Math is Fun...and Useful

Jake Update! He is much better, thanks for the prayers. After 3 days the fever and swelling began to diminish and his appetite returned. I did some thorough research (i.e. WebMD) and discovered the problem was a severe reaction to his 5th and final DTaP vaccine. Apparently 1 child in 100 will have a high fever and 1 child in 100 will have a severe reaction at the injection site. For all of you non-math people, here is a little lesson:

If you want to know the rarity of having both the fever and swelling you

need to multiply the fractions. 1/100 x 1/100 = 1/10,000!

Thus we know that Jake is that 1 child in 10,000 because he had both reactions. I knew he was special!

Today we "de-Christmased" the house. Before we had moblie children I was firmly in the camp that leaves Christmas decorations up until New Year's Day. Now I decorate later and take it down sooner as I grow weary of finding Christmas ornaments in strange places. We took one last picture in front of the tree and away it went. It kinda looks like Danny is throttling his sister but we'll take what we can get at this point.

Here they are Christmas morning, opening stockings and seriously questioning their parents' sanity. (How can you be so calm when there are presents!??!) Jake is wearing his new favorite Thomas jammies that Papa brought. Libby is crying for some reason, I've already blocked it out. Dan is wearing his Christmas sweater for the 3rd day straight, having also insisted on sleeping in it.

And now, a quick recap on the favorite gifts of the year. And remember, all the gifts they received were favorites, these were just a little more favorite. But they are all favorites.

Jacob, as always, loves trains.

Dan almost passed out over his guitar. He has been serenading us ever since.

And Libby, well, Libby is a woman of simple pleasures.

Smart Spending

We had some money left in our Health Savings Account and we were determined to empty before it is re-funded (that's how I have decided to spell "refund" here because I think it is more appropriate to the meaning, leave me alone English majors). In the last week Libby has been in for pneumonia, I went in for vaccines, Jake went in for vaccines and just for good measure, Jake got another trip to urgent care on Christmas Eve for this:

I love the look on his face here, I think it effectively communicates his thoughts on the matter. Here is the closeup view...

The diagnosis is: a) a bad reaction to the 3 shots he received in this arm yesterday, or b) an infection due to the 3 shots he received in this arm yesterday. Just for sympathy, he had 5 shots total! The lines mark the "affected area" to help us ascertain improvement or a fabulous all expenses paid (thank you HSA!) return trip to Urgent Care.

Snow!

It is a strange thing to see snow in the desert, roses with snow piled on and palm tree fronds peeking through drifts. The kids are all sick with Libby fighting pneumonia and the boys struggling with croup, but I just couldn't keep them from playing outside because, really, how often does it snow in the Mojave desert?

I took a bunch of pictures of the boys throwing snowballs and moving snow with their tractors only to realize later, after the frozen shoes and wet clothes were put away, that I didn't have the memory card in the camera. I'm really smart!

I asked Daniel the stereotypical mom question "What do you see out there?" and was told a snow leopard was prowling the neighborhood. Again, maybe we need to cut down the Planet Earth viewings... By the way, this is the window in our bedroom where the kids like to hang out and spy on the neighbors. They also like to fall from here and 9 out of 10 head injuries at our house happen right here!

On an unrelated note, we did some painting the other night. I gave them red and green paint and asked them to paint a Christmas tree. Jake kind of went for the Jackson Pollack approach.

Dan was a little more of an impressionist.

And I think Libby was shooting for a Rorshack while she destroyed my artful trees. Apparently she doesn't find my work "tasteful" and felt it had "no aesthetic basis for appreciation." I am devastated, demanded an apology and may never paint again.

How To Find Out What You Are Getting For Christmas

I have found that there are two kinds of people in this world: those that like the anticipation and waiting for a big, perfect surprise and those that want to be "surprised" right now. I fall solidly in the latter category and thus, if I know a gift is coming, I will not stop until I figure out what it will be. The flip side is that if I am getting a present for you, I will not stop taunting you until you finally ask and let me tell you what you are getting. This is part of the strong sisterly bond Emily and I share, we've employed some serious guerrilla warfare tactics against our parents "in the past" to help each other discover the contents of wrapped boxes.

