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We had a great time over the last three days. Here are some highlights:
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I am feeling better little by little each day. After a few days of a terrible back and chest ache, I’m on the mind. My cough is better, but not gone. I’ll be fine for a while and then go into a coughing fit right in the middle of a conversation. After having four children, the coughing presents a whole host of problems that most of you can sympathize with, I’m sure. I am having to wash a couple of pants per day due to this problem!
We did eat better today. Avery had toast and milk for breakfast, chicken nuggets and milk for lunch and chicken, green beans and mac-and-cheese for supper. I don’t think she had very much candy at all today.
Julia has just about finished up a pretty lackluster soccer season, and no, I did not go again tonight. Forty degree weather is no good for a lady with bronchitis and a child with asthma. Hopefully, we’ll get to watch her on Saturday.
Looking forward to tomorrow–its a teacher workday at my school. The last two days were not regular classroom days. Avery has had a blast at the Pumpkin Festival. She especially enjoyed the jumping house. Several parents asked me if I was going to jump with the children (a few of the classroom teachers got in with their class). I had to say no due to the aforementioned problem! We got a few great pictures. I’ll post pictures of all our Halloween festivities after tomorrow night.
PS – Can you tell this is written by a tired, nighttime medicated mom?!
Well, Halloween started today at the Stampers. You can tell how my day went by Avery’s diet for today:
Breakfast: strawberry marshmallows and apple juice (we were running very late!)
Morning snack: a slice of cheese in her classroom, a doughnut hole spider, apple juice, and a mini Krispy Kreme chocolate glazed doughnut at the Pumpkin Festival at school, a cupcake given to her by another teacher at the end of school…thanks, Heather!
Lunch: a few bites of spaghetti and water
Snack: ice cream with chocolate syrup (hey, its what her sisters had, how could I say no?!) and water
Supper: (this is the bad one!) we ate at the “Blob at the BOB” at church (more about that tomorrow), so she had several cookies, juice boxes and however much candy she opened or had people open while we weren’t looking.
Believe it or not, she went right to bed. I’m sure its from exhaustion and probably sugar shock. I’ll make sure tomorrow is a better day (although we do go to the Pumpkin Festival again at school!).
I love how quickly an antibiotic works! That and a lot of cough drops! I’m feeling better and know that by tomorrow evening I will be even closer to the land of the well again. I did decide to skip Julia’s soccer game tonight. It started at 6 (or was supposed to…more on that in a second) and when we pulled up to let her out at 5:30, Thayer and the girls and I stayed in the van while the team warmed up. The closer it got to game time, I decided not to get out. It was cold and very windy. I wanted to check out a few things at Tuesday Morning anyway, so I let Thayer and Bailey go to the game with their hooded jackets and three blankets while Madi and Avery and I went shopping. Madi has asthma and doesn’t need to be out in windy weather. When we left, I noticed the temperature on the Walgreens sign…it was 48 degrees!
The game actually didn’t get started until almost 6:15 because they were short on referees. They went ahead and started using parent officials. I told Thayer to call me after the second half started so we could stop and grab them some coffee and hot chocolate on the way in. I got the call about 6:50, but instead of it being the start of the half, they had decided to call it quits since the game wasn’t official anyway with no referees. So, we checked out really quick and drove back to get them. There were lots of really ticked off parents who had to rearrange schedules (this was a make-up game as it was!) to sit in the freezing cold for over an hour for a “game” that won’t even count!
It never fails, you have one really great day and then you have a rotten one follow. We had a great day at Gateway on Sunday. We enjoyed hearing Ray and Audrey Thomas share insights into how they have had successful marriage for over 52 years. It was the conclusion to our “Faithfully” series. Yestserday’s message (which was an interview with Ray and Audrey) was called “Finishing Together.” I think many people were inspired by their story.
We also enjoyed having my Michael, Vanessa and Matthan here with us all weekend. It is so fun now that Matthan can talk and I love hearing him call me “Ann Amy” (Aunt Amy). He remembers all four girls’ names and that’s pretty good–I mix them up a lot!! 
He’ll be two soon and we can’t wait to go to Florence for his party. I love that they are closer!
Last night, we had our first concert at GCC. Colour Academy is a new band, about to go on tour with another band, so I’m sure we’ll be hearing more of them in the coming years. They are a really fun, energetic group of guys. Madi noticed right away that “those guys are cute!” Then, in the concert, the lead singer was kidding around and pointed at Madi and two other girls on the front row and said he hated he was too old for those cuties. It made Madi’s night! We had also had a great time at Torero’s with our Life Group before the concert. Its amazing how close groups can grow together in a short amount of time!
