Head case

8 staples!

A happy boy at the breakfast table

When you have children, especially ones as active as ours, the ER trips are almost inevitable! Monday night was just one of those nights. After school we had built a tent out of cushions in his bedroom. He decided to take it all down and set up a cushion "slide" down which he somersaulted, hitting the closet door, and attached molding. There was a a lot of crying and blood, but Dan was able to slow that down and get Micah cleaned up while he watched some TV to distract him. But after we got Micah in the shower, we realized the gash was pretty deep and would require a visit to the ER that night. Dan took Micah over there and 8 staples later, they came home ready for a good night's rest. Dan said Micah did so well that the ER doctor said he took the procedure better than any child he had seen in his 20 years of practice! He's a tough kid and Dan's a great daddy. He also had a few people praying for him :-) Micah returned to school today after a day at home to rest, and he hasn't complained of any pain. He gets the staples removed next Tuesday, so hopefully that will go smoothly too. We're just glad it wasn't more serious. In the first video, you can hear him telling the story of what happened. The last video is just Jacob being his happy self in the morning. He's learning to say "please" and here he is showing off. He has had two peaceful nights in a row so we figure the tooth he was working on must have popped through, but due to his cheekiness, we haven't been able to safely confirm the presence of such a tooth :-)

Easter fun

Micah meets the Easter Bunny

Do you think there are enough eggs to go around?

"the haul"

 

 

 

 

Birthday party!

This weekend was cold and drizzly, but we still managed to have some fun. There was a community egg hunt at the rec center so I took Micah over there. There were about 45 kids and about 1,000 eggs, Needless to say, I think we got our fair share! Micah played a rainy soccer game on Saturday morning. The good news is that Micah got some great play with the ball since only he and one other girl on his team were left on the field by the end of the game (all the other kids had wandered off the field because of the rain). :-) We broke down and dyed Easter eggs on Sunday since Micah just couldn't wait until next weekend. We did a small batch and then experimented with double-dipping and wax crayons to make some fun designs. Jacob was excited about eating them :-) Last night Micah had a special "treasure hunt" at AWANA and a birthday party for one of his fellow clubbers. I have dubbed this week "the week of the Dr. appts". This morning we suspected Micah might have a UTI so I took him in. Nope. He's fine. Phew. The cat has her follow-up appt today. And I've got a Dr. appt. And Micah's got a follow-up ENT appt. tomorrow. Someone's got to keep them in business, right? Jacob is getting several teeth right now and is just miserable at night. Poor kid. I hope these little buggers start poking through quickly so we can get through this phase. He's got 7 more teeth to go, including the molars. And Mommy and Daddy need some sleep!

Here we go again...

Micah and David having fun in M's bedroom.

"Mama, I don't feel good" :-(

Well, as you can see in the photo above, bumpkin is sick again. We thought he was just getting some new teeth, which he is, but he started with a fever Saturday night and things just got worse (more gunky) on Sunday. My prediction is an ear infection, and we will have to go back to the specialist and talk about getting new tubes put in. A couple of weeks ago the local Dr. took a look in his ears and said one of the tubes looked like it had shifted and he had an infection then, but she said to wait and see if the infections became recurrent again. One antibiotic later and here we are. Anyway, Dan's watching both boys today since he's on Spring Break (the "break" being optional in this case :-)) and he will be taking J back to the Dr. so we'll know for sure in a bit. UPDATE: It's an ear infection. Surprise!

Despite the setback, we had a good weekend. Dan and I actually watched some movies from Redbox after the kids had gone to bed. The weather was great so we spent a lot of time outside and opened the windows to let some fresh air into the house. Saturday afternoon, a little friend came over and played with the boys for a few hours. We made shamrock cookies yesterday :-) So, it's not all bad. If green sprinkles and kisses could heal, then we'd all be healthy.

Leader of the Parade

Jacob, the band leader

Doesn't he look grown up in this picture?

Checking out a game with Daddy

"I'm all ready for school, mom!"

"Time to hit the homework!"

Jacob hones his skills on the imaginary accordion.

