poor guy

so kirbs is having a stressful day at work and i called to check in with him to see how he was holding up. after talking for a little bit he said "are we doing anything tonight?" and i paused a second before saying, "um, it's halloween?!" . . . i guess he was really stressed out and had gotten a little distracted and off kilter. anyway, now that he knows what day it is again he remembered the plan for the evening.

only a couple more hours babe, you can make it . . . i'm saving all the orange gummi bears for you. i can't wait to see you! ily!

boo! . . . i mean, moo! -- flashback friday

it all started in the summer of 1999 when we got a bag of hand-me-downs with a cow suit in it . . . since the beginning of time (ok, not quite that long ago, but a long time nonetheless) our kids have been a cow on their first halloween. we're not big halloween enthusiasts, but who can resist a cute little calf? . . . i daresay, not too many.

so, here are 5 cows. can you identify them correctly? there are pictures of 5 little calves in radom order (or are they? maybe they're in chronological order, i've been known to be kinda tricky on occasion. maybe some psychological knowledge of how i think could come in handy for this one!). our family calves: model year '99, model year '01, model year '02, model year '05 and most recently model year '08. each model year had some slight changes from the previous model, but most features remain quite similar.




if you can correctly identify all 5 calves (by model year or name!) you will win a prize. i don't know what it will be yet, but more than likely it will be something i made. more than 1 person can win . . . but hopefully not too many!! (i just don't have time to make millions of prizes). leave your guesses in the comments and no fair cheating by looking at other people answers . . . you're on your honor here, don't let me down!! (i'm pretty sure i figured out how to hide the comments until the contest is over, so i took away the temptation to cheat all together!!) i'll announce the winners (if there are any!!) in a few days. hopefully the waiting won't be too painful for anyone!

a budding photographer . . . and theologian???

i walked in on joe holding my camera. "what are ya doin' buddy?" i asked. "takin' pictures of sings [things]." he answered.

well, that's for sure . . . he probably took about 25 pictures (thank goodness for digital cameras!!) here is just a sampling of his photo shoot that i would entitle "around the house." enjoy! oh, if you want to take a stab at correctly identifying them all, it might be fun. give it a shot!!

_________________________________________________

joe was standing in the kitchen with me when he picked up a bible from the counter and said “I will read the bible to you.” i quick grabbed a pen and paper and wrote as fast as i possibly could. i know i missed a thought here or there, but for the most part i got it all . . . and what i did get is word for word as it came from his mouth. i think it’s pretty funny, hope you enjoy it too!

"i will read the bible to you:
once upon a time God was on a beautiful house ship. it had a big, giant huge flag on it that reached up to the sky because God made the sky.
ok, 2nd three [i think that is the reference . . . you know like 2nd peter or something]: he hoped in and flew-ed back into the sky. and God heard a loud noise.
chapter 3: once upon a time God did nothing. he just stayed home.
chapter 4: God went in his house and went under the covers so he couldn’t see the monsters.
chapter 1 [we’ll have to work a little on the order that the numbers come in, i guess]: God got his beautiful present . . . there was knocking at the door and he said “who’s that knocking?” and he went to the door. but it was a bad guy. but soon he will be a good guy. [pretty sound theology, i’d say . . . the bad become good when they come to God’s door!!]
guess what God saw when he went to the jungle? a dinosaur. then God was sleeping because he was tired. then God went through the jungle and heard a really loud beeping noise and heard a roarrrrr and it was a tiger. and God went back to sleep and he sleeped, sleeped, sleeped. so then God wak-ed up and then God opened his eyes. – mom, when the moon is out God can sleep [this was a little sidebar joe said to me after i told him that God doesn’t sleep . . . he quickly went back to “reading the bible”] – God saw the beautiful rain and the beautiful snow and that is the end."

