The irony abounds

UPDATED AT THE END!!

Scott left very early this morning to go see his parents as they get a second opinion at Duke.

Not wanting to be a half-empty kind of girl, I will in no way suggest that it's going to be a long 10 days just because the school boys were tardy and Landry tested positive for strep throat today!! I had the amazing privilege of taking my first sick day in about 10 years and get to take my second tomorrow!! I'm hoping to have a very productive day tomorrow!!

As I am always able to pull the good out of not-so-good situations, :) can I just say that when I went to get Landry's prescription for his strep, the girl sent it out to the car and never asked for my debit card. I thought that was a little strange so when I got the medicine, I checked the receipt and it said $0.00. I wanted to ask her what that was about, but I didn't really want to know, in case it was a mistake!! So, I waited for a minute and when she didn't return, I left!! The receipt said my insurance covered all of it!! How crazy is that?? I've gotten a lot of prescriptions filled in my day, but I have never gotten one for free.

As far as the irony goes, I find it a little ironic that I broke down and got not one, but two cats to help with the mouse population and guess what is now living in my house?? Of course...a MOUSE!! Scott and Alex have seen it, mostly upstairs, but have yet to trap it's little body and dispose of it. Interestingly enough, it manages to get the peanut butter off of the trap without the trap being disturbed at all!! How does that happen?? That thing is going to be so darn fat once we do catch him, it's not going to be pretty!! Alex is in charge now that Scott's gone, so I'm not overly confident that it will be caught. We'll see.

Finally, one of the funnier moments of the day came when I got an email from the counselor at the school Landry attends, asking me to call her. I immediately knew what this must be about even though I've never met this lady. I call her back and she hem-haws around and finally tells me that Landry's teachers think he might have some speech "issues" and was I aware of him having any "issues" with his speech?? I so wanted to say, "Why no...whatever are you talking about??!!" But instead, I laughed and told her Landry was our baby and how we all thought his speech was cute, even though I knew his teachers would probably want him to talk correctly!! So...Landry is going to start going to Speech so he will actually make the K sound instead of the T sound, and the G sound instead of the D sound. I think it will be bittersweet because I love how he talks, but I do know that he should talk correctly, especially as he grows older.

And this just in from Landry...stoot over Mom...tan you print me som-tin?? I want Diedo!

Which translates into...scoot over Mom...can you print me something?? I want Diego!!

I had to update to say that Alex ran down the stairs a while ago all excited, saying that the smart little mouse had finally gotten himself "stuck" on the sticky trap. Sure enough, there he was in all his ugliness!! Being the strong person that I am, I called the best neighbor EVER, Kris, and he came over and took the mouse away!

And yes, I am naive enough to believe he's the only one, so don't tell me any differently if you disagree!! :)

Yummy Bread!

My sweet Aunt Deb surprised me last week when she called to tell me she had ordered me a bread machine that was supposed to be able to make gluten free bread! I was very excited and even more excited when it arrived the very next day!!

It took me a couple of days to get to The Sunflower Shoppe to get all of my special flours and I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to make sure I was doing everything right. So, finally, yesterday, I got everything together and made the magic happen!!

Here's the cast of characters --

(This wasn't all of the ingredients, just the special stuff I bought specifically for the bread.)

I wanted to take pictures of everything as I was adding it, but that just didn't happen! The directions were very specific and I was afraid I wasn't going to do something right and mess everything up!! After everything was added, here's what it looked like -- yummy, huh??

Here are Alex and Landry watching it do its thing!

And this is the amazing-ness that followed after exactly one hour and thirty-four minutes!!

It smelled really good and here is it, finished and cooling --

Luke tasted it and said, "Mmmm...good!!"

So, thank you, thank you, thank you Deb for making my life MUCH easier, and Luke's life much tastier!!

On another not, look who's not feeling well today...

You know it's a good day when . . .

. . . you put your jacket on

. . . that you haven't worn since last winter

. . . and you find, not one

. . . but TWO

. . . 10 dollar bills!!

SWEET!!

Quiet vs Noisy

This weekend was one of contrasts.

Friday afternoon after school, my parents came to get all of the boys to spend the night and better part of Saturday with them. (For my own memory, our great friends Mike and Sherry lost Mike's mom, Patsy this week and we had funeral things to do.)

Anyway, Scott and I went to the funeral home to spend some time with them on Friday night and ended up at Chipotle. Scott doesn't know that I frequent this place regularly (how regularly will remain undisclosed, right, friends??!!) and he also doesn't know that when I do go with friends, we always share a chips and guac (unless Deneise is with us, in which case, she gets her own and everyone else shares!!). I didn't mention to him that I usually share, so I got my guacamole ALL to myself!! SWEET!!


It has been a very long time since I have had NO kids at all! I kept reminding myself that there were no kids to wake me up early, no kids to turn cartoons on for the next morning, no kids to check on before going to bed myself. It was crazy!!


I slept until 9:00 and then spent most of the morning working on Parker's room. Let's just say it needed a LOT of work! I managed to get most of Alex's done pretty easily, along with regular Saturday stuff like laundry.


Of course, the morning flew by and it was time to go to Patsy's funeral. The service was a beautiful tribute to a truly beautiful lady, inside and out.


When we got back, the kids were home and, of course, they missed us terribly and never want to be away from us again!! haha!!


Here's where the contrast comes in . . . I know you were wondering where I was going with this, right?? Ok, maybe not!



After church today, we managed to come home with, count them, NINE boys!! Who's crazy here??! I was just a touch nervous, but I have to say, they were all AWESOME! They played so hard...all afternoon...pretty much always outside. I got so much ironing done, so it really was a win-win!!



They played a lot of football, but ended the day on the trampoline and here they all are --

(L to R) Preston, Hayden, Parker, Luke, Reagan, Alex, Landry, Braxton, Brevin

I know that most of these guys are mine on a regular basis, but still!!

It's great to have great friends!!

One of those days

Sometimes, you just have one of those days.

These things happened to me, or someone who lives in this house, today:

• Luke wakes me up at 5:08 to tell me he has an earache. I can't think of a better way to start the day.
• About 6:15, I ran to the corner store to get some milk. (Don't judge me if you don't do corner store milk - sometimes you just gotta do it!)
• As if needing to be out at 6:15 isn't bad enough, I got in Scott's car and it was totally, completely DEAD!!
• I run back in, change keys, and promptly run over a wheel of Landry's trike as I'm backing out. It's not totally ruined, but definitely scarred! Did I mention how much he loves that trike??
• Get back home, get everyone ready, Scott tries in vain, to start his car. Alex, who is just rolling out of bed, must now put it in high gear and go with us.
• We finally get to the car, Alex jumps in the car and promptly closes the door - ON LUKE'S FINGERS!! Luke is screaming at the top of his voice, with his hand LITERALLY in the closed door! Alex is looking around like -what?? what's going on?? I'm screaming - OPEN THE DOOR - OPEN THE DOOR! Finally, Alex's head returns and he opens the door. Thankfully, his fingers weren't as bad as you would think they would be for having just been closed in the door for what seemed like 5 minutes. Go back in, get ice, calm Luke down, try to leave again!
• Finally, we're on the road for about 5 minutes, when Alex remember he didn't bring his backpack (I was rushed!! he says). We turn around which now makes the little boys late to school. I'm not sure if dead battery/smashed fingers in door/forgotten backpack made it excused, but probably not!
• Before I can get the boys to school (late), my phone rings (7:54 AM) and I find out that student #7 is ready for my services!! Did I mention that 6 is really my capacity??!! And I'm already behind because it's a four day week??!?! Aaarrggghh!

Once I got to see my students, everything settled down and life returned to as normal as it gets!

One of my favorite parts of the day was when I was putting Parker to bed and I had a little more time than I usually do to lay with him and talk. He wanted to give me a massage (which really translates into - HE wants a massage!) He has all kinds of crazy tricks up his sleeves, but he stretched my arms straight out and was messing with my elbows.

Parker - Mom...you've GOT to do something about this!

Me - What?

Parker - This flabby stuff on your elbows!!

Me - WHAT??

Parker - You have flabby elbows. You really need to work on that!

