Moving Day

Well the day that seemed so far away is here. Right now I am sitting here on the airplane, 30,000 feet in the air with Zach, Ellie, and Ava. Frank, the other 4, and Amy are someplace else on the plane.

Today has already seen its share of adventure.

To begin our day we were finishing getting our carry on bags and suitcases ready as the fire alarms in the hotel started screaming and the strobe lights flashing. Having awakened with a mild migraine already and my head sensitive enough that touching my hair hurt I knew I needed to leave immediately. Grabbing Ava, she and I left, and Frank gathered the kids.

Once given the OK, I stayed out front because by this point the taxi was now due any time. Frank and the kids returned to the rooms and retrieved all the luggage.

We then helped the driver load everything, said a final goodbye, and left APG for the last time.

Once at the BWI we began the check-in process. Everything was good to go. Amy's crate tagged for the plane. Suitcases off to be loaded on the plane. Now off to the TSA lines.

The kids went through, Celidah didn't know to leave her jewelry on and almost lost her young woman's medallion.

Ellie went through and everyone was lost as to what to do with her feeding pump. 2 supervisors later, and 3 workers (1 not using latex gloves) they finally figured out that they only needed to check her hands because her bag is clearly a medical device. Then our medical bag had to be visually inspected because things (I bet her spare GJ tube) looked strange and odd. So a quick look (lol puzzled look) the TSA said, "um this bags good, it's all medical and medicine. Looks like for the little girl there."

All was great until we boarded and we found out the crate for Amy was to big. Why we're we NOT told 3-4 hours earlier? The flight was held up as southwest searched out a new (we had to buy it) soft crate so the plane could leave.

Yay!!! We could now take off!

Well... Not quite.

The vehicle that pulled the plane into position to begin the taxi wouldn't let go of the plane. Emergency maintenance. LOL they had to bring a crew over to fix the release thing.

50 minutes late, all was finally right in the airplane world and we were taking off.

We are now nearing Vegas and will be landing around 5 something Vegas time with hopefully just enough time to dash to the next terminal, charge our phones some, and take off again.

AHS Marching Band

This past week has been a very and busy week for the kids. 

Friday Corbyn, Jade, and Jairon had the Harford County Band night. During this event all the feeder elementary and middle schools for Aberdeen join the high school marching band on the field. This year they had over 350 students playing together. The elementary kids played one song while the middle school kids played two songs then everyone marched off together. The smiles, excitement, and pride from especially the youngest kids was wonderful to watch.

Sunday the county had its annual Showcase of the Bands. Everyone was delighted the weather held out and allowed all schools to perform. In my opinion, only three schools really excelled and had marching band programs that were not only entertaining but showed solid commitment between both students, parents, and staff. Aberdeen, North Harford, and C. Milton Wright. If the schools were judged I'm not quite sure who would be on top of the three. 

CMW for sure has the largest marching band. I don't remember if North Harford used music or not. However, with the wind, the schools relying on music were greatly affected as the lyre pages were flapping all over and if music was not taped in place, flying all over the field. Many students relying heavily on music were often  unable to look up as needed and instrument bells faced downward, causing a natural mute. Especially with the wind.

Poor Jade has been sick this week, but refused to miss the game. While she was running a fever and not at school on Thursday, she went on Friday so she could make the game (fever and all). Then still not feeling well on Sunday, she went anyway because again she was not going to miss the performance.

Last week we discovered petechia rashes on Corbyn. Blood work confirmed his platelets are indeed dropping again. His band instrument is the bassoon, marching band, auxiliary percussion, meaning he stands still banging things keeping a steady rhythm. He'd be just fine for both the game and the show. We'll keep an eye on him and let the school know when he needs another emergency IVIg infusion. We tag along to everything anyway.

You're Not A Good Anesthesiologist

Chantelle has quite the personality and often speaks what she is thinking. During her last surgery she had a new anesthesiologist and did not think she was good because she all business and did not have any good jokes to make her giggle.

As she was in IRC and in the process of being put under with the laughing gas first, Bug is used to the anesthesiologist telling her jokes to help her giggle and take good deep breaths. Well this anesthesiologist was business and this step was not as important to her. This step is an important part of the routine that Bug has become used to, and skipping this step is unacceptable, as was pointed out.