7 months of anna . . . +1 day

believe it or not our "baby" is 7 months old already. her "birthday" was yesterday and was without a whole lot of fanfare . . . i pretty much forgot until this morning that it was her "birthday". we're creepin' up on a year and i know it'll be here before i know it . . . not to mention, before it want it. they grow up all too fast!

play time: some of you may have these new fangled baby toys at your house too. they come in handy when cooking (or so i've heard . . . i'm not much of a cook!!) anna loves them. why we spend money on toys is still a mystery to me. an empty box, a measuring cup, some pots and pans . . . what else could a baby really need or want? anna was loving her measuring cups on the kitchen floor this morning.

always on the move!!! "just try gettin' a picture of me!! ha ha!"

you asked for it

amanda saw a picture of joe at our house the other day that she has been thinking about ever since. she wanted to be able to peek at it whenever she needs a laugh. so . . . here you go amanda. enjoy! (i didn't know which one you liked best, so i'll post the series of 3!)

if you know what it is joe is holding you are most likely laughing pretty hard and might need to take a little break before you continue reading. if you don't know what they are, it might be better that way . . . just know that it's pretty funny and pretty much a female thing and something he will never really use (at least not for their intended purpose . . . you never know, he's pretty inventive, he might come up with something).

just because

i felt an overwhelming need to post a picture from THIS century since it seems to have been a while since i had a remotely recent picture!

um, that's all!

this 'n that

well, kirbs and i got our flu shots today . . . neither of us needed restraint! yeah us, we are so brave. now all of us (except jacob) should be flu-resistant for another year.

i finished heather & robert's wedding invitations and am just about done with a big order of cards for the campus store at bethel. so soon i will be able to breathe again (well, sort of . . . at least i'll be done with the bigger work-related projects for a little while) and maybe finish a whole book. i have missed my reading time past week or two!

the weather today is beautiful, although a little chilly, sunny and crisp. fall is the best.

enjoy your day everyone.

oh yeah, stay tuned for friday. there's gonna be a fun post . . . with a little contest . . . which will be rewarded with a prize of some sort if you are a winner! (although you are all winners even if you completely bomb the little quiz i'll be posting on friday. hopefully that will bring you comfort if you don't win the acutal, tangible prize!)

family fun 1986-style!

1986 called and they want their family night back . . .

we just capped off our weekend with all 7 of us curled up with blankets in the living room where we watched a few episodes of "the cosby show, season 2" that i borrowed from the library today!! the kids loved it and we loved it. that bill cosby is a comic genius if ever there was one! we saw the one where rudy tries to make jelly by putting grapes in cliff's juicer and the one where the family performs a song for cliff's parents on their 49th anniversary: theo, rudy and cliff lip sinc and claire and the 3 big girls are the backup singers/dancers. it was a riot and i remembered watching those episodes the first time around like it was yesterday . . . i guess that made this a flashback sunday too! nothin' but fun to be had around here, that's for sure!!

when we were done joe said to me "if you don't give me some more candy i will hit you!" what a sweet boy . . . if only they could bottle that stuff up so that i could remember it more vividly in 30 years! oh well, too bad!

flash[way]back friday

the year is 1993. it is valentine's day (thus explaining the VERY fashionable sweater with the hearts!!) and these 2 kids are pretty smitten with each other.

i am a little surprised at myself for posting this picture, since i have so many cute pictures of my kiddos that i could use. but i say . . . if you can't make a litle bit of fun of yourself (and your husband!!!) then that's sure a shame. enjoy! and have a few laughs at our expense . . . honestly, the bangs . . . also a shame!

this is what i'm talkin' about

anna showin' off her skills: this is where many of my current problems begin . . . please, child, just remain seated! oh well, she has to learn to get down soon, right? let's hope it doesn't take much longer. she is pretty cute, though, isn't she?

joe's baseball shirt got dirty, so he finally took it off (it hadn't been off -- except to bathe -- since thursday, i think! yikes!)

sleep went better last night, but not by a whole lot. lydia's asthma keep her coughing, actually hacking is a better description, most of the night but she didn't venture up to our room. joe woke up a time or two and i think i was up with anna only 4 or 5 times! rebekah and jacob gave us zero trouble. oh, and joe got up at 6:42 when i was trying to work on my Bible study! but went back to bed . . . kinda!

the movie was really good (thanks mimi!). i think you should all see it . . . does anyone else think dakota fanning looks like drew barrymore? just curious!

i love my momma!!!

rough night

last night was not the best night ever around here. see what you think:

*8:15 pm: all 5 kids are in their respective beds and are working on falling asleep. it had been a busy weekend and 3 of the 5 had swimming lessons, so it shouldn't take too long!! (keep those fingers crossed!)

