Spend a Little Time with Us

Sinus Surgery

2010-10-09T15:29:00.006-05:00

Monday morning I am scheduled to have sinus surgery. I have been asked what this consists of so I went looking to get visuals to help. The images should be able to be clicked to enlarge in a new window.

This was one of the pages in the book the surgeon gave me explaining how they go about the surgery. I will be completely knocked out, he promised! He did not say anything about polyps. Mine are just swollen shut and congestion is trapped. It has been just about a year since I noticed any of it starting.

If you look at where the arrow is (I took this screen shot from the video below) He explained that is the part of the brain where smell is found. Since nothing can get up there that is why I lost my sense of smell (about 6-8 weeks ago now) and why I am loosing my sense of taste also. I made molasses cookies the other day for the kids and while they were cooking they went on and on about how good they smelled and that they tasted delicious. I hope they leave me some and hopefully in a few weeks I can taste at least one of them. I washed the floors with pine-sol and all of them were crying about how strong it smelled...not even a glimpse of the smell for me.

I found this great video that shows what the sinuses look like on a CT scan...unfortunately this is not what mine looks like...where you see black in the video is where the air can fill, I have no black at all.

Well, I hope that helps you understand what this surgery is about. If you have any questions ask and I will do my best to answer. I appreciate all of the prayers!!!! (My other surgeries are scheduled for the 26th and I am on limited activities for at least 6 weeks after then.)

I forgot to mention that I will have to sleep sitting up for the first few days. I am not to blow my nose for at least 10 days and try to avoid sneezing for the first month. I can't imagine that since I must sneeze 30-40 times a day and go through a box of Kleenex in about 3 days by myself..

Laundry Room

2010-07-24T10:07:00.001-05:00

An example of the previous wall. I was so glad to finally have this hole fixed. For those who remembered this use to be the camouflaged room. It had lots of mudding to do plus we extended the one wall of the closet, removed the wrap around edges and the closest header so we could get more room for the cabinets and more lighting to catch those ever lingering stains that you do not see until the kids try walking out the door with them on...

Then after a couple of coats of paint. I was surprised how easy it covered. I tried the new frog tape for these stripes and I am glad I did, it worked amazingly!

So here are the stripes with all of the dressers along one wall. Since Levi's bed is still in this room he wants me to add Gold stenciled stars to the bottom of the rectangle. We need to hang the blinds and he will also have some shelves above the dresser to keep his nerf guns etc. Levi's bed is underneath the window with plenty of room to get in the dresser. We put his bed on risers so he can fit his totes of legos and lincoln logs etc underneath his bed.

On the opposite wall is a 6' cabinet (which he can also store things in) for me to fold the laundry straight out of the dryer. I can also hang the clothes straight out of the dryer :).

So this one is kind of dark but if you can see the cabinet is on the far left, right next to the dryer. The dryer is at an angle to give the vent more room and make it easier to get into. There is a space beside the upper cabinet to store the broom, mop etc. Eventually (when the budget allows) I would love a stackable front load unit so I can put cabinet for all of the games etc up here too. We did not design this house very well for extra storage....so now I am going through all of the kids' clothes etc. and throwing or packing up for a garage sale.

I have been trying to send these pictures from my phone via e-mail for a couple of days now and they always just get sent back to me so I thought why not just post them here. We started last Friday by emptying everything from Levi's room into the family room (which was then unusable and almost unpassable.) The reason we decided to do this is the way we had originally had our laundry set it just never got caught up and always looked messy. I wanted a room that contained all of the kid's dressers and a place to hang things up straight out of the dryer. I got in a bad habit of hauling it all upstairs and folding them on the couch where they would eventually get hauled back downstairs and hopefully put in the right dresser.

June 28th Junior Camp

2010-06-28T22:50:00.000-05:00

Today my babies left for camp. This is Shelby's first time going. She made me a card for every night full of hugs and kisses so that I would not have to go without. I made her a bracelet that said hugs and kisses from Mom so she can get one any time she wants one. I think we will both do just fine.

Of course her and Hannah had to dress alike and will do so most of the week.

Most of the kids that are going on the bus

Shelby helping Hannah with her luggage.

Julie lifting Shelby's luggage on the bus.

Double set of twins.

The girls from Cornerstone Baptist Church

Smiles!

Giggles.

Bye Bye kids! We will see you back on Saturday!!

I think that actually catches this horrible blogger up on the month of June. Let's wait and see what July brings....

Family Reunion June 26th

2010-06-28T22:33:00.000-05:00

Saturday, since we survived the storm we headed over to Lake Crystal for a family reunion. Rita's sister Joyce rented a room at the rec center so the kids could go swimming and the adults did not need to fight the heat or bugs. It was a great day

Shelby loves having a girl cousin to play with. Sophia did not even seem to get too tired of Mommy Shelby...

Garrett was swimming laps and got winded.

Then he decided to see what variations he could use to increase his speed down the slide. We watched and timed all of the cousins and then he tried a bunch. He took a full second off his best time (7.26) but was only the 3rd fastest with the fastest two being 6.36 seconds and 7.07 seconds.

Can you say competitive?

Levi was quite a bit slower and decided just to have fun, and he did!

Straight on in and under...

Shelby even went down a few times. Seth decided that since Dad was busy telling everyone about his trip that he would sit with me and help time the kids. His favorite part was all of the delicious foods.

Sophia once again!

Storm, June 25th

2010-06-28T21:38:00.001-05:00

Friday after Levi's band lesson we headed to Iowa to spend the night at Steve's parent's house. We had a family reunion on Saturday and had not been to visit the farm in quite some time. After supper we sat down to look at Steven's pictures from Ukraine and this little storm came rolling in.

Here pops down this nice little funnel cloud.

The temp dropped almost 15º in a matter of second and the wind picked up fast as you can see by Garrett here.

So instead of going in the house to take shelter...we stood outside and watched it come in...

Within 20 minutes the sun was completely gone and it was just after 7:00 p.m.

June 19th, 2010 Robot World & Water Show

2010-06-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

We, Cornerstone Baptist Church, had our first church trip to the Robot World and Tommy Bartlett Water Show, since we all had $3 coupons...The Connor boys came with us since Jake had his gallbladder out the day before.

Levi loved that his new jacket glowed in the dark.

Tall Seth!

Showing me that he is not as scared of heights as I am.

Toooo many Seth's

Electrifying Shelby

They beat the top score

3 Amigos

Muscle Mania

Waiting for the Water Show

Seth said he wanted to try this.....

Garrett's interpretation

Graduation June 13th, 2010

2010-06-28T20:30:00.001-05:00

We, along with a number of other families, are in the process of a church plant. Right now we are meeting in the Connor's home until the building that God wants us to have opens up. We had a graduation ceremony for the 8th grade graduates that were attending at that time (Myles & Garrett).

June 5th 2010 Fishing

2010-06-28T20:26:00.000-05:00

On June 5th we took the kids fishing for free fishing day. It had been quite a long time since we had gone fishing so it was a day looked forward to for a long time. Shelby invited her friend Hannah to come with. We did get rained out in the end but had a very fun day (of course I caught the biggest and the most...)

Soccer

2010-04-16T10:36:00.002-05:00

I guarantee you that this will not last! I will not post after every game since they have games twice a week.

Levi's team won 8-0. I did not get a lot of good pictures of him but I promise to try better next week. Here is a nice one of him and his coach right before he sends him back in after a water break.

Shelby played the goalie position the first quarter and this is her before I confiscated her gum.

It had rained right before Levi's game, an hour earlier, but the sun had come out for the game. By the half time break the clouds had started to roll back in and it got cold fast.

Garrett started Track and Field this week so that is one more thing... Thankfully I have a close friend who's son is with Garrett and who's daughter is older but has soccer practice the same as the kid's games so we make arrangements to get the kids to the places they need to be.

Seth is getting the hang of his medication he started a couple of days ago. We have not heard back yet about when the insurance will approve the growth hormone. So hopefully we will have a slow, uneventful weekend and we hope you do too!

Update

2010-04-13T22:48:00.001-05:00

Now is where I try to catch up on everything so I do not have to repeat it a million times.

Here is beautiful little Miss Katie Lynn. Can you just see that first tooth ready to just have some steak? From what I hear she loves to go, go, go. There is not much that keeps her down. Yes, she is wearing a Minnesota Twins outfit. Heath asked for one so while I was in Hutchinson visiting my parents I just had to pick one up for her.

On to the next youngest: Shelby

Tonight was the first night of many soccer games. Here she is fighting for the ball. She has taken on Garrett's look and decided that she did not want her socks to match. Her game ended in a tie zip to zip.

Let's see if you can read long enough and not be too tired to go on and see what has been happening with the rest of the crew:

So for Big Blue in March they had a 3 year old show up and there was no one there small enough for him to wrestle. So Dave asked Seth if he thought he might like to give it a try. So As you can see by his hat he pinned the little guy twice and won first place. This was his first pin and his first first place. We were not prepared for this so Garrett had to find him a singlet and he did not have his socks or his wrestling shoes. I promised in March I would post these and never got around to it. So Seth gets 2 things.

