The Toothless Troll

An adored book from our childhood is one from the Mole and Troll series. In our favorite book it discussed the many methods that Mole and Troll used to take out a loose tooth. My sister Sarah so graciously read this story to James a couple of weeks ago when we were over there. James has asked for her to read it every time since.

We've been waiting for his stubborn tooth to fall out for over a month! This was his first loose tooth so we've been enjoying discussing using one of the methods that Mole and Troll used such as tying it to a door knob and slamming the door. Grandpa has offered to use a hammer as well.

Considering he didn't get his first baby tooth until he was 12 months old- I'd say it was right on time. The longer they keep them the better is what the professionals say!

His adult tooth has been coming in with a vengeance and pushing up behind the baby one all crooked and far back. So- the other day Daddy decided to take matters into his own hands. This tooth was coming out one way or the other if it took all night.

Lil' James was fine with this option because he couldn't wait for Mommy or Daddy tooth fairy to sneak into his room and give him his special gift. So, Daddy and Little James locked themselves in the kids bathroom for over a half an hour! James put ora-jel on Lil' James' gums and rubbed it for a while. With much nimble a finger and patience, the ingenious husband of mine wrapped floss around the tooth and jiggled it and wriggled it and finally pulled that sucker out! There was a good bit of blood indicating to me that it wasn't quite ready- but oh well...or should I say fair well?

Lil' James proudly approached me with a rather proud grin across his one less toothed face and told me that they "Did it...but can you have Daddy sneak into my room?!" I guess since I didn't have a hand in the matter that my sneaky expertise wasn't needed. He was sort of disappointed that he didn't talk funny. He also tried whistling and that too was the same old same old.

The movie Milo and Otis was the prized reward for accomplishing this rite of passage. James being an animal lover extremist was quite thrilled.

As I wrote this he came in and asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was writing about him losing his tooth. "Oh...well can you write that I took it like a man?" he asked.

With pleasure my dear boy.

Boy vs. Wild

We don't watch TV much at all in this house. James and I have maybe 3 shows that we may make the effort to watch during their season. The kids never ask to "watch TV" because they really only know of videos that we carefully select for their viewing. There are some great shows on PBS including Nature shows which catch our fancy every other week or so and some mornings they get up early and will ask if Clifford or Curious George is on. They are accustomed to sitting down and reading or playing outside or playing cards together rather than wasting time with the tube. People are shocked when I tell them that we only pay $7.95/month for our 20 odd channels- 3 of which are Shopping Networks, 2 Spanish (can be fun to dub in your own dialog as to what you think is happening), 2 PBS, 2 Catholic, 1 Croatian, 1 African American, and a few weird odds and ends of local info channels with nothing but postings. So really we've got the basic ABC, NBC, and FOX. I simply and ignorantly refer to them as 3, 5, and 8.

About a year ago James and I started utilizing Netflix. We recently discovered that you can get DVD's of shows from the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, and all those other channels with which I would have a serious problem controlling myself by not turning them off and leaving them on all day for my own gluttony! So really, the not doing TV is for my benefit as much as the kids. :)

Well, our family has acquired a "Boob Tube" obsession. We have been watching the Discovery Channel's "Man vs. Wild" series. We're in Season 2. Surprisingly, it has been working out great with the kid's school and correlating well with their geography, Peoples of the World studies, and history. After we find out where Bear Grylls is headed, we look it up on their markable map and discuss it in relation to our studies. A month ago, the kids would cringe at all the lovely creepy crawlies that he'd dig up from under a rock or rip off of a carcase and say "Ewww...gross! I would never do that!" Then, last night when we were watching Bear (we're on a first name basis with him as well as planning on naming our next child "Bear") in the Panama Canal, he ate a snake, an iguana, a worm and had termites for dessert. Not an "Ewwwwweeee, gross, or disgusting" dared to leave their lips. It was merely a, "Well, if that's what you've got to do to live..." response from Teagan. It's amazing how desensitized kids become in such a short time!- Another reason we don't do TV! Yet this wasn't a bad case of desensitization. It has been a great case of imagination revitalization!