Then, he's rubbing my back and he says, "Mom, your back is rugged!"

"Rugged??"

"Yeah, feel back here how rough it is."

"It's not rough."

"Yes, it is."

"I thought you were supposed to rise up and call me blessed."

"Huh?"

"I thought you were supposed to rise up and call me blessed!"

"I don't really feel like it today!"

So, my day didn't start so well, it got better, and the jury's still out on how it ended!!

There's always tomorrow!

The numbers are in . . .

Man, I'm on a roll tonight!!

I'm going to try and pull and Deneise and do 10 posts at one time!!

Not really!

I got Luke's bloodwork results from his doctor this week and here's the deal:

In March, his antibodies (cells that develop as a result of his eating gluten with the sole purpose of attacking his small intestine) were 77 on a scale of 0-5 being normal. This was what alerted his pediatrician to the fact that something wasn't quite right.

Anyway, after 6 months of some radical food changes, I am so happy to report that his antibodies are now a FIVE!!! He's normal again!! That is totally awesome news because it means that all the extra effort put into Luke's diet is totally making a difference!!

Landry goes to the Cir-tus

Landry's little school went to the circus on Friday. Since I'm irreplaceable at work (haha!), Scott got to go with him!


If you know Landry at all, you know he is not especially fond of anything in a costume, specifically, Chuck E Cheese, mascots at any sporting event, etc. But he was sure he was not "stared of da cccllowns!" (For some reason, he can't say his /c/ or /k/ sounds, unless it's followed by the letter L. Claire, class, clown are all said with the c sound, but with lots of emphasis on the CL, like the sound is stuck in his throat!!)


Anyway, he was very excited and while he did not love the clowns, he did well and even let one stamp his hand!! That's major progress!!


Here he is getting on the bus - a very exciting part of the day!! (Luke was very ticked about this part - he hasn't gotten to go on a field trip yet!)

Here's his whole group -

And this picture pretty much sums up how Landry feels about clowns!!

All in all, he had a great time and saw lots of fun stuff!!

To wrap up this Landry-themed post, we were eating supper tonight when out of the blue, Landry says to Scott (as he's pointing to his head) -

"Dad, this is your forehead. It's where we have hair, but you don't!!"

He was totally serious - like he was telling Scott something he didn't know!! The rest of us cracked up laughing (well, all of us except Scott!!).

The final installment of the garden

Thinking back over my summer posts, it seems my life revolved around swimming and the garden. The pumpkins were definitely a great summer project. They took minimal effort and we all enjoyed watching them grow.

Here is the last picture of the pumpkin season. Sadly, it is missing a couple of the little beauties because Mother Nature has already said "enough" for those two. I kept smelling this horrible smell a couple of days ago and I thought it was coming from the laundry room. My laundry was caught up, but I just couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Then, Landry comes up and says, "Mom, da pun-tin is blat on the bat!" which, of course, translates to "the pumpkin is black on the back!!" And boy, was he right! One of the pumpkins had totally caved in on the backside with all kinds of interesting colors!! As I checked the rest of them, another one was in even worse shape. It totally fell apart as I was trying to get it outside.

The funny thing is that you couldn't tell at all from the front. I could have taken a picture of them all before I noticed it and you wouldn't have been able to tell that two of them were totally stinking up my house!!

Anyway, here are the remaining few -

I think we had nine when it was all said and done. They looked so big when they were growing, but looking at the huge boxes of pumpkins at Walmart, they are pretty puny!!

Oh well, there's always next year!!

Grandmas

This is a story about 2 of the world's best Grandmas.

(should that have an apostrophe?? not sure)

Anyway, let me start with my Grandma. Grandma Martin celebrated another birthday this past week. This grandma is one special lady to me. She has taught me lots during my life, spoiled me rotten lots during my life, and has shared a lot of wisdom during my life. So, a little belated, as always, but Happy Birthday Grandma!!

(Just for the record, Big Pa's birthday is this week. When I was a kid, I always thought it was so cool that their birthdays were just days apart! I also remember a period of a few years when I thought Grandma was 52. It didn't matter if she had a birthday, she was still 52 in my mind.

