Head concussions and broken bones

What a week we have had at the Barker's. Meaghan had come with me to pick up Kenzie and Cayla and she hopped out of the car to go and see some of her friends from Excel. This boy decided that he was going to start kicking his foot over the kids head. Well, he came up to Meaghan and tried to kick his foot over her, she moved because she did not want him to kick her and he ended up kicking her right in the side of the head. She started getting a pretty bad headache and called me from school the next day because she did not feel well and her head hurt. I took her to the doctor and she said that Meaghan had a concussion. I think that Meaghan was a little embarrassed because I called the boys family, I was not trying to get him in trouble I just wanted them to explain to him that he cannot kick people because someone can get hurt.

Later during the week Kenzie had a tournament and played the first game and the next day during the game she ended up hurting her knee. She was running with the ball and I am pretty darn sure that she would have ended up with a goal. Anyway, she said that she felt that the ball was going a little to fast for her to control it. Next thing I knew the ball had knocked her right on her back, she immediately grabbed her knee and started crying (very loudly). We drove her to Children's Hospital and they examined her knee and said that she sprained it and sent us home. A couple of hours later a doctor from Children's called us and asked us to bring her back in because she broke her knee. I was a little upset because why did they let us go home (Children's is so far since they moved) and doesn't anyone review the films? We explained that she was finally resting and that we would be very close to them in the morning. The doctor said since she was resting it was fine to bring her in the morning. She had an knee immobilizer put on her knee and needs to see the orthopedic doctor next week.

Excel Academy closes for H1N1 flu!!

Well...we are just finishing Spring Break and received a call from the school stating that they are closing at least for one full week due to a confirmed case of H1N1 Flu. I think that one of the kids that just came back from New York City or California on a field study may have been sick. Well the kids are thrilled and we will see how this works doing school work from the internet. The girls think that it is pretty cool that their school is all over the TV and newspapers. Our school is the first school in Colorado to be shut down. I hope that all the children and families that have been exposed to the flu have a fast recovery.

**Update**
We have just heard more news on the flu. It was one of the kids that was traveling to New York City and he was sick in New York during his stay. It is a mild case of the flu however all the other children have been exposed so now the Health Department is waiting to see if there are more confirmed cases, if there are then the school will be closed for a longer period of time. We also found out that the boy is one of the cousins of Mackenzie's soccer team mates. We have been doing all of our school work via the internet and it is working out so far. The only thing that I have to say is I would NEVER be able to home school my kids. I am not that structured. I have spoke to another parent who also has a middle school child and she said that their teachers have sent so much work that her other kids have not been able to do their work.

Meg's Volleyball team takes 2nd place!!!

Meaghan's volleyball team ended up taking second place in their last tournament. It was a fun season and Megi learned lots of things. She made some great friends and had the best time. These girls spent lots of nights and entire Sundays together, they would laugh, play games, dance and practice hard!! Now she will know lots of girls at other schools when she plays against them during school. I am very proud of you MiMi. I love you and now go set and spike that ball.

Happy 15th Birthday Meaghan!!!!!

Today Meaghan turned 15 years old!!! There is to a new and wonderful year and to all the new things that will be coming your way. Love you daughter!!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!!!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Ryan Jayden!
Happy Birthday to you!

Oh my goodness Ryan you are 5 years old. Where in the world did the time go little boy? I hope that you have a wonderful day and enjoy your new bike. We spent the day at the Children's Museum with your class for a field trip. You enjoyed playing in the fire truck and building a bird house, I could not believe that it won over the trains. You sure do enjoy your friends at school and what a great way to spend your birthday.

Love you,
Mom

911...how may I help you!

Tonight we were at Walmart buying Ryan's birthday present and Mackenzie wanted these tasty sugar cookies. When we got home Kenzie opened up the package and we had cookies. Within a few minutes Kenzie was screaming that her throat was on fire. I could not get her to calm down and she was having a hard time breathing. We ended up calling 911 and they loaded her up and took her to Avista for treatment. Kenzie ended up having an allergic reaction to something in the cookies. Well I was the fortunate one to drive to the hospital and was able to take pictures. Hehehe...Kenzie was NOT happy about that but oh well. I told her that she was lucky that I did not take pictures here in the house when the emergency workers were here. They loaded Kenzie up with lots of drugs and once everything started working like it should they sent her on her way.

