no more central line, yay!

Yesterday turned out to be a really good day. It started with me hounding the neurosurgeon about the appointment they were supposed to be getting me to get Dalton's central line out. They had been working on this for 10 days now and I was wondering if they were truly working on getting that scheduled. I finally tracked down the nurse who said the surgery center didn't want to remove the line because it could be taken out in the doctor's office. However, the doctor's office didn't seem real comfortable with removing the line and needed a note from Dr. Salazar (the doctor that put in the central line and a friend of ours) saying it was ok. The nurse stated that they don't typically remove the lines in the office because most people they see in their office require a surgeon to remove them. The neuro office stated they couldn't remove it in the office though until they received a letter from Dr. Salazar and they were having a difficult time getting that letter.

Luckily, Dr. Salazar and his wife are such sweet friends, I called him up. He was more than willing to have us come down and get it removed that same day. So, I rushed Dalton and Channing down to the hospital and waited til Dr. Salazar could get to us.

Dalton has this uncanny way of making people happy. When we got there, the staff seemed puzzled to see us there (looks like it's usually patients from the hospital that go there and not people just walking up), plus they weren't super friendly or jolly. After Dalton got done with them, they were completely different people. Everyone was laughing and smiling and giving him hugs. It was a complete transformation! Dalton is now completely done with the IV antibiotics and central line. I pray it stays that way too.

Later yesterday evening I was able to meet up with some friends from church and go to the Spring Market. We enjoyed walking around and trying to get ideas for our next sewing projects! Lots of super cute stuff! Afterwards, a couple of us went to eat dinner and chit-chat for a little bit. It was nice to sit and visit with friends.

This morning Sullivan had another track meet. Today was much nicer than last week. Even with Sunscreen, us fair skinned Petersons got a little red. It was a lovely day. Sullivan got to run in the 100m and 200m dash as well as the long jump and the 400m relay. His team looked really good in the relay!

As a reward for Sullivan trying really hard, Craig took him to Bellevue's Passion Play. Sullivan always enjoys going to this and it usually sparks some pretty good conversation. Now, Channing, Dalton and I need to find something fun to do.

Channing and Me cheering Sullivan on.....

sticky fingers

Oh the joys of parenting. Where do we go so wrong? One of my sweet kids found saving money is a lot easier when they can find the money in their parents' room (sticky fingers) At first we weren't sure who had swiped the money but we had our suspicions. Then last night, I caught "this one" eyeballing a $20 on my dresser. I called them on it and they quickly stated they were just admiring the bill. But, this morning the bill was gone. After a search around their room while they were away, I found a stash of money. It appears they'd been "saving" for a while...to the tune of $95 or so.

I sought several peoples advice. They were all good but I had to go with what I thought was the right way. When we got home, I sat everyone on the couch. In the silence and wonder of why the kids were on the couch, the guilty party was already squirming. I asked about the $20 and one of the kids spoke up that they found it in the kitchen and quickly produced the bill, hmmmm.

I continued to question if anyone would fess up to stealing the other missing money from my room. Silence. I gave a quick lesson on the 10 commandments and how those are sins when we don't keep the commandments and that we should confess when we sin. I thought I was doing a good thing getting this individual to think all that through...but nothing.

I called them out to let them know I knew who stole the money but wanted this "someone" to confess. Nothing. I asked individually, only denials. One child was quick to try and convince the others that they might have taken the money. Under the pressure, a non-guilty party caved and said they had stolen it. I knew better and talked to this child about not admitting to stealing just because someone told them to. Wow, another issue I'll have to work on!

Eventually, I had to call the child who had taken the money to their room where they confessed they had taken some money. The chile produced $25 after some "search" in their room. I gave several opportunities to fess up on if there was anymore but they stuck to his story that that was it. I climbed up to the hiding place and located $50 more! The child finally caved but I had hoped they would have confessed way before I had to show the evidence! So, I did take away every bit of money in the child's room, including money they had "earned" as a consequence.

Any suggestions on how to keep this from happening again? I need this child to know that even though they may have easy access to money, it is not ok to steal it. We are going to implement a system for all the kids to earn an allowance so maybe they feel they can earn money and not need to take it. The reason given for stealing the money was because they liked looking at it.

My birthday...

Yesterday, my birthday morning started a little rocky. We were running late, surprise, surprise. Sullivan's school was having muffins for moms and we had to get there early. Of course, the event is more like muffins for moms to talk to other moms while the kids run around the gym. Still, I had a good time chatting with moms before Sullivan started his day at school.

Once we got home, Dalton was in the process of finishing his last dose of IV antibiotic yesterday when we ran into a little problem...just my luck! I noticed some droplets of something in his carrying pouch. Later, I discovered a leak from the antibiotic tubing. We did eventually receive a new antibiotic and finished his last dose of IV antibiotic. Yay, a great birthday gift.

Now we are just waiting on the central line to be removed and that won't come any too soon. The clamps are worn out and not staying clamped so we are ready for it to be removed...we're no longer using it anyways.

Last night, Craig and I enjoyed a time away from the kids. It was the first time we've gotten a babysitter since the beginning of this saga. Craig was able to get some free last minute tickets to see Chris Tomlin in concert and we were able to find a last minute babysitter. We had a good time out and everything went smoothly at home as well. But, I will feel more comfortable with leaving the kids with a babysitter once Dalton's central line is out.

But on a sad note, did Coach Cal not know it was my birthday? So sad he's leaving Memphis for Kentucky! Hopefully we can get another great coach in here to repair this broken program.