Cone Dog

Oh, there are always so many things I could write about. But this time Ginger is at the top of the list. Last week she had another intestinal flare-up after I gave her the monthly heart worm medication. Go figure. Then she must have gotten into something at the lake on Monday because the next day she did plenty of vomiting and diarrhea...back to the vet we went. She has the beginnings of another fistula forming, and since we caught it early we're hoping some antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds will take care of it. At least she acts plenty energetic...except when we make her wear the dreaded cone. Poor dog probably thought she was done wearing that thing!

Here we are at the end of May already! It's looking like our new nephew-to-be is deciding to arrive in June. That will spread our family birthdays out a bit. :) I keep thinking about my sister-in-law and what awaits her as a new mother. When we first met she was in 8th grade. I can hardly believe she's married and having a baby!

We went boating on Memorial Day and did some fishing. Braylen and Grandma caught 18 fish, and most of them were keepers. This weekend we're hoping to go boating again, only this time we'll play in the water. :) My favorite kind of boating.

Braylen's double-catch after only 5 minutes of fishing!

Grandma & Aaron

Kaleb found this huge "dandelion"
It looks like his hair!

On our way home from the lake, Aaron said a prayer for a safe trip home. It was so cute, because he thanked God for "all the veterinarians who fought in wars to keep our country safe." :)

Kaleb and I built this fire all by ourselves when Braylen and Derek were gone.
We're really enjoying this fire pit in our yard.

3 of the 5 robin eggs hatched, and here's a picture of one of the babies.

Mother Robin keeps watch over her nest.

One more thing--Aaron's been humming a lot lately; in the shower, at the table, while he's playing, etc. Every time he does this he hums a Christmas song. He doesn't even know he's doing it. Yesterday was "Here We Come A-Wassailing." The day before that was "Deck the Halls." Today was "Jingle Bell Rock." It makes me laugh because Derek is vehemently opposed to playing Christmas music unless Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is yet to come. I wonder what he thinks about Aaron's subconscious humming? :)

The End & The Beginning

The last day of school...ahhh...one of the highlights of childhood. Our boys woke up excited and ready to be done with school! Braylen didn't need a backpack--just a pen in his pocket. I watched him walk away with his friend Matthew much like I watched them walk away on the first day of school. Wasn't that just last week?

I think I get bigger smiles for the LAST day of school picture
than I do the first day of school picture!

Since we've had a whole week of summer vacation already, I'm feeling pretty good with our new routines. Our mornings are blissfully slow. Sometimes I bring the boys with me to run errands, sometimes I don't. We play Monopoly--I wonder if this particular game will ever end? :) Kaleb's been listening to lots of Adventures in Odyssey episodes on the computer. Braylen and Aaron prefer to listen to Hank the Cow dog stories. Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoons from the library are an obsession with all 3 boys right now. This love affair with Star Wars spills over into their play time, which is great. They spend hours playing with Star Wars toys and even some homemade creations they've made.

When someone is bored I give him something to do. Derek is good about helping me come up with ideas to keep them busy when they say they are bored! So far our garage has been swept out, clutter is picked up, and the lawn is mowed. I'm working on setting up their chore charts for the summer. That starts after Memorial Day, so this week is pretty much a freebie for them...unless they say they're bored. :)

Here is the beginning of our summer together, told through pictures of course...

The kids slept in the camper parked in our driveway to celebrate the end of school.
Kaleb gave us this calendar he made in 4th grade, and we discovered he's really
good at writing poems! I will treasure this gift. :)

We camped for 2 nights--not in our driveway. :) Aaron and Derek cooked some bacon
over the fire. Yum! We met some of our friends at the campground and spent the day fishing
and visiting. The boys caught little fish with worms, but at least they caught fish!

Back at home, Derek and I gave each other our anniversary gift a little bit early:
a fire ring in our backyard! Our family in town came over for our first fire.