Bug- You're not a good anesthesiologist!
Dr.- Oh really why is that?
Bug- Because you don't know any good jokes. You have to know jokes and makes kids like me laugh. I know jokes too but that's your job not mine. I'm not scared, but you can't let others get scared.
Dr.- You're very right.

At this point she tried telling a joke and Bug laughed saying "that's worst joke I heard." She then told one and had everyone laughing. At this point the anesthesiologist nodded to the team to used the sleepy medicine and she drifted off to sleep.

As I was walking out of the room the anesthesiologist motioned for me to come to her an with a very serious face she told me, "Your daughter is right. It's my job to help make sure these kids are not scared and their last memories are happy silly memories. Many of them will wake up confused, scared, and in so much pain because of what we have to do. I need to help them better."

Failed Feeding Tube and Tube Change

So almost three weeks ago during an appointment with the pediatrician Dr. M to take care of paperwork for the military for our upcoming move we discovered the stability button in Chantelle's G-Jet (GJ feeding tube) had failed and her tube was sticking over three inches away from her stomach. At the sight of this my heart dropped into my stomach, and Dr M commented that he was sure that not right.

I took the opportunity to show him exactly where the stability button is "supposed to be" and at that excused myself from the exam for a moment leaving Bug with him as I left and went to the immunization clinic to ask for a slip tip syringe. (Of course only being there for a quick appointment I did not have my bag with me, nor did I have anything in the vehicle I was borrowing) Not understanding what I was needing and that I did not need a needled syringe the immunization tech was very unhelpful. Not in the mood to run to the blood lab, Dr M and I med back up and we decided that I would simply call Johns Hopkins as soon as I got home and we would devise the best route of action from there.

We hurriedly finished the EFMP appointment and paperwork and I left. Once home I called the GI clinic, explained what was up, that we had no spare, and waited.

Finally about 4:30 that evening we were told to take her to Urgent Care to get a KUB with contrast (stomach Xray) to determine placement. After calling the insurance we get authorization and head over to urgent care only to find out that because she has GJ tube she needs contrast and they are unable to use contrast so we had to go to the ER instead. (sigh... very annoyed by now as it is now 7pm).

We left for the local ER and watched an ambulance race past us with both lights and sirens. Resigning myself to a very long night.

Once checked in I checked the time board and noticed a 15 minute wait, yet knew this was not to be with the ambulance that passed us and knew another had turned off a road just minutes from the hospital. Within five minutes of sitting down and both of of us settling into a book, four more ambulances pulled up. Within minutes, the time board jumped to a 45, 60, then 90 minute wait. The other hospital 30-40 minutes away had wait times even longer. Since we were there for a simple KUB, I was NOT making a 30-40 minute drive then waiting all night since we were already early in the line.

By the time Bug made it back to a room, I explained exactly what was up, what we needed and why. We were blessed with an amazing nurse and PA. The xray order was made, they sent her back right away for her "tummy pictures" and thank goodness her tube was in place and nice and deep in her jejunum, where it needed to be. We arrived home just after midnight, exhausted but thankful to be able to use her tube until we could have it replaced. This meant she got to stay home and not be hospitalized this time.

Unfortunately Bug was unable to attend school for the rest of the week as I had find a way to secure her feeding tube. Frustrated and still waiting for a spare tube, I got creative. Unfortunately, while she was back at school, she was unable to participate in PE or recess. The risk of her tube being pulled out was to high.

Tuesday the 13th, I got a call that they could finally do the surgery. Of course the intended day would have been October 15th. My only request was the following Monday on the 19th. If possible I wanted to keep her home on her birthday. Thankfully, Children's agreed. Finally, two weeks after her tube support, we were going to be getting her tube changed.

Realizing that we never got the confirmation call telling us for sure what time to be there on Monday, I called to verify our arrival time and discovered her surgery had been cancelled because her tube still had not arrived. As of Tuesday morning, my message stated her surgery once again had to be cancelled and rescheduled, again due to the tube not arriving.

However, 3:45 Tuesday afternoon the surgery prep nurse called for the third or forth time that day letting me know they had just received her feeding tube and Bug needed to be at Hopkins peds surgical center by 7:30 Wednesday.

At this point we now had to get her pre-op steroid prescription, and begin  her pre-op process.

Surgery went very well, and when I came back to the PACU the silly child was already wide awake.

She went into surgery at 10, we headed home at 12:30.

