Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday we had a small scare. We were taking apart our toilet in preparation for me to paint the bathroom wall before I grabbed a quick shower and changed to go on our date. A photo customer of Jeremy's had given him a gift certificate to a restaurant we were excited to use. I had set up the kids dinner on the counter for Meredith to reheat and next to that I had put out the boys pills for that night. Well you might have guessed, we left the room to take out the bolt in the toilet and Robyn ran past our kids to push a chair over, climb up on the counter and shove most of Taylor's pills down her throat. We could actually feel them in her throat as we tried to make her gag it out but to no avail. So we spent the evening hanging out at the emergency room. Each pill on its own she could sleep off with no lasting effects but they were worried about the combination of them. Besides throwing up once and not being happy about being stuck in this small room for 4 hours, Robyn was fine. We probably could have just stayed home but poison control wanted her blood pressure etc monitored. After getting home we stayed up for our date eating chinese take-out and watching a movie - have painfully learned to make our dates happen no matter what for our own sanity.

I don't think I handled this week as well as I usually do - maybe its that time of the month. Saturday morning I told all our kids I couldn't handle the teasing and that although I knew they weren't being really bad they all needed to go to their rooms immediately and stay there. I must have looked scary enough as they all left without protest and stayed in their rooms till I calmed down.

Monday we had a carpenter come over and put up beadboard in the downstairs bathroom. It looks really nice. I finished painting the top half a moss green and will start painting the bottom half white tomorrow.
We had a humongous snow storm on Wednesday. It left 10 inches of snow on the driveway which means you don't scrape the driveway, you shovel and heave the snow to the side. Saw lots of accidents and people in the ditch that day. After spending 2 hours getting the driveway and sidewalks cleared while kids played in the snow I had a revelation that I need to get more shovels - so we can ALL shovel together. We got a few more inches today so it is definitely winter here.

I got hit by a stomach bug for a day this week that left me lying on the couch for a day. Kids thought having cartoons and sandwiches for dinner was great and were very sympathetic. I think they enjoy having me sick now and then while they run rampant.

Spencer saw the psychiatrist again this week. He really enjoys going there now. He is doing really good lately. He looses it over having to take pills morning and night because he doesn't think he has to take them anymore. Monday he had s small breakthrough of paranoia where he hid under the table to eat breakfast. He was embarassed about it later and just said that the lights were all too bright and people were too loud. But besides that he has had almost 2 full weeks of being just a regular kids with regular kid attitudes at time but able to be dealt with. He will cuddle with me again and talk politely (most of the time) and have normal conversations. We might wish he let us help him do his homework better but he is making sure it gets done before it is due. Jason left a wii game with us last week that has been a great motivator for Spencer to do his homework and jobs as soon as he gets home from school.

Allison started swimming lessons this week. It is just her and her friend in the class. This lady built an indoor pool attached to her house so she could teach lessons at home. She works them hard! But Allison enjoys the challenge and I think will learn a lot with her. We are making a video of her school's teachers so the girls have been and will be going over in the morning to film classes. We had to register Spencer and Allison this week to attend Lincoln next year. Allison is going there for sure and Spencer is 99% sure. Allison had a friend come for a mock sleepover Friday night and had a great time.

Taylor had his VNS appointment this week. They upped his stimulator strength to see if it helps reduce his seizures. So far his seizures have increased but it takes a few days for things to settle down. Right now he only has to go up to Primary's every 3 months and soon only every 6 months. His stimulator should be good for another 3-4 years. Taylor also is officially qualified again for the next 3 years as disabled by the school district. The formality of testing, paperwork and a meeting seems a bit ridiculous to everyone involved but its what you have to do.

Jeremy is gone right now to a young men's meeting. They are going kayaking this year for their high adventure so Jeremy is helping plan that. Yesterday Jeremy was able to go with his photography group to work on portrait taking. He had a great time. Came back with a new toy in mind for his camera of course, but learned how to take portraits better.

Seems like the daily trivia of our lives has kept me busy. Wanted to recommend the movie stardust - we previewed it last night for our kids deciding it would be perfect for 10 and over as a remaking of an older kids fairy tale. Also Christina I read a retelling of rumplestiltskin that is a young adult book but that I thought would would enjoy, she has written other too - Golden by Cameron Dokey.

Love, Heather