If You Say So....Luke 5:4-7 (NASB)

I should probably post something because I haven't done so in awhile. OK, how's this: I ran out of gas tonight with 7 kids in the car. We were coming home from dinner and my car wouldn't accelerate up Michillinda Ave. I'm confused by this because my "low fuel level" light had not come on although my fuel gauge indicator was low. I thought I had easily 10 miles before I ran out. I've never run out of gas before. I pulled to the side of the road and tried to start the car again but it wouldn't go. So, I get out and tell the kids to stay in the car and I lock it and I charge uphill towards home. I made good time and ran in the house to tell Tim we had to leave right away to get the kids. I thought there was something wrong with the engine. So, we get to the kids and the car and I get all the kids out and put them into Tim's car. Tim gets into the Suburban and determines that it was out of gas. We take two trips to shuttle all the kids back home. We fi...

"Tim, Daisy got hold of Leanne's lunch for tomorrow and is eating it in her bedroom. Could you go get it from her?" Tim is perched over a map of the San Gabriel mountains with a highlighter on our bedroom floor plotting his next big 18-mile hike."OK," he says absentmindedly as I walk off towards Julia's room to see if she's still crying in her crib. At this point I encounter Chloe wrapped up in her comforter on the couch. "Please go brush your teeth and take your fluoride, Chloe. It's tme for bed. We've just finished your stories." "But I'm sleepy," she whines. "OK, well go to the bathroom and brush you teeth and then go to bed." "Ohhh..."she whines as I pick her off the couch and set her on her feet. "I can't find my folder for co-op tomorrow," Elena complains. "Well you leave your stuff all over the floor all the time. It's not my responsibility to help you look," replies C...

Well, here I am sitting at my computer and it's a relatively quiet Monday night. Tim is out with Elena and Camille working on math and science, Leanne is eating ice cream, and our other littlest girls are all asleep. Camille was admitted to Children's Hospital last Wednesday night and was released on Friday morning. The MRI showed signs of a bone infection, but the docs at CHLA didn't see that. She got a full workup, though, and different antibiotics than before and they finally diagnosed her with a Group A strep infection. Her leg is back to normal with very little tenderness. Her gloomy mood has dissipated, although she feels sorry for herself because I've restricted her diet to less processed foods and sweets because of all the antibiotics she received.I'm trying to avoid an overgrowth of super yeast in her body. This newer diet has been the hardest part for her but I believe it's for her good. Being a Mom makes me very unpopular at times. So, now the New Yea...

Need I say more? Well, of course I should. It started with severe pain in Camille's left leg on Monday, December 30th. I ran her in to my pediatrician's partner, the very capable and professional Dr. Martinez. He saw nothing but a tiny bug bite and a small red rash, but prescribed Bactrum just in case because that will treat a staph infection. The next day we're about to set sail on our 500-mile drive to Grass Valley (1 hour east of Sacramento) to spend New Year's with Tim's mom. Camille's leg has this angry red rash right up to her knee and she feels feverish. I take a "wait-and-see" approach and by the time we arrive at Joan's I tell Tim that we'll call first thing in the morning to Dr. Martinez if the rash hasn't subsided. The next morning the rash, obviously, hadn't subsided. So off to the ER every day for four days to see four different doctors and get two different kinds of IV antibiotics mixed in with concern and confusion on the...