As you can tell Seth is a little guy. He will turn 9 in June is just about 42" tall and weighs around 36 lbs. He has grown very little in the last 4 years. We have seen many doctors and it never went anywhere until now. He has a wonderful doctor who is the first to run the proper test and look into why he is not growing. So after a growth hormone stimulation test (the last doctor just tested it without stimulating it which gave us an inaccurate account) and an MRI she came to the conclusion that his pituitary gland was injured in the car accident almost 7 years ago.

Now let's see if I can explain this (the image can be clicked on to enlarge in a new window...if I coded it right.). The pituitary produces 3 chemicals. The first is the ACTH which goes to the adrenal glands right above the kidneys. This produces the cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone produced by your body and is used for and immune function. You can read more about it here. The doctor said a normal level is about 20 Seth's started out at 6 and after the stimulation test the highest it got was 11. This is very dangerous and we have been very blessed that Seth has not gotten very sick because it could be very dangerous if not deadly for him. He will start a medication for that tomorrow (the pharmacy had to order the mg he needed) he will take 1 pill every 8 hours no matter what time of day. So I will have to wake him at 1:00 a.m. or so, so that he can take it. They do not stay in the body longer than that and his body does not produce enough. If he gets sick I will have to up the dosage accordingly up to 16 pills a day if needed for his immune. I have a chart that tells me how many mg he needs for temperatures etc. If he gets really really sick I have a syringe I will have to give him a shot immediately. I passed the shot test I had to take today with flying colors :). He will have to wear a medical alert bracelet for this. Like I said God has really watched over him! The next would be the growth hormone. The normal level is 58-329, Seth is at 33ng/ml (0.1 percentile = 35 ng/ml) after the stimulation test. So obviously that is a quite a bit low. So now the growth hormone company goes back and forth with the insurance company and the doctor making sure is it is very necessary (the cost is about $30,000.00 a year). We should get to start it by the beginning of May at that time we go back in make sure I know how to give that shot every night before he goes to bed. Things we have to watch for (1/1000 chance) is pain in the hip where it can actually slip out of the socket and headaches due to fluid on the brain and spinal column. These are rare and will be tough with a hypochondriac child. :) If either of these do happen we just call and go in and they cut back his dose until they find it is safe for him and then try to build it up again. The 3rd chemical is the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. Right now his Free T4 is in the normal range but very low in that range. That will be monitored closely and he will start a medication for that shortly after we get the growth hormone started. I think I covered it all. I have lots and lots of paper work to read and lots more to learn. I appreciate your prayers in the past and please don't stop, I will still need them very much in the future! If you did not understand please feel free to ask.

Now if you haven't fallen asleep with all of the medical stuff on to Levi: He also had his first game tonight. Levi did not make it to the one practice that they did have because we had to leave that day for state wrestling. So he found out that he needs to get back in shape. I sat and watched Shelby's game but I am thankful for the zoom on my camera as I had to go across 2 fields to get some shots of him. His team won 3-1. At first I was told that he scored 2 of the 3 goals for his team. Afterwards he told me that he kicked it and the ball hit one of his friends shoe (who was on the other team) and it went in from there, so actually he only claimed 1 of the goal.s ;) Levi also went with the one red sock, one black sock look...

This also is a little late...can you tell I have been busy? Garrett had a tough time at state. My heart still aches for him. In the first picture this is the second match he won. The boy in red ended up taking 3rd (and Garrett beat him...) The second picture was Garrett walking away after his second loss (what a beast!) and his end of state. I felt bad for him because the last boy he wrestled got one point up and then stalled the rest of the match. At one point Garrett actually took his hands off of the boy to show the ref that the other boy was not even trying to make a move, the ref did not call stalling but instead told the boys to keep wrestling. His coach (Dave Connor) said it was one of the hardest losses he has ever seen in his 25 + years of wrestling because he not only knew it was Garrett's last year but that Garrett was a much better wrestler than the other boys and he deserved to be in the finals. 6th place and up where in the finals and Garrett placed 7th.

Kaleb will still be at school for a few more weeks. Please pray that he has safe travels home. He is traveling back with a friends so thankfully he will not be alone or the only driver. He will be working at Camp Chetek again this summer. He had a job and had planned on staying in N.C. Chetck came up and offered him a position. He told them that he had tuition to pay and would have to pass. The next day his housing fell through so he could no longer afford to stay there. So God showed him where God wanted him. Pray that his donations will be high enough that he does not have to sit out next fall. The school he is attending does not take outside funds. If it is where God wants him to continue He will supply the funds.

I have had numerous emails asking how I am doing. I guess the kids keep me busy enough to not pay attention to that. I do know when I finally get to sit down at night it is very painful to get up again. I am still having paralysis episodes. The neurologist dismissed me because they could not find a reason. So I just deal with them. I see a rheumatologist for the fibromyalgia and they switched my medication once again last week. This new stuff makes me itch from head to toe all day long. I mentioned the other things to my doctor but he must have had a busy day because he just kept telling me that he thinks my pain is under control after I told him that I actually pushed myself to walk a whole mile on my treadmill and when I laid down it felt as if my bones where being yanked out of my body. If that is pain control I would hate to see what he thinks pain actually is (and this is coming from a woman who refused pain meds after a c-section). They ran a bunch more test which he sent me the results to via web-site but I have not heard back from him yet what they mean. He did tell me that I should get a hold of my general practitioner and get another referral back to neurology to look into the other things because they are not related to the fibromyalgia....been there, done that. I am not going in the MRI machine again!!!! I really don't use the left side of my body that much anyways. ;)

Well, we cannot forget Steven. He just works from sun up to sun down to keep up on all of the medical bills. They told him last week that he would be going to Ukraine in a few weeks to do some repairs for work. They even had him go down and apply for a passport and expedite it so it would arrive on time. He was so excited and was looking things up and showing the kids where he was going and what he was going to do. Today at work they had him get all of his gear together and ready to ship out so it would arrive and make it through customs before he got there. Then he got the news that the customer was getting picky about the cost. Since they had done some alterations to the product on their own the trip would be at their expense to repair them. So now everything is up in the air. We really hope he gets to go but we want it to be in God's timing so that he is kept safe.

Regionals

2010-03-16T17:28:00.000-05:00

Wow, has it really been 6 weeks since I posted here. What a bad blogger I have been. Well, this wrestling year has been great! Garrett got to wrestle with the jr high this year and it really helped to practice every day. Well, last week we went to regionals and Garrett placed first so in a couple of weeks he will be headed to the State finals in the 145 weight bracket. We are so happy for him! I will try to get some pictures up soon but I promised Kaleb that I would get up a video so he could see one of his matches. The young man in this match ended up placing 3rd and I was sad to hear that this will be the first year that he did not qualify for state.

Saturday Adams-Friendship

2010-01-31T12:39:00.001-06:00

So Saturday we headed off to Adams Friendship wrestling. The boys do not like to go their for many reasons but they need the experience because regionals and state will be here before they know it. One of the main reasons is because the name of their team mascot is the Green Devils. Now how can people not be offended to be affiliated with a team with that name. Another of the reasons is that they run a bull pin. Usually they weigh the kids and bracket them on charts with kids the same age and weight. They assign them to a mat and a round number and you sit and wait for your turn by watching the mat your child is to wrestle on. With a bull pin they assign each chart a number and then they call the number. The kids have to go out of the gym down a hallway and wait until it is their turn. They hardly ever are on the same mat. So instead of a leisure day of waiting your turn you have to listen all day for your chart to be called to the bull pin with 20 other charts. Watch all of the kids in those charts leave the gym for the bullpin (which parents are not suppose to enter) then watch for them to come out. Then they wait in a big area for a mat to open up, with 12 mats wrestling. You do not take your eyes off of your child once you see them enter into the gym because you will never find them again or you will miss the match. Thankfully Garrett has colorfull head gear and is a little taller than a lot of the kids so he was easy to find.

So weigh-ins run from 7:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. and we made it there about 8:15 a.m. They did not put which school or the address to put in the GPS on their flyer so we spent some time driving around town. Garrett knows how bad I am with directions. Thankfully we saw someone else we knew who was headed to the same event so I told Garrett to keep an eye on them and not to loose them and we made it there on time. Garrett weighed in at 144 (like usual) and they called him to the head table. They asked if he would mind if they bumped him up to wrestle the 156 group since he had 8 years experience and they only had 2 in their group. He agreed so Garrett bumped up like he has been for the last few weeks.

Now he was suppose to be wrestling other 7th & 8th graders, so this kid has a mustache? I will try to get the video up of this one once it finishes uploading....having issues.

Garrett was hoping this was not a girls since he had to forfeit to one last week. It turned out to be an indian boy with long hair, that is why the hair cap. He did quite well this week and went home with first place.

