Mommy Chronicles

Adam is doing an incredible transition program getting job skills and experiences.  He is playing "poly hockey," floor hockey, with Special Olympics.  He bought himself a sweet moped with his graduation money.

David was captain for "Thunder," the adapted soccer team.  He is excelling at school and enjoys working at the shock at school.  This past summer he spend quite a bit of time at camp doing the leadership in training program.

Matt is waiting on some sport goggles that didn't make it in time for soccer, surely they will be in in time for floor hockey.  He is liking the demands and opportunities of being a freshman.  He was featured in Camp Friendships newsletter from this summer!

Libby is doing half days at the jr. High and is a special student to do both band and orchestra.  She loves coming up with new recipe ideas.  We had a delightful time sharing her bilingualism in the first of many annual mission trips to Mexico.

Reany shines in her piano and violin, we will start sharing music and friendships with a local nursing home tomorrow.  She  loves horsemanship with a fine horse named Fortunate.  She diligently works her schooling and goes to the junior high for reading and orchestra.

Noah took state plate #1 for his second year in s row with USA BMX and is riding expert with ease and looks forward to wrestling season.  He is crazy about his cat, Leopard, and enjoys learning as a very serious student.

Naomi has started Spanish Immersion kindergarten and is loving it.  She is still making beautiful artwork.  She keeps busy leading her little sisters in imagination and fun.

Lillie goes two mornings a week to school and is eager to share all the details.  She loves wearing jeans and scarves.  She was real excited to have (cut herself) bangs this fall, and did a good job on her first haircut!

Johanna, Joey, Jojo is a ham like all our babies.  She loves jumping, or more like walking, off edges into loving arms.  She uses a sippy cup, loves her blankie, and nae (nuk.)  She says shoes, socks, mom, dad, more, ball, one, two, eyes, and many other words are attempted daily.

We are busy and yet mindful of the wrath this world offers, we try fixing our eyes on what our Creator delights in.  We are striving more and more to live selflessly and teach our kids the same.  So many blogposts run through my head and at the end of the day it's where they disappear!  Cheers to those who are interested in this cozy home and may our door be always open.  Love and blessings from the momma❤️

Mommy Chronicles

Adam is the team captain for Slapshots, the adapted floor hockey team. He can be found riding his bike up to coborns with his ATV helmet on, safety first. He loves cooking and his favorite is pasta with an organic noodle from Trader Joes. ................................................................................................................................................... David is playing goalie for Slapshots and has done a great job. He is participating with a program as a pilot student with technology and has his books on audio with a school issued ipad. His math teacher just messaged me saying what an example student he is and that he works hard and helps others, the 2nd message from a high school teacher recognizing his kind heart. ................................................................................................................................................... Matthew works hard and plays hard, he is a fighter on the gym floor for Slapshots! He is such a trooper and continues to make such great progress, his teachers too are delighted with him. He recently had an activity day at school and chose to spend it in Ms.Stone's room with her reptiles!! ................................................................................................................................................... Libby is playing both percussion and upright bass. The bass is more reluctant though, let's just say she will need to work hard to earn her keep as her independence and preteen determination roar a vicious cycle. She is a great organizer though and keeps track of a many things unintentionally. She participated with the USAT team again this year and loves using her creativity. ..................................................................................................................................................... Reany has been perfecting piano for Joy to the World, in preparation for the Christmas to come:) She is moving up to the full size violin, we are getting this week. She will need to transfer her collected ribbons she has earned from orchestra. She is also for the first time interested in a book series, Dork Diaries. While I am not a fan, I would be happy with Captain Underpants at this point! ...................................................................................................................................................... Noah is in the 1st grade reading (Spanish) at the 3rd grade level with fluency 69/22 desired- my smarty pants! He is wrestling again this year and maintains his impressive athletic ability. We just took in Sonny's cat and Noah was so excited that she slept on his bed all night, he loves animals and is lots of fun. ........................................................................................................................................................ Naomi is doing 3 mornings a week at the school's preschool and is registered for Spanish kindergarten next year, crazy! Her hair is down to her butt and we will hod off cutting it as long as possible; however, she has a sensitive scalp and dreads brushing it. She is the "project girl" and carries around drawers, bins, and baskets with her latest creations in them. Her best friends are glue sticks and from the recycling bin! One track mind: projects! .............................................................................................................................................................. Lillie is a sweet big sister and is a little chatterbox. She needs to wear a tu-tu everyday, over pj's or any other normal attire. She loves to read and watch VeggieTales. She would rather I take all her toys away then help clean up, but that has yet to happen. ............................................LAST BUT NOT LEAST.................................................................................................. Johanna is nearing 8 months and has yet to cut a tooth. She must be my smiliest baby yet and is a happy girl with a loud screech to prove it! She likes plain cereals the best but will eat bananas, sweet potato, and mixed veggies. She is strong and solid, a genuine blessing to our family!

