Spring Break 2008

Today was the first official day of Spring Break. We woke up to this:

Not a good sign. However, we were not to be deterred. We have plants for our garden in the house ready to plant outside. Not gonna happen anytime soon I am afraid. We did stay inside today, though. Daniel is just getting over pneumonia and I didn't want to chance it coming back or getting worse, so we played inside. Every one did very well today. Our activity of the day is a Bag Pipe and drum concert at the college. They also have Scottish dancers, the works if you know what I mean. The twins and Doug went tonight. It started at 8pm, hence the naps today, and as I write this at 9:20pm they are still not back yet. The other three stayed with me and we will go tomorrow night. Us homebodies played Wii and just had fun. As you can see.

Sarah is also doing well with the potty thing. She still has it quite backwards and has yet to go on the potty, but she does come down very early in the morning to "go potty" and change out of her wet pull up or diaper. I know she will eventually get this, right? ;-) Even though she is my fifth and you would think I would be a pro at this, each child seems to do it differently and I have little to no recollection as to how I did it with the last one. So I kinda start from scratch each time. Not the smartest idea in the world, but I'm going with it for now.

I forgot to mention our parsonage excitement over Easter. Remember at Thanksgiving our heater broke and we had to have a member, who is also a heating and cooling guy, come out and fix the heater on Thanksgiving Day? Well over Easter weekend our well tested positive for coliform, a contaminant in the water. So we had to pour 4 gallons of bleach in the well. Let it run till we smelled bleach in the water in the house, let it sit for 12 hours, then run it again until we couldn't smell bleach in the water. The pictures are of Doug hooking the hose up to the house to rig up something in order to do the above mentioned project. Thankfully our water tested negative on Monday and is once again safe to drink. No, we have no real idea how it got contaminated in the first place, we have some, but nothing for sure. We will hopefully be testing in again in a few weeks to be sure we did indeed kill the contamination and not just mask it for a while.

I am planning on posting everyday this week, or close to it anyway. We are feeling so much better and are anxious to get out and do things as a family. Doug is taking off next week so he can join in the fun. We have plans to go to Grandmas, visit the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, go to Ann Arbor to visit Amanda and Amelia, go see the play The Sound of Music and lots of other fun things. So check back often to see what we have been up to. Maybe we will see you in our travels!!!

Update

Here is an update for all of you keeping track.

Grace -- still healthy. She lives with hand sanitizer and Lysol in her room.

Nathan -- back at school. Still coughing but much better.

Jacob-- back at school. Still coughing but much better.

Daniel -- influenza mutated into pneumonia just like the others. He is on Omnicef for 1o days. Contagious for at least three. That means no school for him this week.

Sarah -- much better too. Still going potty in the pull up THEN sitting on the big girl potty. Putting her in underpants didn't work, she promptly pooped in them. Back to pull ups for a while.

Doug -- tired but hanging in there. More under the weather today than usual, but we are hoping that is just stress induced. Tuesdays aren't good days here. They are meeting day at church. ;-)

Robyn -- tired but OK. Glad most of the kids are back at school. Looking forward to planning some fun activities that limit interaction with others but still allow us to get out of the house for a few hours at a time. Will be carrying hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes with me EVERYWHERE!!

As you are planning your summer calendars Save this Date : August 2, 2008. This is the day we are planning the Big Birthday Bash at our house. The theme this year is STAR WARS. It is going to be a nice sunny summer day with lots of fun, family, friends and fellowship. Come early and stay late!!!

Third Quarter Report Cards came home today. The kids did excellent. Grace got all A's and B's. She improved in just about all her subjects. She is doing better each quarter. Jacob got the equivalent of all A's and Nathan was close with only one B in penmanship, who'd have guessed! The boys will get actual letter grades next year. In second grade they have an O for outstanding S for satisfactory and N for needs improvement. You can also get S+ and S- too. She also lists % so we know what the letter grade would be. They did great!! They really do enjoy school and are keeping up quite well, despite all the days they have missed.

