The Weeks keep on Flying....

I thought that the kids starting school would give me and David a chance to breathe. But NO! We have been so busy this past week - at least it feels like we were so busy. As I am sitting here I am trying to recall what all we did.....hmmmm....having a hard time remembering. Here is what I remember:

On Tuesday I started calling around to try to find somewhere to get a hearing test. My hearing is getting so bad and David and I were getting nervous about school starting and my ability to hear and understand the lectures. The first place I called wasn't Kaiser because I had been told that they had cut our Audiology coverage - they told me to call Kaiser and make sure. So, I did. The nice lady at Kaiser told me that I was covered and scheduled me for a hearing test on Wednesday in Roseville (about 25 minutes from my house). So, on Wednesday I went and had my hearing tested. Sure enough I have a moderate hearing loss. It is from the chemo and they expect that it will get worse over the course of my next two treatments but that it might improve following the final treatment. Then the audiologist gave me great news! Hearing aids would be helpful and not only that - they are covered 100%!!!! That is HUGE! Hearing aids run about $1500 - $3000 a piece.

I was able to get a hearing aid appointment for the next day. So, on Thursday I headed back out to Roseville and met with Matt. He showed me the top of the line hearing aids and explained how they work and why they cost so much. They are getting me one for each ear and I get to go and pick them up on Thursday of this next week. I am really excited to be able to understand what everyone is saying again. The great news from Matt was that while I have lost volume, I really haven't lost clarity. Basically that means that once the hearing aids are in, my hearing should be good - not as good as it was before - but good. Some people, when they lose volume also lose clarity, but not me and that is good news.

On Friday I took the morning kids and David and I took Helaman to school and then we headed over to Sac State. Gloria and Nephi had a "meet the teacher" thing and Gloria was SOOOOOO excited! She got to tour her classroom and play with all kinds of things - she was in heaven! Nephi fell asleep in the car and missed meeting his teacher. We then headed over to buy our ridiculously expensive parking pass and then over to the bookstore to buy ridiculously expensive books for me. David is still working on his class schedule and didn't want to purchase the wrong books so he held off. After spending lots of money we took the two little kids and heading to McDonald's so that they could play and we could have some lunch. Then we picked up the boys from school. The girls had gone to a swimming party at a friends. Later in the afternoon I took the 4 kids at home and we went to my parents' house so that they could swim. We picked up the girls on the way home and stopped at Wendy's for dinner (gotta love the dollar menu). The kids watched a movie last night on the Disney Channel and I went to bed! It was an on the go day and I was sure glad it was over!!

This week has flown by. I would love it if things would slow down a bit. I feel like things have been flying for months. Oh well, I guess I will just try to enjoy the ride - even if it is going a bit faster than I think it should. Hope you enjoyed your back to school week (if it started for you this week).

First Day of School

They were so excited to go to school last Monday. Vilate, Hyrum and Faith started at 8:05 and Helaman started at 11:20. At 7:45 we loaded all the kids into the van and headed over to the school. Being the so "on top of it Mom" that I am, Vilate reminded me: "Mom, I don't even know where my classroom is!" I had not even though about that! We walked the 3 kids into their classrooms and then David, the 3 other kids and I headed over to the MP room for the Back To School Tea. It was fun and the kids had a great time eating a bunch of muffins and then playing hide and go seek with their friends. Here is Nephi counting at the tree. He would just stand at the tree and put his head on it and when HE was ready he would just start looking for the other kids. The best part was that all the other kids hid together in the same spot each time! It was a great kids game of hide and seek!

At 11 we took Helaman to his first day of Kindergarten and he LOVED it!! After school when I asked if he played with certain friends, he replied, "No Mom, I made new friends." Then when I asked what his new friends' names were, he couldn't remember - but this didn't bother him at all. I love 5 year olds!!

The only problem with the day was having to explain to Gloria why her school didn't start until next week. She sure felt left out.

After school the kids reported on their day and were very pleased with their teachers and classmates. That night I was lucky enough to sit and fill out 12 emergency cards (3 per kid). It was so much fun! - Why can't they just make copies??!?!?!?!?! All in all it was a great day!