8:45 pm: both parents fall asleep in the living room due to complete exhaustion!

10:00 pm: i wake up to anna screaming (she is standing in her crib and doesn't know how to get back down to a horizontal position without help!!) i wake up kirb and tell him to go up to bed. i help anna get horizontal again . . . and nurse her while i'm at it in hopes of delaying the next awakening

10:20 pm: rebekah comes into our room because she "can't fall asleep". we tell her that she has been asleep for a couple hours already and has not really been lying awake as long as she says. we send her back to bed.

11ish pm: anna wakes up again (#2)

1:54 am: anna awake and crying (#3)

2:15 am: lydia comes into our room. she is sad and scared and has had a bad dream. daddy prays with her, hugs her and sends her back to bed.

2:17 am: anna awake and screaming! (#4)

2:19 am: after a teeny tiny break in crying anna needs a little attention again . . . when will she learn not to pull herself up in the first place? that would solve SO MANY problems.

2:30 am: joe needs something . . . dad goes down to check. (God bless him!)

nearly 3 am: anna again . . . what can i say?

3 something am: lydia comes to bed with us, she is too scared to sleep in her bed. until nearly 6 i "sleep" completely squished between lydia (whose less-than-50-pounds somehow take up at least half the bed) and kirb (who is snoring off and on!!) needless to say not much actual sleep was got!

nearly 6 am: anna up again (time #7 if you're counting!). i nurse her and decide going back to bed is pretty much worthless. by 6:30 or so i am packing school lunches and making sure backpacks are in order for the morning.

thanks jacob for being the ONLY person in this 7-person household to sleep all night, so i guess it COULD have been worse. hopefully tonight will be better . . . i think i'm due for a little caffiene if i'm going to make it through "the secret life of bees" this afternoon without nodding off!!! yeah for a fun girls outting with my favorite mom, mimi and brie! i can't wait!!


* all times are approximate -- i really didn't have enough energy to turn my head to look at the clock. for the most part the events recorded here are, at least, in chronological order!

fun weekend

well, the kids had 2.5 days off of school last week and we had a great time together. saturday we drove down to red wing and took in some of God's beautiful creation (rivers, gorgeous fall colors, hills, cows, horses, a few llama, sheep, birds . . . so much beauty!) we had a picnic and hiked to the top of barn bluff. it was an amazing fall weekend with great weather and we made the most of it. driving back we crossed over the river and spent a few miles in wisconsin and saw some of the beauty "across the border" . . . funny thing though, it looked pretty much just like minnesota!view from the top (one of them, anyway). there's a really pretty church in the picture, but it's a little tough to see in the tiny version . . . but you get the idea. it was quite the vista!

rebekah taking in the view on the way down the bluff.

daddy leading the pack on the way down the trail.

we took a little time to relax by the river after our big hike (it took about 90 minutes for the 7 of us to get up to the top and back down again). there was a HUGE riverboat picking up passengers in red wing for a 19-day river cruise ending in new orleans. what a fun trip that would be!! i don't think joe (our boat fanatic) even realized it was a boat. it was so big, i'm sure he thought it was a building or something. you can see a little of the "american queen" here in the background.

my babies . . . the biggest one and the littlest one!

not me monday

i got the fun idea for not me monday from here. here goes, enjoy . . .

