Shea’s hearing is PERFECT!!!!

Shea’s hearing is PERFECT!!!!

Shea had an appt with the ear, nose, and throat dr today, and the audiologist said his hearing test was PERFECT! (She used the word – perfect!)

The ENT Dr. Johnson is very happy with Shea’s ears too. The tube is gone from his left ear. We actually went home with it, and Shea wants to bring it for show-and-tell. The dr picked it out of some wax in Shea’s ear. :-p It was had been out of the ear drum 2 months ago, but at that time, Shea had some fluid and some hearing loss in that ear. The good new is that the fluid went away on its own, and Dr. Johnson thinks he’s growing out of the ear issues! Yay!

The tube in the right ear is still in place, and the dr thought he might get another 4 months out of it. We’ll take Shea back in the fall to see him and make sure things still look good and that the other tube works its way out.

I cannot tell you how stunned I was to hear that everything looked good. After having the fluid behind his left ear a couple of months ago, I was just sure he’d have to have another tube put in. To hear this was AWESOME! Shea celebrated with some cookies from the vending machine. And although he was sad that he and I couldn’t stay home today and play PlayStation, he was happy to make it to school in time for lunch and recess.

God is good!

A Sammy Moment

Sammy and I were lying down together at my mom and dad's last week. The room was dark and quiet, and we were trying to fall asleep, or at least I was.

Sammy: I got a booger in here.
Me: Did you get it?
Sammy: I'm still looking.

I about died laughing. He found what he was looking for and then gave it to me. What a mother won't do!

Asher Allen Oxford

A message from Erin and Andy

Hello. Just wanted everyone to know that Asher Allen Oxford was born March 15th at 7:02PM and weighed in at 7lbs 13 ounces and measured 20 1/4 inches long. Erin and Asher are doing great. They were able to come home on the 16th where Asher got to meet his big sisters, Genevieve and Ella, for the first time. Attached are a few pictures. For those that do not know, we are leaving Alaska in 12 days and moving to Pierre, SD. Wish us luck during our transition to a new home with a new baby. We are going to need it, I think :). Hope all is well with all of you. Take care.

Love,
The Oxford's

Merry Christmas from the Scobbas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Scobbas! We pray that the love of Jesus warms your heart this season, and that you will be filled with His super-natural peace and hope in the coming year.

As you can see, Iowa Hawkeye football has been big at our house this fall! Even little Sammy knows his Hawkeyes. Some may call it brainwashing; we just call it Iowa pride. Go Hawks!

We have had a good year. In January, I had laser eye surgery to correct my near-sightedness. After wearing glasses or contacts since the 6th grade, having perfect, unassisted vision is awesome! Just before Thanksgiving, Miss Megan started wearing glasses. (Sorry, Megs, you probably got that from me.) Her prescription is mild, but she’s excited about her improved vision, and we think she looks pretty darn cute in the glasses.

Our Sammy had surgery in January too, to put tubes in his ears. The good news is that his ear infections have stopped, and the tubes are still in place. So we're hoping to get through another cold and flu season with them.

In March, Megan swam on the swim team, swimming the freestyle and backstroke. She didn’t like racing very much, but she’s a much stronger swimmer now. In May, Megan played in her first piano recital. Charlie and I love listening to her play. This summer, Megan played softball and celebrated her 9th birthday with her first sleepover party. The girls did sleep, and Charlie and I survived. So it was a huge success!

This fall she started 4th grade and is now busy preparing for a musical at school and playing basketball. She loves to read and is on the math team. We’re very proud of our young lady.
Shea played t-ball and lost his two front teeth this summer. In July, he had to get his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears. He had recurring strep throat and some hearing loss because of the fluid built up in his ears. The surgery has been such a blessing though! He’s been healthier, and his hearing is completely restored. Praise the Lord! He is in kindergarten now and absolutely loves it. He’s full of energy and has the best smile.

In May, our Sammy turned 2, and he is still our little sweetheart. He’s singing his ABCs and can count to 13. Now we’re working on colors – so far everything is red …

We took a few trips this year, including a visit to Des Moines to see our good friends the Nords and several family gatherings in Iowa. Charlie went to Washington DC with the 8th graders from St. Jude’s. It was a great experience for them and him. In August, we celebrated Charlie’s parents’ 40th wedding anniversary and my cousin Justin’s wedding. Charlie traveled to Iowa City with his friend Nate to see the Hawks beat Arizona. And, in November, my mom, two sisters, and I traveled to Seattle for a girls’ fun, long weekend. No husbands, no kids … It was awesome!

We’re looking forward to fun with family and friends this Christmas, and we pray for a healthy and prosperous new year for our family and for you and yours. Love and blessings,

Charlie, Tracy, Megan, Shea, and Sammy

Shared photo book from Tracy

Click here to view this photo book larger

Summer 2009 Rock Rapids Trip

Okay, I'm going to try to write a little synopsis of the fun things we did on vacation.

Day 1 - Friday

Mom drove up to The Cities on Friday morning, and then she and I went to the airport to pick up Erin, Genevieve, and Ella. I think Erin was more than fried after traveling overnight with a plane change in Seattle with two little girls: ages 3 and 20 mo. But we were super-excited to see her!

