Father's Day and More Rain

Saturday the kids and I took Bill out to a late lunch to celebrate Father's Day. He LOVES Roosters restaurant, however it is about a 45 minute drive from our house so we only go for special occasions. We took him out for wings and he really loved it. The food was fantastic and it made me wish that there was one closer. 

Then we popped into an "Ollie's" store. If you follow Sluggy's blog you know that she shops there frequently. Rebecca, Ben and Bill all found a book that they wanted. Jacob got a game, and I bought 3 boxes of cocoa krispies treats for $1.59 (regular price at the grocery story is $2.49 or higher). Then we stopped by my parent's house as we pass by on our way home. When we got there only my mom and niece and nephew were home as my sister, dad and brother were on their way home from the Pride parade in Columbus. Then we headed home before the heavy rains hit. And hit it did. It poured off and on all night. There has been flooding over some roads. 

When the kids and I went to church on Sunday morning it was like a monsoon outside. When we got home from church, we woke Bill up with donuts and presents.  The kids and I got him the "Captain Marvel" blu-ray, 2 pairs of gym shorts and Jacob had made him a joke book. And of course we took him out to lunch the day before. (As I was typing this up, I realized that I didn't take one picture of Bill at all this weekend. Oops.- He was there and he said that he had a nice weekend.) 

In the afternoon, we were supposed to have a cookout at my parents' house for Father's Day. We decided that no matter the weather we were going to have it. Well Mother Nature must have a soft spot for dads, because skies cleared at my parents' home around 1:30 and it was perfect to cookout and eat outside. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and all of my siblings were there for my dad. Rebecca made my dad a tool belt out of duct tape (my dad owns his own construction business-- he frames houses). The boys painted birdhouses for my dad. 

As we were heading home, it was starting to cloud up and pour down rain again. It has been raining off and on since then. The river is really high and we are under flood warnings. 

Today, the boys were excited because this starts their week long quest camps. Jacob is taking a "Kitchen Scientist" quest and Benjamin is taking a "Weather" quest. They both had a blast this morning and are looking forward to going back tomorrow. 

Right now, I am taking a break from cleaning house. Since we were in and out all weekend, the house didn't really get cleaned like it needed. I have laundry going and have swept the entire downstairs, cleaned the bathroom and kitchen. The kids are watching "Ralph Breaks the Internet" on Netflix as it is raining again. Sigh. What are you going to do? I think this sign that was on the Catholic Cathedral's message board in Columbus sums it up perfectly: 

If that didn't get the message across maybe this meme will: 

I truly hope wherever you are you are having decent weather and a good day! 

Rainy Weather, Good Weather, and Fortunes

The weather in our part of the country has been crazy. We are in the middle of June and we have had LOADS of rain, some warm days, some windy days, more rain, etc. Not normal June weather for Ohio at all. In fact Thursday it was 49 degrees here, cloudy and super windy and COLD. Definitely not June weather. Then yesterday, the weather was FANTASTIC! The sun was out, wispy white clouds, a gentle breeze and mid 70s. Perfect. So we decided to go walking.

We headed out to Howard to that part of the Kokosing Gap Trail. This was a compromise on my part as Bill wanted to take the kids to a playground and I wanted to walk. I really do miss walking; it is hard with my schedule to find time to get away. We walked 2 miles and it felt fantastic. 

Afterward we let the kids play on the playground that is near the trail. They had a blast until Ben went to go under part of the equipment and didn't duck down far enough and then stood up to quick and hurt his head. Thankfully, it was just a scrape but we knew it was time to go home. 

When we got home, Bill mowed the grass with our mower. A couple weeks ago, we thought we were going to have to invest in a new mower as ours was sputtering and would stop after only a couple pushes. Well a friend's husband told me to bring it out to him as he like to putter around with that type of equipment and that we could borrow his mower to get our jungle lawn mown. About a week after he texted to say our mower was ready. I am not sure what he did to it but it worked perfectly yesterday and better than it has in the last 2 years. 