2014 Recap: 3/3

Since I am a gluten for punishment, I didn't allow for a year off from dance recitals. We had our tenth year of spring recital; however, Naomi only performed one of the two days. I am an advocate for dance and gymnastics for young kids because of the confidence I have witnessed my girls gaining from the experience. There is a culture among the fine arts community that could be counterproductive to our firm foundation of modesty and humility; however, the developmental opportunities outweigh those concerns. Dance and gymnastics continues to help Naomi with her large motor skills, ability to follow directions and repeat movements, increased coordination, and rhythm which I believe of arithmetic nature and beneficial! This year now Lillie has joined a combination class as well.

This is not the best picture, but Libby and Reany with their small group friends put on an awesome dance for the school talent show. Click this for the song they did. Matthew West "Hello My Name Is." As a pulbic school mom, any chance we can shed light to the depressing social media and rave of degrading pop culture, the better!

Lillie has a beautiful sweetness to her, here with daddy guinea pig, Beaver.

These little guinea pig babies were pretty darn sweet. While we underestimated the level of independence Noah could assume for these caged rodents, they served as a great lesson. #1 Animals are work. #2 Kids typically do not like work. #3 Guinea pigs are fragile, friendly, and really cute. #4 Never again.

Whoop Whoop! Shout out to our favorite camp! We did our annual family camp weekend and it continues to be etched in stone that we will do that every year. The vacation of no meal prep never ceases to amaze me! Now I think there was another picture too, this whole recap a year at a time is not that great, reader beware these pics seem out of order and I am working on not being frustrated with it. It is the correct year, and for that I am happy about:)

Noah lost his first tooth, the first day of first grade! It was so exciting for him and he spent the last couple years waiting for this day to come! He has grown two new bottom teeth and while a baby tooth is still upfront he currently has the most adorable space waiting for his other front tooth. Lots of teething going on here with so many mouths!

We started going to some plays and have enjoyed that, this was one for the littles that we got to sport some fancy stockings. Lots of fun for everyone! Shrek was probably our favorite so far.

Noah made it to the state wrestling finals in Rochester, so we had a great time there last year.

Any chance we get to visit a fun playground we do, this was a fun piece they all could be on.

Thanks to my friend Angel had this great setup for her kiddos. I gladly steal good ideas! It seems to be the visual we were looking for! I am paying out not for the chores to be done, as a family is a team and my kids each have responsibilities that benefit our household. I pay out for their record keeping and for them to learn money management. If they do their lists completely they get $.75, partial .25, false recording nothing. The choice is theirs, but it does hold them more accountable to what their expectations are. We have included housekeeping, personal hygiene, academics and music. It is likely the craftiest thing I have done, so I am glad it seems to be holding out. As any behavior and or task list, the greatest responsibility is managing it, but it is there and we owe out a ton of money now too.

Libby and Reany joined volleyball this fall and were pretty good players too! They look forward to track and field this spring. I guess there will be another post yet to come. This last part has taken more time. As the baby got older it seems evident that I was more able to take pictures of our lives. There will be a 4/3- oops! Thank you for attending this regularly scheduled recap, to be continued.....

