*Ear Surgeries

     This blog post has been a long time coming and I can finally write it.  In April 2011, Mackenzie and Nathan both had surgery to get tubes put in their ears, and Mackenzie also had her adenoids removed.  I didn't think to bring my camera with me so I used my phone to get some precious pictures of them before they went in for the surgery.  The problem was that I couldn't figure out how to get the pictures off of my phone.  Yesterday Daren and I activated a new phone service and I needed a new phone that would work with the new plan.  It came with a USB cord for the phone so I thought, Hmmm, I'll just check and see if it works with my old phone.  It did!  So I could finally download all those phone pictures onto the computer.  There will soon be another blog post with all of those.
     Let me start by backing up.  Mackenzie was in kindergarten and as a normal part of kindergarten, the school nurse did hearing tests on all the kids.  They do other tests too but that was when we first found out that Mackenzie wasn't hearing 100%.  They did want to redo the test before referring her to an audiologist because even a cold can give you temporary hearing problems.  They repeated the test and she failed again.  They gave us the referral and we took Mackenzie to see an audiologist.  The audiologist discovered that she had a vacuum behind both of her eardrums pulling the eardrums tight towards her head.  She also confirmed that she wasn't hearing clearly.  She said it probably sounded to her like it would sound under water.  She also most likely felt some pain at times as well.
     The next step was to take her to an Ear, Nose, Throat doctor (ENT).  Mike's little boy, Jake, had to go see a pediatric ENT to get tubes in his ears and Mike and Cindy told us what a wonderful doctor he is.  So we decided to go to Valencia so that we could be sure to see a pediatric ENT.  At the same time we were figuring out all of Mackenzie's hearing problems, Nate was having ear infection after ear infection, so our pediatrician suggested that we go ahead and take him to the ENT too.  We made a double appointment with Dr. Vadapalli in Valencia.  It turned out that he had an office in Lancaster too so from then on we would be able to start seeing him there.  We also scheduled the surgeries to have the tubes put in their ears for a surgery center in Lancaster.
     We had to do a little bit more with Mackenzie because of her age.  Nate's problems were pretty common but Mackenzie's were unusual.  We took her to get an x-ray to see her adenoids because Dr. Vadapalli said if they were oversized then they could be blocking her ear tubes and causing the vacuum.  Because the x-ray wasn't 100% conclusive if the blockage was caused by the adenoids or not even though they were larger than normal, we decided to go ahead an have tubes placed in her ears as well as her adenoids removed at the same time.
     Mackenzie was very nervous about having surgery.  We tried to do some special things for her to make it easier on her.  We took her to the store and bought her some special pajamas to wear to the surgery center.  My mom got her a brand new stuffed unicorn.  She and Nathan couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight the night before.  The surgery was on April 28, 2011.  Nate was 10 months old and he was so grumpy because he was so hungry.  We changed them both into hospital gowns and they got hair nets for their head.  Mackenzie started to get really nervous and I could see that she was about to tear up.  Some sweet nurses brought her some coloring pages and some markers.  That helped her get her mind off of things and she cheered up quite a bit after that.
     Nate went first and he was done so fast!  But he was very, very sad for about 30 minutes.  Once he finally calmed down he was even smiling and being adorable to the nurses.  Dr. Vadapalli said Mackenzie would only take an extra 15 minutes because of the adenoids.  When it ended up being so much longer than that, Daren and I really started to get nervous.  The nurses assured us that the doctors always think it's going to go faster than it is because they forget to figure in all the prep time.  Because we had already gone back with Nathan, we were back there when they brought Mackenzie in.  I think normally they don't bring the parents back until the child is fully out of anesthesia because that was pretty hard to watch.  I couldn't even look and Daren couldn't stop looking.  She finally woke up but like Nate, she was very sad for a long time.  She said she was in pain so they gave her some pain medication and let her go back to sleep.  Nathan fell asleep too so we just sat in there for a long time while Mackenzie slept off the anesthesia and pain med.  We were so tired too because we had to get up so early in the morning to get to the surgery center by 7am.  Daren fell asleep next to Mackenzie while we were waiting for her to wake up.  Finally the nurses came in and woke her up and said it was time to get going.
     It was hard to see our little babies go through this trial and have to be put under general anesthesia.  But I am so grateful for modern medicine and that they were able to be helped.  After the kids had completely recovered, we went back to Dr. Vadapalli so that Mackenzie and Nathan could get their hearing tested.  We went to his office in Valencia because that's where he had the sound proof room for hearing tests.  It was so great to find out that both of them were hearing perfectly again!  And it was fun to stop by and visit Mike and Cindy and Jacob when we were there.