My eldest son, James Arthur Ross III, has deemed himself the "Boy vs. Wild." His name makes him sound like he should be a Duke of something somewhere rather than a boy of nature. I'll settle for Wild Boy of the Woods of Burlington". Yet, since our encounters and travels with Bear Grylls, James has taken it upon himself to build a fort in the back yard made of sticks, wood, vine and twine equipped with a rock surrounded fire pit and mat. He went into the woods and pulled out fallen trees and asked me if he could cut off the dried-out and old lily stems. "These would make a great bed so that I'm off the ground and away from the life in the undergrowth, Mom. Oooo, and I could use some of it for tinder and tie the sticks together too!"

He was using other sticks and the side of his spade to chop up some twigs, trees and branches. With some frustration growing from stubborn sticks- he confidently informed me that, "This isn't the best way to do this Mom. I think you might have to teach me how to use a knife like Bear." I chuckled while at the same time thinking, "You are a very responsible and self-discplined boy that I have a mind to let you...but I don't want people arresting me for stupid mothering." Next thing I know, he'll be asking me to but him a flint necklace so he can start fires. I already told my husband that I want one for Christmas.

He has built dozens of spears and hunting tools and all around has become one with our "wild," big backyard. I'm so proud of him and his constructive imagination. Yesterday, he came running in from the garage, where he had been diligently working on something for over a half hour. In passing, he hollers to me that he needed red construction paper, and scissors. He ran to get his craft box and aforementioned essential tools of the trade and went to work. I was quietly observing him and smiling while I was working with Teagan. I heard him say to himself, "Okay, I need to cut a bunch of triangles of different sizes." A few minutes later he was "Done...perfect." "Okay, MOM! Now I need some tape since I ran out of twine."

Thoroughly intrigued, I asked him what he was doing. He excitedly told me that "I'm making the spears for the bow and arrow I just built. I'm gonna go hunting for dinner later. I can't wait to show Daddy- now COME AND SEE!" He grabbed the tape and off he went to finish his Big Boy bow.

We've become very impatient waiting for Daddy to get home in the evenings because I've been told by the kids that "It's just not the same watching it without him."

By this afternoon, JAR III, or "3 sticks" as his Indian heritage demands, had made a large bow and set of arrows and a smaller one for his Dad as a birthday present. Perhaps he thinks his Dad isn't boy enough to handle the big boy bow.

I think that the pride his Dad feels is present enough.

Events Full

This Labor Day weekend- we had a family split of International proportion. I shall do my best to report these events as they have been relayed to me orally or over bad cellular reception.




East Coast Report: James went to Norfolk, VA to help put the roof on Esther Giordano's in-law suite at Mark Giordano's house. He left Thursday morning and came back Monday night. My only requests were that he drive down safely and he comes home with his Indian tan in tow! I think it was a reasonable request for a girl! I called him on Friday and asked at what point he had taken his shirt off and how his tan was coming. :) My cousin and Uncle also went to help. They got about half of it completed before the torrential downpour arrived on Monday and they headed home. Not only did he come back with a bit more of a tan- he brought three whole days of facial scruff too! Of course, he will invoke his modesty and shave it all off before he goes to see anyone this week. He did have to renew his license on Tuesday and he kept it for the ID picture...so I have it documented!!! Ahhh....such thoughtfulness and adoration:) He took off Tuesday to stay at home and work on his talk for Sunday and play with the family.




Midwest Report: Teagan went with Grandma, Aunt Lydia, and cousin Sadie to Rockford, IL to stay at the Johnson's and have special Sherry, Grammy and Sadie time. On the way they stopped at our usual Cracker Barrel site and bought her brothers a special toy from her "oh so special" trip. They arrived Friday night around 11pm our time and woke up, on average, at 5am every day. Sadie and Tea had especially fun girl cousin time, goofing around and annoying Lydia during the car ride, eating Swedish pancakes, painting toe nails, playing with a new found treasure of toys at Grandma Sherry's house, playing with dear friends from Bible School, watching girly girl movies, reading with Grandma Sherry for hours on end, going to the Apple Orchard, oh and the endless whining. She finally got some sleep in the car- as uncomfortable as it may appear.




International Report: Meanwhile, my Dad was in Jamaica for the 30-something time experiencing serious intestinal distress at multiple airports, Jamaican shacks, and other run-down and nasty venues that weren't equipped with, shall we say- sanitary and suitable facilities. No more detail is allowed at this time as this is a rated G blog. Moving on...



