What is Cardiac Arrest?!

This was Tuesday afternoon!!!! And then you have Wednesday morning!!!! I had no idea what Cardiac Arrest was..... I had no idea that Cardiac Arrest was different than a heart attack......I had no idea that an AED ( automated external defibrillator) was the only way to save my Dad's life.....I had no idea where to even find an AED. Here are some things that I have learned about Cardiac Arrest in the past month. I hope that someone can use this information and help to fight for and get trained in CPR, know where to find the AED's and how to use them.

Sudden cardiac arrest, or SCA, is the sudden unexpected loss of heart function, breathing and consciousness. SCA usually results from an abnormal heart rhythm, often as a result of underlying heart conditions. Unfortunately, many people do not realize they have underlying heart conditions-- until SCA occurs. In fact, about two-thirds of unexpected cardiac deaths occur without prior indication of heart disease.

SCA is not the same as a heart attack, which occurs when blood vessels in the heart get clogged, preventing blood flow to sections of heart muscle. A heart attack, however, can lead to SCA by triggering an abnormal heart rhythm. SCA may be compared to an electrical problem in the heart, in contrast to a heart attack, which is more of a plumbing problem.

Without immediate treatment, SCA is fatal. Effective treatment generally involves cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), use of a defibrillator to shock the heart back to a normal rhythm, and advanced life support including drug therapy and, increasingly, therapeutic hypothermia. The quicker treatment is delivered and circulation is restored, the greater the chances for survival.

The average survival SCA survival rate is 6-7%. (Prehosp Emerg Care 1997; 1(1):45-57.)

Signs of cardiac arrest: It strikes suddenly and without warning.

Sudden loss of responsiveness

No response to tapping on shoulders

Does nothing when you ask if he is okay

No normal breathing

The victim does not take a normal breath when you tilt the head up

Check for at least five seconds

If these signs of cardiac arrest are present:

Call 9-1-1 for emergency medical services.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) claims more than 380,000* lives per year, and is the leading cause of death in the United States. SCA can strike anyone, anytime.

*American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2012 Update. Circulation: 15 Dec. 2011

These are the men and women that jumped into action and saved my Dad's life that Wednesday morning.  Without their quick action, we would not have had any more time with my Dad.  We will forever be grateful that they did not hesitate when Dad went down.  But rather jumped into action and used their training.  Thank you so very much!!!  You will always hold a very dear place in our hearts!!!

Casey is the one that actually used the AED on my Dad.  Julie, his lovely wife, was our ICU nurse and took great care of the family as well as my Dad.  Love to you all!!  In an effort to help cover medical expenses we are doing a fundraiser.  We are working with Celebrating Home.  They have some great products.  Just in time for Christmas.  Please take a look at the link.  50% of all proceeds will help out!!!

http://www.celebratinghome.com/fundraiser/brucej/OnlineFundraiserHome.aspx

While You Were Sleeping!

That is the title of my most favorite movie in the world.  However, on Oct 17, 2012 it became my reality.  I will never forget how I felt that morning.  I have already forgotten some of the things that happened that day, but when something like this happens it truly "rocks" your world and you never forget the way you felt.  Many miracles.... That is the phrase that describes those 2 weeks. I think back to those overwhelming moments, the highs and lows, and I am still amazed by what happened and how it happened.  Let me first share the story.  I will need a whole different post for the true miracles. 

But I feel like I need to tell the story from my perspective........Wednesday morning I was sleeping peacefully, when Elizabeth came into the room and told me mom needed me upstairs immediately.  I wondered why it couldn't wait until I was ready to wake up.......... but stumbled up the stairs anyway.  I could tell by the look on her face that whatever she was going to tell us was not good.  She told us that Dad had collapsed at work and was on his way to the ER.  The house became a flurry of activity.  Finding someone to watch the kids, putting on clothes, finding cell phones, gathering the siblings, finding the keys, and getting in the van became difficult tasks.  It was crazy and honestly, I cannot even tell you how it happened, but it happened very quickly. 

