off to the Y

training for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.

Rugrats style

Bobert got a sucker today. I asked him what kind it was and he said 'hopscotch'.

Totally something Rugrats kids would say. *hmm, wonder if that show is on anymore*

Heartwarming

So, we are in the midst of VBS week...

I am LOVING it! So many blessings are pouring forth.

First a 'moment'... Bobert has taken to really hating shoes. He wears his shoes but ditches them as soon as I'm not looking. So, his Bayou Crew leader comes to me and informs me that Bobert lost his shoes... no, I say, they are right here... I found them by the sound booth (Bob's area). He ditched them. We had a good laugh and decided it was okay to go barefoot.

The teens have been helping out this year in full force. That has been a huge blessing. They have not really taken a role in the past.

And the best... my little buddy Zachary, so cute, about 7 years old with very blond hair and bright blue eyes... brings me an offering envelope... with a note in it that says, "I love Bible scool. Thank U." What a sweet soul!

Crazy weekend

drive, swim, eat, swim, boom blox, eat, swim, bonfire, sparklers, smores.

mow, rake, swim, follow, leave, swim, eat, bonfire.

church, swim, eat, boom blox, park, swim, campfire dinner, drive.

Baby Carrot Email

I have received the baby carrot email 3 times now so I went to Snopes to check it out...

http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/carrots.asp

Very interesting read... makes me really think about carrots. I already buy organic, now I will be looking for 'baby carrots' instead of 'baby-cut carrots'. It would be great if all I had was free time and I could grow, harvest, scrub, half-peel, and cut all the carrots we eat, but alas, I haven't that much free time.

I couldn't cut and paste so you'll have to go read on your own if you are interested.

Summertime........

and the livin ain't easy.......

trying to catch up on things like dr, dentist, and car appts, and I find myself with no lazy days as of yet, although today sure comes close!

Looks like a great day today, I think we'll head to the beach after lunch :)

and my oldest 'kid' - Steven

I started today's blogs with it in mind to do an entry for each boy, starting with Bobert... and moving on up... and when I was uploading the pics, I decided I was going to do one for my brother, Steven. Being 13 years older than him, I am sort of his mother.

And that being so, he's a little odd.

If you know what Kamehame-ha means, you will appreciate this:


and a more normal pic......



Love you, Steven!

Aiden's big week

Third grade awards were this afternoon - Aiden got the top reader award in his class... I was excited. Him - not so much. He later told me that he didn't think a t-shirt was that great of a prize and he wanted to know if I would buy him an action figure at Toys R Us.

He also turned nine this week! WHAT?!? 9?!? Well, I guess that's right. Time sure flies. He are his party guests for a group shot, then playing musical chairs. They all gave me grief when I told them we were playing musical chairs, but at the end of the first game they all wanted to play again. Heehee. They still play musical chairs at the Jr. High pep assembly so I knew they would have fun. It gets more intense as you get older. The youngest ones were the first ones out and the 2 oldest were the last two kids in.




And Aiden also had his best soccer game of the season on Thursday. He was crazy good and he got the MVP award from the coach. Of course, that's the day I am the only one there to witness it. He was in the whole game - 1st half defense, 2nd half goalie. He made several saves. I was so proud of him!

Willie-boy

He just looks so big lately. I think had a growth spurt... enjoy the chiaroscuro photo! Yes, that is an art term I pulled out of thin air. It's surprising how I can remember that from *cough* years ago in art class but not where I left my keys the last time I drove my car.

Bobert is so full of it.

So today I was looking for my keys... and Bobert tells me that him and Willie went for a walk to Kelly Rd with no grown-ups and Willie buried my keys by the side of the road.

hmm...

future storyteller?

Bobert's last day of school

Yes, ALREADY, the last day of preschool came and went. I already signed him up for next year - school readiness program 4 days a week. f.r.e.e. ~ s.w.e.e.t. ~

Enjoy some pics.

My shopping buddy

I just love my friend Chito. She's a perfect shopping buddy. She keeps me looking respectable and she knows my style and my size so she can find things for me, even things I might not have thought about... trying to get me in touch with my girly side. And in turn, I can also honestly tell her my opinion of how things look on her. I know her style and her size, too.

For example, today, she bought some capris, and she twirled around for a booty check. I mean, you have to make sure your pants aren't going up where they don't belong!! Her booty check was fine.
When we were waiting to check out, the lady in front of us ... well... she had a MASSIVE wedgie. Chito and I were cracking up. That lady needed a shopping buddy!!