The "Rogue"

You would think that when we "spring forward" that would mean that the kids get up later. I have learned that this is not so. After one morning of sleeping-in bliss, Jacob decided that for each day thereafter, he would exact payment for this extra hour by getting up 30 to 45 minutes earlier than usual. Sigh. Finally he was back to his normal schedule this morning. He has been kinda cranky this week due to a new tooth, but not nearly as upset as the last time he was teething. He has not required our presence in the middle of the night. But Micah has. This morning he came in to tell us he was hot. I think I told him to take off his shirt and get back to bed. I think I said that. It was 2:30 a.m. When you have small children in the house, you go to bed hopeful, but not confident, that you will get a good night's sleep.

This week it was the cat, however, who caused our anxiety levels to rise. We found some blood in the litter box and took her to the vet expecting to hear that she had a bladder infection, as is usual for her. We weren't anticipating the diagnosis of possible bladder stones and diabetes. A blood test showed that she was not diabetic, but we still aren't sure about the other. We are treating her with antibiotics, in the hopes that this will clear up her problems. If they do not, it looks like Rogue may be using up her last life. I don't want to say it yet, since today she is running around and eating and doing all the normal things. But she is 14 years old now, arthritic, and no spring kitten. I have to admit, after 2-4 years of cleaning up almost daily vomit, I would be somewhat relieved to not have this responsibility anymore. But I am her owner and I made a promise that I would do right by her for life. So as long as she can have a good quality of life without pain or extensive intervention, she's our kitty. She will let us know when it's time. I don't like the waiting game we are playing right now, though.

A student of Dan's who babysits for Micah had a photography project she needed to do and asked if she could use Micah as a portrait subject. Of course we said yes and Dan and Micah and she went to OBU's campus and she took a series of photos of him with various expressions outside in the grass in front of the theatre building. I hope to be able to link to these soon. They are precious :-) In school, Micah has started to sight read some words and Jacob is learning to count to three this week.

It is a beautiful time of year in Arkansas. We are in full bloom here with daffodils and trees. It's still chilly in the mornings but gets up to the 70s in the afternoon. We have been taking advantage of it by going out in the backyard to kick the soccer ball around and generally get some fresh air after dinner. I don't like the time change but it sure is nice to have daylight at the end of the day.

I'm not doing a personal campaign this year for Relay for Life, but I am involved with the HSU team again this year. We are hosting a golf tournament in honor of Henderson's president emeritus, who is currently undergoing chemo for pancreatic cancer. If you would like to contribute to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life through me, please feel free to send a check and I will turn it over to the committee and post it in your name online/send you a link.

Things we're thinking about this week: Dan's father, Roger, who is currently traveling in Japan on a mission trip; the upcoming musical at OBU, Hello Dolly!; Spring Break, which is this week.

Good Game

 The cuties :-)

 "I'll get the door for you, mama."

First game!

Go Team USA!

Micah playing goalie

Shaking hands after the game

Huddle time: "Play hard, have fun!"

Well, we made it through Micah's first soccer game against Team Italy. I'm glad I found a friend to leave Jacob with because it was about 35 degrees out there! As you can see, only four members of the team were there, but that was a good thing since everyone got to play the whole game so they didn't have too much time to get chilled. They don't keep score with this age, but Micah's team did well during the game and there were no mishaps. Everyone took turns playing goalie and being on the field. Micah was excited that he had "kicked the ball three times!" At this point, there's really no strategy out there, just kids running after the ball to kick it. Micah did a good job of staying on the ball for his first-ever experience. From here on out, they just have games on Saturday mornings for the next five weeks, no practice, because as the coach says "they get enough practice just playing on the field." Micah says that he liked practice better than the games. I think that's because they practiced different techniques, like passing and controlling the ball so there was a variety. Plus, it wasn't nearly so cold as this day was!

We were all glad to see Dan when he came home from the conference on Saturday. We spent the rest of the weekend at home, resting, with me trying to get over this cold! Jacob is doing better. We eliminated the middle-of-the-day inhaler treatment so that means he doesn't have to get one at daycare. Also, he has realized that the treatments are ok and has stopped fighting them! This is a huge help now that I don't have to fight to give them to him. This morning he was laughing and waving at daddy while wearing the mask at the breakfast table.