Then, today, I couldn’t deny that I was sick any longer. I have been battling what I kept calling allergies for several weeks. But, after a long night and a hard morning, I sucked it up and told Bailey she’d have to miss dance today so I could go to the doctor. I have bronchitis and now am on a Z pack and prednisone because my lungs are so inflamed. One of the teachers at my preschool calls prednisone the fat/mean pill because she gains weight and is very moody when she’s on it. I had to take it several times last year for a rash I couldn’t get rid of and the main thing it did to me was make me not be able to sleep. So, I picked up some nighttime cold medicine to hopefully counteract that. I also had to buy cough drops for tomorrow and cough medicine (that’s a whole other story!). Thayer isn’t feeling well either and likes to take Alka Seltzer nighttime because it helps him sleep (and when he’s not feeling well, he snores BAD!). The guys who checked me out at the pharmacy said, “you must be feeling really, really bad!” I laughed and explained that it wasn’t all for me.
I haven’t even been able to talk much today without coughing–it was very difficult teaching 5 music classes. Fortunately, after the six classes tomorrow, I’m done teaching for the week because of teacher work days and our Pumpkin Festival.
BYW – the cough medicine story is hilarious! Bailey and Madi were having bad coughs at night a few weeks ago when my stuff first started. One night, I had not given them their children’s nighttime cough medicine before they went to bed. They woke me up because they were both coughing. In my sleepy stupor, I didn’t want to go downstairs to get their medicine and had some cough syrup in my bathroom. I made sure it was safe for children and gave them both some. They both gagged and said it was the worst medicine they’d ever had. Cough medicine is terrible and I figured it was probably the first time they’d ever had adult cough syrup. Well, last week, I couldn’t stop coughing one night and got up to get some of the same cough syrup for me. I didn’t have a measuring cup so I took 3 small sips. It was absolutely the worst stuff ever! Upon further investigation, I checked the expiration date. No wonder…it expired in Jan. ’02! Medicines typically are good for 2-3 years, meaning I probably bought the stuff around the time Bailey was born! Thank goodness God watches out for stupied moms! None of us were harmed…it actually still worked - no more coughing from any of us. But, for safe measure, I poured the rest out!
Sorry about the long posts–I guess the prednisone is already working!
We had a blast at the movie theatre last night. All six of us and Vanessa went–Michael and Matthan stayed at home for an early bedtime. We had bought our tickets on Tuesday, thinking they might sell out. It was crowded, but not sold out. I was amazed that no one ever took our tickets! We just walked in, waited in line to get into the theatre and then walked to our seats. I hope everyone else there was honest enough to have paid for the tickets even though you apparently didn’t need them! We visited the snack bar and then watched the movie. We thought it was the best of the 3 by far and we really like the other ones! The dancing was great. It ended with graduation, so I’m assuming that is the last one.
Avery never fell asleep, but sat in my lap and just wasn’t herself most of the time. On the way home, we found out why…she threw up in Matthan’s car seat. Of course I began to apologize to Vanessa but she was almost laughing about it. Then she told me about Matthan throwing up in someone else’s pack-n-play just this last Monday. So, I couldn’t feel too bad! Avery’s been fine ever since. I’m not sure, but I think she was overheated because she wore her jacket the whole movie and the theatre was hot.
In other news, we had our last yard sale ever!!! I think I also said that after the last one we had–this was only the third time we’ve had one. Since it was advertised as a neighborhood sale, there was lots of traffic, even considering the weather wasn’t that great. It wasn’t really raining, just misty off and on. I think its just too much work to pull everything out, get it set up and then have to box it all up and carry it to Goodwill anyway. And, all this on top of going to bed after midnight, getting up at 6 (people were here at 6:30ish for a 7am yard sale!) and clearing a whopping $115! But, that money is earmarked for a special Christmas gift for a very special 3 year old! I’m sure you’ll hear about it later…I might be going out for it in a little while!
I’m taking a minute to blog now because I don’t think I’ll have much of a chance before late this weekend. Michael, Vanessa and Matthan are coming tomorrow! They had been planning to come for Julia’s soccer game on Saturday, but we found out on Tuesday that they are rescheduling our Saturday game. But, they are still coming. We bought tickets earlier this week to go see High School Musical 3. It premieres tomorrow and they are expecting it to sell out. Vanessa is going with us and Michael and Matthan are going to find something else more interesting for Matthan to do. Then, on Saturday, our neighborhood is having its annual yard sale. I normally would much rather just donate stuff to Goodwill than have a yard sale, but since the neighborhood association is handling the advertising and there is usually a good turn out, I decided to participate. I hope we don’t wake everyone up early. Its not supposed to start until 7, but I know people will be here by 6ish.