1. i did not febreeze joe's sheets after he got them a "teensy" bit wet while taking an unexpected nap wearing his undies (which we don't usually allow him to do when sleeping! it's a dangerous combination) . . . i mean, i had JUST washed them the day before . . . and it's a bunk bed, those things make me break out in a sweat when i change the sheets. (note: i did wash them the next day, so he didn't sleep on dried, febreezed urine for too long!)
2. nope, i didn't go through the arby's drive thru straight from the Y today. that would pretty much negate my workout, so i really wouldn't do that!!
3. i didn't bribe my kids (one in particular -- who will remain nameless) with everything i could think of to try and make the flu shot a less traumatic experience (you can read about that here if you missed it!)
4. i didn't think happy thoughts about the "play continuously" feature on the dvd when i had stuff i REALLY needed to get done!
5. i didn't invite the ginn's over for dinner via my blog . . . whatta ya say amanda, you wanna come over?
6. i didn't let joe wear the same shirt for approximately 4 days in a row . . . wear it, sleep in it, wear it again, sleep in it again, wear it (to church nonetheless!!!), sleep in it . . . you get the idea. it is his favorite . . . with the baseball on it . . . and, amazingly, it's not visibly dirty yet!
7. i didn't blog when i should be making wedding invitations (sorry, heather . . . i'll get right on it in just a sec, i promise!)

i'm just sure i wouldn't do any of that kind of stuff (wink, wink!)

ouch! part 2

we got the "this is not a bill" statement from joey's stitches in the mail. arguably more painful than the actually injury and stitches put together!!! how does it work that i bust my butt to clip coupons for 45 cents off my laundry detergent and in a minute spend nearly a thousand dollars getting 2 little stitches in my son's head? just makes me wonder why i try so hard. anyway, we are obviously more thankful that joe is ok than we are mad about the "not a bill." i'll get over it, i just needed to vent a little!

now i'm off to have a fun, beautiful fall day with my family!! yeah!

flashback friday

flu shots

so, yesterday we went to get our flu shots: "our" being rebekah's, lydia's and joe's -- jacob can't get the flu shot because he's allergic to egg and the flu shot is cultured in egg or something weird like that. anna got her first dose at her 6 month check up the other day, she'll get the 2nd dose in a month (you have to get 2 doses the first time you get a flu shot.) the pediatricians office wasn't really the place for kirb and me, so we'll get ours in a week or so at the flu shot clinic at nwc.

so, a couple days before the appointment the kids somehow find out (see it written on the calendar or something) and start worrying. i explain why we get shots . . . "getting the shot is better than getting the flu", etc. the next day lydia is beside herself with worry (she was worried about her kindergarten shots for over 18 months and talked about them EVERY day, at least once, from when she was about joe's age until she actually got them! this girl doesn't like shots!!!) rebekah attends to lydia's worry by saying, and i quote: "lydia, the flu shot helps you not get the flu. the flu is really bad and you get really sick. some children even die from the flu. WOULD YOU RATHER DIE OR WOULD YOU RATHER GET A SHOT?" so there you have it . . . i guess it all boils down to choices. so, lydia, what'll it be?

fast forward a couple days and we are actually at the clinic. everyone is pretty calm in the waiting room -- oh wait, on the way there joe told me: "i'm aller-gick to egg. i can't ge the flu shot" (i guess i know where he heard that, but really -- how does he come up with this stuff at JUST the right time??) . . . so, we're back in the waiting room and people are pretty calm. lydia is nervous and joe is still claiming "aller-gick" status. a friend of mine is also in the waiting room, waiting (hmmm, surprising i know!) for her little guy's appointment. the nurse comes out and says "rebekah, lydia and joseph" and i say "that's us guys, let's go." everyone is pretty cooperative and follows the nurse into room #1. i ask rebekah (the calm, not worried one) if she could be brave and go first to show joe and lj that it's not too bad and they'll be fine. she (completely unexpectedly) starts shaking, crying, screaming and violently refusing her shot!! i usually have a pretty decent handle on my kids, but i did NOT see this one coming. anyway, she is completely freaking out!!! lj volunteers to go first and is completely calm about it and it goes great! she tells rebekah it doesn't hurt but that does nothing to calm her down. i try to help hold her still, but the girl is strong and it's just not working. i take her in the corner and reason with her, pray with her, etc. NOTHIN'! she is still OOC! (out of control, in case you don't know that one -- we use it a lot in our house!) so another nurse comes in to restrain her and she gets the shot. then joe gets his . . . worse than lydia, but not as bad as rebekah (he needs no restraining nurse but does tense his arm, so she can't get the stuff in right away, but eventually it goes in!) everyone gets stickers and we're ready to leave. i see my friend (still waiting) in the waiting room on the way out and she gives me a "i'm so sorry" look and i ask if she could hear us from out there (quite a ways away, mind you!) and she nods her head and says "i was thinking about you". we walk out to the van with red eyes and sore arms and an emotionally spent mom.

