For Pete's sake - it's HALLOWEEN people!!!!

Steve came home tonight and said, "you've got to hear this!" and tuned our radio to not one but TWO radio stations that are playing...can you guess?... CHRISTMAS MUSIC. Seriously???? It is HALLOWEEN. It's not even November!!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I adore Christmas season. We got married during Christmas season because we love it so much. We usually get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. We bust out the decorations at dawn (not really because I'm one of the lunatics who is out getting the good deals at 5am).....you get the picture.

I count down the hours on Thanksgiving so that I can plug that first Christmas CD into the player and let it rip! I'm a diehard - I won't listen to regular radio from the day after Thanksgiving until the 27th of December. I just won't. (I do have to confess that last year on a bleak November day I made some cookies and tuned in to the Christmas tunes....but it was only the one day. Then I held out til my normal after Thanksgiving routine.) But even I find this to be over the top - Halloween isn't even over yet and we've moved on AND how special will the Christmas music be when "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" plays for the 937th time by Thanksgiving day? I get sick of the "radio mix" myself ("Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time" and also that one about the ex-lovers who meet in the grocery store that really isn't, in my opinion, a Christmas carol at all but which the radio stations ALL play in abundance - not that I'm bitter about it....) and I'm only listening for a month - not TWO!

I'll get down off my soap box, but I was pretty fired up about it earlier. No apologies to anyone who is already listening to Christmas music on the radio - or anywhere else. :o)

Sam update

Sam is doing well, I'm thrilled to report!! With permission from his mom, I've posted a link to his Caring Bridge site in my links section. I couldn't begin to relay to you the absolute inspiration that this boy - and his mom - are to me. They will be to you as well if you choose to follow his progress. Carole manages to see the light in every dark moment and Sam soldiers on with the courage of someone much older than his 3.5 years. They are a constant reminder to me to trust in God and to see the good in every thing that happens!

Poke office

Yesterday after the boys went home I told the kids we were headed for the post office. So we went. And then it was time to go home. Kailin asked where we were going and when I told her it was home she said, "No! We have to go to the post office!" I explained that we'd just been to the post office. She said, "No, Mom. We haffa go the poke office. They poke my eye and make it better!" It was SO hard not to laugh. I explained and she wailed "but my eye is hurting!" I assured her that we'd go to the hospital and get it taken care of.

I thought I was going to get up this morning, shower, and then get Kailin up - leaving Steve and Colby to sleep for a bit. No such luck. I had to wake Kailin at 5:45 (she's normally up closer to 5:30) and Colby was already awake. Go figure. So Steve had to get up as well. Kailin asked for her juice and I reminded her that we'd talked about her not being able to have anything to drink. She accepted it like a trooper and reminded ME that I said she could have some juice as soon as we got home. Off we went.

We got checked in and Kailin got into her little gown and grippy slippers. She immediately began asking every possible question about every possible piece of equipment in the room including the bed. Ha. She did ask me if Samuel had a bed like she was on and I told her yes. She is intrigued with Samuel's condition and I think seeing a hospital room brought it into better perspective for her. Anyway, we had to be there at 7am and by the time 9:15 rolled around we'd had visits from the nurse, the anesthesiologist, and Kailin's doctor, had watched several tv shows, and I'd answered about 9 bazillion questions. Kailin was still talking about whether or not the bed would fit in the elevator when they rolled her away. Bless her heart for being so brave!!

She wasn't gone but 25 minutes and I heard her coming back. They carried her up and she was wailing, kicking, flailing and lashing out. They handed her over - but didn't bring her bed back up. So now I'm sitting on the slick vinyl hospital room chair trying to contain her. I kept assuring her that I was there and she would calm down for a half a millisecond and then launch back. I was glad when that part passed and she was just crying that she wanted something to drink and that her eye hurt. They gave her a cup full of apple juice and she drained it and then was much, much calmer. Another cup of apple juice and some Tylenol later and we busted out of that joint.

Her eye looks great! She downed another cup of apple juice on our way home while she watched Nemo. That perked her up. I'm convinced, though, that they gave her a quick dose of speed with that Tylenol because let me tell you - that girl was BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS all afternoon and even right up til bedtime!! That's my girl!

We've now been to the "poke office" and all is well in this house. It's been a LONG day and I'm off to bed!

Trick or treat, smell my feet!

Steve woke up with a horrendous (it should be an there, shouldn't it? That just doesn't sound right....) cold - sore throat, plugged ears, stuffed up nose - the works. And I awoke with a smashing headache that made me want to throw up and had me thinking my head might just split in two. Not great on a day you're supposed to be joyously taking your kids out to walk around the neighborhood trick or treating. We skipped church. I debated taking Kailin to Sunday School, but in the end she was a. in no mood and b. I did not want to infect anyone at church with what we have and also hedged on exposing her to any additional germs which might cause her to have an increased chance of getting sick herself which would then force us to postpone her surgery.

Despite my condition, we were out of milk among other things, so I set off to the store. When I returned, my sweet daughter gleefully informed me that she fully intended to say "trick or treat, smell my feet" to everyone she wanted candy from. Thanks, Steve! Ha ha.

Both kids had a short nap and I feared for the worst. The sunny skies again clouded over and the wind kicked up. Recipe for disaster. We made ourselves coffees and dressed the kids in their costumes. I figured that Kailin would refuse to say "trick or treat" or "thank you" and that Colby would be freaked out by the whole thing.

I couldn't have been more wrong. Colby was still very guarded about the whole trees with blowing leaves bit, but other than that, he marched right up to every door with his sister who was as outgoing as I've ever seen the girl! She gladly said her trick or treats and thank yous and watched out for her brother. We had a great time despite the cold. Colby was DONE at the end, but he held out longer than I thought he would. Kailin, to my surprise, was thrilled with the scary stuff. In fact, the scarier the better as far as she was concerned. That girl is just full of surprises!

Big trip to the pumpkin farm...

Today was our big trip to the pumpkin farm. I was nervous when we got up and it had been raining. However, by the time Cricket was out and we got home the sun was shining. I rejoiced! We decided that we'd take the kids to the pumpkin farm AFTER nap so that we could be reasonably sure of a trip with good natured children we'd be happy to claim as ours. We planned an earlier than usual nap so that we could get the show on the road. The kids obliged by going right to sleep (relatively speaking). However, they slept just as long as they would've had we put them down later. Let's roll with it, shall we - who are we to turn down a good long nap?! However, the skies had clouded and a brisk fall wind had begun to blow.

Well you'd think that a long nap would put them in a great moods, but not so much. So now we're starting out later than we intended and oh the kids need a snack and Kailin needs to go to the bathroom and then we get in the driveway and the camera battery dies, so I run back in to grab our little camera and off we go only for me to realize partway through town that I've removed the memory card from the little camera, there are no more cards in the camera case, and we need to go home again or we will only have 10 pictures of the pumpkin farm. BREATHE!!! This WILL be fun!! Needless to say, it was not the picturesque start to our trip that I'd dreamed of.

We arrived at the pumpkin farm and Colby was taken with the calves. Then he saw the goats and it was all over. The boy loves the goats! Both kids thoroughly enjoyed feeding them and then we moved on to seeing some piglets, a couple of turkeys, and some chicks.

Then it was off to look for some pumpkins. Kailin was determined that she wanted a tiny one she could carry. It actually took us awhile to find one - most of them seemed to be large. Colby wanted to touch them ALL and was yelling and hooting about them. It was fun. Steve went and got a wagon to haul our loot in and the kids took turns pulling it. Unfortunately after we hoisted Kailin up to get a tiny pumpkin out of the wagon, Colby took the reins of the wagon and Kailin came unglued when she discovered it. We tried distracting her first by having her help get our big pumpkin (we're carving one just to let the kids get in the goop for the first time), and then by helping me pick a green pumpkin (some Australian variety that is tasty eaten or works as a decoration), but it was to no avail. Steve ended up hauling her off to the car. Colby and I

finished up getting some pie pumpkins and I let him pick a few little gourds for himself and Kailin. He helped me pull the wagon and was his cute little self - until I deigned to stop for 4.5 seconds and then he, too, pitched a fit. I made a beeline for the checkout and just as I finished, Steve and Kailin reappeared. She apologized and was in a much better state of mind. I got her to smile for a few pictures and then both kids helped push the wagon to the car and we headed for home. NOT the farm trip I intended, but you know, it was a memorable one for certain! I guess I should thank God that I have kids who have a mind of their own - someday it will serve them well!! ha ha ha. More pictures are up on our Shutterfly site - if you need the password, email me and I'll send it to you. The pictures actually were intended to tell a story, but I can't get them arranged and decided in the end that it was a more apropos picture of the whole event in it's chaotic glory.

