April 24,-30, 2011

Sunday-Happy Easter!
Tracy was kept up most of the night with his throbbing ear pain. We decided it best that he go to the urgent care in Highland to have it looked at. While he was there, I took the girls to church. He found out while we were at church that he has a major ear infection! They gave him a shot and wanted to give him three different meds! He said no to the pain medicine and wanted to just take Tylenol/Motrin in its place. So he then came home with two different meds instead of three.
This afternoon, the Rieke side began to arrive about 4:30 p.m. We ate at 5:00 p.m. Right after dinner Grandma and Grandpa handed out the eggs and gifts. They didn't get to hunt eggs because it was just too wet out. The kids didn't seem to mind though! It was then dessert time! My brother Russ had to leave right away because he had to work. Everyone else was not too far behind.
Once everyone was gone, I vacuumed, swept and mopped. I was exhausted, the kids were tired, and Tracy was in a lot of ear pain! We were all ready for bed. :)


Monday-This is the last day off before the girls head back to school. We didn't do too much today. Just hung out and played at home.


Tuesday-Back up for school this morning. The girls didn't really want to get up this morning. But, they did pretty well.


Wednesday & Thursday-Nothing much to report. :)


Friday-It was to bed early because the walk is tomorrow!!!


Saturday-This morning was the Friends of Kids with Cancer Run/Walk. It was a little cold when we got there but once the walk began the sun was out and it warmed right up. We are happy to report that Trystan slowly completed the 1 mile walk on her own! After the event most of the team went out to eat lunch together at Culver's in Edwardsville. We got home and the girls went to Cade's house to play. Somehow that ended up them spending the night. :) That's ok.

April 17-23, 2011

Sunday thru Thursday-Every night we went to church to listen to Ed Dunlop deliver the plain and simple message about Jesus Christ. The girls, Tracy and I loved it! Alyssa brought a friend two nights as well. She wanted to come more but had other things that didn't allow her to make it.

Friday-Even though we went to see Ed Sun thru Thurs, we were happy to be able to stay at home this evening. Just to have a night in!

Saturday-Today was cleaning day! We were preparing to have the Rieke side for Easter tomorrow. I also went ahead and made the ham ahead of time so that we could attend church in the morning. Late this afternoon, Tracy began to complain that his ear was hurting very badly.

April 10-16, 2011

Sunday-Went to church this morning together. When we came home Tracy ate lunch and went straight outside to mow. While he was out there I stayed in and cleaned house. After dinner the girls and I headed to AWANAs. It was store night at AWANAs so that the kids could use up their points and "buy goodies" with their shares. It was the last official night for AWANAs. :( The girls and I are sad that it's over already. Next Sunday night Ed Dunlop will be at our church for the AWANA kids and after he's finished they will be having a small reception to official end the year. Monday-Looking forward to another full and busy week! This evening after Alyssa was finised with dance we went to Family Night as GES. They got to go to the bookfair and get a couple of books each. We then went to the gym for the Reptile Man that came for Family Night. GROSS!!! That's all I have to say about that. When Family Night was over we stopped and picked up a pizza on the way home for dinner. We didn't get home til well after 8:00 and still needed to eat and get showers in before bedtime which is supposed to be 9:00. Needless to say we didn't make to bed at 9, but that's ok. :) Tuesday-I let the girls sleep a little bit longer this morning since they didn't get to bed til late last night. Again after dinner this evening we walked the same route as Saturday and Trystan almost shaved off a minute from Saturday's time! Wednesday-After school today the girls had practice for the Art Show. Even though we're not sure yet what they will be singing together yet. We came home finished homework and went for a walk. I thought we should try it before dinner since Trystan was getting side cramps from eating and then walking right after. She did AWESOME! Shaved off almost two minutes this time! She continues to amaze me in all she continues to do. :) Thursday-This evening while Alyssa was at dance, Trystan and I went to the park to play and pass the time. When we arrived, some of her friends were there so she played with them. I couldn't help but smile the entire time thinking of how just a few short months before she couldn't do any of this. It was beautiful outside today! Friday-The girls were happy the weekend was finally here! This evening we went to St. Louis to visit Tracy's sister Teri in the hospital. She still seemed to be in quite a bit of pain but did get up and walk the hall. I was impressed with how she was able to get around! Please continue prayers for her. Saturday-Another busy Saturday for us. This morning Alyssa had her recital pictures at the studio. We came home to drop off the costumes and went to Edwardsville to the Dance Shop to get her new jazz & ballet shoes, dance tights, jazz shorts, and a leotard. We then went for lunch and came home and spent the evening at the house. My brother and his boys came by to visit.