Another reason why the boys do not like to wrestle here is the medals have a green demon on them and say Feel the heat, as if you want to feel the heat from hell? First place also gets a T-shirt with their team mascott on it. I guess we have a new rag for changing oil. :) He has another match on Monday and I have Graduation play rehearsal and yearbook class so I will not be able to make it. His elbows are felling a little better. I think it was best that he did not have any one match up with him at Thursday nights meet with gave him sometime to heal a bit.

Tuesday night

2010-01-28T22:13:00.001-06:00

I went to move my videos off of my camcorder, so I moved one and hit delete and it took the whole folder. 70 video clips....gone . I was soooo mad and my day was not going smooth to begin with. Since our camcorder records onto a hardrive (no discs or tapes, yeah!) I found a data recovery program and was able to gain a few of them back. I am very thankful or I would not be able to share this one with you. Garrett injured one of his elbows in a match last Saturday and the other was hyper-extended at practice on Monday night. The doc says he is fine to proceed as always. You can see towards the end of the match he does not even want to use that arm, but onward he goes.

Garrett's Tuesday night match

2010-01-14T21:08:00.000-06:00

Garrett is wrestling Jr. High this year. They are allowing Home schoolers in. So here is his fist match of the season.

Ketchum Christmas

2010-01-04T16:36:00.004-06:00

Ok, lots of pictures due to "Katie" pictures :)

Seth putting his puzzle together while we wait for the rest of the crew to arrive.

The weary Nebraska travelers have arrived. Great Grandma is finally meeting this new addition.

What a face!!!

Seth feeding his niece.

Uncle Garrett & pudgy Miss Katie.

Opening her present from her Great Grandparents, Grandparents and Aunt and Uncles.

Miss Katie tasting the paper oh wait, tasting anything she can get in her mouth.

Apparently she liked the present or the picture of the baby having so much fun in the picture.

Playing pass the baby to Grandpa.

Heath was a big Ghostbusters fan in the late 80's. We could not pass up getting this for him.

Lois' GPS so she will have no problem finding us!

She has to get her hands of everything within reach.

Some of my beautiful family!

Seth's new dinosaur.

Garrett's new lime green hat and wild, UNMATCHING socks!!!!

Grandpa in pure glory!

Oh, isn't she beautiful! I could have taken pictures of her forever if I had not run out of film (on my digital camera)(Sorry,family joke..)

Auntie Shelby spoiling Miss Katie.

Nap time (Who put whom to sleep?)

Do you think she likes what we all got her for Christmas.

Another nap time for both the young and old.

Helping daddy play Rook.

Cover up that belly!

Garrett multi-tasking.

Helping Uncle Kaleb play Rook.

Hanging out with Great Grandpa and Aunt Shelby.

My wonderful kids!

What a fabulous family!

Great Grandparents and Parents with Miss Katie.

Katie loves her Great Grandparents!

Rippentrop Christmas

2010-01-04T15:54:00.000-06:00

Opening presents

Shelby's new jewelry.

Seth waiting "patiently" for his dinosaur.

Garrett

Rita

Levi

Seth

Sophia

Cousins Playing

Brothers playing Wii

Shelby fixed Sophia's hair.

2009 Christmas Letter

2009-12-25T12:04:00.000-06:00

I decided that since this year I made the Christmas card so bulky that I would just post my Christmas letter here for you all to read.

Not much has changed for Steve & I. Steven is still at Walkers and keeps himself busy with his computer business and the rental. I am still homeschooling the 4 I have left and designing web-sites and blogs. I also still have my Stampin' Up! business.

Heath and Lois are still living in Nebraska and have blessed us with a beautiful grand-daughter. On July 31 Miss Katie Lynn Rippentrop weighed in at 9 lbs and 20" long. You can see lots of pictures of her by clicking Katie in the labels on the sidebar. So I guess that is one thing that has changed. We are now Grandpa and Grandma and loving it!

Kaleb will be 19 in February and is now a freshman at Ambassador Bible College in Lattimore, North Carolina. He is majoring in Pastoral Ministries. It is hard having him so far away but he is in God's Will and that is the main thing. He is working in the kitchen and as a mechanic to pay his tuition so he is busy, busy, busy. It will be tough not having him home for Christmas. May will not come soon enough!

Garrett is 14 and in the 8th grade. I think he gets taller every day. He loves to be behind the camera and is always taking pictures. When we took Kaleb out to N.C. we took the long way home through Nebraska. :) We hit 11 states in 11 days. We visited about 5 or 6 zoos. Garrett took over 400 pictures. New Lisbon allowed the home school kids to play Jr. High sports this year so Garrett was able to play football. He really enjoyed it. Jr. High wrestling starts in just a few weeks and he is really looking forward to that. He was in honors band again this year with his trombone and I really enjoy listening to him play.

Levi is 10 years old and in the 4th grade. He loves to play soccer. He has the biggest imagination. While we were in Tennessee this summer we visited some battlefields and plantations. I believe Levi could actually see the battles going on. He is big into history and loved seeing these places first hand. Levi went forward and was baptized in the beginning of December. He wanted to show obedience to Christ and publicly follow Him in believers baptism.

Seth is now 8 years old and in the 2nd grade. He has grown bit by bit and keeps us all on our toes. He loves his bucket hats. I think he now has about 6 of them and always has to have one on. He loved all of the zoos we visited and learned so much about the animals. Since his favorite is the dinosaur he loved to visit the lizard houses. He was very happy for me that I got to see a panda in real life. He knows they are my favorite. He has a very big heart!

Shelby is now 7 years old and in the 2nd grade. Girls are so much different to raise then boys!!! Even though she is the youngest she likes to be in charge. She is such a princess. She loves to read and reads everything! She started taking piano lessons at the beginning of the year and is enjoying that. Shelby played soccer for the first time this last spring and cannot wait until the season starts up again.

Even though I seem to be running every which way with my children I thank God daily for the children that He gave me. I am thankful for the way they look out for each other and the ways in which God made them different. Most of all I am thankful that they have all excepted Christ as their Savior. 3 John 1:4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." Only true Joy comes from God. I pray you have the true Joy of God this season and for eternity.

Love,
Steve, Debbi, Kaleb, Garrett, Levi, Seth & Shelby

Band Concert

2009-12-22T22:04:00.002-06:00

So this week is program after program. Monday night we attended Garrett's band concert. I once again forgot the video camera so I taped it with my digital camera. This is the Middle School Band.

Christmas Program

2009-12-21T16:19:00.000-06:00

Our Instrumental group. They play with the congregational singing on Sunday nights. They range from all ages 5th grade - adult.

Our Teen group singing.

Garrett saying his part.

Seth saying his part (Shelby's picture did not turn out)

Hannah( Shelby's best friend) Shelby & Seth singing

O' Little Town of Bethlehem.

Levi Saying his part.

Levi's class.

Levi's Baptism

2009-12-06T17:13:00.002-06:00

Levi was baptized this morning. Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Katie

2009-10-23T11:20:00.003-05:00

Heath sent me this picture this morning via text. Boy is she growing fast. She will be 3 months old at the end of the month.

Final Game

2009-10-21T22:37:00.008-05:00

Ok, I promised pictures and special thanks to my friend Susan who walked the side lines taking these pictures as I sat in the bleachers. Wow, was this a great game and it was hard to choose just a few pictures.

Garrett is on the far left.

Can you find him?

Garrett is right in front. You can almost see his #5

He would be the one taking a nap...

Front Right hand side

I think Susan just held the button down to get the pictures in the slide show, but I am so glad that she did!

His team was very happy! (the gray gloves are him)

He even towers over the ref...

Myles, Garrett & Johnny

Birthday Parties

2009-10-06T17:52:00.007-05:00

So Saturday Levi & Garrett had a double birthday party. Each of the boys were allowed to invite 4 of their closest friends. I think 8 extra energy boys in the house for the day was more than enough. They all behaved very well and from what I saw, had lots of fun!

Of Course Levi wanted to have an army theme party...what is a "Levi" party without weapons? You can tell his friends know his taste too as they brought him new guns for his gifts. They insisted that I allow him to open them right away so that they could use them to play with.

Garrett had his friends over to play some paintball in the woods. They take it very seriously!

Here the 2 groups meet up...nerf guns against paintball guns. It is so good to see the big boys are not bothered when the younger kids want to do things with them.

This year Levi chose a Transformers Pinata. They had quite a bit of fun bashing it. They actually were more interested in breaking it up then they were in the candy inside.

When the rain sent them inside (and the chocolate mint pie and Rootbeer Floats) they took over the family room and the Wii. We have enough nerf guns to go around!

After the younger kids went home, the teens decided to hang around and play tackle football in the mud while it was raining. I checked on them when ever I heard a loud scream. ;) There was bloody noses and footballs in trees but they were always laughing and having a great time. The party was officially over at 5 but these boys finally went home shortly after 8. I am so thankful for the godly friends God has placed in Garrett's life!

