End of School Year

June 5, 2011

Now that Anne is doing better, there's time for so many more things, I feel a huge responsibility in spending it all the right way! As I try to get things sorted and prioritized, I'm just enjoying fun things with the children:

Maddie-

end of the year orchestra concert & going to Les Mis!! Due to my horrible cityparking skills, and the trouble Will Call had in figuring out how to reprint our tickets, we missed the first 5 minutes, but w/ Maddie reading the book, memorized the music, and having gone over the synopsis repeatedly, she probably understood more than I did about everything going on. It really WAS spectacular!! This is the 25^th anniversary year for the musical, so the set had been redesigned, and the music a little instrumentally updated, but all wonderful. Probably also b/c I was so stressed by the time we got there (getting the babies to naps, and sitters arranged, not to mention parking, etc.) I was nearly in tears throughout. And as an upside to being late—just being allowed to MOVE while they were singing so powerfully was sort of like we were in the choreography for a quick moment. Those voices!!! To have just 20something people FILL that theater with their singing, not to mention the solos—it was SOO enjoyable, and I was so happy to get to go w/ Maddie :). 

what a smudge on that camera!!

Brent-

participated (on the same day) in the Science Olympiad (in the trebuchet category), AND the Athletic Decathlon—as one of 2 boys in his grade. He got 2^nd place in the Science (among 16 schools!--his partner scored the winning shot, but they were a great team!), and they didn't place in the Decathlon—though he did awesome in many categories (there were only 3 teams that placed, and it was all overall—w/ combined team scores, so it encouraged team unity). Lucy and Anne were great sports for the long day, so we had a fun Arctic Circle lunch break in between the two big events! It was the first year our school has participated in either, so it was a great honor that he could go at all! (I didn't get a good picture of it, but my favorite event was the cupstacking--for real!)

200m dash

trebuchet

the target for the trebuchet

I love this one where Anne just HAD to go sit w/ her brother :)

we had fun seeing cousin Tucker @ Science Olympiad too! (sorry about the smudge again!)

Emily-

after a hairstyling day for my Activity Days group, I've been trying things out on Emily, who is a THRILLED guinea pig:). Here are some of our masterpieces—she's always thinking of what hair would be best for field trips, swim days, last day of school, etc. She's grateful to have so many friends from her school class in our ward (I know, I still can't get over it!!), so saying goodbye was no hardship this year.

Spencer-

went out big w/ his First Grade musical program (thanks to his awesome Miss Hellewell, who organized everything for the whole grade and a “Great Brain” report on earthworms. We also had a blast getting Flat Stanley back from Grandma Mildenhall ON THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL , who had great adventures, made historical/hysterical by Grandma's lifelike descriptions.

Anne & Lucy-

we tell Anne everyday that Lucy is MOM's baby, (to which Anne replies w/ a mischievous grin, “No she not—she a DOLL!”)but she cannot resist hoisting her around or getting her to follow her orders—they are ADORABLE sisters as long as they survive each other, and we're all placing bets as to who will be potty trained first! Meanwhile, Anne's oppression is speeding Lucy's desire for independence:  she is now a PRO going up and down stairs, wants NO ONE to hold her burrito or her cup for her, babbles incessantly, still LOVES to dance (she'll get up whenever she hears music and start bouncing).  She is a feisty little one, but is hilarious w/ her giggles!--we have even caught her practicing her laugh--in her crib, or just sitting on the couch-what a sense of humor!! Anne (as any of you who call know), thinks any phone call is for her and will NOT relinquish the line.  She loves to pretend she's writing letters or reading her books, and who knows what we'll do waiting 2 more years for school--most days she makes her lunch, and tries to jump out of the van w/ the kids at the school dropoff!

Brian--

has gone gangbusters on the basement bathroom (STILL!), and we'll soon have pictures to post—I helped paint the walls, and he's managed the plumbing (!!!)--even cutting into the wall to move a drain, and installing sink/vanity and toilet—we're NEARLY there, and he's even fit it getting the garden ready! He's also been a hero bailing water from Brent's window well that's given us flooding problems w/ this record breaking rain!!!

I-finally got a bedskirt and curtains made for Spencer's room (out of an extra pillowsham  some great clearance fabric I found last year--just Brent's and the basement LR to go!), had a fun park trip w/ the children on the last day of school (way too cold for swimming this year!!--though Brent's class did have a swimparty!)--there were even trails that we had fun hiking on w/ some neighbor children we brought along. We also spent about the only warm Saturday last month cleaning up the yard—I hand picked every dandelion I could find, while Brian pruned all of our many overgrown bushes, and the children helped tote the branches/debris away. 