New School

     Two weeks ago the girls switched to a school in town called Pierce.  We had just decided to buy the Whitmer's house (located in the Pierce district) and it was the start of a new trimester so we decided it was the perfect time to change schools.  The girls were a little nervous but also a little excited.  Friday night, when they were tired, they cried about leaving their friends, teachers, librarian, and everything they loved about Inyokern School.
     Luckily, all 3 of them LOVE their new teachers and new classes.  They are making friends and they are learning to enjoy the positive aspects of attending a larger school.  There were some neat things about the smaller school that we really liked, but now we get to experience the fun things about a big school.  For example, yesterday was Jr. Olympics.  The school went all out!  Each class chose a country to represent.  They spent time learning about their country and making flags.  They were asked to wear their countries' colors on the day of the olympics and they had a parade of countries.  After the parade each class did a cheer for their country and then there was a tug o' war.  Since there are 2 classes for each grade, each class went against another class of it's own age.  The kids had so much fun and I think they are really going to love this tradition.
     Another new thing about Pierce is that the kids can wear school uniforms.  They aren't required to wear them, but if they do, they can earn rewards.  Natalee wasn't excited about it and since she only has 1 trimester left in the school, I didn't feel terribly inclined to buy her a new school wardrobe.  She also said after the first day of school, that only one kid in her class had worn a uniform and it was a boy.  Haylee doesn't seem to care one way or the other.  Mackenzie is insistent on wearing the uniform.  It consists of either navy or khaki bottoms (shorts, pants, skirt, skort, or jumper) and any solid-colored polo shirt.
     A few days ago, Mackenzie climbed into the car after school and she was so excited to tell me some news.  I forget their names but it went something like this:  "Mom!!!!  Today I was wearing the same pants as Susie and the same shirt as Laura!!!  And yesterday I had the same pants as Betty!"...followed by a big giggle.  She is going to have a great year if she loves wearing the same clothes as her classmates and she keeps wearing her uniform!

Baby Grandpa



Grandpa, a.k.a. Max Lee Moffitt, Jr. (1961)

      A couple of Sundays ago, I asked some of the parents and grandparents of the primary children to come in and share a story about when they or one of their ancestors chose the right and how it blessed their life.  My dad came in and told about himself as a youth.  At first he was the only active member of his family because he was invited by a friend to come to primary and scouts.  He told about how, even though he didn't realize it at the time, the friends he chose to hang out with made such a huge difference in his life.  Because he was telling a story from his childhood, he brought a picture of himself as a primary kid to show to the children.  Even my kids really enjoyed seeing the picture.  I don't think they had ever seen it before.

     Last Sunday, Kelsey was drawing in a notebook during Sacrament Meeting.  Then she showed me her finished product and said, "This is Grandpa when he was a baby."  I asked her if she had ever seen Grandpa when he was a baby.  She nodded while answering, "Yes, he showed the picture last time." (or something like that.)  I realized she was talking about the picture he brought the week before.  I think he was 10 or 11 in that picture but in Kelsey's mind I guess he was just a baby.  And her picture was so adorable I had to share it.  I especially enjoy the different eye sizes. :)

Busy Birthday

     Mackenzie's birthday is this Saturday, and unfortunately, it is one of the busiest days of the year for us.  It is the stake relief society women's conference which Daren always has some responsibility in, due to his calling.  This year he is responsible for the children's class and the luncheon following the conference.  Then, later in the evening, one of Natalee's friends from elementary school, Nicole Martin, is getting baptized.  We absolutely cannot miss her baptism.  Her baptism is at 6:00pm, right about dinner time.
     Yesterday I decided to explain the situation to Mackenzie.  I told her what a busy day it was and said maybe we should go out for dinner as a family.  Before I could finish my sentence she stopped me and said, "But I really wanted that special dinner that Haylee made one time."  The dinner she was referring to is basically a hot dog surrounded by refried beans and American cheese, wrapped in a burrito shell and heated up.  Another reason why going out to dinner sounded like a great plan.  I told her we could go to John's Pizza and she informed me that she only likes the fun factory, not the food.  So Natalee suggested we go to McDonald's and Mackenzie thought that was a great idea.  We "talked her into it", she told us.  So.....I continued explaining to her that because Saturday is so busy, we could go to McDonald's on Friday night.  With a very concerned/disappointed look on her face she informed me, "But that's someone else's birthday."
     Poor thing.  Of all my kids, Mackenzie is the most likely to care if we don't celebrate her birthday on her actual birthday.  It looks like we will be working around the baptism.

Chinese Chicken Nuggets

     I really wish I had a cute picture to go with this post.  Not only has my blogging suffered, but my camera is gathering dust as well.
     Our house closed escrow!  We told the kids awhile back that we would go out to a celebratory dinner when we got the money from the house.  The kids had been bugging us to go ever since they knew we had gotten the money.  Well, we finally had a free night and no dinner plans.  It seemed the perfect time.  We could hardly agree on a resaurant.  Natalee was in tears at the thought of not getting Chinese food.  Haylee and Mackenzie were in tears at the thought of having Chinese food.  Well, we finally decided Sizzler is a place we all like.  Well, Sizzler is closed.  There was a place called Ridgecrest Steaks and Salads in its place for awhile but I was pretty sure it was closed too.  The kids wanted to drive by and I told them I would, but if it was closed, we were going to the Golden Dragon-yes, a Chinese restaurant.
     Sure enough, the place was closed and off to the Golden Dragon we headed.  I expected some tears but, surprisingly, everyone seemed pretty excited.  Natalee didn't even need a menu to know that she wanted orange chicken.  I knew I wanted walnut chicken.  Haylee wanted something Daren makes sometimes called "Dragon Balls."  There was an appetizer that seemed similar so Haylee ordered that.  Mackenzie got the sweet and sour chicken, Daren got the Moo Goo Gai Pan (spelling?), and we decided to order Nate some lemon chicken.  Almost done, except, wait!  What do we order Kelsey?  Kelsey rarely even joins us at the dinner table because she is such a picky eater.  Her diet is pretty much entirely quesadillas, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and maybe a banana or fruit snacks.  She used to be the best eater I had but somehow became the pickiest by far!  The only reason she was sitting peacefully at the table with us is because her sweet little 4 year old mind thinks all restaurants serve chicken nuggets.
     We ordered some sweet and sour chicken for her as well.  I noticed her trying to tell the waiter every time he passed us, "Chicken nuggets, please!"  But he didn't notice her.  I turned to her and said we already ordered her food and we got her "Chinese" chicken nuggets with "Chinese" ketchup.  She gave me the happiest smile and the biggest hug.  Luckily, she absolutely loved her "chicken nuggets."  She even ate some rice!  Now she keeps asking for Chinese chicken nuggets every day at lunch.  I'll have to take her back for them again sometime!

Practically Homeless

Well, this is a pretty long story but I'll try to keep it as short as possible.  Back in November (2011) we started talking about selling our house.  I mentioned on facebook that we were looking to move into town and one of my friends asked me for more information.  I gave it to her but didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks.  Daren and I decided to get serious and start preparing the house to sell.  We made a list of projects that needed to be done and decided to spend Thanksgiving break giving the house a fresh coat of paint.  The second or third day of painting I got a message from my friend on facebook saying she knew someone who wanted to see our house.  We got into contact and showed them the house the very next week.
     They really liked the house and came back again to see it a couple of days later and we started the negotiation process.  We finally came to an agreement on the price.  They had thought about buying the land next door as well but with the price they said they could afford, we said we couldn't sell them James' land.  They said okay, and we went into escrow.  We also finally transferred the land next door into James' name.  And escrow finally closed on February 13!  Only 11 days late.  Before escrow closed (actually even before escrow was supposed to close), we moved out of our house and into Grandma Poetschlag's house.  Most of our stuff is in storage.  We are so grateful to Grandma for letting us crash here while we figure things out.
    Now, for the story of the next house.  We put an offer on a short sale in Heritage Village.  But it's been going really strange and now we're thinking of rescinding our offer.  Unfortunately, the owners of the house live in the house next door.  The bank says we have to pay 90% of the back association dues which have sky-rocketed to about $3300 since Heritage sent it to their attorneys to get it collected.  Not only that, we think the owners have been renting the place out under the table.  Admittedly, we are jumping to conclusions about people we don't really know.  But all the same, we're concerned about moving next door.  There is another house we really like.  It's a For Sale By Owner and it's a fabulous house.  However, it is quite a bit more expensive than the Heritage house.  But it's definitely a lot nicer so we're thinking that it's worth the extra money.
     So here's where we're currently at.  We made an offer on the house not in Heritage (we call it the Sydnor house).  It was $14,000 less than their asking price and we still haven't heard back from them about whether they'll take it or not.  We pretty much worded it as a take it or leave it kind of thing.  So we'll see if they take it.  In the meantime, we haven't rescinded the offer on the Heritage house yet but I'm thinking we'll probably do that tomorrow.  If we don't get the Sydnor house, we'll probably rent for awhile and see if prices come down at all.  And who knows, if we're ever supposed to leave Ridgecrest, not being tied to a house would be a good thing.  In the meantime, it's nice to be living in town for now.

Auditions

Awhile ago I noticed a page on facebook announcing that a local theater group was putting on a production of Beauty and the Beast in the fall and was having auditions the beginning of February.  Daren and I have been thinking that Natalee needed an outlet for her more dramatic side. :)  This seemed like the perfect opportunity.  The age limit for auditioning was 8 and up so Haylee decided she would like to tryout too.  Then we found out that they were desperate for adult men to try out so we talked Daren into joining in as well.

The first night of auditions was February 2, a Thursday night.  I was so proud of the girls.  Natalee learned to sing the song "Tomorrow" from Annie.  Haylee learned "A Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins.  We downloaded a karaoke track of each song for them to sing to.  They were both nervous to go in front of the judges but they did great!  I was so proud of them.  I was so happy that I got to go and watch them.  Unfortunately Daren was sick the first night of auditions so he didn't get to sing his song.  But I admit that I would have been very disappointed if I hadn't been able to go watch the girls audition.

The second night of auditions was dancing and readings.  They told me to have Daren come to that night and they would find a time for him to sing for them at the end.  Unfortunately Haylee had picked up Daren's cold by then and wasn't feeling too well.  She went to the beginning of the audition but called me about halfway through to ask me to pick her up.  She had been able to do the dancing but hadn't read for any parts.  Natalee read for the part of Chip and Daren read for the part of Maurice, Belle's father.  They were told that the 3rd night of auditions was 'call backs' and they would post a list on the News Review the next morning saying who needed to be there.  Daren and Natalee were both asked to return for call backs.  They both did some more reading and then were told that the final cast list would be posted on the News Review on Monday evening.

For our Family Home Evening activity we went to check the cast list and then went out for ice cream.  We were so happy to see that Natalee and Haylee both made it to the list of villagers/enchanted objects.  Natalee was also the understudy for Chip and Daren got the understudy part for Maurice.  Daren says he's not a villager but I think since he got an understudy part they are definitely planning on using him elsewhere in the meantime.

The play isn't until September or October so we'll be spending lots of time at rehearsals.  Well, Daren, Natalee, and Haylee will. :)  I am so looking forward to being a bit of a stage mom/wife and watching them perform.  I can't wait to blog about it all and post pictures.