Splash Pad Fun

We have a free splash pad in our neighboring town that is open to the public. The kids and I ventured out to it one morning last week pretty soon after it opened for the day. This turned out to be a pretty good plan because we had the place to ourselves for nearly 40 minutes! 

Here's a few photos of our visit:

It was such a fun easy activity and I'm so glad we did it!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

EGD with Biopsy

I had my EGD with biopsy in the beginning of July. I have received one biopsy result so far (which was a good report) but am still waiting to hear the results of the other three biopsies. I'm hopeful that those results will come this week. 

Overall the procedure went very well. The EGD took place at an endoscopy center which guaranteed that every other patient was there for a similar procedure & that we shouldn't be bumped out of place by any emergency situations. When I had my ablation surgery three years ago, it was at a general outpatient clinic and it took so long from start to finish simply because each patient was there for something different and the procedures each took a long time.  For the EGD however, I was in and out within 2 hours. 

I was so impressed with the ease of check in and the short wait time before I was called back. Aaron brought a backpack full of things to read in the waiting room while I had the procedure. Once in the pre-op curtained area, I was prepped & answered the thousand questions and they started my IV. The best part was when they put an extra blanket on my bed which felt like it had been just taken out of a dryer! Within 20 minutes after that, I was wheeled to the procedure room where I met the doctor. The nursing staff and anesthesiologist were all nice & I received my mouth guard and was told how the sleepy medicine would make me feel "metal taste in mouth and ears will ring" right before I'd feel very sleepy. And that's exactly what happened. It was the weirdest thing; I remember my eyelids feeling so heavy & I tried to stay awake as long as possible which might've been 3 seconds. 

I do cognitively remember that time passed between going to sleep & being told "Mrs. Petersen, you can wake up now!" The medicine is designed to create no dreams though, so I appreciated the little nap that I had and kind of wished I felt more rested at the end.  My IV was removed, I answered more questions, received another super warm blanket, spoke with the doctor who popped in to say how the surgery went & that she had called Aaron to inform him. I was able to put back on my "street clothes" and chose not to accept any drink because I was so anxious to get back to Aaron and be on my way. A nurse wheeled me out to the pick-up spot after calling Aaron to say I was ready and to get the car in position. 

Aaron took me straight to Cook Out where he ordered a peanut butter milkshake for me and lunch for himself. I was a little groggy but not too groggy to go into Publix & wait for my prescription to be filled. After that, he took me home & I rested on the couch for most of the afternoon.

My throat was very sore for a day & wasn't too aided by water but I drank a lot anyway. Eating was a bit difficult but I ate because I felt like it. (Not to mention, what I cooked smelled really good & I wanted to partake!) I did have ice cream later that evening which felt great on my throat. Within a day I felt much better. 

So now all that's left is to wait for all of the results. 

UPDATE: I received the results a day or two after posting this.  All of my biopsies came back within normal range!  What a praise!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Summer Park

One evening, my parents came with us to take the kids to a local park attached to a peach shop and ice cream store.  After eating some ice cream outside, we ventured up the hill to the playground.  It was very nice weather and we ended our adventure right before the rain came tumbling in!  These summer evenings are so fun and I'm glad we are able to spend time together. 

We began our adventure at a decommissioned tractor.  Noah LOVES some good imaginative play!

After ice cream, we tried out the slides that exit from this barn, then Noah attempted to ride the tire horse. 

Michael loves to venture up to the fountain and make a wish with some coins. 

Avery is shaping up to be a pretty good playground car driver!

Grampa Bill handed out more coins, so we made more wishes. 

If a playground car only has two seats, then a third child might have to ride in front! :) 

It was such a nice evening and a good break from our typical evening at home activities.  The kids always love going here and it makes for good memories!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Avery's First ER Trip

Well yesterday I experienced what it's like when a child gets stitches. Surprisingly, my sons haven't had stitches and hopefully they never will (Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise!)

We started out our Friday evening beautifully. After dinner (which was a favorite picked out by Noah), we picked blueberries in our backyard. When we came inside, the boys got ready for bedtime snack and I got a bath set up for Avery. We let her take a nice long bubble bath (Aaron even took over bath duties towards the end of her lengthy bath so I could shower the bug spray off of me). At the end of her bath time, she got dressed into comfy pajamas and chose a snack. The boys took their turns next: Noah, then Michael. 

