Chipmunks

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

dinner conversation

David had a pretty good schedule at the beginning of this month. The bad thing about a good schedule, I am finding, is that you always end up paying for it. Since he had his four days off in the first two weeks of May that means that he has no days off for the rest of the month...it also means that he is working Memorial Day weekend. David's job has given me a whole new view of holidays. They are beginning to mean "days when people drink alcohol and do stupid things and either end up in the hospital or putting other people in the hospital". It does make for interesting dinner conversation. David was on call on Friday which means that out of Friday and Saturday we got to see him for about three hours. At dinner, we heard about the man who took a nasty fall and broke some facial bones and has been leaking fluid from his brain out of...somewhere (his nose I think). Then there was the man who got shot and David spent two hours up to his elbows inside the man's belly, squeezing his aorta, while two other surgeons searched for the source(s) of all the bleeding. I asked "How did you know it was his aorta, how did you find it?" He told me how to find it, although I hope I never have to do it. I don't remember what we had for dinner but I was glad it wasn't spagetti. (I guess there are some good things about Anne being allergic to tomato sauce.)I had been considering telling him about some of my day, but it all seemed so trivial after that. None of what I do is anywhere near as intimidating as what happens to him on a regular basis.
Today is Sunday and David is on call again which means that out of today and tomorrow we will see him for an hour or two tomorrow. He managed a 60 second phone call from the hospital at 10:00 tonight - I guess he had a few second lull while a woman who came in as a trauma patient was in the CT scanner. I was baking a chocolate cake and mixing up pretzel jello for the neighborhood picnic tomorrow. So, David is spending the weekend putting in central lines, IV's and chest tubes and I am changing diapers, giving baths, saving kids when Anne poops in the bathtub again, scrubbing, cooking, folding, making funny face sandwhiches, feeding a baby, breaking up fights, figuring out what in the world I can feed Anne that is wheat, dairy, rice, tomato, chocolate and citrus free and admiring craft papers.
I like my job. The kids and I have a pretty good time together most days. Any time David has a day off we call it vacation and it is the best time of the month. I am looking forward to tomorrow and hearing more of his stories at supper. When my Mom was here last month I got to go down to the hospital one of the nights he was on call and meet him for an hour. David went up to put an IV in someone and I got to go and watch. It was the first time I have ever been with him while he is working at the hospital. I honestly cannot imagine what surgery must be like. Maybe someday I will get to go and watch, but for now I guess I will be content with hearing about some of it.
Kristi

May Flowers

We have had our fair share of flowers here, finally. What they say about April is all true, it really is the cruelest month. We had snow on Easter, something I don't remember in the story books, although the bunny is always white, so maybe an Arctic Hare?

Life had been busy for us here in Akron. Spring has brought outside activities that include lawn care, garage cleaning, mowing the lawn, searching in vain for our little wading pool that blew away, emptying the lawn mower bag, playing with toads and riding our bikes as much as possible. As soon as it hit 60 degrees, the kids managed to get us to set up the slip-n-slide. I guess that winter coat is pretty thick still.
Jan is riding her bike without training wheels, and is able to keep pace with the runners on flat terrain. Alec is starting to think about riding without the training wheels on, but is not quite there yet. His asthma seems to be better controlled at the moment. Anne is still getting into all sorts of trouble, stirring up trouble, and just plain trouble whenever she is not being a very delightful child, which is most of the time. Pati has been the best baby ever, smiles even when sick, and lights up with a huge smile with any drop of attention.

We have been to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens most recently, which was great fun. We get in free with our pass to a local historic mansion site here in Akron, so that was why we were able to enjoy it. They even had a small children's garden where volunteers help keep the kids focused, hand our free trees that dad gets to plant when we get home, and a large indoor section including a rain forest with lots of butterflies, and an arid region with lizards and hedgehogs and such. Quite well-done and we all had fun there.

That wasn't enough for us, so we went to the Cleveland Zoo and had lunch with the elephants again. Pretty fun to be able to be so close to so many zoos and parks and activities. That is the nice thing about this area; we are close to everything. Within a 2-hr drive we have 5 nice zoos, 2.5 aquariums, 3 science centers (OMSI type), Lake Erie, the world's largest roller coaster park and lots of indoor and outdoor waterparks (some day later we will discover these), and countless metroparks that are usable year-round.

We also are becoming a bit more involved in Church. Kristi and I have been attending a series of weekend classes on how to study the Bible and communicate effectively (Hermeneutics and Homiletics). I most likely butchered the spelling there. Has been good, and we seem to be fitting in a bit more as well. Is tough to get involved when I am not there much, but I think we are doing a bit better.

Well, I have nothing more to add, seeing how I am here in the ICU on call at 3:30 am waiting for a CT scan to be done on a lady who has a bleed in her brain.

Drop us an email if you feel like it, or drop by if you can.

David

"April is the cruelest month"

I never understood that quote before but I think that it is coming to me now. The first week in April we had a couple of days in the 70's. It was great! Jan learned to ride without training wheels. Everybody graduated to the next size up in bikes (Alec to Jan's, Anne to Alec's old scooter from last year, and Jan actually downgraded because it is less intimidating to ride without training wheels on a smaller bike). We got out the plastic pool and wore swimming suits for a couple of days. Then the snow came back. We are back inside eating soup again.
David had to work a few hours in the morning Easter Sunday and then had a week of vacation which we all thoroughly enjoyed. We are squeezing every last drop out of our Akron Zoo pass. On Monday we made our way to Pittsburgh and used our pass to visit the zoo and aquarium there. It was too cold to be outside much but the aquarium was so much fun. On Wednesday we headed to Erie, PA, mostly to see Presque Isle State Park. We played for awhile in the sand, built a fort out of driftwood and when it got too cold for us we drove over to use our pass at the Erie Zoo. David and I thought the best plan for the week would be to go and do something every other day and rest on the in between days. On Friday we had run out of (zoos?) ideas. I asked Jan and Alec what they wanted to do. "Stay home." "How bout we wrestle with Dad after dinner?" Sounded good to us. Almost every night Alec asked "When will we see Dad again?" It was fun to be able to say "Tomorrow" for so many days in a row.
David is back at work today for a 30 hour shift but at least for this one he is rested up. The pastor of the church we are attending here has been giving a hermaneutics class. David went to the first class post call, after he had been up all night. He actually was able to get some good things out of it (didn't fall asleep) and fill me in on the details when he got home. He sent me to the class this week. It was strange. I don't know how long it has been since I sat somewhere alone for three hours (OK so I did have to take a break to feed the baby) drinking coffee, eating doughnuts and listening to a preacher. It was terrific! We have some assignments to work on for the next class (hoping that one of us can make it) but it is three weeks away so we have some time. It was nice to have the opportunity to get some good input and encouragment to be in the Word. (The doughnuts were fun too!)
We were all going through David withdrawals today and can't wait to see him tomorrow. What a good vacation.