TheatreWorks Live- Charleston- Ellie

My favorite thing about Theater camp was all the weeks from the beginning to the production day.😸😸😸😸!!!!!!!!!!!! We got to sing,play,dance and sometimes be crazy!But not for very long.😔 My favorite game is Grandma's footsteps it's like red light green light but you can move above the waist. My favorite song is the prologue Happy days are here again.I loved all of the dances. At the production day there was doughnuts but I'm used to have friends that eat other foods that I can't have.We played duck duck goose,tellaphone then we were getting a little bit too crazy I

 Was so nervous during the musical and no one knew that!!!!😸😸😸😸

Boyscout Camp and TheatreWorks Live- Jairon

My first favorite activity was White Water Rafting where we had to wait for 30 minuets then we got to learn about the safety and what to do if we are stuck in the cold water. Next we got on a bus to go to the rafting area. The next thing that happened was we picked a group and got on a raft and got instructions, on what the commands are how to pull some one back in to the raft.Then we waited for our guides the reason is the river water was 6.5/7 ft deep and dangerous.When the guides got there we where assigned a guide and went to the river bed, except my group because our guide was not there yet when he got there we left it was awesome.At theater camp i met a 4 year old (He was VARY energetic) the day was get up get ready for theater camp helping. Then go to theater camp help out wait for Zach and Chantelle to finish, go home then came the recital before the show and near the end the energetic 4 year old pulled down his pants and underwear on the stage when someone was recording. other then that it was really well.

Corbyn's Surgery Game Plan

We had our appt with Dr C our hematologist today and we will be rescheduling the needed surgery once again. Not only am I perfectly fine with this, but we also game up with a game plan that will best fit Corbyn's needs.

Once again the needed specialty teams have not been communicating as they have needed to ensure everything is done making sure his safety and health needs come first. Because Corbyn is more complex than the average child more doctors need to be involved. Unfortunately, some of these doctors have not seen the importance of their involvement and collaboration prior to surgery.

Since we have been having a difficult time getting all the needed doctors to communicate, Dr. C has recommended that I call our peds Dr first thing in the morning, make an appt with him to be seen as a "follow-up from his hospitalization" and have Dr. M make sure everyone is communicating. He is an amazing Dr and Dr C said he knows that Dr M will do this for us.

However, Dr C will not allow Corbyn to have the ENT surgery with DR S until neurology (Dr's G and F) have a better understanding why he is having dizzy spells and passing out episodes and has been cleared as safe for surgery. He also has to be cleared by Dr M, anesthesia, then Dr C will allow for the IVIg infusion scheduling. All this has to done with at least one month notice to allow for the infusion scheduling.

Once we schedule the infusions, the infusions will be done 5 days prior to surgery. 24-48 hours later Corbyn will have to return to Johns Hopkins, have his blood drawn again, and if his platelet count is not between 150,000-200,000 he will have to have another infusion.

By this point we will not know until we are already there for his surgery if we are cleared or not because on surgery day we will have to start with another blood draw. Once again if his platelets are below 150,000 then Corbyn will not be able to have the scheduled surgery.

Starting July 2nd Corbyn was admitted to Johns Hopkins Neurological/Seizure Monitoring Center to see if the neurologists could help determine his passing out episodes. I have to admit that stay has been interesting to say the least. One of rules was that Corbyn had to have a parent at all times because he is a child. Since I am the one that normally stays with the kids in the hospital, I ended up staying with him the whole time. Because I stayed with him, that meant Ava also stayed. Ava stayed because she is my service dog.

Most nights the doctors have wanted Corbyn to be sleep deprived, meaning no sleep before 2 am and then up by 6 am. This has made for some very long days. This meant that I stayed up with him.

What we know so far is that the long tern EEG are all normal. However, Corbyn's blood pressure readings are off 30 points between laying, sitting, and standing. We also know that if he gets up quickly from a laying to the standing position, then his heart rate also jumps.

The doctors have him wearing pressure stockings (forget the name) and gave IV bolus, redid the blood pressure readings. They were hoping that the readings would be drastically different, meaning there would be a simple solution. Drink more, increase sodium, watch the getting up and going down. This was not the case. 

Because his readings are still off he will have to have a tilt table test with an EEG. They are suspecting his passing out spells are vascular related. I suspect it maybe autonomic related. We already have 2 kids with autonomic dysfunction. The neurologists at this point are not willing to call it autonomic dysfunction, other things need ruling out first.