Spencer's room; yes, that's a spice jar on his dresser for his bank

 

the girls helping me sew

We also had a great Memorial Weekend trip up to Idaho to visit Brian's parents—such a fun, if not short, visit—including cardgames every night, a trip to the cemetary, cousin time, and a visit w/ G&G Stewart, who couldn't have us leave w/o handmade necklaces and slippers! We were glad we were home though, since that is the weekend we got the most water in the window well/house, so it was good we came home as soon as we did! Brent's carpet is still trying to dry out! Oh, and no pictures from that trip, since I washed the camera right before we left—yes, in the washing machine—I do NOT know what my compulsion is to ruin thing in the washing machine, but first scriptures (actually, twice, scriptures) and now a camera???!!! (I was SO grateful though, that all of these pictures were somehow okay on the memory card—even the batteries in the same compartment were thrown out in the wash. Some things are beyond funny. We did enjoy a fun swim trip yesterday after jobs and weeding at a free pool day nearby—now the summer fun really begins! Happy summer to you all! Love, the Duncan's

AT LAST!!!!

June 5, 2011

I feel almost guilty taking so long to post this, but Anne is well!!!! She is doing great, and all thanks to such simple solutions given to us by a new Dr. I found. He is an allergist who has worked a lot more w/ pediatrics, saw Anne, and kept talking about, “as soon as we get her skin cleared up,” through the whole visit. We first ran another allergy skinprick test---eggs and milk came back positive this time, he then gave me the runthrough of how to get her better, AND told me exactly what to expect if she did have any food allergies or intolerances!! Since there are a lot of false positives w/ these tests, ESP. w/ eczema children, he said to just keep her off the milk and eggs for the week until her skin was cleared up (as my head is ringing w: IN A WEEK, HER SKIN CAN BE CLEAR???!!!!), and then reintroduce them one at a time, looking for a fairly quick reaction, as after monitoring such tests hundreds of times in hospitals, etc., he said w/ confidence that it is VERY clear if they're reacting, and then we could know for sure if the milk and eggs were a problem. 
He explained that w/ eczema, children sometimes have just overly active and sensitive skin, but as their skin is scratched open, a bacteria (harmless to most of us, but one they're more sensitive to) gets into their skin and causes things to cycle out of control.  We can't re-regulate her body, but we can keep the bacteria under control (w/ the bleach), and keep her skin moisture barrier stronger by intense moisture/lubrication--- 

So, the routine is this:

-Bath w/ 1/4-1/2 c. bleach—at least 20 minutes

-then pat dry and apply ointment: triamcimilone 1.0% on all trouble areas; vanicream/aquaphor w/ hydrocortizone 2.5% everywhere else, and afterwards, for maintenance; a separate small steroid for face (fluticasone), as needed (this is all the cheap stuff-- $10 for a tub, not $170, which was our largest investment!)

-put her in wet cotton pj's—including socks on hands, then dry pj's over those to keep her warm enough—at least 1 hour, or let her sleep in them

That's it!! $1.50 for a bottle of bleach, and $10 for each of the creams—and that's her treatment!!!

It's no cure—he, and we, are all hopeful that she will still outgrow this (though he said it usually occurs about this age, so we'll see), she still has small flare-ups here and there, like when she's sick or stressed, but her flare-ups now don't even touch what her “good” days used to be, so we can live w/ it!! We started off at twice a day (for a week),--with the first 2 days being TORTURE (she HATED having water on those open wounds, and I had to hold her in the water for the full 20 minutes)- but just like the Dr. said, she was totally clear in that amount of time—we are now at once a day, and can move to 3X/week or as needed, as she improves (IF she improves). He emphatically agreed that the oral steroids were no solution, since they only work while you're on them. He was so calm and familiar w/ everything, I only wondered where he'd been the last 2 years!! She started sleeping through the night after the 2nd day (hooray!!), AND once her skin was clear after that first week, we gave her ice cream (NO reaction), and then the next day, eggs (NO reaction!!), so we now have her not only feeling better, but eating EVERYthing (mostly cheese by the fistful).  Can you imagine the increase of time in my life now???? Does it feel a bit like Naaman washing 7 times in the River Jordan??--yes, in a lot of ways, and EVERY bit as miraculous. Anne is SO independent and playful and cheery (and in need of discipline!) now, that we feel like we have our daughter back! We are SOOOO grateful for this miracle, and for the COUNTLESS helping hands, prayers, ideas, creams, and supports we've had from SO many loved ones over the last year or so. So many times, I felt like angels were leading me along when it all seemed too hard to carry—and angels in the form of a phone call at just the right moment, a lap to hold her, or just an expression of sympathy when I felt so hopeless. Prayers are surely answered—and even when the answer is not always what or when I wanted, I am constantly assured that I am NOT alone.  MIRACLES HAVE NOT CEASED!!