We have a very exciting day on Sunday. We are finishing up our series entitled “Faithfully” about marriages. We have some guest speakers who will be sharing How to Finish Together. I can’t tell you who, but its going to be great! Then, we are having our very first concert at Gateway Sunday night. Colour Academy, a new Christian group, is going to be at GCC at 6 pm. We are looking forward to it! Since Sunday is normally our Life Group night, our group is going to eat together before the concert. I know by Sunday night, I’ll be ready to collapse–just in time to start a new week!
All six of us went to Goldsboro Pediatrics today. Julia needed two more shots (one second round of one she got in August and one other one we didn’t get in August because she had already gotten 3!), Madi had to get a flu shot and all of the other three got the flu mist (more about that below). Everyone has to have a flu shot because Madi has asthma and we really need to make sure she doesn’t get the flu. It took the nurse several minutes to get all of our info. so she could pull up the charts. After the first two, she said, “is that all?” “No, I have two more.” She sighed. Then, when they called us over the intercom to come back, they didn’t call out each child, they just said, “Stamper family.” We took up the entire space at the nurse’s station and it took the nurse about 5 minutes to get straight what everyone was getting. She had the wrong chart for Julia and kept arguing that she had already had the second round of the shot. “She got it in 2007.” I told her “no, she just got the first round in August this year.” She insisted that the chart couldn’t be wrong. And, she’s right, the chart was correct for whoever’s child that was, but it wasn’t Julia. After we got the right chart, then it took her several times to remember which child had asthma. Because there is a shortage in flu shots already, people without asthma have to get the flu mist. Asthma patients can’t have the mist, and get the shot. By this point, Madi’s crying because she has to have a shot, Avery crying because she doesn’t know what a mist is like and she sure doesn’t want a shot and Julia’a about to cry because she has to have 2 shots AND the mist. So, Bailey went first. Good ‘ole Bailey. The mist is basically like having nasal spray in both nostrils. She did fine. Then, Avery went next. We had to hold her head and hands. She did o.k. but kept crying several minutes after it was over to show her displeasure. Madi went next and did o.k. but remained cranky for several hours. Julia went last. She took the mist first and then I had to hold her for the two shots. I told her I wished it had been Friday–she’s already had two rotten Fridays that turned out o.k. when she went ahead and did what she had to do (Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion and the Cotillion). At Kings Dominion, right before the Cotillion last week, and today she kept saying, “I can’t do it, I can’t do it.” The nurse told her to have jelly arms and it wouldn’t hurt as much because it wouldn’t go into the muscle. I wondered if the nurse had really looked at Julia’s arms before she said that–there isn’t anything there but muscle. There’s no fat on her entire body. After we were done, I’m sure the nurse had to take a break. We’ll try to split them up next year.
Julia’s appointment to the orthodontist was great. The doctor was very nice and showed me his areas of concern. Julia has giant teeth and a small mouth. Because she has lost 3 teeth very recently and currently has 4 more loose, we are going to wait 9 months to go back to see how her mouth looks when those teeth come out the permanant ones come in. But, he did say she would have braces, FOR SURE! Her bite is more of a concern to him than the crowding. He also said he didn’t see any room where her 12 year old molars could come in. That was the case with me too. In eighth grade, I had to have my 12 year molars removed. Then, later I had my wisdom teeth removed. I also remember many trips to the dentist to have teeth pulled before I got braces in 6th grade. The ortho. said if her teeth hadn’t already been loose, he might would have suggested that we have them pulled. Thank goodness nature was already at work in that little mouth! So, we’ll avoid the $5000 expense for another 9 months! Can’t wait to see Bailey, Madi, and Avery’s mouths as they start loosing more teeth. I still need that elusive job where you get paid lots of money with no extra hours put in.
On a different note, I went to bed at 9 pm last night!!! Yep, I slept 10 hours and would love to do it again! Having sinus trouble is not a bad thing when you get to take 2 Benadryl tablets and go to bed early!
Well, another day…another project due for Julia with one day’s notice. She called me today right after school and said, “can you print me a picture of a President and some stuff about him?” I should’ve been concerned right then, but I wasn’t. We decided to do Theodore Roosevelt. I printed the stuff and headed home. She showed me the sheet about the project…she had to put pictures (plural–she had only told me to get one) and information about the President on a cereal box. I asked her when this project was due. She said, “tomorrow.” Seeing my eyebrows shoot through the roof, she add, “I told you about it last week.” I think I do remember her saying something about having another project due, but she doesn’t quite get that those are HER responsibility. Anyway, we lucked out, because we actually had a cereal box. We don’t eat much cereal and usually what we have is in a bag, not a box. Then, we actually had a solid color wrapping paper to cover the box. Our printer at home is broken, but we got our neighbor to print another picture of Roosevelt and we got the thing done. I’ve warned her that three strikes and she’s out. I’ve bailed her out for the last three projects and the next one is all her’s!! Yeah, right!