What we do know is that Corbyn's episodes are not typical cardiac issues. His heart is strong, and has a normal heart rhythm. His brainwaves are textbook, there is no sign at all of seizures even during his episodes. Yes they caught several. Brainwaves are perfect

This still leaves his syncope episodes classified as "idiopathic" though. What this really means is, doctor terms for "unknown reasons for sudden loss of consciousness". Simply put, the doctors still do not know exactly why he keeps fainting or passing out. Idiopathic is a term I have come to really dislike. 

At this point he is to keep his water, salt, and protein intake levels increased. He has to wear compression socks every day as there was a slight improvement in his blood pressure changes with the socks. He has to watch how fast he gets up from any position. He is not to jump up at all from lying or sitting as we know this raising both his blood pressure and heart rate. If we are at any even where he could jump up from excitement, then those around him have to know that sudden jumping up can and may cause him to pass out.

Right now Corbyn is scheduled for surgery on the 14th to have his adenoids removed, a PE tube (ear infection drainage tube) removed and his ear drums repaired that have been damaged, one from the tube that has been in his ear for 11+ years and other from many severe ear infections and multiple severe ear infections.

However, before he can have surgery his platelets have to be between 150,000-200,000 and his were only at 30,000 at the beginning of the week. Darn ITP...

Yes once again his ITP or Chronic Refractive Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura is complicating things further.

If we allow the surgery to take place with the dangerously low platelet count, this seemingly minor surgery will become a life threatening. He will bleed out on the table as soon as the adenoids removed. The eardrums, they may not be life threatening, but they will be much messier than normal.

We see his hematologist tomorrow and he will either give the green light for surgery or tell us to reschedule again. I am sure we will be told to reschedule until we know more about why Corbyn is passing out. At this point I am totally fine with his surgery being rescheduled again. I have confidence that his hematology team will help us make the best decision for him. I also know they will make sure the other doctors are communicating with them, one of the issues we have been having.

End of School Updates

School has been out and lots has happened in the past couple weeks.

Zach had an awesome end of the school year. As the 5th grade award assembly was starting the principal and school secretary got up on the stage and announced that they had a very special award that was unannounced to everyone including the teachers. This of course had all the kids looking at each other with curiosity. With a huge smile the secretary removed a letter a from an envelop and began reading. The letter was from President Obama and congratulated the children on their hard work, effort, and the importance they have placed on their education. They then started calling names and had all the students keep standing until all the kids were called. As Zach's friends were called he shot them all thumbs up and was beaming for them. Then his name was called along side the Presidential Educational Academic Achievement Award, and he was no longer just beaming but trying not jump up and down.

Later he came across the stage to receive his elementary school completion award, and also received awards in music, orchestra, choir, and received the RWES Overall Musician of the Year award. Again he was beaming and beyond thrilled. Oh and he made honor roll.

Summer is off to a great start for Ellie. She ended the school year very well with a music award, honor roll, and a really GI appt. One of her friends became a big brother, one friend moved, but she has already become best friends with a new little girl who just moved into a house just down the block. (The best part about being on a military base, when a family moves another moves right in)

Her GI appt went very well. We were told to start out with letting her be off her pump for 2 hours a day during play time, and if she does not lose weight and keeps her energy up by Christmas time we may be looking at up to 4-5 hours a day off her pump. She is also able to perform without her backpack and pump! This is the most exciting thing for her right now as this means we will not have to have costumes altered to allow her backpack and pump for this musical!

Just as School was ending Corbyn and Jade attending marching band camp and both kids learned a lot and loved band camp. Once again Jade is playing her flute, and Corbyn will be playing percussion this year in marching band. He will be playing a variety of instruments within the auxiliary section, he will be supporting the main drummers. When not on the field he will be playing his bassoon.

Zach spent a week with the Cub scouts as a volunteer at the camp and had a total blast. he camp home each day totally exhausted, but excited to return the next day. This same week Celidah left for Girls Camp as a youth volunteer. She too had a blast but is saddened because her time attending Girls Camp as youth or a youth volunteer is over.

Just as Zach was finishing Cub Scout camp, Jairon left for High Adventure Scout Camp. This was totally exciting for him as this is the first time he has been able to attend this kind of camp. While Jairon was away at camp, Musical Theatre Camp for Zach and Ellie began. 

Celidah has been working with the preschool and kindergarten kids since musical theatre camp began. Jairon missed the 1st week and has been working the 2nd week. This week (2nd week of camp) Jade is helping babysit a friends little boys so she and her husband can spend time with their littlest one in the NICU. 

This week everyone has something going on. 

Yes we like keeping the kids busy, and they like being kept busy.

Being "inconsiderate" and inconvenient

Inconsiderate and inconvenience are two words I rarely have thrown back at me, especially concerning doctor appointments. Well, yesterday, I was told that I am inconsiderate because I got upset that my appointment on Monday has been cancelled and needed to be rescheduled due to the doctor being "busy" and I demanded new appointment ASAP within the same week. 

Suddenly, when one appointment was during a Federal Job Employment Workshop, which I am signed up for and refused to cancel my spot, the other appointment during my neurology appointment in Baltimore (scheduled 3 months ago) I am now inconvenient.

I let the person on the phone know I've have multiple blood tests come back abnormal, had blood tests redrawn, and wanted to see my doctor to understand what what is going on. Again, I was informed how inconsiderate and inconvenient I was being about my appointment being changed on me.

At this point I lost it. Instead, I informed the person on the phone that I fully understand something is not right, and that I don't understand what's going on. I now have additional specialty appointments that have been made around that appointment. I have children, 2 with medical needs and their appointments, 1 child off to scout camp, 1 child off to cubscout camp, 2 children in musical theater camp and 2 children helping with the same musical theater camp. 1 child being admitted for week long seizure testing where an adult must be present at all times. 2 kids doing marching band camp, and one doing summer school. With this schedule, shuttling kids back and forth, making sure all appointments are attended, do not tell me I'm being inconsiderate and inconvenient when you cancelled and chand my appointment.

She was also confused why I was pissy and upset these calls were coming during Zach's 5th grade ceremony where he received several amazing awards. Was even more upset when I missed the best picture opportunity. 

Since I didn't hear from the clinic today about when my "new" appointment is, I'm not sure if this means I still will be seen on Monday, or if the appointment was simply totally cancelled...

Unintentional Cheese Trial- Failed

For years now I have been learning what kids can and cannot have to eat and have gotten fairly comfortable with labels on boxes, cans, and packages because most of the ingredients are able to be to read. For some time I have been teach Chantelle how to read labels so she can eventually transition over to shopping for and managing her food.

Well Friday the girl's had a fundraising activity at church where a potluck style of Mexican type foods were served. All was good until I told Chantelle that she could have the beans ONLY if she asked and they were plain beans. She came back with a plate with of olives and a small amount of beans saying that they were safe. The olives I knew were save.

Then a little while later I was talking with one of the ladies at church and we talked about the beans and when I discovered there was a small amount of cheese, like not much for a HUGE pan, my heart skipped a beat and I almost swore.

I let them know we had to go immediately, not only because Jade was not feeling to well from the procedure she had the day before, but because we did not have any liquid Benadryl in the car and I needed to get some and get all of Chantelle's GI meds in her ASAP.

I very quickly passed off the rest of the tickets I got for mt kids for the games they had, gathered the kids and we left. Once we got liquid Benadryl, I gave Chantelle her allergic reaction dose right there in Walgrens, then we headed home. I then gave her the rest of her meds, had her get ready for bed and we watched chopped as she snuggled with me for the night. She was not going to sleep in her own bed if she was going to have a bad reaction.

About 20 minutes after we got home, she started with some serious venting and diarrhea. However, thank heaven, she did not have a super severe reaction like she did in the NICU. Knowing how allergic she is to soy and corn, I barely slept Friday night as I was ready to scoop her up and take her to ER or call 911 and use EPI-pin on her if needed.

All day Saturday we had her feeding pump running just Pedialyte, and today she seems to be okay. This is not the way I wanted to trial cheese. But we do know now that that she is no longer anaphylactic , just reactive still.

What a day...

Oy Vey... What a day....

This morning started early and ended late.

Yesterday as I arrived home I was greeted by a sheriffs deputy who informed me that our car tags had been suspended due to something with the emissions. Well that totally changed our night. Zach and Ellie had to miss the after school Lemonade War Activity and Book Fair. Poor kids were so upset and I do not blame them. They were kind of okay with it when they were allowed to get into a water fight.

We still had to go pick Celidah up from her drivers ed class anyway. There was no other way to get her home, so dad left to get her.

This morning I left early with Corbyn for his neurology appointment because he needed to get his blood drawn.  Knowing the tags were suspended and the car would fail the emissions again, I had to take it in anyway and see what would happen.