Aaron is my eating machine these days. Here he is watching our supper cook in the oven!
Is this like watching paint dry?

Throwing their socks onto the spinning fan; Aaron worked up such
a sweat that he went shirtless. Then we played more Monopoly
and Derek came home to find Aaron sitting at the table without his shirt. :)

Believe it or not, I don't go through my day with my camera around my neck. It's just close by at all times. With so much going on, I've learned this lesson: if I don't have a picture of it, then it didn't happen--because I will never remember it otherwise!

One more thing before I end with a couple of funnies from Aaron. (who else?) Braylen is getting TALLER! Almost overnight it seems. Yesterday we stood back-to-back and I discovered that the top of his head comes to my eyebrows. Wow! I wonder when he'll pass me up?

Two little quotes from Aaron:
"Sometimes I wonder how I'm ever going to live without you." Be still my beating heart! :) He said this to me while we cooked supper together. I wrote it down right away and want to remember it forever. He went on to say, "I mean, I'll need things like silverware when I have to live in my own house. How will I get all of that stuff? How will I know what I need?" What makes an 8 year old boy think about things like this? :)

"Mommy, I wouldn't know what 1+1 equals if you weren't here, because I wouldn't be alive!"
Silly Aaron! :)

Celebration for Derek

Derek's birthday falls during such a busy time of the year...end-of-school-year activities, graduation parties, Mother's Day...good thing Derek is so flexible with his celebration. I did manage to cook a birthday dinner for him before I volunteered at the lock-in, and I cooked another birthday dinner the next day for his family birthday party. So don't feel too sorry for him. :) My handsome husband is 37 years old, but to me he doesn't look a day over 20. :)

The men in our family, minus one brother-in-law and one soon-to-be-born nephew!

My guys :)

Happy Birthday Derek!!!

Our Busy 4th Grader

Before school let out for summer break, Kaleb had LOTS going on! On Derek's birthday, Kaleb attended his school's annual lock-in at the middle school. He met his AR (Accelerated Reader) goal every quarter to be able to attend this lock-in. Yay! From 3-11pm he had lots of crazy fun with his friends. The biggest event of the night is the dodge ball tournament, complete with posted brackets and a championship game. Teams of 6 are formed ahead of time, and many teams wear matching shirts. Kaleb's team had matching face paint. :) Although they didn't make it to the championship game, Kaleb and his teammates beat the teachers. That's almost a bigger deal than winning it all.

Kaleb and two of his teammates

It is SO loud in this room!

 I enjoy volunteering at this event because it's one big party! There's lots of treats, lots to do, and lots of music and dancing. Kaleb wouldn't dance to the Macarena...but I did! :) However, 2 hours was enough fun for me--I don't know how the teachers and kids last until 11!

There are just as many inflatables behind me as there are in front of me!

Derek took Kaleb turkey hunting the next afternoon. They saw plenty of turkeys and enjoyed their time together. Maybe next time Kaleb will get his bird.

What boy doesn't love rocks, right? The rock museum was a fun project for Braylen in 4th grade, so I was glad Kaleb got to do it too. He used Braylen's display board, but found his own rocks and made a game with them. :) On Monday both 4th grade classes displayed their rocks, so of course I took some pictures.

The museum spread throughout three classrooms.

The next day the 4th graders put together a project for Social Studies. Kaleb dressed up like Father Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town. When I put a coin in the cup on his desk he "came to life" and read his script out loud. I had fun visiting other kids dressed up in character as well. The girl next to Kaleb is dressed up like Barbie. If you know Kaleb at all, you'll understand why that's funny. :)

Later on that same day, Kaleb played the piano in the talent show. He played the same song he'll be playing for his piano recital in June, so this was a great rehearsal for that. He did well!

Kaleb playing "Mockingbird."

Good thing school has ended by now...Kaleb (and his mom) are ready for some down time! This turned out to be such a fantastic school year for Kaleb. He grew in lots of areas, and I can hardly believe he'll be a 5th grader this fall. Stay close, little boy...you are so special to me.

