Boys on Broadway

Kaleb and Aaron recently participated in their school's music programs. This year's theme was, "On Broadway!" I just love these shows! I'm amazed at what my kids can do when they work hard. Kaleb did quite a bit of fancy footwork in his performances. First he was a chimney sweep in "Chim Chim Cher-ee," from Mary Poppins. Then he danced as a newspaper boy (newsie) to the song, "Seize the Day" from the broadway show Newsies. Derek and I noticed that Kaleb never looked to his neighbor for directions during the program. He memorized his songs and his steps and remained laser-focused on that. Quite typical for Kaleb, right Mom? :)

Kaleb the Chimney Sweep

Showing us his stuff as a Newsie

Moving right along...

Can you see his smile?

Kaleb's program ended with "Circle of Life" from The Lion King. Our school has an after-school drum circle, and those kids did an amazing job with this song. Between the different drums and the lion masks and choreography...this song was so cool. I know this sounds silly for an elementary music program, but that last song gave me goosebumps!

After the program and relieved to be done!

Aaron's program, one week after Kaleb's, was just as much fun. Being the youngest, his activities always remind Derek and me that our days with a cute little boy on stage are coming to an end. (Kaleb and Braylen, while ALWAYS cute to their mommy, are the big boys now.) This makes us hold onto Aaron's cuteness as long as we can. :)

Aaron's time to shine came during "Whistle a Happy Tune" from The King and I. He stood by himself at a microphone and sang a few lines from this song. We could hear his voice above the rest of the chorus of kids and there's no better sound than that. After that song ended, he stayed at his microphone and had a speaking part to introduce the next song, "The Bare Necessities" from Jungle Book. He did such a great job and didn't appear to be nervous...we were sure proud of him.

Not the clearest picture, but the best I have. Aaron's waiting for his song to begin.

All smiles after his program. Isn't he cute?!

We were happy that Grandma was able to come to Kaleb's program, and to Aaron's dress rehearsal. Even Aunt Sarena and her mom-in-law came to Aaron's rehearsal! When Aaron told me who came to see his practice program he said, "Grandma, Grandma, and Aunt Sarena." Cute!

Kaleb and Aaron, I love you, a bushel and a peck! (the closing song in Aaron's program, from Guys and Dolls.)

Eight

Aaron William is 8 today! Oh, happy day! :)

We let him open one gift before school. He LOVES his very own Hank book on CD
from Grammy and Grampy. He insisted on bringing it in the car with him this morning!

Today is a perfect rainy, stormy, windy day in April. But that won't stop us from enjoying this special day with our son. I actually find it fitting. Walking through epilepsy with Aaron is kind of like choosing to have good days even in the storms. Since the seizures have not stopped, we put Aaron on a new medication this week. Now he's taking a combination of Depakote (old medicine) and Lamictal (new medicine.) I thought the potential side effects from the other drugs were scary, but the risks with this new medicine are terrifying to this nurse-mom who knows too much.

Another mom recently gave me some wise advice. When asked how her daughter's doing, she responds based on how today has been. "She's had a really good day today, and we're thankful for that." Or, "Today she hasn't felt well, but she's sleeping soundly now." Choosing to live in the moment, trusting God moment-by-moment, instead of worrying myself into a pit of fear and despair. When I stop and look at Aaron, he's laughing and running and playing. I have much to be thankful for! Today is a good day for all of us.

Remember when I mentioned I was having a hard time with Aaron's birthday list this year? He has such expensive taste! Here's his list. :)

Here's what it says, with each item ranked in order of most-wanted:
2. Go Kart please*
1. Fishing lures*
*he circled these two items and wrote "favorites" beneath them*
6. Nerf guns
5. museum night
7. sleepover
fish for supper (he later changed his mind on this, so that's why it's not ranked!)
10. Big battelship
8. for weeler
9. new bike
4. Ipod (he means the iPod touch like Braylen has)
new shose (already received these, so they're not ranked either.)
3. Tackle box

At lunchtime I'll pick him up from school and bring him home for corndogs and oranges. (That's what he wants!) I look forward to celebrating his life today. 8 years ago we had no idea how this third son of ours would shape our family. God's given us such a gift in our son Aaron! Happy Birthday Boo-Boo!

Happy Birthday Ginger Girl

Our doggie is three years old today! Her boys have taken extra special care of her on her birthday. She's had lots of love and attention from them. I didn't buy her a bone this year, but I did buy two bags of her expensive dog food today! It was on sale. :) Later I discovered the gate had been left open for an hour and a half. Where was Ginger? Roaming around in the front yard. She knows she has it made here at home--why run away?!

I wonder if the lilacs will be blooming this time next year?

Wednesday night we were a part of something really special. Our pastors and elders of our church prayed over Aaron while anointing him with oil. The timing couldn't have been better. On Monday we increased Aaron's medication again, even though one of his liver enzymes is elevated. This coming Monday he has another appointment with the neurologist. (This will only be the second time we've seen this doctor.) Easter is this Sunday, and Aaron's birthday is next week. It just seemed like the right time to ask for this. 17 people gathered around our family to pray for Aaron and read scripture. How loved and blessed I felt that night! The prayers that touched me the most were from Kaleb and Braylen. They love their little brother, and without this diagnosis I would have missed how much. Our hope is for Aaron to be completely healed from this epilepsy. But as Kaleb said in his prayer, we will praise God if Aaron is healed. And if Aaron is not healed, we'll still praise God. When putting the boys to bed that night, Aaron said his "blank-outs" have brought our family closer together. He's right. There's no doubt in my mind that God is using this trial in our lives for a greater good. It doesn't mean I like it, but I have peace knowing He's at work within our family.