Carbuncle

Well I see now that this picture doesn't give you any idea of the carbuncle (okay, it's not really a carbuncle) on Kailin's left eye. I'll have to get a close up tomorrow for posterity. She's had a sty (I thought) for almost a month now. We finally made an appointment to see a pediatric ophthalmologist. It's a plugged oil gland and it won't go away on it's own. So... Kailin's going to have some very minor surgery to have it drained. We're hoping that they'll work us in next Tuesday, but I'll keep you posted.



The good news, though, is that she doesn't need glasses. A neighbor of mine told me that kids who have mono at a young age frequently need glasses. One of the other girls in Kailin's group tested positive for having had mono shortly before she came home. I've always wondered if Kailin had it too and is the one who gave it to me.



The eye test was nothing short of hysterical. Kailin was wowed by riding up in the chair and then by the "spoon" she held over her eye. She was thrilled to point out her letters and did so with enthusiasm. "There is a K! and also a L!!" One row had a D an O and a G. She read them all as O (which is apparently acceptable at her age). "There is an O!... There is ANUDDER O!!!..... AND ANUDDER ONE!!!!" Then she wanted me to tell her all about the headrest and the footrest and what all of the machines did. She dug the weird glasses she wore to test her depth of field. Then Maria ushered us across the hall to wait for the Dr.



No sooner does the Dr. come in and Kailin loudly announces that "my tummy hurts and I NEED TO POOP!!!!!!!" Luckily the Dr is a mom three times over and didn't mind a bit as we trucked off down the hall to the ladies room.

Kailin did a great job at the eye doctor and was really cooperative, and she made me proud.



While I was trying to take the carbuncle picture tonight, Colby plopped down next to his sister and I got a shot of both of them smiling. I thought I'd take advantage and post it as proof that they aren't always fighting. ha ha!

The Peace Game!

Anyone who knows me well knows that I dislike strongly (avoiding the h word) being touched by people other than my family and close friends. I know it's ridiculous. That doesn't seem to help. Most people look forward to a massage and yet I feel like I would leave more stressed than when I walked in!



My worst nightmare as a kid was "giving the peace" at church. My childhood church did it every other Sunday and I dreaded the peace Sundays like nothing else. As an adult, I love my church home, and am not at all bothered by the peace.

I did find it quite humorous, though, that my daughter has taken a real shine to "the peace game" as she calls it. She's just recently consented to sharing the peace at church and either as a result or as a coincidence, she's now gleefully sharing the peace at home! Too bad her brother doesn't understand what she's doing as she's pumping his hand yelling "Colba, you HAVE to say GOD'S PEACE!!!!" Let's just say it's not really very peaceful. Ha ha.

This picture has nothing to do with the peace. I just thought my kids were cute in their hats and mittens yesterday and I'm unashamedly posting it here for all to see.

not so much the pumpkin farm...

Steve took Kailin to Cricket today while Colby and I hit the farmer's market, the General Store, the orchard, and the cheese store. Busy morning, but we were planning an early nap for the kids and then the pumpkin farm after that. Unfortunately, arrival at home revealed that both kids had slept for about 20 mins in the car. That's usually not a good omen for naps in the afternoon.

Such was the case today and after repeated warnings to settle down and go to sleep, we gave up on naps. The consequence, though, was no pumpkin farm. Instead we took a walk at Harrington Beach State Park. It was wonderful! The kids held hands and ran through the leaves! I posted a bunch of pictures on our Shutterfly site if you're interested. I had the long lens on today and the autofocus on it is not working. I knew a bunch of them would turn out blurry, so I just snapped away (and ended up with 126!). The picture below is both priceless and also accidental. I had no idea I even had it until I looked back through them. I don't even remember "seeing it" happen. Anyway, Steve and I decided that it would be appropriately titled, "This is what I thought of my nap today!" Not the most ladylike pose to strike, but it made us laugh (and sigh with relief that she wasn't really making the gesture at all - just getting the hair out of her eyes!).

More Mysteries of the World

Random mysteries plaguing my life....

Why could Kailin wear snap-legged overalls ALLL day and have no problem with them and her brother will be wearing chaps in a matter of minutes???

Why if I presume that the kids will be going to bed in an hour after their baths and put a nighttime diaper on Colby, will he pee so much that I lack confidence that he'll make it through the night in that diaper, but if I put a "regular" diaper on him then he'll pee just enough to make it unable to be reused?

