We had a wonderful Christmas..I hope everyone else did, too! :) Annie is leaving tomorrow, and we are sad about that, but we know that she has her life there, too... We are trying to talk her into moving really close so we can drive there whenever we want to annoy her! hee, hee... ;)

I will post pics when I get a sec... everybody else has been here, too, so we've been busy getting time in with the family. We are looking forward to New Year's Eve, too, since we won't have to go back to school right away, thank goodness! :) We don't have to go back this year until the 5th. Yippee! :)

Sammy and Luke got great loot from "Santa"... Luke got a Wii from my sisters and brothers. He is loving it and I have to admit so do Annie and I. ;)

I got a Shark Steam mop from my parents for my gift....i have been desperate for one...I can't decide yet how great it cleans..I think it is just moving around the ammonia residue that was left on the floor from a week ago when I last cleaned the floors. I'll have to keep going with it and then see how well it works on the wood floors at the new house. Brian has all of the walls framed in as well as the closets... it is becoming very official... we have picked out our stove and cabinets and are looking at counter top next. We have our tub on the way and Sammy's handicapped shower is in. It's huge...

I will get to the pics soon.. hope everyone has a great new year! :)

so, the tree is up and decorated finally!! (Thanks to the snow day today!) :)

Sammy's xray results came back the other day negative, but Dr. D . says he definitely heard something so he still wanted to treat him. So he is continuing with his med schedule. It is crazy, but the breathing seems clear now and he is crazy silly and verbal from the oral steroid, i'm figuring. He'll be watching a show and just start laughing and screaming at the TV. He cracks me up!! :) I am so thankful that he went that way with the attitude instead of getting irritable as I was warned usually happens! (Although this is the boy who giggles when he gets a shot!)

My sister and my brother and his wife are coming on Sunday, so please pray for no snow and safe traveling! Can't wait to catch up with everybody!! :)

OK, God...seriously?!

So I had Brian take Sam back to Dr. D.'s today for another recheck on the bronchitis situation even though his cough is better and he is eating again and acting fine, because every once in a while I still hear a bit of a wheeze, and what was the verdict???

Pneumonia!!! What the hell??? I kind of assumed that people were really sick when they got this and you would know it! Maybe it's walking pneumonia, just he is reluctant to call it that because he doesn't to make us feel badly because it rubs it in that Sam doesn't walk?? Who knows... so here we go again...my little man on MORE meds yet again!! He is back on an antibiotic for 15 days this time... and an oral steroid for 6 days on top of the Albuterol and steroid inhalers that he has been on for 10 days already!! Still to continue to take those... I joked with Luke and Sam that he'll either be able to breathe better after this or be really strong! LOL I have to laugh or I will cry!! He is SUCH a trooper, though.... he just takes the meds no matter how gross and doesn't think twice..Kind of sad that this is all second nature to him already...

On a good note, I think we will FINALLY get the tree up tomorrow! We tried tonight, but it was late by the time I got back from the pharmacy after school and I was too tired and the tree ended up with a few icicles again after being outside in the cold today... So Brian brought it in on the porch and is letting it thaw out...I will get pics on as soon as it is done..

4 days til Annie comes home!! :)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!!! :) (For my non-family blog readers, my sister's birthday is one day after mine...the kids at school get a kick out of that!) :) I'm younger, of course! hee, hee! :)

We got our tree yesterday...we didn't realize that the tree farm would have ice loaded on all of their trees from the storm the other day. Brian and Luke had a "great" time lugging the heavy ice tree back to the truck from the field! LOL
Sammy had a ball, too, since he got pulled the whole way in the sled. He loves it!! He couldn't stop smiling! :) Tonight I didn't get home until 5:30 from our late meetings at school, and it was pouring rain, so I decided that we'll put the tree up tomorrow night when I can get the decorations out of the shed. Plus, we had to wait until the tree thawed out! Sammy was SO excited to be getting a tree...he keeps looking at the corner of the livingroom everytime I mention the Christmas tree...he remembers putting it up last year. We got cute Santa and Frosty ornaments for Sammy and Luke...I figure with a new house on the way, we have to start getting real things, not leftover, old things.

So I officially turned old today...according to Sammy anyway! :)(He laughed when I asked him if I was turning old today!) The big 35! UGH! I know, it doesn't sound that old, but I feel like my eggs are drying up as we speak...it just stinks to know that I am slowly hitting those milestone ages where you start losing the ability to do things, like reproduce of your own will...i know, it's not like I necessarily wanted or could deal with another child, but I hate being old and having nature make the choice for me...ok, enough crabbing...at least I am healthy, I am very blessed and thankful for that! Although our colleague at school told me that I can run for President now! There's always a silver lining somewhere, hah?? LOL

5 days til Annie comes home!! :)

Hoping to get our Christmas tree this weekend...in fact, we are definitely getting it this weekend, I cannot go past my birthday without having the tree up! Annie and Mike and Barb are coming home next Sunday! Wow! My other brother is getting almost a week off of his work and coming up that next Monday, the 22, from CT. It will be fabulous to have all of the Hibbard siblings together for Christmas all at the same time! :) It's chaos, but fun chaos!! :)

I can't tell if Sam is getting rid of his bronchitis yet or not.... he always has crap in his throat that sounds like he needs to cough it up, so it's hard to tell.... there seems to be a bit of wheeze left, so I'll go by what he sounds like on Monday and that'll be 10 days, and we'll get him rechecked again if necessary. I told them I'm just going to put up a cot and move in!

