When it rains it pours with Joe

Joe has never been a normal kid - when he does something it is always bigger and better than the rest. I think since he was born he has always been sick during Christmas or Thanksgiving each year.

Last week we felt terrible for him because of his broken thumb/hand/wrist....But it just gets better! (We had a CT Scan on his hand today and should get the results tomorrow)

On Friday evening Joe was feeling pretty rotten and had a fever. I made him stay home Saturday morning from Alexis' gymnastics meet not knowing what was wrong with him. By the time I got home from the meet he was feeling even worse. He had fever, coughing and was really congested. They did a Flu Test and it came back negative. (The kids had the nasal flu "shot" a few weeks ago) They told me to have him drink lots of fluids and just watch him. That night he spiked a 103 degree fever and I couldn't keep it under 101 even with constant meds. Today Clint took him to Children's Clinic since he was worse than on Saturday and looked terrible and still had a bad fever and constant cough. He was tested for the flu again and guess what! It is positive for H1N1 - That's right ~ The swine flu. The poor guy has been miserable and we feel terrible for him. He is already many days into it so there is nothing that can be done for him to decrease the symptoms. To make things even worse, he is supposed to go to the Teton Science Center in Jackson, WY tomorrow with his 6th grade class and stay 2 nights and return Friday night. It is supposed to be a great learning experience. He isn't able to do that either.

Please keep him in your prayers - and the rest of us too. Joe has been coughing nonstop on me and Clint for days now. I am hoping that we don't get it. Chances are: We will.

I thought this joke was appropriate for this post:

How to get swine flu!









Some good news: Alexis won 3rd place overall for her Team Level/Age Group in her Gymnastics meet on Saturday. She was so proud (we were too)!

Joe's Hand Problems

Last Spring during baseball I remember Joe hurting his hand while he was playing catcher. He ended up sitting out the rest of the game and was in tears because of it. We iced it up when we got home, he took some ibuprofen and after a few days it seemed some better.

Last Sunday was his first practice for the next baseball season. He was stoked because he got to catch. But, unfortunately after catching he was in pain. He said that his thumb hurt really badly and that he couldn't really move it much. We again iced it up and told him he would be fine.

By the middle of this week he was still nursing a sore thumb and we decided to get it checked just in case. We took him to a sports medicine Doctor and they took xrays. Amazingly they found an avulsion (which is a broken piece of bone possibly torn away from bone or a tendon) sitting in his thumb/wrist area. They currently aren't sure where it came from but he does have a broken bone! So, we get a CT Scan of his hand and wrist on Monday afternoon so they can pinpoint where it popped off.

Joe was freaked out at first (I think we all were). His main concern was that he wouldn't get to play baseball but we are all sure that he will defiantly be able to do that once it is corrected. I will keep you informed. Please keep him in your prayers.

Click on the grid for a closer view of the fun!

We went on our annual pumpkin patch trip - I think this is our 5th year
It was extremely muddy out because of the melting snow and we had to be
careful when picking our pumpkins so we didn't get frozen ones.

They had a petting zoo there and I had to get a picture of the baby pig
munching on a pumpkin. He was so sweet!

The picture on the bottom left is classic DRAMA QUEEN Alexis! She had to take her eye
covers so she could sleep in the truck on the way. She didn't sleep but she sure pretended well.

Sledding Fun

(Click on the grid for a closer look)

Clint took the kids sledding this morning before lunch. As always, they
had a great time and enjoyed themselves. The Hi temp for today is only
supposed to be 19 degrees! BUURRR
I remember as a kid playing in the snow and never getting cold - now just standing
outside for a few minutes freezes me.

Early October Snow

We have received our first big snow - It started snowing yesterday morning and continued a little throughout the day. Then yesterday afternoon it came down pretty steady ~ we ended up under a Winter Weather Advisory and 4-7 inches were predicted. This morning when I went to work it was DEEP.

Clint measured the snow on the back porch with a ruler and he said that it indicated that we received 10 inches! It is a nice wet snow and will be great for the ground but I must admit it sure seems WAY too early for snow. I never felt like we had much of a summer this year. I am hoping that this big snow is out of the way until after Halloween. Other than last year, which was beautiful for trick or treating, it is normally really cold and sometimes snowing when the kids are out getting candy. I hope for another warm Halloween evening.

Our First Family Haunted House

Last night was our first family trip to a haunted house. Years before Clint and I would take Joe to the Cheyenne Goblin Walk which is lots of fun but the girls (Hailey and Alexis) either couldn't handle it or weren't ready yet. We ended up taking Hailey out twice in tears years before. This year I mentioned to Clint that we should try to take them all to the Haunted House down town in Cheyenne. He thought it was a good idea too!

Last night after dinner we headed in that direction - Joe was feeling good about the whole thing, thinking he is the king of scary since he attends the Goblin Walk every year. Hailey was pretty freaked out beforehand as she does not handle anything scary very well. Alexis was excited but scared. She seems to talk a lot of junk when she was scared and she had diarrhea of the mouth on the way there - indicating nerves!

When we got in there they all did well - The funniest part is that Joe was the most scared. He even admitted in the truck on the way home that it FREAKED him out! He clung to the back of my coat so tight that I thought he was going to choke me. The girls both did well and made it through without tears and even enjoyed it. I must admit that it is much scarier than the Goblin Walk. Joe and I decided that it is because it is such a confined space, you cannot run out - there is no where to run!

Go Seminoles!

Joe's football team is undefeated! They are so excited. 7 -0

The received the first seed in the playoffs in two weeks and they are looking forward to the games.


GO SEMINOLES!