Oregon @ USC

I mentioned that the kids were in California with their dad this weekend. Well - Frank got tickets to the Oregon football game for him and Miles - and if you know Miles, you know he was looking forward to the game even more than Disneyland and the beach. Oregon won 53-32 - and for anyone who isn't following football - for the first time ever, Oregon was ranked #1 in the BCS polls earlier this year (I think they are #2 right now in the BCS, but other polls still have them as #1)- they are still undefeated!!! Here are a few pictures that they sent me from the game.
I had to throw this one in for old times sake. This was Miles's first Ducks game - at Autzen stadium (Autzen stadium is the funnest place to watch a game, but always has lousy weather - notice the rain jacket). He was sooooo excited!!!

Miles and his dad before the game tonight.

If Miles looks a bit tired here, he probably is. The game didn't get over until after 10:00 our time and Miles is my early bird - he is usually up before 6 am, so he usually goes to bed around 8:00. But he wouldn't have missed that game for anything! GO DUCKS!!!

I'm still debating. . .

For the past 15 months I have been wondering if having 3 older kids makes having twins easier or harder. I have gone back and forth - it is extemely hard at times to get the boys piano/cello practicing done when trying to keep an eye on what the babies are destroying. Watching soccer/football games is impossible - I end up chasing babies the entire time (and it is a lot harder to contain them outside than in my house) - but the boys think I am watching them and thats what is important - right? We are the entertainment at church (and there are some who would rather not be entertained by us - I know, hard to believe) - and it is not entirely the twins fault - the older kids (Abby mainly) try to wind them up so we end up in the hall. On the other hand - we would not be eating if I didn't have older kids - they are great at entertaining the babies while I fix dinner. I can even have the big kids tend while I mow the lawn (sometimes Miles will even decide it is easier to mow the lawn then tend the girls and offer to mow for me :). Well, up until now - I have always thought that Abby made twins harder - today I found one way she really helps me. She is a great tattletale - she will either come tell me when the twins are into something - or - as what happens most often, she will bring the "mischief maker" to me (and that twin is not usually happy about Abby "carrying" her). The kids are all gone this weekend with their dad to Disneyland - so it is just the twins and me here. I decided that I would get all the sheets washed this morning and went into the girls room to grab them off the beds. The twins followed me down the hall and I thought went into my room. I was wrong - I had just stripped both the cribs when I heard a splash. I can swear that the bathroom door was closed, but I dropped everything and ran anyway. Paige loves to play in the toilet (I have had to run more than one toy through the dishwasher to sterilize it) - so I just assumed that it would be her that I found by the toilet. Well, Paige was right next to the toilet, but Piper was IN the toilet. Yep, somehow she had managed to get into the toilet - and I wasn't even upset, just glad she went in feet first, not head first (I was also very glad that the bathroom had just been cleaned last night).
So - maybe the big kids make it easier to have twins? Maybe? All I know, is I thought I would get a lot more done this weekend, but it seems that new messes are being made twice as fast as I can clean them up. I also know that as soon as the twins got out of the bathtub they were immediately dressed and the "squeaky shoes" were put on - that way I can at least hear when they are up to something. At least I have two naptime and bedtime to get something done:)

Update

We are home!!! Everything went great this morning - I woke Paige up just before 6 this morning as we were leaving. We got checked into the hospital really quickly - which almost was a problem, as we had to sit in our room for over 1/2 hour before they were ready for her in the operating room. There was a sink in our room and Paige REALLY wanted a drink, but (with much effort) I was able to keep her distracted and relatively happy. A nurse came in to take Paige back and she did cry a bit, but that nurse came right back to say she only fussed for a minute then she was fine. I sat in the room for the next 1/2 hour, pretending to do homework and praying. Next thing I knew, the surgeon came in and said everything went great! He still didn't know what the "object" was, but he said it was only in the fatty layer of the skin and had not attached to any muscles. The pathology results will be back when we go see the doctor for a follow-up next Tuesday. A couple minutes later some nurses brought Paige back in - that was the hardest part of the morning. She was crying and the breathing tube that they had put in during the surgery had made her hoarse, so she didn't sound like herself. She stopped crying when they gave her to me though and I just rocked her for the next hour. They let us go after monitoring her for just 1 hour - her oxygen levels were perfect and she was back to her usual sweet, but stubborn self. They had given her a few popsicles to make sure that she could swallow and not only would she not let me hold it and help her (she had to hold it herself), but she also would not let go to trade hands with the popsicle when I was trying to get her dressed. So we ended up leaving the hospital with only one arm in her shirt and jacket and a blanket wrapped around the "popsicle arm" to keep her as warm as possible. She had the popsicle finished when we got back to my parents house to pick up Piper, but she still would not let go of the stick - instead she just grabbed the other popsicle with the other hand. As frustrating it is to me at times that my kids can be so stubborn, it is SO nice to see Paige being so headstrong, because I know she is "back to normal". So many prayers were answered this morning - thank you to all of you for your prayers!

Precious Paige

Paige is going to have surgery in the morning. I noticed a lump on her right shoulder blade two weeks ago and the doctor thinks we need to get it out right away. We don't know what it is (one doctor called it a cyst, one doctor called it a tumor) - but it will be sent to the pathology lab for tests. The doctors were both very reassuring that the chance that it would be cancerous were extremely slim, but it will be a big relief when the labs all come back clean. Normally, I wouldn't post things like this until I have good news to report, but I figured we could use a few extra prayers right now. My dad and brother came down tonight to give her a blessing - it was beautiful and the nervousness I have felt all day because she needs to be sedated has gone away. I know things will be fine - I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost - I have been reminded in an incredible way this week why he is also known as the Comforter.

