This spring we were overrun with chipmunks. They were everywhere all of the time. Squirrels too, but the chipmunks caused trouble. Digging holes in the grass, eating things in the flower beds, getting into the garage and just generally messing with things. After trying several "humane" things our neighbors bought rat traps.
Grandpa and Grandma Copper came out to visit (and Uncle Titus and Aunt Kaytra, along with cousins Elise and Triana Engen). My Dad bought the kids a chipmunk trap. They were in heaven. They learned that you have to put the bait on a scoop of peanut butter so that the chipmunks can't just take the bait and escape before the doors close. For days that was the most exciting thing happening here. Usually when Jan and Alec or Anne wakes up in the morning they come to see me (makes me feel important). Not when the traps were set. I would hear noise from their bedroom and stumbling out in the hallway, and they would run right by my room and out the front door to see if they had caught anything. I think that the final count was 18. Some days they caught 4 or 5. Alec and Grandpa Copper would load them into the car and give them their freedom at the golf course a little way down the road. They caught a few squirrels when the chipmunk trapping slowed down. One of the last nights they set the traps we watched a skunk with a long flowing tail prance through our backyard. We all hoped that skunks didn't like peanut butter.
At the beginning of June we got the results back for a blood test that Anne had taken. We have been careful with diet but unable to pin down all of her food sensitivities without a blood test. She had been tested for IgE reactions last fall and showed an allergy to rice. I had removed rice and milk and eggs and oats and chocolate and citrus and tomatoes and I don't know what else. She improved but still wasn't doing well. She flared up badly this spring, awful eczema, 7-8 poopy diapers a day, some in the middle of the night, nearly always woke up poopy or so wet her bed was wet too. Her bottom was orange (like a burn) and often raw. She was crabby and cried alot, her nose was usually runny. She was up nearly every night, usually 2 and 3 times crying and itching or crying and pooping. God provided the money to take a different blood test, a test for IgG reactions to 115 different foods. It came back positive for 26 more things. She is on a very limited 4 day rotational diet and has slept through the night for two weeks now. Her orange bottom is gone and she has a much better disposition. The only gluten containing food that she didn't react to was rye but when I gave it to her on her "rye day" she had an awful reaction to it and although she had not been tested for gluten sensitivity, at this point I think that it is a likely possibility. I am trying to be diligent to really rotate her foods and am grateful for the improvement in the last two weeks. (Enjoying the break in the diaper department as well, since she is down to 2 or 3 times a day.)That may be a boring update for some but it is something that has been a "big deal" for us and it continues to be. She is a good sport, eating steamed cold cauliflower when other kids are eating goldfish crackers. She has learned to say "I don't like it!", but she will eat it anyway.
After a comparatively good two weeks as far as schedule goes David is back on yucky schedule. I guess there is a reason that they call them "residents". We won't see him much for the next three weeks but then we do get him for a week of vacation which we are all excited about. He has to take another nasty test in July or August which means that he will spend most all of his "free" time between now and then studying for it. All I can say is that David is a diligent man who works hard and does what he can to keep a good perspective about where the Lord has him. "They" say that all surgical residents seriously consider quitting during years two and three. I am beginning to understand why and I don't even go to the hospital. I just see the demands put on him in terms of time and energy and am proud of all that he does. He took the kids to the ball field last night and pitched so that we all could bat and run the bases (Alec had bought a pair of baseball cleats at a garage sale and really needed to try them out).
Looking forward to seeing some family and friends in the few days that we will be in Oregon.
Kristi
