PASSPORT BLOOPERS

Here are some pics of some of the fun times we had over Spring Break -- we got the chance for playdates and other fun we don't normally have time for! It was really a great time, and we were thankful for the break.

My friend Jena had the great idea to open up the gym for a skate/ scooter/ bike night for those of us who were sticking around over Easter weekend. The kids had so much fun! (Frankly, so did the adults!) Matt was gone to jail ministry, but the girls really enjoyed their first physical activity following the surgeries!
The row of toilets had been a real novelty for all the students as they left for break (They were being replaced in one of the buildings, and the were all lined up on a wall of landscaping bricks in the front yard...) We had to chuckle as we drove in to find that someone had a little fun sculpting this not-so-bashful snowman.

Only in Wisconsin...

Emmy and her friend Stephanie had a fun playdate... Isn't their sign adorable?

Chloe and Abby had their own simultaneous play date... but I never heard a peep from them!
It was great for them to have the chance to giggle and craft together ;)
And Lanes? She's a bit of a free spirit... She's so funny lately with her pretend play, her songs, and her hilarious quips... She got a playdate, too, but I think I spent more time playing with her little friend than she did! She keeps asking me when it's time to go to "Uh-souri," and she is bent on going to all her friends' houses! She loves her little friends here, though... hope it's not too hard for her to understand when we leave. She recently went to her first drop-off birthday party, and one of her most frequent lines is "I big now, I can ________!"

EASTER

We had a wonderful Easter, even though it was so hard to be away from home!
The girls, as always, enjoyed decorating eggs and telling the story along with the "Resurrection Eggs" that Chloe made last year. There were some tears, however, when Laney, excited and gejust getting into the idea of egg hunts, opened Resurrection Egg #1 and promptly stuck the old chunk of cracker in her mouth! I yelled "STOP! NO!" as I saw this whole process unfolding, and I think I scarred the poor thing. You're supposed to get to eat the treats inside, right?? We remedied the situation with "Gramma Crackers" for all and went on with the story.

At church I helped with the "Juniors," which include Laney and Ems. Pretty gutsy to dye eggs in their Easter best, huh? We had a great time. Laney cozied up on her pal Elijah's chair. The two are two total partners in crime... they could amuse each other for days!

So sweet to see them love each other :)

He's got the suave wink down pretty well, huh?

We were thrilled to be invited to our pastor's home for Easter dinner. We watched what looked like a blizzard outside (luckily, it only lasted about half an hour!), had Mike's infamous ham and some traditional Chinese foods, and just had some great times with some of our dearest friends from church. We had a little worship time together and the kiddos sang a song they performed in church. (Unfortunately, our girls hadn't been up to the performance -- they weren't quite recovered -- but they love the song and it was sweet to hear them all!)

We will sure miss everyone we love in Wisconsin! We are so grateful for the friends we have met, but it is hard to always be leaving!

Spring Break

So while most of our friends headed to Florida or some other exciting WARM place for Spring Break, we didn't want to just hang out in our dank little rooms staring out at the 16 inches of Easter snow...

So we headed to the Wisconsin Dells for some off-season fun! It actually worked out great. Even though pretty much everything is closed down, we found a $49 special at a hotel with a fun pool area for the kids. We spent a full couple of days splashing around, and we had some great laughs together. The hotel was certainly no luxury getaway, but we had our own bathroom, a fridge and microwave, and a cheese store in our parking lot ;)

We were super thankful for the chance to get away and relax a little.

Laney, who really misses just having baths, had a great time just splashing in the shallow pool.

There were several times we had the pool area to ourselves, and the girls had fun with an imaginary game that it was their house ... this polar bear was their pet/ work animal ;)

Here Ems seems to be modeling the earplugs they had to wear. I was a little worried about keeping them in, but I let them pick out the color and they were so excited that I never even had to remind them to put/ keep them in!

Contrary to appearance, Laney loved the slide. She was very adamant that she needed a partner to ride with, though. She's a bit less fearless than last year!

These girls had a ball together and remembered how fun being sisters can be ;)

And we thought we were already there...

We visited "Circus World," the historical wintering grounds for the Ringling Brothers Circus.
No animals or shows in the winter anymore, but there was a fun museum with some rather interesting photos and circus garb...

Besides the museum, there are also about eight original buildings and a model circus. Our favorite parts of the whole place, though, were the museum of old restored cars and the workshop where the restorations take place. They were so amazing and intricately carved! And, perhaps the biggest perk for Chloe and me -- it smelled just like Grandpa's shop!
In the building with the mini circus were some cars the girls could actually climb on. None of them understood my cracks about getting carried away in the Paddy Wagon, though ;)

Convincing, eh?
Laney was really struggling to pose as the "Big Man"

One of Chloe's favorite cars :)

Fishing Stories

Our friend April took these pictures in chapel the other day, when Matt spoke. He did a wonderful job, and the girls were feeling well enough that Chloe and I left the little gals in the nursery and went in to listen.

