Celebrations

Since my last post, we've celebrated a few things around here.

• Braylen performed in his first band concert! The 6th graders played 3 songs. Braylen played the tympani, the snare drum, and the bells. He tells me his favorite instrument to play was the tympani. Thanks to Grandma staying at home with Aaron, both Derek and I were able to go to Braylen's concert.
• Aaron recovered from his 6 day illness in time to go to ONE day of school last week. Friday was also great because...
• Our first snowfall of the season started Friday night! I think we got between 5-6 inches of snow. Our boys all had plenty of time to play in the snow, shovel the snow, and build snow forts. I have to laugh when people ask them if they built a snowman. Umm, no. They don't build snowmen. They build snow forts! :)
• Kaleb's birthday party with family might have been a week later than I'd originally planned, but it felt right on time to me. He enjoyed a big spaghetti dinner with the family in town, viewing his slide show videos on Grandma and Grandpa's new big screen TV, opening presents, and eating chocolate birthday cake.
• I know this will come as a shock to those of you who know us well...Ginger is sleeping in the house at night...not in her crate, but on her dog bed!
• Aaron's reached a therapeutic level with his medication. We even have some wiggle room with his dose, should we feel the need to increase it. His illness set him back a week, but as of today, I think we are making progress with the current dose.

Some pictures to highlight our celebrations...



6th grade band

Braylen playing the snare drum

Time for presents!

Kaleb's favorite gift. Thanks Grampy & Grammy!

When the boys turn 10, Derek likes to get their tool collection started.

Kaleb really wanted roller blades. He'll look forward to
using them in the spring!

I bought Aaron some slipper socks to cheer him
up during his illness. He loved them!

Kaleb with his #10 cake
Surrounded by his family of course!

This month is already passing quickly. Our Christmas decorations are going up slowly, but we're getting there. Aaron and I put our tree up on Sunday while the others shoveled driveways. Now if only I had help with my Christmas village! Mom and Dad, you need to retire and come spend December with us! :)

10 Years with Kaleb

In case you haven't guessed it by now, I LOVE my kids' birthdays! Today is Kaleb's 10th birthday. Such a milestone for him, and for his mom too. :)

Forever our middle son, Kaleb has many gifts and abilities that are uniquely his. Nobody can make us laugh like Kaleb can. No one is more tender with our pets than Kaleb is. Kaleb can handle Braylen's antics and Aaron's bidding like no one else. He's a pro at being the little brother and the big brother. He is a delightful son to parent, a true blessing from God. He is very different from Braylen and Aaron, who tend to favor one another. I love that about Kaleb.

Today I'm posting 10 pictures from 10 years with Kaleb. With each picture I will list one thing I love about Kaleb. Here we go.

Kaleb's been a good sleeper from the very beginning.
He was my easiest baby, by far.

Kaleb didn't want to walk until he could do it without falling.
He still carries that mentality with him in every new thing he's faced with.
He won't do something unless he can do it well.

I've always loved his squishy face.

Kaleb is a picky eater, but he loves his sweets and his meat.
Just don't give him green beans. 

See what he puts up with? He never likes to be alone, and I think
that comes from never having the chance to be alone!

His teachers love to comment on Kaleb's sense of humor.
We can't get enough of it either.

Kaleb's imagination is far bigger than I can comprehend.
This allows him to play with his big brother and little brother.

Sometimes we forget that Kaleb is capable of doing things we allowed Braylen
to do at his age. We're trying to be better about that, but I don't think Kaleb
minds at all. I imagine he'll always be a kid at heart. Just like my dad. :)

Kaleb loves our country's history. He loves eagles. He's definitely our most
patriotic son!

10 years is just the beginning...God has great plans for this boy.
We are blessed to be his parents!

Happy Birthday Kaleb Matthew!!! May God bless you greatly in the year to come!

Together Time

We managed to carve out a day for Thanksgiving last week, and I am so thankful we did! The very next day, Aaron came down with a sore throat and high fevers. We are spending yet another day together, while Daddy is at work and the brothers are at school. We are together a LOT these days. Together at the clinic. Together at home. Together on the couch. Together playing games. Together in the middle of the night. For the past two nights, my little buddy has woken me up at 4:20 am. Oh, and Derek was called out to work Saturday night, not coming home until 3:45 am. At least Braylen and Kaleb seem to be sleeping through the nights, because the rest of us are not.

