Everyday Stories

Hogwarts

2011-12-30T09:17:00.000-05:00

Santa brought the boys the two Hogwarts Lego sets to share. And since they were in and out during the week, I made them wait until they were all home on Friday to put the sets together. They were beside themselves with excitement. However, they had been playing and building Legos all week and towards the end of the day did get a little burnt out on building-one of the sets had 10 bags of Legos! But they pushed through-troopers they are!
We had also gotten Eli "Hagrid's Hut," which he is pointing to here. It is a neat set and has a light up brick for the fire. He did a great job putting it together and has had lots of fun playing with all of the creatures and pieces.

We got Noah "The Burrow" which he needed only a little help to put together. And it has some really neat features that he is enjoying, like the drawers and plates in the kitchen. Noah is pointing to himself, he's a little bit "gangsta" you know.

Here are the two Hogwarts sets put together, with all of the people. I knew we had to take a picture quick, since once they started playing and dividing things up it would never be the same!

Oh the fun they are having! I'm so glad we get to enjoy it with them. They divided up all of the minifigs between themselves to "own" and there was one extra, so it was determined that I should get one too. I said I would just take what was left but that I didn't really want a dementor. Guess what was left? Yep, I have myself my very first Lego minfig, and it's a dementor. I keep him on top of the Castle!

And then Hogwarts with the additonal two sets for the full effect of Harry Potter's life.

It's a regular wizarding world around here!

Handsome Man

2011-12-27T08:52:00.000-05:00

Tim sang at church on Christmas day and it was requested he wear a suit. Which is not his norm, he's a jeans and long sleeves kind of guy. He looked really nice, which I appreciated, so he decided to just wear his suit all day. Kind of like when I keep my work clothes on in the evening so Tim can see me in nice clothes.

The boys got him a shoe for his blackjack table for Christmas so after he opened it he went in the library to check it out, and I had to laugh. He looked like a dealer, so I had to have him pose.

I love it!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:47:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

May your day be filled with family and love, may your new year be filled with God's grace!

Love,

Tim & Janelle

Eli, Noah, Simon, Jesse

Gingerbread House

2011-12-23T08:38:00.000-05:00

The boys love to put together a gingerbread house every Christmas season. I'm just glad they make the kits you can get for $5. I did pick up some extra candy to decorate with since this year there are four boys who are all very interested in getting in their fair share of decorating.

Here they are busy at work. There was a little frustration as eight hands wanted to work at the same time. They are learning compromise and kindness. Especially since I wouldn't let anyone quit!

They made it through, and were asking to eat it as soon as it was done, but no eating until Christmas Eve!

We added a small bag of M&Ms, some gummy Life Savers, and a pack of tic tacs. Seemed about right.

School Christmas Projects

2011-12-21T16:54:00.001-05:00

Eli made this in Art class at school. So very cool, and time consuming to make. Each branch is cut and glued individually. When they get Eli's age, it's fun because they have some skills to do harder projects and they still think making stuff is fun. Love this age!

Up on the Housetop

2011-12-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

Jesse is our musical child I think. He's always been such a dancer and it sure seems like he can keep a beat. He knows all the little songs that we sing, and he's learning new ones at preschool. We love to have him sing for us. It's highly entertaining. Well, it's Christmas so they are learning Christmas songs at preschool of course. They have been working on "Up on the Housetop" lately.

Here is my favorite part:

Up on the housetop, click, click, click
Down thru the chimney with Saint Good Nick!

See him, it's Saint Good Nick!

Not the best Mothering day

2011-12-15T21:51:00.001-05:00

Just didn't have the best mothering day today. Actually that's not really true. It did seem like I couldn't think clearly, and consequently made some stupid mistakes, that hopefully don't have other repurcussions. One example: the big boys were all buying lunch at school today so I thought, great, no lunches to pack! About 11:30 the daycare calls, Jesse has his lunchbox but all that is in it is yesterdays left overs. Nice. Tim and Jesse remembered to take the lunch bag, I just didn't put anything in it. So I ran home and packed him a lunch and took it to him.

I think maybe I have too many irons in the fire and can't keep it all straight. I'm ready for Christmas vacation! No homework to worry about, just kicking it with my boys for ten days. I think it will do us all good to have some "Mommy days" as Jesse calls them.

We're also at a crossroads for Eli and his education again, I think. That weighs on this Mama's heart too. I just want to make the best decisions possible for my boys, and it can be hard to know just what the best decision is. I have to weigh the financial side too.

Plus it's Thursday. My mom always used to call it crash night, and as a mom of school age kids, I can see why. I usually move up bedtime on Thursdays, makes us all feel better.

Okay, I'm off to make peppermint bark for an exchange at work tomorrow and also start prepping for our dinner guests tomorrow. We're entertaining every night this weekend. We just get this one life, right? I'm packing it full!

Caroling

2011-12-13T08:14:00.002-05:00

I've never been caroling, have you?

Noah's school set up a caroling night for one of their "family nights" at school. The boys and I went and stood with some friends so when they broke us into smaller groups we'd be with them. Our group got the first side street next to the school so it wasn't a long walk and boy it looked like no one was home on the whole street. I asked one of the teachers if they had set houses that we were going to. Nope! Just see who would answer the door to a mob in the street!
There were kids who would run up to the door and if someone answered we would sing them two songs, wish them a Merry Christmas. Then kids would run off to ring the doorbell at the next house. My Noah was dying to be one of those kids ringing doorbells. He made it on the last house, which looked dark to me, but they came to the door and we sang. Noah was quite pleased. I was just glad he had a good time.

I imagine we looked a little bit like this:

I do not have the photographic proof myself because I felt like a purse, a hand each on a three and five year old, plus eyes on the seven and nine year old while walking down the middle of a street with no sidewalks would be enough for me, and thus no room for the camera. Maybe next year!

After caroling we went back to the school for sitting on Santa's lap, a Christmas craft, and a cookie with scalding hot chocolate. It was a very fun night. By the end of the night I even managed to find the mitten and glove that I dropped as I was getting them out of my purse for Simon and Jesse when we got there. Kind people picked them up and put them in the lost and found, and we were able to get them. Yay for that! I hate losing gloves!

We all enjoyed it, and I think the neighborhood did too! Now the boys and I are wondering who else we can go caroling to? We'd need Tim with us though, we need a deeper voice in the mix than what the boys and I can offer.

Have I mentioned lately that I love the ages of my boys? And the fun we are having? Partly why my blogging has been sparse, there's just so much we are doing, learning, and experiencing. So glad I get to be their mother and share in forming who they become. Love those little men!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

2011-12-07T10:08:00.001-05:00

Apparently the boys' bus driver is doing a little Christmas trivia with themto pass the time. She tells them what it will be about and then asks for theanswer the next day. They came home wanting to know about the Twelve Days ofChristmas.

While I think that song is a wonderful Christmas tradition, I'm not about tosing it, it's horrible! The repetition drives me up a wall. However, I was morethan happy to sing the final verse, starting at twelve. I was singing it andtrying to get the boys to join in and act out what was happening so they'd beable to remember it better. Eli was excited to be a Leaping Lord, Noah and Eliwould both be Ladies Dancing, they would all do "swimming" motionsfor Swimming Swans. They pointed to my rings for the Golden Rings, Jesse wouldfly like a bird for any of the birds, Simon would act like a turtle crawlingfor the Turtle Doves (which cracked me up by the way).

The VERY best one though was when we came to Geese. I wasn't sure how to doa goose laying an egg, so I figured I'd see what they came up with, I mean, whyshould I be the one with all of the ideas? I will document below:

"Noah, be a goose laying an egg!" I encouraged. Noah thought for asecond and before he could act, Simon came over and sort of sat down, as onewould to lay an egg. It worked for me. I was ready to head to the Golden Rings.

"Wait! Wait!" Eli yelled. He ran over to the center of us, satkind of on his knees and ripped a BIG fart. Then he laughed and laughed. Allthe boys laughed and laughed. I laughed and laughed while shaking my head.

Bet you'll never think of "Geese-a-laying" the same will you?

17 Years

2011-12-05T21:38:00.001-05:00

17 years ago today, I made a life altering decision. Tim had asked me out, and I said yes. Best decision I have ever made. I didn't make the decision lightly, it was after much prayer and deliberation, and a long two day wait for Tim. Poor guy!
It has now been half of my life that I've been with him, the best half, I might add. I am so blessed to have him as my husband, and that he as committed to "us" as I am.
Life is not perfect, it can't be, but it's a slice of life I am so thankful to have. God is good! I am thankful!

Clock

2011-11-23T20:54:00.001-05:00

Simon is our biggest Lego creator. Here he created a grandfather clock with amazing attention to detail.

He put a spider in it-to show that it was old.
He put it on a piece that was a hood to a car, so it was not flat and so the sides would go out farther and be curved and fancy like a real clock.
The top he used not a flat piece so there would be extra fancy detail, like a real clock.
The pendelum is on a chain so it swings free.

We don't have a grandfather clock, so it was all from his memory/imagination.

Best Mom Ever

2011-11-15T11:31:00.001-05:00

"Mom you're my best mom ever, in my whole life!" Jesse said to me.

"And you, my dear, are my best Jesse ever!" I replied. I love it when he instigates these conversations!

"I don't want any bad guys to shoot you. I don't know what I'd do. If bad guys shot you and shot Daddy? Then, I wouldn't have anyone to drive me around!"

Indeed, dear child, you would be without a chauffeur, the travesty!

Rest

2011-11-11T11:32:00.000-05:00

The boys have been passing around some kind of puking bug the week. Good times. I stayed home with Simon and he was laying onf the couch and I was sitting in the recliner working on a self-study workbook. Yay for being a CPA :-) Anyway, Simon was fidgeting and I said, "Simon, just rest, you don't have to sleep, but just rest."

He got kind of whiney and said, "Rest? What is rest? I don't know what that means."

I chuckled and explained it to him, but really that doesn't surprise me, he really doesn't know how to rest, he's just like his dad. Always busy, always moving and never resting.

When Tim got home I told him he laughed and laughed, and then said, "Well, that's really good that he doesn't know how to rest."

Which made me laugh. I think he wants all the boys to be workers like him so they can work together all the time. But we all know that I've got Noah, he's my napper (a title he claims proudly), movie watcher, and reader, just like his mama!

Pumpkin

2011-11-09T10:26:00.001-05:00

In Eli's science they were doing a unit on plants so they started pumpkin plants in cups at school so they could follow along with the germination and sprouting. When the unit was complete Eli got to bring his pumpkins home. He had three sprouts in one cup. As soon as he got home he got more cups and transplanted them each into their own cups, added more dirt, watered them, and put them on the windowsill in the sun.

A few days later we were in the car when Eli said to me, "Mom, how will my pumpkins get pollinated?"

I thought it was an excellent question, so I said, "Well what do you think?"

He suggested taking them outside, but I reminded him by that time we'd be in winter. He "hummphed" because he knew we didn't have any bees in the house to pollinate, so he said, "Well, it will have to just pollinate itself. It can do that you know, and then he proceeded to explain how that would work, using all of the proper terms for the plant parts.

That boy loves science, and I'm so pleased he does enjoy learning it, even if his test scores don't reflect that he has retained the knowledge. Such is the life of a dyslexic, I guess! But it works for me because it's better than learning stuff for a test like his Mama, it'll be in his head forever, that boy has the memory of an elephant (or "remembery" as it is referred to in our house).

Growing Up

2011-11-07T09:38:00.000-05:00

My boys are really growing up, you know how sometimes it just hits you? This weekend has been like that.

Eli made scrambled eggs for breakfast on Saturday, then made himself and Jesse fried eggs on Sunday morning. I know he's old enough to do it, it just hit me that we really are preparing him to fend for himself and leave us someday. I kinda don't like to think about that part.

Also on Saturday Eli ran up to me and said, "Can we watch that movie we got in the mail? "Knowing we don't subscribe to netflix, I said, "What movie?"
"Well Lee said there was a movie in his Lego magazine so I just checked ours and there is one, see? Can we watch it?" just like a big kid would do. I said sure and off he ran. 7Long gone are the days when they need help putting in a DVD or putting the TV on the right input.

Eli had his championship soccer game over the weekend, which they won by the way, and on the way home I see Noah leaning over and whispering to Eli, so I ask what is going on. Noah nudged Eli and then Eli said, "Well, we were thinking that since I won, we could go out to dinner to celebrate. And I know just where I want to go. Friendly's!" Noah with all of his careful scheming to get his way, he later asked if they could watch a movie and eat popcorn as part of Eli's championship celebration. Where does he get this stuff?

"I'll talk to Dad, we'll see." We, of course, did take everyone out to eat, I mean we celebrate good grades, we better celebrate a champion!

Since Simon had watched the LEGO DVD he was creating like a fiend for the rest of the weekend. He had been given some new ideas and he was running with it. That boy and his creations, they are something to behold. I think I'll start taking pictures of them. He's growing up fast.