Garrett Football

2009-09-17T19:46:00.002-05:00

Garrett is number 5. He wasn't hard to find this year since he towered over most of the other 7th & 8th graders.

You cannot see his number here, but he is the one hitting the other teams guy.

Captains meet. Garrett is far side.

They tied against Royall 12-12 in their first game.

Pretty Miss Katie

2009-08-29T22:01:00.003-05:00

Counting her fingers...she is very smart!

Yes, I will post pictures of our 15 states in 11 days trip (and boy do we have a lot) but I know these are what you all want to see now. I so remember Miss Shelby wearing this outfit. :(

Katie 8-29-09

2009-08-29T21:58:00.003-05:00

I hope you all enjoy this, but this should make the great-grandmas (aka wonderful Grandma too) very happy!

11 States in 11 days Post #1

2009-08-22T09:24:00.004-05:00

We spent our first 2 days doing nothing but traveling so here are some "interesting" pictures of us traveling

Can you believe this is how my babies spent a good majority of Friday's travel. Of course it was the best part of the trip so far, nice and quite! (JK!)

You know it has to b a breath taking view when I not only looked but took the time to take a picture. I hate bridges and even more long ones over a large amount of water...

Kaleb taking the lead going down a steep grade.

A tunnel that took us through the mountain. We went through a few of these and the kids loved them.

inside the tunnel....

For those who are of a pessimistic attitude, here is proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel :)

The beauty of this was not able to be captures. How anyone can look at this and believe that it "just happened" what a life they are missing!

My #2 in front of his dorm and in his dorm room.

See ya after I have internet again and more pictures to post!

This week...

2009-08-19T17:37:00.007-05:00

Here is Shelby going off the diving board for the first time without a vest. She swam back all the way by herself. Her teacher was so pleased with her that he let her do it again. Most of the kids in her level needed help getting to the side of the pool after diving.

Seth has done very well listening and doing this week. Here he is going under the water. I am so glad he decided to come back up.

Here he is going off the board. He took the teacher behind him with him :)

He was pretty pleased with himself.

More of Swim Lessons

Kaleb's new car, since his decided it just did not want to go all the way to North Carolina or even come home from camp...

Katie Update

2009-08-14T15:50:00.002-05:00

Heath got to take Lois & Katie home this afternoon. Heath told me that they were sending her home with her monitors. Babies born with Katie's heart condition are at a higher risk for SIDS. So they are keeping a close eye and ear on her. She is 2 weeks old today. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Swim Lessons

2009-08-14T15:15:00.004-05:00

Swim lessons week one complete!

Level 3-Levi diving off the diving board.

Level 2 -Shelby diving for the diving rings

Beginners level (Seth's 2nd year here) All of the kids were told to bend over and touch their toes and jump in and when touched on the head. Seth did not want to jump in so they lift him off the wall.

Katie Update

2009-08-11T14:29:00.003-05:00

Katie has had a bit of a set back Sunday night. Instead of going home on Wednesday like they had planned they ended up hooking her back up to all the monitors and medications and she will be in the NICU for at least through this week. They also found kidney stones on Friday night. Thank you all for your continued prayers for Heath Lois and Little (OK, big) Miss Katie!

More of our Nebraska visit

2009-08-10T22:21:00.006-05:00

Surrounded by all these handsome guys...what a way to start out!?!

She loves her grandma, look at that smile!

I was trying to get a burp and she fell asleep, look at those bulldog cheeks!

She has Uncle Kaleb wrapped around her pinkie!

Since Heath told me she was his little monkey, I thought this would make a nice blanket.

Shelby helped dress Katie.

Grandpa just could not get enough of her.

Garrett teaching Katie how to give knuckles.

What a precious face!

Just hanging out with the boys.

Baby Katie

2009-08-08T13:22:00.008-05:00

Lots of wonderful pictures of a wonderful day!

My babies....

Look how tall they are :(

She is almost as big as Uncle Seth is.

Heath was explaining to his brothers that Katie has his ankles.

Uncle Garrett

Uncle Levi

Aunt Shelby trying to figure out how to fit her in her purse.

Uncle Kaleb

The "Whatcha talkin' bout?" face

Grandma's princess

Daddy's little girl.

Pretty Miss Katie

2009-08-02T21:03:00.006-05:00

Giving her Momma a hug....sweet!

These were taken on Heath's cell phone early Sunday evening.

It turns out Katie has an enlarged heart and some of her organs are immature so she will be spending some time in the NICU.

It's a Girl!!!!

2009-07-31T17:01:00.004-05:00

I am SOOOOO happy to announce the arrival of Katie Lynn Rippentrop. Heath & Lois went in for a check up today and the doctor said that there was no more room for baby to grow so it had to come out. So they prepped her for a c-section and Katie Lynn joined the world of air breathers. She is spending the night in the NICU due to low blood sugar. With Lois being on insulin for the gestational diabetes. Due to not being prepared for staying Lois' phone battery died and Heath phone is acting up so I have not yet seen a picture of the beautiful face. She is 9 lbs and 20" long..with what I was told to have a nice head of hair.

Camp Chetek

2009-07-23T20:49:00.004-05:00

Here is how they shower at camp after game time. Garrett is in the back. Jake Kibler is in the front. Thank you Casey for the fun pictures!

Garrett getting ready for his bath.

The boys in his cabin. Myles is on his shoulders and Luke in his shades in front of him.

Bar-B- Que Die hard

2009-06-28T15:58:00.003-05:00

Garrett called it! When we were going to start dinner last night he said "I think the second we get ready to put them on the grill it will downpour." So he stood in the house with his (or Levi's) raincoat on waiting. He was right, but he did it anyways and I think he had fun too. Of course it stopped shortly after he came into the house. Oh, and yes the brats were delicious!!

Graduation

2009-06-14T18:46:00.004-05:00

Sorry, I should of uploaded them backwards...

Witnessing scene

sorry, I thought I rotated this....

Open House

2009-06-14T17:10:00.006-05:00

Food food food.....not much left over yeah!!!!

Will the real pregnant person please sit down!

Did you eat any of the cake??

Blowing up balloons.

My babies

2009-04-18T20:10:00.003-05:00

Well, life has been busy, nothing new. Shelby & Levi started soccer last week and have games every Tuesday and Thursday night. Thankfully there are only 3 games in all that they play at the same time. Tuesday night they both played at 6:00 and I was glad they were on fields adjacent to each other. I sat at Shelby's game and watched Levi's when I had a chance. Levi scored two goals and I got to see them both (perfect timing). So they have each had 2 games and each have won one and lost one. Levi had to play on a full size field with a full size goal. It was a change since they usually play on much smaller fields and are not suppose to be on that size until the are on the 12 year old teams. I will try to get some pictures or videos next week.

I was playing around with Kaleb's proofs tonight. A friend of ours offered to do Kaleb's senior pictures for us. Now we have picked out a bunch and he will send them in to get adjusted and we will place our order. Let me know if there is a certain size you need besides wallets. These are ones I was just playing with to show you how my #2 baby has grown into such a handsome young man.

Rollerskating

2009-03-11T08:00:00.008-05:00

Our Home School group rented the rink for a gym night. That way we could play the music that we appreciate.

Entering the rink.

Levi 2nd round of the limbo.

Garrett 2nd round of the Limbo.

Shelby 2nd and last round of the limbo....she quit to help Dyan behind her.

Garrett 3rd and last round of the limbo. If only he had taken his hoodie off first.

Levi 3rd and last round, he fell right after making it under. He held on for a while , but just could not stay up.

Kaleb trying to help Shelby stay up right, she was not trying to help back.

The little birdie is flying solo.

Shelby helping Dylan. Of course shortly after I took this picture they were both in a pile on the floor and Hannah joined them.

Big Blue

2009-03-10T08:00:00.002-05:00

Garrett placed first at Big Blue on the 7th. Next weekend we are off to regionals and hopefully State after that.

Garrett's Snow

2009-03-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

Garrett loves to play with the camera. A few weeks ago after a fresh snow he asked to use the camera. Here are a few of the shots he got.

Chucky Cheese Party

2009-03-08T12:05:00.003-05:00

Seth & Shelby were invited to a birthday party for Dylan (behind Seth) a few weeks ago. Here is the birthday party crew.

Kaleb Clip

2009-02-15T17:53:00.005-06:00

Friday night TBA (Tomah Baptist Academy) played against Faith, LaCrosse. They won 52-49. Kaleb was especially pleased with a block in this clip.

I call this his ballerina shot. He got a fast break and made a great shot. The shot I got, I think, was even better....

The ref had told the boys before the game that dunks were not allowed because the backboards were not stable enough to take them.

Garrett Galvesville

2009-02-15T15:18:00.003-06:00

So here is Garrett's 2nd match at Galesville. It was a very well matched match. Garrett won 12-6. He pinned his first match within the first 30 seconds of the first round. I was teasing him on the way over not to waste my day by loosing and he laughed and said that he won't. Well, he did not waste my day! It was a good wrestling day. I hope to get a clip of Kaleb's game up soon. Sorry for the quality in order for me to upload this long (Should be the whole match) I had to convert it.