It is so exciting to be reminded what we have to look forward to. Though I know many more trials will come our way, all have been met with His faithfulness and protection. There is no substitute for the confidence He builds each time we're brought through the fire!

...Recovering...

Emmy had a belly ache for several days. Poor thing was waffling between being hungry and being nauseous. At one point she got frustrated and said, "But why can't I have any GOOD food??" as I offered her popsicles and sherbet... She meant healthy food. My find of girl ;)
The first few days were spent mostly just lying around, trying to keep the pain controlled... They faded in and out of sleep, but were in a lot of discomfort. Aside from the birthday party that first day and a couple of walks (rides) for Lanes, they were mostly in bed. We were So thankful for the mattresses on our floor, especially as we played "musical beds" all night long.
Chloe actually slept for two straight days. She was fighting off her fever, I think. She didn't even want to be read to! Laney was a monster-child. Emmy cried a lot and was pretty miserable most of the time, but we had some laughs... She had "The Buns" to keep her company. She did cry several times that she wanted Grammy, or she missed Grant or Mia, or she wanted to go to Mrs. Susan's house... or she wanted her "White Buns" (The original, well-loved, faded pink bunny we lost this summer) We read books, watched movies, and tried tons of soft snacks and cool drinks.
A dear friend sent this package, which distracted all of them for a good hour as soon as we got it. It really brightened our day. It came at a perfect time, because Chloe had finally woken up and they were starting to get really irritable and tired of being cooped up & feeling bad.
We were so thankful for all the friends who brought dinner, or sherbet/go-gurt/italian ice, were thoughtful enough to take me away from the trenches for a while, or brought by cards and let us know they were thinking of us. What an encouragement! It especially warmed my heart when, after an especially long night, there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Mrs. Jena and the entire pre-school class, with this huge card and individually colored pictures from each kid! They were so excited , and it meant a lot especially to Emma, who slept with the card by her head that night ;)Chloe is still weeping about her ears hurting quite often, but she went back to school yesterday and did okay -- they just give her pain meds at lunch. I know she is glad to be back to her friends and teachers.
They all went to the Dr. for a checkup yesterday, and he said the little girls were healing well and the swelling has gone down quite a bit. They still sound like little chipmunks, but it's a lot better than it was!
Our biggest issue?? SLEEP. The big girls are only waking up once or twice a night, when the pain is really bad. Laney, on the other hand, has not slept more than ONE hour at a time since the surgery. (And my record at this point is three consecutive hours -- so it's been pretty tough!) We were really starting to worry about her. She gets up and wanders from place to place screaming at the top of her lungs. The Dr. assured us this is an effect of the anesthesia, and that it will go away with in the next two weeks or so. That seems like an incredibly long time!!! Nights are very stressful, and obviously days are pretty rough, too -- it's worse than having a newborn! We even tried Benadryl, as the Dr. suggested, to no avail. She will drape herself in some horribly uncomfortable position for a few seconds and then move onto the next, screaming, until she finally conks out until the next hour's performance... So we are still praying for Chloe's swelling to go down/ healing, for their pain to subside, and most of all for some rest!


Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

Last week I took Laney for a vapor bath to help her feel a little better (She'd been running a 102-104* temp for several days). I couldn't help but notice how straight her gorgeous little eyes are! They still turn just slightly if she goes long without her glasses, but I am thankful to be reminded (especially right now!) how great it is that her eyes have been corrected and what a huge difference this will make in her ability to see. Hopefully the current surgeries will be just as successful with their hearing! (And sleeping, and breathing...) We are thankful to have the opportunity to get these things taken care of now. Certainly not fun -- but hopefully worth it!

I think we may have cleaned the hospital out of pospicles! They were so good to us. When the little girls, who had been getting small chunks on spoons, saw that Chloe got a whole one they started asking for "one on a stick!" They each had about 5... but I was really thankful later (when they were refusing them!) that they had gotten so many.
Emmy had to stay on the IV a bit longer and get some extra fluid to try to perk her up.
Chloe did pretty well and has now been sleeping for two solid days. She is running an elevated temp, but at this point the doctor is not too alarmed. I'm afraid she still has a touch of the flu we had last week.
While Emma was miserably denouncing the idea of tonsil removal, Chlo and Lanes snuggled, ate popsicles and watched cartoons.