Make It Worth It

So, I read a blog today that I've been following off of the Because I Said So blog by Dawn Meehan, about 4-1/2 year old Julian Avery, who succumbed to cancer yesterday. It reminded me of the day Derrick was born, being told that his little lungs weren't quite ready to process the air he needed to breathe now that he had fulfilled his goal of being born four weeks early, and that he might need a helicopter ride to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. I remember the fear that he might not make it, the hope that he would, the faith in the Lord that he wouldn't need to go, and how making those calls to friends and family were so different than all the others I'd made with my previous two boys. I look at Derrick now, 3 years old, blonde curls, big green eyes, 35 pounds of mischief wrapped up in a cute package of kissable love, and hope, once again, that I'll always be able to have all three of my goofy monsters around for a very long time, because despite the 3 weeks of daily hospital visits, the 3 swim suits and 3 sets of goggles we've gone through in the last 4 months for swim team, the ripped jeans and the unbearable frustration sometimes, I'll never regret that they're a major part of my life...ever. It's stories like Julian's that make me stop for a minute, look at my life and say "Okay, is it really THAT major? Will this matter in 5 years? In 5 minutes? Can I forgive this?" Of course, I can. I can forgive Trey for being irresponsible with his swim gear, even though it costs a fortune sometimes. I can forgive Talin for being rough on his pants legs and ripping holes in the knees. I can forgive Derrick for killing two fish we just got Friday night in less than 48 hours by giving them too much fish food. (I bet the fish are not too happy with me for that one, huh?) I can forgive my husband, family, friends....because in the end, it's not my opinion that matters anyways...it's God's.

Fly with the angels Julian...and thanks for touching my life. Run painlessly free now that your cancer is gone, and hug the angels and Jesus for me while you're busy being the little kid you didn't get a chance to be here with us. Thanks for bringing the important things back into focus for me.

Murphy's Week

Yes, this was one of those weeks where if I could have just slept through it, I probably would have. Oh. My. GOSH!! It started out with my mom, last Sunday, asking me what we were doing for Thanksgiving. I told her I wasn't sure yet as I STILL hadn't heard from Trey & Talin's father, who lives in North Carolina and is court-ordered to have visitation with them for the holiday this year, and I'd called him 3-1/2 weeks prior to my mom asking. So I told her I imagined we'd probably be in Oshkosh if we were traveling for my kids to see their father, otherwise I wasn't sure. She informed me then that her parents, my grandparents, had really aged a lot in the last six months, and that it wasn't that they didn't want us (my family) there, but maybe it would be best if the little kids weren't there to upset the older folks. Okay, I understand the logic, but you can't tell me that anyone with half a heart wouldn't be just a little bit offended. So fine, I'm uninvited to one Thanksgiving...makes my decision much, MUCH easier...either go to my mother-in-law's house or have a meal here. The way things are going, it's looking like my ex isn't going to call, and at this point he can't realistically expect me to throw together a trip like this in less than 48 hours...I mean traveling from NW Wisconsin to NW Indiana takes time to put together, organize, make arrangements for, especially with a little guy here at home and the man of the house works nights and so will likely be catching up on sleep. Try finding daycare mid-week last minute during a holiday week. Not so easy!! Again, anyone with half a brain would have that one figured out by now, but I guess that just points out the obvious now, doesn't it?

Speaking of daycare, the person we've had watching our kids for 6-1/2 years decided early this week to take a day job out of her home, where she's had her daycare at, and so we've been spending our evenings this week interviewing other daycare providers in the area. We found a girl probably close to my age that also does in-home daycare with an opening, and Derrick took to her like a fish to water, so we've been very pleased with his easy adjustment to this change thus far. Our former sitter has practically become a member of our family, so it'll be hard to let her go, but easier in that we're happy she'll be using her double major college degrees to further herself and do something she enjoys. Best wishes to her!!

Yesterday, Saturday, was Trey's first swim meet. It was SO exciting to be a swim parent!! It was always fun and exciting and nerve-racking to be a swimmer...but what a dynamic shift to be on the dry side!! Trey was in four events; the medley relay in which he swam back stroke, 50 free, 50 back and in the 200 free relay, where he was the third swimmer in a relay of 4. If any of you are lost on this, lemme know and I'll post a blog explaining more. His best event was his 50 back, where he won his heat and received a ribbon. I don't know who was prouder, him or me!! Probably him LOL ;) He did a great job with sportsmanship and conducted himself very well. My ex's mom, her husband and her mom also showed up and stayed for his first two events (his last two were quite a ways later, and they had another commitment), and he was thrilled that they came, and I was happy that they were there to support him. He loves swimming so far though...I can truly see him going far with this if he sticks with it!