Here is a picture of the first match pin.

Basketball

2009-02-07T12:25:00.005-06:00

So we are taking this week off of wrestling. Levi & Shelby are at a winter retreat at Chetek, Kaleb is at a youth Rally with his friends from the basketball team. The rest of us decided it was a good day to get some things done around the house. Here are some shots of Kaleb's game last night. They played against Menominee and won 60-42. Next weekend we are off to Lacrosse for basketball and wrestling...

Weekend Sports

2009-02-01T17:14:00.005-06:00

So I have remodeled this blog...what do you think? I love doing custom blogs so if you are interested let me know. Check out my templates on my web-page. If I have done a blog for you in the past and you need an upgrade, please contact me.

Well, Kaleb had no games this week so I actually got to stay home on a Friday night.

Saturday we were off to Poynette to wrestle. I used to hate it when they had the older kids in another gym because it made me run back and forth so I could see all of the boys wrestle. Since it is only Garrett this year it was nice. I got to sit in a quite gym and not have to run back and forth. I do not want to seem like a complainer but have you ever met a ref who had no business reffing? That's who Garrett had on Saturday. I felt so bad for him that I just could not post last night nor did I sleep well.

We figured that since we only had the 7th & 8th graders in the gym we would actually get out of there at a decent time. What a joke! The Ref decided when he was going to start and made every sit until he was ready. He even decided he needed a 30 minute lunch break so not only did the little kids finish first they had that gym all cleaned out and gone home. This kid Garrett had no problem with. He put up a good fight but Garrett pinned him in the 2 period. That is where the good times ended...

For those of you who do not know if you get 15 points ahead of your opponent in wrestling you win by a technical default (or so I have been told...). About 15 seconds before the end of the 3rd and final period Garrett was ahead 16-1. The match should of been called and ended. The other boy got a flip on Garrett and had him on his side. All Garrett had to do was to hold on and it was his. The Ref called it a pin. 3 other coaches, who we did not even know, complained that his shoulders were not even near the mat. The ref said the back counted and the shoulders did not have to be touching. Garrett was steaming, the ref had the final call. Even the other kid admitted it was not a pin. And so we continue....

The third and final match. This one, from how we saw him wrestle earlier, was not a challenge. Except....In the second round the kid put him in a choke hold, which the ref did not see even though both Steve and Kaleb where yelling that Garrett was turning blue. So eventually he flipped Garrett over and it was a very scary time for me. Something I see now whenever I close my eyes. My son flipping over and landing flat on his back with a slap to the mat, what seemed like no life left in him. He landed just like a rag doll and my heart stopped. Of course the stupid ref just stood over him looking. Then Garrett opened his eyes and shook his head. Steve and Kaleb had to carry him off the mat. The other boy was credited for a pin and Garrett placed a 3rd.

So how was your weekend?

1-24-09 Westby

2009-01-24T17:30:00.003-06:00

So today we were off again to another match. Kaleb had a long day. Friday night he played the double header, came home to shower and then drove 45 minutes to my brother's church for a teen lock-in. He left there at 6:00 a.m. to make sure he was home in time for our 6:45 departure time. Garrett pinned his first match, won his second match 11-7 and lost his 3rd match. When he came off the mat after his second match he collapsed. It turned out his knee which was previously injured by a bully's shove and kick got twisted. He had to be carried up to the bleachers. So his 3rd match he did not want to forfeit so he wrestled it injured. Can you imagine trying to wrestling and stay off your knee. Thankfully it was Myles, his best friend, so he took it easy on him. Well the messed up the score charts and placed Garrett as 3rd. Now let's see if you can follow this:
Burgundy kids was pinned by all the other 3 opponents. So he should of gotten fourth as he did.
Garrett only lost to Myles and it was by points not a pin.
Myles only lost to the other kid by points and the other kid only lost to Garrett. So they gave the first place to the other boy who Garrett beat. Does that make any sense? Well, the kid who they gave the first place award to knew he did not earn it so instead of giving it to Garrett, where the coaches said it should of gone, he ran out the door and sent his mom to get his clothes from the bleacher. He did not even change clothes in -10 degree weather....

Oh and those of you not on facebook, sorry, I am trying to post both here and there....

1-23-09 Double Header

2009-01-24T17:16:00.004-06:00

Kaleb is #11 for those who do not know. Garrett ended up quitting the team since he was allowed to join the Jr. High wrestling team. It was just too much. This was a double header night. The first game was played against Reedsburg. The final score was 67-43. The other team only came with 5 players and one of them fouled out so they had to forfeit. They did finish out the game and the score keept going. We put in our small guys so they would get playing time. The second game was against Chippewa Falls. The last time they played us we beat them by 25(51-26) points. I was a little worried since they found at least 3 new guys to play on their team, but our guys held there own and won the 2nd game 60-28. I texted Heath the score at the end of the game. He asked why Kaleb let them score so many points. I answered that he spent most of the game sleeping. So the picture of Kaleb on the ground is my proof of that (ok Heath?)

1-17-09 Viroqua

2009-01-24T17:10:00.004-06:00

So I am playing catch up today! Here are some shots of Garrett's first tournament of the season. He is allowed to wrestle on the Jr. High team this year thorough the school. They have a new coach and he is allowing 7th & 8th grade Home schoolers to be on the team. This is pictures of the pee wee club. I do not get a chance to travel to the school team ones. Hopefully I will get to go to a few that are closer to home. He lost one of his matches and one kid forfeited, at least he never showed up for his last two matches so Garrett placed 2nd.

Long Time No Hear

2009-01-10T10:01:00.003-06:00

Life is busy in this house. With Garrett both in basketball and wrestling this year it seems like I am always running. They are allowing home-schoolers this year to wrestle on the Jr. HIgh team so he and Myles are in that. So we have band Monday, Wednesday & Friday, Jr. High practice on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday after school with matches on Thursday nights, basketball practice on Tuesdays with games on Friday nights and youth wrestling practice on Monday and Thursdays and matches on Saturdays. This is just Garrett's schedule. Levi decided, so far, that he does not want to wrestle this year. Seth still has not made up his mind. So far we will take him in to practice to keep his exercise up but we may not do matches so he does not get hurt. He likes to play around but does not understand the concept of tournaments.

So here are some clips of Kaleb and Garrett playing at the alumni game last night. Sorry for the quality but the conversion does that...oh and if you see pom poms shaking that is Shelby!

Life is not boring...

2008-12-02T08:40:00.002-06:00

I know it has been quite a while since I have posted. Believe me the reason is not because nothing is happening!!!

Garrett had his All Conference Honor Band concert. I did have intentions of posting a clip but have not had the time or energy to do so. I might get it done before next year....Both Garrett and Kaleb have joined the basketball team at the local christian school. So starting next month we will have basketball twice a week with games one night a week and wrestling twice a week with matches on Saturdays. Can you say no free time?

Steven is doing better. He has therapy twice a week in Tomah and is still driving to Elroy to work. His doctor and therapist said he is ahead of schedule. He sometimes pushes his limits but when do we all not do that? Otherwise I am impressed on how well he is obeying (at leaset in front of me).

As for me...The last month they switched my meds 3 times, I have put on almost 40 lbs from the various meds. The migraines still occur if I accidentally have any of my trigger foods, which seem to be growing. Now I have a constant tremor. It started like I felt like I was shaking from the cold all of the time but it was not visual and now it is and is affecting both hands, my left leg and my head. So if I turn a corner too fast I tip over. My Neuro now says it is not related to the migraines and has removed me from all the meds. My thoughts seem to get jumbled and my speech either stutters or the words don't come out right. I have had so many tests and have seen 10 doctors since July for various things. I have problems typing since sometimes my fingers jerk or do not work. I am so thankful for the spell check but I hate seeing all the little red lines! They cannot find anything definite so they are just saying benign essential tremors. They wanted to put me on a med for the tremors but it would just mask them so I would not know if they are getting worse or what is causing them. Plus the med would cause kidney stones in those prone too (oh, and the catscan showed mine to be 8mm instead of the 6mm the ultra sound thought it to be). I did pick up another web-site which I am thankful for. It helps keep me productive and creative plus it brings in some exra income since stamping is not very fun right now. With the shakes it is hard to get a good image. Off to work! I have a class on Thursday and haven't even started the prep work....

Update

2008-10-29T11:45:00.003-05:00

Ok, to start with....Steve is back to work. They have him doing paper and computer work at the Elroy office. He cannot wait until life is back to normal but work is work. He goes to therapy twice a week and continues to follow the doctors orders of his home therapy. He is finally starting to sleep again. I think working has helped that. When he was home he slept a lot during the day which made him not sleep at night.

