New Year's Eve 2009...plans have changed

Feeling better, right before he was sent home!

Some of the visitor..this round was family!

This year we planned our annual New Year's Eve party again and plans quickly changed. Dec. 31st we were putting up Christmas decorations and I was making snacks and getting things ready for the party and Kevin was outside shoveling the walks so none of our guests would slip and fall. I walked into the living room and noticed that Kevin had collapsed by our front door so I ran over and started shaking him and calling his name for about 3 minutes and was just getting ready to call 911 when he came to and said, "Oh, I'm fine" and went and got into bed and started watching the OU game. I was very concerned so I called my sis in law Tiffany and talked to her and she didn't like it and wanted me to call 911 immediately. Kevin didn't want to go and said he would be just fine so I started call everyone and cancelling the party because I just didn't feel right about continuing with the party when he had passed out. I was watching Kevin and he started shaking and was mumbling and slurring his words so I went ahead and called 911 they got here in like 2 minutes...the were VERY quick! Makenzie had called my mom and she was on her way but was till about 20 minutes away and I really wanted to be at the hospital with Kevin and all of the sudden a neighbor from around the corner stops at our house and runs up to the door and says she will stay with the kids until someones else can get here....Thank you Jesus and thank you Shelly! I follow the ambulance and can see them working on Kevin starting an I.V. etc and as I'm driving I'm calling people to start praying for Kevin and to let family know that we are headed to the hospital, I get in touch with our friend Christy and ask her if one of them can go to our house until my mom gets there and her husband is at Reasors so he heads over to stay with the kids until my mom gets there.

I'm so thankful for our family and friends that helped us during this time!!! Thanks everyone that helped, either by prayer, bringing food or drinks, or just visiting we appreciate all of you!

We get to the hospital and there are not any rooms available in the ER until the ER drivers insist that they get Kevin a room ASAP! They find him one quickly and send me out to the waiting room. I ask several times to go back and be with Kevin but they won't let me so I was totally freaking out and then Korey and Tiffany show up (Kevins brother and SIL) and I calmed down some. They finally let us back with Kevin and he is still out of it, not really knowing what is going on, slurring his words, talking gibberish and looks HORRIBLE! Before you know it a bunch of people start showing up in the waiting room to check on Kevin because wouldn't you know it my phone has totally lost power!!! We are so thankful for our church family because several of them showed up to pray with Kevin and to just be there for him. After many hours in the ER the doctor decided to admit Kevin to the hospital and to run a bunch of tests on him, please don't ask me to name them all because I can't ever remember all of them it was a very confusing, frustrating night and New Year's Day was just a day of waiting for more tests to be run. Kevin and I hardly got any sleep that night because the nurses kept coming in about every 30 min. to run tests and then his monitors kept going off all night too...it was a LOOOOOOOOOOONG night! About 5ish on Jan. 1st, 2010 they released him with the diagnosis of extreme exhaustion. HMMMM, working UPS for the past 4 months at least 60 hours per week and not taking his lunch breaks on most days just might do that to you huh! So if you happen to see Kevin please tell him to take it easy and get some rest! He needs that reminder from EVERYONE!!!

We've had many people call and ask if we need anything and I just wanted to thank all of you! Christy R has set up a calendar of meals and we really appreciate her hard work!!! Thanks Christy for all that you do for others you are not only Super Mom but a Super Friend too!!

Feeding the cows

This morning Kevin took Kenzie out to the VanCurens to feed the cows, just to let you know these are the cows that we buy and eat every year...I don't think Kenzie knows that part but she wanted to see them! Anyway they had a great time except when Kevin got home his fingers felt like they were on fire...hmmm, that's kind of unusual they were only out there for about 10-15 minutes and he had on gloves the whole time.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Punky Monkey Missions

Just wanted to update everyone and let you know that since the news on 6 aired that story about Makenzie and her mission she has had an overwhelming response! Just amazing how people have come together to help her! She's recieved yarn donations, friends offering to help her crochet scarves, donations from The Scrapbook Store in Owasso and many people have just wrote her a check, she received a large sum in the mail from an anonymous person and friends have stopped by and donated to her mission, WHAT A BLESSING! Thank you to everyone that has helped support Punky Monkey Missions over the past year. This year she is going to work on making it into a 501-3-C which is an actual charitable organization so if you have any experience in this area please let us know!

Homeschool Christmas party

Decorating and eating cookies
Playing tug of war...I spy with my little eye an adult playing with the kids...that doesn't seem quite fair for the other side!

The boys didn't even want to decorate cookies, just play with the noodles...I think they were swords or some other type of weapon! LOL!

Both of my children love A...she's a sweetie!

Kenzie and Lil P

This year we joined a different homeschool group and we are really enjoying it! They have a very laid back approach and we love it, for the Christmas party they just decorated cookies, made a craft and played!

Shepherds Cross

It really made us think about all the smells, sights, sounds and everything when Jesus was born in a stable, very realistic and something the kids will not forget!

The movie area

Storytime

The view

Kylan loved the "sheep dog"

The donated yarn

The beautiful red barn

On Saturday we headed out to Claremore to Shepherds Cross because we really wanted to see their living nativity. As we were leaving Dr. Diane donated a bunch of yarn to Punky Monkey Missions so Makenzie has a lot of crocheting to do now, her latest project is crocheting scarves for a homeless shelter in our area. If you have time drive out and check out Shepherds Cross, they have the living nativity, a store, a movie, refreshments and while we were there they had a story teller.

Punky Monkey Missions made the news

We were so proud of Makenzie, she did a great job in her news interview even though she said she was a little nervous and she's usually so shy BUT she spoke up and answered all the questions that Rick Wells asked her. If you would like to see the video of her then click here News On 6

Breaking News....

Today Makenzie was interviewed by Rick Wells from the News channel 6, he stayed for about an hour and asked her all kinds of questions so we don't really know what will be on the news. If you want to watch and live in our area then it will be channel 6 at 5pm and LeAnne Taylor will do a clip in the morning show about it also. If you want more info about Makenzie's mission work here is a link to her blog Punky Monkey Missions.

AA circus

The only pic I got of Grandma was the back of her head...sorry Grandma and they call me a scrapbooker???
See the baby elephant on the right? It was born in OK 2 yrs ago and is so adorable!

This is Brian (Connie's hubby) and he was picked out of the crowd to be in the circus!

Connie's girly girls...aren't they too cute!

Grandpa with the kiddos

Riding the elephant

It's a tradition in the Wedemeyer family that every year Grandpa will take the kids to the American Airlines performance of the circus and some years Kev and I go and sometimes we don't but this year we all went including Kevin's sister Connie and her whole family and Grandma went too! It was so fun! Thanks for a fun family tradition Grandpa!!!

Grammy and a movie

This is the 3rd year in a row that Grammy has invited us to see a movie early on a chilly saturday morning in Dec. and every year we've had such a great time. The first year we saw Alvin and the Chipmunks, last year we saw Bolt and this year we saw Planet 51. They have donuts and juice or coffee for us and then we sing some Christmas carols and then the movie starts. After the movie Grammy takes the "Fab 5" to eat and to make gingerbread houses and they also make some type of Christmas gift for the parents (that means me). The homemade presents are AWESOME, I love all things made by my children! One year they made us treasure boxes, one year a "let it snow watch us grow" measuring chart, and I think last year was a water bottle with pictures and artwork by our children! I wonder what this year will be???
While the kids are at Grammys house it gives Kevin and I some time to go out to eat and finish up any shopping that we need to get done without the kids around. Let me tell you we really need that time too, it's hard being a homeschool parent because you can't shop without your kids...they are basically with you 24/7!!

***fab 5 is the nickname for the Oklahoma grandkids***

Polar Express sleepover

The boys didn't even make it all the way through The Polar Express before they fell asleep!

The girls fell asleep watching "Up"

All the kids received Polar Express tickets

The girls made a "fort" in Kenzie's room that they planned to sleep in but they fell asleep in the livingroom floor.

2 weekends ago each of the kids invited a friend to stay the night and join us for our annual Polar Express party. This year Lil P and Eli stayed, we had a fun time playing, watching the Polar Express movie, eating popcorn and of course drinking hot chocolate (can you watch Polar Express and not have hot chocolate???), the boys didn't want to do any of the crafts but the girls made ornaments and Christmas puppets and a good time was had by all!

Duct tape and prom????

You have to check out this site called Stuck at Prom they have these really cool prom dresses and tuxes made out of Duct tape...isn't that just the craziest thing??? Very cool ideas, I don't think I was this creative when I was in high school and they have the chance to win a scholarship just by being creative with their prom outfit!