Introducing...Matthew Ryan Jayden Barker

On January 30th we were finally able to complete Ryan's adoption. He came into our lives when he was just 5 weeks old and he will be 5 years old on the 10th. We have climbed mountians and tryed to hang on during the storm with him. It has been a tough road but I truly feel like we are on the right road. He and I still have lots of issues but we are working on them everyday. I know that my parenting skills need to improve but there are lots of things that need to improve. We do struggle everyday with his Sensory Issues but that does seem to be getting better the older he gets. I am very pleased to call him my son and to know that he will be a part of my life everyday. We hope that he enjoys his name of Matthew Ryan Jayden, now it fits with the girls and their "M" names. That was a nice surprise that we kept from him and the girls until the day of the adoption. He was not presented with his name like we had hoped but he seems to like it. Every now and then I will call him Matthew or Matt, his school asked him what he wanted to be called and he said "Ryan". So Ryan it is...but since I am your mom I can pick which name I want to call you on that day. I love you Matthew Ryan Jayden!!!!

Sadie Hawkins

Today was Meaghan's Sadie Hawkins dance. She looked just beautiful all dressed up, they all looked beautiful. The girls all went to Brooke's house to get ready and the guys meet them there later. The kids had Chipolte for dinner. All the parents worked together to pick up dinner, drive the kids to the dance and bring them home. The dance is at the The Denver Mart, this is were Tiffany works and she said that it looked really nice with a real big dance floor. Just as I was leaving I informed Lucas (Meaghan's date) that her dad was a very big guy and I was using my hands to show him. I told him to use his best judgement and keep his hands to himself and treat my daughter well (I also informed Meaghan that she never knows when I will be there to check in and make sure everything is going well.) One of the mom's laughed and said oh yeah he is a big guy...another one of the kids also told Lucas that he saw Meaghan's dad at the wrestling match and he is big. Anyway this explains the picture at the bottom, Meaghan was more than ready for me and my camera to leave.

Happy 39th Birthday to me!!!

Today was my 39th birthday. I had a wonderful day with my family. Corey and the kids made dinner and Kenzie & I made a cake. Yummy!!! I was surprised to see that my sister wrote on my car that it was my birthday...Thanks!!! Frank and Donna sent me a beautiful flower arrangement that was much appreciated and what a surprise. Mackenzie stayed home with me also, she used her free day on me...how sweet of her. Well one more year until I am 40 and boy do I have mixed emotions on that one. So much can happen in our 40's...kids can move out of our home, they can get married, I can become a grandparent and so much more.

Girls asking boys!!

Pomona is having their Sadie Hawkins dance on the 24th of January and Meaghan likes this boy Lucas Moody and she wanted to ask him in a fun way to the dance. She finally decided on this cute idea...she made him a puzzle. She spent a couple of hours putting it together and then had to cut out the pieces which proved to be harded than originally thought. She had the envelope delivered to him in class on Friday and he told her that it was pretty difficult so the kids in the class helped him put it together. He did say yes and Meaghan is pretty excited. A group of kids are going to the dance together and then afterwards they are going to Denny's for a meal or dessert. She is out today with Breanna looking for a dress to wear. She is having so much fun in school!!!

Happy Birthday Sister!!!!

Sister, I hope that you had a great birthday yesterday. I enjoyed spending a little of the afternoon with you and I hope that you enjoyed your lunch. I hope that you have a wonderful 36th year and it brings lots of joy to you.

Lots of love to you little sister!

Cousins!!

We just received the picture that we had taken with some of the cousins at Christmas time. All the kids have just grown so much since last year. I cannot believe that Breanna and Trevor are going to be 18 years old this year. Boy how the time flys!!!

I just love this picture!!!

Our neighbor's house was on fire

Corey and I had just went to bed last night and I was reading a book when I heard the sirens. I heard them turn off and I assumed that they were where they needed to be. I then started hearing car doors shuting outside and I turned off my lamp and looked out my window. To my surprise there were lots of emergency vehicles outside and they were closing off streets. I woke up Corey and we decided to head outside to see what was happening. We had heard the police talking that everyone was ok and out of the house. I felt so bad for them and would never hope that for anyone. We decided to come back into the house and head to bed because it was pretty late to start with and it was getting really cold outside. Once we were back in the house I told Corey that I think we should wake up Ryan, I just knew that he would love to see all the fire trucks, ambulances and police cars with their lights on. I know that this was a terrible thing that happened however I really wanted Ryan to see the hoses hooked up with the water coming out and just to see everything. He did like looking at the trucks however he was tired and went back to bed after 15 minutes.

I am not sure how much damage was done to the inside of the house however the family was able to return back home that same night. The fire department did put a big hole in the side of their house and now it is covered with black plastic.