In The Lines?

Some kids are meticulous from the get go. You can tell at an early age by the way they keep their room or how they color.

I was getting ready this morning and Noah was too quiet. That has to mean he's up to no good.

He's definitely a colors outside the lines kid.

And he couldn't be more proud of himself.

Revlon's Goldpearl Plum Lipstick looks rather nice on him. He can pull off anything with that skintone. Lucky kid.

5 Day Holiday

We've all had 5 days off around our house. It's been lovely to relax and spend time with each other.

Wednesday was occupied by Ben's surgery which I wrote about.

We spent Thanksgiving at home so Ben could recoup. The kids were bummed that we weren't going to my Dad and Suzy's house in Phoenix, but we weren't sure how Ben would be feeling. Turns out he felt fine, but his eye still looks pretty red. He watched the parade on TV.

He wants to go to New York and see the parade live one day. I told him we would. Spiderman on Broadway, here we come!

David deep fried our turkey.

It was such an easy dinner. Deep fried was the way to go. A 12 pound turkey in 45 minutes! Sweet. And it was delicious.

Emily and I read under the electric blanket. It was freezing out.

We put up all our Christmas decorations on Friday.

Oh, Ben's poor eye. I'm glad he had 5 days off or I would have let him stay home from school the entire week. He rarely complained though.

Even my Mom helped. She hasn't decorated for Christmas in almost 20 years! That's just wrong!

My Dad and Suzy came up for the day on Saturday to spend some time with us. Suzy and I went shopping for the kids for Christmas. So much fun to go shopping for my babies with someone else's money!

Today was more time relaxing and preparing for the week, for me that means 3 loads of laundry. For the kids, that meant dressing Noah as a cowboy.

This kid is too much.

And on that note partners, we are turning in for the night.

Ben.

We made it through another surgery day. I can live the rest of my life without taking any of my kids in to be operated on again. It's a helpless feeling as a parent, to hand your child over to doctors, knowing that although extremely rare, a mistake could happen. It's comforting that we've always felt like we had great doctors.

I don't bring my camera to these types of things. Honestly, seeing your child in a hospital bed knocked out with an IV is really not an image that any parent wants to see again. Unfortunately, it's an image that you don't need a camera to remember. You'll simply never forget.

In true Ben style, he was a star patient. When he had surgery years ago, we had to give him a cocktail. If you don't know what that is, it's a shot of some great meds that the anesthesiologist gives to make the kid not have a clue what is happening when they take them from your arms and down the hall alone. Two years ago, Ben needed it. This year, he went back happily without a cocktail.

Actually, the doctor said he had never seen a kid so excited to go back. He said he didn't know what we told him, but he couldn't wait to go under. The anesthesiologist told him he was going to get an astronaut mask over his face that smelled like bubble gum. Of course, we told him he was going to get to try on a Buzz Lightyear mask and he'd get to go to space. I guess he wasn't afraid as he went practically skipping down the hall with the nurse.

Ben just told us at dinner the nurse said, "ready to launch?". Ben said yes and then he says he went into outer space and saw all the planets. I guess he had fun being put under.

The surgery went just fine. The doctor says that his brain is going to take some time to learn how to work the eyes together properly. He's thrilled with his progress though. He said when we started all this in February, Ben was 20/400 in his right eye, legally blind. We've almost corrected his vision enough now that he may not even need glasses. I still think we will need to patch and wear glasses for awhile, but we'll see where things go from here. He has a follow up appointment in Phoenix in 2 weeks.

As for Ben, he's loving the extra attention today. I bought him a superhero book for Christmas. I'm trying to stay on top of things this year and wrap presents as I buy them. As I was packing his bag of things to keep him busy last night, I put the book in knowing that it would occupy his mind and keep his focus off the fact that he hadn't had anything to eat or drink in 12 hours. It worked. David read the book to him for most the morning. On the way home, I sat in the back next to him and he laid on me and slept the whole way home. We did not have a puking incident like last time. Thank God.

I tried to get a picture of Ben when we got home, but his eye was hurting and he wouldn't open them.

It basically feels like his eyes are dry and itchy. We have to watch that he doesn't rub them too hard. The corner of his eye was cut to relax the muscles and then stiched up. We have to apply ointment 3 times a day which he does not like, but he's always such a good sport.

I was finally able to get a picture this evening. After some motrin had kicked in.

And another one...

Looks painful. But in true Ben fashion, he still manages a smile.

Tonight, he's acting like his superhero self, running and jumping all over the house. It's nice to have him back.

Surgery...Again

Today, David had to go to Phoenix for work. He left early. Which meant I had to get up before the sun. Not my favorite thing. The kids were in too good of spirits for 7 A.M. I needed a second cup of coffee. Hence, the blurry photo.

This is Friday for the kids. A 5 day weekend awaits, and I'm excited.

But our first hurdle is Ben's surgery tomorrow on his eye. When the Doctor told us that Ben had a lazy eye, there were two concerns. First, he wasn't using his bad eye at all. This is why we've been patching everyday for the last 10 months. Secondly, his right eye turns slightly in. We needed to fix the first problem before we moved on to the second.