Then comes my Jesse, not one to be left out, he had to grow up on me this weekend too. As I was passing out vitamins he said, "See Mom, I can say it! Vitamin!" I was happy and praised him, but then I said, "Yeah, but I'm going to miss "bite-a-vin."

Eli, ever his father's son, didn't understand, Noah, his mama's boy said, "I know, it's so cute." Simon had no opinion since he was off playing LEGOs already. Tim didn't understand me either. Such is the life of a mama of growing boys.

Parenting

2011-10-22T16:51:00.001-04:00

I have a friend with three boys, her youngest being the same age as our oldest. When Eli was six and Jesse was a newborn and I thought I wasn't going to make it she said to me, "Wait until your youngest is four, it gets good then." Which at the time seemed like a world away, but you know what? She was totally right.

We had Harvest Night or whatever they called it at both Simon and Noah's school at the same time on the same night. Tim was still at work so it was me and my troops for a night on the town. First stop was Simon's school as the teachers were putting on a play (same one they've done in years past so I knew it was the first thing on the agenda) with all the kindergarteners and their parents. Which can certainly be a zoo, so we got there early.

I talked with the boys about how I expected the evening to go, then I prayed. When Simon was three we almost had to lock down the school at the Harvest night activities when he left the building without the rest of us-talk about scary! No one wanted a repeat of that!

We settled in at the school and I watched my four little heads sitting quietly on the rug watching the play with no bad behavior. Even Jesse! This is what my friend was talking about. Part of it is the boys growing up, and part of it is me knowing what to expect and where to park to make an early getaway to head to the next school. Which we did, and it was a smashing success as well.

I figure we have this for about two years more and then it'll all change again when Eli gets to junior high. For now, I'm throughly enjoying my boys and my time with them.

Livin' the dream!

Squash

2011-10-18T10:45:00.001-04:00

We were at the grocery, in the fresh foods section, when Jesse got excited and ran over to a bin and said in his typical Jesse volume, "Mom! Can we get this squash again?" Jesse only has the one volume-LOUD!

I looked over and saw he had picked up a butternut squash. "You guys did really like that last week didn't you? We certainly can put on the menu for this week!"

Jesse began to pick one out and said, "It's so good!"

Simon grabbed an acorn squash and asked, "What is this one called?"

"That's an acorn squash. We still have one of those at home, we'll fix it this week too."

He smiled and said, "Good!"

I love that my boys like good food, they are such good boys!

September

2011-10-17T22:13:00.001-04:00

So September was pretty busy. I turned 34, we went to a ton of soccer practices and games, I went out to dinner with one of my best friends from high school, Tim had his friends from high school over for wings and blackjack, the boys got their interim report cards, Jesse broke out the back side window of the suburban, we had one of the first official "talks" with the two older boys (it went well), Noah was sick and missed a day of school, we all got colds with that cold snap we had, Tim made a fire to break the chill since we had all been sniffing around. That kind of stuff, nothing huge, but it sure keeps us busy.

We have tournaments for Eli this weekend; they ended the season 5-5 so it all depends on who they play to see if they advance or not. It would be fun if they did.

Tim is working with his parents to help them get things done to their house before they put it on the market to downsize. Just a lot of little stuff so I'm sure he will be helpful to them. I think he's a good son!

I am working with a company to see if I want to do their bookkeeping for them. It would be some work each month, but I think I could add it in. However I haven't ever done that before so I'd maybe have to start a company to limit our personal liability, we're still trying to figure it all out, but I'm excited about the prospect.

We're all really enjoying life and that makes me happy!

Checking In

2011-10-12T08:49:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to check in-I have NOT fallen off the face of the Earth!

September is my busiest month all year, and it got away from me. Figured it was more important to do laundry, get to the grocery, and feed all my boys than it was to sit down and blog. I do have some upcoming pictures of soccer and my sweet boys.

It's been busy and an adjustment with three boys in school now, plus Jesse in preschool. Lots of schedules to manage! I think we're all getting in a groove now, and Simon's soccer is over and only one more game and then tournaments for Eli and then that's done too.

So we are alive and well-look for regular posts to resume momentarily!

Dinner Discussions

2011-09-15T13:13:00.001-04:00

Listening to conversations at our dinner table is like following a "Family Circus" character. I don't know how this particular conversation got started, but I love it!

"God made everything," Noah stated.

"No he didn't, he didn't make this plate. It's glass. God didn't make glass, we did," Eli corrected, with just a touch of snotty.
"God made all the stuff we use. He made the stuff that we use to make glass," Noah retorted, keeping his snotty in check for a nice change.

Simon decided to join in, "So like, God made metal and we used the metal to make this plate," then he got a little sheepish realizing that this plate was not metal as he had suggested.

Eli getting up to clear his plate said, a little too snippy for my liking to Simon, "No! It's not metal, it's glass! And glass is made out of....well I don't know, but I do know that if you blow on the end of a stick a glass ball comes out." Then he hesitated and said, "But I'm not sure how they made the plate."

I happen to know he's thinking of the page in our Christmas book Jolly Old Santa Claus where the elves are blowing glass to make ornaments. One of my favorite pictures in the book. And the best Christmas book ever, by the way!

Eli walked out of the kitchen and Tim asked the other boys what glass was made out of, but they didn't know.

Jesse said, "Well I do know that if I went outside and blew on a stick that a plate would NOT come out the other side."

Indeed child, indeed.

Jesse-isms

2011-09-01T11:07:00.000-04:00

We were walking back to the car after soccer practice when Jesse pointed off in the distance and said, "It's Tennessee!"

I looked in the direction of this pointing and don't see anything but an empty football field, a team practicing football on the practice field, and some tennis courts. "What?"

He points again and said "It's Tennessee!"

Now Eli is trying to figure out what Jesse means too so he looks in the same direction, toward the tennis courts. Then Eli says, "Do you mean tennis courts?"

"Yeah, tennis!"

************
I was rearranging furniture in Jesse and Simon's room when he comes to me and says, "Can I have some of those Panda bears?" We had just gone through all of the stuffed animals and he had picked three little matching bears to keep (not Panda bears, but close enough) and he had left them in the kitchen. I figured he was referring to them so I said, "Oh, sure, you picked them. They are laying in a row on the floor by the cupboard. Do you remember leaving them there?"

His face lit up, but then got a little bit frowny, but he ran off. He came back in less time than he could have made it to the kitchen and back. He was really frowning now and said, "No, I mean those little Panda bears," as he's motioning with his hands a small space.

I'm looking at him and say, "Panda bears? I'm not sure what you mean....oh, do you mean gummy bears? The ones on the counter?"

"Yeah, gummy bears! Can I have some?"

"Yes, you can have two gummy bears."

First Days

2011-08-30T16:40:00.000-04:00

Well they're all in some kind of school now. Here's a picture of the "big" boys on Simon's very first day of kindergarten.

And Simon getting on the bus for the very first time.

Then Jesse started preschool, complete with a backpack and lunchbox.

So they're all in some kind of school this year. Man it's going fast!

Jesse Surgery

2011-08-25T10:41:00.004-04:00

Jesse had his tonsils out in August. We took a picture of them the night before, just so we'd remember, and so he could see them.

They were huge, right?

It was just Jesse and I hanging out at the hospital, Tim and my mom were on duty with the other boys. The nurses gave him some "loopy" medicine so he'd be calm to go back with them. It was hard for me to let go of control of my boy and let them wheel him down the hall, but he was calm (thanks to the meds), so I was too. Then they put him under and after that put his IV in.

Forty minutes later the doc came in to see me and tell me it went well and that his adenoids were very large too. Doc said he'd be out of recovery in about an hour. I waited for Jesse in the Almost Home unit. An hour and 15 minutes later I heard the elevator ding so I popped my head in the hall to see if it was my Jesse. Indeed it was. I smiled and said, "Hi Jesse!" The nurse said to me, "You must be Janelle." He had apparently asked for "mom" and when he didn't get me told them, "Her's name is Janelle."

The nurse said they had to take some time to get his pain under control, and at one point he was emotional and said to them, "Just tell me why. Why is this taking so long?" Poor little fella!

He took full advantage of having pop and slushies and popsicles. Full advantage!

It's been three weeks and Jesse seems to be all healed up and doing fine. Back to his old tricks. Only now he's added in needed to eat "cold stuff" to help this throat (or stomach, or whatever ailment he thinks he currently has).

Vacation!

2011-08-23T10:08:00.004-04:00

We went to the beach on vacation and had lots of fun with just our six for the whole week!

Lots of fun at the pool, in the hot tub and night swimming. Jesse seemed to think the little hot tub was his personal swimming pool. He loved the waterfall.

Eli was the official Mom and Dad photographer. He's doing well, or at least I think so. He'll take two or three, zoom in for one of them so we have a choice of several pictures, and he pretty much always gets a good one.

When it rained all day we went to a Science Center, along with all of the other vacationers :) Here they were hard at work building with magnetic shapes. Building Hogwarts, I might add. They were mostly hands on exhibits, which the boys really enjoyed.

And yes, we do matching shirts when we are out in crowded public places. I can scan and count four (or five) blue shirts very quickly. Gives this mama some peace of mind!

Playing in the sand (and surf). It was so windy and the current so strong the last couple of days we had to keep Jesse in arms reach if he was in the ocean. We put floaties on Simon too, just to make us all feel better (and be easier to spot).

Look at those waves crashing behind us, they were huge, at least to us midwesterners!

We did enjoy clear enough water that we could see little fish swimming all around. That was really fun for us.

I love this picture of Eli boogie boarding. The waves!

Eli and Noah spent a lot of time on the boogie boards. I tried it too, and man, it's hard work!

Bubble bath for the boys to get off the sand and seaweed. Oh, the seaweed. It was in places seaweed should never be found! Must have been a storm that stirred up the ocean, 'cause it was all over us!

Out for dinner and strolling the wharf. There was also a huge playground there, and we spent a lot of time chasing the boys around all over it. It was a huge wooden structure with lots of passages, tunnels, and towers. They pretended it was Hogwarts, and chose different towers to be Gryffindor and Slytherin. Those boys crack me up.

Jesse and I buried Simon in the sand and then Simon and I tried to bury Jesse, not so much, he's still a wiggly three year old!

We all had a great time! Wish you were there, or at least had fun on your vacation this summer!

Who's next?

2011-08-18T11:59:00.000-04:00

We were coming up the driveway one day, just the boys and me, when Eli said, "Who's next?"

That boy can exasperate me to no end with giving no details as to what he is talking about. "What are you talking about Eli, you gotta give me something!"

"I mean, who's next to live with us?"

I'm still not quite following so I say, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we had Mary, and then Bob, and then Matt. Who's next?"

Then I kind of laughed to myself, and said out loud, "I have no idea Eli. We didn't know Bob would live with us, or Matt, it just happened to work out, so once Matt is gone, there may be someone, or there may be no one. I have no idea."

"Oh, okay."

My sister lived with us for five years, then we had about two years of just us, then our friend Bob needed a short term place until the house he was buying was vacated, so he lived with us about six months, and then as soon as he moved out our nephew Matt moved in and has been with us for a year, and will be for the foreseeable future. After that, who knows! I did get to thinking about it and wondering if it's odd that our boys will think it's normal to have someone other than our core family living in our house with us. I don't know. When I was in high school my step-dad's sister and her two year old lived with us for a year or so (I shared my room with her and my sister shared with the daughter). Tim's parents took in my brother for a year when we were all in college, so I guess maybe that's the kind of people we are. Interesting to ponder, I'd never thought of it before.

VBS

2011-08-16T10:33:00.001-04:00

This was Jesse's first year in VBS as a participant, instead of just being in the nursery. I work in the preschool classroom and this year Simon has moved on, but I had Jesse. I will say 6:15 to 8:00 five nights in a row is hard on the three year old crowd. I noticed it with all of our three year olds. Several of them had meltdowns at one point or another during the week, Jesse included. I did a lot of comforting and holding of the melter-downers. And a capri-sun and goldfish work wonders for the spirit of a three year old! Not to mention a session on the playground! We're pretty flexible in the preschool rooms.

There's always a contest to see who can bring in more pennies, the boys or the girls, and this year, the boys rocked the house! Woo hoo! Miss Betsie got the bucket of water on her head since the boys won, which my boys were very pleased about!

She's such a good sport!

New cousin

2011-08-12T10:19:00.013-04:00

We took dinner over to my sister and her family after they were home from the hospital and Paul allowed us to have a photo shoot while he was taking his nap. Such a laid back little fellow. And so little! Love it!
First up was Simon, he was very eager to hold Paul. He has a heart for babies, he'll make such a good daddy some day!

Next was Jesse, he likes fellows littler than him. Makes him feel like a big boy. I'm sure they will be buddies, just like him and Sean!

Noah enjoys holding babies too and was ready for his turn.

