Kean's First School Yard Brawl!

Today was one doozy of a day.

We got up with the sun to pick berries and

then get Kean off to his last day of "Extended

School Year".  He went four weeks this summer

and seemed to do okay--

 Until today, that is.

He was fine taking off on the bus.

 But I got a call from his teacher at the end of his three hour session-

telling me some 1st grader had clocked him in the face with his fist.

She said the boy has behavioral problems and that Kean didn't do

anything to provoke, he just happened to be standing in the wrong place

when this kid went off.

Kean came home with a bit of blood on his shorts but other than a rosy

cheek, I can't see anything wrong.  And other than being a little

grumpy (who wouldn't be?), he was fine.

 So, on top of Kean getting hit,

both dogs limping (and Lola moping around all depressed)...

 there is Reese.

The girls had three of their closest friends over

from Siblings Cancer camp- Camp Rainbow Gold all day yesterday.

And while Reese was all smiles most of the time,

 she got kicked in the head while playing a game in the swimming pool Monday night.

 She screamed in pain for quite some time, has had clear fluid

constantly coming out of it-- so we figured she broke her ear drum.

She was still in quite a bit of pain today, so I took her to the doc.

Because, hey, you know that's my favorite thing in the world to do, right?

There's a lot of fluid and gunk. But no big sign of a tear or problem.

We go back in a week after the antibiotics have had a chance to work.

And that was only half of the crazy stuff that happened today.

I swear, never a dull moment around here.

I'm off to bed!

Doctors Schmoctors

What's that old joke about Spring in Idaho?

If you don't like the weather, give it a few minutes.

We had sunshine, rain, wind and yep, lots of hail

(several times).  

The puppies weren't quite sure what to make of it.

 And by now you've likely heard what has been keeping

us running (no pun intended).  My mom fell 10 feet off of a ladder

and landed on her garage floor.

She has a broken foot--

which we got good news about today:  no surgery needed.

But she does have to keep off of it for six weeks.

That's gonna be tough.  Especially since my dad cracked

three ribs on Valentine's Day.

 My mom is bruised from her eye down to her neck.  Her

shoulder, her backside-- with new bruises popping up as we go.

I'm about to bubble wrap both of them.

 And just because we don't see enough doctors in our world--

we had to spend an hour with another one this afternoon.

It is time for Kean's evaluation by Health and Welfare

to determine that he still has Down syndrome and therefore

still qualifies for therapy services.

 Nope, it hasn't gone away.  He still has it.

And was quite bored in the office while I answered

at least a hundred worksheet questions about his

abilities or lack of abilities.

 And that's just step one.  We are being required

to get his IQ tested now that he's off Chemo

and might actually cooperate.

I can't think of a bigger waste of time or waste

of taxpayers dollars.  But hey, it's required.

Geez.

The Possessed and the Obsessed

Spooky puppy update.

Gotta love those glowing eyes.

The girls are growing and sometimes, honestly, all I can say is-

it's a good thing they are so dang cute.

 Lola fell asleep like this tonight on an old towel.

(They'd gone out in the rain and gotten muddy - yes, again).

Lola and Monroe like to gang up on Kean and steal

whatever he's playing with.

I don't know who I have to watch closer.....

 Kean, by the way, fell asleep in this crazy position.

I guess it is not so crazy when you realize he was in the womb

like this for most of his time.  He still sleeps this way or completely

folded over on his front.

I have to put a barricade in front of the opening on his bed

(where his head is) so he doesn't fall out at night.

(Yes, we all learned the hard way- thump).

And in case you somehow missed this on Facebook - or you 

are one of the last few holdouts, this is worth your time.

Greer has been singing this song to Kean for the past

three years, especially when he was feeling particularly sick

from the Chemo.

Evidently, he was listening.

Babies, Babies, Babies (The Barker Bovine Breeding Center and Puppy Central)

So much for a quiet little Christmas.

Our lives have been INSANE the past few days.

I don't even know where to begin-- 

so I'll begin with the cliff notes on Christmas.

All the girls wanted was a puppy.

That tricky ol' guy with the white beard and red suit

left them a stuffed puppy and a note-- saying he couldn't find

them "a puppy" and that we'd have to go as a family to pick

out one that would be a perfect fit.

But he did say he left a couple of small presents up in the barn.

 We all (and I mean all-- the Bodily's, the Moomey's, my parents

and Byron's mom) traipsed up to the barn-- where the girls

found these two little fur balls.

 Drum roll please-- meet Lola...

 and Monroe (as in Marilyn).  They call her Ro for short.

The sisters are Aussie/Border Collie and Blue Heeler mixed.

Trust me, they are even cuter in person.

 The funniest thing is they think Kean is one of their chew toys.

It is so funny to watch them interact.

 As if two puppies away from their mama for the first time

isn't enough... we came home Christmas night to find one of our

cows had literally just given birth.

It was about ten degrees outside and the new mama cow

didn't go over and clean off her baby.

So as hypothermia set in, we rushed the baby to the barn

(Byron's extended garage) and with the help of Ron Moomey,

dried the baby off and cleaned him up.

 We all took turns blow drying the fur on the little guy.

Crazy... not something I ever thought I'd do in this life!

 Between the puppies, the baby calf and Kean who got a new bed

for Christmas (have I mentioned he does not like changes in his routine?),

we were up ALL night.

The baby calf-- I think the girls have decided on the name Elfis (like Elvis

but the Christmas version), was really struggling by Saturday morning--

a runny nose, weak and wouldn't get milk from his mom.

We weren't sure whether it was the mom or the baby-- but he wasn't 

getting any milk and was really worrying us.

So even though Byron had put him back out once he was dry,

he got cold again and we brought him back into the barn.

 The most we could get the mom to do was nuzzle him and moo--

but no milk.

 So Byron went out and found a supplier open and bought some

colostrum and got that down the baby, plus some vitamin shots.

By Saturday night, he still wasn't latching on- so we got the mama

into the trailer, Byron tied her up and forced the baby onto her.

It has been a long two days (and nights) but the Cow Whisperer, aka,

Byron thinks we have rounded the corner and the little calf is now strong

enough to drink and will survive.

That's the good news.

The scary news is we have 7 more (yup, 7)

pregnant cows.

Arrggghhhhhh.