After mowing, Bill went to pick up our date night dinner of Chinese take-out. Yummy! I had to laugh at the fortunes that we got. Bill got this one: 

I got this one:

Seems appropriate. LOL 

Today, Bill and Rebecca are at "Wizard of Oz" practice. I have started laundry. Jacob is playing a game with his cards and Ben is watching "The Wizard of Oz" for the 100th time this week. Later it is supposed to rain. 

In fact we have a flash flood watch starting this afternoon through Tuesday morning as we are supposed to get a boatload of rain and the ground is already saturated as it. Maybe I should work on building that ark. Well, I hear the washer stopped so I should go flip laundry. I hope everyone has a great Saturday! 

Resolutions to problems and Aladdin

Happy Wednesday! In my world, Monday and today brought some resolutions to some problems that were weighing me down. 

Monday morning, I got a phone call from Ben's nephrologist's office. His blood work and urine results were back. The numbers are slowly moving in the right direction. They are moving a little slower than we would like but they are moving in the right direction so we are to stay the course with the 3 blood pressure meds, twice daily recording of blood pressures and trying to keep a low sodium diet for Ben. And we don't have to see Dr. Patel until August (barring any changes).

After that phone call, I got the mail. In it was a letter from insurance denying the medication request for Jacob as it was not on their preferred medications list. We still had one other medication to try that was on THEIR list that we would have to try first, even though this was not the doctor's choice. Ugh. Before I could call the doctor's office, they called me. They said that they would have a prescription for the new medicine that insurance would approve ready for us that morning. Bill picked it up on Monday afternoon and Jacob started taking it yesterday. Let me tell you, I noticed a huge difference in Jacob yesterday afternoon. He wasn't making extra flapping movements, he was able to focus, etc. He even said he felt better than he had all last week. Hopefully this medicine will work. (And before anyone asks, the medication that the doc originally wanted him on would have been close to $500 for a months supply so out of our price range in order to pay cash for so not an option.) 

Finally, on Monday I also decided to log onto the IRS website to see if they had processed our return. We filed back in the beginning of March. State refund arrived, our city taxes were filed. IRS kept saying it was processing. Around the 15th of April, we get a letter saying that they were holding our refund because they were researching our filing however there wasn't anything WE needed to do. Instead they needed to reach out to other parties to get more information. They said this could take 60 days. Ugh. Well if you aren't counting business days then that would put us around the 15th of this month. I decided to log on to their website on Monday to see if anything had changed. To my pleasant surprise it had. Our refund was scheduled to be sent to our bank today and it was in their this morning! YAHOO! I am not sure what was going on with it, however I have my suspicions it has to do with one of Bill's employers (the sub shop) who never took federal taxes out and said that he had received tips that he never received. Oh well, not my worry now that Bill is at his new job. I didn't realize how much that was bothering me until it was deposited this morning. Feels like a weight off my shoulders. 

Yesterday, we decided to go out and splurge a little bit (knowing that our tax refund was scheduled to come) and we took the kids to see the new "Aladdin" movie with Will Smith as the Genie. I still found a deal as at our UEC theater it was Bargain Tuesday where tickets all day are $5 and if you use your loyalty card you get a free popcorn for each ticket. So I only had to pay for drinks :) 
The kids LOVED the movie. I thought the singing was fantastic and that Will Smith did a great job. I was kind of annoyed at the actor who plays Aladdin. He just didn't have the energy that I thought was needed. Overall, I would give it a B- grade. There are lots of movies coming out this Summer that I want to take the kids to see including "Toy Story 4" and "Lion King" (I CANNOT WAIT for that one!) and now that I know about Bargain Tuesdays I will try to take them on a Tuesday ;) 

I have done a tutoring session so far today, but now I need to get the kids some lunch before my babysitting kiddo comes. I also need to work on laundry and some bill paying; you know that fun adulting stuff ;) I hope everyone has a good Wednesday! 