Eli had to be coaxed to hold Paul, just not a "baby" guy, but he loves them all the same. Gets it from his Daddy :)

Thanks for letting us love on you baby Paul! You are well loved!

New Baby

2011-08-10T10:16:00.002-04:00

Here's the last picture of my sister and me before she had her second beautiful little boy. She's such a beautiful pregnant lady!

Then a few days later we got to meet Paul, and thankfully I made it there just in time to take some pictures of his birth and those first newborn hours. My sister did wonderfully (again). That girl was made to birth the babies, it's actually pretty "easy" for her. One of God's many tender mercies.

Here she is meeting her new son. He's very alert, and has such dark hair!

Beautiful baby Paul

Thank you for letting me be a part of the birth of your boys Mary. I wouldn't trade it! In fact, it has inspired me to contemplate being a dula some day....

Happy Anniversary

2011-08-07T09:27:00.009-04:00

Today is the twelveth anniversary of the day I pledged before God and my family and friends that I would love Tim and be true to him forever.

Besides becoming a Christian, is was the single best decision I have EVER made in my entire life. I love him more than I ever thought you could love a person, and he loves me just as much. I am so pleased that our marriage is strong and we are happy and that we are both committed to make it stay that way. We are a united front for parenting, in business, and to the world. There is no one I would rather have on my team than Tim.

We are happy as clams!

And pretty happy with the little family we have been blessed with.

Here's to many, many more wonderful years together!

Extended Family

2011-08-05T22:12:00.001-04:00

We got together with our extended family in July (late I know) and had a really good time. Grilling and eating, playing in the kiddie pool, playing croquet and cornhole, and taking some family pictures before heading home.

They played for hours in the pool!

Good conversation and good food.

My Grandma and her five girls.

With the added granddaughters.

My Grandma and all the son-in -laws, grandson-in-laws, and great-grandsons.

It was a good day!

Public Place

2011-08-04T09:24:00.001-04:00

We were in the kitchen when Eli says to me, "Is this a public place?"

Never sure where a question like that is going I hesitantly say, "No. Not just anyone can come here, you have to be invited."

"Oh good!" He walks to the basement door and rips a big fart. Then he laughed and said, "You can't fart in public, it's not nice."

I just shook my head. I have four boys.

Dinner Discussions

2011-08-03T09:08:00.003-04:00

We were sitting a the table eating dinner when the subject turned to maturing, physical maturing. I said something about Eli growing his "man hair," which in our house currently refers to long arm and leg hair, armpit hair, and facial hair. Eli put his forearm in front of him and while scrutinizing it said, "Well right now I'm working on my arm hair."
Tim smirked and said, "How are you working on it?"
Eli sort of ignored the question.
I said, "Why arm hair, why not armpit hair? Do you have that already?"
Eli then proceeds to lift up his arm and look in his armpit. "Nope, not yet."
Tim said, "Well, do you want me to show you how to work on growing your armpit hair? This is what I did when I was your age."
Eli's eyes light up and he said, "Yeah!"
Tim raises his left arm and turned his face towards his armpit. At this point I'm wondering where this could go. He proceeds to tell the boys, "You have to hum, kind of like you sing to a baby to get them to grow, you hum to your armpit." Now his has his face turned completely toward his armpit and he is humming and then he says, "And you rub it like this." He takes his right hand and rubs his armpit in a circular motion while he's humming. I'm just shaking my head at this point.
Eli's not sure about it and says, "Really does that work?"
"Yeah look at all this hair I have!" Tim said.
Eli looked at me for confirmation, and I just raised my eyebrows.
I look around the table and there are five, count them, five males all with one arm up, rubbing their armpits and humming.

Snack Time

2011-07-21T11:21:00.000-04:00

It's been so hot this week, anyone noticed?

One day after a piece of fruit for an afternoon snack Jesse asked if they could have freeze pops. I said sure. He went to pick them out of the freezer and I went to get the scissors. He came back and Simon and Jesse were deciding who would get which one.

While they were negociating, I asked Jesse how his tonsils were doing today. He said fine and I asked him to show me. (As I held the scissors in my hand.) He looked at me all alarmed and said, "Are YOU going to cut them out?"

"Oh no! You have to be a special doctor to do that. We'll have the doctor do it."

"Okay," and he opened his mouth wide.

Cousins

2011-07-18T14:16:00.000-04:00

My heart goes out to my cousins this week. They lost their mom to a horrible car accident Friday night. I can't imagine!

Except I can, I know what it's like to get that call that your mom's been in an accident. I don't know what it's like for the next sentence to be, "She didn't make it." I'm just asking that God hold them close to his heart these coming months.

Aunt Jane was always fun and we spent a lot of time with them when I was little. Her laugh was one of a kind-I can still hear it. As I became an adult I saw her as she loved her kids with all she had. I haven't seen her in several years, but I'm sad she didn't get to see her grandbabies grow up and they won't get to know her, I know she loved them dearly.

You'll be missed Aunt Jane!

Parental Decisons

2011-07-14T12:32:00.000-04:00

Well, in an effort to get caught up with my blogging, here's a post!

We changed childcare at the end of May and it's the first time Jesse has been in a formal daycare setting. He's doing pretty well; he had some adjustment issues, but we're working through them. The biggest obstacle is that he's a nail biter, a severe nail biter. So every germ that he touches goes in his mouth all. day. long. It's not good. He had strep throat, fifths disease, and strep throat again before he'd even been there a month. Not good. Then he broke out in hives, allergic to the anti-biotics we're guessing. That's what our family doc thought. She also suggested seeing an ENT for his tonsils since he was supposed to be over his strep but his tonsils were still pretty irritated.

We went to the ENT. He looked in Jesse's ears, all good. Nose, all good. Throat-okay, yeah, we'll want to get those out. The nurse came in to schedule the surgery. I had determined prior to going in that I was not making a decision while I was in the office, which I told them when they wanted to schedule surgery for two weeks later. She understood and gave me all the information to look over and just said to call in to schedule.

None of my other boys have had tonsil issues, and I really only look at their throat when they are sick, so I hadn't paid much attention to Jesse's tonsils being so big. But man, they are big, and irritated most of the time. Now that I've been paying attention I think he has several problems that the tonsils attribute to.

Jesse's always been a very light sleeper, most anything wakes him up, and he talks in his sleep. Like he was in the middle of his dream and just started talking out loud. The checklist at the ENT's office asked if he has sleep apnea, and I said no, but now I think maybe he does, but I've just always thought he was a light sleeper. Maybe it's the sleep apnea that's waking him up all the time? Then I'm thinking that maybe (but only maybe) if he can get a good night's sleep that he'll be able to control himself and his anger better.

I was also worried because the ENT said that for kids under four, it's slightly more risky and they have to stay in the hospital for 23 hours after the surgery for observation. I asked his opinion of waiting a year until he's four. The ENT advised to do it now, he said that with Jesse's tonsils so big his concern was that if Jesse gets sick and they swell, it could block his airway. OK THEN! Way to freak a mama out! He was also watching Jesse the whole time he was talking to me at the consultation and he said that he felt that Jesse would understand consequences, and would be able to understand that he'd need to drink in order to stay healthy and heal properly. So I guess Jesse's smart enough :)

We've decided to go ahead and have them taken out. Then hopefully he won't be plagued with a lifetime of sore throats like his Daddy. But we're waiting until after vacation, don't want to be recovering away from home!

Getting caught up

2011-07-11T08:48:00.000-04:00

So much has happened since my last post! I have pictures to upload, posts to write, and stories to tell. I'm hoping to get to that this week, as this week *should* be a little slower. It won't, but I'm still going to get to it this week! I think.

Oh, I love summer and it goes so fast. Remember as a kid when it seemed like summer was an eternity? I sure hope my boys feel that way, at least that's what we're shooting for. It's been great so far and we have lots of good things still coming up!

Stay tuned!

Dinner

2011-06-27T09:17:00.000-04:00

I didn't really make a menu for the week. I hate it when I do that. We end up with a lot of pasta those weeks. I love pasta, but I feel like it's not really all that balanced, and I can do better than that. But sometimes I find something good when I have to scour the cupboards.

I pulled out some bow-tie pasta and set the water to boil. I cut up broccoli and got some cheese out to grate. Here is where I was wishing that I had made a better menu and I had chicken already cooked from a meal earlier in the week to add to the pasta. But alas, it would have to be a meatless night.

Then I thought I'd go cut some fresh herbs from our herb pot. Purple basil (both beautiful and delicious), oregano, and rosemary. I began chopping them up and Jesse came in, wanting to help. He washed his hands, without complaint, and quickly, which pretty much never happens. I cut open the package of cheese and he got a plate and the grater and began to grate. While I was chopping and stirring he grated all of the cheese himself. He did it all and didn't hurt himself and didn't need help. How does that happen?-he's three!

We mixed the herbs in with the pasta and broccoli and drizzed it with olive oil. Each of us added cheese to our plate of pasta, and the boys loved it. Everyone had seconds and gobbled it up. Eli loved that we were eating from our "garden." I love that kid!

Berry Picking

2011-06-24T10:42:00.000-04:00

I was out picking black raspberries when I heard a buzzing. I thought, "Oh great-a bumblebee, I'll have to watch where I'm grabbing for berries." So I looked around to see where it was to keep an eye on it. But I couldn't see it. What I did see was hovering about three feet away from me-a beautiful humming bird. It's the second time I've seen him this year. I love that we don't have anything out for them but that they're still around. Guess we should put a feeder out!

Natural?

2011-06-23T10:29:00.003-04:00

Eli and Noah and I saw a picture of a canyon, it might have been the Grand Canyon, I don't know, but it was a beautiful picture.

"Isn't that amazing?" I asked them.

"Yeah, that's really neat. How is it like that?" Eli asked.

"It's all natural. Over a long long time the water wears away the rock and cuts it down. At the bottom is the river that washed it away," I explained. "I'd like to go there sometime, I'd like to take you boys there for a vacation. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Yeah!" they both say. Then Noah continues on, "So it's natural? People didn't do it?" he seems a little unsure.

"Nope, it was all the water. Isn't that amazing?"

"So, the river made the faces of the presidents?" he asked, with a little smile.

"Oh, no! I didn't realize you were thinking of Mt. Rushmore!" Eli and I laughed a little here, and so did Noah, so he might have been yanking my chain. "Yes, people did carve that out of rock, but the canyons are made by rivers. I'd like to see Mt. Rushmore too, wouldn't you guys?"

Alive and Well

2011-06-22T08:44:00.000-04:00

We're all alive and well, but man, this summer is fast paced!! We put the boys in daycare, including a summer program they have for the older boys. This daycare has a very active schedule, they go places almost everyday so that means I have to juggle three different class requirements for field trips, disposable lunches, proper attire (socks for the jumpy day, trunks and towels for swim day). They don't serve lunches so it's four lunches to pack every day too. Shew! Wears this Mama out!

I was also sick a little bit last week, I think I'm struggling because I'm not getting enough sleep on a regular basis. I'm trying to keep the boys on their regular schedule, but it's so hard because it stays light so late. We have a hard time every summer with that. The boys and I are doing well at staying on track with our summer school program, we do take Tuesdays off so I can go to Zumba though. We'll be back at it again today.

We've already had Simon and Jesse camping with Tim's parents and Eli and Noah had a week session of water safety/swim lessons. We've taken a long weekend to spend with our good friends that live seven hours away. They're coming to visit us soon and we're making plans for July 4th weekend.

The boys and I got our tomato and pepper plants going, my mom helped a little: brought us two broccoli plants-we'll see how they do, I've not had much luck with them in the past. We got a variety of peppers and tomatoes so it should be nice. Our black raspberries are ripe so we're picking them everyday now for the next couple of weeks. Eli and I made a pie the other day, they loved it. We had smoothies for dinner last night. I love that!

I got a new sewing machine, I'll have to post a picture of the curtains I finished after about five years of being in process. I love the new machine, and Tim, God bless him, loves that the curtains are done. I think I could have told him I spent double what I did for the machine and he wouldn't have batted an eye. He really wanted the curtains finished! But now I have a ton of other projects that I want to do, ones I have put off because my old machine was so frustrating.

I love summer, but it goes so quickly. July brings more camping, soccer camp, soccer practice, VBS, and vacation for starters. So many memories I want to make this year and I hope I can squeeze them all in before we hit school days again. We're all here and doing well, but I haven't taken the time to blog much. I want to so I need to jump in and do it, I want to remember this summer, it's a good one!

Sharp

2011-06-08T10:02:00.000-04:00

I had cooked dinner so the kitchen was hot. We opted to eat in the dining room, we do that a lot in the summer. As dinner was winding down Jesse got up and wandered off to find something to play with. He came back with a couple of legos and sat back down in his seat to finish eating. Then he dropped the legos under the table. He crawled under there to pick them up. While he was there he laid his cheek on my leg to show me some love before coming back out.

