Hiester Family Antics: Whatever Works

The Hiester Family in a nutshell - a big one, like a coconut or something

We are a family of a whole bunch of random people, thrown together in one small house, who all happen to look alike. Each member of our family was hand-picked by God... that's the only explanation for the saga that is our family. Here's the story from the beginning... My husband, Todd, was married before me. His wife's name was Carrie, and together they had 3 kids: Tyler, Kurstin & Elissa. Todd's parents were divorced and his mother remarried. Her new husband, Don, had 2 small children: Ally & Wesley. Their natural mother was killed in a car accident when they were 8 & 11. One year later, they lost their dad and Todd and Carrie took them into their home. 6 months after Ally & Wesley were added to the household, Carrie died of cancer at age 26. Her own children were 3, 6 & 9 and Ally & Wesley were 10 & 13. And Todd was alone with them. Think Lord of the Flies. So when I fell in love with Todd, I got these 5 kids as a bonus. We married about a year and a half into our relationship, with the kids as our wedding party. We made it all official with an adoption lawyer and lots of money, ensuring that we are LEGALLY their parents. They even had to take oaths saying they would perform the duties of sons and daughters, which I think means I have someone to change my diapers when the time comes! After 2 years of marriage we added Robben Carey to the mix. And now we've welcomed Livi Claire...the seventh, and final, Hiester kid (unless, of course, God has other plans). Todd and I are 37 and 35, respectively, and our kids range in age from 1 to 21. It's great because we're cool and always the youngest in a crowd of high school parents.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Whatever Works

Yesterday the boys had a track meet. They both won. Tyler won the frosh/soph pole vault with a height of 8'-0", which he was very disappointed about. His best so far is 9'-6", but this is only his second meet ever, so c'est la vie. Wesley won the varsity pole vault with a height of 10'-6", his new personal record. He got up to 10' his sophomore year, and then took a year off, so he's doing good getting back in the swing of things. (Literally... or maybe the fling of things) Todd is the closest thing the team has to a coach... a great opportunity to relive the glory days... glad its not bull riding!

Robben is feeling better... mostly. We went almost two days without any vomitting, but then last night he had an exorcist/projectile episode at the dinner table. Everybody felt very bad for him. I was just glad I didn't have kitchen duty! Congratulations Wesley! He's still on his antibiotic and I'm giving him Motrin for pain & fever. He's not as out of it anymore. The only real issue, other than the puking, is the cough followed by a chewing motion. We all know how that feels, but the rest of us can spit. And by the way, just about everyone in our house has come down with either sore throats or furry coughs. Wesley literally winces every time he swallows. I hear my mom is sick too.

I have 6 days till my vacation... not that I'm counting. Lyndsay has been so sweet; I'm pretty sure she is turning Larned. Kansas into the ultimate vacation destination. She is planning my favorite breakfast, amazing dinners complete with PIE, a pedicure and massage, and has informed me that I will be allowed to do nothing but RELAX. I'm worried I won't come home! I can't wait to see her, but I'm not looking forward to the flight. First of all, I don't exactly enjoy flying, and second: Robben. I wonder how he's going to do. At least it's not a long flight, like across the country or overseas. We fly from Fresno to Denver (2 1/2 hours) and then Denver to Wichita (a little over one hour). Luckily the longer flight is during his naptime, so hopefully I will be able to get him to sleep. Then I made sure to have a nice long layover so he can stretch his baby muscles and run around a bit. Wish me luck there.

I don't think there's much else to report. I just felt like I needed to blog while I had the chance. Robben just went down for his nap and I'm not in the middle of a book, so I figured I'd write while I ate my breakfast, then head off to the shower. I canceled all of my appointments/activities for today so Robben could have another get-well day (and not spread his cheer to anyone else).

Oh, I do have one other thing. One big part of being in our family is "burning" each other. We sharpen our wit on each other. We don't say things that actually hurt each other - that wouldn't be funny. But what we do usually gets ALL of us laughing - even the recipient of the "burn". Well, last night Ally got a great one in. The reason it was so great is that it was actually a well-timed, witty compliment. Here's how it went: Ally sneezed. Nobody said "bless you," which is something I always complain about. So she said, "see, no one blesses me either, except Jesus." And Todd, with attitude in his tone, said, "How do you know Jesus blesses you?" And she, without missing a beat, and matching his attitude, said, "Because I have you guys!" Everyone present did the obligatory "OOOOOOHHHHH", and then praised her for such a quick and perfect answer. She admitted that she practices. She said she lays in bed and thinks up situations and what she might say. Some of us are quick and some of us are prepared. Whatever works!