Grace will be reciting a poem during opening on April 21. This is something each child in the school does once a year. The teacher assigns a poem, the student memorizes it and then recites it for memory in front of the entire school, K-12, during the opening. This is when they assemble at the beginning of the day to raise the flag, say the pledge, acknowledge birthdays or good grades, and make announcements. They also have one or two children recite a memorized poem. It is great for memory skills and public speaking skills. Grace almost has hers memorized already. I will post it on the 21st along with some pictures and if I'm lucky, a video too. The boys will have their turn shortly after Grace. They begin with the Seniors in the fall and end with the Kindergarten at the end of the year.

Happy Easter!

I hope that all of you had a blessed Easter celebration. We stayed home!! Daniel had a fever and the twins were still coughing and very crabby! They will head back to school tomorrow for two and a half days this week. Daniel will visit the Dr soon, he still has a fever and we think his influenza has also mutated into pneumonia. Happy Joy!! He will not got to school tomorrow.

This has been the craziest Holy Week we have ever experienced. It has just been a weird Lent season all around. The weather has been nasty. The kids and adults have been sick seemingly non stop since before Ash Wednesday. We canceled Ash Wednesday service and Good Friday service due to weather conditions!! There was snow on the ground for Easter!!!!

I am sooooooo looking forward to Spring Break! We are not going anywhere. We are staying right here. I plan on being outside as much as possible. We have loads of work to do so it shouldn't be a problem. We had thought about taking the kids somewhere, but each place we thought of we thought of ways they could contract germs and diseases there so we opted to stay home. We may get over to visit the grandparents, but even that is an iffy prospect.

Sarah has added to the fun by deciding to want to go on the big girl potty. I should be happy about this I really should but I am not. I am just not ready to spend half my day in the bathroom waiting for her to tinkle on the potty. She has it backwards right now and I have little patience to help her get it straight, but I will because I am a good mommy. Right now she pees in the pull up then goes to sit on the potty. She climbs up, sits for a few seconds, wipes, hops off , checks to be sure the toilet paper made it in, then climbs back up, sits a while longer, wipes again, hops off, flushes,watches it all go down and puts on a new pull up. She does this about five times in one hour then plays and forgets until she pees again and repeats it again another five times. She has yet to actually GO ON THE POTTY!! Any tips on how to get her to reverse the order and pee on the potty not in the pull up? I was kinda hoping she would wait until this summer when she could run around in a bathing suit or whatever outside and just pee until she figured out what she needed to do. No, she has to want to do it when there is still snow on the ground!!!!!! Oh well, such is my life lately.

Got to finish up this blog for now. Our new show is on at 9pm. It is called New Amsterdam. Anyone else watch it? It is on Fox on Monday nights. If you liked Highlander you will like this. Same concept, sort of. Check it out!!

Maundy Thursday

I had thought about writing something about Maunday Thursday today. About its origin, its meaning and such, but instead I have posted Doug's sermon from this evening. Call it a wives pride or something like that, but I thought it was a good one and he said everything I wanted to and more. It isn't too long, a homily really. I hope you all get a chance to read it.


Where there is life there is death. This reality hit home for me several years ago as I was making a hospital visit. As I was waiting in line to find the room number for the person I was planning on visiting, my attention was drawn to the hospital waiting room. There sitting in a wheel chair was a new mother holding in her arms her newborn child. Her face was one big smile as she glowed with love for her husband and her child. I smiled and thought of my own children and how such a new life is a blessing from God.
Then I heard the sound of wailing. I first thought it was another child. I turned and saw and old man crying into his hands. Through the sobs, I heard his daughter explain that he had just lost his wife to a sudden stroke. He looked like they were about to go out and enjoy a sunny afternoon together, but just like that, in a blink of an eye she was gone. I saw the tears and heard the pain in his voice as he finally came to grips with the words his daughter had just told him. As I stood there in line, I saw the drama of each of our lives being unfurled before me. That day God had reminded me of a powerful truth, that where there is life there is death.
Tonight we gather in the midst of Holy Week to remember Jesus. Tonight our time of Lenten preparation gives way to a time of celebration, a celebration of the suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins. Scripture tells us that the life Jesus lived , he lived for us. For what Jesus was about to undergo, no mortal man could even begin to endure. However, the pain and suffering would come, but for now this night was a night to enjoy life. A night that Jesus used to prepare Himself and his disciples for His coming death.
Some this week will ask themselves, why did Jesus have to die? The reason is simple Jesus had to die because we have to die. Jesus humbled himself and was born under the law and in doing so submitted himself to the punishment of the Law that is death. For as the Law of God decrees, the wages of sin is death. Everyone has fallen short of the glory of God and is under God’s judgment. We are all like the flowers that will soon bloom in the fellowship garden outside the church. We bloom for a time, but when the darkness and cold of winter come, we will wither and fall away. Yet, although Jesus was just like us in every way, there was a difference. He knew no sin. Yes, Jesus was born under the Law, yet because he was perfect , the Law had no hold on Him. Sin and death had no hold on Him. The angel of death could not touch Jesus.
As Jesus sat down to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. Someone, would ask,”Why is this night different from all the rest?” Jesus, as the host of the dinner, would respond by retelling the story of the Passover. How God stretched out his mighty hand and rescued the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. How God sent ten plagues to show His power and might over Pharaoh and his false gods. Jesus would tell how with the last plague, the plague of the first born, God commanded the people to place upon their doors the blood of the lamb so that as the angel of death went through the land it would Passover those houses marked with blood. As Jesus recounted the events of that evening over the roasted lamb, He and the twelve would have relived that first Passover and in doing so they became part of God’s ongoing plan of salvation for all.
But God was not done redeeming his people from their bondage. As I said this was an ongoing plan of salvation. The Passover was just the beginning, just a foreshadow of what was to come. God was not happy with this world’s reality. He was not going to let sin, death, and the devil have the last word in our lives. That is why Jesus, the perfect Son of Man and God, chose this night, chose this Passover feast, to give those who believe in Him a new reality. Yes, where there is life there is death, but now in Christ where there is death there is now life. That new life comes to each of us through the shed blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Long ago, a lamb’s blood saved God’s people from the angel of death as it passed over their homes. Tonight, as we remember the words of our Savior, we remember that Scripture says in order for our sins to be forgiven blood must be shed. It must be perfect blood, eternal blood, from a lamb without any defect. This holy sacrifice was, thy Lamb of God, Jesus, who shed his blood upon the wood of the cross forgiving us our sins and sealing us within Himself so that the angel of death would Passover all who believe on the last day.
Why is this night different from all the rest? Because on this night we remember Jesus’ words of institution and we are there in the upper room with the twelve. We eat the very same body that was wounded for our transgressions. We drink the very same blood that stained the wood of the cross red. Jesus gives himself in this Supper as a token of our forgiveness. The curtain has been torn in two because Jesus body was torn upon the cross. The Way to God’s altar and His eternal presence is now open for all believers. Jesus has destroyed this world’s reality and He has opened up for us a new way of life, a way of life that comes only through Him. With the eyes of flesh, we are reminded, where there is life there is death. But now as we remember Jesus in the upper room, we see another reality at work. That new heavenly reality shows us that where there is death, namely Jesus’, then there is life, eternal.
It is this eternal life that we now celebrate this evening. For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Through Jesus’ death our guilt forgiven and Jesus has washed up clean. The time of penitence has ended. The time of rejoicing has begun. Tonight we dine with the Lord. Tonight heaven and earth become one. The church in heaven and the church below join this night as we receive the gifts won for us by our Lord. Fellow redeemed, your sins have been forgiven! And as the Catechism teaches, wherever there is forgiveness there is also salvation and eternal life. Enjoy what the Savior offers because the gift of his body and blood bring hope to a world darkened by sin. May you find strength and comfort in this new life both now and forever. In Jesus name. Amen.