When we arrived at the hospital we were told we needed to go wait in the chapel for the doctor. For the record, their idea of a chapel was nothing more than a linen closet with a bunch of chairs.  I knew at that point that whatever they were going to tell us............ it was not going to be good news. You start to panic, you can feel your heart sinking, you try to think positive, you hold on to a belief that this is just a very bad dream. Next thing we know a case worker is in the room with us telling us that he is there to offer help,...... again not a good sign.  So we do the only thing that we know will bring us some peace as we contiue to wait and that is pray..... Finally, after what seems like days....... but has only been a short time, the ER doctor shows up.  In the least compassionate and least tactful way he spits out a bunch of stupid information. After he is done babbling my mother looks at him and asks him the only question we had wanted answered, "IS HE ALIVE?"  To which he curtly answers yes, and the informs us he had gone into cardiac arrest, died, and was currently in the Cath Lab. ( I do understand that ER doctors have a tough job, but I do believe that if he had ever been through that experience with his family he would have been more empathetic and kind)  As soon as they knew more .... we would know more.  No one knew how long he had been down or what had really happened that morning.  So at this point all we have are more questions.

The next person we see is Dr. Olsen. She is "wicked smart" (according to the nurses) .(I have been called wicked, but never wicked smart. :>)  She was in the cath lab with him. She told us that he had gone into cardiac arrest.  She and her team had gone in and done an angiogram to see what they could find and fix. His bypass that he had 16 years prior was no longer any good.  However, his heart had created its own bypass but had not suffered a heart attack.  They could fix nothing right then but talked about a pacemaker, defibullator and more bypass later.  They were impressed with his heart and what it was doing on its own.  He had not regained consciousness at any point after he went down.   But he had fought being intubated so she said that was a positive. They were putting him in a medically induced coma and taking his core temperature down.  They needed his heart to rest and by "freezing" him it would allow time for healing of the heart and brain.  They were unsure how long they would keep him in that coma (2 days at least), they were unsure if he would ever wake up, they were unsure if he woke up what he would be like, they were unsure what the future held.  But for the moment, he was stable in critical condition and as soon as they got him to ICU we could see him. 



So more waiting and it seemed like forever, but we finally permitted to go back.  When we walked in.......... there was my Dad.  So many machines, so many tubes, so many wires, so many sounds.  It was like I was walking right back into the NICU.  The fear of the unknown was right there staring me in the face again.  I was flooded with emotions and feelings that I had hidden and healed from........ or so I thought.  Lying on a bed with no signs of life was the man who was laughing with me about how no one was fighting over spending time with he , mom or I.  (Adam was getting ready to go back to Chicago and everyone wanted to hang with him, but we thought it was funny).  The man who 2 days prior was speaking at his Step-Father's funeral and, of course had us laughing through our tears about his "great" grandchildren.  The man that the day before was shaking leaves on the trees so my kids would have more leaves to play in and rake up.  The man that had just asked me what he could do for me, and when my only request was his famous fudge cake, without skipping a beat he was in the house making me one. 

How could this happen?  How could he go from being so vibrant and laughing the night before ....to  lying in a bed and possibly never wake up again?!?!?!  So many emotions, so much fear and uncertainty.  When you are in that moment you don't want him to not wake up, but you also don't want him to wake up if it is going to be horrible for him either.  So again more waiting........ The support and prayers were amazing.   They were the only things that got us through those scary moments.  I could not even tell you who all showed up that day, I know that everyone that did brought with them comfort, peace and strength.  Family that had been in town for the funeral were there, they all changed their flights to be close.  We cried together, told stories, laughed, cried some more and waited.  I will never forget when a dear friend of mine, that I had not seen in a couple of years, walked in....... she put her arms around me to give me a hug all I could do was sob.  Sob to a point that I wasn't sure I could breathe or even hold myself up. She just held me until I could breathe.



We were at the hospital all day. At 5:00 they kicked us out until 7:00 while they traded shifts.  We went back to the house to regroup and get a plan.  This was the point we decided we needed to take shifts.  The kids were confused and needed some normalcy.   We were tired and knew we all were going to need some time away from the hospital. The night shift was easier for me so that I could be home with the kids during the day. (Plus when Dad had his open heart surgery that is the shift I took, it was "our" time together, a precious time)  For days,  I paced, watched tv, paced,tried reading a book, and paced.  But those quiet moments are moments that no one can take away from me.  Whether I was watching and waiting, or helping dad with things he couldn't do for himself, talking to him, listening to him breathe, or walking through the ICU with him....... those are memories I will hold dear forever!!!  Adam stayed with me one night and in the early hours he looked at me and said,"this sucks______,"  I agreed with him.  But then Dad opened his eyes and smiled!!!  Between the tears, he said, "but this makes it all worth it."

