Birthday Milestones

As is always the case, Seth and Zac celebrate their birthdays within a month of each other. As they've gotten older, the "big-dealness" of the birthdays have grown--for instance, we have an official "birthday dinner" on the actual day (waffles, anyone?), and usually have something fun on the weekend, like a movie night and no chores. A Celebration Weekend of sorts.

When it came to parties, we had a bit of a divergence. Seth opted for the traditional home party, with a sundae twist. We invited his buddies over (three came) for sundaes on Sunday, then had a treasure hunt and a balloon pop relay. Everyone had a fabulous time, and it was a nicer environment than last year, when the law of the jungle was the rule (8 boys with a cold April snowshower outside--never again!)

Zac has decided this year that he wanted to just invite a few friends to the pool for ice cream and swimming. Of course, that means we have to wait for the pool to open! But I think the fact that he is TWO digits now has affected his thinking in several ways. We're officially in the "tween" bracket now, and I see it in a multitude of ways. He's more of a big boy in how he thinks and responds now, wants to look cool, put away childish things. The birthday "hang-out" is a part of this.

I'm actually excited about it. All the boys are getting into ages where we can go places and do things without breaking out a stroller or diaper bag, searching for a lost paci, melting down because it's WAY past naptime or stopping to wipe noses/wipe mouths/tie shoes (okay, still some of that). They're little people you can have a real conversation with now. And they're fun...lots of fun. Here's to enjoying the next stage, because, like babyhood, it won't last.

More Blane on God

Today, we were driving along in a residential area and Blane said, "God has to write a lot of numbers."

Hmmmm. I wasn't sure where that came from. "What do you mean, Blane?" I asked.

"On the houses. God wrote all those numbers on the houses."

:)

Thoughts on God, by Blane

By the way, we're back in business now on the computer front. Yee haw!

Lately, Blane has really been focused on how BIG God is. "Mom," he says, "God is the BIGGEST boss of everybody!"

"Yes, that's right, " I answer.

He'll talk about the fact that God is bigger than tall buildings, or me or anything he sees that happens to be bigger than him.

Today at breakfast, he said, "God can move big things because He has really big muscles!"

Later in the car, he said, "If God is going to build a Lego building, He'll need the biggest blocks, because He's so big!"

"That's right, Blane," I replied. I guess on some cosmic level, that is true. :)

The Sickies and the Stinkies

Last Sunday night, I heard Seth coughing in his bed. "Here it comes," I thought. Sure enough, when I woke Seth up the next morning, he sat up with a little scowl. "I have a cold, Mom, " he said.

But it didn't appear to be too bad. He bopped off to school, then he had a friend over in the afternoon. That night, as I was reading to the boys, I felt his hot little body as it snuggled up to me. I felt his forehead. "Seth, I think you have a fever," I said. "Let's check it."

It was 101. So I told him to go to bed and sleep in on Tuesday.

He was sick and running a fever pretty consistantly on Tuesday. He stayed home Wednesday and felt a little better, but the fever persisted. I had to get out to the store and to a nursery to pick up grass seed for Scott. As I was checking out of the grocery store, I reached down to feel Blane's little cheek, which was hot. Now it was two for two.

To bed they went, and I got them dosed up on Motrin. Then I started a little cough. I was supposed to help with the drama that night in the 2's and 3's class, so I called the teacher and told her I wouldn't be there. Home we stayed, and I started taking Zicam.

On Thursday, I saw a big improvement in Seth. He was really wanting to play more, though I was concerned that his fever might come back (it had done that before). But as we were playing a game in the living room, I kept smelling something distinctly funky. My two sick children had not bathed in a while, so I was not entirely surprised. "Okay, crew," I sez, "let's take showers."

So they took a very nice shower with strawberry kids' shampoo. I got them dressed in clean clothes and we resumed our play. But...sniff, sniff...I could STILL smell that smell!

I sniffed around Seth ('cause frankly, he's usually the culprit!). I still couldn't pinpoint it, though it seemed to be coming from him. Then I smelled his pants. Closer--definitely stinkier--but not quite on target.

"Seth, are your pants clean?" I asked him.

"Yes, Mom, I got them out of my drawer!"

Hmmmm. Then Seth said, "I think my knee smells."

Seth had skinned a nice big wound on his knee the other day playing kickball. Those large, scrape-the-skin-off wounds always take a long time to heal. In fact, we had been through several Band-Aids and I had finally covered it with a waterproof bandage so it wouldn't keep falling off. I had done that several days ago.

Seth peeled off the bandage. "Let me see that, " I said, and I took one whiff and nearly passed out.

Needless to say, we threw it right away, and I won't be getting those bandages anymore! It smelled almost fungus-y (which Neosporin does NOTHING for). So we opted for a nice airing, which worked beautifully. I did have to spray down his room and the living room with air freshener--it was that bad. The smell faded from his knee in a few hours (after all that great moisture under the bandage that the bugs were thriving in dried out).

Seth was back ato 100% by Friday, and the kids had no school because it was conference day. Then Zac began coughing. And we started the whole process again.

