Ten On Thursday!

1. A few weeks ago DJ came down with a fever out of no where. It was on a Friday. He came home from playing at a friends house and was exhausted and fevered. He went to bed and fell asleep. Not a good sign when it's only 4:00pm. He woke up at about 5:30pm screaming that his head was killing him. I couldn't calm him down. I actually ran him to Emergency cause it kind of threw me off. He's never had a headache before, plus he had a horrible, deep cough, and a fever. But they said it was just viral. So we came home. Well he had a fever all weekend and so on Monday took him to our family Dr and he said the same thing, it was viral. Then on Tuesday, he was very lethargic and his fever kept creeping higher and higher. It was making me a bit nervous. He wasn't feeling good at all. I felt really bad for him. I was telling Richard this at supper time and asking him what we should do. The phone rang at that time. It was Dr. Steed from Emergency in Raymond. He asked to talk to me. He said he was returning my call about DJ. Which was very odd, cause I never called there at all. I told him that but said, "Since you are on the phone, I am worried about DJ." I told him what was going on and that his fever was at about 39 degrees. He told me to bring him in and that they would do a chest x-ray. He said that after 4 days of a consistent fever it tells him that it's not viral. So away we went. They did the chest x-ray and DJ has pneumonia in his right lung. It was pretty bad. Which totally explains everything. So they got him on antibiotics and we also eventually got him some steroids to help with his breathing and the puffer. By Friday afternoon he was starting to feel so much better. He just tired out very easily. Poor guy. But what a blessing that the Dr called at the time he did. It was kind of weird at the time but I'm chalking it up as a HUGE blessing. Kind of cool! DJ is doing much better. He got another x-ray of his chest and it's all cleared up. Yay!

This was when he got home from his friends and crashed on my bed.

He loves laying on my bed and me dumping the clean clothes on him. He thinks its so funny!!

Poor boy was miserable. He seemed to get a lot of headaches with the pneumonia. So this was our solution. It worked well.

2. We have a beaver or two in our creek by our house. They made two very cool looking dams. Then the other night the kids actually saw it swimming around in the water. Who knows how many are in there.

3. Spring is finally here! Yay! So nice out lately. I mowed our lawn for the first time last weekend. I loved being out on the tractor. I got so burnt. My arms and neck were bright red. I seriously can't remember the last time I've ever burnt my arms. So weird.

4. I have a very busy girl on my bus. One day she was out picking weeds while we were waiting for all the kids to get on. She stays in my sight (my rule). Then she jumps up the stairs and I was thinking that she was going to hand over her handful of "Flowers". But nope she looked at me and took a big bite of them. She chewed it all up and swallowed and was like, mmmmm that's delicious. It surprised me and made me laugh. But then she seriously wouldn't stop eating the weeds. It was disgusting. She also tried a dandelion and she ate an ant. Oh boy!

5. I had a special scan done last week to determine if the other "tumor" behind my stomach was an extra spleen. Which is what the dr's were thinking. It took 1 1/2 hrs of me strapped very tightly to a skinny, metal table with my arms over my head. It was pure torture. I could barely get off the table once it was finished. Anyways, Dr. Mack called me a few days later and it isn't an extra spleen. Which is disappointing. But the good news, is it hasn't grown at all. So he's just going to keep an eye on it. We'll do another CT Scan in 6 months and go from there. So that's good. I am feeling so much better. It's been a very slow process but that was to be expected. But I'm just so grateful that things have all worked out. I feel so blessed!

6. We live just East of the Windmill hill! I love looking to the west and seeing those huge windmills. So one Sunday, a few of us went for a little Sunday evening drive. I wanted to take some pictures up there. I think it turned out pretty well! I love taking pictures!!

7. The girls had their track and field day last Monday. I was thinking we would skip it and do something together, but they all wanted to go. So away we went. I spent the whole day with the. I got there just in time for my girls to run the 100m. Then we just went from one event to another. I enjoyed spending the day with my girls. They tried their hardest and I was so proud of all 3 of them. Way to go girls!! I loved watching all three of you compete and cheer on your class mates and just have fun with your friends. I love you all.

Abbi (with her broken arm) and Brianna running the 100m race. Go girls!!

Here comes Cadence, she never ended up running against her sisters. They were disappointed!!

8. On holiday Monday, we had a lot of the Spencer family come out to the farm for a wiener roast. It was fun to hang out and just enjoy each other. We had our hotdogs for lunch and then DJ had fun playing catch with who ever would. He loved it! Then we all went for a walk around the farm. We had Tracey here with her husband, Michael. So we showed them around. It was fun to visit and walk around. It was a really hot day too!! Richard had lunch with us and then kept working on our house. He finished laying down our laminate and then the vinyl in our bathroom. It looks so good!

DJ playing catch.

Great Grandpa Spencer and Seth sitting in the shade.

Hanging out with Grandpa!

Good throw DJ!!

Roasting some mallows with Uncle David.

One of the beaver dams in the creek.

Going for a walk with Tracey and her husband, Mike.

Cooling off in the creek.

9.  Back at Easter we surprised the kids and took them to Drumheller for a little holiday. We got to go check out the Tyrrell Museum. I will do my next post on that. It was a fun vacation. I love hanging out with my family.

10. For Easter we did come back Saturday night from Drumheller. So the kids were able to find their baskets Sunday morning. We had colored eggs the Monday before. The biggest thing was our holiday. So they didn't get tons of candy but they were happy.