Local Report: Lil' James, Ireson and I decided to go to Sarah's house over in Wickliffe for the duration. Before the weekend was through we were able to have some quality time with Deanna, Cindy, Devone and kids, and Aunt Sue came over on Sunday evening after Sarah, Devo, and I went to the movies! All I have to say about that is "Go Joe! ...and red-heads rock!"


James spent much of his time climbing Sarah's tree, taking the dogs out, catching bugs to feed the Venus Fly Trap, watering flowers and making a mud slide down her back slope, checking out the new neighborhood Dollar store, finding caterpillars, watching giant spiders spin webs and eat their prey, and watching Animal Planet- the highlight of the weekend! We made 2 batches of Rice Krispie treats, ate cookies and had 2 or maybe it was 3 Marguerita nights! I think I gained 2 pounds. I think being so sugar/preservative/processed deprived in normal life led us to be ravenous junk food beasts for our special weekend. After all, we were on vacation too!

Now back to reality....bleh.

Fishers of Men

Last week, my brother Jesse came over to fish in our neighborhood ponds when Devone and the kids were out of town. Lil' James was staying at my parent's for the weekend but my Dad brought him over to join in the fishing fun.

Lil' James reeled in the first and only big bass of the night. There were some other rock bass and bluegill caught, as well as bug bites, and some sludge and slime.

It was funny to watch Uncle Jesse and my Dad look at little James with jealousy and amazement every time he'd fling a fish out of the water. It's like he couldn't help but be a natural fisherman. Jesse ended up catching a few and Grandpa scored el' zero! At one point James, innocently and matter of factly stated, "Grandpa, you haven't caught ANY yet."

"Rub it in James!" said Grandpa laughing.

I enjoyed sitting there watching the three generations of men in my life enjoying each others company, and interacting while mentoring and discipling each other. My Dad, Jesse, James and Lil' James and Ireson.

Good times...make that great times.

Happy Birthday to Tea!

Teagan turned 5 years old this past August 21st. Since 5 is a big # and all- it seemed appropriate to throw a birthday bash. This, however, proved interesting when we were still in the planning stages. Either my Mom, my Sister in Law and her kids or good friends were all going to be out of town at one point or another and all at different times. So it was a matter of figuring out when we could celebrate and with whom and where.

Teagan requested her ultra special treat for turning 5 to go to "Fun Time," the bouncy place, and bounce the day away with some friends. The original plan was to have the entire shin-dig there with all the family and friends, but because of all of the different travel plans- we settled on just Daddy and I taking the kids and Teagan's cousins: Sadie and Josie... Aunt Lydia tagged along too. We ended up having the entire place to ourselves for the majority of the time! It's as though we rented out the entire place!

Extreme fun was had by all as well as some down and dirty racing between James and I. We hung out there for about 2 and a half hours until the kids were well and spent from all the adrenalin pounding bouncing and then we headed home.

The following Friday we had her actual birthday party on her actual birthday. Friday evening a bunch of family and friends gathered over at Grandma's house where we had a cookout.

Tea helped me decorate Mom's house with streamers and balloons. I bought purple and green Pom Poms for all the kids to play with. Unpredictable to me, however, these things shed their purple, green, and silver foils all over the house! Teagan however decided that Deanna, pregnant and lounge ridden, needed some sprucing up and decided to decorate her hair. And from there on anyone who came through the door had their hair, glasses, or earrings tied with multi metallic foils!

Teagan had made Thank you cards to give to everyone for all of her gifts. The original intent was to hand them out to everyone with a heart felt "thank you" after she opened their gift. However, Teagan's excitement wasn't to be contained. As soon as the guests walked through the door Teagan ran up to them, card in hand, and said "Thank you for coming", endowing many of them with a hug! It was very sweet and I was very proud of her sincerity and thoughtfulness.

By request, I made a home-made white strawberry jam/cream cheese filled cake with cream cheese frosting, along with strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. I figured that a 5th year b'day deserved some serious attention...that and I raked in some "good Mom" points for making something that had more than a tablespoon of sugar in it! AND IT WAS insanely good!

So, I have a five year old Sweet Teagan Betty. Spunky, cantankerous, sweet, tender, and an ever growing Child of God.

Another year older, another year ahead....and what will it bring?

I'm excited.

Whiner Whiner- go away...come again another day.