Taking the car in turned out to be a good thing because another failure, extended our time to work on the car and lift the suspension on the tags. With the emission test done, Corbyn and I left and headed to his neurology appointment in Baltimore.

Using the GPS I got onto the freeway, then turned it off because I knew where I was going. During the drive there, the University of Maryland called to cover the needed information for Jade's scopes tomorrow (Thursday) and while talking with the nurse I missed the needed exit because I was on the toll road. I normally do not take but today I did, because I did not have time to deal with traffic.

Taking the next exit, I figured I could turn around and get right back onto 895, then take the correct exit. This is not what I did. Instead, I hopped onto 95 heading towards NYC, the EXACT opposite direction that I needed to be heading. Baltimore was now in my rear view mirror. At least I was not heading into the toll road and into the tunnels. So I drove for about 5 minutes (maybe more), hopped onto 695 heading towards Essex and hoped I could take the 1st exit, turn around again, get back onto 95, go back to Baltimore, and then be back on the right path. Good thing, I was right.

However, by this point we were already late and I had tried calling neurology to lat them know we were late (very late now) and lost, but still coming, but I did not have their number in my cell phone. So I had to teach Corbyn how to use my phone and totally talk home through it while driving, so I could contact his doctor through the scheduling office. We could not connect. Instead, We got the message "This office is closed for lunch, call back after 2:30" ?????

Oh goodness, I was not having a good day so far. I had already lost it at the emissions office, yes, lost tears there. The lady was wonderful and helped me understand the process, re-grip, recollect, and gather myself again. She was wonderful. Got lost driving to a hospital I have been to a million times and could probably drive to in my sleep. Arrived and discovered we were 40 minutes late for Corbyn's appointment 0_o

His doctor did not have a 2:30 appointment, so she was able to see his after all. We had a good appointment and a game plan set in place. He will have a 4 hour EEG, if nothing is captured then he will have an in-patient EEG with hopes of capturing something. If they still do not capture anything while in-patient then we will know that his passing out episodes are not cardiac or seizure related. However, like his neurologist said, it will not help us know why he is spacing out, and passing out like he is. But until we know what is up he still not able to participate in golf, archery, any sport other than swimming. He can still do his music, drama, and art based things, just nothing with running, contact, unless he has close supervision and nothing with quick movements.

We left Johns Hopkins with just enough time to grab Celidah and Frank, get Celidah to her drivers ed class, for Frank and I get the house paperwork signed and notarized and in the fed-ex drop box, run home, grab the rest of the kids, and get Zach to the Elementary school for his concert.

One spring concert and 1 play down, 2 concerts to go.

Migraine from Hell...

I have been having increased migraine issues for some time now and recently started botox injections to reduce the number of migraines and headaches I have been having. Well the injections seem to be helping reduce the number of headaches.

However, this week I was hit with one of the worst migraines I have had in a very long time. Normally, I will do everything I can to avoid the ER, but I called and got permission to go in and get the needed stronger meds that I do not have at home.

Every time I stood up, I had no balance, felt like I was going to fall over, like my head was going to explode. I could not handle the light, any movement, sounds, smells, anything. The meds I was given in the ER helped a lot, but did not get rid of the migraine. Good thing I see my neurologist again on the 14th. I am sure this insane migraine has nothing to do with starting the botox injections because I had them 3ish weeks ago so to be reacting this far out does not seen likely to me. But we'll see what my dr says...

Baltimore Riots

Last night while Frank was with Celidah at drivers school, the kids and I were watching the news about the riots in Baltimore and I asked them what they knew about the Ferguson riots. The older kids all let me know that they were not even allowed to talk about the riots in school and had no idea what really happened. At this I realized that neither nor I had even discussed what happened then.

So I silenced the news, searched a few articles and we began to learn from a variety of perspectives about what happened, the results, and how the Ferguson riots affected the communities.

Naturally, the kids are stunned with the behavior and cannot believe that teens and adults would even allow themselves to hurt people, destroy property, and behave like they have been.

Throughout the discussion, we talked about the 4 differing groups of people involved, varying reasons for the behavior, and possible outcomes.  I had the kids identify the different groups they saw on the news: media, emergency personnel, aggressors, and peace makers. (Their ability to identify made me proud)

According to the kids the media was there to cover the situation, emergency personnel covered several, police to diffuse and stop, paramedics, treat the injured, and firefighters to put out the fires. The peace makers were trying to help diffuse and protect property. The rioters were the angry and out of control ones unwilling to listen.