My migraines have improved. I continue to take the meds daily. I have also had to change my diet drastically, which I HATE! I had to give up all artificial sweetners and other things because they where now "drawn" into my allergy realm and were causing a lot of my migrianes. Even a half of a pack gives me a migraine. Poor Levi made me a glass of ice tea on Sunday afternoon and put in a half of a pack like he usually does. One small sip gave me a migraine for 2 days. I am still also trying to figure out what I can eat with the stones too. Saturday I spent pretty much the whole day in bed with galstone and kidney stone pain. I did lots of reading and found that flax seed tea and sweet potatoes helped settle the galstones but the kidney stone is not going to pass at the size it is (over 6mm-1/4") The doctor said it is not interfering with my kidney funtion so there is no need to see him again. (Can you see the confused look on my face!?!)

Now on to better (and more interesting) news. Garrett, and the rest of the band, had a concert on Monday night. I just could not get a good picture of him. Steve was in pain, as the not so smart (I did not say stupid!) part of him tried to clap after the first song (DUH!). Any way as I was looking at the flyer I noticed a few kids had * next to their names. There were just 5 names out of all of the band members and Garrett was one of them. He is a nominee for the Honor Band. He did not even know. The bummer is the Honor Band concert is the same day as a pizza party he wants to go to. Hopefully they are at different times and he can still make it to both.

Yes, I know these are not good pictures, but the fish just will not stay still! I had to clean the tanks yesterday. In the 55 I found 4 baby Red Zebra Cichlids about a month old. I had to totally empty the Convict Cilchlid tank. Remember they had about 50 babies in July and boy are they messy. Here is what I have left. They are getting pretty big, so if you want some speak up now! Kaleb said he is getting ready to filet a few (and he does not eat fish).

Steven's Surgery Update

2008-10-18T10:57:00.006-05:00

So the surgery went well. We had to check into the hospital about 10:30 a.m. He had already been up all night pacing and of course if he is up he had to make sure I was too. So I woke up with a migraine. What a way to start a busy day! He finally got into surgery at about 2:00 p.m. He was very very very nervous and scared. He had never had surgery before, so this was a whole new experience for him. He was in surgery for just over 2 hours. The surgeon told me it went very well and that he is to do NOTHING for the next week. Ok, I now believe my job for the next week is harder than hers. They sent him home around 6:00 p.m. and he was starving since he had not eaten since midnight the night before. The ride home was uneventful since the nerve block was still holding pretty well. It finally started to wear off around 11:00 p.m. (just as I ready to fall asleep) and he was miserable. So I held on to his pain meds and kept track of what he took when. At 3:00 a.m. He swore that he was going to die from the pain. So he called the hospital and they told him to come in. I was in no shape to drive since I had only slept maybe 2 hours in the last 48 and had taken meds for my migraine. So we tried other things.

They sent him home with a cyro cuff. Now this is a fabulous invention!!! It comes with a cooler that you fill with ice water. You connect the cooler to the tube on the cuff, raise it up and it fills the cuff. You lower it and it will drain. So we kept cycling the water for a couple of hours every 10-20 minutes all night. It did help and I got to close my eyes every few minutes (not usually by choice).

This is picture of the cyro cuff. It is not a picture of him. I found it on a google search. There is no way he can look this good at this time, plus he also has to wear this special sling (again not him, he cannot get a shirt on yet so I WILL NOT post a picture). This will just give you an idea of the contraption he is in. The cyro over the sling since he cannot take off the sling until his appointment next week.

I do have pictures of the before and after of the inside of his arm if you are interested and have a strong stomach. I even have a picture of the bone they cut off....

Well, it is time for his pain meds again so I better go dispense them! Have a great week and thank you for the prayers!

Hello

2008-10-11T19:53:00.007-05:00

Has it really been over 2 months since I last posted on here? Well a lot has been going on. The painting and floor is finished in the Living, Dining and Kitchen-grouting. Steve fell at work the end of July and tore 2 muscles in his rotator cuff. He is scheduled for surgery on Friday to re-attach the muscle and repair a bone where arthritis is setting in due to the accident. My migraines have improved. They changed my medication and I quit using all artificial sweetners. I hope that is the fix of it! We had a great day today at the Civil War re-enactment at Norskedalen. We have missed it the last few years because Garrett had football games. Did you see Seth's pants are a little short? He might have even grown a bit this summer! Dave & Dena met us there. The view was beautiful. Not bad for taking them out the window while driving 60 miles an hour huh? The cow at the end of the slide show, the boys begged me to take her picture....

Sneak Peak

2008-08-20T11:14:00.003-05:00

So now that we have 2 reliable renters (Praise God) we are doing a little bit of work on our own house! (Whooo Hoooo!) I thought I would give a slight sneak peak of our "Work in Progress"

Poor Levi got a sty and is hurting.

Steve finally built the tank stand I wanted.
I have had it sketched out for probably a year.

I love it!!!

Seth jump

2008-08-06T17:47:00.001-05:00

Levi's Dive

2008-08-06T17:28:00.001-05:00

Garrett Back Flip

2008-08-06T16:44:00.001-05:00

He got in trouble for not getting far enough away from the board.

Seth & Shelby getting in the deep end

2008-08-06T16:43:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Swim Lessons-Shelby

2008-08-06T12:14:00.003-05:00

Garrett's flip

2008-08-01T18:56:00.001-05:00

Seth Lessons

2008-08-01T08:53:00.005-05:00

So it took us awhile to get him in the water and then he wanted to go up and down and up and down. Can you imagine that, Seth ?

So in the water he goes! This is one of Susan's nieces. Her Mother is the special ed teacher at the school so she was assigned to work with Seth. She does an excellent job when he has his mind set. Hey, that is most of the time...

They could not get him to kick and blow at the same time, just one thing at a time. Boy, he makes the water looks tan! Can you tell he does not like being outside much?

"Hey mom watch, I can go under!"(please remember to come back up!) This is a big step as it took us a few days to even get him off of the steps.

I am a big big bubble ready to be popped (and fall into the water). See how all the of the other kids are back against the wall, except Seth. He lives on the edge. He just kept stepping forward and looking at me. I kept telling him to get back with the other kids. He would step back and creep forward again and again.

When he jumps in he puts his arms backwards to catch himself and just about hits his head (Soooooo thankful for the teachers knowing to be right there by him!)

I will try to get more pictures up of the rest of the crew later (I think I have a video of Garrett diving somewhere), but Seth is wet!

Doctor Update

2008-07-16T11:03:00.003-05:00

Well, I just thought I would give you all an update. I got a call yesterday from the hospital right before we were to leave. The MRI machine had broke down, so they had to reschedule it for today (Wednesday) which means I also had to reschedule my results appointment which was suppose to be today. So they could not get me in to see the doctor until Monday. So I go in for the MRI later today and hopefully will get the results late Monday afternoon. God is in control, God is in control, God is in control, God is in control!!

7-18-08 Edited to add: The MRI shows no abnormalities (Steve & the kids beg to differ). So I wait until Monday to find out the next step to explain my numbness, fatigue and dizziness.

Be Thou My Vision

2008-07-15T13:52:00.000-05:00

Dino Hunters

2008-07-15T09:54:00.004-05:00

Just thought I would share my Dino Hunters with you this morning. Friday they had to dress up to match the VBS theme.

I have my energy back to day. Thank you so much for your prayers! The MRI machine broke down this morning so I am waiting to hear back from the hospital for when they could reschedule....God is in control!

2008 VBS

2008-07-13T17:17:00.002-05:00

Since I was not feeling well this week I did not get a lot of pictures taken. Early in the week I volunteered to put together a slide show with all of the pictures that Lisa , my friend, had taken. So Friday night after the ER I put this together, except hers came with music, to be shown at the funfair/picnic on Saturday. Rather than weeding through them to find pictures of my kids I am posting the whole thing that I posted on our Church Web-site. I know you can find them. I have a smashing headache and cannot take my faithful ibuprofen with the other meds they have me on....oh well, God is in control and he knows what He is doing. Have a great day!

Thank you

2008-07-12T20:59:00.002-05:00

As many of you now know, or may of read in my last post, I have not been feeling well lately. As you can see by all of the pictures we spent last weekend (3rd-6th) visiting Heath and Lois in Nebraska and had a wonderful time. On our way to the zoo in Omaha on Saturday I had what I call an "episode" where I lost the use of the upper left hand side of my body. I am very stubborn (it is in both families gene pool) and was determined to spend this well planned and looked forward to day with my family who I love and miss so much. They tried very hard to talk me into seeing a doctor but I refused. So I downplayed it and went on with the zoo and mall. We returned home late Sunday night and I started teaching 25 4-6 yr olds in Bible School Monday morning. My left side was still weak and I was exhausted but I pushed on. I came home and slept the whole day away. That is so unlike me, but I just had no energy at all.