We went canoeing with about 50 people from our church family on Saturday. Everyone anxiously looks forward to this fabulously fun day where you get to trek 7 or so miles of the Cuyahoga River and then get back to base camp and eat the ready and waiting feast! Good times are always had by all! However, this year, rather than gorgeous sunny weather that we were expecting, we were graced with rain... and then more rain, and then a deluge of pouring rain about a mile out all the way to the end.





You couldn't have gotten more drenched if you fell in. Teagan and Ireson were in the boat with James and I. Ireson is such the pleasant little passenger. Granted he snacked on banana bread and pretzels and other such delights for the 1st 3/4 of the ride but barely a peep emerged from his frigid and at one point blue little lips....





And then there was Teagan...





Two years ago when we went canoeing, she was 1 week shy of turning 3. She had a grand old time. The weather was quite accommodating that year, but she still tempered the rocking boat and buggy terrain rather well! She had a swell time!





This year- not so much.





Mile 1: "MOM! Don't put the paddle down, get rowing!" - She wanted it to end before we even started.





Mile 2: "Why are you stopping Mom? Don't just sit there- get rowing!" - Last year we'd just sit and enjoy the scenery and chat amongst our fellow boaters. This year you kind of wanted to bypass the chit chat because of the rain and cold. Yet, even if I wanted to get a drink of water- I'd get scorned.





Mile 3: "The wind is making me cold, the rain is making me cold, and YOU are making me cold MOM!" It was pretty stinking cold for at least the last 4 miles or so. The kids were so soaked from just sitting there.


Mile 4: "Come on Mom, let's get there already- row!"


Every time we'd bump someone or rock the boat to adjust your numbing behind, she'd start crying and panicking. I am not raising a wimp! Not even the snacks, bug net, umbrella or hat could appease her!





Mile 5,6,7: At the start, Lil' James went in a boat with my cousin Jen and a friend from Ann Arbor. He was quite the little paddling trouper. There was one point where Jen, the wonderful selfless person that she is, sacrificed herself and fell/tripped/jumped/flipped into the water to save the boat and other passengers from tipping. Lil' James got kind of freaked out there for a minute, as did I watching my son almost get dumped into the water, but he soon recovered with nothing more than a banged up shin and a hard reality check. His butt remained on the floor of the boat for the remaining mile. This of course did not help Teagan's mentality regarding the joys of canoeing. She witnessed the mild nightmare and exclaimed under tears and duress "My brother, my brother!!!" So we hung out ahead after we caught there paddle down stream to make sure all was well and assure Teagan that her dear brother was much more the man than she and that he was fine.





Dockage: We finally docked and went to the car to change our sopping clothes and then headed to the picnic area where we ate like kings.


Teagan informed me later, after hanging out around the camp fire and enjoying the assortment of chocolate desserts, that she "loves this place!...but not the boat part so much" and that she was "glad to have a Mom like me even though you [I] get mad sometimes."





After about the 3rd tirade of demands in the boat, I told Teagan that I was thrilled that she was in the boat because all I could do was laugh at her sweet pathetic-ness.


Her father and I shared many a chuckle that day at the poor, cold, wet, tired, and pathetic child. Though we usually don't tolerate whining and complaining- we made an allowance this time around.


She indeed made this adventure more memorable because of it!
Check back for pics in a week or so. I'm waiting for my cousin to upload them to FB.

No James = No Fun

James has been gone for 3 days at the Gathering and Teagan informed me this morning, as she was being disciplined for not completing her morning chores that, "It's just no fun without James here! When's he going to get home already?!"


A couple weeks ago I had only James and Ireson at home for 2 days while Teagan spent the night at Grandma's house. Life for those 2 days was, well, too easy. It was almost boring. James and Ireson got along great, things got done, life was calm and surprisingly quiet with 2 boys all day. Almost serenity dare I say.

WELL, THE TIMES ARE A CHANGIN'!

Day 1 with no James:
Teagan and Ireson have held a completely different dynamic. Teagan has had the treat and pleasure of sleeping in James' top bunk with Ireson in the bottom. However, on day 1 she got up at 6am to pee and woke up her brother! Day 1 not off to a great start. Bossing around the little brother wasn't received so well by Ireson. He's happy to toddle along with his big brother James since he wants to be just like him- but when Teagan tries to impress her "older sisterly ways" on him- he just won't have it. He thinks that he needs to take over as the big brother apparently. They have their precious moments- but overall they clashed.