He stood right beside me and said, "Mom your legs are sharp! I put my face on you and it was sharp right here on my cheek," as he pointed to his rosy little cheek.

I laughed and said, "I have long hair on my legs like Dad too, but I just shave mine off. Then when it grows in, it is a little "sharp" isn't it?"

Spelling

2011-06-01T12:01:00.000-04:00

The boys are in new childcare this week and pack their lunch everyday. Since they are new, and aren't used to packing lunches or lunch boxes, I took keychains, the kind you can slide out the slip of paper and write something on, and labeled Simon's and Jesse's lunch boxes with their names. I attached it to the zipper and I think it's working well.

Tim normally takes them in the mornings, but I took them the first day. I think I was more nervous than them. Anyway on their second day they were excited for Tim to take them and show him where their classes are and where to go.

Jesse was excited about taking his lunch so he was showing Tim his lunch box. Jesse said to Tim, "See it says, J-E-S-S-I-M-O-N."

Playing Dog

2011-05-27T10:20:00.006-04:00

Simon was playing "doggy" at the sitters and was rubbing his nose on the carpet, sniffing around you see. She told him to stop so he wouldn't get rug burn. He didn't stop. I'm guessing he didn't know what rug burn ment.

And I'm also guessing he does now!

Anyone know which of those non-scar creams works well? We're at the phase where we're ready for it.

Say it!

2011-05-26T10:35:00.000-04:00

We (Simon, Jesse, and I) were in the car when Jesse said, "Simon say J-E-S-S-E."

"No."

"Simon say J-E-S-S-E."

"No."

Getting whiney and mean, "Simon say J-E-S-S-E."

No response. I can tell this is about to turn bad so I said, "Jesse, if you ask Simon nicely instead of telling him what to do maybe he'll do it."

"Okay. Simon, may you say J-E-S-S-E?"

"No."

Oh dear. "Well, he still doesn't want to say it, so just let it go Jesse."

Jesse's mad, but they are both strapped in so there won't be any hitting since Jesse can't reach Simon. But Jesse's not ready to let it go. He said, "When we get home, I'm going to get a toy and I'm going to throw it at you!"

I almost laughed, but didn't and said, "Jesse! We don't throw things so you're not going to do that so don't say you are."

"I wasn't going to throw a toy! I wasn't! I'm going to get a pillow and throw it," now he's lightening up, "and then I'll get a blanket and throw it," he giggled.

Simon thinks it's funny too so he, quietly, and so quickly said, "J-E-S-S-E."

Brothers!

Haircuts

2011-05-25T09:11:00.001-04:00

The boys had been growing out their hair. Eli was ready to get rid of his, Noah not so much but Tim and I couldn't take it anymore! Haircuts for them both!

Eli Before:

Eli After:

I don't recognize him! He's been asking me to shave it for a month, but I wanted to be sure he wasn't going to regret it. We love to "pet" his head.

Noah Before:

Noah After:

We got our Noah back!

New Idea

2011-05-24T12:56:00.000-04:00

As the boys are getting ready for bed Eli wanted to know the quantity of something so I, always wanting him to understand how important knowing his math facts are for daily living, pointed how how he could use multiplication to find the answer. Noah, who was emptying the bathroom trash was apparently listening, because he said, "They should invent multiplication subtraction, like for addition," as he raised his eyebrows and cocked his head, thinking he just came up with a great idea. I love it when he makes that face.

I smiled and said, "They did. It's called division."

He nodded his head, smiled in agreement, and said, "Hmm."

Cousin Fun

2011-05-23T15:37:00.002-04:00

Simon and Sean with some cousin fun. They both had a ball!

Dad

2011-05-19T10:03:00.001-04:00

We were in the car on the way home when Simon says to me, "Mom do you know who's the dad of all of us?"

"Uh, yeah, Dad is your dad."

"No," he chuckles, "God is the dad of all of us."

"Oh, well, yeah."

"And God's wife? She's the mom of all of us right?"

"Well, I'm not sure that God has a wife. But if he does, then yes, she'd be the mom of all of us."

Eli's Nine!

2011-05-17T09:54:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet Eli. I'm so glad he's my firstborn. A willing and kind spirit that goes with the flow as we learn how to parent new stages.

He's turning into such a fine young man. Which I love, but also makes me cherish these times of his childhood before we hit the teenage years. Not that I expect them to be bad, but they will be very different than the tree climbing, bike riding, monkey-bar climbing boy he is these days. We are cherishing this year of nine.

Happy Birthday Eli!

My husband

2011-05-16T08:38:00.003-04:00

I pulled out the camera to take some pictures, of the boys really, but Tim was sitting there looking all handsome and sitting still, which almost never happens. So I swung the camera over to him, focus, and this is what I get:

I'm pretty sure he's just not right. And yet he's the father to my children and I love him madly!

Politics

2011-05-13T15:34:00.000-04:00

Eli and Noah and I were waiting on the bus. She's almost NEVER late so we wondered if maybe there was a sub. While we were waiting two guys rode by on bikes. I said, "They're probably riding their bikes to work, that's a good way to save on gas since it's so high. See, he's got a backpack, maybe he has his lunch in there."
Eli said, "Why is gas so high?"
I'm not sure if I want to get into this, and really I don't know why gas is high so I said, "Well, there are a lot of reasons Eli."
"Tell me just one."
Hmmm. Is the bus here yet?
"Okay. Remember that oil spill we had a while back?"
"Yeah."
"Well, after that Obama said he didn't want us to get oil there anymore, in case there was another spill. So since we are not getting oil there, there is less oil and that makes it more expensive. Does that make sense?"

Noah said, "Just in case there's another spill."
"Right, but there might not ever be, we don't know."
"Yeah that's true."

I look toward Eli for understanding, he had nodded but I wasn't sure that he really understood. It's simple supply and demand, but he is only eight. So I relayed a similar example using peanut butter sandwiches. That made more sense to him. So then he says, "I can't wait until we vote for a new president."
"Yes that will be nice, but we don't know what the new person would be like, they might not be any better. And, we could vote Obama in for another four years, whoever gets the most votes wins, that's the way it works." Well that's mostly the way it works. I don't think he's at the political level to discuss the electoral college and whatnot so we'll leave it as the most votes wins.
"Well I wish I could vote."
"I know, but you can't because you'd just vote for whoever I told you to vote for, that's why kids can't vote. We want people to understand all about it before they vote. See, there are two main groups, the democrats and republicans that have people that get voted for. There are smaller groups, but the main ones are democrats and republicans. And me, I'm one of the smaller groups."
At this point Noah finally pipes in, "What group it that mom?"
"I'm a libertarian."
"A librarian?"
"A lib-er-tar-ian"
"Oh, what's a libertarian?"
"A libertarian is someone who thinks they should be allowed to do what they want as long as it doesn't hurt with other people. Like, I can't put chemicals into our pond because it drains to the river and that's where cities get their water and clean it for drinking. Does that make sense?"

Eli nodded, I went on, "Libertarians also think that we should take care of ourselves and if someone in our family or our community needs something, we should take care of it. The way it is now if someone is poor and needs something the government gives it to them. Libertarians want just a little bit of government."

Noah said, "Yeah, but now, If a guy needs something, he doesn't have to bother you he just goes and gets it."
I can see the bus so we need to wrap this up.
"True Noah, but the government doesn't have any money, so they take money out of my paycheck and give it to people. I would rather decide who gets my money."
"Oh," as a light starts to light up in Noah's head.

"Have a great day boys!" I shout as they pile out of the car.

Oh I love to talk politics!

Mother's Day Pictures

2011-05-10T08:33:00.003-04:00

In the last few years for Mother's Day I take pictures of me with each of the boys individually. This year I had Tim take the pictures and he is all about the scene and less about the cute mugs. I forgot to tell him I wanted him to zoom in. What, can't he read my mind?

Eli had spent the night with Tim's brother so we didn't get our picture together until later, when it was almost dark.

Spelling

2011-05-09T10:43:00.001-04:00

Usually on Thursday during homework time I have Eli use the chalkboard on the easel and I call out the spelling words and he spells them on the chalkboard. Using chalk is much more fun than writing on paper so there are less groans, which this Mama likes! I make up sentences as we go along and I try to make them fun or funny, because spelling is not fun for Eli.

This particular day Noah was finishing up his math worksheet, Jesse was snipping paper, and Simon was playing on the floor with cars while Eli and I were doing the final spelling review.

One of his review words was "sale" and since the last week he had "sale" and "sail" as spelling words I knew I needed to use it in a sentence so he'd know which one to spell. So I said, "Sale. We're going to move, so we put the house up for sale."

Simon looked up quickly. I glanced over at him, but noticed that Eli spelled the "wrong" sail, so I reminded him there are two "sales" and to listen to the sentence. I said again, "We're going to move, so we put the house up for sale."

Simon got up and walked over to me. In his soft voice he said, "That's not true, is it Mom? We're going to stay here right?"
"It's not true Simon, it's just a sentence for Eli's spelling word. Why, don't you want to move?"
"No, I like to live here."
"How long to you want to live here, forever?"
Very shyly, and yet now happy, he said, "Yeah!"

This is the boy who has informed me that him and his wife and kids are going to live in this house when he grows up. I don't think he ever wants to move. I can't blame him-by then we'll have the house all nicely up to date, and it's a beautiful property.

I love that Simon!

Jesse

2011-05-06T23:00:00.007-04:00

I absolutely love this picture, so sweet.

This one is a little more typical

Art Show

2011-05-05T22:58:00.001-04:00

Our school district has an art show to showcase selected artwork from throughout the year. Eli had a drawing in the show so we wanted to be sure to make it this year. The boys and I went and looked at all the artwork. They pointed out cool things the older kids could do and the things kids they knew did. It was fun.

There was also face painting (free, so it was right up my alley), as we were leaving they all ended up deciding they wanted something on their faces.

I took a picture when we got home:

Eli in a mustache and goatee

Simon as a dalmation (the whiskers are pretty fat)

Noah with a skull (I worry about his teenage years)

Jesse with a soccer ball

Eli's comment was that now he was a man. He's been working on growing out the hair in front of his ears, you know, so he can have sideburns, like Dad.

Boating

2011-05-03T21:08:00.000-04:00

We had some local issues to vote on today so after I picked up Simon and Jesse I said, "Do you guys want to go with me to vote?"

Simon said no, Jesse said, "Yeah, we went with Dad when he boated this morning."

"Oh, I didn't realize you went with Dad too. Well, you'll get to go twice today then. And it's v v vote."

"B B Boat"

"V V Vote"

"I'm a teensy bit scared."

"What are you scared of?"

"When I'm in the boat with Dad."

Riding Bikes

2011-05-02T22:34:00.001-04:00

We had a break in the rain so I rushed the boys outside to ride bikes. I took a few pictures. They love to ride and it was nice to be outside and see the green green grass of spring.

Simon reverts to his little bike when I'm not helping him with his bigger bike

Jesse chooses to drive his car a lot of times during bike riding

Missing Teeth

2011-04-29T22:30:00.000-04:00

The sitter texted me Monday morning saying Simon had a loose tooth and he was working on it. I told her to tell him that he was too little for that!

When I picked him up it was all wiggly, a lot for only one day of being loose I thought.

At bedtime he was still working on it, but he still had it. I kissed him goodnight and he said to me, "Will it hurt?"

"What, when you pull it?"

"Yeah."

"Only for a quick second, not like getting a shot, or breaking your finger, or anything like that."

He just nodded. I turned out the light and went to the big boys room to kiss them goodnight. After I kissed Noah I was rounding the corner around Eli's bed when Simon came bounding in, with a big grin on his face, "Here it is!" He smiled big and held out his hand.

Sure enough, he had pulled it out. We set to work looking at it and determining where to put it so the tooth fairy would get it. It ended up in a small container on his nightstand. Lights back off and everyone into bed.

About an hour later I was downstairs folding clothes when I heard footsteps coming down the hall. Simon. He put his head down on me and said, "I'm just thinking of bad things, I can't go to sleep."

I said what I always say to him when he says that, "Well, think about something fun, like LEGOs."

"I'm just thinking about the tooth fairy. I don't want her to take my tooth. I want to keep it."

"You want to keep your tooth?"

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I don't know."

"Fine, the tooth fairy won't take your tooth, I'll be sure she gets the message. Now go back to bed and dream about LEGOs."

"Okay!" as he ran off happy.

On Wednesday the sitter texted me saying Simon was trying to get the other one on the bottom to be loose. She said she was encouraging him to leave it alone because it didn't seem that loose, that it would loosen up on his own. When I picked him up I was teasing and asked her if Simon lost another tooth today. She laughed and said no, but that he had worked on it and it was getting wiggly.

At dinner Eli asked Simon if he could see his new tooth and Simon didn't really let him, so I said, "Simon Eli didn't get to really see it, why don't you show him?"

Simon seemed uncomfortable, but opened his mouth to let Eli look. He had his tongue in the hole though and Eli couldn't really see so Eli and I both said he needed to move his tongue. Reluctantly he did. It looked like an enormous gap. Like both of his front teeth were missing. Simon quickly shut his mouth. I looked at Tim and he looked at me and I said, "It looked like they were both gone didn't it?" Tim's eyes were full of concern when he said, "Yeah," then to Simon he said, "Open your mouth."

Sure enough they were both gone. We all stared for a second in disbelief. Then I said, "Did you lose it at Natalie's today?"

He just nodded his head. I pulled out my phone and called her, but just left a message. Eli asked him where the tooth was. Simon told him it was in a little case that he had taken some legos in to play with at the sitters. Eli got it and found the tooth laying at the bottom.

The sitter called me back a minute later and she said that she didn't know anything about him pulling his tooth, she did say she was reading to the little boys while Simon was watching his favorite show and he had a guilty look on his face, but that she didn't investigate. She's thinking that maybe that's when he did it.

Upon further interrogation, I asked, "Why did you pull your tooth out?"

He responded, "I didn't."

"What do you mean you didn't, it didn't just fall out!"

He put his head down and said, "It came out when I was using my teeth to get some legos apart."

Ohhhh.

"Is that why you didn't want to tell us? Because you know you're not supposed to use teeth to get legos apart?"

His head still down, he nodded in agreement.

"Oh Simon, that's why we have rules, to keep you safe. Luckily that was a baby tooth and was going to come out sometime anyway, but what if it wasn't? You can NOT use your teeth on legos. Do you understand?"

His teary eyes looked at me and he nodded in agreement again.

The boys all learned a little lesson about using teeth for things other than chewing, and I think that's a good thing! Simon was very remorseful and a little later came up to me, with his head down and said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth right away about my tooth." I hugged his sweet self and said, "We're all learning Simon, and hopfully today you learned to just tell me right away. I just want to keep you safe. I love you so much!"

"I love you too Mom!"

"Okay, now let's take a picture of those holes in your mouth!"

Oh, and I ordered some "brick seperators" from LEGO, we're not doing this again!

Easter Fun

2011-04-27T22:52:00.001-04:00

The boys all had fun on Easter too!
The guys hid the eggs and then Tim let the boys go outside youngest to oldest. The younger ones didn't know what to do without the older ones to help though. But once they were all outside, they were off!

There was hunting and searching.

Running and laughing.

Then the adults started looking around to see what had been overlooked, offering advice of "hot" or "cold" or teasing when they walked right by one.

Jesse found one under a car and had to use a stick to get it out.

The boys all had a great time.

Easter

2011-04-26T15:40:00.001-04:00

We have Easter at our house, and this year Tim and I commented that it really felt like "our" holiday. I always tend to take pictures of the boys and what is going on with them, but this time I made a point to take pictures of the adults, and I still missed a few of them!

Here are pictures of some of my favorite people.

Matt-he even wore shoes since it was Easter, the boy is always in flip flops! I love him dearly and am so glad he's living with us.

And then there's my brother-in-law Josh, I'm pretty sure he's just not right! I mean, look at that get-up he's got going on.

Oh, I kid, Josh is a ton of fun!

He even re-posed so I could get this picture.

However, look at my sweet sister. She looks so sweet, and he looks so, well, I don't know, but it makes me laugh!

One of Tim's brothers and his bride from Singapore. She brought Chinese soup to share for Easter, it was very authentic, but I guess that's to be expected. Tim wants me to get the recipe.

My Grandma, beautiful as ever. She's slowing down, and yet still manages to make me feel like I'm making it as a mama and wife. I love her encouragement.

Tim's mom, Charlene, my sweet mother-in-law. We are so very different, but love each other so very much! Somehow I didn't get a picture of Tim's Dad, or my mom. Guess I got distracted.

My aunt Sarah, she brought wiffle balls and a bat for the boys so there was a little bit of pick-up hitting in the yard while it wasn't raining. She's always good for a game!

And my most very favorite person of all, my Timmy.

Gosh I love that man!

Happy 7th Noah!

2011-04-24T21:15:00.000-04:00

Noah is seven! It's been a fairly anticipated birthday, so we were ready for it (mentally). We got him a new 18" bike. He thinks it's pretty cool. I like how it still has pedal brakes on the back and a hand brake for front brakes. A nice way to introduce hand braking.

What I really wanted to get him was a haircut. I almost hate that his seven year picture will be with this hair, but it will also be fun to laugh at as the years go by, and his kids will LOVE it! So I guess there is a silver lining!

He was thinking a "cowboy" birthday so we were were going to make a star cake and decorate it like a sheriff's badge. But we couldn't find my star cake pan. We looked high and low-literally. Tim looked, I looked, Noah looked, I called both Matt and Mom to see if they had seen it anywhere. No luck. It should have been with the guitar cake pan, but it wasn't. We did have to move my formed cake pans since we are remodeling the pantry where they were stored. Everything went to the basement, or so we thought. Couldn't find it anywhere. I was mad, Noah on the other hand, was very understanding and said that he's rather have the sheriff star cake, but that he really did like guitars and a guitar cake would be great. So guitar cake it was.

I put some effort into decorating it so at least it was a good guitar cake, since it wasn't his first choice and he was being so understanding to my prediciment. (Just watch I'll find the pan this week, sitting out on the counter or something.)

Noah is so compassionate, understanding, and kind. He has such a loving spirit. I so love that kid!

Our challenge for this year of seven is going to be to bring those traits out more often than when he swings the other way. It's a parenting challenge that I don't yet have a solution to, but between Noah and me, working together, I'm sure we'll figure it out-he is amazing!

Dinner Discussions

2011-04-20T09:28:00.000-04:00

Sitting at dinner, without any previous disucssion or prompting was the following:
Jesse starts talking, very seriously and grown up. It's hard to keep a straight face when he does it, but he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms as he said, "We don't eat kitties or dogs, we eat food like meat and salad."

"That's true Jesse," I replied as I looked over at Matt. Matt's eyes got big and he looked away so as not to bust out laughing.

Jesse, realizing that we are indeed having a serious conversation, continues on, "We eat pigs, and their noses, and salad, and grass."

"No, actually, we don't eat grass. Lettuce is in the same family as grass, but it's different. Grass would make us sick." I can picture him eating grass in the summer so I want to head that off at the pass right now. And indeed as I'm thinking it, he pretends to be eating grass.

Then he's off to something else and Matt says to me, "Where did that come from?" I laughed and told him that one day last week we were talking about animals and what the meat is called when we eat it (pig=pork, cow=beef) and how in different places they don't eat pigs or cows but eat things we would think of as pets like a dog. How it sparked into his brain just now, I would have no idea which rabbit hole got him there...

Kindergarten

2011-04-15T09:22:00.000-04:00

It's that time again! Simon and I went for Kindergarten registration this week. He was fine and happy until I reminded him I'd go in the gym to fill out paperwork and he'd go with the teachers. He started to bury his head in my leg outside the gym but the principal stepped in and said, "Hi, I remember you!"
Simon looked up and she said, "Why don't you come with me and play some games and your mom can sit and do all the paperwork?" He didn't let go of my hand. I kissed the top of his head and said, "Have fun!"

Just then a teacher walked up and said to the principal, "We have room for one more in room 5." The principal bent down and said, "You can go with her and she'll take you, your Mom will be right here waiting on you when you are done." I stepped into the gym and he walked down the hall with the teacher.

It's best not to watch them walk away. It's "easier" after the first ones, mostly because you know what to expect, but it's still hard to send your little guy off to be evaluated. By people that don't know you or him. Simon can be so shy and quiet, he has such a soft heart.

On the parenting front, I have a little more pressure with Simon because I've done all of his preschool, with Noah our sitter helped, with Eli the daycare did some and I did some, but with Simon it's pretty much all me. And I think he has some dyslexia tendencies, so we'll see how that pans out too. I think he's really smart though the testing may not show that (like Eli!).

When Simon was done he was pleased and not traumatized so that was good. I asked him what he did and he said, "Jumped and hopped."
"Did you have to tell them your letters?"
"Yeah."
"Did you get any mixed up?"
"No, I got them all right."
"Good!" I'm not so sure about that, but he'll have them all solid by August so it doesn't matter, there's only a couple he's not sure of at this point anyway. "Did you have to say the sounds of the letters?"
"Nope!" he said with a smile. That's what we've been working hard on lately.
"What about numbers, did you have to do them?"
"Yeah."
"How did that go, we haven't worked on those in a while."
"Oh, it was fine."

The boy can count, but I'm not sure he can identify all of the numbers, I haven't assessed that on my own. They also did a "dental check" so he got a baggie with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss. He was mostly excited about the floss, in a box, so the rest of our conversation revolved around that.

It's hard to believe he's big enough for school, but at the same time, it's right, he has a healthy appetite for learning and is anxious to get going with it.

I worry for his tender heart and quiet nature-will he make friends? Will he feel left out because he's shy? I worry for his manners-have I taught him enough to be out in the school world without me? I worry for his spirit-will making him do what everyone else is doing crush is artistic abilities? I worry that he's dyslexic too and is going to struggle like Eli and his Dad before him. I worry that if he's dyslexic I'm not going to be able to handle two with dyslexia. I worry that sending him to public school is not the right decision-a first for kindergarten.

Worry might be too strong of a word. I don't worry. Those are my concerns and then I work very hard to alleviate those concerns. We still have four months to prepare him for the world of kindergarten, and I know in my heart of hearts, I'm doing the best I can for all of my boys with our current circumstances. Those will change in the future and what we do will change too, however, it will still be the best I can do.

Temperature

2011-04-12T14:04:00.000-04:00

It was warm over the weekend so we opened the windows and let the fresh warm air blow in and warm up the house. I love days like that. Then Monday it turned cooler, what else would it do, it's spring!

I was in the kitchen when Eli came running in. He had apparently just looked at the thermostat. "Mom! Don't we try to keep the house at 60?"

"Yeah, in the winter we shoot for 60, but it's hard when it's really cold. Why?"

Smiling as big as a train, "Because it's 67 in here!"

Me realizing he looked at the thermostat, "Good! Guess it's still warm from being so hot yesterday."

Then he ran off happy. He is a happy precious boy!

More Babies?

2011-04-07T20:47:00.001-04:00

I was picking up Simon and Jesse from the sitter and Simon ran up to me to give me a hug. His sweet five year old head comes right at my belly. I've had four babies and it's a little stretched out with extra floppy skin (hey at least it's not full!). He looked up at me with his sweet hazel eyes and said, "Do you want to have more babies?"

I smiled at him, bent down and said, "Nope! Four is all I can hande," and gave him a big hug. He just smiled back. I think he was figuring that I did want to have another baby and my belly was getting big. You know, all you have to do is want to have a baby to have one. At least if you're my five year old Simon that's what's in your head.

Now, what to do about my floppy belly? I'm working on it, but I'm not having much luck....

Mothering

2011-04-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the boy's behavior gets off the path. It's our fault, we let a small infraction go uncorrected and then that quickly becomes the norm. Next is a small infraction off of the new norm and that gets left unchecked, and so on until one day, it hits you. This behavior, attitude, and speech is unacceptable. How did this happen? Where are we? What path are we on, I don't even recognize it.

Then as parents, we get all hard-core and go back to the straight and narrow, allowing for no deviations from it. Which leads to a lot of tears and gnashing of teeth (the boys too). Next I feel like all I'm doing is barking at the boys and no one feels loved and happy to be in our family. That's where we've been last week, and this week I've re-read some of my parenting inspirations and am recharged to parent better.

Here's how I'm working to be a better parent. Working to catch them when they are good, and praise them richly for it. Pass out the love and hugs right away before anyone has a chance to get in a spat and bring out the nasty. Make time for each of them individually. Compliment them daily on their good character traits/efforts. Make sure they all go to bed, and to sleep, at a decent hour so they are their best rested selves and I can get some "Mom" stuff done in the quiet late evening hours so I can be my best rested self too. Refocus on memorizing scripture and quiet reading time. Encourage them to read, or "read" as the case may be, their Bibles daily. Read my Bible daily.

I'm putting this out here for some accountability. I'll post again in about a week with how it's been going. Parenting is difficult and I'm striving to always do better.

Safety

2011-04-01T09:34:00.005-04:00

We were yet again talking about safety-specifically tornado safety. It's a real threat here in the spring, and we're all about safety. So we talked again about where our safe place is, when to go to our safe place, all that good stuff. Where you would go in a house without a basement, what the safest room would be-no windows ,on the inside of the house, that kind of thing. If you talk about it enough, it is ingrained in them and they don't even have to think what to do should the time ever come that they'd need that information. I love that they are all so conscious about it. Makes a mama feel better.

Jesse had to get in his two cents about the "tor-mato." Just wanted to remember that.