The good news? Aaron did great at the clinic bright and early this morning. I was worried I would have to drag him there with a 103 temp, but our 4:30 am ibuprofen kept the fever at bay. The blood draw was rough, but we should have results on his medication level later this week. Our doctor ran some more blood tests because of Aaron's fevers and sore throat, and those came back normal. And so we wait for this virus to go away. And we wait to see if we need to change his seizure medication dose at all. Waiting and more waiting. I treated Aaron to donuts, and that helps brighten our moods. :)

Because of Aaron's illness this weekend, Kaleb's birthday party with the family here in town was postponed. Kaleb had a great attitude, and I couldn't ask for a more understanding son. He's also really stepped up and helped out a lot around here. I can't praise him enough for his choices lately. I hope and pray Kaleb is greatly blessed on his birthday this Wednesday. :)

A few things to catch up on...

• My Great Aunt Viv passed away on October 30th. She was 93 years old, and faithfully sent birthday cards to all of us every year. I will miss seeing her card in the mail this week.
• My Great Aunt Sylvia passed away on November 9th. She was 88 years old, and all of my memories of her are from my childhood. Still, I've never known a stronger Norwegian lady. Uff da.
• Aunt Sarena and Uncle Dave took Braylen and Kaleb to visit their Great Grandmothers on Saturday. I'm glad they did, since Derek and I can never get it together to do it ourselves. They sang Christmas songs to one in the nursing home, and went through photo albums with the other. I think they enjoyed seeing pictures of their dad when he was their age. :)
• Sometime this year, Braylen started calling Kaleb "Cob" and Aaron "Ron." It's stuck, and I frequently hear them calling each other these nicknames. I'm not sure how Braylen avoided receiving a nickname.

Time to play some checkers with Aaron. He has it all set up. :) Time for some more "together time" with my boy.

They made pilgrim hat cookies for Thanksgiving, after much pleading on my part!

Lots to be Thankful For

First, an update on how Aaron's doing.

He's been on his medicine for 13 days now. The side effects have all but disappeared...praise the LORD for that! The only side effect that remains is...hiccups. Aaron gets the hiccups, especially at bedtime, and he can hardly say his bedtime prayers! As annoying as it can be for him, it's one side effect I think we can live with. :)

Last week I requested his medicine in pill form, since the liquid tasted so terrible. Now he takes his medicine without complaints...a truly wonderful thing. I feel like we have our Aaron back. We've even had several days this week where Aaron didn't whine or complain all day! How wonderful it felt to praise him for his attitude instead of reprimand him. How wonderful he must feel to be out from under the fog of his medicine!

Are the seizures going away? Well, that's hard to tell. Last Thursday and Friday I was seeing them before school, after school, and even during school. (I volunteer in his classroom a couple times per month.) Over the weekend, I didn't notice any. I haven't seen any this week either. But when I ask him if he's missing instructions at school because of his "blank-outs," he says he is. Hmm. At least I'm not noticing them like I was last week. That has to mean something, right? His first blood test is on Monday, and that will tell us if the medicine is at a therapeutic level in his body. Another step as we walk through this diagnosis.

Moving on...

Derek's deer hunt was last week! He looks forward to this all year long. This year he took Kaleb, his dad took Braylen, and they spent the entire day in the field. Grandpa got a buck early in the morning, and Derek got a doe in the evening. The 4 guys came home a happy bunch. I'm even happier that they do everything they need to do in the garage...not in my kitchen. :) And since this is my blog and not Derek's, I will post a picture of our dear son and not a picture of the deer!

Kaleb in the field

My brother-in-law treated us to a hockey game again this fall. His company has a suite, and it even came with supper. :) Aaron is our hockey fan, and I felt so blessed to be able to do this with him. We all had a good time together. Aaron loved watching all the goals--11 in all!

A weekend at home was just what we needed after a busy week of hunting and activities. Derek and the boys worked hard in the yard while I did my spring cleaning in the fall. I have a hard time buying Christmas gifts for our boys when our family room is cluttered with more toys than you can imagine. So, my task was to find things to give away, making room for what's to come. I think we did a pretty good job. Mom and Dad, we have a few things you might want to pass along to Will. You'd better leave room in your van this Christmas. :)

Supper with friends on Sunday was a great way to end our weekend. Now we're gearing up for Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. School gets out early this afternoon, and I have 3 pies, a pretzel salad, and sweet potatoes to make. The boys will make some pilgrim hat cookies, although they don't know it yet. Derek and I both wish we were traveling this year. It's an itch we get that goes back to our college days. However, we are staying in town--no road trips for us. We're blessed with family to celebrate with here at home and look forward to it! :)

Our husbands bought us matching vests...how sweet of them. :)

Happy Thanksgiving! We really do have a lot to be thankful for, don't we?