Spring-Summer

Tomorrow is the last day of school! The calendar says it's spring, but it's the beginning of our summer. It seems like I just watched Braylen walk to middle school for the first time, and now here we are. He received some awards at the 6th grade recognition assembly last week, and I want to do a little bragging on him. :) For the first time ever, one of our kids received a perfect attendance award--Braylen! He also scored high on his achievement tests, WordMasters tests, and was one of seven students to receive the "big" award of the year from his team teachers. It's for "demonstrating safety, respect, responsibility, and resourcefulness throughout the school year and doing so in such a manner that makes him a standout from other students." Go Braylen! My God be glorified through your life! We are SO thankful for an incredible year of 6th grade!!!

Kaleb's been very busy at school these past two weeks, and I will post more about his activities another time. When I asked him what he will miss the most about 4th grade he replied, "My teacher." I'm so thankful for excellent teachers! Aaron's been moaning and groaning about school for a while now, so I'm pretty sure he won't miss much. Ha! I'm ready for a slower pace. I'm ready to have my kids at home with me. I think. :) Moving on...

We have a robin's nest in our backyard maple tree this spring, and she has 5 eggs in there! We call her "Mother Robin," and enjoy spying on her in the nest. :) Since it's so close to our back patio, I don't even need any "robinoculars!" (That's for you Mom!)

Look behind the big branch.
Her tail feathers are on the left, and her head is on the right.

Such pretty eggs!

Aaron's late birthday party was a success! The boys played with their Nerf guns and watched Aaron open gifts in the camper. (It's so easy to please them at this age!) After eating the Angry Birds birthday cookie, Derek and I loaded up Aaron + 4 friends to go mini-golfing. We had the course to ourselves, and everyone had a great time. I felt better knowing I had given Aaron the party he waited patiently for.

He wore this white shirt so it would glow in the black lights!

That's all for now...I'll use the second half of May to play catch-up on my blog. Derek had a birthday last week and we really did celebrate him! We're also planning a fun end-of-the-school-year-celebration this weekend...Happy Spring-Summer! :)

Pretty Columbines in my backyard

Special Days

There's still lots going on in our family, which means it's been pretty quiet on my blog. That's just how it is in May. Yesterday, Mother's Day, was not a relaxing day for me. With Derek working at church until 12:30, and then working at graduation at 1:30, and attending an open house at supper...it sure didn't feel like Mother's Day. But that's okay, because I have all day today to myself. :) I've watched an episode of The Middle, set sprinklers in the yard for Derek, and took all the time I wanted in getting ready this morning. Happy Mother's Day to me. :) The best part of my day yesterday was spent chatting with my mom on FaceTime. I sat at my kitchen table and it felt like she sat here with me. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Remember how I said I'd share more about Kaleb's field trip? He and I spent an entire day living like a pioneer. Well, we experienced the FUN parts of pioneer life. I helped out in the Freighter's Hotel, making corn husk angels with the 4th graders. Kaleb also did some tin hole punching, bead work, sewing, and played several pioneer games. He learned how they prepared food without the modern appliances we have today, and sampled some homemade bread and butter. Lunch was so good...stew and johnny cake, apple crisp and lemonade, served up on tin plates and cups. I was the last one to make it to the lunch line, and Kaleb left his place at the front of the line to join me in the back. My boy. :) We shared a nice lunch together where he told me, all on his own, that it made him feel special to have me there helping out. That made all of my volunteering worth it for sure. When I left Pioneer Days and drove home in my minivan, I pondered all that I did that day with Kaleb and cherished each moment.

The girls wore long skirts and aprons, while the boys wore vests.

Pioneer Days

A tepee and steam locomotive were just a few of the fun things the kids experienced.

One of the games pioneer kids played. Kaleb was quite good at this one!