Today was the last day of our Sunday School Service Project, the food drive we've had for the last few weeks. The top team received a $5 gift certificate to McDonald's...I mean, who doesn't love a Happy Meal, right? LOL Our pastor recognized our efforts by having us wheel a cart up the aisle during the offering and giving a prayer of thanksgiving for us, which was really awesome and I hope the kids enjoyed it as much as I did. They all did such a great job, and I made sure today to help them realize that though they were in separate teams during this, none of this would have been possible if we all hadn't worked together as a group, the end result wouldn't have been as fruitful. Now this week sometime I need to bring our donations to the local food pantries and I'm going to ask that a small thank-you note be sent to the Sunday School if possible, because I really think that would be something they'd enjoy...some positive feedback from the places we all hope they never need to visit.

Then at home Derrick decided that he was going to take a nap, so Trey, Talin and I took advantage of his nap time and played a few hands of Uno. It was a lot of fun spending time with them that wasn't interrupted by Derrick. I love that little monster...but sometimes he makes "big kid games" impossible! He wants so much to do everything Trey & Talin are doing, but isn't quite there yet. Soon enough....soon enough.

I'm off to bed. Today was a nice ending to a hectic week. Thank goodness for a short week next week! Happy Thanksgiving, safe travels and even safer hunting to all of you!!

Halloween Our Style!

Sorry I've been gone a few days from here...just been KAH-RAY-ZEE hectic around here trying to get everything done and throw Halloween into the mix on top of it! LOL

Monday we carved pumpkins, as promised! And I have pics to prove it!! Now, for some people pumpkin carving is a busy activity, and everyone is working hard at creating their masterpiece. For some reason, pumpkin carving at our house usually ends up looking something like this:

And the night isn't complete without the display of evacuating the Halloween delicasy "punkin brains..." First Trey demonstrated his mastery of this macabre ritual:

Then Talin took a scoop at it:

And not to be outdone, Derrick gave it his best shot, but I think he missed the mark a bit ;o)

So he decided to take a stab at it instead and really make a dent in things! (Not to worry, it's a butter knife, not a carving knife!)

The final products of our scooping, scraping, sketching and stabbing turned out to be honest to goodness vegetarian nightmares...I'm sure they would all have preferred winding up pie instead!

Trey's jack-o-lantern:

Talin's jack-o-lantern:

Derrick's jack-o-lantern:

After letting them sit outside and dry out for a day, the BIG day was finally here! There was a parade at the kids' school where they all paraded through the gym in costume for parents to admire and snap pictures at. Then they rode the bus home, we slapped something on a plate and into the microwave before the true artistry began....the painting of the faces! Talin wanted his face red with white lips. I was going goth. Derrick was going as Tigger. Trey saved me from more ovious inability to be aristic by wearing a mask. YAY! So while the kids were eating I started to get into costume. Believe it or not, Bubba did my hair! It took an entire can of black hair color spray to get my hair to look even remotely black!

Talin was first done eating, so I painted his face. Trey was next, so we helped him into his costume. Derrick decided he was going to save his appetite for the road...which didn't go over as well as he'd hoped! Since he was going to be Tigger, I thought it'd be cute for him to have a pink nose, an orange face, and some black stripes. He had seen Talin getting his face done and wanted the same thing done to him, so he had no problem sitting through the orange face phase, but started getting restless with the pink nose. After about 16 swipes to paint his 2 inch nose pink, it was obvious that stripes were not in the stars this year for our little Tiggy. So, he looks like he's part oompa-loompa. Or was in a fight with a bag of Cheetos. And lost. But I was happy with the end result, and the kids were happy with their mountain of processed carbohydrates that they'll probably try to eat in world-record breaking time LOL So, to close today's blog, I'll post a pic that Bub took of us before we headed out to collect the evidence of the beginning of "food season," the first major food holiday of the trio; Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Guess dessert first has always been a great idea! Have a great one!!

Which Of These Is Different?

Here's an age-old kids game that never seems to lose it's allure...which one of these is not like the other? Ready? Here's the first picture:




Got it? Okay, now here's the other picture:



LOL This doesn't happen on a regular basis, so don't worry. I begged Bub to pose for this pic so I could have some fun with Derrick getting the last little bit of strawberry milk out of the carton, bypassing the trouble of getting a cuppy! LOL

We had a rather uneventful night last night, which was a nice change from the afternoon! While the two older boys were playing outside yesterday with a friend and I was inside working, these young Einsteins decide to use the push-button trunk release in our car to pop the trunk. This is apparently a ton of fun, and to add to the festivities, they decided to shut themselves in the trunk two at a time, so one was left to push the button and let them out. This fun did NOT last long, because as soon as I realized what was going on, I went outside, popped the trunk, yelled at the boys, shut the glove compartment, locked the doors (made sure the keys were out first!) and scolded them again about how dangerous that could have been. Then I went in the house to continue working, smirking to myself because I could totally see myself doing something like that when I was their age! LOL