Tomorrow we will head to Phoenix at 6:00 in the morning, check in at 8, surgery at 9:30. It should only take about 10 minutes at that point. The Doctor will cut the muscle on the inside of his eye to let them loosen so his eye is positioned correctly. He will be put completely under and the surgery is in the same exact building at Phoenix Children's Hospital as his last surgery.

We'll have to see where Ben is after that. We may be able to give up patching and possibly glasses all together. He sees perfect out of his left eye and his right eye has gotten so much stronger. In the beginning, Ben always wanted to wear his glasses because they helped him see. He now forgets to put them on sometimes and I actually loaded him up in carpool one day before my friend noticed he didn't have his glasses on. Oops. He obviously sees well enough without his glasses to not be asking for them anymore. But, he may still need them. He may still need to patch too.

I wish he didn't have to go through this again. But, it is what it is. The Doctor claims he will have some soreness and a red spot on his eye for a bit. Kind of like if you've ever scratched your eye with your fingernail. Nothing major. But, still...

Once we get through tomorrow's hurdle, it will be nothing but smooth sailing from there. We are doing Thanksgiving here at our house for just us. Then, we get to break out the Christmas decorations! The kids love decorating for Christmas.

Please keep Ben in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. My little man is such a trooper.

Headed for Broadway

Emily and Ben have been taking drama class for several months. They both love it. The place where they take drama has dance, piano, and singing classes. Last night was a big recital. It was held at Embry Riddle University. So, it was nice that they were on a real stage.

We got there early as the drama kids needed to rehearse the play one more time. Ben and Emily were trying to pass the time waiting.

The play is about a girl named Carol who is upset that she is poor and has to live with her parents in her Aunt's apartment. Then, Merry comes to give her a glimpse of how lonely the rich girl's (who Carol is envious of) life is because her parents are always working. Emily and Ben are homeless kids at the food bank.

Act 3, Scene 1 ~ Their big moment.


I think Ben was more interested in the table full of rolls behind him. He must have been hungry.

Their other scene was singing Rudolph. The video is a little all over the place. I was taking pictures at the same time.



We are so proud of them. They both did a great job.

Bravo!

Emily's Sick Day

The rule at school is that children should be fever free for 24 hours before you send them to school. Emily had to take a sick day yesterday, but she didn't feel sick.

I went out front to get some yard work done. I love my hedgehog.

Emily took pictures of her and Noah in the front yard.

She did finally lay down and watch Ramona and Beezus but only because I made her. She is staying home again today. Her eye looks like she got in a fight (and lost) with Rocky Balboa. She says she looks like a troll. In any case, I'm letting her stay home until her eye looks better. Ben had a similar thing earlier this week with his eye being seepy but not as bad.

In any case, I get to work and she is reading books to Noah. Not a bad deal.

Another One Bites The Dust and It's About Time

Let me recap my week.

Noah went to Urgent Care on Sunday. He's on an antibiotic.

Ben stayed home from school on Monday and went to the Doctor. He's doing much better.

Emily is staying home from school today. I picked her up yesterday and as soon as I saw her, she burst into tears. She said her head and throat hurt. I don't know why she didn't go to the nurse, but she didn't. By the time we got home, I knew she had a fever. 101.5. She was bound to be the next to get sick. Let's hope David and I don't get it.

My girl is a Daddy's girl and she hates to sleep alone. She'll sneak into anybody's room in the middle of the night to sleep with them. We found her on the dog bed in our room one night. So being sick is just another excuse to sleep with her Dad. But I read somewhere that being loved on by your parents is better then medicine when a child is sick. I believe that. David slept with her last night.

Not only did she get a fever in the middle of the night. The best thing ever happened. She lost tooth number 6! The jacked up chipped one in front.

When she was 2, she was playing with the water dispenser in front of the fridge. She missed the cup and water went on the tile. She slipped and fell and chipped her front tooth. Since then, I've always had a rug in front of the fridge. I've been waiting for that tooth to fall out for 5 years. It's about time! The Tooth Fairy is going to give her extra for this one.

And since we are on the topic of my girl, I have to share this little exchange between her and David the other day.
David: "Emily, why do you always want to sleep with Daddy?"
Emily: "Because I like you. No, I love you."

How sweet is that?

Sick

It's been a rough few days for us. The boys are sick.

Yesterday, David took Noah to urgent care. He coughed all night and it sounded like it was settling in his lungs. He's had so many ear infections and bronchitis that we don't like to take the wait and see approach. He just had the onset of infection, so hopefully, he'll kick it quickly. He's been on an antibiotic for a day and he's already feeling better. Hence the blurry picture, he wouldn't sit still.

Ben's ears were hurting all weekend. Ben never complains so when he shows up at my bedside at 2:30 crying, I know it's serious. But the pain kept coming and going. Mainly coming in the middle of the night. Why does it always work like that. He's slept with me for the past 3 nights. He slept. I listened to him cough all night.

I took him to the doctor today to rule out an ear infection. He's never had one, and he still doesn't have one. It was just build up from a cold and pressure in his ears. I had him take a shower this morning since his eyes were all matted and his nose all crusty. I turn on the electric blanket, so when they get out of the shower, they dry off and hop under the warm blanket. Nice, right. I spoil them. But, when my boys eyes look like this, I'll do whatever I can to make him feel better.

Fresh out of the bath tonight and all 3 kids are sitting under the electric blanket watching Tom & Jerry.

They all love Tom & Jerry. There is very little talking, poor animation (well, compared to today) and the kids think it's the funniest thing ever. They have good taste.

Here's hoping tomorrow runs smoother and that I send 2 kids off to school.

8th Anniversary

Today is our 8th anniversary.

I'm so glad that I married this man. He makes me happy everyday.

I went grocery shopping a few weeks ago alone. My Mom was watching Noah. I passed close to David's work and my first thought was I wonder if I can convince him to come make out with me in the back seat of our mini van.

Of course that didn't happen as he'd probably end up getting fired. But after 9 years together and 8 years of marriage, I'm still madly in love with my husband.

Happy anniversary babe.

Thank A Soldier

Ben came home from school a few days ago and said we needed to hang a flag on our house. He said if we hang a flag it shows we love America. We don't have a flag. So, he made one and I hung it up in the window by our front door.

I woke up today and Ben insisted that we call a soldier to thank them. I told him the only soldier we know is Papa.

My Dad was strong. He still is, even if he can't hold a man above his head.

Ben just called him now. The phone call went something like this:
Ben: "Papa are you a soldier?"
pause
Ben: "Thank you for protecting our world!"

Who knew Ben was so patriotic? I'm glad he knows what today is all about and that he went looking for a soldier to thank them. He's sweet like that.

Senior Moments...already?

Sometimes I feel like I got things under control. Yesterday, I got my kids off to school, took Noah in the snow and was ready to dash off to Mom's coffee with homemade pumpkin muffins in hand. I even had lipstick on. Red Lipstick.

Then the kids get out of school and I find out that I gave them each others lunch. Again.

I don't know what is going on with me lately. I feel overwhelmed and wake up at night remembering that I forgot to remember to plant the bulbs in the backyard. Again.

I'm doing this all the time. I even backed up into my Mom's car a month ago. I know it's in our driveway. It's been there for 3 months. I'm forgetting everything lately.

I also completely spaced that our anniversary is Saturday. Thank goodness we don't do gifts. If it weren't for a conversation at Mom's coffee yesterday about how long we've all been married, I would've let Saturday come and go without remembering. And I think my husband remembers because I remind him. Which I did as soon as I remembered I forgot it.

The things I want to do, like help at the kids school, don't seem to fit into my weekly schedule. The things I have to do, like clean the bathrooms, don't seem to fit in my weekly schedule either. So just what the heck am I doing?

I'm going to take my best friends advice and take baby steps. That's always her advice (thanks Pam). I'm going to set one goal every day. Just one. That can't be too hard to fit in. Today it was plant those bulbs. And I just finished doing that. Tomorrow will be box up Emily's small clothes, and possibly Ben and Noah's too. Thursday will be post new stuff on Craigslist, etc. I can do it.

Then once I clear up all the cobwebs in my brain, I'm going to help in the kid's class and start going to the clubhouse to workout when Noah goes down for his nap. My fear is that this is not just because I have too much on my plate, but that I'm getting older. Is this the start of Senior moments?

I had a point to this whole post, but I can't remember. God help me.

Winter is Here!

Fall didn't stand a chance this year. Summer was a stage hog and didn't let fall perform until 2 weeks ago. Then, winter booted fall right of the stage today.

Those are our crazy pumpkins. They are like potato head parts to make a jack-o-lantern. The kids think they are fun and switch out the faces. I think they are genius as I get away with only carving one pumpkin every year.

Back to winter who will now be hogging the limelight for at least the next 5 months. We woke up to a blanket of snow. The kids were so excited but a little bummed that they had school and couldn't go play. David told them they couldn't go outside because he didn't want to make more work for me. But, I said go for it. And they did.



I told them "no snow angels" and "no going down the slide". That lasted about 20 seconds.

Oh well, they were having too much fun to stop them.

I made them bowls of oatmeal for breakfast and got them off to school.

Noah finally decided to brave the cold.

Him and my Mom are having a snow ball fight right now. I'm heading off to a Mom's coffee this morning. I think we'll toast to winter.

Noah's Loves Gum

Noah loves gum. For a 2 year old, he does a great job of chewing it and not making a mess with it. Sometimes he swallows it. He'll raid my purse for gum. That and orange tic tacs.

This was bound to happen.

He tried to get it out on his own, but all he did was really stick it down to the roots. I know I could have used google to find out how to get gum out of hair. Instead, I jut took scissors to it.

Noah barely has hair, so this made him look like he had a receding hair line. I decided to trim up the rest of his hair in hopes of making the bald spot blend. In the end, I went with a comb over to hide it.

In other news, I put up a tent in the living room for the kids. They think it's fun.

Noah seems to enjoy it. Of course, this was before the comb over.

Maybe we should call him Trump Jr.