Changed Circumstances, Now Thriving (warning: long and blogger won't let me space, sorry!)

This is my story of changed circumstances, health, and hope. Nobody ever really told me. I had worked with a dermatologist for over ten years off and on, dealing with my psoriasis. I may have had minimal spots on my scalp as an adolescent; however, during my first pregnancy in 2003 I spotted all over with the guttate psoriasis. I used light therapy, steroid creams, and tanning to try minimizing it. It continued throughout the year of nursing and was worse in our Minnesota winters. I would get spots here and there over the next few years but nothing drastic. With each of my pregnancies to follow with babies born in 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2014 the spots would increase if not during, while nursing. I was plagued with bright red spots, and some plaque psoriasis of white patches too. During my 2012 pregnancy I experienced some stiff fingers in the mornings and a sore hip at times. When discussed with my doctor she casually said it was likely some psoriatic arthritis. Luckily that didn’t continue. What did though was my psoriasis. Post-partum I was so covered in psoriasis that I spent most of the summer hidden away and covered. I wore long skirts all summer long. It got so bad at about six months that I was contemplating giving up nursing Lillie so I could go on the biological injections. I had used biological injections when I was nursing Noah for a short period of time. There are not enough studies for it to be cleared, yet is a use as necessary drug except from the manufacturer who cannot collect enough data to encourage pregnant or nursing mothers to use. A friend had talked about a nutritionist for years, how he could help me. I didn’t want to give up gluten or whatever nutrition recommendations he would have! I finally decided to meet with him before giving up nursing. He gave me a big written survey of random questions about my life, body, and eating habits. It indicated that I had a sugar processing problem. There were supplements and products to help this, or I could eliminate sugar from my diet. I went the free route and cut sugar. At this point my legs were covered in sores that were painful and weeping, it hurt to even walk! 30 days sugar free and my skin cleared! It was so incredible and I felt great too. I continued to do the sugar free diet, basically implementing the atkins plan- keeping carbs less than 12 grams and from vegetables, might as well lose weight too! When after a year of atkins and only maintaining weight I became frustrated. My doctor insulted me saying that I had bore children and that is what people look like, that I should throw away my skinny clothes. She said people can be in ketosis, the metabolic state sugar free creates, and not lose weight. Never saw her again! I also gave up the sugar free lifestyle and continued to have clear skin for another year! I didn’t feel as good though and would go sugar free here and there for several days at a time to lose a few pounds or maintain weight. Basically when I am sugar free I maintain weight, and with sugar I have to be very careful to not just gain. I wholeheartedly believe I have a sugar processing problem, I can eat a PAN of brownies, a family size bag of chips, and still want more. Sugar does not satisfy me and leaves me wanting more. I am way better without it. It was easy to go sugar free when my skin broke out again with my 2014 baby; however, this time the 30 days was not helping! My body was attacking itself for other reasons:( I tried sugar free several times and it didn’t matter. An interesting thing happened as well, something bigger than stubbing my toe, but that is how this story started. The day of discharge with Johanna, I noticed my left big toe was swollen. I bad been laid up for 3 days, that was my 5th successful and scheduled cesarean; I was curious why my toe was swollen and even considered they had ran it over or injured it while numb! There seemed to be no medical concern for my big toe and I went home. I had a big toe at my next few appointments, and again no concern. Then it dawned on me! I remembered getting my pedicure the day before delivery and saying, “careful, my toe hurts, I stubbed it.” So yes, there was a reason it hurt and was swollen! Major surgey was my brain’s priority! My consulting RN mother and PT sister thought I should see the doctor since it was still swollen a month later. I agreed. The local clinic x ray didn’t show the little fracture the podiatrist found the following week. I was sent out with a broken toe that will heal on it’s own. Another month goes by and my limp has started to wear my whole body down and I was aching all over. I went back to the follow up podiatry appointment, they issued me a boot. I was doing a long term sub job for the jr. high ebd department hobbling around, a true bootlegger! Within the first week of wearing the boot I realized it was bad, my whole foot and ankle swelled and my body felt like I had been in a car accident. I then decided the podiatrist was not helpful and got the referral to start physical therapy. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to move, it hurt everywhere. They decided my swollen foot was not from the stubbed toe but a nervous system reaction to babying my foot to begin with and began treating me with e-stim, ultrasound, and manual therapy. They decided my body aches were reaction to limping for over 2 months. I started going twice a week and it didn’t reduce the swelling. Under my toes on my left foot had pitted edema and I could push a good ¾ inch into my foot and it would stay like molding clay for a while. Pretty disturbing!! Long story short, the PT wanted me to see podiatry again to be sure injury had healed. I had gotten bloodwork done and my ESR levels (measuring inflammation) were nearly double the normal rate. I recall spending 3 hours one day between a full body massage and PT only to be crying in pain at the end of my day. Hardest part of my life, ever. My arms ached so bad I feared I would drop my precious baby. I would wake at night and just cry because it would hurt too bad to move. I was on 600-800 mg of ibuprofen around the clock. My doctor referred me to a rheumatologist, they all have long wait periods though. A prescription of prednisone gave me a few days of luxury: mobility! Then I learned with psoriasis it is not good to use because it will flare your skin afterwards.that. My rheumatoid and blood work eliminated other options, and my nails had some signs too. The MRI showed three torn plantar plates, with the podiatrist never having more than one torn on a patient being injury induced, we knew it was from the psoriatic arthritis affects muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. Everything made sense. I knew that I needed to get on medication that would stop further damage. The baby was weaned. I tried a supplement of Thrive and was amazed that my limp was replaced with a bounce in my step, I felt really good, and instead of being in tears ready for bed about 7pm, I was able to stay up like a grown up for those few days of my sample. I didn’t want to spend the money on it though and thought I should use up my garcinia cambogia I purchased while nursing the last baby and then learned it wasn’t recommended. I have tried every product in the book to help with weight issues. Mid April 2015 will be the first time exceeding over 5 months in 8 years that I have not been nursing or pregnant. Yes I wear shoes:) The garcinia cambogia doesn't work though for me! I started the injections of Humira, the first 24 hours my legs were better, not feeling like I just ran a marathon every time I would get up. I had become a decrepit old lady, cane and all! So the Humira is working, which is awesome and I have had minimal side effects. My skin is clearing and my foot is no longer as swollen. There are some lingering aches though, and that is where the Thrive is making up for it. Plus, the Thrive really boosts my mood and I feel great. Granted, I felt like a literal train wreck and had a swollen foot for over four months. Give glory to God though, he is working in me and taught me a thing or two! During my weakest moments my trust in the Lord was stronger than any physical setback. I learned that I do not have to do everything that I want to, that God is in control, and through him all things are good. My husband learned to fill in some gaps and has been an inspiration though this life changing event. We take things for granted like being able to go up and down stairs and get in and out of vehicles. I pray for fellow sufferers of this autoimmune disorder, many people have not found medications that help. I take refuge in my savior Jesus and am grateful for the provisions he has allowed in medicine and science to help people. And for the work put into Thrive that not only helps my pain and inflammatory, but also my emotional and mental balance, and for the first time in my 20+ years of being little miss piggy a real appetite suppressant; it is all natural though and researched for optimal function to the amazing body God designed. God didn’t design red40 or other preservatives and chemicals we so often have poisoned ourselves with. I am reclaiming my body and my health, I am going to share what I can with my family and friends to encourage them to live the lives with purpose and intention to be good parents, spouses, and people. I am thankful. God bless! ps The only thing some people find annoying until they use and know how awesome Thrive is, it isn’t something you buy in a store, in a way it is a good thing though as you can see what other people say about it. it is a cloud based company and their product is high quality, I back it 100%! I am not interested in commission, and will return any commission ever earned. at first i was turned off by promoters earning cars and big bucks, but then realized this is just how the company is on the market; target and any other successful company or quality product has CEOs driving lexuses too- but this way if people want anyone can get product for free or earn money if they want to! https//momof9.le-vel.com/Login