When Dad finally starting waking up...... he decided he was going to let us know he wanted to be back with us.  He wanted us to know he was a fighter and he was not going to be slow about it.  He did not like the vent, or the feeding tube so he was going to get them out as soon as possible.  He started by merely turning his head to face whoever was talking in the room, then his eyes opened, he started answering yup and squeezing our hands.  (We could tell he was nervous because he would chew on his lips, I cannot imagine what it would be like to wake up, not know where you are, how you got there, and then to try and communicate only to find you can't.) As the days progressed so did Dad.  He would push a little too hard during the day and by night he would regress a little.   But he is a determined fighter and still continued to amaze everyone around him. 

One day, his heart started acting up again.  Doctor said we needed to get his pacemaker, defibrillator put in sooner rather than later.  However, because of his fractured ribs his lungs were struggling and he was beginning to get some fluid in them or so they thought.  As they started doing more testing they realized there was fluid outside of them. They had to go in and remove it.  As soon as they removed the fluid with a needle and hose (gross process) his lung re- inflated and surgery was scheduled for the next day.  After surgery, we were moved to a different floor and the grandkids could finally see their grandfather. And I got a pull- out bed.  Wow, best sleep in days!!!

 As we get farther away from the "event" more of the puzzle pieces are coming together.  There is still so much to write about and so much to say but I will end here for now.  I am going to write a post about the "miracles" that we were blessed enough to see.  They are amazing!

In the meantime:A lot of people have been asking how and what they can do to help Dad. Now that he is home from the ICU after going into Cardiac Arrest he faces new struggles. Right now we know he cannot return to work anytime soon and possibly never. As you can imagine, the medical bills are mounting and not having an income is stressful.  We want Dad to focus on healing!! An account has been set up at America First Credit Union and any donation no matter the amount will help ease that burden. We, as a family want to thank everyone for all of your prayers, meals, time, support and love!!!  Go Team Bruce!!!  Account #27339522/ P.O. Box 9199 , Odgen Utah 84409

Happy 11th Birthday Sweet Pea!!

Wow, can it possibly really be 11 years ago since this little man came into the world?  Oct. 5, 2001 at 2:55 pm in Wilson, NC. He weighed in at a whopping 7lbs. 7ozs.   Sweet Pea is his nickname.  Why?!?!?  Well .... let me tell you his story..... when he was a little tyke he thought the nose was a perfect place to stick peas.  I am not sure what possessed him to do it ( might have been a dare on his older brother's part) One night he was so congested and could not breathe,  I remember thinking he was getting a cold , a really bad cold!!! However, when I was changing his diaper I happened to notice something strange up his nose.  So being a great mom, I decided I had better investigate.  Naturally, I got the tweezers and started to pull something out of his nose.  When what to my wondering eyes did appear?!?!?!?!  A pea, then two peas, but wait we are now at three peas. Is that all, not a chance!!! Try five, yes, you read that right, 5 peas.  I had no idea that you could fit so many up your nose.  But friends you can!!!  Thus the name sweet pea!!! (poor kid, will never live this one down!!!)

It was a fun day.  It started by me helping in his classroom.  He got to wear a great crown. We then thought it was the perfect opportunity to sneak out and go to Olive Garden for lunch.  It is his favorite place.  (He can never get enough of the bread sticks and dipping sauce.)  We had the great opportunity to meet a lady that was turning 90 today!!!  Impressive!!  (we both enjoyed singing to her and watching her on this special day)  Then we gathered everyone and went to see Hotel Transylvania.  (it is great to have an instant party and not have to invite anyone else)  Truly a perk to having lots of kids the same age!!!  Finally, home to sing and presents.  I love this picture........... because those 11 candles made the entire cake look like it was going up in flames.  And that my friends is the end of  a perfect day, so.... Happy Birthday Hunter!!!(sweet dreams my sweat pea!)



Happy 9th Birthday!!!