Why do freshly bathed children feel an almost immediate need to poop?

What causes me to subconsciously pick the messiest meals on bath nights (my kids bathe before dinner since they go to bed right after dinner)?

How come when I am good about drinking my water am I thirsty all day? Wouldn't it seem like it should be the opposite?

I think that's all I have for now. Ponder amongst yourselves.

I love you, Bear!

Thought this was another post about Bearby, didn't you?! It's not.

We were dancing around the kitchen last night to the Moose CD Steve brought home for the kids last weekend. Kailin grabbed Colby's hands and they were spinning and giggling and then they both collapsed. I was blessed to be right there when she reached over and gave him a hug and said, "I love you, Bear." It's the first time she's told him that. She's told me before, but not him.

It threw me back to that conversation I had with her long before he came home where I asked her if she loved her brother and she told me no and that "we'd see" if she loved him when he came home. I guess we will, Kailin. I guess we will.

Bearby and kiki

One surefire way to win Colby's heart is to provide him with his two fixes in life. Bearby (who has appeared here before) and/or kiki. Kiki wins out over Bearby any day. Kiki is any one of a variety of blankets. We were calling them blankies, but Colby has dubbed them kiki and there you go. Show him a kiki and he will brightly greet it in his chiripiest little voice. His face lights up and he says, "KIKI!!!!" as if he's just found an old friend. Ha ha. It makes me smile every time!

He was up during the night on Wednesday night screaming for his kiki. I assumed it had been lobbed overboard. Groggily I made my way into the kids' room and found him holding kiki and screaming for it - gesturing at the floor. It must have been some serious nightmare to make him think he'd lost his kiki!!

Add to the above holding him in your arms, and you've got a surefire recipe for a happy child!

Our neighborhood is so nice!

Yesterday I took Kailin and the Wonder Twins on a trip to the post office. It's about 3/4 of a mile from our house (maybe). It took us a little over an hour to make the round trip. I suggested that Kailin bring her bear in her little doll stroller and that was assuredly the bottle neck. It was entirely worth it though as we had nothing better to do at the time and she was delighted to push her stroller. She did, at times, note that it was LOUD and pick it up and carry it. I asked her if she thought I'd be able to pick up the stroller I was pushing and she said, "No, Mom. Because I have BIG STRONG muscles!!" Guess she thinks I'm a weakling. Ha ha. In this case, she was right - I had a double stroller and about 57lbs of kids! I probably could've picked it up from the side, but certainly not from the back as she was doing.

Anyway, as we walked along she would stop and pick up an interesting leaf and present it to one of the boys. I asked her why her bear didn't get any and she told me it was because "he doesn't has some hands, Mom!" True. She's got me there. "Mom?" "Yes, honey?" "Our neighborhood is so nice! It's a bu-ful day and sun is shining and leaves are turning into grass (we're working on that one)." She was right. It was an absolutely glorious fall day and her comment made me appreciate it for what it was. I was a little melancholy to think that this time next year she wouldn't be making this trip with me - she'll be away at school. It really gave me a reality check about spending some extra time with her. While I have nearly 11 months left to enjoy her company during the mornings, I know it will FLY by and before I know it she'll be getting on the bus.

A fair view...

This was Steve's view this weekend....

This was mine....

A fair difference? I think so. Although I would've loved to have been up in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan hiking and backpacking with him, having fun with naked kids (boy that could sound baaaaaad) on an unseasonably warm October day was great, too. I did find myself at wit's end on Sunday when the kids were in desperate need of a nap and I took them upstairs to find that the dogs had gotten hold of a poopy diaper and created an enormous streak mark all the way down the hallway ending with a large display of poopy diaper guts on.... MY BED. I pretty much lost it. The dogs were immediately kenneled and I commenced trying to clean up the streak mark. Kailin kept asking what I was doing (to put it mildly - she actually asked about every half a millisecond) and then I turned around to find Colby playing in the fish tank. NOT one of my finer moments, I can assure you. Seeing the joy on Steve's face and in his voice when he came home eager to share his stories made every second worthwhile, though. (and it didn't hurt that he brought me a really cute mug and the kids got a fun moose CD - ha ha ha)

Please pray...

This is Sam.

