We Survived Quarantine!

 Days 6-10:

        The kids were struggling with finding things to occupy their time throughout this "staying in period of time" so I gave them each a sheet of bubble wrap.  Their reactions varied but all were delighted and thoroughly enjoyed popping all of the bubbles.  ALL OF THEM! I banned them from entering my room if they had bubble wrap in their hands LOL (saving my sanity is important too)! 

        Chris was called away on business again, so he packed up his few belongings from the camper and hit the road.  He was supposed to return on Friday, but his trip was extended until Wednesday, so he wasn't home to celebrate the end of our quarantine, or enjoy the "moving back inside the house" in person. Poor guy - BUT, we're excited to see him and actually hug him and enjoy being around him again when he does get home in a couple days.

        We tested everyone in the household yesterday and all tests were NEGATIVE!  WOOT WOOT!! There was much rejoicing!  There are still a few sniffles here and there among us, however, we all feel much better that we did before.  Aralynn is just starting to get her sense of smell back, poor girl was beginning to wonder if it would ever return haha. She can only catch hints of smells, so it isn't fully back yet, but some is better than none in this case! She's very happy about this.

        Nothing too eventful happened during our quarantine (aside from that first dreadful day), so we're very grateful for that fact.  We have had some wonderful people stop by with groceries, dinners, treats, and "thinking of you" gifts and it has helped more than one could imagine.  We miss human interaction and can't wait to get back to school and the normalcies of life. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers <3

"Come What May, and Love It"

 I was reading an article today and was reminded of a talk I heard many years ago.  It changed my perspective on our latest goings on a little bit.  The many blessings that we've experienced came to mind and made me realize that we're not near as bad as others throughout the world.

Our attitudes are everything when trials come up - I wasn't looking on the bright side very well and was feeling pretty down.  I'll try harder to look on the positive side.

        Day 4 - We let everyone sleep in on this beautiful Sabbath day.  Sleep is definitely needed these days, just so we can feel well rested (aside from Covid making you extra tired, being the care-taker of a Covid patient makes one tired as well). We've found ways to cope with this quarantine business.  Chris will sit on the porch and listen to us read scriptures and say prayer through a cracked open window (or through the phone, if its too noisy outside).  Aralynn hasn't had much change in symptoms, thank goodness. We can deal with loss of taste/smell and a slight bought of diarrhea (that lasted one afternoon and was done). 

        Day 5 - Benjamin is always my early riser.  He's up with the sun and never wants to go to bed.  This morning was no different - up he jumped at the early hour of just-before-6 am.  He came to make sure I was ok (since I'm normally the one to go get everyone else up and hadn't gotten out of bed yet), and then went outside to play with the kitties while watching the sunrise.  After a bit, he came rushing inside, telling me the bus was on our road, and then watched forlornly out the window as it drove past our house.  Quarantine has been hardest on my kiddos, but they don't stay sad for long!  

        Aralynn gained most of her sense of taste back sometime during the day and was super excited about that, although, its still a bit weird not being able to smell things.  She started feeling lonely in the fact that she's the only one sick.  I keep trying to tell her that's a good thing, but try as I might, she wasn't convinced. That is, until I told her that she was the only one with the super power of not being able to smell her brother's toxic farts. 😂 The things we do to cheer our Littles up haha

        If I'm telling the truth, even as difficult as some of this mess has been, it's been just as nice, if not more, to spend more time with my kids.  I'm one of those parents that is sad when the school year rolls around again because they all leave and then I'm terribly bored!  I do, however, like the more scheduled life, but that comes with it's downfalls too. So, having them home during this quarantine period really is great.  

**small disclaimer asking for prayers for my extended family and those that attended my Grandma's 100th b-day bash - news is coming forth that some that attended (my gma included) have tested positive.  Pray that their symptoms stay minimal and it passes quickly, please!

Quarantine Life #StupidCovid

 We got an email that a child in Aralynn's grade tested positive so I tested my Littles when they got off the bus.  One negative, the other positive. Put a message in to my Pediatrician (an amazing woman, if you've ever met her, you'd agree), and she stated the obvious for me "you're in quarantine, my friend". *sigh* 🤦🏻‍♀️  Here we go...