Another Bachelor's Degree!

When I first came back to SUU - I was told that since my math classes were more than 7 years old, I would not be able to get a bachelor's degree in math education without retaking 3 years worth of math classes. Instead, I was advised to take teaching classes and all the remaining math classes that I need to get a math teaching endorsement (level IV). I was told that since I had a degree - all I needed was the endorsement. Well, turns out - someone was wrong. Not sure who it was since the education department blames the math department and the math department blames the education department (I am leaning towards blaming the education department too - they are NOT very helpful!) So, when I tried to turn in all my paperwork to get my teacher certification - I was told that since economics is not taught in Utah schools, they cannot put a math endorsement on an economics degree. This was a Friday afternoon - and not very many people were left on campus, so I got to "freak out" about this all weekend. First thing Monday, I visited everyone I could and saw yet another miracle in my life!!! The Math Department (bless their hearts) is INCREDIBLE! The department chair signed off on all my classes (including the 7+ year old ones - his reasoning "we still teach the exact same things in Linear Algebra that we did 10 years ago") and it turns out that I only need one more elective class for a Bachelor's Degree in Math Education. Another professor is helping me out here - he offered to teach Math History to me as an independent study class - this is a huge blessing since I am student teaching next semester and don't have time to go to class. So - after a long weekend wondering whether I have just wasted the last 2 years of school - the answer is NO - I will graduate May 2011 with my second bachelor's in Math Education. There is one bit of bad news - now I have to take the exit exam - November 10th, so I welcome any prayers that want to come my way - I am trying to cram/review for a test that covers information that I learned 10+ years ago. So if my blog (and housework) gets behind a bit - I have a great excuse!

Keeping the E.R. busy!

My kids are sure trying to do their part to make sure the E.R. doctors stay busy. We had quite an eventful Sunday yesterday - it started off actually better than most and we managed to stay in Sacrament Meeting until after the sacrament had been passed. I did end up making my way out to the hall with all three girls - just like we normally do. And just like usual - Abby thinks that the long halls at church are especially fun to sprint up and down. On one of those long sprints up the hall as she was dodging mom who was trying to help her remember to be reverent, she tripped and I watched with two babies in my arms as she headed straight for a corner with her forehead. I couldn't put the babies down in time though and felt helpless as I couldn't catch her, but I was right there after she hit to pinch the skin closed again. I ran into the bathroom with her and got paper towels as it was REALLY bleeding. A friend had gotten the twins by then and helped me to get a doctor in our ward to come and look at it. I knew we were making another trip to the hospital though, even before he said anything. I couldn't put her down so I asked my visiting teacher to drive us to the hospital and other ward members offered to take the twins up to my parents house. So off we headed to the hospital. Abby was in quite a bit of pain and she tends to get hysterical quite easy, so it was a loud drive. I was feeling awful - because I wasn't able to catch her and because I shouldn't have let her run in the first place. She tends to get away with alot more than she should because the twins take up alot of my attention. Anyway, we get to the hospital and they let us right in. They put a cloth of some sort of numbing gel on Abby's head and we had to wait 20 minutes for that to start to work - thank goodness for whoever donated the books to the hospital, I have never been more grateful for something to distract both Abby and I. Then the doctor had me hold Abby still while they gave her some shots to numb the area even more. I consider myself pretty strong - I can hold two wiggly babies quite easily now, but I was no match for Abby when she didn't want that needle by her head. It got so bad that they finally told me that if I couldn't get her to hold still, they were going to have to strap her to the bed. This is when my prayers got even more desperate - I didn't want this experience anymore traumatizing than it had already been. This is when the miracle happened - I don't know if I have ever had a prayer answered so soon and so clearly, but Abby immediately started to fall asleep. She slept through the rest of the numbing shots and all through the stitches. The doctor was incredible - it is not a very clean cut (meaning it is jagged), but the doctor stitched it up really nice. Abby is now the leader in the family on the stitches count for one injury (Miles is still one stitch ahead on total stitches) - with 13 stitches. As soon as she woke up - literally right after the doctor had tied off the stitches, she was right back to her normal (very talkative) self, telling all the doctors and nurses all about her Halloween costume and the dogs at preschool. When we got home that night - she had a get-well card from a friend in her Sunbeams class - it had a sucker with it - as she was eating it today, she told me - "Mom, did you know that suckers make owies (sp?) all better?" Thank goodness for suckers (and doctors)!!! And here is a closer look...

Not only did Abby get a sucker - but my visiting teacher (who had taken us to the hospital) stopped by on her way to work this morning and brought Abby a big bag of marshmellows (her very favorite treat). So we have literally had marshmellows for breakfast, lunch and dinner today. Her are the marshmellows at breakfast (in the hot chocolate).

This is how we enjoyed the marshmellows at lunch - in a peanut butter and marshmellow sandwitch.

Tonight after dinner for our FHE treat we had seven layer desert (it has marshmellows melted on top, but you can't really tell from this picture).

The next miracle I am going to ask for is that Abby will wear the same outfit all day long. If you look back at the pictures, you can see that she is wearing something different at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I promise it is the same day though (notice the hair is the same) - no wonder I can't keep up with the laundry. We are now hoping to stay away from the doctors for a while - I don't know how much more my nerves can handle these accidents (and kids are getting expensive - after rent our copays were the 2nd biggest expense last month and then the medical premium was the 3rd biggest expense!!!).