Hair cuts

2011-03-30T12:29:00.015-04:00

Hair is not a big deal to me, like many other things. Growing up my mom put my hair in two braids, everyday, until I was about fourth grade, then it went to one braid. Or it might have been third grade when my little sister was born, come to think of it. Then in junior high it was so long and heavy it would give me headaches so she started french braiding it for me, that distributed the weight more evenly over my head and no more headaches. In eighth grade I got my first hair cut. I mean the first one, ever. My mom cut my hair-all the way up to my waist! By the time high school hit my mom didn't want to mess with my hair anymore, and I didn't want her to, but I wasn't a girly girl and didn't really know what to do with it so I kept it long, it was all I knew. But I learned to french braid it myself, so I did that every day. I'm a creature of habit and routine; change is not my friend. (Ironic that I married Tim who craves and thrives on change, isn't it?) My hair grows really fast so about once a year I'd get my hair cut back up to my waist. And that was my hair cycle. Very exciting, I know.

Then in college Tim encouraged me to cut it short(er). I did and I really liked it, but my hair grows so fast it wasn't long that my hair was long again. I've had varying lengths of hair, the shortest being chin length, but I always know that if it's too short for what I like that it'll grow out soon, very soon. I'm very laid back about my hair.

I've adopted that same approach for the boys and their hair. It's just hair! Is what I say. Although there are some limits. I do all the hair cutting for my five guys at our house so if they want something new they just have to ask.

Eli has been on a kick of wanting long hair. Not my favorite thing. I think it's a Justin Bieber influence, even though I'm not sure Eli knows who he is. It was getting too long for my liking, Eli was having to swoop it out of the way all the time. I kept asking him if he wanted me to cut it, but no.

Then one day last week he said, "I can't take it anymore, just cut it!" I laughed and laughed. We didn't have time for a full hair cut and he couldn't wait one more day, he couldn't take it. I just trimmed the front with the promise of a full hair cut the next evening. By the next evening he decided he liked what I had done and didn't want any more cut. Makes my life easier!

Noah is on the same Justin Bieber program, but I insist on cutting it around his ears, for some reason that really bothers me. He cried and lamented that he wanted the front and back long. I let it go for now, but we'll see what happens as the weather gets warmer and it gets more uncomfortable to have that kind of hair. I'm guessing Justin Bieber has AC at his house. Noah fiddles with his long hair all the time so we'll see how much more Tim and I can take of that!

Jesse's three!

2011-03-28T09:39:00.003-04:00

My little guy is three. It shouldn't come as a surprise, he's been telling us all that he's three since before Christmas. Wants to grow up fast, that one!

Birthdays are such a good time to reflect on the passage of time. It seems like Jesse has been with us forever, and I can't imagine life without him. I remember so vividly how my heart hurt and missed him before I knew for sure there would be a fourth baby for us, and as soon as he was born there was utter contentment that we were all here, our family was complete.

Three is such an exciting age! The potty training is done, the vocabulary, comprehension, and reasoning are really beefing up and it's delightful to talk to a three year old. Or better yet, overhearing their own play conversations with themselves. Priceless!

Here he is with his elephant cake, happy as can be and relishing that everyone is singing to him.

This boy will give me a run for my money as we raise him; he already has. I guess that's why he's last-finally have enough parenting experience! I look forward to raising this little guy and the joy he will continue to bring to our lives. I love him so much!

Happy third birthday Jesse!

Has is been a week?

2011-03-25T12:28:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy week! Here's a quick recap.

Warm weather makes the boys antsy to get outside and play, making homework and schoolwork a challenge to get completed each day. I've taken a couple of Zumba classes, and am really enjoying it so I think I'm going to shoot for going once a week and still running on the weekends. We'll see how that all pans out as summer comes. Tim has been busy with his endless springtime projects. We got all 21 of the windows in. They are awesome! Tim got the old ones out of all the rooms just this week so this weekend we are washing all the new windows and putting the screens in. Then we'll set to cleaning the rooms. Some of the old trim had to be cut so there's lots of saw dust covering every surface. I didn't know about that!

Then Eli, Noah, and I will begin the redecoration of their room. Out with Peter Rabbit (my choosing for when they were little) and in with Military stuff. We already picked the paint and bought it, and the wall clings just came UPS so we're set. We just need to start stripping wallpaper and do all the work! The boys are VERY excited about it. I'm excited to have them help-you know, work ethic, appreciation and all that. Not to mention extra hands to strip wallpaper are always welcome in my book!

Our computer had been running super slow so Tim took it in for service and that's the other reason for the lack of posting, no PC. Does put a damper on the blogging. Thank goodness for lunch breaks :)

Next up is Jesse's birthday. We're having a party on Sunday and I'm working on the menu. We've decided to have everyone over for lunch and then have cake and ice cream for dessert. Complete with an elephant cake-he's requested it again so that's what I'm going for this time. I'll post a picture, but only if it turns out well! In a way it seems like he's already three (he's been saying he's three since before Christmas) so this birthday is a non-event, but on the other hand it's crazy that my littlest guy is three. Where is the time going?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T09:49:00.003-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Don't have much to say today.

We're getting some new windows at our house. The second floor, all across the front. They are half done, hoping to be done with installation by Friday. We actually hired out the installation. We're starting to hire out more things since Tim is working pretty consistent now. He doesn't get laid off much anymore, which is good, but bad because he likes to do all these projects himself. Luckily there's plenty still for him to do!

Noah is playing basketball at the Y, which is a hoot! We aren't sports watchers at our house so I don't know that he's ever seen the game played, just what they do in gym at school. Since it was nice out yesterday I pumped up the basketball and had him practice dribbling (he's very slow at that). I'm going to have him play outside again today, he has a game Friday.

I'm going to try a Zumba class tonight, we'll see how that goes! It should be fun though, I'm going with a friend from church, and she's been going the last few weeks. I'm not sure I have the coordination for it, but it seems like it would be fun, so we'll see. I'll have to report back.

That's about it with us I think.

Mature

2011-03-14T08:41:00.003-04:00

We were at my in-laws this weekend. Tim is doing a big project for them, heavy equipment and all. It was a fun weekend for the boys. Big piles of dirt-old shoes to get muddy, movies once it got chilly. I helped some, looked after the boys some, and hung out with my other Mom some too. We don't do that enough anymore. We used to go to their church and go over every Sunday for Sunday dinner. But we go to a church in our town and don't do the Sunday dinner thing very often with them anymore.

She looked at me at one point and said, "You look different. What's different?"

"I just got my hair cut," I offer. I'm thinking that what little make up I put on early in the day is probably worn off at this point too, but I don't think she's looking at that.

She kind of shakes her head. "I think you're just looking more mature."

"Mature?" I ask. I'm thinking she thinks I'm looking old, but just wants to put it gently.

"Yeah, more mature."

I'm not quite sure how to take that so I say, "Well, I am in my thirties you know!"

She's thoughtful as she says, "It was hard to watch my boys grow up, but I didn't know it would be hard to watch my daughters-in-law grow up too."

She really has seen me grow up, she's known me since I was 16, more than half my life.

And while I don't really like to be told I'm looking older (but I am, I see it too), her words touched me. She really does love me like she would a daughter, and I love her like I do my own Mom. And we are both madly in love with her son.

I hope to be just like her when I grow up! She has four boys too, you know!

Birthday plans

2011-03-11T17:29:00.002-05:00

Jesse's birthday is coming up so I asked him what kind of party he wanted. Without any hesitation at all he said, "An elephant party!" Where did that come from?

I'm not convinced of an elephant party so later in the evening I asked him again. This time there was some hesitation and thinking and he said, "I want a Jesse party!"

Indeed, a Jesse party.

Disney!

2011-03-05T17:22:00.000-05:00

Simon and I had a ball at Disney World together! We rode lots of rides and had lots of fun! Here he is getting his "mean" face on as we waited to get on Peter Pan. I had never ridden that one before, it was fun! Playing at Dinoland playground.After the race on Sunday we hung out at the pool. He's got the goggles on for when it's time to go back in the pool, and sun glasses for the sun bathing. Good times!
We love vacation!

Snow Fun!

2011-03-02T09:49:00.005-05:00

We have a pond, but it's spring fed so there is water moving all the time. Generally it never gets cold enough for long enough to freeze completely so we've never been able to go out on it.

Enter the 2010-11 winter. Oh, it's cold enough. Then get an ice storm with a couple of inches of ice, and we were good to go. Tim went out and tested it and it was solid! So we played on the ice, threw snow balls, slid to make a slick ice path, and then decided to build a snowman out on the pond.

Eli is really getting big enough to do some serious help, but Tim was still the man to stack them. Then Tim got a little carried away with the facial features, as evidenced here.

Happy Winter!

Race Results

2011-02-28T10:45:00.002-05:00

Finished my third half marathon yesterday, and it was a beautiful day in Florida! I had a new personal best, 2:41.

Also had a wonderful weekend with my sweet Simon. We don't get to do much just he and I and we spent half of Friday at the Magic Kingdom, and spent the whole day Saturday at Animal Kingdom. We had so much fun! I took lots of pictures of that sweet little guy!

After the race on Sunday we spent the day at the pool, which was awesome! The weather was beautiful and Simon showed off all of his new swimming skills he'd been working on all week. He's getting good! We'll need to get him some good goggles for this summer.

Glad to be home with all of my boys, especially Tim. I hate to vacation without him, but absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

Glass Cup

2011-02-21T09:24:00.004-05:00

I pulled out glasses for lunch and opted to give Jesse a glass cup. I'd say it was his first time to have one, not counting the times he's taken a drink from someone else's glass. I set it down in front of him and poured him some strawberry kefir.

He looked at it and looked at me, smiling, and said, "Is this my cup? A glass cup? Why?"

As I was contemplating what to say-the real reason was the cupboard with those little glass ones was closer than the plastic ones and I was lazy. I didn't want to admit to being lazy to my two year old so I hesitated, thinking of a diplomatic way to say it. He didn't wait for me to explain.

"Is it because I'm magic?"

I just smiled.

He was very pleased with himself. "I'm magic and I have a glass cup!"

Then I laughed!

Betterment

2011-02-17T11:39:00.005-05:00

Do you ever think that you've got something in you conquered and then it creeps back in and slams you on your butt before you even realize it? Then you feel like you're starting from scratch again, and you just don't want to do it? But you don't like the version of you the old way, so you know you have to?

No?

It's just me?

Surely not.

Or maybe it's just my February winter funk. Yeah, that post, February 19, 2010. Almost exactly a year ago. Let's chalk it up to funk, and I'll be better next week, right?

Spring please!

Running

2011-02-16T12:07:00.003-05:00

I haven't said much about it this time around, but I'm running a half-marathon again.

In 12 days!!!

The reason I haven't said much about it, is that I really haven't trained much, unfortunately. We've had so much snow and ice that it's been difficult to run much. We don't have a treadmill, so it's outside running for me. Which I really enjoy, but not so much on a couple inches of ice. So I've been using our small trampoline (ReboundAIR), which is fun.

I did get out and run some streets last week, the ones that weren't icy. In the neighborhood of nine miles, based on time, but it's hard to tell without the bike path mile markers that I have grown to rely on.

We are in the beginning of a warm up so I'm looking forward to a big, good run this weekend. I'm thinking 12 miles. And maybe I won't have to wear a hat, gloves, and a sweatshirt. Wouldn't that be nice?

What?!?

2011-02-07T11:15:00.000-05:00

"Mom! Jesse's eating mouse poop!"

"No he's not!," as I start to laugh.

Eli getting concerned, "Yes he is!"

"No. He's not! I wouldn't let him eat mouse poop. Why would you think that?"

Then a little dejected Eli says, "Well, Jesse said that's what it is."

Me, looking at Jesse, "Jesse!"

Real sly Jesse says, "It is mouse poop!"

Rascal!

The backstory here is that we live in an old house, and of course, get mice every year in the fall/winter time frame. We set out a few traps, catch a couple and that's the end of it until the next year. This year we didn't really have any until about Christmas time, and then it seems like they were upon us with a vengance. I'm not sure what happened, but they were in drawers and cupboards where there was no food, and pooping on everything. It's so DISGUSTING!!!!

We had been setting traps and then resorted to the sticky paper, which is just horrible to me. What a horrific death. But at that point I had cleaned the drawers three times, including everything in them and I was desperate. Each morning we'd check all the traps to see if we had caught any and to see if there was any more mouse poop. Hence, Jesse, and all the boys are familiar with mouse poop.

At some point we had used some halloween sprinkles and there was just a tiny bit left, and my mom, not one to waste an iota of anything, put them in a Tupperware "smidge" container. Why didn't we just use them up is beyond my comphension at this time. Jesse found the container in a cupboard (an upper cupboard so it was safe from mice) and asked if he could eat them. I told him yes, at least they would gone then.