Sickness update: Grace - still healthy. Nathan, flu and pneumonia. Jacob, ditto. Daniel, fever and an all over miserable feeling!! Sarah, on the mend, no new symptoms. Doug, tired, but ok. Robyn, ready for a vacation!!!

Influenza

I have learned a few things this winter. Some I will remember for a life time and some I wish I never needed to have learned in the first place. I have learned that your house can be spotless and you will still get sick. I have learned that the bigger your family the longer it takes for sickness of any kind to make its way through your family. I have learned that children who are getting their very first flu vaccine ever need to have a booster a month after the first one. Finally, I have learned that sometimes even the flu vaccine doesn't work!!!

If you haven't guessed by now, we have the influenza at our house. It started with Sarah on Wednesday. Just one week after she got the stomach bug, vomiting and diarrhea, she started coughing and pulling at her ears. Great, I thought, another ear infection or a spring cold. Nope, none of the above. It was Influenza. The doctor said her test couldn't have been any more positive. Happy Joy. Nothing to give her, nothing. Just rest and fluids. Oh and she is contagious for at least a week. Happy Joy. Friday the twins had fevers of about 100 and coughs. Happy Joy. They stayed home from school, which the teacher should thank me for since I probably would have sent them if Sarah didn't have Influenza. I have yet to take them to the doctor, since there is really nothing he can do for them, except tell me they are contagious for a week too. They seriously can't afford to miss too much more school. Although they do catch up rather quickly. Now if Grace goes, third grade is a lot harder in the catch up department. I can only pray she makes it through this week. They have no school Good Friday or Easter Monday then only two and a half more before Spring Break. Think we can hold out until then? Me either! Which means no church, no scouts, no HONK, no Tuesday Bible Study, no Winter Wonderland, and a lot of time at home with sick kids. Happy Joy. Think we will be in church for Easter? Me either! I can hardly remember the last time my parents or Doug's were here to visit. My mom and dad have tried two weeks running and I have had to tell them to stay home! Peyton's birthday was a month ago and we still haven't given her a present or even seen her. Sarah has been waiting for that birthday party for ages.

One last thing I have learned; a four year old tends to get into a lot of trouble when his big brothers are home sick and don't want to play!! Gotta go, Daniel is supposed to be sleeping, but he isn't !

Update

We seem to be getting better. The twins and Daniel went to school today, but Grace stayed home for one more day before she goes back tomorrow. Doug's mornings are still rough, but he does better as the day goes on. He thought he may have caught what ever it was we all had, but so far so good. We hope that we can still have Grandma and Grandpa Wyckhuys and Peyton over this weekend. Only time will tell.

Pinewood Derby and another Quarantine

Yes, you read correctly. We are once again sick, all of us. Another stomach bug hit us. Sarah was the first to go on Wednesday last week and we are still waiting for Daniel. Doug was also diagnosed with having had Mono, so he will be recovering for a while. I am really truly ready for spring!! We missed church again for at least the third time since Christmas, it could be more, I have lost count. Some one in our house has been sick since the second week of January, pretty much non stop!! Come on Spring!!

Despite all of that we have been able to do a few things since I last posted. The twins are involved in Cub Scouts and they had their annual pinewood derby race this Saturday. Daniel also participated with a car he and Pappa Adams made last year. I have posted the pictures and the awards. Daniel came in first in his race, Jacob got a third and Nathan's car was voted the coolest by all the other racers!! They had a blast! It was a lot of work for a race that lasted under an hour!! Nathan's is the green car, Jacob's is the white and blue one and Daniel's is the red, just incase you couldn't guess!!!

Well I must say that there isn't much else happening here. We are only trying to get through normal everyday stuff and hopefully, this too shall pass. Blessings to all!!!