What We Do When We Have Strep

Fa la la la Lifetime, the Family Stone, Skipping Christmas, Divine Design (LOVE HER!), Shrek. Just a sampling of what's been on tv today, as Owen and I have laid in bed alllllll day. I went back to bed about 11 this morning, and the boys were soon to follow. I woke up at 2:19, and they were both asleep next to me. I don't know how long they slept, but my snooze was nice. They were up til 10 last night because we had a Christmas party to go to, so they were tired. Poor Owen finally got the message through to his parents that he's REALLY. SICK. And needs drugs. Maybe God let me get a flaming, swollen sore throat last night so I'd drag myself to the doctor and figure out our issues for both of us.

While I was at the clinic-inside-a-grocery-store, Aaron called and said Owen had spots on his face. Like chicken pox, he said. I almost cried right there. So they came to join me at the clini-in-a-grocery-store, and we all got swabbed and diagnosed and pennicillined-up. Apparently, strep is not just in your throat, it can also be a rash.

So while we were buying our groceries, Aaron got us Pedia-lyte, because he says we need "electriclights." Also known as electrolytes, which I don't know why we need, because our stomachs are not upset. But Owen's color is ghost-white times 7 days, so he thinks this will do the trick. Aaron also bought a Massive Size container of Clorox wipes and has disinfected the whole house. But he forgot the dishes and the laundry, changing the sheets, and vaccuuming. Oh well.

Christmas Quotables

So Owen has the funny quotes this year. We sent my grandma a birdhouse that the kids painted. She sent us money to buy the kids some presents, so they have been looking at them (their first presents) under the tree. Owen said, "I hope she didn't send us a birdhouse."

So I explained at another point that Aaron's family is coming over on Saturday for the Peterson Christmas. So when he was later talking to Mimi, he excitedly explained, "All the family is coming over in 6 days just to bring me a present."

Yesterday Gigi brought over no less than 20 presents for assorted people coming to the Peterson family Christmas this weekend. Owen counted them up and said to me, "She loves me more than you because I have more presents." Funny, he's so mature sometimes, but this Christmas present ordeal is really sending him over the edge.

Tonight, he is again sick. I let him snuggle in bed with me and watch Polar Express. As he was falling asleep, with closed eyes, he whispered, "Mama, why does Santa wear red clothes and white things and a long beard and who chose him to be Sant Clause?" I hope he has sweet dreams.

Owen: "Can we open a present? How many days til Christmas? I hate Christmas because it NEVER COMES! Do you remember that time we opened a present every day? Can I open this little one? When is everyone coming over with a present for me?

Asher: Wet's just go to sweep. (Let's just go to sleep).

the prodigy

I'm just sure he's a prodigy. And don't you tell me otherwise. Actually, Mendelssohn wrote the pieces we heard today when he was not much older than Owen. We're behind.

We went to the MN Orchestra today, for a kids concert. Before it starts they have the lobby full of instruments and activites for the kids to touch and try. I think they had the most fun during this part. Orchestra concerts can get boring, even the ones for kids!

You Would Think He'd Been Gone For Weeks

AP has been home for less than 24 hours and they've been the happiest 24 hours of my boys' lives, it seems. It's as if they have a new lease on life. They must be REALLY deprived of wrestling and rough-housing when he's gone. I just can't believe how much they like playing with their dad, especially when they play super-heroes. It might have something to do with the fact that he's running around the house dressed in his own super-hero costume- a camo one-piece outfit, topped with a coon skin hat and a ninja sword. I am not even kidding.

I think it's the weather

I was so happy to be using my oven tonight. Multiple times today, actually. I even used THREE different pots and pans to cook dinner. BECAUSE IT'S SNOWING. And now I can offically cook comfort food. And since the kids are stir CRAZY, we made Halloween sugar cookies too. The slice and bake kind, but it still ate up a whole 30 minutes. But back to the snowing.

I could get into the whole weather-talk and tell you about the warmth of the different levels of the atmosphere, and why it wasn't a true snow, but I'll spare you. Let's just say the stuff coming down was white, melted on the ground and the wind was whipping. It makes for a rough day to get groceries. But thankfully my trusty side-kicks (all 3 of them) went with me on the way home from church. I had no list with me. Guess how much we spent? A lot more than normal. Note to self- do not take the whole family grocery shopping. It's bad for the budget. Except during the first snow of the year; then all bets are off.

Anyway, I thought I'd post some interesting, funny, and nutty things the boys are doing and saying lately.

1. Asher calls any kind of hook in the house, a "hooker." "Mom, I put my sweatshirt on the hooker." "Mama! I found the hookers (bungee cords) and I hooked Tia to me!" Owen even took a "hooker" to school, but that's another story entirely.

2. One time I told Owen not to drink his milk that had been sitting on the table all afternoon. I've also had to discourage him from eating old food found in the car. So I explained to him that food goes bad. After about 3 hours. So guess what he's obsessed with?
At dinner: "Mom, has my milk been out for 3 hours?"
"Mama- can I have this candy? Has it been out for 3 hours?"
"Mama- can I have some Sprite? Has it been out for 3 hours?"
I didn't know this fact would lead to OCD tendencies in him.

3. And then tonight. Aaron is wrestling with Asher while I am trying to get them to calm down before bed. Owen takes one look at the situation and says, "Aaron! Seriously!" My little protege'.

He's so big!

More Wedding Pics

Asher takes a break

Owen and his cousin

The flower girl and the ring-bearer

The clan

Summer

About a month ago, a friend offered us his family cabin for a long weekend. It was just what we were looking for. The boys learned to fish, we spent a lot of time on the boat, and we made smores by the fire each night. Oh yeah- NO cable tv and bad internet access! A perfect vacation for boys. And me.

Owen looooved tubing, even when it was pretty chilly. In fact, the pontoon boat just didn't cut it as far as speed is concerned. He was practically napping back there, waiting for some real action. Asher couldn't have cared less. He tried it once, hated it, never went back there again. He and I were buds that weekend. We went to bed early, stayed warm by the fire, and laughed at the 2 goons freezing their booties off in the lake.

Asher loves driving the boat. With his feet. Just like his daddy.

How could they be any cuter?

Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

So A. chose Chuck E Cheese-where-a-kid-can-be-a-kid for his birthday party. That's what he says every time he talks about it because he's watched the commercial 5000 times. Apparently. If you haven't heard him speak lately, imagine a slurring/drunken sailor saying that phrase. He's missing a tooth so his words slur. It provides lots of comic relief.




But I digress...the first question I get asked when I mention Chuck E Cheese is, "do they still have those scary characters that sing and move around...?" It's digital now ya'll! Here's the blue screen they dance in front of, so it looks like they're on tv. There is a guy in a mouse suit, but Asher loved that part because the mouse gave him lots of attention. The music plays reaaallllly loud, so essentially the whole place is watching and singing happy birthday to him.

This is the child who only requires pizza and cake frosting to live, so he was in heaven. 3 was a great birthday!

A's birthday. I mean O's birthday.

So much to report lately. But I'll start with A's birthday. I know, it was a month ago. But I finally have some pics to show. Wait! I never posted pics of O's. Well here's the birthday extravaganza, starting with the boys' gift this year...


the trampoline!





Since Aaron and O are in the same week I decided to have one big birthday party day. In the early afternoon I invited 4 of O's friends over, and then after that I invited the family and some friends over to grill and celebrate Aaron's birthday too.

School daze

O and A will start school on the same day. A has been asking to go to preschool since we took his brother last year. And he would ask each time, "i go too?" And I would explain that when he was 3, he could go. Sometimes Owen would have a hard time going in to class, and as I would talk with him, A would march right in, take Owen's seat and start coloring. He even knew the teacher's name and would talk with her.







So I could hardly refuse him this year. He's ready. So as I've been thinking about both my kids starting in their respective schools in a short week and a half, I've realized...I'm really not sad. If you pay attention to mom-world, there is lots of talk about sending the kids off to kindergarten, middle school, college...how they grow up so fast... About how many moms will sit in their cars and cry after they march their child into their classroom. And don't get me wrong, I'm sure I will shed some tears. But I tend to anticipate things so far in advance, that I think I'm dealing with the emotion of it now, and when it comes I will have accepted the facts and just be caught up in the nerves and pride of it.







I realized in thinking about all of this, that long ago when I pictured my life with kids, I pictured a busy household with kids of all ages, lots of schedules and ALL IN SCHOOL! I kind of glossed over the stay-at-home mom part. The part where you have 2 kids under 5 at home and you are their constant companion, entertainment and need-fulfiller. I just had no idea about that. As it turns out, there is a lot of "staying home" in being a stay-at-home mom. Do you know how much work it would've been to run to the store to get the taco seasoning I forgot tonight? Forget it- I used something else. I stayed home. Do you know how much more it costs and how much more of my energy it consumes to feed a family of 4 at a restaurant than it does to throw a pizza in the oven? Forget it- just stay home. Do you know how much work it is to get ready to go out with a friend in the evening, after taking care of little ones for 13 straight hours? Who has the strength to get cleaned up and presentable and then put sentences together for hours on end? Forget it- my bed is calling my name! Now I know why they call it "stay-at-home mom!"







Staying at home has been by far the largest, longest challenge of my life. It has shown me more of who I am than I ever wanted to see. I have always struggled through it. Of course I've enjoyed it, I love my kids, my heart is full of all the blessings I've been given. But I think this next part of life will be even better. I think I will thrive with a little more breathing room. A little more independence on the part of my kids. A little more watching them thrive in a new environment instead of feeling like our environment is stagnant at home.







I mean, really. I don't have any friends that have TWO boys who are close in age. All of my friends have girls, and maybe one son. I don't get to ask anyone if their boys pee on their trampoline. Or if they have "naked time," running around the living room right after their bath. Or if their son has eaten leaves, dog food and popcorn kernels in the past week. I mean how much of them beating each other and endless wrestling is too much? Should I stop them when the screaming starts? Or just when the neighbors start to look out their windows? Is 8 am too early to kick them out into the backyard?







Yes, it will be nice to have someone else entertaining them now. They need it. They're ready. Today I let it slip that I will miss Owen when he's in kindergarten. I tried to gloss the comment over, in an effort to keep the day a celebration for him. I told him he'd be SO busy having SO much fun, that he wouldn't miss me at all. He just smiled and said, "I'll be having so much fun I'll just forget about you!"







And I just laughed.

The Wedding

I've been helping to plan this wedding for 6 months, and now...it's all behind us. The week was a busy rollercoaster for the whole family. Wednesday night we baptized the groom in our backyard pool. Thursday was Asher's birthday, and the day that we picked up the guests flying in who were staying with us. I also printed the wedding programs (incorrectly), schlepped all the decorations to the library and picked up guests here and there that were without a car. That night was the rehearsal.

Friday I began my day by doing a terrible job cooking our guests breakfast (I was too distracted to watch for signs of burning), then sitting at the table fixing the programs one by one. At some point I realized that the kids were not going to do well without my attention, so we called in some friends to help watch them. They were wisked away and I began my primping.

At noon the girl staying with us (also named Bethany) and I went to have our make-up done. As soon as I was done, I was back at the house loading the car and the boys with Aaron to head to the wedding. Aaron had bought SO much food, filled coolers with drinks, etc, that our car was PACKED to the gills. Plus we had 4 wedding outfits, shoes, accessories, wedding decorations, etc. So the Clampetts headed into traffic to get to Stillwater, thankfully getting there right on time.

The family was told to be there at 3:00. No one was there. They filtered in until the last of the family arrived for pictures at 4:20. The wedding was at 5:30.

So I'll shorten the rest of the story. I was a marching, sweating, working mess. Because no one was there on time, I got to run around finding people and getting their flowers on, track people down for the photographer and generally stress about the timing the whole time. Bethany (the other one) calls this family "non-chalant." I would agree. Everytime the photographer finished taking a shot, the whole family/bridal party left. One girl went back to fix her hair. One brother went for a smoke break. The kids went to climb trees. And guess who tracked them all down for more pics?

My kids were, in short, not ready. They were tired from 2 nights of staying up late with family/wedding things. Aaron had gotten them ready, but he was very busy with other wedding details. So the kids' hair wasn't brushed, their faces were dirty, and they hated wearing their tuxes. It was a chore getting them to even smile!

So when it was time to walk down the aisle, I could hear Asher crying. Wailing. I walked out to go down the aisle and I noticed Owen didn't have the ring pillow. Where is it? He shrugs his shoulders. As I go to take Aaron's arm to walk down the aisle, my mom is standing there with Asher, who is crying for me. Bad timing for a meltdown! I thought we should just hold him or let him walk with us, but Aaron was trying to coax him into walking down the aisle with the other kids. All this time, we are visible to the entire audience.

So Asher eventually calms down. We all get down the aisle and the kids get to their seats. Our saving grace was that the kids were so tired, they fell asleep during the wedding. Otherwise they would have had a really hard time sitting still. The wedding was beautiful.

The reception was also beautiful, although the dj's company called and threatened to pull the plug because of a few sprinkles. But it all worked out in the end, it did NOT rain and the reception was really fun.