While Michael was showering, the rest of us were in the living room. Aaron & I were just relaxing on the couch and reminding Noah & Avery periodically to settle down because it was almost bedtime. Noah came over to sit beside me and Avery continued playing. It seemed like she was just doing ballerina twirls (which she has done so many times before), but after one particular spin she slipped and we heard a crack. 

Aaron & I both thought it was a typical slip, but she stood up crying so I reached my hands out and she ran to me and I could see the blood. Thankfully my children hadn't cleaned up all their napkins from snacks, and I grabbed one from the coffee table to start putting pressure on her cut right away. Aaron jumped up to grab some dishtowels. When he brought the towels to me, and we swapped out the soaked napkin for cloth, we realized this would require stitches. 

Next was a whirlwind of "who do we call and what do we do?" Noah gathered up his shoes and Aaron ran to get Michael from the shower and tell him to get dressed. I held Avery in my lap with towels and kept pressure on her cut while I called my parents (who live 2 miles away). I needed someone to keep the boys so that Aaron and I could both go to the ER. It was necessary for one of us to sit next to her and keep pressure on her chin. My parents weren't home but were on their way home, so we loaded up everyone in our vehicle & started traveling towards the ER. We met my parents at a gas station on the way so that the boys could go with them. My mom is a nurse so she took a peek at Avery's chin-- confirming we'd need stitches and affirming that we took care of the wound well. 

This was all around 7:20 (Avery hit the floor at 7:10). 

We arrived at the ER, got to triage 15 to 20 minutes later. Periodically her chin would bleed again and it was extremely unsettling to be sitting in an ER with an actively bleeding child while covered in clothes with blood splotches. All of the "blood born pathogen" training that I have to do at the beginning of each school year was replaying in my mind. The receptionists and triage nurse knew we'd need stitches, so we'd have to wait for an actual ER room while the less serious patients would be sitting in the ER hallway.  

At 9:05, we made it into a room. At 9:30 we called the nurse station to ask a nurse to come in because Avery was actively bleeding again and we hadn't been seen by a nurse yet. 

Sometime after 10:00, the doctor came in to examine her. We were very impressed with the doctor & his bedside manner. He knew the characters of Frozen (Avery had on a Frozen pajama shirt) so that was a bonus! He confirmed the need for stitches instead of the adhesive strips because the wound was on her chin & he didn't want the strips to undo themselves when she talked. We didn't question his decision, although we knew it would be hard. 

Around 10:15 Avery received numbing cream. I guess it might've helped take the edge off but I'm not convinced. She actively bled again after the cream was applied so they applied more but I'm not certain it helped too much. 

Around 10:30, the doctor began the process. Both the nurse & the doctor warned us it would be hard.  When the doctor said it, I looked at him and politely said "this isn't our first rodeo." He nodded and began preparing the lidocaine.  (Aaron & I had to hold Michael down for an IV when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes...and that was just the first time. I've had to hold Michael probably two or three other times for other IVs in various hospital stays. It doesn't make it easier. I still 1,000% wish I could take their pain on myself.)

Although two nurse plus Aaron and myself were holding her, she was moving too much. We had to wrap her in a sheet and hold her again. I kept repeating over & over how good she was doing and how we were almost done. She received two stitches. When she was done she was very sad. I reminded her that we never left the room and we were so proud of how brave she was. The nurses applied glue to the area and I was able to hold her again. 

After 20 minutes of letting the glue dry, we buzzed the nurses station and asked for her Bandaid and discharge papers. Surprisingly we weren't charged anything so now I get to look forward to that bill in the mail. I texted my mom to let her know we were on the way-- it was 11:10. 

We picked up the boys & got home around 11:40 and tucked everyone in bed. Avery fell asleep on the ride home and slept well all night. She is pleased with her "better chin" and we can take the stitches out in 7 days. Unfortunately we can't go swimming for that time frame so I'll stay with her anytime the boys go swimming. In a week, we can have any medical professional remove the stitches or we can return to the ER triage to remove them. I'm going to pray that one of the medical professionals we know will remove them. 

