Well.  We’ve just got a lot going on right now.  My Uncle Kevin & Aunt Maryanne are in town, their first time in Arizona.  They came over (w/ my mom and stepdad) on Wednesday for dinner, on Thursday for tea & trip planning, on Friday we went up to Crown King, where my parents are doing a near-complete rebuild of their house/cabin…  CK is about 30 miles north of my house, as the crow flies, but it takes nearly 3 hours to get there, because of travel around, in and through mountains, with 28 miles of it being windy, narrow, bumpy dirt road. 

Then, all day Saturday was spent going up to Flagstaff, for my husband’s (half-)brother graduation from Northern Arizona University…  Very nice to see all the relatives…  He had a party, hosting 35-40 people in his eensy-weensy condo.  Lots of kids, lots of fun, beautiful day, many congratulations to Matthew!! 

Then, Sunday, which always wipes me out… plus, I fast from the computer on Sundays.  (Got that idea from my dear friend Shellie.  We’ve been doing that for 2-3 months, and I really like it.  The kids don’t, but I do.) 

Now, Monday, which was school, then a doctor appointment for Audrey, which took THREE STINKIN’ HOURS, all told.  I told the kids that the reason it always takes so long there is because Dr. Berman is *nice* and friendly and conversational, and he takes the time to look you in the eye and answer all your questions.  The thing is, he does that for everybody, which makes him perpetually not-on-time.  We had Audrey’s one-year checkup, but I also talked w/ him about Wesley’s asthma seriously decreasing after removing dairy from his diet, and I also talked with him (again) about what appears to be a clogged sebaceous gland on Grant (which may need to be cut out.  Ack!)…  So, the three hours was almost worth it.  :-)  Audrey is officially tiny.  Well, she’s 80th percentile for length, but only 15th for weight.  But, he agreed that she appears very healthy (not like Wes, who was 15th percentile and extremely sickly at that age).  He wants me to try her on soy milk again, thinking that when I tried it last, the resulting 3 days of diarrhea might have been cooincidental.  He also said when I expose her to gluten, if she reacts, call the office and insist on seeing him ASAP.  I was afraid of the lag time, and wanted him to write a lab order for the blood test just in case… but he wasn’t willing to do that;  he wants proper documentation for symptoms.  <sigh>  OK.  He was also congratulatory and encouraging that I’m still breastfeeding.  He said, “If you could go up to two years, that would be even better, but you know, after two years, society considers you a weirdo.” 

Next up, leaving tomorrow early morning for the Grand Canyon.  With my mom, the four kids and I are staying up at the North Rim in a cabin, meeting my uncle and aunt, who’ve booked a cabin of their own.  We’ve got one night booked, and are praying for someone else to cancel so we can get a second night.  I’m *really* looking forward to the trip, with some minor concerns:

• I don’t have time to cook/bake everything for the trip in advance, which is always of concern when there are special diets.  I haven’t even had time to go to the store!
• I haven’t had the time to “properly” research the whole thing, research-wonk that I am…  I’ve seriously had to give myself a pep-talk, “It’s better to GO, even if you don’t research it all in advance, than to NOT go.”
• All the junior ranger programs/activities don’t start until the end of May/beginning of June for the North Rim…. I was planning on doing as much of those as I could w/ my kids, and call it school, rather than tack on MORE days to the end of our schedule.  As it is, we’re not done until June 20…  I really don’t want to push back our summer any further.
• I don’t like going and hoping for two nights.  I like the plans to be tidier than that.  I used to be more free-wheeling about that sort of thing, but with four kids in the mix… I’d rather know where & when we’re going to be.  It’ll be a stretch for me… an exercise in flexibility.

So.  That has been (and will be) my week.  Good, but busy, and not much time for blogging (let alone reading other blogs — sorry to neglect y’all!!).  I’ll try for a good Grand Canyon post, with pics, when I come back.

  

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