So this Christmas, I was having no luck with Erik and had to step it up. I went to bed at midnight once we booted the college students out, then awoke at 3:30 am to take my dear friend Stacey to the airport for her 6:20 am flight out of LAX. Erik advised me to drive the truck but I decided to take the van because it has seat warmers and well, you know, you can't go wrong with a warm rear. Right about the time we hit Sylmar minor noises began beneath the hood and praise God, the gaslight was already on so I decided to exit. On the exit ramp the van lurched, made very loud cursing noises at me and stopped refusing to continue past this less than savory part of town. This was most distressing at 4:10 am on a Sunday, especially as Erik slept through the furiously vibrating cell phone.

Several gentlemen stopped to give us poor damsels advice, now that I know the real problem I know they were all wrong. We called cab companies to try and get Stacey to the airport but apparently they only pick you up if you know where you are. This forced me to walk down the street to a gas station where men apparently hang out, sleep in their cars, and whistle at stranded ladies who made the unfortunate decision to drive their friends to the airport while still wearing their pajamas. It took 3 trips to the gas station before the cab company felt we were truly worth their effort and I ran a bit faster each trip.

Eventually Stacey made it in a cab and was able to then catch another flight. The tow truck driver arrived and we discovered that I no longer have a transmission. The reverse gear was still working and I briefly pondered the awesome urban legend I could create by making the 50 mile trek home backwards. We left my van in front of Denny's and again I dreamt of someone graciously just stealing the thing. My knight arrived, rescued me and lauded my not having a full tilt hissy fit in the midst of my trials. I had seriously considered it at one point then quickly asked myself, "In the light of eternity, is this really such a big deal?" In the moment, the answer seemed to be "Yes!" but I have been trained well and was able to remind myself that it was not.

I arrived safely home and Erik was able to borrow a trailer. My sad little van is currently residing in the church parking lot and, my evil plan worked, I have been able to discern that I will be receiving a transmission for Christmas. Watch and learn people! I had a little nervous energy left when we got home. Some people are nervous eaters, I am a nervous cleaner. I now have deep cleaned all the carpet in the house, finished the dishes and laundry as well as reorganized the kids' closet.

We are definitely looking forward to a more relaxing day tomorrow. Please pray for Miss Libby as she is croupy and will be visiting the doctor. Oh, Erik, Jakey and I will be traveling to China for a little over 2 weeks. We leave in 3 and a half weeks.

Never Were There Such Devoted Sisters

The sad day has come and gone. The big moving van that has been mocking me since Wednesday is packed and today was driven away to the holy land of Texas. The house feels so empty and I'm struggling with tears yet I rejoice. God gave us a year together and I will always cherish that time, what a precious gift! We love you Emmy! We love your awesome dancing moves and mad bowling skills! We love your freakish cleaning habits and 2 hour "get ready" routine. What we love most is that you love the Lord and seek to follow His good and perfect will. We miss you already!

Love, Erik, Missy, Jake, Dan and Libby

Thanksgiving

Twas naptime on Thanksgiving and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a... I love that picture! We enjoyed Thanksgiving with a neat family from church. We chose the Hunt family after extensive candidate interviews for an adoptive California family to take us in. Their ties to Texas A&M firmly sealed their doom and now they are stuck with us! Jake and Dan enjoyed a little synchronized pie-eating.

Libby wasn't down for competitive eating that day so she settled for being spoon fed pie while looking cute.

Yesterday I decided to use our cookie cutters for their intended purpose instead of Play Dough for the first time ever. I sometimes attempt to find my inner Martha Stewart but no success thus far. The cookies have been deemed "highly edible" by the under 3.5-feet-tall critics of the household so I figure that's a good place to start.

Do you like Dan's outfit? About 20 times per day you will hear him asking "Can I put on my jammies no shirt now?" He feels that no proper nap can take place in street clothes. No matter the temperature, one must be as close to naked as possible for adequate rest.