School at home

I have tried doing different fun things throughout the year to help Broden learn a few letters, how to write them, what they sound like etc. I decided it might be fun for him to use our window paints to do school. So we did that for a few days and he loved it. I have also tried all year(well for a few years) to get Remi to do fun learning activities with me and she refuses. No matter what it is she just doesn't like learning with me. Well I had her do "school" one week when she came home from school. She used our big front windows and wrote a story and then drew a picture. She had tons of fun and so did I. Alissa even joined it the fun!

 

Broden's first day of window school. The letter "A"

Alissa doing school with Remi on the window. Yes it is after school and she is still in her jammies and her hair isn't done:) We had a sick week that week!

 

Remi hard at work writing her story. It went something like this...

We like to go to the park and play. At the park there is a lake where we can catch fish.

 

 Here is Broden being sick on the couch.

So this was Martin Luther King week. Sunday started out great! Then after church we gave Alissa a nap. When she wakes up from her nap we just crack the door and let her come out when she is ready(she has a child proof handle). So she played for a while then came out of her room happy as could be. If anyone approaches her after her nap and she isn't ready for interaction she gets really grouchy. So I just watched her play. Then she came over to me and I could smell throw up. She had it on her arms, but I couldn't see it until I looked really close. So I went into her room to see if she had really thrown up and yep it was all over her bed and Remi's bed that pulls out from under Alissa's. So I put those sheets in the washer. We weren't sure if she was really sick, or having a reaction to the Penicillin she was taking for her ear infection. She threw up another time that night. But other than that she seemed fine. 

Monday was just kind of a lazy day. It warmed up outside enough to build some snow men, so Blake built a snow family with Remi and Broden. Alissa and I went out for a little while, but she had started acting a little sick. Then Alissa threw up again that night. 

Our snow family!

       The Friday before this when I called about Alissa's doctor appointment for her ear infection they informed me that I needed to add Parker to our insurance before he is 3 months(the following Tuesday). I don't know why I have to go through the hassle to add someone that they obviously know exists. They did cover all my pregnancy appointments, the labor, delivery and hospital stay. Do they really think I just don't want him on insurance, or that he doesn't exist. I just don't get it. So anyway, I asked if they could transfer me to the office that handles that. And of course that office doesn't take calls. So she said I just need to go in. It is right across the hall from the pediatrician. So I load up the 3 kids(Remi is in school) and go in to the clinic an hour early with all Parker's birth stuff to prove he exists. (No birth certificate yet just SS card.) I walk in the office and they said that we needed to go to the DEERS office on base. So I called that office to see when I could come in. They were closed that day, because Monday was Martin Luther King Day, so they were having a family day on Friday. GREAT! 

     Sooo..... Tuesday morning first thing I called the DEERS office. They told me Blake had to be the one to go in to add Parker to our insurance. They also said a SS card and proof of birth letter was what he had to take. I sent him everything we had, ss card, crib card, bills, the bracelets and everything. Then later that morning I had my 6 week check up(a few weeks late). I didn't want to have the kids go to anyone's house because Alissa had been sick. I have never been "checked" at a 6 week appointment, so didn't think it would be a big deal to just take the kids. Well, the nurse got out a sheet and said the doctor wanted to check me. FUN! The kids were really good about it, but in the middle of the appointment I started getting texts and phone calls from Blake who was at the DEERS office trying to add Parker to insurance. They said they can't add him without a proof of birth letter or birth certificate. So I returned from the doctor's appointment, left the kids in the car and frantically searched all my hospital papers, again, for a proof of birth letter. No luck. So I called the hospital hoping they could just get me a new one because I must have lost it. I left messages for a few people. Then I figured I might as well unload the kids. So I brought them in and started lunch. The hospital returned my call and said they don't do proof of birth letters. The lady did tell me she would type me a letter though that I could use for one. So we finished lunch, loaded in the car again and drove to the hospital. Unloaded the kids took them up to the labor and delivery floor, got the letter, back to the car and buckled again. Then we drove to Blake's work to drop off the letter. I was DONE loading and unloading kids so we waited outside until Blake could come get it from us. It took forever! By the time he came out it was 2:30 and we had to go get Remi from school at 3. So, I just drove around until 3 so Alissa could sleep and so I didn't have to unload and reload again. Poor Alissa was still acting a little sick and Broden even fell asleep. A sure sign that he is getting sick. He NEVER falls asleep in the car unless it is really late at night. 

So after work Blake headed over to the DEERS office AGAIN and of course it was closed. They closed at 4. Luckily they let him add Parker the next day without any kind of penalty except that he wouldn't be officially on the insurance until February 1st, so we could only take him to the base clinic. That was a huge relief. I did not want to hassle of trying to get him added after the deadline.

Sure enough Broden threw up Tuesday night. He had a fever and threw up a couple times that night. Poor boy. I think after that he carried a bowl around for a week just in case he threw up. He would just walk around the house with his bowl and sippie cup of water saying he was sick.

Luckily no one else got sick that time. Alissa was sick for like 3 weeks with her ear infection, a cold and the flu. We finally realized it was her teeth coming in after taking her to the doctor 3 times. She would just hold her ears and cry and had fevers off and on the whole 3 weeks. Makes it hard to know when to leave the house and when to lock ourselves in. I wonder if people in places where it is warm year round still get sick in the "winter." I don't want to complain about our sicknesses though. Yes we get colds and sometimes throw up, but overall we have great health and I am so grateful for that. We have definitely been blessed in that area.