Wow, 9 years!!!  Can it truly be?!?!?  I know, I know.  If you had told me 9 years ago that I would be saying how fast the time went by ..... etc.  I would have called you crazy.  At that particular moment,9 years ago,  as I was laying in the hospital bed having no idea those weeks would turn into years this quickly. If I had, I might have wished for them to slow down. 

There are moments that I cannot remember anything but a blur.  And certainly, there have been times that I believed God had more faith in me than I ever had in myself.  (actually, I still have a lot of those days!)  But what a great 9 years it has been.  I will never forget the moments leading up to their birth, the anticipation, the fear,the trepidation,etc.  But I feel like we have all be so very blessed to have these not so little ones in our home.

 Having children did not come as I had always dreamed it would have come. When I was a little girl I did what all little girls do: plan the perfect wedding ,dream of the house with the white picket fence by the perfect neighbors (who include family and friends so the kids can all play together and the mom's never get lonely.) 

Instead, it has taken me down a different road.  One that has us moving every two years, meeting new people, spreading our wings, exploring new options, and learning to depend on each other. During these journey's we have learned many things about the infinite love and compassion of family and friends, encouragement from many different sources and endurance. 

I would not trade one of my glorious six children and the"miracle" way that they joined our family.  Thank you first to Heavenly Father for allowing me the chance to be a mother and for trusting these fabulous kids to me.  I promise I try to do a good job and I may falter often but I pick up and we keep trudging along as a team.  So Happy Birthday, Cassie (3:34 pm est.), Nathan (3:35), Jayson (3:36) and Bryan (3:37) . ( For those of you that don't know or don't remember, we were stationed at Goldsboro, NC and our squadron was the 334th fighter wing.  So I played my part and brought the quads into the world as a constant reminder our of base and command.)  Funny actually!

Well, Happy Birthday little ones and sweet dreams today.  For day after tomorrow it is going to be a fantastic party as we head to Disneyland!!!  Love you all and so very proud to be your mom!!!

5K Fun!!!

Free photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox Such a fun day!!!  We are so very proud of our crew!!!  After spending hours the day before in traffic, getting here late, headaches, throwing up in the van and Hunter having a high fever, they were still all smiles and completed the run!!!  Go Team Kearl!!!  We will never forget this day and look forward to doing it again!

Crack me up!!

Nathan totally cracks me up.  He is bit of a worry wort and a  perfectionist.  Which  in many cases can cause some anxiety and low frustration levels.  However,  here is he is at speech with a balancing game that he was playing. (Jayson tried this game for the previous hour and finally gave up and just played with the penguins.)  But not Nathan!!  He was determined to balance all those penguins on the boat and he did it!!!  

 Each year we are followed by the UCLA cranial facial team for submucoul cleft palates. We had the palate repair at age 2 1/2  and continue treatment with our team. ( this is somthing that is usually diganosed at birth and fixed earlier, however we were not diagnosed until 2.) These appointments are always fun and  interesting. We , the boys and I, sit in a room while the following doctors rotate through the room: a pediatrcian, audiologist, ENT, speech therapist, dentist, orthodontist, and plastic surgereon. The boys always get a little squirrly but they seem to have fun.

 

 As you can see, they make me smile, year after year.  The doctors also get a kick out of seeing them and love to see how much they have grown up year to year!!!

1st Kearl Detention of 2012-2013

Yes, I know it is hard to believe that this gorgeous little face is the one that had to serve the 1st detention.....I realize that those brown eyes may have gotten him out of it up until 6th grade.....but the truth is NOT THIS TIME! This earns him the award for being the 1st Kearl to break in the new wardens!!! (We can only be so good ya know! )

So....... why did he have detention you ask?!!?!? (even if you are not asking I will tell you)  In the 6th grade their entire day is worked around a 3 ring binder (AVID notebook).  He left it home. Naturally, I had reminded all the children the night before to make sure they all had their stuff ready.  I even nagged some more as we were walking out the door asking about lunch boxes, water bottles, homework, etc.....  "Yes, yes, yes, mom we have everything we need!"  Hmmmm...so when his teacher called and asked me to bring it to him and informed me that he was going to be serving detention.... Honestly, I thought it was pretty fair.  I would like to say I am sure it won't happen again......but I am sure that is not the case.  LOL.  (I mean, come on, we have gotten all the way to school to realize that one of the kids got out the door with no shoes on.)  What can I say?!?!? 