James 5:14-15 "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up."

Since Wednesday night I have only seen one seizure, and that was tonight at supper. One! We were seeing (on average) one per hour before Wednesday's prayer meeting. Praise God!

Aaron loves to climb the fence, and is proud that he can do it all by himself.

Yes, we're already mowing the lawn. We started in March this year!

A couple of funnies:
I clipped some lilacs and put them in a vase on the table. When Aaron sat down for breakfast this morning, he saw the vase and said, "This looks like we're in a movie." Can you tell we hardly ever have fresh flowers on our table? :)

Tonight Aaron told me he wants a duck for his birthday. When I told him we don't have a pond to keep it in, he said, "We have a cage. It can live in our cage." With our parakeet? I don't think so! I'm having a hard time with his birthday wish list this year. Other items on his list are: a go-kart, a 4-wheeler, and an iPod touch. Sheesh!

A Blur

Since coming home from Illinois, my life has been one big blur. I've even been too busy to take pictures! I downloaded my camera tonight and found only one new picture. One! Aaron and I wore purple last Monday in honor of Epilepsy Awareness Day. It's also called Purple Day. I long for our pre-epilepsy days, I really do. But longing for those days doesn't do anything to help us today. And really, Aaron is still the happy-go-lucky little boy he's always been. He's looking forward to his birthday, although Derek and I told him he's not allowed to turn 8. He can have a party and receive gifts, but he has to stay 7! :)

With just three days at home before taking another trip, my kids did not want me to leave. I didn't want to leave home again, but this opportunity to attend some training was too good to pass up. (And Derek is such a sacrificial husband!) The time passed quickly, even though I traveled many miles to Joplin, Missouri and back. Not quite a year after their tornado, the damage was still very evident. A pile of rubble stands where the high school once stood. Debris still clings to treetops. It's a good reminder that nothing here on earth lasts forever. Our pastor likes to say that people and God's Word are the only things here on earth that are eternal!

This week we're dealing with sick kids. Aaron and Kaleb have colds, Kaleb has a rash on his face that just won't go away, and today Aaron developed the dreaded fever. When he gets a fever, he's usually down for 4 days, minimum. I'm giving him breathing treatments, allergy meds, and a fever reducer. Plus, his Depakote dose has been increased again. I've lost track how many times we've changed doses and meds. (I do keep a written record.)

Derek had five hours of DT's today--very taxing physically. Tomorrow he has an interview within the PD. I'm not sure what we're hoping the outcome will be. Braylen, bless him, continues to thrive at school and at home. This is definitely a good year for him. Sometimes I think he's the only one in our family who has a good day. Well, that might be a bit extreme. Kaleb is plenty happy, even with his cold and his rash. He and Aaron had spring pictures at school today and for the first time ever I didn't tell them what to wear. These pictures show their entire outfit, and Aaron wore navy sweat pants with an orange t-shirt. Nice. Kaleb wore his Cubs t-shirt with matching shorts. Both boys have red noses and Aaron looked especially worn out. He lasted just a few hours at school before I had to come pick him up. (sigh)

Since this blog post is so cheerful (ha!) I need to end it well. Last week Kaleb needed to bring a rock to school. He has this rock he's always called "Buddy Rock." It's shaped like the moon and even looks like the moon. We looked all over for Buddy Rock. I wonder if any other mother of boys has rock collections stashed where I do. I have a plastic container overflowing with rocks, and it's stored in my pots and pans cabinet. Each rock is a gift from one of my sons, so I keep them all. :) Kaleb and Aaron have ice cream buckets and boxes under their beds, filled with rocks. We have painted rocks in the basement. Could we find Buddy? No. Then I hear Kaleb say, "I'd rather have my buddy rock than gold." We never did find it, but I gave him one of my "special" rocks from the kitchen. It's worked out great.

Best of all, last Wednesday Kaleb shared the gospel with his friend (D) at Awana! This is what he told me he said: He asked D if he was a Christian. D said he wasn't sure. Kaleb told D he needs to ask his mom and dad to help him ask Jesus into his heart. Kaleb said to D, "Becoming a Christian will change your life. Jesus will be with you all of the time and you will never be alone. It's the most important decision you'll ever make. And after you do it, you know you will live forever in heaven."

You know what? All of the junk in our lives--the sicknesses, disease, job uncertainty, pain and injury, stress--those things are but a blip on the screen when compared to all of eternity. They blur together and weigh us down and then our son comes along and reminds us what we're here for. I'd rather have Jesus than anything. There's a song for that, and the last two lines say it all...

1. I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; (or buddy rock!)
   I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
   I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
   I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand
   
   • Refrain:
     Than to be the king of a vast domain
     And be held in sin’s dread sway;
     I’d rather have Jesus than anything
     This world affords today.
2. I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
   I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
   I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame;
   I’d rather be true to His holy name
3. He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
   He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;
   He’s all that my hungering spirit needs;
   I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead