Normal is still Normal

I took Shayla to a doctor appointment a couple of weeks ago since she had some tooth pain which moved to her ear. Doc checked her well over (family practice, not oncologist) and found all to look healthy. After getting some more history from her, he looked at Shayla and me and said to Shayla that even with some of the crazy, weird things she has had in her life, 'normal is still normal' and this ear ache could be just some pressure that will resolve itself. So, there we have it. We came home and everything seems to be fine.

As a mom I worry. If it was any of the other kids and an earache, I would tell them to 'tough it out' and give them some ibuprofen and send them to bed. But with Shayla, I feel like I walk a tight rope. The 'what if's' scare me into action to check things out.

Her pain has resolved, nothing else came of it.

But... now Mariah has been complaining of hip and thigh pain. Two days ago she woke up stiff and said her hips hurt her. Yesterday it was a little better, but not much. Today, about the same. She had been playing soccer on the playground at recess the day before the stiffness set in, but no injury. So, I sit here now 'freaking out' inside. Trying to stay calm and tell me this is 'normal' pain from horsing around on the playground. But I have made her curtail any running, jumping or twisting activities until we can see if this resolves after a few more days. In the hips she said it felt like it was in the bone, the thighs feel like it is in the muscle according to her report.

I hate what cancer has done to my way of thinking about and dealing with 'normal' aches and pains of childhood. Whether this pain of Mariah's is normal or not remains to be proven. I hope it is. But, the worry will eat at me until we know. Until then, I guardedly will monitor her pain to see if there are changes. .....I hate this.

Swing-along Alysia

Two days before school started Alysia had surgery on her right foot to correct a bunion. Now she is on crutches and a 'hugo' for 6-8 weeks while the bones heal. It's a good thing she only has two feet since she had the left foot done last fall!

She handles it all in stride (no pun intended) and is going to be just fine. Next week the stitches come out---thanks to Dad being a nurse, he will remove them.

College-Bound!

Jarin has been getting me out to go shopping the past couple of days to get the stuff he will need (and then some!) for school. Boy, I am glad he earned scholarships!! Jase and I will take Jarin to BYU-I Sunday after church services and then stay Monday for orientation activities (including a luau dinner and show!). He is so ready to be out on his own. He has grown much this past year and it has been wonderful to see.

Last Sunday Jarin was ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood! He was a young Elder for a day, having been ordained the day before his 18th birthday.

Where has all the time gone?

A Graduate is among us!

Well, almost! Jarin has officially finished High School and will graduate next Tuesday! To celebrate, I got to take him out for a sushi lunch...mmm!

He has made his decision about schooling, and has determined of the two schools which have offered him scholarships, he feels better about Brigham Young University-Idaho. So, that is where he will start in September. It has been a hard experience to go through with him because as Mom and Dad, we feel differently about where he should go, but as a quasi-adult, he has to start making decisions and owning them, along with all the consequences...good and/or bad. I think I have had the worst time of it because I am more vocal with him, but I also know it is his life and he must learn to lead it without us.

Happy New Year!

We are off to a wonderful new year and grateful to have it!
Resolutions? 1) Get closer as a family--you can depend on family when the going gets tough as long as your family is tough, made so by love and patience, kindness and forgiveness 2) Serve more, demand less. We want to be more selfless, and 3) This one is all mine: I am going to hug each member of our family every day. Even my senior in high school!

When I informed the kids this evening after scripture reading that was my plan and intent, no one ran away! Well, Shayla tried to say she was already hugged, but I knew better! I was able to give each of them a hug, and believe it or not, each one hugged back! Chelen even came back for another hug before going to bed! Oh yes, and Jase, too. He's the most important one for that!

Health in 2010: Alysia's foot seems to be healing well after bunion removal surgery on her left foot 6 weeks ago. Shayla's sinuses are all clear again, and no cancer in sight! Jarin's eyes haven't gotten much worse, so he can still wear the same pair of glasses and Brendon's eyes are adjusting to his contacts, his chosen birthday present. Chelen, Mariah and Elloryn have no new pains and Jase and I are healthy too.