He's 3 1/2 and came home from Ethiopia along with his brother, Paul, just six short weeks ago. A week ago Sunday, Sam was involved in a horrific accident. He has lost one leg below the knee and the other at the ankle. His left arm is severely fractured and he's had extensive injuries to the tissue of his back and upper leg. Yet as you can see here - Sam is not only hanging in there, not only out of ICU, but late last week Sam treated his parents to a SMILE! His recovery will be slow and will require many surgeries.

Please pray for Sam - for his family, friends, doctors, nurses, and all who care for this spunky, spirited little boy. The things he and his family have faced this past week are extraordinary and could have been insurmountable. Yet they've chosen to put their faith in God and be at peace with His plan. They have a CaringBridge site set up and I was reading some of the entries in their guestbook last night. It was truly amazing to see the breadth of people, from all parts of the US, who had heard about Sam in all sorts of ways, all with the same goal - supporting Sam and his family in whatever way they can.

Turning on the news these days often leads to a bleak view of our nation - of our world. Seeing people who don't know each other - or Sam most of the time, come together to support a family in need has been a great reminder that there is still good in this world - in people. I'll try to keep my blog somewhat updated about Sam - with respect to his family's privacy of course. I'm so blessed to know them - and to witness their strength in the face of adversity.

Whadda Monday!

Last Monday (sad that it's taken me six days to post this!) I was off, so the kids and I met up with Kailin's friends Hannah and Chloe and their mom at the zoo.

It was unequivocally the best time I've ever had at the zoo with the kids! There was NO ONE there! We nearly had the playground to ourselves, almost all of the exhibits, and then in the heritage farm dairy complex. The kids had an absolute blast playing in the milk trucks. And that was the other huge breakthrough for Kailin. She actually PLAYED with the girls as opposed to her usual MO of hiding in the stroller. I was so excited for her! She had a wonderful time to say the least! Before I knew it my watch read 3pm and we needed to RACE home to let the dogs out and get some clothes for Kailin for the next adventure of the day.

We met Steve and Kailin's friend Mia and her mom at McDonald's in Jackson for a fun dinner and then it was off to dance for the girls. Mia takes a tap/ballet/tumbling class and it was "bring a friend" week. I was worried. It was out of Kailin's comfort zone to say the least and it was also out of sight of me and she'd had only a 45 min nap. Sounds like a recipe for disaster for sure. We went in and Kailin went into the room willingly. That gave me hope. We sat behind a one way mirror to watch. Class began and she consented to line up with the other girls. She did not, however, choose to point her toe and tap or do any of the other movements the other girls were doing. Soon they formed a circle. She held Mia's hand with no problem, but physically refused to hold the hand of the little girl on her left. She held it behind her back instead and when she lapsed and let it hang and the little girl grabbed it, Kailin gave her a really dirty look. I grimaced. I'm THRILLED to say, though, that by the end of the hour Kailin was willingly participating and didn't want to leave!

It was a remarkable day in so many ways, and I'm so glad that Kailin (and I) can call such wonderful people friends!

I spy....

Kailin is loving "I spy" right now. It is truly entertaining. It's always my turn first. So I spy something and she will patiently guess until she gets it. Then it's her turn. She says, "I spy (used to be I pie, but she's got spy down now)......wif my wittle eyes...suntin....." and then she says a color immediately followed by what it is that she spied. "I spy.....wif my wittle eyes....suntin green! --Trees!!!!" I laugh every single time. Today she took it a step further and told me what color I should spy. ha ha ha. She's such a stinker!

A weekend away....

Not us, but the kids! We sent the kids to stay with Steve's mom this past weekend. We needed the break and they (Kailin) were excited to go. I took them down on Friday morning. We had big plans of watching LOUD movies and playing some video games and getting out to do some geocaching. I'm pleased to report that we accomplished all of our goals.

The geocaching was definitely a highlight. It was a wonderfully beautiful fall day to be tromping around in the woods with someone I love. And we found 4/5 of the caches we sought and our first geo-coin. Steve is hoping to take it to MI backpacking with him this coming weekend so that it can continue it's journey.

This was Colby's first time away from home overnight and I was a little nervous about it. Not worried about how he'd do while he was away, but nervous about how he'd act when he came back home. When Carolyn brought them in, he wanted nothing to do with me and I thought "oh boy, what have we done?!" but thankfully my little man can only hold about a 15 minute grudge and it wasn't long and he was right back to normal. I'm pleased to say as well that having her brother along seems to have reduced the effects of being away and the "re-entry period" was virtually nonexistent for both of them!

I think it was a good weekend for all of us!!