His latest obsession is the Grinch (the original movie) and the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. It's kind of neat since those were my favorites (along with Rudolph that he can't stand) when I was little. He just gets so excited and starts making noise to "sing" along with the songs. He also tries to sing along if you start to sing Christmas carols. He loves the Mariah Carey "Santa Clause is coming to town" which we listen to in the car. He is such a freak for the jolly old guy!! It's too sweet to watch!
Luke is officially a non-believer this year. I finally had to come out and spill it since I didn't want him to get made fun of in middle school. He was cute, he said, "don't say it..i know what you're going to say..i just don't want to hear you say it." He said he pretty much knew last year, but just didn't say anything. That's it, it's official, his innocence is gone! At least we have Sam to still do Santa with.... hopefully for a long while...

8 days til Annie comes!!!

when it rains, it pours...

ok, blog family so another drama...

I got hit this morning by some guy on my way to drop Sammy at my FIL's. Thank God no one was hurt...he went around me on the right "thinking" I was turning left, even though I had NO blinker on, and ripped my side mirror off and smashed my side front panel....OYE! I haven't even had this car for 6 months!

So here we go with the insurance crap....

And of course we're trying to deal with the fall-out with the kids from our fellow teacher's death over the weekend. They are very flexible thank God!

I am asking for more prayers tonight.... I just got a phone call from my sister that a teacher who worked on the other side of our quad passed away tonight. She was best friends with my other sister who had team taught with her for several years. She had been fighting pancreatic cancer for less than a year. I am asking for big prayers to be said for her son who is just 13. We will all be grieving this for a long time...she was taken before she deserved to be....she was one of the nicest and most caring women I have ever met...

Two things.... first, I am asking for any extra prayers out there go to the leader of our CP board, Jessica. Her son, whom they were told he had mild CP, may have a genetic disease. They are going through the rough task of testing while having him in the hospital and having to wait weeks for an answer. He is having many seizures and they are trying to figure this out...

Secondly, and this seems so mild compared to the above, but we brought Sam for a recheck on his bronchitis and Dr. D said that he still has stuff in his lungs and he put him on ANOTHER inhaler, a steroid, that he has to have 2x a day with his Albuterol inhaler 4x a day. At least he'll be done with his nasty antibiotic tomorrow morning! A small step! It is not pleasant and he is starting to balk at taking it, so I know he's sick of taking it...it was 2x a day for 10 days. Poor guy, could he HAVE any more meds in his schedule?? I am praying that this steroid does the trick quickly. At least he's not in too much discomfort...his cough isn't bad and the wheeze is definitely lessening. We are so blessed that he made it almost to 4 before getting an issue with his lungs. Kids with severe CP usually have big issues with getting pnuemonia. One small victory for us.... He is a trooper though...i realized exactly how lucky I am that my kids are so good at going to the doctor when the little girl in the next room at the doctor's who was Sam's age was screaming and crying hysterically because the doctor was just examining her for a routine physical. UGH! I can't imagine...and then of course, when he was in with us, we heard her get her flu shot. She freaked again, like someone was killing her! I told him Sammy just giggles or does nothing when he gets a shot. (A silver lining to the sensory freakiness of CP) He actually cries when he doesn't get to see the doc when we go to the office!

Anywho...2 weeks until Annie comes home!!

update...

Just an update on the goings on...

Sammy was dx'ed with bronchitis last Wed. He has a wheeze that is refusing to quit. He is now on antibiotics and an Albuterol inhaler (he's got Pepere medicine now--that's how we get him to take it!) and he's still sounding rough. I am making an appt. at the end of the week for a recheck for him. We'll see what's going on then... He is a trooper, though... he actually ate his dinner tonight :)... I am worried about his losing weight lately with being sick and not wanting to eat and I could see his ribs in the tubby tonight when he was lying down...he couldn't stop giggling when I poked at his ribs and said he was a "skinny minny". We have to laugh or else we'll cry....The poor thing is on so many meds right now...it's quite the schedule to keep track of...thank goodness for the pill organizer we got donated from Mem and Pep. :)

Luke went back to school today reluctantly after the Thanksgiving break...he is being so grown up about getting up with his alarm at 6:00 and getting himself ready and getting his own breakfast and making sure he's on time to the bus for 6:50. He is really impressing me with his maturity with middle school. I can check his grades and assignments on PowerSchool on the computer and he is doing even better than last quarter! My little man!! Although not so little anymore! Mr. 5'2" ! :)

The house is coming along...we have a full roof on now...I think Brian is working on getting the heat piping set up now. He took all of the braces out of the rooms, so it looks so real when you walk through the house now. It's very cool! :) I promise I will take pics soon and get them on here.

We are looking forward to our Christmas break already! Oye! I know we're pushing it, hah?? ;)
Less than 3 weeks until Annie comes home! (We always count down!! It's a whole Hibbard/Huber household thing!) ;)

Sammy is enjoying the holiday season already...he is already watching the Grinch and Charlie Brown Christmas...and of course STILL watching his Elmo holiday video from last year...it's just now appropriate again! :)