2014: Recap 2/3

July 3, 2014 Johanna Helen joined our family! Johanna was my Grandma Gladys (Skarr) Bogotty's mother's name. Helen Weiner was Luke's maternal grandmother. Our Johanna has been such a wonderful addition we just adore her cute little face and she lights up all around! Must have been because we celebrated with fireworks on her first full day of life! The hospital is on the river, and the awesome remodeled family birthing center is full of great windows. Our room was the corner room and we could see the barge. One really fun thing too was we were able to celebrate with Lexi and her little sister too! Johanna is our own little firecracker! This was Johanna's first outing, David stayed home to help me. C-sections take a longer recovery and so it was nice that he is such a caring young man! We walked up for dinner out when the rest were traveling. My mommy retired in the spring and this is a picture of her an Noah at Como. She was generous and thoughtful to have Noah attend their day camp. He got to spend the week at her house nearby and got to go and experience Camp Como each morning! Noah loves animals and was inspired by the Wild Kratt brothers, and certainly the original Noah in saving all the animals!! Grandma Linda also lives nearby the Gibbs Farm, which was the first farm in Ramsey County. They also offer day camps and later in the summer Libby and Reany had the fortune of being able to attend a sampler camp that taught them all about Victorian, Sioux, and Pioneer girls. They all had a great time at their camp weeks and we hope this is a new tradition! We also worked at or attended our family's 12th year at Calvary's Vacation Bible School. It is a highlight of the summer. We biked to the beach, fished and frequented the mill pond, planted flowers, and grilled a ton. yum yum The littlest Lillie and Johanna, bound to be great friends for life. So much fun to see the kids welcome a new baby and be loving and kind! No shortage of attention. The big kids get attention too. One of the more exciting things that happened this summer too was that Adam and Matthew spent a week at Camp Friendship and they also had some weekend trips there too. David put in 5 weeks at Camp Lebanon and he is a camper at heart! He even was there and we let Libby try her first week as an individual camper too. Helps that we are so familiar with that camp in returning there for Labor Day weekend forever more. Reany also had her share of good times helping a friend at a dog kennel and caring for a variety of different breeds of dogs. She found puppy love more than once! Where would people be traveling? Where the road goes, in the RV. This hotel on wheels was a great idea, as a family of our size we need to always get two hotel room anyhow. Now we just drive from walmart parking lot to parking lot. Just kidding! We made our way around and would even drive it to our local park and have lunch and random outings or movie nights. Luckily gas prices have decreased because we were reconsidering the cost effectiveness, but seems like a perfect retirement home;) With a crew this size we cannot always meet together for Christmas anymore, that's lots of kids to travel! Here are my parents grandkids: Ellie, Naomi, Sylvi, Lillie, Emmett, Henry, Oscar, Noah, Libby, Reany holding Johanna, David holding Ivan. Not pictured are Adam and Matthew, and the newest buttercup Oliver. Kids grow like weeds, we are glad to try getting them to know eachother and have fun together each year if not as much as possible! Both of my little brothers live out of state and so we take any chance we can get to see them. We had baby kitties!! They were sooooo cute! My cat breeding ideas were short lived though because my beautiful Fonzie male was on the extreme side of annoying housed stud and when out was on the extreme side of spraying too, so he was cooped up here too much and we are sharing him with his original breeder. Our kittens were so adorable though and we continue to have updates from their current owners too. Of the saddest outcomes though, was that Fonzie was a brat to our lovable Kalu. Kalu became so stressed out about him that we let him go outside and he was glad to bring us 1-2 mice nearly each day. Gross! Where were they all coming from!! Winter came and the boys interactions continued to be strained, something that I hadn't anticipated since Kalu was neutered. Kalu was top of the charts for awesome cats and I genuinely pray that he is safe and snuggled tightly in someones home that also fell in love with him. We have not seen him since the 3rd week in October. It breaks my heart that he is gone and I feel responsible:( If only we could see the future! This little baby Johanna is in the little high chair that my late and incredibly talented paternal Grandpa Oscar Claris Olson made. He gave it to me in 1996, when I was a senior in high school. I believe he had made them for some of the grand-daugheters and then hadn't finished them and so they were really later than the original plan for us to be using them for our dolls. Well I have real dolls now! After many hyears of saving and cherishing the high chair, I decided it was meant to be used and let my kids play with it. About a year later they broke the cute little tray off it. Nothing lasts forever, but here is a nice picture to cherish the same. Lexi came and bid us farewell late July. Haven't seen her since:( Her mother wanted to pursue some life dreams and Lexi wanted to go with. We look forward to her return though and we should be seeing more of her once she comes back then too! If you love them you have to let them go sometimes. This was one of them, sad but true. Every year we take advantage of the local pay here car dealership's customer appreciation day. I used to repo for them and they don't mind that we are not their target customers. They have free arcade games, bounce houses, clowns making balloons, facepainting, food, pop, Ferris wheel, and drawings. I usually bring the kids up for a free meal, why not! I thought it was a good idea and even took this selfie when we boarded the Ferris wheel. While I did remain calm, there was a sense of panic once we were moving, like, "oh no, why am I on this protable ride with my little newborn." We survived. Having a baby and busy family means you forget your camera, can't get to it in time or forget if you do have it, and realize after fact you missed some good pictures. So be it. I did manage to get this shot of Noah on the 1st place podium for the BMX State Champion Finals. He is a fast little racer and advanced to expert level this season too. Wrapping up the summer is always a fun time of year as we prepare for another school year and regroup ourselves for winter. I think that means I like Minnesota? Haven't left yet I guess. This concludes the second portion of sharing some of the pictures I was able to take in 2014. One more to come!!