well, at least we don't have to do that again . . . until next october that is!! yikes. maybe today we can start worrying about that day: seems logical, don't you think!

hmmmmm

does anyone else find it humerous that we DOWNload the UPdates? just wonderin'

this 'n that

here are some random things from the past few days:

birthday celebration: here is the birthday boy with his 5 favorite little people!! (notice anna is wearing her birthday cupcake shirt . . . she insisted she wear that for daddy's birthday. she's very involved in her fashion decisions at this point in life!)


i saw gas for $2.74 on saturday . . . it's like they're givin' it away or something! (just kiddin'!!)

AND THE WINNER IS . . . organic carrots!! finally we found something anna will actually keep in her mouth and i think it even gets to her stomach for the most part. up until this discovery she just spit everything back out at us. fun, i know!!! yum, yum. eat up!


jacob just said (about his spelling homework): "3 of my sentences are about politics." YIKES, aren't you only 9? (here are his sentences, with the spelling word in bold: you can elect obama or mccain. elections are in november. predictions say that obama is going to win. -- don't worry, he won't get marked down for bad grammar. he actually did capitalize the things that should be capitalized. i just took liberty to make it all lowercase when i blogged 'em.)


anna has been a little confused about the order in which you are supposed to achieve developmental milestones, but today she mastered sitting (only AFTER mastering crawling and pulling herself to a standing position . . . silly girl, you are supposed to sit first. maybe she didn't read that part of the "what to expect the first year" book). anyway, we don't expect to see much sitting, since it requires you to be still -- which anna usually is not.


6 kid weekend: (i DO realize only 5 of the 6 are in this picture, but we didn't get one with all 6 of them together, sorry! we were a little busy!) we made it through our nearly 48 hours as a family of 8. we had to drive 2 cars to church because we wouldn't all fit in the van, but we had a great time. sam, come back anytime! we love you! this picture was from nwc's homecoming this weekend -- fyi: we won! go eagles!

flashback friday

i'm completely sure this idea is not unique with me, but i haven't seen it anywhere else. i just decided to launch "flashback friday" with a picture from the past. it was hard to pick a picture, but i couldn't resist this cute one . . . be very quiet while reading this post, there's a sleeping baby!

do you know who it is? give me your guesses. all my babies look quite similar, i know -- and some of you didn't know them all as babies, but have at it anyway! enjoy and have a great weekend!

p.s. can you believe it? one of my kids sleeping on their back? on the couch, no less -- maybe no one told me you shouldn't put your baby on the couch, apparently it's not safe or something! : ) maybe all that will be a hint as to who it is?!?!

note: i DO know that i wrote "jacob" in the tags for this post . . . i only did that after a couple people had guessed it correctly. yeah amada and annie! good work ladies!

no way!

last night i was putting something away upstairs after anna was asleep (allegedly, anyhow) and i heard her "talking" in her room so i went in to check on her. the stinker was STANDING UP in her crib. she doesn't even know how to sit up so i really don't know what she's thinking! honestly child, you are only 6 months old. just relax for a little while! oh well, i guess i should have enjoyed the stillness while it lasted. i've heard people talk about babies that were content to sit on a blanket and play with a rattle or something crazy like that. where are these babies? i have never had one!!