So that's it! I fell asleep well after midnight and any time I woke in the night or early morning, I made my rounds to check on all of my kiddos. I know the boys were so worried about their sister and I know she was so glad to be back home. It wasn't how we planned to spend our evening, but God wasn't surprised and I'm so grateful that He's always with us even when we can't form any words and can only approach through our fear & groans. He was present. He is present. And I'm so thankful. 

Today, Avery is her happy self and able to tell her brothers of her "better chin with a Bandaid." 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Fireworks!

The neighborhood near our church put on a fantastic fireworks show this year! They use the church property since we have a big field suitable for sports & events. A pyrotechnic company set up the fireworks & had music to accompany the blasts. It was fantastic! Definitely worth letting the kids stay up (way) past their bedtime to see it! 

Here's a few shots from the night:

Super fun and it totally made the kids' day! They're still talking about it today! What was your favorite part of the 4th?

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

4th of July Fruit Parfaits

Happy Independence Day! We are SO excited for the 4th of July and are grateful for our freedoms & for those who sacrificed for us. This is truly a great country and we're blessed to be here. We are prayerful that God will move in the hearts of our fellow citizens & bring back His virtues into the framework of our country.  

We are celebrating pretty well today with some swimming, good food & lots of red, white, and blue! Last year, I whipped up these fruit parfaits & the kids LOVED them! Michael has requested that I make them again for the 4th of July and I'm totally down with that. The recipe is really easy and ingredients are easy ones to add to a grocery order! We followed the recipe shown on this site: https://hellolittlehome.com/mixed-berry-mini-trifles/

Ingredients:

Strawberries (I used about a cup of strawberries cut into slices. I did not add sugar to them)

Blueberries (about a cup)

Cream cheese, one 8 oz. block, softened.

1/4 c powdered sugar

1/4 c milk 

Dash of vanilla extract

Pound cake (already baked. I used two to three slices cut into cubes. You could make a homemade one 【we used this recipe】or use a store-bought fresh or frozen one.)

6 small glass jars 

Directions:

Mix cream cheese & powdered sugar until smooth. Add in milk and vanilla extract and stir til blended. 

In a small glass jar, add in some cake cubes, then some cream cheese mixture.

Lay some strawberry slices on top of the cream cheese mixture, and add some more cake pieces. 

Layer on some more cream cheese mixture and finish by adding blueberries to the top.

 

Put them in the fridge to chill for a bit before serving. 

That's it!

What are your go-to desserts for 4th of July celebrations?

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Beach Recap

Last weekend, we took a family trip to our beach town.  I've been vacationing in this town my whole life and I'm so glad to keep the tradition going with my own family!  We are still in the process of waiting for lumber costs to come down a bit from the Covid spikes, so we're unable to rebuild our cottage for the time being.  This means that I have to find places to stay when we go to the beach.  In March, I ventured away from Airbnb and stayed at an RV park that offered little cottages and cabins.  The cabin that we rented at that time was okay and doable but it lacked things that we now know are necessities for us (like a full size fridge, and an actual table to sit at, etc.).  This time, I booked the next size up in their accommodations, which was a little cottage with an actual kitchen. This place was PERFECT for us and I'd totally book here again.  (It would actually be nice to get the same one we stayed in this time since I could see the beach from the back porch!)

Here's a little recap of our quick weekend trip!

We left on Saturday morning around 6:30 and I had three happy kiddos ready for this vacation!

We made pretty good time and arrived in time for lunch at a local seafood restaurant.  My hope was that the kids would use the bathroom here since we couldn't check into the cottage yet.  However, no kid needed to use the bathroom, which was fine.  Aaron and I got lunch for the kids here and we sat inside while they ate, but Aaron and I got our lunch at the Korean food stand a block away and we ate at a local playground. :)  We are choosing to really try supporting local restaurants and endeavors when we go out of town.  (PS- when did Michael start looking like a teenager?!?)

Noah was adamant that he was going to order hushpuppies with his food.  Since his entree didn't come with hushpuppies, we ordered him a side of them and it came with 4 huge ones!

This is the view from the living room into the loft and kitchen area (the bedroom is at the back there where that other door is located).  

