Yup, I'm a day late. Sunday, we spent the entire day packing the boys up for Science Camp. Despite my preparations, there were still two quick runs to Target for forgotten items. Yesterday, I drove to science camp, along with a dozen other parents, with our vehicles packed to the brim with sleeping bags and luggage!

It was so cute to see the kids so excited for camp. My older son went a few years ago and had a blast. Four days of sleeping away from mom and dad, no homework, teachers having fun, day hikes, night hikes, etc. A great expereince for them. Can't wait until Thursday. I get to drive to the camp to pick up a car-full of luggage. They will arrive home via bus about 1.

It was a very quiet evening last night. My oldest was at aikido and my dh and I tried a new restaurant. Very good!

Here are a few questions to get us going.

1. Do you try new restaurants very often?

2. What's your favorite, can't miss, TV show?

3. What's the weather like in your area?

4. Do your kids have their own computers (internet connection)?

5. What magazines do you subscribe to on a regular basis?

Have a great week!

Sharon
12 year old b/b/b + 15 year old son

Hi Everyone,

Spent the week up to our armpits in the scholarship/financial aid jungle for college. So far two out of three have their tuition/ room and board almost covered without having to borrow...they will have to work in college, however. My third is in a bit of a pickle...only the tuition was covered, still looking for help with the room/board/expenses.One will live at home and two are going to the same school downstate.

This is the last year for Easter baskets....so sad.

1. Do you try new restaurants very often?
Can't afford it. We do pizza about once a month. My bosses took me to a really cool place in downtown Chicago last spring...that was a treat. And no clean up! The raw tuna was a total gross out though.
2. What's your favorite, can't miss, TV show?
These busy days, nothing is "can't miss" but I do enjoy Jon and Kate, Little People, Big World and the Duggars. These absolutely have to be watched as a family....our running commentary is pretty hilarious. Mystery Diagnosis is cool..ER used to be my can't miss.

3. What's the weather like in your area? Winter. Snow. Cold. Give me a break!!!! For some reason there is no heat in the band room so my students pull their arms/heads inside of their shirts..a classroom of turtles.

4. Do your kids have their own computers (internet connection)?
We have ONE family computer donated from the high school...very very low mmemory just a matter of time before the big crash lol. One computer and four high schoolers is the source of many spats. Girls frequent the library often.
5. What magazines do you subscribe to on a regular basis?
MOST, The Instrumentalist, MENC Journal,Strings


Tami

mom to ggg 18 almost off to college
and g 14 this week

1. Do you try new restaurants very often? No, we stick to our favorites.

2. What's your favorite, can't miss, TV show? Nothing really. I do enjoy watching re-runs of Frazier and I enjoy Two and A Half Men.

3. What's the weather like in your area? Sunny and in the 40's

4. Do your kids have their own computers (internet connection)? Oldest dd has our old desktop in her room w/internet connection.

5. What magazines do you subscribe to on a regular basis? Fitness and my dfil gave me a subscription to Reminisce for Christmas.

Katie had a very long journey last week. Her surgery was done on the 26th and they expected to have her extubated on the 30th. On the 29th, they started sunctioning out yellowish sputum from her lungs. On the 30th, her temp dropped to 95ish (can't remember exactly, my brain is so tired) and her blood pressure dropped to 40 over something (again, everything about that scary day was so fuzzy). She wasn't responding to any stimuli. We were in the middle of rounds when this was all happening and her nurse came out of her room to inform the docs. My baby was septic. Thankfully, the PICU staff here is excellent and things were under control quickly. Her sepsis syptoms/signs were not typical for an older child. Usually, it's a high temp etc. So, her official diagnosis on Monday was: aspiration pneumonia (more than likely from the tube feedings-they were getting a lot of residual-so she was not digesting) w/sepsis. She was a sick little girl for a long time. She was finally exubated on Saturday and is slowly improving. She was on O2 via nasal canula until yesterday and is just beginning to eat a very, very soft diet (because of the jaw surgery). Her legs are so shakey, so she is getting PT and OT. She had her first PT session today and did very well, was cooperative but tired easily. She doesn't seem to be in any pain, but she is having a hard time developing her swallow reflex. Her upper and lower jaw are in completely different positions than before, and we are told by the plastic surgeons that it will take some time for her to get that coordination back, along with the swallowing reflex.
Other than that, she looks so much better! We definately see a difference in her face now. Her gums are still pretty swollen so that brings her upper lip up a bit and that makes her two upper front teeth really stick out. According to her plastic surgeons, that swelling will go done and she won't look like Buggs Bunny. It WILL take all of her swelling about 3 months to entirely go away. She has big bruises under her eyes from the surgery and is being slowly weaned off sedatives so that she doesn't go through withdrawal. We still do not know when we are going home. My hope is by Easter, but I am learning to not expect anything.
The plan was to have her home 10 days post-op. But, it's gonna be more like 18 or so. I miss the other three kids soooo dang much!