    Day 1 (or zero - whichever way you want to start counting - the same day we discovered everything) was a complete and utter disaster!  My husband has been out of town on a business trip and we haven't seen him in AGES.  He was supposed to come home that night, but we didn't want him to have the possibility of getting sick, so I halfway "woke up" the camper (we haven't taken it out camping this year, sadly) so he'd have a place to sleep, at least.  I hooked up the electricity, aired up the mattress, turned the fridge/freezer on so he could have food out there, and placed his freshly laundered clothing out there so he'd have stuff to wear.  I sprayed things down with disinfectant and then left it alone.  

        I came back inside to start making phonecalls to let those we've interacted with know they've been exposed and found Aralynn panicking and crying about the fact that she has Covid.  "I have Covid! Am I gonna die?!" We only hear bad things about it from news sources, which makes everyone panic greatly. 🙄 I understand that this virus should be taken seriously, but forcing mass panic isn't helping anyone or anything, especially my poor little girl's worried heart. 💔 I explained that she was just fine.  She didn't even have any symptoms, so this would probably be a breeze of a quarantine. She explained to an uncle that she talked to almost directly following that conversation, when he said he thought she was sick, that "its only Covid, uncle, I'm fine." 😅

        Made phone calls, emails, texts and answered the replies back, and then had to calm down A's anxieties again and suggested she make one of her favorite snacks - Salsa blended with cheese (alternative "cheese" now that she can't have dairy).  Her and Benjamin went to work on making their masterpiece and BAM - a poof of smoke and the smell of a burnt out motor!  The Magic Bullet was shot (ha, see what I did there?!)! Never to fear, I've got a back up blender on my Bosch!  I got that out and solved that problem.  I decided on comfort food for the kids for dinner - corndogs and fries to the rescue!  I started warming up the oven and BAM - a poof of smoke and a dead range/oven. I checked all the breakers (inside the house and out) to no avail.  It was irretrievably dead. *queue sob fest* 😭 I had to go for a walk outside to calm myself down. Thank goodness for microwaves, however, we had to ditch the idea of fries - they're just not the same in a microwave. I had the boys take the oven/range outside - my kitchen looks so odd with that gaping hole where it once sat.

        Day 2 went MUCH better than the first day. A lost her sense of smell completely and most of her sense of taste (she can still taste salt and stronger flavors, but most things, she can't taste at all). I put in a SOS to a friend and she lined up a couple meals for me and brought snacks and activities over (contactless drop-off both times). My kids aren't convinced that they should still have a bedtime since we're just going to be home all the time. Sometimes I think I'll be fine, others...I look for directions to the funny farm, only to realize I'm pretty sure I already LIVE on the funny farm. 🤪

        Day 3 has been ok.  Chris got home about 4 am, so its been torture not being able to see him and spend time with him like we normally would.  I just need to keep reminding myself that this won't last forever. Its been a fairly lazy day and much laughter has happened, along with much needed relaxation on my part. Chris "took me shopping" for a new oven/range (yay for technology so I could see what he was looking at too) - and I didn't even have to get dressed for this shopping trip! 🙌🏼🥳🎉

    I'm hoping that A's symptoms stay minimal and that no one else gets it so we can rejoin the land of the living sooner rather than later. Prayers are always welcome! 🙏🏼 ♥️

The World of Allergies

 Recently we found that Aralynn has a pretty good list of allergies (blood tests revealed). We're not anaphylaxis status, but it's bad enough that we've been in the ER already.  She's allergic to:

Pigweed (aka amaranth)

Firebush

House Dust (who isn't?!)