They were the oblong ones, not the little balls. They were also black. Very similar in looks to mouse poop. Well, now you get where the story in the beginning came from!

Puff Mobile

2011-02-02T10:22:00.000-05:00

Eli had to make a "Puff Mobile" for school with only the supplies given to him by his teacher. Here were his supplies:

1 piece of red paper

4 straight pins

4 lifesaver mints

4 bendy straws

He could also use scissors and tape or staples. It needed to be able to roll and to "power" it he has to blow on it. The whole third grade is having a race to see whos goes the farthest.

He got the basic idea from one of the kids who turned theirs in right away. It seems like a good plan, but we didn't get the straws in exactly straight so it turns when he blows on it. However, it was his plan, I just helped with getting the holes in the cone and tweeking some things so help it go straighter. It will go when he blows on it, so I think he'll do just fine!

Working with Dad

2011-01-28T10:28:00.000-05:00

The boys were getting a little stir crazy so Tim asked me to bundle up the boys and send them out with him. He had been cutting up a dead tree and wanted some help loading up the wood to bring in. Here they are ready to go.Jesse lasted 20 minutes I think before Tim brought him back in.

Simon lasted 40 minutes, and then his hands got cold. He wanted to wear his new gloves, but I should have had him wear his mittens for better hand warmth.

Eli and Noah stayed out with Tim until they were done loading the wood and then they played in the neighbors barn for awhile hiding behind hay bales and whatnot. Good times!

Simon's 5!

2011-01-26T09:17:00.006-05:00

Happy 5th Birthday to Simon!

I can hardly believe it's been five years since he was born. He was my littlest at birth, but my chubbiest baby. He went from 7-9 to over 15 pounds at his one month check up. He was a porker!

And now he's five and learning so much. We love to watch his personality develop and his interests come out. He is such an interesting person, Tim says he has flair, like a designer. I say he loves to create, whether it's with legos, paper and glue or some other concoction he's come up with, it's always something. Maybe an engineer one day?

He has his own beat to life and he sticks with it, no matter what the other boys are doing or playing. He's very focused, and is so gentle and compassionate with little children and babies.

I sure do love that brown hair!

Happy Birthday Sweet Simon!

Getting Ready

2011-01-20T11:53:00.003-05:00

I'm not even sure I should share this story, but I don't want to forget it, it's hysterical!

I put the older boys on the bus in the morning and then head to work, Tim gets the littler boys ready and takes them to the sitters on his way to work.

It was still fairly early one morning when Tim called me. He said he had a story to tell about the morning. It's usually not a good sign if he has to call me to tell me about the morning.

On that particular morning both Simon and Jesse were awake and came downstairs while the older boys and I were getting ready to go. Tim was still upstairs getting dressed, so I turned a "kid show" on and told them they could watch it until Tim told them it was time to get dressed.

When Tim told them to get dressed, they went into their room and started getting their jammies off. Then Jesse started screaming. Tim figured Simon was hurting him so he went into their room ready to punish Simon. Simon was across the room from Jesse. Jesse was standing there, by himself, with his pajamas half zipped screaming. Tim asked him what was wrong.

"I unzipped my penis."

As he was unzipping his pajamas he snagged himself. He had taken his diaper off and gone to the bathroom when he first got up so he wasn't wearing a diaper.

Tim picked him up to comfort him and told him he would be okay. Jesse, still whimpering, said to him, "Kiss it Daddy."

"Uh, I don't think I will, I think it will be okay."

Simon piped in with, "Yeah Jesse, he doesn't want to kiss your penis! Then he'd have penis germs on his mouth and if he kissed someone else they'd get penis germs on their mouth!"

At that point Tim couldn't hold his laughter very well. They all proceeded to laugh at the silliness of Tim kissing Jesse's penis.

I cracked up when he told me. It's been Tim's favorite story for the last week.

Tim

2011-01-19T11:41:00.001-05:00

Well, Tim had another birthday. Sure seems like that number is getting pretty big these days. He's right there in his mid-thirties, me, this is my last year of early thirties. I rub it in any chance I can get. Good stuff!

This is the 17th birthday of his that we've spent together. I guess we are getting old, good grief! He's as funny now as he was back then, and I enjoy every minute I get to spend with him.

Here's to Tim, Happy Birthday honey!

Attitude

2011-01-17T10:16:00.003-05:00

We have some attitude issues at our house. They come and go, but are driven by a lack of sleep I've noticed. Homework time is especially trying for us. An example:

"Okay Noah, get your spelling paper and go ahead and write each of them one time."
"NO!"
"Really? Again? Well, you can do your spelling paper or you can go to bed. I'm not going to discuss it, but if you're too tired to do homework then go take a nap."
"NO! I'm not going to!"
"You don't get to back talk, you heard what I said, do one of them or I'm getting the spoon."
"NO!"
"It doesn't need to be the hard Noah, just do the homework!"
"NO! I'm not going to do it, and I'm not going to bed."
"Well, you're acting like a b-r-a-t and you are going to bed."
"No I'm not and you are acting like a b-u-t-t!"

I'm sure the look of surprise on my face was priceless as I knew from his response that he understood my spelling of brat. What I couldn't believe was that he called me a name, and that he spelled butt right! I hopped up, grabbed the spanking spoon and took a step towards him. He in turn, bolted for the stairs, but he had already earned his spank. Oh the crying and gnashing of teeth.

I love moody boys, er, what?

Marker

2011-01-10T09:57:00.004-05:00

Oh, how I wish I had gotten this on video, I fear my wordy rendition of the story will not do it justice. But I'll try.

Jesse writes on everything, and I mean everything, so all markers have been taken away and put up. All pens in the children's area have been confiscated as well. It's been this way for a couple of months now. At some point he's going to grow out of writing on everything, and I'm hoping it's soon.

The boys got an easel for Christmas-it's great. One side is a chalk board and one side is a dry erase board. It has clips to clip on papers so they can draw or paint.

The other night I got out a dry erase marker for Eli to work on his spelling words. You know, even spelling can be a little fun if it's on a dry erase board. Then we finished and I needed to go make dinner. Jesse had taken the marker from Eli and was writing on the dry erase board. I was worried about him having it, but I was watching him. Then I really needed to go start dinner and Jesse assured me that he wouldn't write on anything but the dry erase board. I was so hesitant, but I thought I'd let him have a few minutes while I got some things going.

I've been a mom for almost nine years, when exactly is it that I'll learn?

While I'm in the kitchen Tim comes home and into the kitchen and we started talking. I forgot that Jesse has a marker. Tim has that effect on me.

Jesse walked in the kitchen holding the marker.

My heart skipped a beat. I remember now that he has a marker. Oh crap! How long was he unattended?

He sees me, and is so proud of himself and says, with his pointer finger up in the air, "I did not write on anything." Then he makes a sweeping motion with his hand flat as he says, "I did not write on any chair. I did not."

Which would be reassuring if he wasn't two and when he says he didn't do something, he usually did.

I run to check the damage. In the living room where the easel is I don't see any foul play. So far so good. Then I turn to walk back to the kitchen and I see that he wrote on the wood frame of the easel. Not the worst thing, but that doesn't make me super happy.

Then in the Hall I see that he wrote on a chair, but I've gotten ink out of that one before so it should be okay. Next I see the chair that we just moved in the Hall from the Library the day before, just to see how it looks. It has marker too, but it's not super noticeable. Then I see the rocking chair in the corner, the one I love, with a BIG streak of marker. I run for the rubbing alcohol and a rag.

It looks like he was good almost the whole time, but on his way to the kitchen wrote on most every chair he passed. We're getting closer, I think. I hope.

I sent Jesse to bed, he got a spanking for lying. We don't lie at our house. Ever.

The rocking chair doesn't seem to be coming out, I worked on the other chair from the library, it's mostly coming out but the pattern makes the spot that's still there okay. The other chair it comes right out, at least one is okay.

As I'm scrubbing the chairs Jesse tries to come downstairs, but I send him back. The punishment for lying is stiff at our house, we have a zero tolerance policy for lying. Even at two.

Then I made him scrub the rocker, it's still there. He'll keep working, even though he cries cause he can't get it. He's got to learn to stop writing on stuff.

Reflections

2011-01-05T10:37:00.003-05:00

This is the time of year when everyone reflects on the previous year and discusses how good or bad it was, what they learned, and what they resolve to do better in the coming year. I'm just not one of those, and it struck me as odd this year.

Should I be one of those? It seems good to take stock of where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. How else do you grow and change in the directions you want to grow and change. Can't let the winds decide where you're going.

Don't I reflect? So I reflected on my lack of reflected. Turns out I do reflect on the year, but I do it in seasons. A year seems like a big chunk of time to me, too much for me to think about at once. I think back on a season once it is over and determine if it was successful or not and what I will differently the next time that season rolls around.

Soccer season, wedding season, Christmas season, birthday season, the school year, half-marathon training season, those are the kind of seasons in my life.

I reflected at the end of soccer season that I wanted a folding chair and I didn't want to sit on blankets or bleachers (if there even are any) at games anymore. When Tim's mom asked what I wanted for Christmas, I told her a folding chair. Got it. Soccer season will be better next year.

I have been caught unawares in birthday season before, and I'm not doing that again! Plans are being developed right now for the birthday in three weeks, at the start of birthday season in our house. It really starts with Tim in two weeks, but he's easy, steak dinner with all the fixings, and he's good to go!

The first half of Simon's pre-school year as not gone as smoothly as I had hoped, so I've got a new curriculum on it's way to me now. Coming recommended from a friend who is using it for her pre-schooler.

At the beginning of 2010 I began to make a meal plan for each week (mostly), and have found that my life is so much easier when I know what we're having for our meals. I'm keeping the meal planning of course, and adding in some new chores for me and the boys in an effort to keep the kitchen cleaner. I struggle with cleaning up after I cook. I think I get it from my Grandma! I'm trying to change my mindset that dinner isn't really over until the dishwasher is running and the table/stove/counters have been washed.

Turns out, I do reflect, I do it all the time. I prefer to do it in smaller chunks where I can see progress and tweek as I go. For a 2010 recap, it was a great year, not to say there weren't bumps in the road, but I love my husband more now than I did a year ago, and I've learned how to parent my boys individually better in the last year. If I'm improving on the wife and mom fronts, it's a win!

Gingerbread House

2010-12-26T20:07:00.006-05:00

We have put together a gingerbread house for the last several years, and this year was no exception. Eli was the photographer for this section. Simon was the supervisor.
These kits, with the trays that you can stand the walls up in are the bomb!

We got out little bowls for all the candy, and they loved it. We added a few black licorice pieces, and some smarties-don't want to have a Gingerbread house that is lacking candy!I'm not sure about these boys sometimes!

Maybe next year we'll sell these, I'm sure there's a market for them ;)

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T07:57:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Love that boy!

2010-12-21T09:12:00.000-05:00

Jesse is just so precious. Partly because he's the littlest and that makes him cute, but sometimes he says and does stuff that makes me just want to gobble him up. We had one of those moments this weekend.

He said to me, "We need each other!" and wrapped me in a big hug. All weekend long that's what that boy said to me. And then we'd hug. Best feeling ever!

Well, except for when he lied to me, on purpose, and wouldn't tell the truth. Repeatedly lied. That was a rough battle of wills, but we came out the other side still loving each other and learning what is acceptable to God and our family.

Later in the evening, unprompted he said, "We always tell the truth!" Indeed little man, we do.

We do need each other! We need each other so he can learn to tell the truth and I can learn to displine in love. We're getting it, he and I.

Auction

2010-12-20T15:00:00.004-05:00

We had to take everything out of the silverware drawer and wash it. Noah washed, Eli dried and I cleaned out the drawer.

We live in an old house, it's cold, the mice want a warm place to live, need I say more? But I've got their number, we put the silverware tray in a large Ziploc bag so even if they get in the drawer again, the utensils are still clean-ha! Only took me 7 years to figure that one out! And when I got out a spoon this morning, I realized how smart I really am. Score is: Humans 3, Mice 5 (they got in four drawers and a cupboard-I think we'll end up cleaning them all).

Anyway, Eli was drying these little serving knives we have, we use them for cheese balls and that kind of stuff. They are really short and have a stainless steel grape bunch for the handle. I think my mother in law got them at a garage sale or something, so nothing heirloom or fancy, but they are cute. Eli says, "I want to buy these. When we have the auction."

I said, "What?"

Then he got a little bit embarrassed, like he had said the wrong word or something like that, but he pushed on, presumably knowing I would make him spell it out anyway. He said, "When you die, I want these. I'll buy them at the auction."

I totally cracked up on the inside, what eight year old thinks of this stuff? But I said, "Well, Eli, if you like them that much, when you get your own house I'll just give them to you, how about that? Then you don't have to buy them or wait until I die."

"Really?!? Okay!"