10.7 . . . a great day!

happy birthday to you,

happy birthday to you,

happy birthday, dear daddy!

happy birthday to you!

you are loved way more than the average guy!

have a great day, kirbs!

with TONS of love from your family

i never knew

joe informed me this morning:
"green says go. red says stop. yellow says slow down and brown says crash!"
did you know you were supposed to crash when the light was brown?
you learn somethin' new everyday!
p.s. i don't know where he comes up with this stuff!!!

ouch!

well, i guess the lord knocked a little pride out of me this weekend. almost a decade into parenting i had never had a major injury (broken bones, stiches, etc.) and i was feeling good about that. anyway, that is no longer the case in the stoll house! joe got 2 stiches in the back of his head yesterday!

here's the story: it's about 9 am. we have to leave for piano lessons in about 10 minutes. kirb is still not home from warroad where he and rebekah went for his grandma's funeral. i am not yet dressed . . . at least not in clothes i would wear out of the house! i am in the basement making a card (surprising, i'm sure). i hear a loud crash and some crying. this is not at all uncommon and causes me no real alarm; i plan to go upstairs in a minute or two anyway. jacob screams at me "mom, it's an emergency. joey is gushing with blood." i don't panic at this point, but i DO jump up and run up the steps! i get upstairs and joey truely is gushing blood from his head. i still don't panic, but grab a paper towel and put pressure on the boo boo, which he is not too happy about! i try to see what the state of things is, but there's just too much blood to tell. finally it's slowing down and i check and to my unprofessional opinion it looks iffy. i immediately call dan -- our friend who is an ER nurse and who glued joe's head back together once in the summer of '07 when he had a little run-in with the back steps. dan is not home! argghhh! honestly, WHERE ARE YOU? so next i call my grandma to tell her we will be late for piano "joe fell and hit his head and he'll be fine, but i've got lots of blood to clean up before i leave." i tell her i'll call back when i'm ready to leave the house. next i call our pediatrician's office (they have saturday urgent care) and ask their opinion, knowing full they can't see the injury (duh!) and won't give me an opinion over the phone, although she did ask me if i could see "fatty tissue." yikes, i'm not that dumb. if brains were showing from the cut i would NOT be on the phone with you, i would have called 911. then i call my mom to get her opinion. she says my aunt, denise, who is visiting from massachusetts (and raised 4 kids: 3 of them boys!) is good at knowing if you need stitches or not. denise is leavning any minute for the airport to go home, so i pile the kids in the van and buzz to my mom's to have denise assess the situation. we get there and denise seems to also think it could go either way. after everyone looks at it and goes back and forth . . . stitches, no stitches, stitches, no stitches. we finally settle on no stitches. it has stopped bleeding, joe seems fine and really who wants to spend all day in the ER. just as we are about to leave mitch and ruth come out of their house. mitch and ruth are my parent’s neighbors and normally live in the Philippines where they help run an orphanage that houses about 75 at a time and has had over 500 kids in their 30+ year history; i think they are also qualified assessors (i can't imagine how many injuries these people have seen!) they agree he’ll be fine. so off we go to collect our piano books and head to my grandma’s. our pediatrician’s office is on the way home from my mom’s and i decided to just swing in to get one last opinion because i’m not completely convinced and if he really does need stitches, i want him to get them. so we stop in and i introduce myself as the lady who called earlier about the head injury. the nurse on the phone told me clearly they would not do the stitches there. they do do stitches, but would not do a 3-year-old with a head injury without some form of numbing stuff or sedation . . . which they don’t do in the office. so, i tell her that i know they won’t do the stitches, i just want a doctors opinion on whether or not it’s necessary before i take my 4 kids to the ER to camp out for a few hours only to have them tell me he doesn’t need stitches and put a REALLY expensive bandaid on it or something! anyway, our pediatrician isn’t there, but we see another guy who we have seen before. he says we DO need stitches. shoot! so much for those “expert” opinions!! on the way home i call kirbs to see where he is (i know he’s enroute to home, but not sure how far out). amazingly he left much earlier in the morning than i expected (4:30!!!) and he was almost to cambridge at this point. so, when i get home i feed anna a little (poor thing hadn’t gotten fed with all the drama) while calling literally every person i knew who lived within 10 minutes of my house. i want someone to come stay with the other 3 kids so i can take joe to the ER without all them them coming along! NO ONE is home! NO ONE! nice! i even knock on the doors of a few neighbors that I’m not sure would be all that excited to watch my kids but hey, i’m a little deseperate. i want to get this show on the road and not put it off any longer. joe is pretty “normal” at this point and i don’t want to put off any longer what i know will be a traumatic experience. anyway, getting no one to help me i wait for kirb who, as it turns out, has been speeding and makes it home in record time! at 11ish we leave for the ER at children’s hospital for some stitches in the head.