June Grass

Goosefoot (where quinoa comes from)

Mugwort (in many teas and herbal fusions)

Russian Thistle (aka tumbleweeds)

Rye Grass (I guess its a good thing we don't have a lawn out here)

Scale (it took some digging to figure out this one, but it's Lenscale or saltbush)

Western Ragweed

Milk

Eggs

Cats

Dogs

We have most, if not all, of these things here on the farm.  Yayness...*sarcasm*

I've been doing some basic research ever since we got these results in and this is what I've found so far (it seems like a lot, but there is so much more to learn):

Good info about allergies: https://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/food-allergy-test-diagnosis-skin-prick-blood.aspx 

Pigweed (amaranth)

Firebush (also known as Hamelia patens)

House Dust (self explanatory)

June Grass (a form of algae when near bodies of water, aka Prairie Junegrass and Koeleria cristata) 

Goosefoot (quinoa - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenopodium )

Mugwort ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugwort )

Russian Thistle (tumble weeds)

Rye Grass (grass, lawns)

Scale (or Lenscale (saltbush) pollen):

Western Ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya)

Milk ( https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/milk-allergy/symptoms-causes/syc-20375101 )

Watch the ingredients lists for milk.  It will show up as the obvious things:

• Milk — acidophilus milk, buttermilk, buttermilk blend, buttermilk solids, cultured milk, condensed milk, dried milk, dry milk solids (DMS), evaporated milk, fat‐free milk, fully cream milk powder, goat’s milk, Lactaid® milk, lactose free milk, low fat milk, malted milk, milk derivative, milk powder, milk protein, milk solids, milk solid pastes, nonfat dry milk, nonfat milk, nonfat milk solids, pasteurized milk, powdered milk, sheep’s milk, skim milk, skim milk powder, sour milk, sour milk solids, sweet cream buttermilk powder, sweetened condensed milk, sweetened condensed skim milk, whole milk, 1% milk, 2% milk

• Butter — artificial butter, artificial butter flavor, butter, butter extract, butter fat, butter flavored oil, butter solids, dairy butter, natural butter, natural butter flavor, whipped butter 

• Cheese — cheese (all types), cheese flavor (artificial and natural), cheese food, cottage cheese, cream cheese, imitation cheese, vegetarian cheeses with casein

• Creams (sour cream, ice cream/sherbet, nougat), Curds, Custards, Half & Half, Ghee, Dairy product solids, Pudding, Yogurt

• Whey — acid whey, cured whey, delactosed whey, demineralized whey, hydrolyzed whey, powdered whey, reduced mineral whey, sweet dairy whey, whey, whey protein, whey protein concentrate, whey powder, whey solids

However, milk can hide under a variety of other names on ingredient lists:  

• Casein & caseinates (NON-DAIRY PRODUCTS MAY CONTAIN THESE) — ammonium caseinate, calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed casein, iron caseinate magnesium caseinate, potassium caseinate, sodium caseinate, zinc caseinate

• Hydrolysates — casein hydrolysate, milk protein hydrolysate, protein hydrolysate, whey hydrolysate, whey protein hydrolysate

• Lactalbumin, lactalbumin phosphate Lactate solids Lactyc yeast Lactitol monohydrate Lactoglobulin Lactose Lactulose, Galactose

• anhydrous milk fat, Nisin preparation

• Quark, Recaldent, Rennet

Use caution while shopping for milk replacers.  The following CAN contain milk products:

• Natural Flavoring

• Flavoring

• Caramel flavoring

• High protein flour

• Lactic acid (usually not a problem)

• Lactic acid starter culture

• “Non-dairy” products may contain casein

• Rice cheese

• Soy cheese

Printable “avoidance” lists can be found on page 2 here:

https://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/media/1631/milk-allergy-avoidance-list-hidden-names.pdf

Eggs ( https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/egg-allergy/symptoms-causes/syc-20372115 )

*** BE CAREFUL WITH VACCINES***

More info and printable avoidance lists can be found here:

https://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/media/Egg-Allergy-Avoidance-List-Hidden-Names.pdf

Cats

Dogs

Father's Day Thoughts & Ponderings

 I remember, while growing up, I used to absolutely LOVE Mother's Day and Father's Day.  I would shout from the rooftops and praise my parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings and in-laws - I would spend hours on handmade crafts (that probably looked like toddler or pre-school craft projects gone horribly wrong, no matter what age I was/am haha). And, don't get me wrong, I still love this time of year, it's just different for me now. I'm more subdued in my excitement - no less excited, but...I don't know.

I didn't post anything on social media yesterday and, in a way, it felt like I was betraying those around me that I love most.  I just couldn't force myself to wade through the sea of thoughts swirling around in my head and put them down in any way that made sense.  So, here I am, a day late, trying to sooth the guilt of not posting yesterday, by posting...something. Anything. 

In 2019, I could barely sit through the church service dedicated to Fathers.  Then, to top it all off, the closing hymn was one that was sung at my dad's funeral. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. 

In 2020, I hollered "Happy Father's Day, Dad!" to my father-in-law while my husband was chatting with him on the phone.  We were in the car driving back from Cokeville, after helping my mom clean up some more from the house fire earlier that year.  As soon as those words left my mouth, I started to cry.  For hours I silently let the tears fall, I couldn't hold them back no matter how hard I tried. There was something in that phrase that jarred me as soon as it rolled off my tongue and left my lips.  Maybe it was the realization that I couldn't say that to my own dad - at least, not in the way I had been able to before.  Maybe I felt like I was betraying my dad by saying it to someone else. Either way, it hurt so much!  The trauma of watching him battle cancer, feeling helpless on the sidelines, was such a heavy thing to endure (though, I'm sure, it was much heavier for him), then facing the trauma of losing my childhood home (my dad's childhood home) a little over a year later, right at the beginning of the global pandemic. Things just seemed so bleak at times. It was definitely a year of difficulty for many, many reasons.

This year, I celebrated those I love, just not publicly. My own children still struggle with the losses we've faced (so do I, if I'm being honest), so it was a struggle getting through church services again (does it ever get easier, is it ever NOT a struggle?). We praised my husband here at home and showered him with cards, treats, and love. I even managed to wish my father-in-law a happy father's day without crying (I just left out the "dad" part of that this time). It went better this year, I think, but I still felt guilty for not publicly praising them.  What has social media done to us?!  Made us feel like we HAVE to put things out there or we're failing somehow, or makes us feel "less than" for not posting things. Well, guess what FB and Insta - I'm not failing at anything and I'm still just as awesome (although, now that I think of it, is a blog post the same thing as a social media post? Hmmm...)! 

Anyway, Happy Father's Day to all my loved ones - my amazing husband Chris, my wonderful father-in-law Bruce, my many brothers-in-law (I'll list them all if you want me to LOL), my awesome brother Scott, and a heavenly day to my hero of a dad! I sure hope you all know where my heart really is and that I truly do appreciate you all and love you all dearly!

Infestations of what?! Oh my...

Howdy folks!  Yes, it’s been a while (a LONG while), No, I really have no excuses (well, maybe a few, but those are for another time, another post)!

Recently, we’ve learned of a very unfortunate, annoying, just down right irritating (both literal and figurative) outbreak.  If you live in Northern Colorado, you’ve probably already heard through the grapevine that your child’s friend’s neighbor’s cousin has been affected by the dreaded head lice.  Dun, dun, DUN!!!!!!!!!!  Having dealt with this a time or two with my own children, here’s a few tips:

• DON’T PANIC! As awful as these might seem, they don’t carry diseases, they’re just annoying.  They’re not hard to get rid of, but you do need to be consistent.
• If you’re in the store to buy the head lice shampoo and are in a hurry, the fastest way to clear the isle, is to send your freshly shaved child down it and tell them to hunt for the word ‘lice’.  Nothing scares people away faster, I’ve found.  It’s true!  However, your child doesn’t need to be shaved bald, it just adds to the effect!
• You should treat everyone in your house, even if only one person has been found to have lice.
• Do NOT feel, or let others make you feel, like this is a lack of cleanliness issue.  Lice prefer clean, warm atmospheres to live. They can’t get their eggs to stick if it’s not clean, so they won’t want to live in that unclean environment. So, GREAT JOB on keeping your kid’s head clean!
• Tea Tree oil (or Melaleuca oil, depending on where you buy it from) will become your best friend for a while!  Shampoo, conditioner, oil infused spray bottle…all of it!  It aids in getting rid of the lice around your house.  Cats don’t particularly like the smell of it, so beware, they might “act out” a little until the smell dissipates.  Spray it on bedding, couches, closets, drawers, everything.  That way, if one of the little beggars falls off one person, it won’t survive long enough to “latch on” to another person (lice need a blood supply to live on, so they can't survive very long without one anyway). You can use this as a daily leave-in treatment to help prevent a re-occurrence.  
• Wash ALL clothing and bedding on the hottest cycle possible, without shrinking your clothes.  Laundromats work wonders for this!  Get it all done at once with industrial washers and hotter water than you have at home!
• Boil ALL hair items.  Brushes, combs, elastics, headbands, bows, ribbons, all of it!  It will kill off any live, or hatching critters that have gotten onto those items!
• Hot oil treatments (or cold oil, coconut oil and olive oil work great too) in your hair…not JUST for healthier looking tresses!  I did this every other day on my oldest when she had them!  No more bugs in her hair!  YAY!  Smear the oil on the scalp and down the hair shaft, wrap the hair in a shower cap, leave in for ½ hour, wash out.  I never washed it out thoroughly, remember, the greasier the hair (as nasty looking/feeling as that is), the less likely they’ll want to stick around – they can’t make their eggs stay put! (*note – I’ve also used Listerine as a leave in treatment because I ran out of oil…it killed them off too {if you’re looking for more natural ways of ridding your family of these pesky things})
• After a few days of dealing with greasy hair pulled back in a pony tail, I’d do a thorough rinse with a mixture of ½ Apple Cider Vinegar and ½ Water. Then I washed their hair out like normal.  Sometimes it took a couple times of doing this, but it always cleaned it out really good!
• Lice hate garlic, so eat a lot of it during the treatment process. This makes them less likely to reattach. (NOTE: This will not help to get rid of them and is only a preventative measure against re-infestation).
• ABOVE ALL use the lice comb that comes with the treatment shampoo at the store to comb through their hair at LEAST once a week for the next few weeks to be sure you’ve gotten rid of them all.  No sense putting yourself through it all again!

Good luck, everyone!  Happy hair treatments to all!! :)

These Are The "Special" Times...For Sure!

For those that might not be aware, I was put on bedrest last week.  Boo.  I have 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening to get things done for me, or they just plain don't get done.  Think this is easy?  HAHA nope!  Think again!

After kids got off to school this morning, I started my "1 hour to get things done" routine.  I texted my hubby to see who had meds this morning and who still needed them.  I got a response of "nobody had any...oops" D=

So I put shoes on the little girls and they took themselves out to the car and got in all by themselves (love this part of independence), I got everyone's meds and took them to school.  Another mommy I know was just leaving school so I flagged her down and she sat with the Littles while I went inside, looking as put together as a pregnant mom in pj's could.  The kids were paged to come down to the office.  It was really quite funny watching them peek around the corner, with a concerned look of "am I in trouble?!" on their face, and then when they saw me, waving at them like an excited, geeky, nerd, they relaxed and came over to get their meds, and then went merrily back to class.  They still love me, probably because nobody "of importance" was around to see their extremely well put together, geeky/nerdy mom show up and wave at them like a dork.

The Littles and I came home and I had enough time (my 15 minute alarm went off to alert me that I need to start wrapping things up FAST) to get them their doses and breakfast and hurry (as fast as my poor chubby body would allow anyway) and grab enough water to last until lunch time, the house phone, my cell phone and a few snacks to give to the "begging urchins" when requested and put my feet up in the recliner.  This morning was actually not very active as far as contractions go.  YAY!  It's the small things that bring such great joy these days!