Happy New Year!

Three is such a hard number...

If you are 3 years old, or raising a 3-year old, or living with one!! See, it seems Elloryn has decided to make 3 a very memorable year! Three weeks ago (on our anniversary no less), Elloryn swallowed an alkaline cell battery. So, to the ER we went for an x-ray and a long wait. That came out just fine a week later....then Elloryn decided she had seen Mom and Dad make pancakes often enough, and she was hungry, so she pulled out the canister of Morning Moo milk, the bag of pancake batter mix and dumped most of it into the milk cannister. She added water...seen Mom and Dad do that before, then added what all pancakes need to taste the best...Syrup! yep, right there in the same cannister! Mom was able to salvage 2 gallons' worth of Morning Moo, so at least there were a couple of days we didn't need to mix a new pitcher of it for the 'fridge'. She writes on walls, uses Mom's make-up, ate all her sisters' Halloween candy while they were at school, and still she smiles and when asked 'why did you do that' replies "I don't know!" AHHHHHHHhhh!

Tonight, now is a different story. We went to the ER last night because at 10:00p.m. she developed a high fever of 102.4 (F). She complained that her stomach hurt and was not herself. The ER ruled out bladder infection, said they wouldn't be testing for H1N1 (Swine Flu) because they just tell people to go home and watch the fever and hydration. The doctor also checked to rule out appendicitis. Nothing. So, today she continued to be miserable, even with popsicles, and now at 11:00 at night her fever is up to 102.5 again (it spiked to 103. 4 when I called Home Teachers to come give her a blessing since Dad is at work--that was an hour after ibuprofen medication!). She is resting now, in my bed, propped up with a cool cloth on her head. Poor thing. I hope she gets some rest. I hope I do, too, or tomorrow will be a very hard day!

Three is a very hard age.

The passing of time and loved ones

Okay, so it is well beyond a few weeks since the last post. There are many excuses, but no need to elaborate on them all. Let's just say life happens, and for our extended family this past month, death does, too.

My paternal grandfather, Harry Christian Wilhelm Christensen (November 25, 1922-August 4, 2009) passed away after a fall which resulted in a broken hip. His body was just too old and sick to recover from the ordeal and my grandmother let him go back Home by removing Life Support per his wishes before the fall occurred.

Unable to stay by herself any longer, my grandma, OMA (in German) has moved in with our family. It has been a great adjustment, to say the least, but the family is rallying around her and hopefully this will be a happy time for her as she lives out the remainder of her life. I have some pictures to post, and will do so soon. Right now, it's back to taking care of the fam!

Look out, Here He Comes!

Jarin can drive all alone now!

It is official, Jarin has his FIRST driver's license. He would have had it yesterday if he had been told he needed a picture i.d., but since he destroyed his school i.d. card, he was up the proverbial creek, and no one knew who he was. He came home dejected a bit, but early this morning we remedied the situation. Luckily he still has his passport from an Aussie/Kiwi trip 5 years ago. The picture was young, but still worked! Yes, he has already gone on his first solo drive--to violin lessons.

Yesterday Jarin made the call to the insurance company to find out how much it is going to cost to have the priviledge of driving without Mom or Dad in the car. Let's just say he wished he had a good job! Even with the Good Student Discount it is a lot of money!

So Jarin's words to all you traveling in our neck of the woods: Look out, Here I come.

Hopefully that only means you will be seeing him in passing on the road, and not going faster than the speed limit! Hey, if you do see him driving like a maniac please let us know!

Time for a Trim!!

Brendon finally acquiesced and let me cut his hair. Believe me, it was more than a trim! His hair was so long that it covered his eyes and curled at the rim of his glasses into a ski-launch! Now he is sporting a debonair style--short and sleek. He is so funny because now he is trying gel and all kinds of ways to mess with shorter hair. Maybe he'll grow out of this vanity stage....we hope ;-)

Whirlwinds and Dust Devils

WOw! Where has June gone? SOOOO much has been going on in the French household that it seems as if the winds have been blowing non-stop since school let out! We left for Texas on June 6th, at an hour waaaayyyyy too early for a family of any size! Our dear neighbors taxied us to the airport at 5:50 a.m. The flight was pretty uneventful (other than the feeling like we were going to fall out of the sky in Denver!). A black stretch limo picked us up from the San Antonio, TX airport and chauffeured (are there 2 fs and 2 rs in that one?) us to our hotel. The couple of days we spent in San Antonio were one of our whirlwinds! We spent the evening Saturday just settling in to our fancy digs and getting something to eat. We even had cheesecake waiting for us, compliments of the hotel concierge. We swam in the rooftop pool and walked along the famous Riverwalk of San Antonio. On the Sabbath we tried to keep things low key. We did take in the Alamo--the History Shop established by Phil Collins (yes, the European!) just across the street from the Alamo is a must stop, and at a dollar per entrant, it was totally worth it! Did you know the Alamo originally didn't have a roof? Apparently most missions were built 'open-air', but for tourism (?) it is enclosed now. We walked around a little trying to find a bus stop to take us to the Witte Museum. Unfortunately, we walked around the stop and missed it! Oh well, maybe another opportunity will come to visit TX and we can plan on a trip there. The last 'touristy' thing we did was ride the riverboat in the Riverwalk. It was a great tour of the interior of the city. Fascinating stuff!

Monday morning we were again picked up by a stretch limo--this one was white--to take us out into the sticks. Have you ever tried to buckle a car seat into a limo? Well, let's just say Elloryn was buckled into her seat for most of the trip, but since there were few seatbelts in the limo she would have ended up in someone's lap if there had been a sudden stop!

Once on the Ranch (Rancho Cortez) it was all horses. Shayla loved every minute of it and everyone else got to enjoy it too. Jarin, however, was less than thrilled to be away from the comforts of home: cell phone reception, T.V., computer access, Friends! HOWEVER, I cry as I share this, he never, ever complained about it! He knew it was Shayla's wish and he went along with it. He was a real trooper and a great brother and son about it. He will probably tell you that the best part of it for him was getting to cut down the cedar trees on the ranch.

The pictures tell the story best, so I will post those, as a slide show if I can---we took over 500 pictures total (498 are on my camera alone!), so there will be a lot of them left out. Enjoy!

No more caterpillars

On March 30, 2009, Brendon said, "I need a razor." He no longer liked the idea of having little hair over his lip. So, off to the bathroom with shaving cream and razor we went. Dad was already off to work when Brendon had the notion of shaving, so he missed the 'live' event. However, we have it in pictures!

Now he wants an electric razor for his 14th birthday---that's December. Hopefully we can wait that long! And yes, he has shaved again since this first shave.

Faeries and Front Teeth

Mariah has been visited by the Tooth Faerie (or Fairy if you prefer) twice in the past month! Mariah came to Mom with a plea for help when the first tooth was wiggly beyond wiggly! She demonstrated just how 'ready' it was to come out by the ever-popular tongue push where, when applied, the tooth position became so contorted that it looked like it should have hurt! Since Jase was not available for the assist, Mariah handed me the tissue and said, 'Pull it out, please'. Understandable since it was getting in the way of her eating an apple in any 'normal' way! It took a few tugs, twists and turns on Mariah's part, and probably a bit of pain she would have liked to do without, but she held on, and out the tooth came! The next morning Mariah came running up from her room with a DOLLAR! The Tooth Faerie has never left a dollar before! That must have been some tooth! Within a couple of weeks, the second front top tooth was showing signs of coming out. So, Mariah handed me a tissue again. This one was a bit harder to pull out. Poor Mariah, it had to hurt, the root seemed to be an inch long! This one brought in 75 cents. I guess the Tooth Faerie ran out of paper. Now Mariah is enjoying her toothless grin. She loves to push her tongue through it and I am sure there are times water amazingly squirts out on its own, too!