i should back up and tell you what caused the head wound . . . jacob told me that lydia pushed him into the coffee table. seeing that lydia had fled to her room, under the covers and was sobbing, I believed him. she later said it was an accident and while that may very well be true, there have been times that she pushed him and i’m quite sure it was NOT an accident, so there you have it! the love of siblings. she did feel bad though, sincerely. but i’m not sure whether it was because she hurt him, because she was afraid of getting in trouble or because she was genuinely sad she’d done it. joe also confirmed the story and has been telling everyone “whiddy pushed me.” (whiddy is his pronunciation of lydia in case you were wondering).

now we get to the ER, go to the bathroom (“mommy, I REALLY have to go potty!”) and then check in: weight (in kg, mind you!), blood pressure, temperature, etc. we then wait in the waiting room watching jungle book for surprisingly short amount of time. we get called back by a nurse and taken to our room. the nurse asks again what happened (possibly checking for child abuse . . . could i tell her some stuff about child abuse! see this post if you don't know what i'm talking about) and talks to joe for a while and then asks what kind of movie he wants to watch and she’ll bring it to him. he answers a “crane” movie (how he pronounces train) and she brings a thomas video (yup, i said video. saint paul children’s is not quite up with the times as far as entertainment goes). we watch the video for a really, really long time. finally, joe has to go to the bathroom again. we leave our room and seeing no one in the hall hunt around for a potty. we both use the bathroom since i don’t know how long we’ll be here. when we come back a doctor and nurse are waiting for us (ha ha, the tables have turned!) in our room. the doctor is great and she talks to joe about what will happen and makes it clear that he has to hold still or she’ll “have to tie you to a board”. apparently he doesn’t quite comprehend all that because he really, really does not hold still. i lay with a good deal of my body weight (which isn’t nothin’!) on his torso and legs while the nurse holds his head down and still with all her might. the doctor cleans the area and stitches him back up.he is not having fun!! although i cry at the drop of a hat about some things, i have remained pretty calm through the whole ordeal and have yet to shed a tear. but the pleas of “mommy, help me. i don’t like this” over and over do get to me. i have to look away and I get pretty teary, but not like the tears running down my face kind of crying like I did at church this morning (par for the course! i always cry at church!) but i am pretty emotional at this point. It’s not easy to get the stitches in, but finally they are done! praise the Lord! 2 stitches. the doctor give me some instructions (give him a bath tonight to wash the rest of the blood out of his hair then don’t get it wet for 5 days . . . no swimming lessons on tuesday, I guess!, watch for complications from a head injury: puking more than 2 times, can’t wake him up and stuff like that), she gives him a very cute stuffed gorilla and the nurse brings a popsicle and we are free to go. oh, i forgot to mention that joe had on his very favorite shirt which just happened to me a very tight-necked blue and green striped turtle neck: “i want the turtle shirt mom, I want to look like a turtle!” (why his shirt-of-the day couldn’t be a button-up, i’m not sure?!?) i want to remove this shirt under medical attention, so as she is bringing in my discharge paperwork (can you believe i just wrote that?? for those of you who don’t know, i HATE the word discharge . . . it gives me the creeps, but anyway, that’s what they call it!) i carefully take his shirt off. If I’m gonna rip out the stitches i most definitely want to do it at the hospital and NOT at home! it comes off ok and since he still is under the effects of the “goop” that make his head numb, i don’t even think it hurt too much! they gave him a little hospital gown to wear home so he wouldn't be cold . . . he wore it to church this morning!!

