pretty awesome with her little backpack on.

Love Ava's droopy eye in this picture. She is such a funny baby.

This little lady is growing up way to fast.

She wants to be just like Hannah and do whatever Hanny is doing.

Getting Better

Parker is finally starting to get better. After talking to an infectious disease specialist from Primary Children's and his regular pediatrician to many times to count, we finally feel like things are going in a positive direction and from here on out he will be getting better.

We are keeping our fingers crossed.

We are still dealing with the rash in certain areas of his body and now his skin is starting to peel on those areas and on the bottoms of his feet and the palms of his hands. He still gets tired easily and is really itchy and sore in the rash areas. But, there has been no more fever and his body isn't aching all over any more, which we are very happy about. He made it through two full days of school last week, had two half days and luckily only missed one full day. Hopefully he will have 5 full days of school this week.

We are just happy that PK is doing better!!

Just relaxing after school.
The peeling hands. I feel so bad that he has to go through this. It is completely uncomfortable and kids are always asking him, "What is wrong with you?" I hope it goes away quickly. I keep thinking it will look better tomorrow, but then tomorrow comes and it looks worse.
Parker is so positive and keeps telling me, "Mom, it is okay, it doesn't look to bad. Don't worry."

Let's just hope that this next week the rash will finally go away and that the skin will stop peeling.

We just have to apply all these different creams to his hands, feet and body and hope it helps. It is so sad to watch PK be so uncomfortable, but he just keeps on going and stays positive. Love that boy.

Ohhhhhh!!

Me and Ava are able to have some one on one time together 3 times a week when Parker and Hannah are both in school. Ava has a love/hate relationship with this time. She misses the kids like crazy and usually stomps around yelling, "Bub (for Parker) and Anana (for Hannah)." But, she also loves that she gets Mom all to herself and she has found a fun thing to do at 11:00 a.m. every day, watch Sesame Street. She LOVES it. She goes and gets her blankies and then grabs my hand and takes me to the couch and we sit and watch Sesame Street together and if Hannah is home from school, she also gets dragged to the couch to watch our daily dose of Elmo and the gang.

She giggles and laughs through the whole show. She loves when they sing and when animals come on the screen.

Completely mesmerized.

She saw Abby, her favorite character. Every time she sees her, she says, "Ohhhhh!"

Still mesmerized and taking everything in.

I love watching her say "Ohhhh!" over and over again. I also love it when she sees the animals and it doesn't matter if it is a bird, fish, dog, rabbit or cat, she says, "woof woof."

Love this little babe.

Cookies

Hannah loves to make cookies.

She asks or should I say begs me daily if we can make them.

She loves to cook and learn new things.

Hannahs favorite part is mixing the eggs and pouring them in the bowl.
She kept saying, "Look how good I am at this. Look Mom, Look."

Here is the finished product. Still warm, right out of the oven, YUM.

Thanks Chef Hannah.

Silly Baby

The other day Ava kept trying to put Hannah's clothes on. She was determined to do it herself, but after a good half hour she quit and brought them up to me and kept saying, "Hew." (which is "here" in Ava talk.) Then she would slap her legs and belly. So, I dressed her up. I tried taking the clothes off she already had on, but she flipped out, so we ended up putting Hannah's clothes on over her existing outfit.

Ava is hilarious, entertaining and funny. Not a day goes by that she doesn't do something to make us laugh.

Looking good girl!

I love how her skirt is poking out of the pink shorts.

Ava thought she was pretty hot stuff, she was marching around patting her belly and kept going up to Jason and Parker to show them her outfit.

Love Her.

Boxens are Fun.

The other morning after we dropped PK off at school, the girls came home and decided to play in a few boxens while they watched t.v.

These two little girls make us laugh every day. They are becoming buddies and Ava follows Hanny around everywhere and copies everything Hanny is doing.

Hanny is a good sport and lets Ava do whatever she is doing.

Watching t.v. is so much better if you sit in a boxen that is way to small for your body.

I guess Hannah didn't want her picture taken, she is giving me the evil snarl.

p.s. Jas found our camera.

p.p.s. I know it is "boxes" I just say "boxen" because that is what Jason calls them. Annoying, but catchy.