Flushed

After a track practice or meet, Jarin, Shayla, Brendon or Alysia will be flushed from the exertion, but the best kind of 'flushed' these days is that related to the commode. Yes, Elloryn is officially one of the potty-sitters in our home!! Hurray for no more diapers! Can I say that again, HURRAY!! At first it was a challenge for all of us to get trained with Elloryn, but she has us all marching in a row now and we can help to keep her dry and clean with a huge group effort. I don't know of many 2 year olds with such a large potty-patrol cheering squad. No wonder the rest of the kids were 3 or older before they were done with diapers, they didn't have as many voices cheering like crazy.

Spring is here, along with the crazy weather. Sunny and clear one day, snowy and cold the next, but I do believe the snowy days are gone for the season. It is time to plant our garden! Trying to find heirloom seeds in stores is ridiculous. No one can tell me which ones are or aren't, and the packaging doesn't help. I guess I have been too complacent about what to do for seeds, 'cause the stores always have what we want. Well, this year I have decided it is best not to rely on the stores to carry what I will need. I may have to get them online...Plant a garden and eat great food all season long!

Other Recent Notables:

Shave and a Hair cut...Brendon gave himself his first shave last month. He was tired of this furry little creature resting just above his lip, so he asked for the razor, used the shaving cream, and 1-2-3, it was gone! Now about that haircut...he doesn't want me to touch it. We shall see. Jarin seems to think he likes long side burns and locks, too.

Turning of the soil. Jase got out in the garden and turned the dirt, it looks ready for a bumper crop!

And the ribbon goes to...Alysia. She has been bringing home several 2nd place ribbons from recent track events. Her long legs help in long jump and relays. She also placed 2nd in shotput!

Scouting Goals

Both Brendon and Jarin are working hard on their scouting goals. Brendon has earned his Star Rank and is working on Life. With the cards Jarin holds in his hand (in such a corny manner for the camera's sake!) he has earned all the required number of merit badges to qualify for Eagle Scout. Now he is going to work on his project. It took awhile to get that narrowed down, or should I say nailed down, since there was a bit of hammering on my part to see that he made efforts in that direction! He will be overseeing and carrying out a total update of a neighborhood park (which he probably doesn't remember, but he played there often as a new Boisean!). Of course, as an almost 17 year old, he has a little more incentive now to get his Eagle Scout Award because our rule is that the boys need to earn their Eagle and our girls need to earn their Young Womanhood Recognition before they receive the privilege of obtaining their independent driver's license! I think Brendon will earn his a lot sooner than Jarin because he has seen that Mom is serious!

Birthday Girl is a Tweener!

On March 25th we celebrated Alysia's 12th birthday. She has been waiting so long for that day! Now it is a day of the past, a recent memory that I think and hope will last for a long time. Not because of any grand party, or elaborate gifts, but because of the sweetest gift Shayla could have given her, time.

Being that her birthday fell on Wednesday, she was able to enjoy a little of the "Tweener World" that very day. She had her last Activity Days (for girls 8-11yrs) activity AND her first Young Women's activity--and believe it or not, it was a combined activity with the boys!! How lucky can a young lady be on her first day of being 12???

Spring Break and a Birthday

The Frenches are not doing anything exicting for Spring Break this year. I (Carmen) am trying to get all our tax materials together so I can get it to our 'Tax Guy', but the day just seems to slip away! If I don't get it done this week, we may not get it done before April 15th, and last year June was just a little later than I wished to wait for our tax return! So, tomorrow....

Alysia is 12 years old this very day! She was pampered by Shayla (a huge surprise). Shayla did Alysia's hair all in ringlets and clips. It was so pretty all day long! A few weeks ago we were in the grocery store by the bakery and Alysia saw the wedding cake displays. She said, "that's the kind of cake I want for my birthday." Well, she didn't get a cake on pillars, but I baked a yummy one from scratch for her and decorated it pretty. Alysia got to go out with Mom and Dad all by herself to pick out her birthday presents. She wanted a pretty ring, so we found one within our budget, and a 'Bionicles' block-building creature to go with it. I have to laugh at the contradiction: all pretty and sparkly (the ring) and tomboy (the bionicles toy)! She is still young and I am grateful!