Day 2 with no James:
Not much to report. We picked about 100 beans from the garden and Teagan whined about having to weed it with the hoe (James loves to do this daily) and then she didn't take a nap and was nothing short of unpleasant come dinner time. Bike riding helped, thunder storm didn't!

Day 3 with no James:
I had to go blueberry picking because last week it was slim picking and there was much ripening still needed. So I took the 2 kids out to a new fantastic place where blueberries are primarily organically grown. My excitement for the Garden- of -Edenish bounty was soon squelched by dealing with 2 lazy, whiney, bickering bums. Teagan tried to shift the blame to James by telling me that "If he were here, he would be helping out a lot and then you [me] could get all the picking done and not need my [Teagan's] help anyway! You shouldn't have let him go to the Gathering Mom if you need his help soooo much!"

Well! Though right she may be- she would still have had to help and do her annual picking part too. She acted as though this was a surprise to her and she had forgotten all the year past!
I still made her stand there in one spot with one branch and pick till I had had my quota and felt somewhat better about invoking the slave labor since I missed my little helper! I will drive this laziness out of her.

Sigh- sweet baby James- when will you come back to me? We just can't seem to peacefully function without you.

What will day 4 bring?....

Family Fishing and Frogging Fun

Bro. Marvin & Sis. Joan Springer have an awesome 12 acre, pond-equipped property about 10 minutes from our house. They have an anytime open invitation for us to come over and fish and visit. They have a gorgeous layout with a vast array of flowers, an abundant garden, and tons of fun old barns and buildings and woods to explore. There is a large pond and a tiny "frog" pond which is primarily frog inhabited but no fish. Lil' James caught his first fish at their house 3 years ago!

Sunday we went over for a few hours with Jesse and the kids, and my parents. The kids had an awesome time catching fish, catching frogs, blowing bubbles, hooking worms, and getting down and dirty with the cousins.

All the kids caught a countless amount of bluegill and Jesse and James caught the only bass. Teagan caught a tree frog on the hike through the woods. It was soooo cute and only about the size of my thumb nail. She held that thing for over and hour. Jesse wanted to use it as bait the frog bully!

All in all- fishing fun was had by all!

Teagan vs. the Monster Mosquito

The Mosquito Won

There she was minding her own business on Friday. The wrap up day for Bible Day Camp included a giant inflatable bouncer, rocket balloons, a guy from NASA, and pizza! The day was off to a great start...until...Teagan was outside ready to enter the bouncer when she got bitten by a mosquito on her eyelid.

This happens on an annual basis. Yet, this year she seemed to swell even more! This is what she and James do when they get a mosquito bite anywhere. It swells to 50x it's size and takes about 3-5 days to go away, demanding Benadryl around the clock, which seems to do no good anyway!

Besides the general unappealing look and occasional itch-I can't take the child anywhere for fear of someone calling the child protective services. I think in the summer I should just have them wear a sign that says: "Mosquitoes love me, and this is what happens when we meet." I mean any sensible person would think that if she was being beaten that it would be black and blue- but you just never know. Any other parent would probably rush their child to the ER based on the looks of it.

So, needless to say, my children (2 of them anyway) will never be campers or the out-doorsey type. All because of the fall.... I wonder if they'll exist in the Kingdom.

Feel the love

Lil' James is going with Grandma for 6 whole days to the COGAF Gathering this year. He'll have an amazing time with his cousins Kyle and Ryan and special Grammie time too.

On Friday, he was asking me how many more days until he leaves to the Gathering. I said 3 more days. I then made the mistake of asking him if he's going to miss all of us.

He replied, "Well, I'll be fine with Grammie, but I'm really going to miss Lexi."

Lexi is our dog people. Can you feel the love?

Steak Snobs.

Last night I asked the kids to each pick out a vegetable to have with their steak (from our cow) for dinner...a weekly event around here come summer!

Teagan said: "May I have corn and sweet potatoes, please. But I want a T-Bone not a Porterhouse, Mom!"

James: "Yeah sweet potatoes! Just make sure I get a bone too and I'll be happy!"

Sheesh!!- I guess when you eat steak often enough growing up - you learn the proper steak etiquette.