We talked about how the looting is stealing. The kids could not comprehend how damaging, stealing, hurting, and setting fire were more important to the rioters. As we discussed various possible reasons for the behavior we also began to discuss ways they can use to avoid becoming involved if a similar situation happened close to home. We talked about how the kids have learned to say no to drugs and several other situations and relate these same lessons to the current happenings with the riots.

I am glad to know that I can talk to my kids about stuff like this. We can take past lessons and apply them to new situations. Knowing that the gospel lessons also apply really helps when needing to talk with kids about serious subjects.

Then while listening to a talk radio show today, on the show, the topic of parents talking to their kids about the riots, how to say no, and avoid such situations came up. It was mentioned that the riots first in Ferguson, now in Baltimore are likely not over. We have to prepare our children now to know what to do in the event of peer pressure to participate. My first thought was, "I am so glad I have already started this with my kids." I was even more glad when my oldest came home from high school saying she has heard rumors that there are posts in twitter, facebook, and other places saying the riots need to be brought to Bel Air.

Bel AIr is much closer to us than Baltimore, even though Baltimore is still very close.

Celidah AHS Prom 2015

Celidah Prom Night Two!

 Celidah and Caleb

Color Run After Effects!

While the Color Run was a blast and the kids had so much fun, they couldn't say the clean up afterwards was a blast. After long showers with heavy scrubbing, tons of soap, shampoo, and conditioner, the kids are mostly clean.

Before their showers!

After their Showers! 

APG 2015 Color Run (Warning Picture Heavy)

The kids had the opportunity to volunteer for the base color run today and they had a blast. Celidah is the only one that chose not to participate since she is on the Prom Court this year and did not want to be all stained up. Not to mention coming home late last night from the Mormon Prom, Color Run, high school prom without a chance to sleep would not have been good for her.

So for the color run the kids got to spray powdered color on the runners and walkers. Zach, Ellie, and Corbyn were at the yellow station of Raining Sunshine as they called it. Here is just a few of the over 350 pictures we have taken today.

Waiting for everything to begin

 filling the spray bottles

 just a slight dusting

"OH COOL! I explodes like a volcano!" 

 Hands at the very beginning (Wish I retook this shot at the end)

Let's Go Team Liquid Sunshine! 

 

Zach chasing down his 5th grade teacher! He got her good and they both laughed 

small group of runners 

one of my favorite pictures of a random runner and his daughter 

 Even the K9 MP Dogs got into the action and loved it!

getting ready to squirt again 

 This runner kept walking really slow telling the kids to get her more

 End of race Yellow War

 Liquid Sunshine fireworks

 Oh goodness!

 Here they go again

 Yes she was very yellow at the end

Turquoise Jairon after his station 

Turquoise Jade after her station 

Go Cart Racing Zoom Zoom

Saturday we had a very long day and needed something to do to kill some time. Our day in Baltimore started with Ellie having a roller skating birthday party with one of her classmates. 

For Ellie this party was not only a big deal for her, but the parents of the birthday child listened to Grace (her friend) and when Grace told her parents that Ellie is allergic to everything but applesauce and cotton candy, the mom contacted me. She wanted to know if it would be ok for them to provide some cotton candy just for Ellie during the cake cutting. Of course I was not only excited, but very grateful as these parents not only thought about her, they wanted wanted to provide something safe and fun, then in the goodie bags gave only toys. The mom did this so that Ellie would feel included with all the other kids.

Well after the party we looked at cars. LOL to the annoyance of the dealers we were only looking and not buying. If they tried to push up into a car that day we politely let them know we had to wait for our house to close so we knew how much we would have for another car. Reminding them about the pending sale of our Colorado house kept them from pushing to hard. 

Car shopped out we still had 2 hours before our conference meeting. With the meeting being an hour from the house, driving an hour just to drop Ellie off at the house was not something we really wanted to do. Especially, since that meant we would drop her off and leave right away for our meeting. 

We found the go cart track. Frank had been wanting to take Celidah go cart driving for a daddy daughter day anyway, so now he had both his red heads with him. Even better was learning that Ellie is finally tall enough for any track! This made both dad and Ellie very excited, so we got tickets for dad and the girls. I had fun taking pictures!