Mom, Megan, Erin, and the girls then headed for Rock Rapids, while Sammy took a nap, and Charlie and I finished packing. We would have been done packing, but I could not find our camera case. We had the camera, but the case with the batteries, charger, and cables was missing. We looked EVERYWHERE! We couldn't find it. I even called the guys at work and had them look through my desk for it, but it wasn't there either. We finally just headed out without it.

Wouldn't you know that the next day, as I was sitting in my parents' dining room chatting with my mom, I looked on the kitchen counter and said to my mom, "Hey, is that my camera case!" I guess Melissa had found it in my dad's truck after our tubing outing last month. She knew where it was, but she was camping in Omaha that weekend, so she was the one person who didn't know I was looking for it. I was just glad to have it!

Day 2 - Saturday

We mostly lay low, but Dad took the kids fishing, which they LOVE! Megan caught 25 bluegill - her limit! She was super excited. It was in a stocked pond, and she had to throw them all back, but that's still a lot of fish to catch! :-)

Saturday night we drove to Sioux Center to see my cousin Dan's baseball game. His team was in the state semi-finals! They didn't win, but it was fun to see a high school game again. Plus, we got to see Grandma and Grandpa Muecke and Uncle Duane and Aunt Amy.

Day 3 - Sunday

We got out Dad's 4-wheelers and gave the kids rides. I still remember how to drive one - whew! It was really fun. Now I remember why I spent hours on ours when I was growing up.

In the afternoon, Grandpa and Grandma Muecke, Aunt Sherri, Cousin Steph and her daughter Riley came for a visit. Reily is almost 2, like Sammy and Ella, so they were all pretty cute together. We had tacos for supper with my mom's super awesome taco sauce that makes you sweat but tastes oh so good! I've tried making it myself, but I don't have the home grown, canned tomatoes that she uses. They make all the difference.

Day 4 - Monday

Monday was our only rainy day, so we met Grandpa and Grandma in Rock Valley to take Mom out for lunch. We went to Pizza Ranch for the buffet - yummmm! It's really no wonder how I gained 3 pounds in 10 days when you look at all the awesome food I ate. :-p

After lunch, we drove to Hospers to visit Grandpa Klein and Cousin Dean. The kids kind of terrorized the poor farmhouse where my grandpa was born, but Grandpa and Dean were genuinely glad to have the visitors. Grandpa came home early from his "coffee," and Dean came home from work to hang out with us. I'm really glad we went because the rest of the week seemed to fly by.

Day 5 - Tuesday

Tuesday was our trip to the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls. The zoo has improved since I first went there in grade school, and the kids really liked it. Sammy couldn't wait to see the monkeys - he loves monkeys! I'll let all the pictures tell the story.

Day 6 - Wednesday

Wednesday was a trip to Sioux Falls to shop and attempt to get a group picture of all six grandchildren. I thought I had a fair idea of what taking a picture of six kids: ages 21 months to 9 years. I figured there'd be general chaos, but I had no idea how many tears would be shed by kids and parents alike. :-p We ended up with a couple of pictures in which most of the kids were looking at the camera and not crying... At least we tried! After the picture experience, we shopped and ate and had a good time.

Day 7 - Thursday

We planned to go to the waterpark on Thursday, but nap schedules and responsibilities at the bait shop left us with a couple trips to the Rock Rapids swimming pool instead. Fortunately, the pool in RR is awesome and the kids LOVED it. :-)

Thursday night Dad made his famous chocolate malts - awesome!

Day 8 - Friday

Friday was father/daughter fishing day - yay! Dad took Melissa, Erin, and I out on his boat at Spirit Lake and we fished for perch. Melissa, bait shop manager extraordinaire, baited her own hook and removed her own fish. Erin and I let Dad do it. He grumbled a little, but he's used to it. We caught 50 fish all together, and it was very fun. Mom watched the littlest three grandkids (brave woman), and Charlie took Megan, Shea, and Jaylen to Sioux Falls for a movie.

Day 9 - Saturday/Bunko!/BBQ

Saturday we hosted a Bunko party at Mom and Dad's and then we had a BBQ with fireworks. We got to see lots of old friends and family.

Day 10 - Sunday

The Scobbas had to head home, and Erin and the girls headed to Rapid City, SD to see Erin's in-laws. We brought Jaylen home with us to spend the week.

Shea lost his second tooth!

We knew it was coming ... that second tooth was pretty loose. Daddy pulled it yesterday, and now our boy is missing his two front teeth. I was singing the "All I Want for Christmas" song for him yesterday in honor of his new toothless grin. He thought that was pretty cool.

I got a picture of him and also one of all three kids to commemorate this occasion. Yes, Shea is trying to hold Sammy's head still because he refused to look at the camera.

I went looking for pictures from Megan's first lost tooth, and she did lose her first one the summer before she turned 6. Check out this picture; we were having a tooth celebration: eating popcorn and watching the movie Toothless. They were just babies!