Weekend Update and a rainy Monday

Sitting here on a rainy Monday I thought I would do a quick recap of our weekend. This is the weekend where we had to try to keep Jacob busy as he has not had any ADHD medication since Monday due to stupid a** insurance. (Not going into that now...). 

Anyhow, Friday night the boys and I stayed home as Jacob was not behaving at all. We stayed home and watched "Wizard of Oz" while Rebecca and Bill went to our town's "First Friday" celebration in order to take part in their singing for the play "The Wizard of Oz" that they are in. 

Copied from their Facebook page

Saturday morning found me doing laundry, Jacob playing and Ben watching "The Wizard of Oz" again! Rebecca and Bill had play practice in the morning. 

After lunch, we headed out to the book warehouse in our town and spent some time there. I love that place--- fill a Kroger bag full of books for $5? Yes please. AND every time we go the kids get to pick out a free book! After the book warehouse, we stopped by a local farmer's market to get some first of the season tomatoes, zucchini, and green beans. We also ended up getting some Georgia peaches (as the peach crops around here got ruined due to the wet cold winter that we had). Then it was off to the Children's Garden.

The kids had fun playing hide and seek in the garden and of course sitting in the giant chair. 

Sunday, we went to church (where Jacob could NOT sit still at all, and was talking the whole time) and then to Kroger for a few groceries. After lunch, we headed to the library to return books and sign up for their Summer reading program. Then we decided to head out to Ariel Foundation park to run around. 

I made up a game on the spot in their forest area. I had the kids race to see who could touch 15 trees first. This really tired them out, even Jacob! 

After getting home, the kids got baths. I made dinner including a corn casserole that the kids LOVED. I also made some zucchini bread for breakfasts for this week. 

Overall, it was a busy weekend but good. 

Now here we are to Monday. It hasn't been that bad, considering it is raining. I have heard from the nephrologist's office that Benjamin's blood work and urine labs came back as expected. There has been slight improvement which is what we wanted to see. Also I just heard from Jacob's pediatrician that insurance denied the medicine approval because it wasn't on their list of preferred drugs. They are going to give us a prescription for another drug that insurance wants us to try first. Seriously, when does the insurance companies get to decide which medications are best for the patient? So frustrating, but hopefully this new medicine will work. I have to go pick up the prescription this afternoon and go get it filled so that hopefully he will have it for tomorrow morning. 

We also started Summer school work with both Jacob and Benjamin today. I am having them do a couple pages in workbooks and read a book each day. Just because it is Summer, learning doesn't stop. 

Right now, I am typing this up, waiting for the laundry to be done so I can switch out loads and waiting for A to show up for babysitting. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday! 

Ben's Followup with the Nephrologist

Yesterday we headed back to Columbus for a follow up from Benjamin's hospital stay. We met with his nephrologist.   

The results of that visit were that they are upping the new blood pressure med to 5ml per day instead of 2.5. They are keeping him on the 2 other medications as well. His blood pressures continue to be on the high side even with his medications (think 120-135 for the top number, which is what they primarily focus on with kids. They would like the top number to be close to or under 110). He still has blood and protein showing up in his urine (although not visible to the naked eye like it was when he was in the hospital). They sent him down to the lab to do some blood work to check his levels as when he was in the hospital his bloodwork was showing that he was slightly anemic. They also are sending his urine for a 24-48 hour test to do some more in-depth testing. 

Dr. Patel said that he thinks that the testing will show the numbers are improving but he wants to make sure. If they show what he thinks they will show then we will see him in August. If they show something else then we will get a phone call and will see what the next steps are. 

Ben was a trooper. He hated getting the blood drawn (they had to take 3 vials) but the nurse was wonderful with him and she did a great job doing it quickly and efficiently. 

On the way home we stopped at McDonald's as a treat for him as it was after lunch time. He was happy with that. 