After a few phone calls and text messages, it was decided that Chris would be home in time to pick kids up today and do paperwork for his job for the rest of the day, so I chanced taking my "1 hour to myself" and finish the stuff that I missed this morning (like a shower and getting dressed...not all that important, right?  RIGHT?!).  All this after I got up to make lunch (corndogs...WOOHOO! yes, it's processed food and no I don't care right now...they're full and happy and I wasn't on my feet for more than 5-10 minutes making it for them!) and put the youngest down for a nap.  C is sitting on the couch with my iPad watching netflix and playing games.  I still have a half hour left for my night time routine tonight...it'll probably take me that long to get back into my pj's though (getting dressed for the day is SO over-rated, I've decided!).

Still think it's easy to be on bedrest?  I challenge you to do it for 2-3 days.  Set a timer for 1 hour...no cheating and going over!  Get EVERYTHING you need to for the day done in that time frame (shower, get dressed, grab everything that you'd do - paperwork, books, phones, etc - and place them around you within arm's reach).  Then sit with your feet reclined up.  Sounds nice right?  Now, let's get some well trained toddlers (or dogs...they'll work too) to grab your stuff you stashed and run away from you, spreading papers and things around the living room.  They should also dump out their goldfish crackers and smash them into the carpet thoroughly, then spill water/juice/milk and clean it up as well as any child (tossing a towel in the general direction and saying "ALL CLEAN!" and clapping, quite proud of themselves).  The older kids (that were running late that morning) left their breakfast on the table...cereal is the next great adventure of the toddler's day.  Large spoons full of soggy cheerios are dripping from the curtains and surrounding table areas, but...NO!  You can't get up and clean it, I'm sorry.  Just sit there, twiddling your thumbs...possibly try to browse Facebook to distract yourself from the rapidly growing mess at hand!

Remember that potty training toddler?  Yeah, you're still stubborn and bull-headed enough to make it work!  You have to convince them that going independently, without you helping them is a good idea...especially after they've fallen into the toilet (literally) numerous times before this (yes, you can get up to save them from the potty monster, but you MUST hurry back to your perch...and then back track because all that moving has made you realize you, too, need to visit the potty monster and escape unscathed and triumphant).

When the kids get home from school, where do all their supplies land?  Right in the middle of the goldfish mess.  And they expect you to be able to reach their backpack to sign papers/planners/homework when it's 6 feet or more away from you.  They half-heartedly do their chores and homework, and sort of help you clean up stuff that's supposed to be "mommy chores" and then beg and plead to go outside, or downstairs to play.  Daddy does his best to keep up with the cooking and cleaning in the kitchen and really does a good job (bless his heart) and tries to run interference so mommy can have a few moments of quite time.  All this time, things don't get cleaned to "mommy standards" and just get pushed aside, laundry piles up (because it's downstairs and mommy can't see it...out of sight, out of mind, right?!) and a few days later, they all wonder why they only have a couple pairs of clean clothes to change into, then it's a mass haul, which makes everyone hate laundry even more.  Then dinner, bedtime routines, scriptures, prayer and storytime as they drift off to sleep (all accomplished by daddy, because you're supposed to be sitting and not helping, remember?).  Then you have your 1 hour to get things done at night time, but, it's hard work growing a baby and you're tired, so the best you can do is get pj's on and get into bed. 

Repeat all this tomorrow and the next day...and the next.  As you sit there, see how dusty everything is, and another full bag (it seems) of goldfish are smushed into the carpet and only partially cleaned up, and you realize how badly the kitchen floor needs to be swept (because we all know how well kids do these things themselves).  But remember, you can't do it, you're supposed to be sitting down.  It sounds like a great Caribbean vacation (minus the beaches and warm, tropical weather) at first, until you realize all the stuff you're supposed to be doing and just can't.  Then it really starts to catch up with you and mess with your mind a little bit.  .

Then you become snarky and sarcastic to make life easier to deal with (because laughing is better than crying).  You get all sorts of excited because your house gets cleaned (actually CLEANED, to mommy standards) once a week, on the weekends.  You begin to take joy and pleasure in the smallest and simplest things and it really makes you realize how blessed you really are.  You should try it...for real!  But no cheating or breaking the rules...trust me, it doesn't bring happiness for the next couple days!