Well, come Thursday I could not take the migraines (going on 3 weeks everyday) and the constant fatigue so I called my doctor (duh huh?). They told me no appointment but to come in as soon as I could get there. Of course with my luck a horrible storm came through town and we ended up sitting in the hallway of the clinic for 45 minutes waiting for the sirens to stop and the all clear to be posted. He treated me for the migraines and I was on my way with a check up appointment next week. I was set back that he was not concerned about the weakness in my left side. After waiting for that prescription at Wal-mart for 1 1/2 hours (and $250 later) I finally got to go home and rest. Well, come Friday during Bible school it got progressively worse. I lost my hearing, taste, total use of left arm and the numbness started in my left leg. Kaleb, who is thankfully home this week from camp, took me to the emergency room. The doctor thought I may have had a mini stroke. After all the test and questions they think I may have something called migraine paralysis. I go in early next week for an MRI to rule out a stroke. I am on a very strong blood thinner (and took me off the stuff I had just spent 2 weeks of groceries on) as a precaution since I am allergic to aspirin.

I do have some use of my arm but that comes and goes. The more I use it the weaker it gets. I am thankful that I am right handed and for the wonderful family I have who treats me like a queen. I am so thankful for all of you and your prayers for me during this.

Baby Convicts

2008-07-07T20:13:00.003-05:00

Just one more post before I hit the sack (I have not been feeling well the last few weeks and VBS just wiped me out this morning) We got home too late last night for me to check out my fish. This afternoon when we got home from Bible school I fed my fish. For some reason they were all staying on just one end of the tank. I looked a little closer to find that my new convict cichlids (just got them last Tuesday) had babies. They are very protective of their young. I am so happy, I guess too happy to not think that this camera would rotate a side video...anyone want 40-50 convict cichlids in a few months?

Here is a better video. I will try and get as they grow.

Family

2008-07-07T20:09:00.002-05:00

I will leave you with just one more picture tonight. I will try and upload the video of Heath and Kaleb doing the offertory tomorrow night. It makes me cry to see my guys using their music to praise God.

Build-a-Bear

2008-07-07T19:58:00.003-05:00

After the zoo the boys hit the arcade and the girls where off to the mall. Lois had promised Shelby that she would take her to Build-a-Bear for a late birthday gift. Shelby has talked about it for the last 6 weeks. Can you tell how much fun she had. She named her Pink Leopard Princess Girl. Rumor has it that the guys had fun too, not that any of them could take any pictures....

Zoo 3/3

2008-07-07T19:38:00.001-05:00

These are the last of the zoo pictures that I am posting.

Zoo 2/3

2008-07-07T19:31:00.001-05:00

Not much to say...just having fun!

Zoo 1/3

2008-07-07T19:14:00.003-05:00

On Friday we visited the zoo in Omaha. So they let me bring a bunch of animals to see the other animals...and they let me take mine home again. I split these up into a few slide shows. Garrett had the camera the majority of the time. If any one wants pictures of just about every animal at the zoo just let me know I am so glad I had 2 4GB cards for my camera with me, hey we even have a couple of videos. He loves photography.

July 4th Fireworks

2008-07-07T18:40:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to share some of the fireworks with you.

July 4th Pre-Fireworks

2008-07-07T18:30:00.002-05:00

So we we off to Fireworks after supper. When we got there a man was handing out balloon creations that he was making for the kids. He gave Shelby a penguin that fell in the grass. Boy, did she cry. After he finished making Seth a sword he made he this fantastic monkey. She was very careful with it and it even made it home. The big boys sat in front of us and threw fire crackers etc. It was so much fun being together!

July 4th Pool

2008-07-07T18:13:00.002-05:00

So on day 2 Heath had to work so Lois came over and went swimming with the kids. I was not feeling well still so Seth sat with me this time. We went swimming later after the zoo and he went then. We found the green thing Shelby is wearing in one of these for him and I'm glad we did as he had no fear. I have no pics of him swimming as I was in the pool with him so I could not take any pictures. We had the whole pool to ourselves and so Lois brought a jar of change and threw it all over the pool for the kids to find. They had a lot of fun. Kaleb learned the hard way not to dive for money near his sister-in-laws' toes... Then we went off to their house to have lunch and let the kids play Wii. Heath does not have a t.v so thankfully their new house has a huge blank wall in their family room for his projector. Levi really got into it.

July 3rd

2008-07-03T23:38:00.005-05:00

Well, we arrived in Nebraska right around the time Heath got off work, so he met us at our motel. We went and bought a bunch of fireworks for the kids and waited for Lois to get off from work. They then took us bowling. It was great since no one else was there we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was the first time Seth and Shelby had ever been bowling. Seth had a trouble lifting the ball so Lois went and got him a ramp. Obviously, you can tell by the scores, that it helped him a great deal. We need to do this more often, as the kids (and parents) had a great time. Then we headed back to their house to have supper and have our own fireworks show.

Rental House

2008-06-18T18:44:00.001-05:00

Ok, Now looking at these I only took pictures of the front and Garrett was working on the same shutter the whole time. Boy, do I miss Kaleb (at camp) but Garrett kicked it up and we got it done! Anyway we needed to do some much needed work on the rental. Anyone know a good reliable renter? We have a 2 bedroom available now....

Graduation

2008-06-05T16:57:00.002-05:00

Just a sneak peak. I hope to get some more up yet this weekend. I could not get the boys to stay still so there are more of Shelby with her friends then Seth with the guys. Sorry the grad group is blurry I took it from the back of the church as I helped the kids get ready. I will get a better one from one of my friends.

Fish Tanks

2008-05-12T20:05:00.002-05:00

For Mother's Day and my birthday my wonderful kids and husband helped me get the fish set up I have always wanted. On the way home we must of stopped in every fish store we could. It was probably close to a dozen stores. I am specifically looking for starlight bristlenose plecos. I cannot find any of them anywhere around here. We did find some wonderful Cichlids for the tanks. The varieties include: Bumble Bees, Red Zebras. Black Flank, Calico Convict, Giraffe Haps, Blue Kenyi, and Yellow Labs. I love the way this tank is turning out! If any of you know where I can find the plecos I want let me know we will plan a special visit ;).

I had to move the fish that were in the big tank into a smaller set up. So here is my only angel I have left, the common pleco, zebra danios, Bolivian Ram, Rasaboras, and Julii cory cats.

Here is the bottom tank. It is filled with, Sword tails, Platties of all ages and sizes, and a few albino cory cats.

I did not get a good picture of Kaleb's tank. The reflection was horrible. He has a huge, mean, blue Kenyi and an African Catfish. I will post pics here when I get some good ones.

Swimming

2008-05-12T19:58:00.002-05:00

The kids had a great time swimming with their friends at the motel after the trips were through. All of us who stayed over on Saturday night even went out to dinner afterwards together. 29 of us in one restaurant. Of course the football had to come along. I think the football goes with us no matter where we are....

Milton House

2008-05-12T19:50:00.002-05:00

Our next stop was the Milton house museum. This was a very interesting trip. It was an underground railroad house to help the slaves get to freedom. One of the rules was we were not allowed to touch anything unless it was handed to us. The guides wore gloves to protect the antiques. Do you know how fun it was when Seth loves to touch everything?!?! It was very educational and something I hope the kids will remember the rest of their lives.

Park

2008-05-12T19:45:00.002-05:00

After we left the roundhouse we all made a hit for Subway. What do you think of a group of 50 going out for subs? What a good business day they had! We then headed for the park to sit and eat and let the kids play. They park was right across from the next planned event. I got a few snaps of Seth & Shelby. The older boys were playing football and I did not venture over that way. Seth was obsessed with picking every dandelion in the park. I had to clear his pockets of the sticks he tried to stow-away.

Roundhouse

2008-05-12T19:41:00.001-05:00

Saturday, May 10th we took a weekend field trip to Janesville WI with our Home Educators group. The first place we went to was called the Round house. It was a great tour of a train repair. The kids had a great time. The men seemed to learn a lot as they asked a lot of questions.

May 8th game

2008-05-12T19:19:00.002-05:00

Levi finally got to play goalie. He keeps asking to play goalie but his coach want shim on the field. This time he said he could start the game as goalie. His team members have not all been making it to the games so they have lost the last two. Just by one point but it is tough. It works a lot better when they can all make it and play together. You learn to rely on someone in practice and they do not show up for the game.....

Insurance Day

2008-04-24T18:36:00.002-05:00

Well, today was the day we tested out our new insurance. This morning Garrett got up and put my glasses on, as he usually does. Whenever we were at a wrestling match and he was sitting with me on the bleachers he always grabbed my glasses because he said he could not see the mats. We knew we were changing insurance the beginning of April so I told him to wait. Steven took the day off because the kids all had a dental cleaning in LaCrosse today and he wanted to go with, plus Levi had a soccer game right afterwards. So I asked Steven to call and see if they had any openings to get Garrett's eye's examined. Well, the picture tells the outcome. We now have 4-4 eyes in the house with Shelby falling close behind. I am so glad we now have optical insurance. He loves his new glasses (after trying on every pair in Eyemart Express) and the fact that he can now see.