Sick.

On Wednesday September 8th, Parker broke out in a rash that started on his thighs. The next day it had spread and it covered his body from the neck down. That evening he started running a fever. By Friday morning the rash covered his whole body and his lips and the skin around his lips started peeling off.

I had called the doctor on Thursday morning, but since he wasn't running a fever and the rash was not bothering him, we assumed it was probably an allergy rash. But, by Friday my "mom instinct" was telling me this was no allergy rash.

We headed to the doctor.

They did a strep test, it came back negative.

The doctor determined that Parker had Scarlatina. Which is just a fancy word for Scarlat Fever.

He was put on an antibiotic and we all felt confident that he would recover in the next few days.

Unfortunately, things progressively got worse. Not only did the rash get worse, but it started blistering. Then on Friday late afternoon Parker had a mild seizure and started hallucinating. It was very scary. He was screaming, "Take me quickly, I just want to go quickly." Then he would pass out and then he would wake again screaming.

He had 3 episodes of hallucinating.

The doctor informed us that the Scarlat Fever was more advanced then he had thought and hallucinating can occur. We are assuming the seizure was from his high fever and the pain that his body was going through. Scarlat Fever makes your whole body ache with pain.

We were able to control his fever and luckily he did not have any more seizures.

Then he started throwing up. This lasted for a few days and we did everything to keep him hydrated. We eventually had to get some medicine to stop him from throwing up. Once that ended, he started feeling a little better, but was still exhausted, and the fever and the rash were still bad.

He missed school all last week, he mostly slept all day. By the middle of last week, I was getting worried again. He wasn't throwing up any more, but he wasn't getting better either. He was still exhausted, he still had the rash and he still had a fever. I took him back to the doctor on Friday September 17th. Our pediatrician and another doctor looked at him and were concerned that the rash and fever hadn't subsided yet. They made a few phone calls and next thing we know, we are headed to Primary Children's Hospital.

They were concerned that Parker had Kawasaki Disease. Which is a disease that affects the heart.

He fit several of the signs and symptoms and our pediatrician and the doctors at PCMC thought it would be a good idea to get him looked at. Better to be safe than sorry.

Parker was checked by about 6 doctors and 5 nurses when we got there. They took blood, urine and boogers/mucus to run several tests. He was also very dehydrated.

He also had an echo cardiogram on his heart to determine any damage.

Luckily, there was no damage to his heart. His lab work came back looking great.

They watched Parker closely over night and eventually his fever went away and once he was hydrated he started feeling better.

The doctors told us we could stay the rest of the weekend or go home and rest. They still have a few labs they want to do, but since his heart looked good, the labs looked good and the fever was gone, Parker could go home. We felt fine with going home.

It has been a long few weeks...but we feel blessed that Parker is finally doing better. It may take him another week or so to get all his energy back and to gain the weight back he lost, but I think we are finally to the end of this crazy illness.

His rash is almost gone and the fever has not returned.

The doctors are still baffled as to why the illness took so long to go away and they are pretty sure he contracted a viral infection along with the Scarlat Fever. We are just waiting back to hear what kind of viral infection. Parker is finally eating better, sleeping better and starting to act like himself again. He went to school for half a day yesterday and then came home and took a 2 hour nap. He is doing a full day at school today and I am sure he will be wiped out when he gets home. Hopefully, he will just keep getting better from here on out.

We just want to say thanks to all our family and friends for all your love, support, phone calls, emails and for being willing to help us with anything. We really appreciate it!!