Anyway, Big Pa, hope you have an amazing day!! You are one of the biggest-hearted people I know!! My life has been beyond enriched because of you!!)

Now, moving on to the other special Grandma - the boys' Grandma - aka Scott's mom.

I met this Grandma, though I didn't call her Grandma then, about 17 years ago when Scott and I were dating. Bernadine is an amazing mom to her five kids and an even more amazing Grandma to her 10 grandkids. Even though the distance between her and the boys is great, she is always sending little boxes and doing nice things to keep in touch and let them know she loves them. She is an incredible cook and has an impressive recipe book collection. Although, I might have been more impressed with her spice rack/lazy susan thing. I was looking for a certain spice when Scott and I were up visiting this past May, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her 2 lazy susans filled with McCormick spices!! If I have ever thought of a spice, it was there. If I had never heard of it, it was there too!!

Anyway, Bernadine went in this past Wednesday to have her gallbladder removed and what should have been a routine surgery dramatically morphed into a life-changing experience. The doctor threw out words like 'cancer' and 'Stage 4' and 'not a lot of options'. So, life at Grandpa and Grandma's house has changed. Important decisions need to be made. Wisdom needs to be granted. But most importantly, pleadings on her behalf need to be sent to the One who can heal her. We feel so helpless here - so far away. But prayer is the one thing we can do now and continually. Please pray!!

Mr. Luke

Luke had his six month check-up (after Celiac diagnosis) with his GI doctor last week. He has grown 1 1/2 inches and has gained 2 pounds!! Yay for the growing boy!!

He had to do some bloodwork to make sure his way-too-high levels from March are hopefully, back in range. He'll also test for certain vitamins to make sure he's getting everything he needs. (I'm a little worried on that one!!)

I'll try to remember to post when I hear the results from the lab.

A couple of funny Luke stories -

He got a totally generic, sugar-free lollipop from the lady at the lab when he did his bloodwork. It looked like it had been there for a while and although it was probably gluten-free, I had no way of knowing. He begged and begged for it and I kept putting him off. I even got him a Sonic blast, but he kept coming back to the sucker.

When he got home, he put it on his dresser, and came across it again a couple of days later. He comes and finds me and says, "Mom, can I pleeeease have this sucker??"

Backtracking - Anytime we are unsure about whether or not he can eat something, we usually go to the company's website and see if the info is there.

I tell him it's not that I don't want him to have it, but I just don't know if it's ok for him to eat. To which he responds, "Mom, can't you just go to sucker dot com and find out for me??"

After I finished laughing, I said, "Uh, no!" Then, when he wasn't looking, I put that darn sucker in the trash!!

No telling WHAT's on that website!!


And, tonight as I was getting Luke and Landry out of the tub, they were both wrapped in the same towel and being very silly. I said, "You know what guys?? I really love you!!" To which Luke replies, "So, are you gonna give us a dollar??!!"

What's wrong with THAT picture??

The newest members of the family . . .

. . . are Pixie and Angel!!

These little ladies joined our family over the weekend and they are so stinkin' cute!! Did I mention that I am SO not a cat person??

Well, all that changed when I got up in the attic a couple of weeks ago to get down the very minimal Fall decorations I have. When I got out a pumpkin that had some evidence of some chewing on it, I just about freaked out!! It totally grossed me out, made me feel nasty, violated and mad!! Maybe a little over-reaction, but eeewwww!!

I talked to my neighbor, Casey, because she had gotten two kitties over the summer to help out with the mouse population that crops up around here. She convinced me to buy into the idea of cats and her sister's cat had had kittens a while back and were free for the taking! Imagine that!!

It almost seemed meant to be!!

But I had to think on it for a while! So, I thought and thought and finally decided we'd try it. Casey says that cats are hard to keep where we live because they either run off or come to some untimely demise. So, I'm not sure how long they'll be around.

They will probably still be here when all the kids are grown and I'll be thinking, "I thought they weren't going to stay around??"

Anyway, as with all baby animals, they are CUTE!! They've finally gotten used to us, well, Scott and I, and don't run when we come outside...well, when Scott and I go outside!! The boys, in mass, are kind of frightening, but one or two calm boys are okay!!

I'll keep you posted as to whether they stay or go. And I'll try to get some more pictures, but my camera is acting up and the kitties are fast!!

Maybe next time

Scott and I had the privilege of taking Alex and Parker to the TCU-OU game yesterday in Norman, Oklahoma. It was a long day in the car and a not very exciting game, but we had a really great time.

Having gone to a small, private university that didn't actually even have a football program, it is fascinating to see how these big schools celebrate the tradition of the football game. We went early and hung out with Scott's secretary, Loretta's family and then walked over to the game, being four of very few people wearing purple. It was a little intimidating, to say the least!!

TCU didn't play their best game and, as a result, made for a pretty boring game. Of course, we were in the middle of our row, and can I just say that they totally pack you into the bleachers to where you can't move without bumping into someone. A claustrophobic person would not do well there!!

The band was impressive as they marched down the street and into the stadium. To see almost all of the 85, 100 people singing the same songs, doing the same motions, jumping up at the right time, shouting the same things...it was pretty cool!! (even if they weren't shouting for our team!!)

Maybe next time, they'll win!!

Anybody seen James??

The new school year has left little time for the bloggy world.

Sorry to my 2 loyal followers for the lack of anything!!

My sweet Luke is really tired - Kindergarten is wearing him out!!
He does the best when he goes to bed at 7:00!! Crazy!!

But tonight, I was singing as they were getting pj's on and Luke said, "Mama, sing 'You Never Let Go.'" So, I jumped into my best version of that great song.

Before I got very far, he said, "Mom, do you know that guy that stands up there and plays his guitar and sings those songs??"

Me: At church??

Luke: Yeah. I never see that guy except up there when he's singing.

Me: You're talking about James.

Luke: Yeah. I really need to find him and ask him when we're gonna sing Your Grace is Enough. But I just don't ever see him!!

For some reason, Luke and James just don't seem to cross paths!!
So, if you see James, ask him if he takes requests!!

By the way James, you do an awesome job of leading our church in worship. Your genuineness and humility speak volumes!!

Weekend Update

Well, it's come down to this . . .

Working full-time has made me take 2 naps in as many days!!

Pathetic!!

Thankfully, when I nap, I'm able to stay up a little later so I can do all the things I should have been doing this afternoon - ironing, washing floors, and baking bread!!

All in a day's (or night's) work!!

Also, will someone remind me next weekend to absolutely, positively NOT go to Walmart on Sunday afternoon?? It's a crazy place!! And because I'm a slow learner, I can't seem to remember that from week to week!!

The highlight of the Walmart trip??

Milk was a stinkin' $2.48 a gallon!! I almost shouted PRAISE THE LORD right there in front of the case!! I couldn't believe it!!

So...napping and cheap milk...it's a pretty exciting life I lead!!

Don't be jealous!!!

Growing up boys

I had the awesome privilege of taking Alex and Landry to the doctor today for a little check-up fun!! It's a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!!

And here's how it all came down . . .

Alex is tall and thin!!

Landry, well, he's just a big ol' boy!!

I paid good money to hear that!!

Actually, Alex has hit the 80 pound mark and is a very short half-inch away from being 5 feet tall!!

Landry is a pound shy of the 40 pound mark and is 40 inches. I guess that makes him a box?? The doctor also detected a murmur in Landry's heart, but given his ability to thrive in every other area, he isn't overly concerned about it. It might just be that his chest wall is "thin". Now, THAT was news to me - I wasn't aware you could be too thin in your chest wall!! He'll watch it, but isn't worried.

The good doctor predicts that Alex will grow up to be 5'11"-6'1" and weigh about 155-165.

Landry, on the other hand, could grow to be 6'1"-6'3" and weigh 210-220!!

Alex was not pleased with this news!!

Especially when Landry said, "I'm dunna be bidder than you!!"

That was worth the copays. Well, almost!!

No Labor for us!!

Our great neighbors, Kris and Casey invited us over today for a little fun in the sun.

We ate . . . .

We played some mean games of volleyball . . . .

Parker learned a new trick from Kris (here he is getting some instruction ). . . .

I almost captured it . . . a back flip!!

All in all, a great way to spend a holiday!!

And the best part?? There was no trouble at bedtime!!

TGIF

To copy my good friend, Marcy, thank goodness it's Friday.

I'm not sure I've ever been happier to see Friday!!

It's been a great week though. I've been awake more this week than I have been in a long, long time!! My work is very slow right now, but that seems to make the days longer. The job itself is great though - flexible, interesting, fulfilling.

The boys have done well.

Alex doesn't say much, but he really likes his Math teacher. He is loving walking home with Reagan and the small amount of freedom that that brings.

Parker has had a great week. He totally thinks Miss Estes rocks and has enjoyed the privileges that only being a fourth grader brings.

Luke is tired!! He has done really well and has had a whole new world opened up to him this week! He finally got to go through the cafeteria line on Thursday to buy an orange and he was pumped!! He wanted to get in that kitchen so badly!! He likes coloring, recess, and lunch!!

Landry has had a good week. He cries when Scott leaves him, but not for long and is always having a great time when I pick him up. He talks about Ben (Marcy's son) all the time and seems to enjoy himself.

I'm not sure when Luke is going to stop singing so I'm going to keep writing about all the cute songs he sings. This might be it - you never know!!

Days of the Week
(to the tune of The Addams Family)

Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week
Days of the week
Days of the week (clap, clap)

There's Sunday and there's Monday,
There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday,
There's Thursday and there's Friday,
And then there's Saturday. (clap, clap)

Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week
Days of the week
Days of the week (clap, clap)

How funny is that???

Happy weekend!!

We are so proud!!

LOOK!!!

We are farmers!!

Holding steady

Day 2 of the new school year went well.

Luke is still singing. . . the song of the day is . . .

Ri-ise and shi-ine
and welcome to school today-ay
Ri-ise and shi-ine
and welcome to school today-ay
RISE AND SHINE AND
welcome to school today-ay
(he couldn't remember the last part!!)

Sorry to leave you hanging!!

The word that best describes Luke at the end of the day is HUNGRY!!
His lunch is at 10:40 and he is starving when it's time to go home!!

Parker and Alex did well. It's always funny to see what they share about their days. You never know what it will be that they remember!!

Totally un-school-related, I just wanted to document this funny little story.

Yesterday afternoon, Parker was being especially pesky to his little brothers. I had asked him several times to chill out and he just couldn't resist being bothersome.

Anyway, I had gotten out of the car to get Alex from Reagan's house and when I got back to the car, I could hear Landry screaming at the top of his lungs even before I opened the door. I wasn't really surprised, considering how Parker had been acting.

I opened the door and said, "Landry, what's wrong?"

Between screams, he said, "PARKER...TOOK...MY...NOOOOOSSSEEE!!!!!" (nose)

I just looked at him and started cracking up!!

Landry smiles and quietly says, "And he won't give it back!!"

First Day Back 2008

Wow!!

What a great (and crazy) day!!

I'm short on time but I wanted to post the basics from the first day at school.

It started early and it will probably end later than it should, but it was good!!

And the Oscar for Most Excited goes to . . . . . . LUKE!!

Here he is with his great teacher, Ms. Mayer --

He had a great day and has been singing ever since he got home. He was singing himself to sleep with the months of the year song!! So funny!! He loved every part of it - but it WAS a little long than he had planned!!

Parker is an old pro at this, and didn't want to wait for me to walk him to his class. You see, "my morning work is really important to me and I just don't want to miss it!! Especially the word searches . . . they're my favorite!!" Mine too, buddy!!

Here he is with quite possibly the best teacher on the planet -

He also had a great day. In his words, "it went by SO fast!!"

After this stop, Scott took Landry to his school and Alex to his.

This is how Landry felt about returning to school this week!!

And Alex even managed to smile. I might have finally convinced him that it's okay to be excited about going back to school. Maybe!! He said his teachers were good and his math teacher (a man) was fun and cool!! Bonus!!

(Thanks for the great haircut, Shane!!)

Other than Luke leaving his lunch at home and Landry's backpack being in my car when Scott took him to school and Scott ending up with Parker's lunch check, it went very smoothly!!

Here are a couple more pics just for fun!!