Bubba treated us to China Buffet last night, since we hadn't been out as a family for awhile, and neither of us really felt like cooking by the time he got home. One of our baby sitters and her family walked in while we were eating, so it was nice to see them and chat for a little bit :o) She's one of the few who hasn't run screaming for the hills after 15 minutes alone with all three boys LOL She's actually considering sitting with the boys for us in a couple of weeks, so Bubba and I can get some adult time in away from the kids. Yay!! If this actually happens, I'm considering having the event added to the list of rare events in history! LOL

Today is Derrick's birthday, he's officially 3 now. It seems like he shouldn't be 3, he should be turning 1 or something...how can he possibly be 3??? So we'll be having spaghetti for supper tonight, Derrick's favorite! I'll be sure to take pictures and post them tomorrow! Three years old...wow!

Have a great Friday...and thank goodness for it!

The Great Marble Slide

Let's start today out with a picture, shall we??

Looks like a marble slide to me, doesn't it to you?? LOL This was my kids' marvelous idea for making a marble roll seamlessly down a flight of stairs, after rebouding it off the wall that hangs over the steps, which would in turn cause it to land in an exact location on one of the books and roll effortlessly down the slope of books. Of course, Trey thought it'd be a grand idea to first try having a human slide down this using a pillow case like a burlap bag, and volunteered himself to be the first to try this.. Visions of broken bodies laying at the bottom of the staircase flashed through my mind, not to mention my husband having a heart attack as soon as he saw this creative innovation, so I had them pick up the books and put them away before anything was able to be hurled down the "slide". They reluctantly complied, but of course this had to be done in the most complicated way possible...they pushed every book down the stairs, sorted them out as to who's book was who's, and then brought them upstaris to be put away, wrapped in blankets in order to get the whole load up in one trip. Whew!!

Last night we had a lot of fun though. I brought the two older boys to the YMCA so that Trey could practice swimming, as he's wanting to be on the swim team, and I'm not wanting him to drown during practice. We arrived a full half hour early, and not wanting to sit in the pool room in a swim suit I decided that maybe shooting some hoops in the gym would make the time pass faster. What a stroke of luck! I found out that Talin is really quite talented for being 6! I was practicing blocking him, gently at first, and then more aggressively, and he always came close to making a basket when he shot! Then I gave him the idea of trying to steal the ball from me, and he tried really hard at that, too! I was thrilled beyond words to see him doing so well at something that he was happy doing! So, I hope that somehow there's a way I can get him into basketball at some point, because I think he'd really do well with that.

Then we hit the pool, and we had a great time splashing around, swimming laps, and the kids had fun having me throw them around. What a couple of little fish we have! Bub stayed home this time since he wasn't feeling 100%, and that way he could get Derrick to bed on time also, since sleeping in until 9:30 like he had the last couple of days wasn't going to be an option for him since his three year old check-up was this morning. I still can't believe that tomorrow my baby will officially be a preschooler...where does the time go?!? I still can't believe that Trey is only one foot shorter than me at 9 years old!! Other than Derrick refusing to do his eye check, or maybe not understanding what he was supposed to do, and flat out refusing his hearing screen, his exam went well. I'm not at all worried about his vision or his hearing...he can see a treat hidden under 3 feet of laundry, and he can hear the word treat spoken in a 10 mile radius! He's 3 feet tall, weighs 30 pounds, and is doing great with his speech therapy. Yay! Only 2 feet and 3 inches left, and he'll have bypassed me in the height category, too! LOL But he's healthy, and he's happy most of the time, and that's what's important. And he's potty trained during the day, which is equally important as this keeps mommy & daddy happy, and keeps mommy's sanity level healthy LOL

Speaking of potty training, I'm told that his current behavior is normal and that he'll grow out of it. This little guy will hold his poop all day until after his bath, right before bed, when a pull up is put on him. Then he will go poop in his pull up, come downstairs from bed needing to be changed. The entire time he's being cleaned up, he'll say "Eww, stinky! Poop in toilet! Eww ucky!" There is no doubt in my mind after hearing that night after night that this child knows where he should be going poop, but refuses to! UGH! The other night Bub was cleaning him up, and when he was finished, Derrick stood up, pinched his nose and said "Eww, stinky poops!" I couldn't help but laugh at the look on Bub's face! LOL Someday....someday...poopy pants will be a thing of the past. Sad thing is, knowing me I'll probably miss 'em!