Two Doctor appointments this week

This week, Elle and Easton had doctors appointments:  Easton back to the allergist to attempt the allergy testing again and Elle to her pediatrician because she just can't kick this cough since she came back from Pine Cove. 
Easton did great at the allergist--he did make it through the testing and it was clear that he has pretty significant tree nut allergies.  We aren't suprised by this because he has had the reactions to walnuts and pecans previously.  So, now we know.  We did test him for all of the other things that he was previously allergic to: milk, wheat, eggs, beef, yeast, peas-and they all came back negative.  Praise the Lord!  We would have been shocked if they weren't since he eats them everyday!  There is not currently a test for the modified food starch or the chili powder so the doctor is still a little worried about what to do about those...we may just have to set up food challenge type test and do it in the office.  We are still working on that.  But, the tree nuts test is knowledge and that is good. 
BUT--while we were in the office, Elle was coughing and the allergist asked if she had asthma.  I told him that she had an appointment the next day because I had been giving her breathing treatments and we just couldn't shake the cough.  She has always had reactive airway (since birth) but no one has wanted to call it asthma.  He said that I needed to get a referral to him or another allergist because her cough sounded like asthma.  We went to the dr the next day and talked to the dr...she ran through all of our other paperwork since Elle was a baby.  Elle had an inhaler when she was younger because she had issues in gymnastics with her breathing.  Long story short--she has now been started on a daily inhaler and her reactive airway has been changed to asthma.  We will follow up in a month and may have to tweak her medicine for a while, but both doctors are talking and feel like this regime will help dramatically.  She is also continuing the breathing treatments for at least two weeks, but hopefully we can stop that after that.  I would love for her to start school without having to do that. 

Wasn't Elle my kiddo that didn't have any medical issues??  :)

Love of the Lord

So this year, Elle went away to Pine Cove for a whole week!  She slept in a bunk bed and we weren't able to talk to her AT ALL! She was so excited about going and participating in the theme nights, meeting new friends and her counselor.  Her counselor this year was named Moon Fry and was fantastic!  We did send care packages to her and she mailed two letters home to us telling us that she missed us and loved us--but it was the longest we have ever gone without speaking!  Thankfully, the Lord placed a person there at camp that we knew that I was able to text with that could see her and talk to her every day and relay back to me that she was doing wonderfully.  God is good ALL the time, isn't He?  She had such a great time, and I cannot tell you how amazing it is to see children worshipping the Lord with everything they have, no embarassment...hands raised--it is overwhelming.  We got to worship with them on the last day and I quite honestly could barely make it through.  This has been an area of major discussion with Elle and I as believers.  She says that she can't outwardly worship because she is shy...and that she is worshipping in her head or inside...but we talk a lot about letting that out and Him know just where He stands in her little world.  She was just beaming when we were there--and the first thing she said to me when she came over was--"I worshipped and it was AWESOME!!".  Jason and I just about fell over!  We talked about how she felt the Lord pushing her throughout the week and how exciting that was for her.  It is so wonderful to watch your child grow in the Lord! 

Annual Rangers Game with the Hanson's

So my best friend lives in Austin and we rarely get to see each other...we get to see each other when our children are born and annually when we make it happen--sometimes when we go back to McKinney and hang out with old friends but always when we go to the Rangers game.  Her husband, Chris has this great gig where his company has access to a suite and we can bring the kids and have all access...its awesome!  Last year, when we did this--Jason had a huge diabetic seizure at the hotel right after the game and we spent the night with the ENT's at the hotel--not as cool.  But, this year--no issues with that-and we all had such a great time.  We met up at the hotel ahead of time and let the kids swim for a little while before heading over to the game.  Then we could just relax and just let the kids eat while we all just visited and watched as the Rangers beat the Yankees!  It was a wonderful evening!!  I had not seen Baron, Alaina's little boy since he was about a month old and I had gone there to help out for a night or two...so it was awesome to be able to spend time loving on him for a while and Olivia is getting way too big!!  I hate that we live so far apart--and we need to get together more!

Smile Camp

So this summer, my mother, the Director of Heart of Texas Therapeutic Riding Center, wanted to start a new camp at the Center but was not sure exactly how to do it--so she decided to try it this year with just our family and a few of the volunteers family members--just in case it was a big flop.  Of course, my kids were super excited about it--but I was not a typical family member, as I also end up being a worker in the camp.  Elle had just done a camp at the barn that she takes horseback riding lessons--so she was really looking forward to this camp at Yaya's place.  My neice Addyson is the same age as Easton and they get along great and my cousin has three daughters and they were all coming.  As well as one of my cousins that has a little boy.  One of the volunteers has two neices that were staying with her--and they were the same ages of Elle and one of my neices--so everything seemed to be perfect as far as the groups were working out.  The camp was so much more than justs horseback riding, the kids did an art activity everyday (and we all know how much I love that!), and one day they learned how to two-step, and there was swimming as well.  The kids all got along so well and the older kids were all riding independently by the end of the week--we were so impressed!!  Easton is not ever that interested in riding horses at my parents--because there is so much more to do there--but this week he spent the whole 45 minutes riding each time they saddled up...and since then he has been excited to ride each time they have gone down...he may be a cowboy after all!  :) 

We are hoping to make this an annual camp event! 

Father's Day

Our schedule this summer has been so crazy and it sure wasn't slowing down with Father's Day right around the corner.  In the summer, I only have to work a total of 5 days...and I had worked the Friday before Father's Day, so the kids were in Waco, and I planned to do my lessons at the Therapeutic Riding Center on Saturday to make the trip to get them more reasonable...but Jason was on call for work so he wasn't going to be able to go with me...So, I left after work on Friday to go to Waco, did lessons all day on Saturday--went out to eat with my dad and grandfather on Saturday night with my side of the family while Jason was enjoying the nice, quiet house all alone here in Tyler. He got up on Sunday morning and headed to Waco to spend time with the family.  We enjoyed lunch and then a nice outing with his family.  Jason wasn't able to stay long since he was on call and the kids and I were staying so that they could go to a little camp at the Center the following week in Waco--but it was a fun filled Father's Day all in all...Interesting how things change through the years to modify for the family!! 

The day just symbolizes how flexible and helpful our Daddy really is...Jason is always willing to do whatever he needs to do to be there for our family.  He is a wonderful Father and provider for my children and myself.  We love him and hope he knows how much we appreciate him on a daily basis working his little fanny off for us!

Elle's baptism

Well the day finally came where Elle worked up the courage to walk forward and tell the congregation at Green Acres Baptist Church that she had accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior.  We are so proud of her and were so excited when Jamy Skaggs accepted the job to baptize her.  It was a wonderful day and we are so blessed!!

Elle's birthday

I don't know if I have really explained how Elle really plans her birthday parties every year--and how she has done this since her 2nd birthday.  See, Elle was speaking in sentences since she was about 14 months old.  Honestly.  It was incredible.  So, when she was nearing her 2nd birthday, she told me that she wanted her Pop and Yaya to bring the horses to her house so that her friends could ride them.  She picked out the cake at the store and we called the lady and she told her exactly what invitations she wanted.  It was awesome.  And she has done that every year since--she will have an idea almost immediately after the party in planning for the next party and I will write it down--and she is ready to go.  So, this year, it was about two months before her birthday and Elle made a comment about what she wanted to do...I was blown away!!  We hadn't planned anything at all!!  Usually, her party is planned way in advance...and this year I had not done anything at all...

Thankfully, her idea of what she wanted to do was a "Good old fashioned Sleep over"--so really we weren't talking about big major things--just watching movies and eating popcorn, making ice cream sundeas, playing on a waterslide, etc...  She even wanted a real cookie cake from the mall--instead of the fancy cakes that I always order and that take forever to make!  :)  The only thing that took a little while was finding personalized cups for the sundaes--for the kiddos to take home afterwards...but the wait was well worth it as the cups were a hug hit!!

Well, we pulled it off and everyone had a great time!  I will not let time fly like that again!!

Adding a new family member

No, I am not announcing a pregnancy--just updating the blog with pictures of the kids kitten, Matilda.  Elle and Easton have been asking for a new pet since we have moved both of their dogs to my parents as of last year.  And, let me tell you, I have not missed the responsibility of the pets at all!!  Jason and I have always been pet people--but once the children came along, the desire to have them lessened and lessened.  Recently, the kids started pushing for any kind of pet at all--a fish, gerbil, mouse, ANYTHING!  I just have no desire to have anything with a cage or anything like that.  So, when we had a friend on Facebook post some pictures of free kittens--I thought that maybe we could get one and keep it outside (since I am allergic to them) and the kids can take care of it.  The kitten has been so wonderful and honestly thinks she is a dog.  She chases the kids around the yard and even climbs the play yard equipment! 

Easton's extracurricular activities in 2010-2011

Easton started karate at the beginning of the school year and we signed a one year contract--with the promise of going to classes at least two days per week.  Did you hear me say TWO days per week??  They can go FOUR days per week!!  I mean, he is four years old!  But, he has loved it most of the time and has done really well!  Compared the gymnastics experience that we had last year with him running around the gym like a crazy person--this has been awesome!  He listens and follows every direction that the coach tells him to do.  We've gone through many of the rank testings and he has done really well.  Then tee ball time came and we had to go to tee ball practices and karate during the week while going to school--it was pretty crazy.  We went through a phase shortly after that where Easton would cry before going to karate...but once there, he would have a great time and was sad when the class was over.  We have taken a few weeks off now with Disney and the horse camp that we did in Waco, and he is looking forward to going back this week.  He says in looking forward to next year that he is not going to do karate--so our contract comes up in September and he is open to doing something new.  He is looking forward to playing Fall Ball...but we will see what else he chooses to do... :)

Elle's extracurricular activities in 2010-2011

This year, we gave the kids options of activities to do--since Elle has been riding horses...did she need something else on her plate?  But, Easton has been doing karate and he got to do tee ball--so we wanted to be sure that we were being fair to Elle and offered her another extra curricular activity.  She chose to do soccer again this spring.  It was an amazingly busy spring with soccer, karate, horsebackriding and tee ball--not to mention the trips to Waco and Jason and I's own jobs!!  :)  But, man did we have fun! 