So off to the dentist we went right after his glasses where finished. I am glad to announce we are cavity free!! We got out of there at 3:30 with Levi's game scheduled at 5:00 and an hour and a half drive ahead of us. Shortly after we got out of town the coaches wife called (Thank you Julie) and told us they canceled the game. It had rained hard all day and the field was already soaking wet on Tuesday. So we hit the eye doctor for glasses for one and the dentist for cleaning on all five and only had to spent $40, not bad!

April 22nd Soccer Game

2008-04-22T21:51:00.002-05:00

So I finally got a clip of video worth sharing. I did not get anything on Thursday night's game. it was freezing cold. They won that game 3-1 with Levi scoring one of the goals. Tonights game he played against one of his friends (Austin Day) We were teasing him that since he scored 2 times in the first game and once in the second game that he was not going to score anything in this game. He said he was not going to loose. Well, he proved us wrong. Levi's team won 5:4. Levi scored 4 of the goals. The video clip is of the first goal. he has the red shirt with the blue socks and cleats.

My New Bathroom

2008-04-16T20:27:00.004-05:00

I just have to put some finishing touches to it, otherwise it is done. I know it cannot be, but it seems so much bigger... I just noticed I did not take any pictures of the shower, linen closet or other door. I have not replaced that door yet, since I only measured one door and figured they were both the same size. Well, it turns out they are not...so we are running again later this week to get the other door. I will post more pics when we get that finished.

Levi's First Game

2008-04-15T20:33:00.003-05:00

Well, today Levi had his first soccer game. His friends have played for years and this year he asked if he could give it a try. He loves it. Kaleb had a doctor appointment. It turns out he has bursitis on his elbow. It continues to fill with fluid. The doctor suggested a compression wrap and anti-inflammatory to start with. We got home shortly after lunch. Levi's game did not start until 5:00. The second we got home he ran down and put his soccer clothes on. Can you say obsessed?? Well, his team won 3-1. Levi scored 2 goals. I will have to check later and see if one of the guys caught anything on video. They all took turns with the video camera. He has games on Tuesdays and Thursdays so keep your eyes open for many more pictures! Levi's good friend Ryan Langendorf is on his team and his dad is the coach.

Wrestling Banquet

2008-04-14T19:39:00.002-05:00

Sunday afternoon was the wrestling banquet. Sethy got his Rookie Award. He loved it! Levi, as bad of a season that he had, still won 2nd place for the most wins and 1st place for the most pins. His friend Robert won 1st place most wins. Garrett won 1st place most wins and most pins. His friend Myles won 2nd place most wins. Garrett also won most improved wrestler. Myles got the Most valuable and Heath got Best Sportsmanship. You can see Kaleb in the background helping hand out the trophies. The papers they handed out were if they had an over 50% record. Another great year wrapped up. Now that wrestling is done, tomorrow Levi has his first soccer game. Life continues....

Cold Camping!!!!

2008-04-14T19:30:00.005-05:00

So Dad and Mom were passing through on their way to revival meetings. They were traveling in their motor home. They spent one night in our driveway. Then off they went to Baraboo. Dena had them set up at Devil's Lake Campground. We decided to go down and have a bonfire and cook out. Boy, was it cold (but fun)!!!!

While we were at the campgrounds Seth lost his 2nd tooth. he lost the first one the night before. He was not too happy for some reason when I took his picture. This is a big thing for him (not his unhappiness, the teeth). Since he lost teeth, it means his bones are actually growing. I will tak any advancement!!!

Garrett Mauston

2008-03-29T18:38:00.004-05:00

Garrett had an excellent year this year! Thank you all for your prayers. He met no girls the whole season! He improved his wrestling skills phenomenally. I can't wait to see what next year holds for him. It may be tough since he will be at the bottom of the 7th-8th grade brackets.

Garrett finished his season with 19 wins:22matches. Out of the 19 wins 14 were pins.
I also uploaded videos from State and will post them in that post, so check back to that date!

Levi Mauston

2008-03-29T18:30:00.006-05:00

Levi had a tough year. I was trying to tell him that Garrett had tough years too. Levi was ready to quit. I asked him if he thought Garrett was a good wrestler. He, of course, said no. So then I had to rephrase it and I asked him that if this guy sitting next to me was not his brother, would he think he was a good wrestler? He then answered yes. :) I reminded him that a few years ago Garrett had some big struggles and that we where just pleased if we went home and he was not pinned. Levi lost all 3 of his matches but did not get pinned! Rejoice in what is in front of you! If you look at the pictures, the boys he wrestled today loved to do the double chicken wing. One boy even sat while doing it which is an illegal move. His arms are hurting today.

Levi's year end record was 6 wins:15matches Out of his 6 wins 4 were pins.

Seth Mauston

2008-03-29T18:21:00.004-05:00

Well, Seth finished his first year of wrestling with nothing broken! He had fun and that is what makes the difference. He did not understand the difference between winning and loosing so he never got discouraged. He got a medal at the end of each day and that was what mattered to him. Who knows what next year will hold! He placed 4th. His year end record was 2 wins:18 matches. He did have to forfeit twice to girls so in my eyes his record should be 4:18.

State Wrestling

2008-03-22T22:36:00.009-05:00

Here are the 4 boys from our club who made it this year.
Garrett-#115, Myles -#105, Christian-#110, Heath-#110
Garrett placed 7th
Myles and Heath lost their first 2 mathces (double elimination)
Christian placed 3rd

Here is the crew and their coaches warming up...why are none of them moving around?

Match 1

2 very tired young men! Garret lost this match 3-0 This boy placed 6 all around

Match 2

Garrett wrestled hard and came out a winner this match. He won 5-0.

Match 3

This match, again, went very well and Garrett pinned him in the 3 round. In the end of the second round the ref had his hand in the air ready to slap the mat and time was called before his hand came down.

Match 4

We all agreed that there is no way this young man could be in the 6th grade or born in 1995! We were all joking that we saw him shaving between rounds. Oh, well Garrett had the verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me" taped inside his head gear. I saw him take off his head gear numerous times and read the verse when they broke. He knew that if God wanted him to win it would happen. This is where God wanted him to end up and 7th place in the state is nothing to be ashamed of. Speaking of broke, this young man broke Garrett's nose. He had a habit of smacking him in the nose when ever they were head to head. Garrett has already had his nose broke 3 times so he knows how to deal with it. The other boy placed 4th all around. He wrestled the match 1 boy for 3rd and fourth place and won.

Here are the three boys right before heading home. They are in front of the Alliance center. All three of these boys have been home-schooled there whole lives. I am very thankful that God has placed such fine young men in our lives!

Flash from the past

2008-03-14T17:42:00.006-05:00

So today Steven decides to clean out his locker at work. He brought home this key chain (alas the cut picture corner) with pictures of the kids. It only contained 3 kids and Garrett (now 12) was a baby so it shows you how long it has been since he cleaned out his locker... He said when he pulled it out and saw this picture he first thought it was Levi. I agree, I never saw before how much Levi looks like Heath when he was little. Maybe the beard throws me off now, Heath?!? Levi also always makes those faces when I take his picture. Oh no, one Heath was more than enough! :)

*Edited to add that the key chain contained 3 kids not this picture. He had a baby picture of Garrett on the other side.

Westby Regionals

2008-03-08T19:56:00.009-06:00

This is his first match, his one and only loss.

Well, today was Garrett's day. Regionals are only for birth year 1999 and up. Levi decided he was not ready for it so he sat this year out. Seth was not old enough. So Garrett weighed in at 111.1 lb that put him in the 115 lb bracket. Regionals is not like any other tournament. They do not break you up in 4 or 5 people per bracket. You wrestle everyone who shows up in your weight bracket, double elimination. In other words, you loose twice you are done! Thank you all who were praying, there were no girls in his bracket at all today. So he did not have to forfeit and got to wrestle real matches. There were 5 boys all together in his weight bracket. Garrett did loose his undefeated title though. He lost his first match 4-0 with some dumb mistakes. The other boy did have the advantage of wrestling at least one match before he wrestled Garrett, so he was warmed up. Garrett had a buy (no matches) the first round so he was his first match. He said it will not happen at state when they wrestle again.

Collecting his medal and State papers.

The video below is of his last match. They were wrestling for 2nd and 3rd place. Only 1st and 2nd get to go to State. I forgot my video camera at home so I took the videos with my digital camera which means I got next to none snap shots...oh, well!

Garrett gets to go with his friends Heath and Myles too!

WE ARE GOING TO STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A whole list of qualifiers names can be found here.

Garrett's Solo

2008-03-04T13:56:00.004-06:00

Boy am I posting a lot lately. I guess that is because life is busy! Last night Garrett performed his first Solo Ensemble part. He also did his trio with Myles and Heath. He played it for our Home Educators group since SE was scheduled the same day as Big Blue.