2012- 1st Day of School

Okay, even after the weird, crazy summer we had I will still say WOW..... where did the summer go?!?!?And furthermore, where did my babies go? I cannot believe how grown up my little ones have become. It really does seem like just yesterday that  they were scattered through the house in various devices to keep them quiet and in one place. (baby swings, bouncy chairs,high chairs,and walkers)  Today?!?!?! They are running around like wild ninjas and making a WHOLE lot more noise!!  (I know alot of you may not believe that is possible....but trust me it is!!!)

What a fun year it is going to be though!!!  We were lucky enough to get into the new STEM school of choice this year.  The principal was at Sundown Elementary where we started 3 years ago. The kids love her and know her well.  Plus we got lucky, in that, a lot of the fabulous staff moved with us.  The kids wear uniforms, play before they eat, there is a lot technology and just plain "cool" . (according to the kids).  Two days down...... and the verdict is...... they love it.  I do think one  of my precious ones was bragging about how they have less homework.  Hmmmmm.. might it be because we have only been attending for a day and a half.  (Let's not tell them.) 

 Here we go.....  Hunter 5th grade (he just wanted to leave )    Bryan 3rd grade  Cassie 3rd grade  

Nathan 3rd grade   Tanner 6th grade (I am not old enough for a sixth grader!)   Jayson 3rd grade 

Proud of my Six-Pack!!!  Good job kiddos!!  Now sleep in tomorrow!!! :>



Wind Caves

One of the things we wanted to do this vacation was enjoy the outdoors.  And what better way is there to do that than to take a hike.  So after some prodding, (on Jay's part) we decided to take the kids up to the Wind Caves, in Logan Canyon.  I was not so sure about this hike......mostly because it had been 15 years since I had done the hike. All I could remember about it was that it was farther than I thought it should be.I remembered it being really awesome when we finally got to the top, however,  it seemed to take a really long time to get there.  (After climbing Mt. Whitney that is now all relative!)  When we got to the spot....... the hike was described as a difficult.  I was a bit concerned!!! (keeping track of six kids is one thing, keeping track of six kids on the side of a mountain with a drop off is entirely different!)

Turns out it was a very great hike and the kids had fun.  This picture is the end of the hike and they are still smiling.  It was about 4 miles round trip and I was very proud that they did such a great job.  Daddy only got lost once with his group (Jayson, Hunter, and Tanner).  And we only had a couple of times where we slipped a little and thought we might fall off the mountain. 

After the hike we went to Texas Roadhouse.  Whew, we were a hungry and very sweaty, stinky bunch!!!  I would not have wanted to be our waiter!!!  On the way back to the cabin we had to stop and play in the river.  So much fun!!!  Learning how to skip rocks and just cool off the feet!!!

Funny story.....as we were hiking back down the trail we passed 3 college students on their way up.  2 boys (who of course had taken their shirts off because of the extreme heat) and a young lady.  As we pass them.... Cassie turns around and says to me, " they are soooo strong!"  (oh no, whatever are we going to do in a couple of years?)  I giggled and thought how that would have been Jay and I 15 years prior and here we were hiking the mountain again but this time with six little ones in tow.  Who would have ever thought?  Certainly not me!!!

Who Knew?!?!?

Who knew that dear sweet little Natey had such a revengeful spirit?  It was his turn to drive the boat on our vacation........   I must say he was hilarious!!!  The louder the kiddos screamed and expressed their fear the more motivated he was to scare "them".  I am not sure I have laughed that hard in a  very long way!!!  It was crazy!!!  Such amazing fun stories, I will post more soon.  But for now enjoy the look on his face.  PRICELESS!!!