I have so much more to write about, but it will just have to wait until later. I'm off to visit Kaleb's rock museum! :)

Outside and Loving It

This time of the year is lots of fun, but it's filled with so many things I find it hard to write about it all! School is out in one week. Awana and youth group are finished for the year. We've already had our first camping trip of the season. We're riding our bikes and running and jumping on the hay bales. (Well, I'm not running and jumping on hay bales, but I'm pretty sure that's stating the obvious!) Braylen and Kaleb competed in a track meet on Saturday. Kaleb and Aaron have had fun field trips, and I was blessed to go along for both of them.

I took our boys fishing and Braylen brought a friend. They put their own worms on!

Aaron's first books he checked out with his very own library card, all about turtles!

Our Awana boys and Awana nieces

Ginger had her surgery on 5/1 and is healing nicely. This afternoon I took her to the vet for a quick check--I was concerned her stitches weren't holding--but all is well. Poor girl has to wear the "cone of shame" for at least another week. At least she's coping better than she did the first two days.

She wears the cone of shame with dignity. :)

We had great camping weather the one day/night we camped. I learned how much work it is to camp for one day...next time we'll stay at least two nights to spread out the work a bit!

The boys brought their Star Wars guys and set up quite a display!

Some of these figures belong to my brother. We'll give them back someday so my
nephew can play with them too!

Of course Aaron found a toad, and worked very hard to keep Ginger away from it.

Derek's tradition is to play trac ball with the boys when we camp. In this picture
I see all 4 of them!

A campfire is a must!

On May Day I made some cute little "baskets" for the boys to deliver to the neighbor kids. Kaleb and Aaron used walkie talkies and stationed themselves around our house to catch anyone who tried to leave a May basket on our doorstep. I love May Day because the kids stay outside all afternoon and run around with the neighbor kids. Can't they do that every day? When Aaron prayed that night he said, "Thank you for this day that was so-so-so-so-so-so-so-plus-infinity much fun!" Braylen had fun delivering a basket to his buddy Hunter, but flat out refused to take any baskets to the neighbor kids.

Aaron made his May Day hat in school. Isn't it great?!

At the track meet, Braylen placed 2nd in standing long jump, and 2nd in the 800 meter run. Kaleb ran in the 100 and 200, and placed 4th in the 200. We packed a picnic lunch and I realized how much I enjoy watching track meets instead of participating in track meets! Derek works with the boys to stretch their muscles and get warmed up before their races. I love that.

Braylen is the one in the red shorts, flying into the sand. :)

Next time I will write about my field trip with Kaleb. It's late, I'm tired, and tomorrow I'm having Aaron's birthday party with his friends. Yes, his birthday was almost a month ago, and Derek's birthday is this Friday. But my motto is and will always be, "Better late than never!" :)

One Day

While on the phone with my SIL (Pam) two nights ago, she asked me how my day was. Oh my. As if the entire month of April wasn't crazy enough, the last day of April gave new meaning to the term "stay-at-home-mom." I don't think there is such a thing as a stay-at-home-mom anymore. I also rejoiced yesterday when I turned the calendar to the month of May. :) May Day was delightful, but more on that another time.

Once Pam heard all about my busy day, she told me I needed to put it in my blog. For me to remember what just one day in my life looked like. So, here I go. (WARNING...this gets long.)

I knew today would be busy, so I set my alarm clock to wake me up earlier than usual. I don't like waking up early. To be honest, I make a terrible morning person. But today I don't have a choice. When it's time to wake up the boys, I discover one of them wet the bed. Strip the sheets, clean up the mess, get the boys going...all the while I'm thinking to myself, "At least I have 2 hours this morning to make my grocery list and go shopping. The rest of the day is full, but I can get a lot done in the next 2 hours." Braylen's walking out the door for school and he says, "Oh, Mom--I found some strange emails on my iPod this morning. I think someone hacked into my email. Bye!" I take Kaleb and Aaron to school, come home, and spend the next 2 hours cleaning up Braylen's hijacked email account. No groceries or meal plans today. Instead I learn all about email "spoofing" and other current-day lingo pertaining to computer hackers. I send an apology email to everyone on his contact list, change passwords on several accounts, delete emails, contacts, and trash folder, etc...