Woof woof...

On the way to cousins house to play...
Teagan: "James, Sadie and I are going to play Princess and dress up!"
James: "Well, I want to play with you guys though!"
Teagan: "Well, okay....but you'll have to be our dog."

Body Builder Bubba

James was having quiet time downstairs as I was blogging previous post. He came upstairs to inform me that he lifted the shopping cart up over his head because he is "soooo strong." He then proceeded to show me his muscles whilst sporting his new summer hair cut.

Pick a little, talk a little, pick pick pick, talk a lot, pick a little more...

I was trimming all the kids nails today. I just hate long fingernails on kids. It's disgusting- especially in the Spring and Summer when every speck of dirt they come in contact with seems to magnetize there.
Anyway, Teagan has the wonderful habit of biting her nails. (This too, is something she inherited from her Aunt who shall remain un-named, so we'll just call her, oh....Sarah.) So, I only have the occasional toe clipping for her.
James was up and long over-due for some nail hacking. I popped him up on the counter and cut his fingernails first and then proceeded to his toes. I got to the second foot and he warns me not to cut this one snarly, jagged and asking to be hacked toe nail because he "really wants to pick it off!" He was adamant and sure that he needed to do this. So I told him to go ahead and just be careful not to pull it too close and I'll check to see if we need to cut it after. So he proceeded with caution and intent and upon picked completion felt such satisfaction and thanks. "Oh yeah, that was a good one Mom."

I told him that one day he'd feel that same satisfaction and peace after popping a huge zit or something when he's a teenager.

Anatomy and Phys 101- Teagan Style.

We had a couple cold, wet and rainy days this week, so of course outside time wasn't an option. Plan B: The kids love it when I blow up balloons and we play different games with them and we just go all out nuts! I particularly love to throw the balloons at them and they have to hit it with whatever body part I shout out.

Anyway, this time, one of my "nut-case" children...namely Teagan...turned to me with her balloon in front of her and said: "Look Mom, the balloon looks like my eweterus."

I, of course couldn't contain myself and laughed my uterus off!

"You mean your you-terus?" I replied.

Tea, looking at me as though I'm an ignorant idiot, "Yeah, like my womb... you know!"

Then the thought struck her! She proceeded to relay it to me at a bewildering rate AND all in one breath: "OH, MOMMY....I KNOW!!!!! We could put a little baby balloon inside of it and blow it up and then you could pop this one and it would be like when you pushed Ireson out! Doesn't that sound like a good idea, Mommy?"

I thought to myself amongst my musing: "Yeah...'cause it was that easy."

Only a nurses child! What have I done?

Butt pack

Ireson is having his first sleep over at Aunt Sarah's house this weekend. I asked James if I could use his Thomas the Train Back Pack to pack Ireson's clothes. He gladly obliged as he is excited for his baby brother's big event too!

I gave all the kids a bath and Ireson got out and I wrapped him all snuggly in his big cozy, warm towel. As soon as he saw the "Bek pack" he threw his towel to the side as though he were about to take flight and immediately proceeded to put the back pack on. Then, he must have decided that it was too heavy for take off so he took it off unpacked everything except his precious "B" and then put it back on and started marching around chanting "Bek Pek to Sarah's house...Bek Pek to Sarah's house!"

Now who doesn't envy being able to run around naked and chanting?!

Birthday Boy!

Every Thursday we have gym and swim. This morning before we went to gym we went to the grocery store. I needed to pick up some birthday necessities like candles and balloons. The kids were great as they usually are when we go shopping. We got back in the car and James asked if I was "proud of them for being so responsible and obedient." Absolutely!

I'm a strong believer in shopping with your kids so they can learn how to be well behaved, responsible, know where to shop for the nutritious food, price compare, coupon search, and practice proper life skills. How are they ever going to learn all this if you shove them in the baby sitter's room?! I must say that I also thoroughly enjoy them standing outside the windows of the babysitting room and watch all the kids inside there as though they were animals at the zoo. It cracks me up!

Today, James informed his gym teacher that it was his birthday and all the 30+ other kids cheered him on all day and he got "special" treatment. He scored a goal while they were playing hockey too! He was so proud of himself.

Teagan informed ME that I am "such a great mommy for pushing that great brother of mine out of your belly 6 years ago this very day!" She gave James first pick and let him go first and what not all day.