Oh yeah! We are out of the PICU and have a rockin' room! Our own "foyer" with a nurses station (sink, computer, cabinets), a sleep room off the foyer (with a TV), Katie's room with a pull out daybed thingy, a bathroom w/shower, nice TV w/dvd player and Play Station 3. Beautiful view of the hills and woods! Very posh for a hospital room!LOL!

Thanks for all of the prayers and hope that we are out of here by Easter.

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears."-- Gillian Anderson

Hi

Glad to hear your boys got off without too much of a problem Sharon . Gina - Praying katie is home by Easter and continues healing.

1-No - we hardly ever eat out. They seem to open and close in our town before we even try them!

2-Don't have TV - so out of the loop when conversation goes that way!

3-Snowing and 30 today and for the rest of the week!

4-No - We have a family one and dh has a lap top too. Don't know what we will do once they have to do hw on one

5-Mother Earth News, Mom got Cottage Living for last 2 years for me and I just stopped Yoga Journal.

We are just getting through a 4 day week and leave to visit friends in Canada on Thurs night. Should be a nice time - though cold i am sure! Our friends live on a farm and last time we were there Seamus got locked in the barn (very bad mother moment - did not realize he did not come out with us!). he just requested that we not lock him in the barn this visit! I will never live this one down!

Happy Easter to all! (Tami - so sad that you are on your last year with baskets - though you could send them a nice care package at school next year!)

Suzanne
Proud mommy to Seamus, Brendan and Casey 4/17/00

Busy.

1. new restaurants -- not often, but a once a year or so.

2. TV show? -- no TV

3. weather -- after a hot day yesterday (75F!), rain tonight

4. kids have their own computers -- they have one, but no sound right now. They also do not have administrator's privileges. It is in the Living room. Unless it is school work -- no screen time (computers/DS/Videos and DVD's) except Friday after school and weekends.

5. magazines -- as gifts we have National Geographic, Newsweek, Reader's Digest and County Living.

Vaughn and the ABC Boys
Alex, Bryce, & Calder
3-31-97 @ 28.5 weeks
http://s515.photobucket.com/albums/t356/vaughn3abc/

1. Lately we have. My girls are now at an age where it's enjoyable for ALL of us to eat out.

2. Project Runway when it's on. Before they broke up my favorite couple (sniff, sniff), General Hospital.

3. Warm. High 80's, low 90's. For me, this is "warm" since we're in the 100's in the summer.

4. No, we share a computer.

5. Better Homes & Gardens, Zoobooks



Mom to five girls: ages 10, 9, and 7/7/7

1. Do you try new restaurants very often? I like to, yes.

2. What's your favorite, can't miss, TV show? I don't have one that I can't miss thanks to the internet.

3. What's the weather like in your area? Spring is here.

4. Do your kids have their own computers (internet connection)? No, we have my desktop and my husband's laptop and the kids can use either.

5. What magazines do you subscribe to on a regular basis? MOST quarterly

"

1. Do you try new restaurants very often?
As our kids have gotten older we frequently find ourselves alone at night!
Then we like to try the new or more exotic ethnic restaurants.

2. What's your favorite, can't miss, TV show?
The Office. None of us can live without it.
Jeopardy. My husband, son and I will pause dinner for this one.

3. What's the weather like in your area?
Trying to be spring. We alternated between 50 degrees and sun, then 30 degrees and snow over the last week.

4. Do your kids have their own computers (internet connection)?
NO!! We have 2 computers (one desktop and one laptop) but both MUST remain in common areas. It is a struggle when all 4 have papers to write but by highschool more will be done in the computer lab at school.

5. What magazines do you subscribe to on a regular basis?
None but we do get both the South Bend (local) and Chicago Tribune.

We just returned from 4 days in the Smokey Mountains.
I highly recommend this trip!
We rented a 3 bedroom chalet. It had a pool table, foosball table, and A HOT TUB on the back deck which overlooked the city of Gatlinburg and had a magnificent view of the mountains. It was a true family vacation with no timetables, no "must-get-to's and time to just take walks and hang with the kids.

Judie and Victor
lucky parents to
Frankie 3/95
Maggie 7/96
Rose 7/96
Elizabeth 7/96