Then Noah pipes in that he likes them too. So I think we'll split them, or since there are four, each of the boys can have one. Need to make a note of that somewhere I guess!

Snow

2010-12-16T08:25:00.004-05:00

Does anyone else think it's odd we've had more snow so far this season than we have had all year some winters? I mean, it's not even Christmas yet. The boys have already used a snow day and had a two hour delay. The way it's looking outside right now, I'm wondering if they'll send them home early today. Although it is just absolutely beautiful!

Not to mention the temperatures we've been having. These are January-February like temperatures. I'm not sure if it's come early or we're in for a very Long Winter. I'm hoping it's just come early. We heat with wood, and man, we're really burning through it-literally! I'm thankful though that I have a husband who likes to see an enormous wood stack, just like I do!

All I can say is the boys are going to enjoy the snow this year, they already are, and that's what I love about my boys! We're hoping to build a snowman soon, so if this is good packing snow, that's what we'll be doing! They'll need my help, of course, not really, but who doesn't love to build a snowman? And maybe we'll have to go sledding at Grandma & Grandpa's tonight when we pick up the little boys....hmm....

What a way to wake up

2010-12-13T13:29:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning I hear our bedroom door squeak open. Then I hear little feet padding over to my side of the bed. I can't quite tell who it is, but I know it's not Jesse.

I force my eyes open, it's only 7:40, but it's Saturday! There's Simon. My heart skips half a beat in worring about his little pinkie. He's smiling, so my heart beats normally.

"I want to tell you something."

"Okay," I croak.

"In your ear."

"Okay," as I wiggle over to the edge of the bed so he can whisper in my ear. What could it be? Tim's still asleep, no one can hear. Why does he need to whisper?

He leans over and gets right in my ear. BELCH!

"Ah, Simon! That's disgusting!"

He giggles, laughs, and skips out of the room.

Swords

2010-12-09T07:42:00.004-05:00

My boys all got swords over the summer. They routinely get taken away. But we watched Pirates of the Caribbean, so they all got the swords out again. Then they asked if I would take pictures, that never happens so I grabbed the camera.

Swords up! Merry Christmas!

Simon Update

2010-12-08T08:26:00.002-05:00

Simon got his stitches out already!

The orthopedic surgeon took them out on day seven. He said Simon was healing up great. He wrapped the little pinkie back up and said once it stops oozing (the holes from the stitches) we didn't really have to keep it covered or anything. He did give us a "cage" for Simon's pinkie in case we thought we needed it to protect his finger, which has been hard to wrap to keep it on. The doc seemed to think it would be more trouble than it's worth, and I'm starting to agree with him.

He looked at Simon's x-rays and said it was a clean break and lined up fine for healing, so that's great news!

We take him back in three weeks just to see how it's healing up, but the doctor had all the confidence in the world that it would be fine.

That little Simon, he's tough!

Dinner Discussions

2010-12-03T07:38:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted a dinner discussion in a while, just hasn't been anything good I guess, or maybe I just can't remember it long enough to get it in a blog post. But this one is worth posting!

Noah asked me, "Mom, what does _________ mean?" [I use the line because I have NO recollection of what word he asked, I'm telling you my memory is shot!]

I told him what it meant and used it in a sentence.

Noah looked at me and said, "It's like you're my own 'Word Girl'."

I smiled and said, "Maybe I am Word Girl." Noah laughed, Eli snickered.

Then Eli said, "You aren't Word Girl, we'd know!"

I smiled and said, "You would? Word Girl's family doesn't know she's Word Girl." Dramatic pause. "Do they?"

Then I popped another bite in my mouth and just looked at him and smiled while I chewed. It threw him off a little bit. He just looked at me, you could see the wheels turning, and then asked, "Well, you aren't, are you?"

I laughed and said, "No, I really don't have time for all that!"

Simon piped in with, "And you don't have a cape!"

Indeed. I don't have a cape.

PT Fun

2010-12-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

Jesse stayed dry all night! He's not having any accidents to speak of, I think he's got this thing!

Some of my favorite things about potty training this kid:

When he urgently says, "I'm about to poop in my diaper!" Then we run off to the bathroom, even though he's not wearing a diaper at all.
Or when he says (and it's true), "I'm about to have my diarrhea!" and yet he makes it.
Heaven forbid if he's wearing a pull-up and you happen to call it underwear. "It's NOT underwear, it's a PULL-UP!"
That he does a belly laugh when I say, "Ok, let's pull up your pull-up."
When he's on the pot ready to poop and he says, "I'm trying not to cry!" It hurts or he's freaked out still by pooping on the toilet.
That the other boys want to go help him so they get rewarded with skittles too. Sometimes he has a room full of brothers "encouraging" him to go. But he won't go, he wants Mama!

It won't be long until he's completely done with diapers, even for the overnight. That feels good!

Wounds

2010-12-01T21:48:00.000-05:00

Simon, oh my Simon. He's the one that seems to get hurt. He's the only one we've taken to the ER, the only one who's ever had stitches. The one who seems to bump his head a lot. There is a soft spot on my heart and that's where my Simon sits. This is a detailed account, you may not want to read it.

Simon got hurt on Monday night. He was going into the bathroom (that Noah had just come out of and shut the light off) and was reaching for the light with his left hand when he rested his right hand on the door jamb. With is pinkie finger barely in the way of where the door shuts. Noah slammed the door. It latched. Simon screamed. Really screamed. Noah opened the door. Noah saw Simon's bloody finger and came running into the kitchen yelling about Simon being hurt.*

Noah tends to be overly dramatic and I knew Simon would want to get Noah in trouble so I wasn't overly concerned. Simon ran into the kitchen holding his hurt hand. I pulled a chair up the sink and told Simon to hop up there, figured we'd rinse it off to see what we could see. As he got on the chair I could tell there was a lot of blood so I told Noah to run outside and get Tim. Then I looked at his finger. I saw white that was not his fingernail. I believe it was his bone. I also saw that the end of his finger was offset.

I FREAKED OUT. This was outside of my expertise.

I wasn't sure if we should rinse it or not, but knew we would be headed to the ER. I started to run for Tim, told Eli to stay with Simon (who is still pretty much screaming). I got to the door and yelled at Tim, "Come now! Simon's hurt, it's bad!" He was right on my heels, and so was Noah.

I let Tim pass me so he could look at Simon, he glanced, and I said, "Are we taking him?"

"YES! We need ice."

I said, "Noah get a bag of ice, I'll get the car!" I pulled the car up to the door, and Tim gingerly, but quickly, walked out carrying Simon with his hand on a baggie of ice. I ran to the door, yelled in to Eli, "You're staying with Matt!"

Times like these are when I'm glad we live about three miles from the hospital. We were there very quickly, they took his vitals and had us wait. By that time Simon had calmed down and wasn't crying. I called Matt to tell him to get the other boys in bed. One of the nurses gave us a couple of gauze pads-we put one between his hand and the plastic bag and one over his hand so he wouldn't have to see it. It was kind of freaking him out. They called us back after just a couple of minutes and took x-rays, then sent us to a room.

The nurses got us comfortable. Simon and I sat on the bed, he just leaned back on me and I kept my arms around him. Tim sat in the rocker beside us.

The doc came and asked what happened. He said that Simon had a "boxers fracture" which is the common name for breaking a bone in your fingers. He said Simon would have to have antibiotics by IV right away since it was an open fracture and that the PA would come in and probably have to do a few stitches, it was hard to know for sure how many before they washed it. There was blood all over his hands, not bleeding like crazy, but everything was covered and it was hard to see.

When the doctor left I asked him if he understood what was going to happen. He wasn't clear on it, so I went over what they were going to do, step by step. He did okay until I said he would need a few stitches. He remembered what that was like from this stitches in the spring and he started to cry. Then I told him we would just take one thing at a time. We couldn't handle it if it was all at once, but we can do one thing at a time. He calmed down and we waited.

The nurses came in and wanted to give him the IV for the antibiotics. I let him lay down with his head in my lap and kept his face towards me so he couldn't watch. As they stuck him he started to cry. Then he jerked. They tried again. He cried harder and said, "I can't take it!" My heart broke a little bit right there. He jerked again and they didn't get it.

I told him we were taking a break and we'd get him a drink and calmed down before we tried again. I got no push back from the nurses. One of them offered to get him some juice. He had a little apple juice and I loved on him. Then I told him we were going to do it one more time, and we were going to get it this time. I asked Tim to help hold him. With his head in my lap, I had his face in my hands, nose to nose; Tim had his shoulder, one nurse had his arm, and the second nurse had his hand. He started to cry and squirm, so I started to sing the "Simon Song", which works like a charm for Jesse when I sing the "Jesse Song" and always used to work for Simon, but I hadn't sung it to him in a very long time. But it did work, he relaxed just enough that we were able to keep him still enough that she was able to get it in his little hand. Then he watched as she taped it on so it wouldn't come out.

Then the next lady came in and hooked up the medicine in the IV. He enjoyed watching her screw the tube on and watching it drip down.

When the PA came in to wash his hand he wasn't happy about that either, but he just laid back on my lap and did fine. She initially said a couple of stitches and that she may have to sew the nail bed back on. As she was washing it Tim saw her raise her eyebrows and look at the other nurse. It was worse than she thought. I'm glad I didn't see that.

When it was time for the numbing shot he got pretty upset, but I started in with the consoling right away, and he said to me, among his tears, "Sing the song Mom!" So I began singing the "Simon Song" again and although he cried and squirmed, he held still enough and she got it done. Then after it was numb she did more shots (Tim said six more he thought), but he doesn't know that. He ended up with six stitches and she did have to sew the nail bed back on.

Then they gave him his pain meds, even though we asked for it from the start. Seems like tylenol with codeine would have relaxed him and helped with the IV and shot process.

They "buddy wrapped" his finger and sent us home with some more pain medicine since it was almost 11:00. But, it's all good, because he got a really cool truck for being such a good boy. And he did do really well. A trooper, that one!

When we got home he went right to sleep, it had been a long day! The other boys were all asleep in bed. On Simon's pillow was a card Noah had made, totally unprompted, he felt horrible. Jesse had insisted to Matt that they leave the hall light on or else Simon wouldn't be able to see when he got home.

We followed up with Tim's orthopedic surgeon's office on Wednesday and a nurse showed me how to wrap it properly (we had been doing a pretty good job) and gave me instructions for care. Change the dressing twice a day, don't let the stitches soak (no baths), wash the wound twice a day, elevate it as much as possible, and come back next week to see the surgeon who may take x-rays again. She also said that since the stitches wrap almost all the way around his finger they will probably have to stay in for two weeks and then he might get a cage splint after that, but maybe not.

In the meantime we're trying to be very careful, which is much harder than it should be, what with being four and having three brothers. As for Tim and I, we're trying not to worry, and just pray for healing and feed him lots of good food and vitamins so he heals good and strong! Hurts our hearts a little bit though!

*We determined that since his finger was shut in the door and he couldn't reach the knob to open it, he yanked it out. That is what tore his skin and made everything bleed. If he hadn't of yanked it out he might not have needed stitches, but you can't blame him for wanting it out and not waiting on someone to come and open the door. Matt had cleaned up all the blood by the time we got home, but we could see where his finger was shut in the door-it pulled paint off when he pulled his finger out-yikes! We're guessing the slammed door was what broke his finger. Poor little guy!

PT Update

2010-11-29T08:57:00.003-05:00

PT stands for potty training, so if that's not your thing, check back later!

I had been hoping that with Jesse being home with me over Thanksgiving break that we would have a potty training break-through and cross over into being potty trained for real. He had been doing very well with staying dry, at least when wearing underwear-with a pull-up he was not quite as motivated, but even with that he was doing well. His normal when wearing underwear is to just not poop, or to wait until he had a diaper or pull-up on for nap or bed time and then go. I've still cleaned my fair share of poopy underwear though-yuck!

Wednesday he just held it in, which worries me. Then on Thanksgiving Day, at Tim's parents I tried to keep a close eye on him so I could catch him when he was ready to go, but I missed it. He was playing cars downstairs and then all of a sudden I hear Jesse getting worked up and Tim's dad asking him if he already pooped in his underwear. I rushed downstairs and Jesse was walking funny, a sure sign of poopy underwear. I scooped him up and rushed to the bathroom. He was upset and sort of crying. As I was helping him, I realized he hadn't pooped in his underwear, but that he couldn't hold it in any longer and was crying because he was trying to hold it in and it hurt. So I put him up on the pot and I think he was so relieved, he forgot he was scared to poop on the toilet. And he went, with no added trauma!

There's been no looking back! Of course he gets candy when he goes and he got a prize (hot wheels car) for his first poop at home, but it's all in the name of potty training.

I think he just might be potty trained. I say that because on Sunday evening he had some loose bowels and yet he told us, held it, and made it to the bathroom. So he recognizes what it feels like before it happens and that's what it's all about. Here's hoping we're down to diapers only during sleeping!