Easton playing t-ball

Okay, so the time finally came for Jason...his little boy was old enough to play tee ball!  Since we have been married, Jason has helped on tee ball and baseball teams as a coach and has looked forward to the day (he hasn't said that but I can just sense it...) when he has a child that he can coach.  And this year, it happened--and it happened to a level that he wasn't even ready for--he was the manager.  So that meant that he had to communicate a few times a week with moms and dads for all kinds of things--snacks, line ups, what color socks the kids needed to wear, etc...  It was really hard for him--but SOOO great for Easton to be able to have Daddy so close.  And Jason did so great being that far out of his comfort zone socially--but of course was amazing when it comes to anything baseball!  Easton could hardly contain himself every practice and game with Daddy being his coach--sometimes he wouldn't contain himself and would act like a complete nit wit!!  :)  But it was a real learning experience and Easton wants to continue playing baseball-so Jason did something right...that's all that matters, right?

Easton's birthday

Easton did get to celebrate his birthday this year...he had a super hero birthday party...surprise surprise.  We had it at Jumpin Jack's party shack.  He was super excited as a friend of mine made capes for all of his friends to wear at the party.  Another set of friends made some fabulous cupcakes with different super heroes on them and they were a big hit!  Everyone had a great time! 

Hey how about Christmas?!

Yes, the Rinewalt's do celebrate Christ's birthday around here!!  You wouldn't really know it by my postings here on the blog though would you??  :)  We had such a great Christmas this last year though because I truly feel like both of our children understand the true meaning of Christmas now.  We have always had the birthday party for Jesus since Elle was a baby and I think she has really enjoyed that--and so has Easton, but now we are really able to have some good discussions among the four of us and in the readings in the Bible about the birth and their thoughts about the birth.  It was a great evening of celebration. 

The next morning, we were able to watch the children as they came into the room and saw the presents that Santa brought and that is always a joy as well.  Then we made the drive to Waco to have the Christmas tree at Jason's parents around lunch and then my parents Christmas Tree the next morning.  So, it was a busy few days.  Always fun for the children...to get the see all of the family and of course be showered with presents.  We are getting the to the age of "less but more expensive" with Elle and that just seems crazy because last time I checked I am still crazy young!!  :)  We are working really hard to try to keep their heads on right with not being spoiled rotten little brats, but having some luxuries.   

Elle has a medical issue??

So this is a long overdue post--but that shouldnt be a surprise, because I typically post about 4 times a year to document everything that happens throughout the year!  :)  I have everything documented in multiple locations and then when I have a spare moment, I love to sit down and write it all out on here...so here goes. 

Last fall when Elle entered 2nd grade, she began having all kinds of tummy aches.  At first, we were concerned that could be for multiple different reasons:  I wasn't at her campus anymore (for the past two years that she has been there, I have had an office there and she knows that I will at some point be there-and this year, I do not), many of the friends she had been with for the past two years had been moved around and she "felt" as though she was all alone, the teacher she had was fantastic-but of course she wanted the ones that her friends had--(I had hand picked the teacher she had..so of course felt some guilt over the whole thing)...So--at first we felt it could be any number of these things.  But when the pain continued and she began really not eating and it would keep her from not playing with her friends when at home or at her Yaya and Poppi's house--we knew that it was really an issue.  She is not a large child anyway, so she doesn't have a lot of weight to lose!  I began asking lots of questions of the pediatrician and thankfully she listened!  We were referred to the fantastic GI doctor in Plano that Easton has seen for two years.  He immediately said that he felt like it was the same disease that Easton had!  Eosinophilic Esophogitis!  What??  She wasn't throwing up like Easton and it didn't look exactly like his symptoms did...but when Dr. An explained it to me--I guess it really did...So, we talked about watching it for a little while longer and continuing the current plan we were on for a few more weeks, but if that didn't work--that we should come back and do an endoscopy to be sure.  And that is exactly what we did--and he was RIGHT!  I think Jason and I were shocked!  And so was everyone at her school.  I mean, they didn't think she was lying, but honestly, they didn't think it was something awful like ulcers!!  As soon as we started the medication, she was a different kid and everyone was amazed.  Her teacher had been told by everyone that she was always happy and was helpful and had a willing spirit, etc..but all she had seen was crying and asking to go home...it was terrible.  Now, she was able to experience the child everyone was telling her about!  Elle told me later that she was thankful that we believed her--because Jason and I had left work so many times to come and get her when she called us...that just broke my heart...