MISSING and an Update

My camera is missing. WAAAAA! It is like I have lost a limb or something, that camera is with me at all times. I don't even know how to act. I have searched high and low, I have torn apart the house, the garage....searched the front and backyard....I even cleaned the van to see if it was hiding in there. I have no idea where it went. I keep asking Parker and Hannah if they have seen my other limb, I mean camera and they keep saying, "I saw it upstairs, no wait I saw it in the kitchen, no wait I saw it in your bag." I am pretty sure they have some idea where it is and what happened to it. They like to play with it, alot. Last time they damaged the shutter. I informed them that if they did play with it and something happened to it, I would not be mad, I just want to know where it is. They didn't say anything, they just gave me that "deer in the headlight look." Which is the "GUILTY" look. Little stinkers. Hmmm.....now I have to make a decision, keep searching for the old, damaged shutter camera or start searching online for a brand new shiny camera. Decisions Decisions. ;)

On a side note, here is a few updates:
Jason: Dad, Hubby, Work Work Work. Needs a nap and a night out.
Kristin: Mom, Wife, Maid, Cook, Chauffeur. REALLY needs a nap and a night out.
Parker: Still sick. UGH. He has missed 7 days of school! This illness is going to make me pull my hair out! I feel bad for the poor kid. It is like one thing after another.
Hannah: Sassy and Silly. Loving Preschool and loves to mother Ava to the point that Ava gets so annoyed she pulls Hannah's hair and tries to push her over. Hannah told me, "Ava does that because she loves me so much." Oh, bless your heart.
Ava: Teething. Double UGH. Still being as silly as ever. Thinks she is a dog, tiger or monkey most of the day. Loves to wear a gazillion necklaces around her neck and unload the shoe basket by the front door about 10 times a day, just to drive her mother crazy.

Until next time.

Oh, A Camping We Will Go

For Labor Day Weekend we headed to the Property for some camping fun.
We had a great time, ate good food, saw family and got FILTHY dirty.

So pretty.

Everybody just hanging out.

PK and his dirty face.

The babes in the motorhome, getting ready to watch a movie.

Holy Dirty.

This is one dirty baby. But, she was one happy baby.

The campsite.

The leaves were already changing at the Property, so we had to get a few pictures.

Carter, Hannah, Ava and Parker...loves these babes!

Skish was loving this leaf. She kept laughing at it and waving it around in the air. She is easily entertained.

Family Pic.

Ignore how dirty we look.

On Saturday it was super HOT, so we got the pool out and hooked the slide up and the kids had some fun.

Love Hannah's face.

Here goes Carter boy.

Grammie helping Skish take a turn down the slide. She loved it, even if her face looks like she is scared to death.

Lovin' Ava's tongue action in this picture.

Wow, that water looks refreshing! haha! Yuck.

BB Gun shooting time. The kids were determined to shoot a squirrel, they ended up shooting lids instead.

Checking all the holes out.

PK just relaxing.

We ate some good food. As you can tell Ava thoroughly enjoyed her corn on the cob.

She is hilarious.

PK showing us his mad balancing skills.

Ryan and Carter.

Taking a break. She is actually clean in this picture. Miracle.

Miss Hannah. She loves to go camping!

All Smiles!

Cheeser!

Love little Maycee. She looked so cute in her helmet. She is just a peanut and I think the helmet was bigger than her.

Looking good girl!

Jas and PK on one of their many 4 wheeler rides.

My Uncle Wes brought a razor to the property, so Jas and I took it out for a spin. SO FUN!

I could definitely see us getting one of these, it was tons of fun to drive.

Grammie, Papa and Ava. Every time the 4 wheeler would start up, Ava would start crying because she wanted to go for a ride. She did not like being left behind.

Grammie taking PK and Carter for a ride.

Check this girl out!

Saydee, Ava and Hanny on the Rhino.

I definitely think Ava is enjoying herself.

DIRT, DIRT AND MORE DIRT.

The dirt at the property is like flour. You step in it and up comes a cloud of filthy, brown dirt that clings to your body.

Of course, the kids LOVE it and can't stop playing in it.

There are no words.

Warrior Carter.

Ava LOVED the dirt. She was in heaven.

Hannah informed me that they were digging for crystals and gold. Good luck!

The kids always have fun playing on the swingset.

Ava was so excited because she got to swing on the "big" swing all by herself.

Hanny and Brynn.

Monkey boy.

Silly Girl.

Having fun with Cousin Matt.

Papas Cabin.

Playing in the cabin.

Matt kept scaring the kids and I was waiting to get a shot of their faces, I love this picture. They loved pretending that Matt was a bear and hiding from him.

These kids had so much fun together!

Highlight of the trip: The kids caught a lizard. They named him Patrick.