2014: Recap Part 1/3

2014 left as quickly as it came, here is a small collection of our year! The kids got skates for Christmas from Grandma Linda and we enjoyed skating with friends at our local rink. Everyone did a great job too. Libby worked hard for the inventors fair and created a neat little carrying tool for boots. There really should be this product, as plastic bags make a mess! Reany created a special scoop for the guinea pig cage to extend the use of litter. She did a good job and used nice bright colors. She even made it into our local paper! Sports: This picture is of the state finals tournament that Noah qualified for. It was in Rochester and we had a nice time experiencing his loss, it was bound to come at some point and he finished 6th or 8th in state- those things are hard to read! It was a great to see his reflection in knowing that he can work harder. Adam, David, and Matthew all played adapted floor hockey. David and Matthew rocked their first year and got awards to prove it! All boys lettered in the varsity league. Libby and Reany played volleyball at the YMCA. Guinea Pigs, yes, I mentioned. These little mates (literally,) Silky and Beaver, were Noah's first personal pets. He had wanted a snake; however, Luke and I mistakenly agreed that these critters would be a good fit for him. We had a fun time for a few months and had two litters of cute little babies, in the next section of 2014 I will share their pics. Nail biter, please return;)

Divine Intervention to Let Go

I am not doing what I wanted to do. I am not doing what I thought I had to do. Psoriatic Arthritis has changed my life. I need to trust God and let go of the plans I had for me. Then it's not so bad. Don't worry, things are going to get better for me! We are big picture doing great. The kids are all having a good school year and we continue to keep the kids active. The baby is sweet as can be. Unlike any of my other infants, she was recently weaned, as I need to start a biological injection called Humira. She was exclusively breastfed for almost 5 months, and that is still pretty good. We are blessed beyond measure and I am ever thankful for a supportive husband, beautiful children, quality medical services, and abundant resources for our special needs kids too. I had to get over this writers block! I have some stellar excuses though and will try sharing later! Wishing love to my readers <3