Funny Questions: Part 2

Sooooo...after reading the funny answers to the questions...... Jay became curious about what the kids would say if they were talking about "DAD" instead of "MOM".   Of course, I then decided it would be fun to see the differences.  So here we go:
Somebody on Facebook recently posted 23 questions to ask your kids and write down their answers. I thought it would be fun. So here are the questions and the answers. I asked them the questions when none of their siblings were with them so that the answers I would get would be their own, and I did it over a period of several days. (For those of you that need a reminder:Tanner is 11 1/2; Hunter is 10 1/2; Cassie is 8 1/2; Nathan is 8 1/2; Jayson is 8 1/2 ; and Bryan is 8 1/2)


1- What is something Dad always says to you?
T-You're a fart smeller
H-say yes sir
C-Hi little munchkins
N-Don't touch my car
J-Go to bed
B-I love you

2- What makes Dad happy?
T- when I help out
H- saying yes sir
C- when we follow directions
N- his car
J- when I tickle him
B- all the kids

3. What makes dad sad?
T-When I am rude to him
H- me being bad
C- when we don't listen
N-I don't know
J- not following his directions
B-us being mean

4. How does your dad make you laugh?
T- when we play games because he tells funny jokes
H- tickles me
C-he tickles me
N-when he tries giving me kisses in bed
J-tickling me
B-says funny stuff

5. What was your dad like as a child?
T-mean to his sisters
H- he didn't talk much
C- smart,nice and good
N-he never told me
J-I don't know
B-funny

6. How old is your dad?
T-40
H- 40
C- 40
N- 40
J- 40
B-40

7. How tall is your Dad?
T- 5 ft 6 inches
H- 8 ft
C- 45 ft
N-10 ft
J- 20 ft
B-6 ft

8. What is his favorite thing to do?
T- play with his kids
H- playing video games
C-play games on his computer
N-drive in his car
J- go to bed
B-play on his computer and drive his mustang

9. What does your dad do when you are not around?
T- works
H- play video games
C-play video games or take a nap
N-go to work
J- play games
B- call us and work

10. If your dad becomes famous what will it be for?
T- Best Test Pilot Ever
H-flying planes
C- dancing
N- having quads
J- Best player gamer ever
B- working

11. What is your dad really good at?
T- his job
H- working
C- singing
N-getting his work done
J-playing games
B-flying a jet plane

12. What is your dad not really good at?
T- nothing
H- beating me at video games
C- putting us to bed
N-he's not a good cooker
J- sleeping
B-cooking

13. What does your dad do for a job?
T- Test Pilot
H- fly planes
C- works in the air forces flying planes
N-pilot- i guess
J- fly airplanes
B- works at Edward's Air Force Bast

14. What is your dad's favorite food?
T- Everything
H-enchiladas
C- candy
N-candy
J-brownies
B- cheese enchiladas with jalapenos

15. What makes you proud of your dad?
T-That he spends time with us.
H- When he works hard
C- that he's my father
N- he's a good pilot and never dies in the war
J-his flying airplanes
B- him being nice to us A LOT

16. If your dad was a character what would he be?
T- A dragon rider
H- Mickey Mouse
C- a bunny
N- He-man
J-Pluto
B- a spy

17. What do you and your dad do together?
T- we fight (fight play)
H- run errands
C- cuddle
N- jump on the trampoline but not often though
J- snuggle
B- play games on the trampoline

18. How are you and your dad the same?
T- We like playing games
H-I have his eyes
C- smile
N-we have the same color skin
J- we do the same things
B- because he says it a lot

19. How are you and your dad different?
T- He has a job and I don't
H-his nose is sharp
C- he's a boy- I'm a girl
N-he's big, I'm small
J- different noses
B- hair

20. How do you know that your dad loves you?
T- He says it ALOT
H-He shows by hugging me and playing video games
C- he always says it
N-he comes in at night and give me kisses
J- he told me
B- because he says it a lot

21. What does your dad like most about your mom?
T-she buys him new wedding rings when he loses them.
H-That's a hard one....her cooking
C- that she cooks dinner for him
N-He gave us a home and family
J- I don't know
N- She's pretty
B- she's pretty

22. Where is your dad's favorite place to go?
T- Chili's
H-place to buy Mustang's
C- vacation
N- work
J- work
B- Disneyland

23. How old was your dad when you were born?
T- 29
H- 30
C-25
N-in the teens
J- 24
B- 15

Once again.......I will say I  got a good chuckle out of this and I still say...... "kids say the darnest things." ENJOY!

5K Training

Six weeks and counting!!! Team JJ and the Six-Pack are going to run their first family 5K.  This morning we went out and ran a fun trail.  The kids did awesome! Some started out a little too fast, however, they all finished and still have energy.  I am so excited to do this together.  I want them to learn  that excercise can be fun and doing things together as a family is great too!!!  It was so great to see them encouraging each other and holding hands to finish this morning. Love these kids!!!