James asked me yesterday if he could have whatever he wanted for his b'day dinner as long as it was nutritious. He requested "baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and cucumbers" for his birthday dinner. "Oh and a piece of candy for dessert, MOM!...because a little sugar is okay."

Happy Birthday my Sweet Baby James!

Sick-erson

Ireson had RSV when he was 8 days old. Consequently, he is more prone to wheezing if he gets sick and potentially developing asthma as he gets older. Well, the poor boy didn't so much as have more than a measly cold this entire winter. Then his Dad got sick and come mid April he developed a horrendous chest cold and Ireson thought he would enjoy the mucusy fun and get it too!

Come Monday morning he was weak, had a fever, and was wheezing a lot- something he has only done when he had croup a year ago. Luckily, I have a nebulizer from when he had RSV and I whipped it out. I decided to take him to the Dr and get some meds since he obviously couldn't get rid of this thing on his own at this point and just as I thought- it had progressed to a sinus infection. Within 24 hours he was feeling much better. We actually got more than 15 minutes of sleep at a time that night!

He threw an all out fit (very unlike him) the first time I tried to give him a breathing treatment. About the 4th run through though, and a lot of my Pediatric Nurse "distractics", now he will even hold it and turn the nebulizer ("tractor") on himself! He thinks it makes a cool tractor sound. James and Teagan help out a lot by making it a game and playing things with him like dominoes.

So things are finally on the mend. Now- it's time to prepare for the big brother's 6th birthday! I'll keep you posted.

He Is Risen Indeed!

On Saturday we celebrated Christian Passover with Laura & Brian Ross and all the kids. As in the past 10+ years they have done it - it was complete with re-enactments; painted back drops; a tub full of feader fish (the Sea of Galilee); unleavend bread, figs and dates; a ton of decked out refrigerator boxes (Egypt)- on which we colored the doors with red crayons; the upper room; the garden of Gethsamane; the tomb and angel (thanks Kaitlin!), and the new live additions this year including a rooster and real lambs (one blemished, one perfect). Don't worry, we didn't eat that one for dinner.

The kids all experienced Passover (dinnerand all) as real as possible as though they were living then. Big James even got to be a soldier and get his ear cut off! I particularly enjoyed seeing Teagan and the other 4 year olds get chained up as a demonstration of how we are slaves to sin. As always, it proves to be an impressive, memorable, solemn, and most spiritual reminder of the meaning of Easter time. I was very proud of James and Teagan when they chimed in with the right answers throughout the event!

James, Teagan and Ireson spent half the visit collecting the 40 some chicken's eggs (that's the extent of what we do with eggs in my house for Easter!), and helping groom the 3 miniature horses; exercising them by running them on a lead and even riding! James got to canter on Misty! Teagan did too but I was especially proud of my introverted and reserved son having the guts to get on her and let her run! At first it looked like he was peeing his pants but then he realized how much fun it was and he was overtaken with pride and excitement. It was so cool! Abigail let him run the baby Stardust on the lead until we left. OF COURSE- I forgot my camera. Argh!

Ireson, in the mean time was getting sicker by the minute with a horrible chest cold that he contracted from his Dad. See next blog entry for those details.

Then on Sunday, we (James, Tea and I) went to Aunt Cindy's to have an Easter dinner. Devone planned an Easter egg hunt for the kids and then they hid them from the adults. I'm not sure which part they enjoyed more! Cousin Rach was there with her leg cast which she was going to have taken off on Monday. She let the kids decorate it with markers and then Teagan had the great idea of using nail polish to make it even more extravagant after she had finished painting Aunt Sue's nails. Oh the fun we had and Oh the cottonballs that they would be needing later!

We are so blessed with such a wonderful spiritual family. Thank you Lord Jesus!

Budha

Teagan was playing in the water with Ireson as he was taking a bath. She took her shirt off so it wouldn't get soaked. All of a sudden she came running in to my bathroom with her pot belly busting out and pants around her ankles and jumped up onto my toilet. She proceeds to tell me, "Mom, can you please go out so I can go poop and leave me alone because I'm meditating."

Well, I'm so sorry to have messed up the Karma of the whole situation. It's not like I EVER get peace and quiet when I want the bathroom to myself! Sheesh.