With 10 minutes before I need to leave for my meeting, I have enough sense to put the washed bedding in the dryer and put a chicken in the crock pot. Thank goodness I bought a chicken last week and never did anything with it. Troubled by the fact that Ginger's not acting like her normal spunky self, and still hasn't eaten her breakfast, I call the vet and set up an appointment for her. Subway has a $2 sub today, so I pack a bag of chips and a drink from home, run in and get my sub for $2.14, and arrive at my meeting only 1 minute late.

This is a women's ministry meeting at church. It passes by in a blur, but I do remember our leader (and very good friend of mine) asking me to share how I sense God leading me in the future of women's ministry. I have no idea what I said. I leave that meeting 30 minutes early, since I'm subbing at school today. I arrive at school and immerse myself in several projects. While visiting with another school employee, I discover she's been friends with my dog's vet since the 7th grade. She also tells me that this is our vet's last week at work, since she's moving out of state. Hmm, that's odd, since I suspect my dog needs surgery and I'm counting on this vet to do the procedure...I file that away for now.

The bell rings and I pass off my crosswalk duty to someone else, since Kaleb and Aaron have piano lessons in 15 minutes. We rush home and the teacher arrives 5 minutes early. Thank goodness for a piano teacher who comes to our house. I scribble out her check, make the boys promise me they'll be good, and take Ginger to her vet appointment. This place is a zoo, crowded with people and pets and just as jumbled as I'm feeling on the inside. They put me in a room with Ginger and we wait. And wait. And I find an issue of People magazine that keeps me blissfully occupied for the long 45 minute wait to see the doctor.

Once she comes in the room and looks at Ginger's fistula, she recommends it be removed through laser surgery. Just what I suspected she'd say. Can I bring her back tomorrow? Dollar signs flash before my eyes but I just want to get this taken care of, so I sign the paperwork and we talk about her upcoming move. Her troubles with her kids. She has some real serious stuff going on with her kids. I "wake up" in that moment and realize this is a Divine appointment. I tell her that my heart goes out to people who struggle, in any way, with their kids. Thanks to our battles with Aaron's epilepsy, I really do have genuine empathy and concern for other parents who just want to do what's best for their kids. She tells me her brother's son has the same kind of epilepsy Aaron has. We talk about anti-seizure meds. I'm thankful God "woke me up" to connect with this dear lady.

I drive home and tell Aaron to get his shoes on, it's time to go to his chiropractor appointment. We don't have a minute to spare, since my visit to the vet took so long. With much whining, he puts on his crocs. Just then my wonderful husband pulls into the driveway, and I realize he's taking Aaron to the doctor. Hallelujah! I have just enough time to put fries in the oven and heat up some frozen green beans. We sit down to eat and have 20 minutes before needing to leave for Cub Scouts.

Tonight we're flying kites at Scouts. I must say, while I'm standing outside in the open field watching dozens of kites fly in the blue sky, I feel a sense of peace wash over me. I did it. I made it through my crazy day. It's over now, and I can enjoy the moment. When the Scout meeting ends, we come home and fly kites in the not-yet-planted cornfield near our house. Even Braylen joins in. Ginger runs through the field fast as lightning, and I wonder how she'll be feeling after her surgery tomorrow.

Aaron flying a kite with Derek. The horse in the background is a nice touch. :)

When the boys are tucked in bed, I sort through backpacks and lunchboxes. I set my DVR for my favorite TV show, "Castle." I call Pam and tell her all about my day...and now I've come full circle with this blog post.

Someday I will miss these days I'm living in. But you know what? I don't think I'll miss this particular day. :)