Overall, he is doing better. You wouldn't know it to look at him that we are dealing with these blood pressure and kidney issues. I am hoping and praying that the extended tests will come back with numbers going down and that we can get these blood pressures to come down and stay down. 

Thank you again to everyone who has reached out with prayers. I really do appreciate them. 

End of the school year and other stuff going on

Before I get into today's post, I have to send a shout-out to my sister! Today is her 23rd birthday! Considering the health scare she gave us back in February, I am EXTREMELY grateful that she gets to celebrate another birthday! Happy Birthday Mary! We love you so much! 

Ok, now back to what we are up to....While we have been constantly on the phone with the doctor/insurance for Benjamin, we have also been busy with end of the school year business and a visit from the Florida Grandparents and Hubby's birthday. 

First up was Bill's birthday. His parents came into town for the weekend to celebrate with him. We celebrated with dinner at Fiesta where they surprised Bill by singing Happy birthday! 

Then on Saturday (his actual birthday) we went to a cookout out at the horse farm (which we left early due to storms) and then came home for cake and presents. I made Bill a homemade chocolate and peanut butter cake and OH MY WORD was it good! I think he had a good birthday. 

Sunday, we were going to go to the campground that my in-laws were staying at but it was supposed to storm (it never did) so we ended up taking our chances and going out to Honey Run Waterfall. The kids had a blast playing in the creek at the bottom of the falls and I think my in-laws had a good time as well.

Monday morning, the kids took part in our town's Memorial Day parade. Ben did great walking. The boys started out carrying the flags for their Trail Life troop but quickly got tired. 

Monday afternoon, we all went to my parents' house for a cookout. The weather was perfect. Then it was time to say goodbye to my in-laws as they headed back to Florida. 

Tuesday evening we attended an academic awards night for Rebecca. She was honored with having been on honor roll all year long.

The kids are now officially on Summer break. I celebrated by going out to an impromptu dinner with a friend who was having a bad time at work. All I can say is that I love the Margarita's at Fiesta Mexicana. 

Back to the kids and Summer break. I now have a 7th, 4th and 2nd grader! We are still trying to get into a routine with what our summer is going to look like. I am trying to have some fun though with the kids... like when I decided to spray them down with the hose after cleaning out the van. They had a blast. 

I am also trying to get them to keep their rooms clean. They are supposed to be doing that as I speak, but I am suddenly hearing things like don't push, stop and that's not mine so I had better end this and go officiate. Hope everyone is having a good day! 

Updates on Benjamin

I just can't seem to get into a rhythm with posting on here. Too much stuff to do outside of the computer world I guess. I don't know. 

Anywho… the last time I posted I mentioned that we were waiting to hear back from the nephrologist because of Ben's continual high blood pressure readings. Well long story short, Benjamin is now on 3 different medications. They upped the dosage of one of the meds that they sent us home with (from 2.5 ml once a day to 10 ml once a day). There is another medicine that he takes if the higher number of his blood pressure is above 140. And they added a 3rd medicine to take that is once a day at 2.5 ml. Sounds easy enough right? 

Well, unfortunately we are still seeing higher blood pressure readings most of the time (last night they were 132/74, this morning they were down to 111/74). We have an appointment with the nephrologist on Friday as a follow-up to the hospital stay.

Also we have come to learn that our insurance is stupid. Long story short it took them 2 weeks, multiple phone calls from the nurse and us, multiple reports faxed to them from the doctors office with needed information, etc to approve one of the medicines (even though it was the same medicine they approved for him to take in the hospital). They FINALLY approved it 2 days ago on Monday. The nurse from Children's Hospital called to tell me that they had finally gotten the approval. She was LIVID as the only sticking point on approval was the simple syrup used to combine the medicine. (Ben has to have liquid meds instead of capsules/tablets). You have got to freaking be kidding me! 

Besides the trouble with the insurance company, Ben is doing okay. He hasn't been swelling, his urine is back to normal color and he is being a brat like normal! If we could just get his blood pressure to stay down then that would make me a happy momma.