So, my wedding planning days are OVER. Does everyone hear me? There will be no wedding planning in my future...did I tell you Aaron's other sister is getting married next summer??

********************************************************************************************

The day after the wedding I felt like...I can't describe it. It's like nothing I've ever felt. I was SO tired that I felt like I was in a fog. Not sleepy tired, just...lazy. Aaron took the boys (mercifully) and I did nothing. I slept, I ate, I read, I watched tv. I tried not to think about the Chuck E Cheese birthday party I was throwing the next day. Mostly I thought about the wedding and how stressed I felt. I wish I could change that about myself. I'm getting better, but I also feel like the nut who was running around making everyone else feel stressed. Everyone was very kind and thankful, but I fight against that part of my personality a lot. Oh well...I'm going to chalk that up to being my thorn in my flesh (one of them) that makes me realize I am human; that humbles me and makes me realize my need for Jesus. Yes, thank goodness, this weekend, for Jesus. He is the only way I will be able to get this Chuck E Cheese party off the ground tomorrow. Have mercy....

The squeaky clean boys.
















The Children's Museum- A likes to grocery shop. He got lots of macaroni.

















O liked milking the cow

Life in TX

So we spent a week with dad and Cathy, and then they left on vacation. So we have the house for a week. Should be smooth sailing. Here are our adventures:

Friday: Our friends and their kids visit us from San Antonio. Fun, fun, fun.

Sunday: Our friends leave with my son's shoes in the back of their van. Discovered when they get back home

Monday: We are going to McDonalds for lunch and NO shoes (of O's) can be found. Should have 2 pairs left. Finally we give up and eat at home.

afternoon: O and I go to Target (him barefoot) and buy him a new pair of shoes- that light up and have characters, no less. A first for us both.
night: a delicate "pretty" is broken by a ninja sword. Find one pair of shoes.

Tuesday: super glue the "pretty" back together. Learn how to get super glue off of a granite countertop

Wed: we visit with relatives. Boys destroy my cousin's can pyramid while left in his room.

Thurs: Home alarm goes off in bad weather. We have no code, no password, no contact with parents. Takes FOUR hours and a police deputy to convince alarm company to tell me how to "power it down." However- while looking in attic closets for miscellaneous wires to disconnect, find the other pair of O's shoes.

Fri: See an armadillo wander into the yard and play in the garden

Sat: we fly home and we are REALLY ready to be back in nice weather!

Pics coming soon.

Last Day of School

Before we get to the last day of school, here he is helping his dad put the new bunk beds together. They looove having bunk beds. And so do we.

So on the last day of school they had a little program for the parents. A little singing and dancing...

and then the pronouncement of graduating from preschool, complete with certificate and kids Bible.

He can't hide his joy.

Going to Kindergarten

This little boy is going to kindergarten. Tonight we went to kindergarten registration. We went to a program and toured the school- it took him a little bit to warm up and actually enter the room but once he did he was sold. He liked the Lego table- funny- because he has never sat long enough at home to play Legos. He read some books he recognized from home. And he liked the computer lab. Had a blast there. I was so proud of him as he clicked away and changed backgrounds and made stripes and the girl next to him didn't know what a mouse was. I compared his size to the other boys I saw, since he will be young in his class. Then I saw the suggested activites for each day during the summer. Count to 10. Say your first and last name. Zip your coat (during summer?). I think he will be fine in Kindergarten. He had fun looking around and said he loved it! Relief. Sweet relief.

Sweetness

Owen climbs to the top of the rock wall (twice) in Texas and even rings the bell. Not scared for a second.

So Owen's first day back at preschool was yesterday. And I got absolutely no information out of him about his day, as usual. Luckily the teacher posts their themes for the week so I can ask educated questions instead of general ones. But later in the day the info sometimes leaks out. So right before bathtime he came and found me to sing me a song. And in his high falsetto voice he started singing to me, "My hands are yours, my hands are yours, I lift them up to you (picture the hand motions here), Halleluuuu-yah. My heart is yours..." So cute. I'm so glad someone else is teaching him songs about God because at some point you just get all tapped out and can't think of anymore songs to teach them.

It gives me a little pain that he won't be bringing home those songs next year- we chose the school he will go to next year and it's not the Christian school he's at now. But I loved the public school when I toured it today and I knew several of the teachers there, which gave me peace. So I guess I'll be back in the driver's seat teaching him about God- anyone got some new songs I can teach him? Thank goodness there's still Sunday school.