Anyway, she got some great deals on capris and I got a new pair, and a lovely dip dye tank. She lets me get dip dye, it's a little compromise from tie-dye. I buy that when her and my sister aren't around. Bwahahahaha.

My sister is my other favorite shopping buddy. I think I've only been clothing shopping once in the last year that wasn't with Pam or Chito.

Techno-kid

Robert was listening to my iPod while I was taking a shower. He thinks that some of the songs on there are from Hot Wheels website games but whatever. They are all great songs. He can even pick out the Tobymac songs. Yes, at 4, he already knows some artists. Not nearly as many as Aiden did, but he knows some.

I sit down to check my email and I see that he has removed the headphones and plugged in into the charger.

What a responsible kid, I didn't even know he knew how to do that. Taking after daddy ;)

Steven Graduated!

My little baby brother graduated from Eastern Michigan University! Pretty amazing, all 4 of us kids graduated from college. My sister also went to EMU, and my grandmother. One of the speakers was talking about farm animals and how him and his wife like to spend time taking care of them, etc... and his last picture was on the big screen:

If you didn't know, those are emus. Get it? EMUs? (rimshot)

Here's a video of him walking to get his diploma... his cap has white letters on it, so you can pick him out.



And then there was this dude with a very interesting outfit... I dunno if he wore that to all graduations he went to, starting in 1980.. but anyway... here he is in his light pink jacket, his lavender tie, fuschia shirt, pale blue stonewashed jeans, and his fancy rings. Yes, he's wearing sunglasses inside. He did have a sweet camcorder tho.


and some more pics from the day... Congratulations, Steven!! I hope you get a teaching job soon!

A Bobert funny

dh and I got new phones - LG enV2

And in case you didn't already know, we totally love them! Compared to our old phones, we are now driving a car instead of riding a bike!!

We've been playing with them a lot over the weekend. I got some cool ringtones and I'm working on getting music and such on my memory card...

I had Aiden at soccer and I got this text from Bob...
Robert wants you to know that he loves you "so so much that he could kiss you." And he likes my "computer phone".

I could melt!

Always something.......

oh it's always something, isn't it?

just when we get one thing conquered or when Willie's been having a good day, something happens.......

sometimes, not so bad...
for example, yesterday, Willie played outside in the front yard and he stayed in the general area of our yard! So exciting! (he was and still is sometimes, a runner)
but then I get in my car and see he's decorated my window, mirror, and gas cap with sidewalk chalk. That kind of thing makes me smile. The mirror is easy enough to re-adjust and it all washes off eventually.

sometimes medium bad...
today, dh and I went to get new phones (our 2 years was up so we could get free phones with the sale going on and the mail in rebate.) we could not pass up that great deal! So we got phones and upgraded to unlimited texting. now my irl friends and my family can text me and not harass me to get texting. LOL. I love you guys.
well, Willie did okay. until he bolted outside and found the only puddle in sight. he was soaked up to his knees. then he comes back in, not happy at all to have to do so, and proceeds to start smacking some guy who was at the automatic bill payment machine on the thigh..... *eep!*

sometimes really bad......
like a couple of weeks ago when he dug into a bm diaper and painted his pants and whatever parts of the car he could reach while I was driving him to OT (occupational therapy)

Life is never dull around here, that's for sure!!

update on Willie

his breathing got very bad but our ped rocks and we are able to control it at home.

as of today, he's on:
Diflucan - anti-yeast
Tinactin - antifungal for rash on his side
predisone - oral steroid for breathing
pulmicort - inhaled steroid through nebulizer
albuterol - every 3 hours through nebulizer
and antibiotics for his foot - it's showing signs of infection and he has a runny nose
(only been on antibiotics 2 x before, so I said okay.)

time to break out the medication checklist calendar

:(

Worst vacation ever

I broke down crying Tuesday night, the first day of our vacation, in our hotel room.

We got to Kalahari right on schedule, and there was a huge line just to even pull up to the entrance. The normal stress of my parents - my dad swearing at some lady because she was trying to not let him in, my mom yelling at everyone because we weren't doing things right... that's all normal.

We got to the room, got settled in, changed, and headed to the waterpark. The boys ran around the lazy river about 4-5 times. My dad and Willie went on one waterslide. It was a long wait. Then we went to the kids' area where all 3 boys could free play. There were teenage boys there intentionally spraying people (parents and children) in the face using the water spouts and guns. They placed their hands over most of the hole so that it sprayed very hard. Bobert was screaming and would not go down the kids' slide because they continuously sprayed him in the face.

Okay on to the wave pool, where we had no major problems except that it tired me out.

Then everyone was hungry, so we went back to our room to dry out pruny hands and eat some pizza. In the midst of everyone changing and stuff, the window in our room sliced Willie's foot open. He also has a cut on his leg. There was a very sharp part at the bottom of the window. I went to the front desk and they gave me some bandages and Neosporin. They said they would send maintenance right away to do something about it.

In the mean time, I took the boys to the little kids play area. they were having a good time shooting each other with foam balls and crawling through the tubes, until the place became overrun with obnoxious teenagers who were chasing each other all around the play area, knocking the little kids around. The girl on duty received numerous requests to kick them out, because the sign said 52" and under, and these kids were clearly way taller than that...
It's one thing if a teen is in there helping a younger sib or cousin, that's very sweet. It's another thing when you are just running wild with no supervision, hurting the little kids. Willie has a bruised area near his mouth from that escapade.

Well that was enough of that so we headed back to the room, where we found my mom still sleeping, and maintenance had not even come yet to fix the window. I called the front desk, frustrated and the lady was not being nice or understanding.
Willie had pooped in his diaper, and I took him into the bathroom to shower him off. What do I see crawling around in there>? ANTS. In a hotel room I am paying $300 a night for? I don't think so.

That was indeed the straw that broke me. I looked at Willie's foot and I knew it would be unsafe for him to be in the water in a public pool area for the next 2 days. We decided to cut our losses and go home.

It took an hour and a half to check out !?!

We should have been home by 11pm, instead we did not get home until almost 1 am. (I-75 is closed for a bit and it took a little longer getting home.)

We have been on several trips, in several hotels, and never have I been so upset. Never have so many things gone wrong. I was done. DONE.

Here's my pics... all I got... planned on taking some the next day after we got the lay of the land... and for those of you that know Willie, you know he doesn't cry for much, but he was crying... and that foot is 2 hours from the injury. It looked terrible right after... looks much better there.




PS, Still dealing with the aftermath... They must have had mold in the carpets there, because Willie is having a severe reaction, and we have been giving breathing treatments around the clock. I can see the redness and puffiness in his cheeks in the pic there. That's another reason I took into account when making the decision to leave.

PPS, I forgot to write... and there were ANTS in the bathroom!!

A Trip to the Dollar Store was Never so Fun

I went to the Dollar Tree a few weeks ago to find some things for a church event and Bobert had a dollar, so I let him pick something. He got a very shiny ninja sword. I don't even know why I let him buy that crap. I'm such a sucker.

We were at the tail end of a large round of errands, and we did great, but we were both hungry. We stopped at Taco Bell and when we got to the window, Bobert rolled down his window and was waving his sword around. He was saying hi to the cashier, trying to get her attention. She looked up and saw him smiling from ear to ear, and said how cute he was. Then he asks her, "Do you like my fancy new sword?" Fancy. Only Bobert. She didn't understand what he was saying, so I reanslated ;)

Easter Pics

It was pretty hectic with the early morning service and everything, plus, Bobert was having issues keeping his outfit on. He kept taking off his vest, yes, the same vest he wanted to wear every day last month.

Ah well, I still got some cute shots:


Aiden posing for the picture. LOL.


Willie in one of his favorite activities - hanging out in the front yard, watching cars go by, waving to pedestrians and bikers, leaning against my car.


Bobert doing what he loves best: Making cookies... a 'Dirty Job'

We Wear Pants

that's one of our firm rules in this house - WE WEAR PANTS!

Willie was running about naked, and I told him to get some pants. He runs off, comes back with his dad's pants. Well, I guess I should have been more specific. So, I told him to put those back and go put some pants on.

So this is what I get:





Life is never boring anymore, that's for sure!

I don't want _that_ kind

oh goodness, you know your child has some spectrum issues when you are at the grocery store and you give him permission to get any chips he wants. He runs over to the Pringles section and hesitantly picks the reduced fat ones. Dh tells him he doesn't need reduced fat, to pick the regular ones. Ds (darling son) stands there, looking like his favorite video game won't load because the disc is too scratched. Sad, sad, face. So dh gets him the regular ones and he refuses to even touch them. Why? "NOW CRISPIER"... OH NO!! The Pringles have changed!! Abort mission! Can't eat them!

Eventually, we did get the regular ones and after his brother and father had some, he ate some and decided that it was okay, life would go on.

Elite Eight

oh yeah baby, what a close game!

State wins over Kansas and advances to the Elite Eight.....................

On the banks of the Red Cedar,
There's a school that's known to all;
Its specialty is winning,
And those Spartans play good ball;
Spartan teams are never beaten,
All through the game they'll fight;
Fight for the only colors:
Green and White.

Go right through for MSU,
Watch the points keep growing,
Spartan teams are bound to win,
They're fighting with a vim!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
See their team is weakening,
We're going to win this game,
Fight! Fight! Rah! Team, Fight!
Victory for MSU!

sick of poop

i'm really done with cleaning up poop. too bad there's no end in sight for us.

Two more games

Two more basketball games. Today at noon and next week at 2pm. For third and fourth graders, it sure is a long season He has improved a lot. He'll never be a basketball superstar but I am very proud of him. He's on the far right in the dark blue shirt.

Winter Jam ~ Wahoo!

Saturday evening, we went to Winter Jam. How fun was that!!

Francesca Batistelli has such an amazing, pure voice. She was on fire, hot performance baby, last night (in the style of Randy Jackson's judging). Plus she's just so cute. LOL.

Newsong, they're always good, classic.

Hawk Nelson had a great stage set and they rocked the house. We love Hawk Nelson here!! (and the girlies in youth group think he's hot but yeah anyway)

Then The Afters played. I thought the set was too short!

Last and best was TobyMac and the Diverse City band. Although Toby was a little hoarse, he didn't let that stop him from putting on a great show. They always bring so much energy to their performances. I love the acrobatics/choreography. I was sad they didn't do Whoopsi Daisy, but they did do Jesus Freak, which they didn't get to last year at Winter Jam.

What a value, what a deal. Only 10 bucks. Went there, got the t-shirt, saw the confetti pouring down over the crowd at a very full EMU Convocation Center. Some people even sat behind the stage; it was that crowded.

If you're sad you missed it, there's another great concert coming to our area soon. The Rock and Worship Road Show comes Friday, April 17th to MSU - Breslin Center 1 Birch Road, East Lansing, MI. 7:30 pm. General admission $10 at the door. The spectacular lineup:

• MercyMe
• Jeremy Camp
• Hawk Nelson
• Tenth Avenue North
  
• Addison Road
  

on to the semifinals...

Michigan State 64
Minnesota Gophers 56

GO STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Bobert

Happy Birthday, little dude. You are a ray of sunshine and I love you very much.

You are always trying to make people laugh and smile. Even when you are brushing your teeth.

I remember the day you were born - it was a Friday and I was just laying down to go to sleep. I shifted, trying to get comfortable, and my water broke. Your dad had just settled into the computer to play some video games, and I told him my water broke. He said, "No."

I said, "Yes."

And that was that. We called Aunt Ginnie to come over and watch your brothers and we went off to the hospital.

It was an emergency C-section for us, because you were breech and way too big to come out that way. I tried in the weeks previous to get you to flip, but it didn't happen. The OB couldn't get you to flip, either.

You swallowed a lot of blood when you came out and you had to stay in the hospital for a week while they pumped out the blood, had you on IVs because you couldn't nurse until it was all gone. I was blessed to have friends, family, and hospital staff who helped us through it.

Here you are, holding up your four fingers for your fourth birthday. I'm glad you liked your umbrella!

Anyway, you're getting so big now, so independent, wanting to do things all by yourself. It's a pleasure to see you learn all sorts of new things, including vocabulary. Destination is one of my favorites.

Love you!
-Mommy

Willie's new favorite thing to do...

Steal peoples' keys out of their purses or pockets when they aren't looking and push the red alarm button.

I'm sorry, my neighbors! DH's clicker is very old and it's practically impossible to make the alarm stop. UGH.

Water Bill Woes

I just paid my water bill. It was very painful.

Almost $400 for a 3 month period.

We got a doorknob hanger a month ago, saying we were using a lot more water than usual. We checked for leaks and such, and discovered that Willie had turned on the back yard water faucet and it was running for who knows how long. We rarely go out back in the winter. We play out front and at the park and we didn't notice it. Another casualty of having a special needs child.

Also, we had the water dept come out and test our toilets, and the upstairs toilet was leaky. DH replaced the guts of the toilet (WTG!) so we should be back to normal ~$150 next time.

Willie did WHAT?

Willie pooped on the potty today. On purpose. And only in the potty.

We are having a huge party!!!!!!!!!!!

Ash Wednesday

The sitter didn't show up. No surprise there. My mom watched the kids while Bob and I went to church. For these special services, our church co-op gets together. There's a larger choir, and you get a service conducted by the three Pastors. It was very beautiful. When dh got home, Bobert asked him what was on his forehead, and said he wanted one on his hand. He tried to wipe it into his hand, but it was a smear. He was upset because he wanted a cross. I guess next year we will take Aiden and Bobert (Willie's still far from sitting through church and being quiet).

I went up to my home church to watch The Passion of the Christ with the Youth Group. One kid is pretty new to this whole 'church thing', so it was great to have an environment where I could explain things to him and point out symbolism. What a powerful start to the Lenten seas0n. I haven't given up anything per say, but I will be doing some fasting with additional prayer.

Oops.

Last night, I was taking Aiden to a friend's house. They were going to go see The Tale of Desperaux. My mom had taken Willie to OT and Bob was still at work. I told Aiden and Robert to get their shoes and coats on. They did a great job, and I asked them to get my keys and go start buckling in while I finished getting ready.
Okay so they are outside, I'm ready. I find my coat, grab it, lock the door and pull it shut. I plunge my hand into my coat pocket to get my keys out but there was nothing there. Then I notice that the boys aren't in the car. They could not find my keys so they just went outside to wait. ACK, we were locked out. Being winter, there was a slim to none chance that any windows were open. We double checked the back door. Everything was locked.
I start pondering the choices, and realize that we really have to figure something out. My next door neighbors aren't home. We could walk to my MIL's house, but she was working last night, so that would not do much good. I also happened to have left my cell phone in the house. After all, we were just running Aiden to a friend's house.
We walked to my down the street neighbor's house, my SIL's ex-husband. Really nice guy. Says, "Actually, I may have a key to your house." He looks through his extra keys and sure enough, he pulls out a spare key to our house. But, that handle broke a while ago, and we had since replaced it. So, it only worked in the deadbolt, not the handle. Grr. He offers to take us where we need to go and we hop in the car. Turns out he knew exactly where to go because he works with Aiden's friend's dad at the Water Dept. Small world!
I used his cell phone to call my mom, who was far from coming home, and dh, who says, okay, see you later. So, I'm thinking dh is coming home to let us in. It is after 7pm and usually, he's home by then anyway. Time is ticking and we have played air hockey with a plastic snowflake ornament, we have spun coins across the table, Bobert ate a bagel and drank two glasses of milk. I look at a clock and it was after 8pm. What? So I called dh back and he's STILL at work. He didn't understand I wanted him to come home right away. He was having a rough day at work and was trying to finish something up. I tell him nevermind, my mom will be back soon by this time.
Finally, we got back in the house. I had three missed calls on my phone, and it was past everyone's bedtime. Aiden got home 10 minutes after we did. I was wondering if he would beat us home.
The funny thing is I usually double check to make sure I have my keys! But we were hurrying and it slipped by. Praise God for kind neighbors. :)

February birthday celebration

The Late Feb/early March birthday club - my sister Pam, my cousin Jessica,BIL Abe, DH, and Bobert



Kodak moment! DH and Willie




My mom has started a new tradition where we get together on a monthly or bimonthly basis to celebrate birthdays. Personally, I think she just wants to rub it in my face that you can only turn 29 so many times. Ah, well, we have to comply.

From the Mouths of Boys

Robert loves lotion. He loves the way it makes his skin soft. Recently, I've let him have limited access to it so he can go get some when he wants. I took a shower the other day, and I came out to see he had way too much lotion. Okay, so I told him to give me some. Good, but he still had extra. He was rubbing it in for at least 15 minutes, and still there was extra.

He asked me if he could rub it on his face. I said, "Sure, honey, just don't get it near your eyes." So he rubbed it on his face, then he looks at me and a light goes on in his head. "Mommy, now when Willie hits me on the face it will be soft."

Only in a house full of boys.

Christmas Pics.