 It's so funny how we really came to view a full kitchen as a non-negotiable in any future rentings.  It's our tradition to make muffins for breakfast and we couldn't do that in March due to having no oven.  It was such a treat to have a full kitchen (albeit a tiny one)! When I took this picture, I was standing in front of the full size fridge and near the dining table (also now non-negotiables). 

My sweet little girl posing in the downstairs bedroom.  There was so much storage packed into this room, in addition to a door that led to a private deck.  Noah and I ate breakfast out there on our last morning when he needed some "mom one-on-one time."

This is the back porch (but the stairs leading to the parking space are from this porch, so I guess it might be considered the front porch?).  The door leading to the living room is behind me.  Although this tree is directly in the middle of the view, I can still see ocean on either side of it and that's a game changer!  Being able to get eyes on the water when you're at the beach is so calming! On this porch were a high-top 4 seater table and two wicker chairs.  It was a great size!  

This is the light fixture above the dining table.  Aaron is really into fishing and he thought this light was so cool!  My dad is also into fishing, so we sent him a text with a picture of this. 

On the loft railing was this shark cutout and Avery loved to pretend she was being eaten. 

For my birthday in April, my parents got me this beach wagon and it came in clutch this weekend!  It was SO NICE to load everything up at the truck and pull it down to the sand, rather than hand carry everything! 

My three kiddos in one of our favorite places on Earth. 

One of my favorite things to do is to catch candid moments of the kids with their Daddy. 

I bought sturdy sand shovels for each kid before this trip, and the boys made these really cool designs in the sand by setting their shovel on the hard sand and then running while dragging the shovel.  The straighter lines are caused by the shovel imprint, and the sand that was removed from the imprint was flung out in cool patterns. 

We were so excited to have an oven that we made one batch of muffins on Saturday night at 9:00!  Since the batter only had milk in it (no eggs), Avery got to have a bedtime snack while her brothers were upstairs watching Animal Planet. 

We buried Aaron's feet and created "Bigfoot" designs with a shovel. 

My love!

Great weather day on Sunday!

I took this picture to show the color of the house that we stayed in.  It really seemed like all of the other houses were muted neutrals, but ours was an "in your face" Tic Tac aqua. I took this picture right before we went to lunch at a seafood restaurant in the neighboring town (of which I took no pictures). 

Having an afternoon snack at the table!

I love this picture so much!  This was right before we went for a walk around the RV park before heading to the same neighboring town for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  We tried out this restaurant for the first time in March with my parents and we were really excited to go back because it was so good!  It didn't disappoint this time either!

While we waited for time to go to the restaurant, we played on the playground.  I was pumped that Avery let me put her hair in a ponytail!

Our dinner at the Mexican restaurant was really good, but the best part was being able to say YES when the boys asked if they could have dessert!  We told them that they'd be sharing with all of us and they were totally fine with that.  Noah wanted churros because they came with cherries on them.  He was so excited when this arrived that when I told him to say "cheese" he actually put his hands together and bowed his head because he was going to pray for this dessert! 

Michael ordered fried ice cream and none of us had ever had it before.  It was so delicious!  (There are no pictures of Avery because she fell asleep on the way to the restaurant and woke up at dessert time, but wasn't in a picture taking mood.)

After dinner, I took each kid on a one-on-one walk around the RV park.  Michael wanted to walk past the cabin we rented last time.  Noah wanted to walk past the pool.  Avery wanted to go back to the playground! 

At bedtime, we'd let the boys choose a show on the TV in the loft.  It was a fairly good sized room up there.  Avery was the only one of us who could stand upright in the loft, but there still seemed to be enough space for everything we needed to do.  The queen size mattress was on the floor and there was still ample floor space in between the end of the bed and the railing, so the boys played up here for most of the time we were inside. 

After breakfast on Monday morning, the boys played tic-tac-toe very nicely while we waited to be able to check out. 

Three kids ready to head home and see our pup!

Before heading out of town, we stopped at the grocery store to get a snack and we let them eat the snack at a local playground pavilion and run around a bit before sitting in the truck for a long length of time. 

On our way out of town, Aaron stopped at our favorite seafood market and ordered some raw shrimp to bring home to cook.  We stopped across the Alabama line for lunch and made it home in early afternoon. 

It was a great little trip and it seems to be exactly what we needed for a nearly mid-summer boost!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba