Ready for the Cabin!!

Spring is starting to show its signs around here...we won't talk about the dusting of snow we just had. When things start to turn green we start thinking about the cabin. We are lucky enough to live 1 1/2 hours away from the Hamer family cabin in Menomenie, Wi. It is a great get away for us. The kiddos and Erik had their first overnight of the year this past weekend. He decided to pack up the kids and have an adventure. They had the traditional stop at White Castle and they were off. I got to stay home and finish Eclipse (the third book in the Twlight series)..Thanks Erik! I asked them what they liked about the cabin..and this time it was playing on the bunk beds. Everyone is in a better mood at the cabin. We love to explore the lake . The cabin is on a very shallow end of the lake and over time has developed different sand islands that we get to explore. The new thing at the cabin this year will be sailing. The Apple Valley clan is going to learn to sail. I have to say that I am excited about spending time at the cabin this year. No paper route to keep us in Apple Valley this year. Hooray! Who will come with us?

Medical Update

Quick update...It happened again. Different play-date, different day but the same thing. Another seizure. 911 was called. The ambulance showed up. I ended up taking him home and letting him sleep it off. Just over an hour later, he was out playing with the neighborhood kids on the trampoline (with Erik too). Can you believe they both happened at other people's houses? It is crazy! The doctor had us go back to the children's hospital this morning. Now, since he has had 2 seizures he is more likely to have more. Andrew is now going to be taking medicine to control the seizures. We also know what to do when it happens, so will not have to call 911 each time. Hopefully, life will get back to normal again. (I just will be Andrew's shadow and my cell phone will be charged always.) I will be writing about other things soon.
We were just driving home from swimming lessons. We could hear an ambulance coming in the distance. I asked Andrew if they were coming for him again. His eye got big, he smiled an excited smile and said, "I don't know." (I told him I was kidding..he just kept smiling thinking I was a weirdo) I guess he really doesn't remember why they show up for him.

Tests are back!

Well..good news. Nothing "big, bad or ugly" caused this seizure. Andrew is normal or as normal as a Tennant can be. So now we wait and watch him. I honestly am assuming it was a once in a life time event. (although I am not allowed to let him bathe unattended) If it does happen again, we know what to do. Thank you to all of you that have helped us through this and wished us well! Thank you for all the support. We have amazing people in our lives.

My scariest moment so far...

Ok. It is official. Parenting is scary. Yesterday started off like any other day. I went to church and had a great lesson for my sunbeams then came home. Andrew and Emily went to a neighbor's house to play. A few hours later, the phone rings. I wasn't near the phone so I let the machine get it. Someone left a super long message. I broke away from my book (A New Moon) to go investigate. I get to play back this message. It is a panicked voice saying that there is an "emergency with your boy. He's not breathing..get over here. The ambulance is on the way." Repeated over and over. I screamed at Erik to get over to the neighbor's house. NOW! I didn't even see Erik..I just felt the wind blow by and heard his car race away. (he got there before the ambulance..all his auto-cross experience paid off) I quickly called my friend and she told me he was breathing now. I told her Erik was on his way. I got Ryan in the car and we went to find out what happened. I was expecting to find Andrew having a popsicle because he had choked and was fine now. That is not what we found. There was a group of people gathered around the house, a fire truck, an ambulance, and police cars. I knew it was more than choking. That was horrible knowing this was all for my child. I found out that Andrew had been playing just fine and suddenly just collapsed on the ground and started shaking. Luckily the dad had just walked into the room where they were playing. He scooped him up and called to his wife (who is a nurse). She said he was completely limp and turning blue fast. Emily said she caught him as he fell so he would not hurt his head. Emily also added that he looked dead. Lisa did the rescue breaths and CPR. His airway was fine and clear. He started to pink up a little and had another seizure. I rode in the ambulance with him. He was completely out of it. I just kept asking questions and trying to figure this whole thing out. Erik followed behind the ambulance. They gave Andrew a CAT scan and did blood work. Everything was fine which is good news. Over the next few days we get to go back to the hospital and have tests done to try to figure what triggered this and hopefully find out how to keep it from happening again. I also get to be on pins and needles wondering if this is going to happen again soon. Today he is acting like the same old Andrew. He says the worst part of yesterday was taking the tape off from the IV.

Oregon trip

This is a picture of the kiddos with Grandma Glenda forever ago! Some of you may know that recently Grandma Glenda fell and broke her arm. We have been thinking of her and worried about her ever since. There were some complications, so Erik really wanted to get out to Oregon and check on her. Emily was lucky enough for a small miracle and she was able to go with her dad. Erik's family all live very close to each other, so they were able to see everyone while they were out there. Grandma is doing fine and is now the proud owner of a new painted flower pot from Emily. Overall it sounds like it was a wonderful trip. I am jealous! I can't wait to get out there this summer. Here is a fun slide show..enjoy.

Webkinz Crazy

This is our webkinz family. Have you heard of Webkinz? If you haven't, I am sure the little ones in your life have or will. Let me explain. Each one of these little animals came with a secret code. This code is then entered onto the Webkinz website. This gives you access to the webkinz world. There you adopt your pet. You earn "kinz cash" to buy things for your pet. You feed it. You bathe it and you even take it to the doctor every now and then. All on-line. Webkiz are everywhere. The marketing is amazing. Emily just went to a birthday party and her friend received 13 new webkinz. She now has 17. Ours all started with one birthday gift to Emily last summer. It has just snowballed. I am not complaining mind you. This has been something that all three of my kiddos love to do together. Even Erik has one (his is the Koala). They have been a big part of our family so I thought I would share.
I am a good webkinz grandma and can name each of my grandkinz.
Andrew's first webkins was the green frog named "Greenie". He also has "elephanty." The pig's name is "Spiderpig." He got that one when the Simpsons movie was out. Do you remember Homer's pig that he made walk on the ceiling? (Andrew has only seen the commercials). Andrew takes after the Hamer side of the family when naming things. Dad's dogs growing up were also named so originally. "Juno" was born in June and can you guess what color "Brownie" was? You get the idea.
Right now Ryan has the most Webkinz in his family. I am not sure how long this fad will last. For now we are having fun with it. I always buy our webkinz from the same place..and the lady at the Hallmark store knows us pretty well now. I think I might need to add her to my Christmas card list..not that I have been good at getting Christmas cards out. By the way..Merry Christmas. : )