we go home and joe quickly returns to his “normal” self!! that is that!

i know this was a super long post and i didn’t feel like proofing it, so i hope it all came out alright. here is a little visual of the injury today . . . sorry i didn’t snap a picture while the blood was running down his head. you’ll just have to use your imagination for that. oh, and i successfully got all the blood our of his favorite turtle shirt! yeah, oxy clean!



oh, one more thing. when we got home from the hospital lydia presented joe with some money (i forget how much . . . 4 or 5 biggish coins) as some sort of atonement or something. or maybe she was afraid of a lawsuit, who knows!

the best news ever

tonight, 10.05.08, joey asked jesus to come into his heart! yeah!

(in case you were wondering what that big party in heaven tonight was all about, now you know!)

we couldn't be happier!

we have rocks at our house to help us remember special times in the spiritual life of our family. joey got a rock in the bowl tonight!

it's kind of our way of building an altar of remembrance to the lord as was done so many times in scripture:

• then noah built an altar to the lord (gen. 8.20)
• so he built an altar there to the lord (gen. 12.7)
• where he built an altar to the lord (gen. 13.18)
• isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the lord (gen. 26.25)
• and build an altar there to God (gen. 35:1)
• moses built an altar and called it the lord is my banner (ex. 17.15)
• build there an altar to the lord your God, an altar of stones (deut. 27.5)
• so gideon built an altar to the lord (jdg. 6.24)
• david built an altar to the lord (2 sam. 7.17)
• david built an altar to the lord (1 chron 21.26)
• he restored the altar of the lord (2 chron 15.8)

i could go on, but you get the idea.

bummer bud

joey doesn’t usually nap, but he screamed himself to sleep this afternoon after throwing a HUGE (obviously physically draining on him and quite draining on me as well) fit!

they are learning about fire safety at preschool this month (complete with real, live fireman and his big truck . . . next week should be exciting!) today they must have learned about smoke detectors because as we were driving in the van he asked me if we had a smoke detector. i said yes and he asked where. i told him there was one in the hall outside his room, one in the basement and one upstairs by mommy and daddy's room. and on and on it went for a little while. he asked again a little later about his smoke detector (his being an important word in this sentence . . . but i wouldn't understand that until later). so we talk a little more about smoke detectors and traveled home. when we get here he wants to see where his smoke detector is. i show him where it is up on the ceiling in the hallway. well . . . turns out it is his (remember!) and he wants it!!

so, the completely hysterical screaming fit was because (bad mom that i am) i wouldn't give his smoke detector to him. i tried to reason with him, i gave him a time out because he wouldn't stop screaming, i gave him a little fwapp (that's what we call it anyway) on the lip when he STILL wouldn't stop screaming and had woken up anna. finally i shut the door on him in his room and miraculously he stayed there on his own . . . screaming like mad. i went to the kitchen to sort through the rapidly multiplying stacks of paper on the counter and notice that the screaming had stopped. i went to peek in his room and this is what i found:

and in case you're wondering . . . yup, he always sleeps way in the corner of his bed just like that . . . although usually he's not wearing his ladybug boots!

15 things

15 things i made:

1. this clip 2. this vow 3. this milk 4. this clipboard 5. this girl 6. this bed 7. this mess 8. this girl 9. this gift 10. this sweet baby 11. this boy 12. this best friend 13. this boy 14. this picture 15. this pot

(i had help with #'s 5,8,10,11 & 13 . . . thanks kirbs, you're the best!)

note: this idea wasn't original with me, my inspiration came from this

one more note: as to #12, i didn't actually make allison the way i made the other people pictured, (my 5 kiddos) i made her as in "i made a new friend today", got it? i figured you did, but just in case you wondered how i made someone so close in age to me (although i am older) and distinctly asian looking . . . there you have it!

feel free to share some things that you've made!