Funny Questions!!!

Somebody on Facebook recently posted 23 questions to ask your kids and write down their answers.  I thought it would be fun.  So here are the questions and the answers. I asked them the questions when none of their siblings were with them so that the answers I would get would be their own, and I did it over a period of several days.  (For those of you that need a reminder:Tanner is 11 1/2; Hunter is 10 1/2; Cassie is 8 1/2; Nathan is 8 1/2; Jayson is 8 1/2 ; and Bryan is 8 1/2)

1- What is something mom always says to you?
T-I love you
H-Don't open your mouth
C-I love you
N-Dinnertime
J-Go to bed
B-I love you

2- What makes mom happy?
T- when I am nice
H-me being kind
C-me being nice and kind
N- Diet Coke
J-watching America's Got Talent
B-me

3. What makes mom sad?
T- when I'm mean
H-me being bad
C-when everyone is mean
N- her baby toe is broken
J-kids not listening
B-me being mean

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
T- tells funny jokes
H-tickling me
C-does something funny
N-tickle
J-tickles
B-does funny stuff

5. What was your mom like as a child?
T- liked school and got good grades
H- kind
C- she was nice
N-she was grounded a lot
J-I don't know
B-really nice

6. How old is your mom?
T- 25
H-39 oh I mean 25
C-25
N- 25
J-25
B-39

7. How tall is your mom?
T- 6 ft 9 inches
H- 6 ft
C- 45 feet
N-25 inches
J-1 yard
B-like 12 ft

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
T- have fun
H-talk to Heather
C- relax and get a massage
N-eat
J-go to bed
B-have fun

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?
T- cleans the house
H-text
C-relaxes and hangs out with Dad
N-nothing
J-go shopping and run on the treadmill
B-have fun

10. If your mom becomes famous what will it be for?
T- Being the best mom on earth
H-taking care of 6 kids and being a fabulous mom
C-6 children
N- having quadruplets
J-Princess
B-dancing

11. What is your mom really good at?
T- taking care of her children
H-cooking and taking care of us
C-taking care of us
N-Drinking Diet Coke
J-running on the treadmill
B-being nice

12. What is your mom not really good at?
T- I can't think of one
H-fishing
C-relaxing
N-nothing
J-making me laugh
B-being mean

13. What does your mom do for a job?
T- cleans house and takes care of children
H-take care of 6 kids
C-takes care of kids
N-take care of me
J-nothing
B-being a cool mom

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
T- homemade macaroni
H-salad
C-Garcia's
N-Diet Coke
J-broccoli cheese soup
B-white chili

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
T-leading me down the right path
H-kindness and loving
C-takes care of us and loves us
N- when she climbed Mt. Whitney
J-taking care of me
B-when she's nice

16. If your mom was a character what would she be?
T- Superhero
H-Minnie Mouse
C-Princess
N- Princess
J-Princess
B-Rock Star

17. What do you and your mom do together?
T- clean house and go out on my birthday
H-cuddle
C-go out with each other
N- go to speech
J-talk
B-have fun

18. How are you and your mom the same?
T- Believe in God and love to read
H-our eyes and hair
C-we are both girls and we have blue eyes
N-both have blue eyes
J-we both have an arch in our feet (daddy is flat footed)
B-eyes are the same

19. How are you and your mom different?
T- I have brown hair and eyes, she has blue
H-she's a girl and I am a boy
C-i am not a big size and we don't act the same
N-I have an outie bellybutton and she has an innie
J-belly button ; mine is an outie and she has an innie
B-she's a girl and I'm a boy

20. How do you know that your mom loves you?
T- she says it everyday and she tucks us in every night
H- she feeds me and takes care of me
C-takes good care of us
N-she feeds me
J-tells me
B-she says it

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
T- that he protects our country and is in the air force
H-his help
C-he cares about her and he cuddles her
N-He gave us a home and family
J-he is a good builder
B- he goes to work and gets money

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
T- JCPenney
H-Olive Garden
C-Paris
N-Home
J-Utah
B-Disneyland

23. How old was your mom when you were born?
T- 25
H-29
C-25
N-15
J-25
B-15 or 20


I got a good chuckle out of this and what can I say except...... "kids say the darnest things."  HAHAHA

Passing Out!!