Riding New Bikes!!

Back at the girls Birthday, they each got a coupon for a new bike. It said that they could get their new bikes in the Spring time. Well spring time came and they were super excited to get their bikes. We went ahead and went to Walmart and they each picked out a mountain bike. They were super excited.

I should say that Brianna was the first one that got to choose her bike. Then the next week Abbi and Cadence each chose a bike. They were so excited to ride them out of the store to our vehicle.

So whenever there's been decent weather we've been out riding bikes. The kids have discovered that it's so fun to ride their bikes across our land. It's been fun going on exploring rides and walks. Oh I should mention that DJ got Brianna's old bike. He's been super happy over that. He's gotten more confident riding his bike. Not quite as scared to go over bumps or down hills. He's always been very cautious and not too sure about riding around. I've enjoyed watching him become way more confident with himself!

A Winter's Walk!

One day, after driving the school bus the sky was looking so cool. Plus it was cold and snowy out and just looked so pretty. So I grabbed my camera and asked who wanted to go out with me. We jumped in the Durango and drove down bottom and then wandered around to take pictures. I love living out in the country. It's so beautiful out here. I could never get tired of it. So thankful that we were able to build and be out here. Even though life has been a bit crazy the past year and things hasn't gotten finished on the house, I'm still so thankful for where we are at. Sometimes it takes me going outside and enjoying nature and just taking in the beautiful sunsets and scenery. Anyways, I thought I'd just share a bunch of my pictures that we took!

On the way back to the house we decided to stop at the tree swing. Cadence really wanted to swing and I took some pictures of her. Our lane looked so cool too! So I took a picture of our lane too.

DJ's First Cub Car Rally!!

To say that DJ was super excited about his cub car rally is an understatement!! He came home from cubs one Monday with the cub car kit. He wanted to get it done, like right now. They had 4 weeks before the rally. So the next Saturday he kept asking his dad if they can build his car. So Richard took him and his car into Cardston. They got Uncle Justin and they built the car together.

The girls and I decided to make a little girls day for us. We went into Lethbridge so Cadence and Brianna could get their nails done. Abbi wasn't interested in that. So after they got their nails done we went over to Color Me Mine and Abbi picked out something to paint. She loves doing that kind of stuff. I went over to Papa Murphy's and got our supper of pizza. After Abbi was finished we went and go groceries and headed home. It was a fun afternoon.

DJ and Richard got home and they were both excited to show us the car. They did a great job!! Now DJ just had to wait for weeks until the actual cub car rally. It was a killer for him!! Ha ha!!

So the day came for his rally. He was beyond excited. He went in early with his dad, so they could get his car weighed and be ready to go. The girls and I came a bit later. We sat at the end of the track. So DJ's goal for the rally was to have his car go around the loop. They put in the loop after the races. He wasn't too worried about if he was first or not!! Ha ha! He had so much fun. He loved watching all the other boys race their cars too. It was fun to watch and see how excited he'd get!!

He's so excited to watch his car race down!

His car is the 2nd from the left.

Taking his car to the pit stop, where his dad was helping there!

DJ was so proud of his cool car!!

Watching and cheering the other boys on!

He didn't win any races, but I was so proud of my boy. He cheered all the other boys and was so excited for the ones that did win. Way to go DJ!

Then as they were getting the track ready for the loop de loop they had the boys race their cars on the floor. DJ's went far and fast and straight. He won all those!!

Ready, set, GO!!

Then they went and raced their cars around the loop de loop. And most cars were crashing and falling off of it. DJ put his car on his went flying around the loop. He was in heaven. So happy! It was so cute. Glad he had so much fun and came home so happy!!

DJ and his dad! They made this car together!

DJ's car was one of the only ones that made the loop. Its on its way to the finishing line in this picture.

DJ was excited that it made the loop and so were the other boys. They would give DJ high fives! So cute!

Valentines Day!

We had our Family Dance the day before Valentines Day this year. All my kids were really excited to show us their moves!! Ha ha! We got there at about 6pm and it doesn't start till 6:30. It was already pretty packed. So we went to the very top and were able to at least lean up against the wall. That way it doesn't kill my back! Plus we can see the floor really good. They all danced really good. It's really fun to watch them have fun with their class mates.

DJ dancing his heart out. He's in the back in an orange shirt!!

My girls all in the same row, doing their cool dance!!

The very next day was Valentines Day. I ran to Lethbridge to get some things to make a cool Valentines Dinner for my family. I made ribs and mashed potatoes. It's everyones favorite. Anyways, I came back and got things ready. I had to make some treats for DJ's class, and I ran that in. Then I popped some popcorn for all my bus students and put them in paper bags with a chocolate in it. I know the kids are always hungry when they get on the bus, so I thought that popcorn was a good idea! Ha ha!!

Valentines treat for my bus kids!!

Abbi's friend, Taylor, came home with my kids to play for a bit after school. They always have fun together. I got back from the bus and found Abbi and Taylor playing on the insulation with the cats. Silly kids!

After I got home from the bus, I finished putting together the Valentines Dinner I made for my family. The kids were very surprised and excited. I even lit some candles on the table. They thought that was great. So great that they kept blowing them out! ha ha! I made ribs with mashed potatoes and some veggies and gravy. It's everyones favorite. It was a delicious dinner!!

It was a very good day. I love my family so much and was so happy to spend time with them!!