April 3-9, 2011

Sunday-Started the mornig off by going to church. After church the girls went to lunch with Grandma Watson and Tracy and I came home to eat. He went out after lunch to start moving and stacking more firewood while I got a little laundry done. The girls came home from lunch with Grandma, went straight upstairs to change clothes, and were out the door to play outside. I then went out and helped Tracy finish moving and stacking the firewood. We were going to get on top of the house to clean the gutters, but decided against it because of the 40+ mile per hour winds. The girls and I had to come inside to shower and get ready to go to AWANAs. We were out the door by a little after five, stopped in McDonald's for dinner, and off to AWANAs we went! Another great night at AWANAs. A little sad that it's going to be over in just a few short weeks. :( Two years ago today we took Trystan in to see Dr. Borwick because she was having leg pain. Thankfully, Dr. Borwick took Trystan's leg pain seriously and sent her over to Greenville Hospital for x-rays and bloodwork. She was the first step in saving Trystan's life! Later that day I received a call from Dr. Borwick stating we needed to go to one of the children's hospitals in St. Louis for further examination. There is where we received the news that would flip turn our lived upside down and inside out. But, looking back at all of what God has done for us and brought us through is amazing! We got through it all by God's hands and His grace! God is so good!! Monday-Back to the grind for the week! All the nice weather has come to an end today. Tuesday-The weather is continuing to warm up this week! The girls are so happy to be able to spend a little more time outside all the time. :) Trystan has her three month appointment with the surgeon tomorrow morning. Wednesday-Dropped Alyssa off at school this morning and then Tracy, Trystan, and myself headed to St. Louis for Trystan's doctors appointment with her surgeon. We arrived a little late and headed to radiology for x-rays on her leg. As soon as we finished there we went to the doctor's office for the appointment and results of the x-rays. When the doctor came in he showed us the x-rays and he seemed pleased with the results of the x-rays. Her bone is continuing to grow and thicken. Also, the old fracture from last year is finally starting to show healing. The doctor also gave Trystan permission to ride any ride at Holiday World. That news made Trystan's eyes light up! That news alone made her day! We then left the doctor's office, stopped for lunch and then headed to the school. Trystan was happy to go to school after the appointment. It is so wonderful that she loves going to school! After school I took the kiddos to the park to play for a little while to enjoy the beautiful weather. Thursday-It was a busy day after school. We came straight home after school to get homework done and get Alyssa's things together for dance and the 5th Grade Talent Show. Dropped Alyssa off at dance and Trystan and I headed to get us something to eat for dinner and then went back to pick Alyssa up. We then ate on the way to the school. When we arrived at the school Alyssa changed into her outfit for the Talent Show and headed into the school. The show had a few technical difficulties but even with those, Alyssa did an AWESOME job in both of her performances! She played her flute with a group of students for one act and did her jazz dance with Chloe and Hannah for her second act. Great Job Alyssa! We are so proud of you!!! Friday-So glad it's the end of the week. Looking forward to the weekend! Tonight after dinner the girls and I took a walk. We are wanting to get Trystan starting her training for the 1 mile Friends of Kids with Cancer walk. She really did surprisingly well. Obviously not as good as a "normal" kid but for her it was awesome! We did need to take short frequent stops, but she walked 1.12 miles in 34:29. GREAT!!! Saturday-Today Tracy and I worked outside quite a bit. We got up on the roof and cleaned out the gutters for the next big rain that's coming. We also pulled two dead plants out of the landscaping with the big orange tractor and picked up more and more and even more sticks from all of the bad winter weather. So that Tracy would be able to mow tomorrow. Even though we worked hard and it was hot out we did get quite a bit accomplished together today. :)

April 1-2, 2011

Friday-Today was April Fool's Day. The girls did try to get me throughout the day today. :) Tracy posted on facebook that he was going to be a daddy. That stirred it up! Some people didn't put two and two together that it was April 1st. He did post later that it was a joke. We were all happy that it was the end of the week and ready for the weekend. The weather is supposed to be windy but fantastic! Saturday-We spent the bulk of the day outside. The girls did help with a little yard work but mostly played. They were just happy to be outside! Tracy chopped a couple of trees down today and then he and I moved and stacked firewood. What a workout! We eneded the day with homemade pizza and a movie. :)