This summer is going to go down in history as one of the weirdest for us.  1st the bird drama in the attic,  ( I have not blogged about it yet but trust me when I say it will make a great blog entry), surgery for Cassie, stitches for Jayson, Hunter passing out, van getting rear ended and climbing Mt Whitney (for me).  Again the last two will have to be blogged about later. 

Hunter passing out was truly odd.  It was 9:30 in the morning.  He got off the couch , remembers looking at Tanner and down he went.  Kids said he was crying when he was down....... but he says the world went completely black and he remembers nothing. When he woke up he was visibly shaken, white as a ghost and scared, it was obvious something was not right.   The thing that made me the most nervous about the whole thing was he did not bounce back quickly.  He looked that way most of the day.  (As a side note...he had told me the day before that I was mean and he wished he lived with someone else. He did quickly change his mind the next day and tell me he really did not mean it. )  We headed right to the doctor's office.  EKG came back normal and so did CAT scan.  But they want to do further testing.  So we have been to the pediatric cardiologist at UCLA.   All is great with his little heart!  Doctor actually said if he had been running around when it happened that is when he would be worried.  Doc was fantastic, said to email him with any questions and he would answer right away.  Seriously, how many doctors do that? 

Now getting an EEG and into the pediatric neurologist at UCLA, is taking a bit longer.  Luckily, he seems good and has had no more passing out episodes, however, it does make for adventure.  Needless to say my summer plans are being moved, changed and interrupted.  For those of you that know me well, you know that a "schedule" is my thing and this is really putting a kink in my type A personality.  Live, Learn and Relax...... I am trying!!! :>

 Caves and Diamonds.  That is his story...... and he is sticking to it!!!  I am learning that boys WILL be boys!!  Jayson and Hunter went to the Honda dealership to get the brakes checked on the new van with Daddy! (Good bonding time!)  Tanner was at scout camp and I was working on finishing some furniture.  I may have even had a brief moment there where I imagined I had everything under control...... then bam..... the phone call.  Jay says...... "Jayson needs stitches, I am not my way

back to the dealership , call them and tell them I need the van in 5 minutes."  CLICK.... WHAT?!?!?!?! 

 Naturally, after 2.5 hours the service department has not even looked at the van.  And of course this is after they have promised to only have it for 15 minutes.  (I really should learn to take all the kids and let them run around wild so they want me out of there faster! ) so I proceed to tell them my husband is on the way back and needs it to go to the nearest ER.  The tech gets a little panicky and wants to know exactly how long he has to get the van ready.  Seriously.... you have had it 2.5 hrs!!!  

The next phone call , Jay is stuck in traffic on the 5 and he does not want to hang out at an ER in East LA on a Saturday night and things will be fine.  Hmmmmm..... (really I am not buying this story any more than I am buying the diamond story!)  So I begin cleaning up my mess, (painting is not going to happen) and pace the house ,WONDERING how this could happen, and then KNOWING how it happened.  An hour later and a half later, in they walk.  Long story short..... I spent the next four hours at the ER.  After x-rays, digging out glass, cleaning it up, four stitches and a sling later we were on our way home for dinner and bed.  Glad I had been thinking ahead and ordered pizza for dinner. (I was looking forward to painting and had decided we would do pizza so as not to disturb the painting mojo!)  HAHAHAHA!!!

But as you can see, my brave little Jayson is no worse for the wear.  And he has agreed to sign a contract that will allow us to attempt to be stitches free five years.  Wonder if it will work?!?!?  A mom can dream!!!



Cassie Mouth Surgery!

OUCH!!!  Poor little girl!!  Cassie did not have enough gums on the bottom teeth to keep the roots covered so she had to have a graft today.  She was a real trooper.  They merely, numbed her up and took skin from the roof of her mouth. 

And grafted the skin to the bottom teeth.  This is the bandage they made for her from this putty like substance.  She was very brave!!  I was very proud of my little one.  I think the most horrible part for her..... the numbing process.  She held my hand tight but survived it all.

Then my poor little girl got whacked in the eye with the seat in the van.  I am very afraid that when the pretty little girl wakes up she will have a black eye.  I guess we will not be going many places this weekend.  Whew.... glad today is over!!!  Way to Go Cassie Girl!!!!