At this writing, Zac has a racking cough, but his fever is currently under control. Poor Blane is still suffering, with a fever that has popped up to 104 +. We are keeping him medicated and hydrated and watching him closely. I am cautiously optimistic that he will be improved by tomorrow. Please pray to that end.

Shopping with Daddy

Scott hates clothes shopping. But after a while, it becomes a necessity. So once a year, usually following Christmas or his birthday when he has a handful of gift cards or cash to spend, we go on a shopping spree. When I say "we", I mean all of us. Scott needs me for opinions on how things look, and, well, I can't leave my crumb-crunchers at home unattended. So out we trot to the mall or a major department store for hours of consumer fun and stimulation of the economy.

Scott needed some good professional shoes and pants this year. So our first stop was Designer Shoes Warehouse. I thought I might be needed for some serious fashion advice, but Scott had specifications for his shoes that I couldn't help him with. So I ended up herding the kids to the other side of the store.

I figured if I'm going to be in a large, department store sized shoe place, I might as well have a little fun and try on shoes. "Come on, boys, " I said, and headed down an aisle. At DSW, in case you aren't familiar with it, the shoes are arranged in long, waist to mid-chest high shelves that divide the aisles. An "example" shoe is parked on top so you can see it easily and then you just look underneath to find your size. I just started ambling down the aisle, slipping on whatever shoe caught my fancy. To my surprise, the guys thought this was a great activity. "Here Mom!" said one, running with a shoe to slip on my foot. "I like the button on this one," said another. "Here Mommy!" chirps the little one, running with a shoe from who-knows-where (which we then had to hope we put back in the right place!) I felt like Cinderella, except with three princes. This happened all the way up and down the aisles.

"You will all make EXCELLENT boyfriends," I told them. We then decided to try on hats. That was funny, but didn't last as long. The purses didn't quite have the same appeal as the shoes, though the boys did offer opinions on those too.

By this time Daddy was done, we had spent a very enjoyable 2o minutes in women's shoes area. Though Daddy ended up dropping his wad at Dillard's by the end of the night, I can say the guys and I actually had fun on this shopping trip--a win-win situation.

Painting Zac's Room

Zac has wanted to paint his room for at least a year. I would go and get color samples and bring them home for him to look over. We had a few things to keep in mind...Zac's striped bedspread, his very unusual blue dresser and of course, the grasscloth wall. We went through the green phase, then moved to red, then to the neutral tans. Zac ultimately decided against these choices.

I told him that we would paint together during Spring Break. So the first day the kids were out, we went to Home Depot and Zac picked four colors: a dark cobalt blue, a deep red, a color called "Red Hot" and one called "Volcanic Burst". I'll pause for a minute to let everyone imagine what the last two colors looked like..............(insert instrumental Barry Manilow song )........................................

Okay, most of you know how I feel about decorating in my house. I am generally not a controlling or anal person, but when it comes to my house, I am very, very particular about what I like and what I don't. It was really hard for me not to rip those blazing orange paint chips out of his hand, lean down and say in a low voice through clenched teeth, "Over my dead body, buster." But I controlled myself. I said nary a word (I think. Or at least I said very little.)

We went home, and I asked him to hold up the chips against the grasscloth and see how each one looked with everything else in his room. He did. Being the intellegent and tasteful person he is, he quickly saw that "Red Hot" and "Volcanic Burst" might not be the best complements to his current decor. I praised him for his precocious design sense, no doubt inherited from me.

He decided on the deep blue finally, but I asked him to lighten the shade just a bit so that it wouldn't look like a cave in his room. He finally settled on the color "Seven Seas", which is a rich, almost federal, blue.

We got everything taped and covered, and got to painting last Thursday. Zac and I enjoyed painting graffiti on the wall, yakking and transforming his room into a great boy's pad. This is how I connect with him now that he will barely hug me. He got a bit bored with it after a while, but I asked him to finish the large sections of the room, and he did. I trimmed and we both finished out the second coat.

It looks great. We rearranged the room and now he feels like he has a whole new bedroom! All in all, it made for a great way to spend a day with my kiddo over Spring Break.

The Impounding Lot

I have not been blogging much lately because our old computer finally died. We've realized how much it hurts to be suddenly disconnected from our electronic friend! Fortunately, we can plug in Scott's computer at night and conduct our business. We are getting all Dave Ramsey and waiting until April when we anticipate that we can pay for the computer with cash. Anyway, that little blurb had nothing to do with the Impounding Lot, but it does explain the scarce posts lately.

We have children who seem to shed coats, shoes and backpacks like a snakes molting. I got tired of it and announced that from here on, all stuff that was not picked up would be "impounded" in a box, and the owner of said items would have to pay to release their possessions. Today, Zac sidled up to me.

"Mom," he said, "Seth left his stuff on the floor over there."

Sure enough, he had. I know Zac tattled, but I had to follow through with Seth.

"Seth, I'm impounding your stuff. But I'll give you a break the first time...$0.25 to get your coat and backpack out."

He made a bad attitude comment and then got slapped with the full fee: $0.50. He paid it promptly in the cup and got his stuff back.

Turning to Zac (who is historically my worst offender), I said, "Zac, what motivated you to pick up your stuff? The money?"

He grinned and said, "Yes."

We'll see if the motivation holds up.