Proud Big Sister

Boy, am I a proud big sister. Where do I begin? In October of 2006, my younger brother entered Recruit Training (boot camp) for the U.S. Navy. Several months ago, he completed A School and then Nuke school for the United States Navy and will soon be finishing his on-site training. As I understand it, he will go through rigorous verbal testing not once, but twice, by a panel of Navy Officers. Perhaps several times. Maybe you should post a reply to this entry, little brother, and straighten me out?

As I go through my daily chores, I design a T-shirt in my head that says "Proud big sister of a Sailor" and wonder how many I'd need to print to be able to wear one every day. It is hard to have a brother so far away for such a long time, especially one with whom I spent a lot of time. After reaching his voice mail the other day, I almost called back just to hear it again. The children ask for their Uncle regularly and get excited when he calls. They ask to dress like soldiers (in camoflauge, that is, not understanding the difference between a soldier and a sailor) so that they can be like him and also because members of the military are heroes in our home. Noah loves to land little planes on his air craft carrier and sails it around the wooden ocean of his bedroom floor. His Blue Angel plane is used/loved almost beyond recognition.

On a side note, Morgan froze in her tracks when she saw a soldier walking through the mall the other day. She asked if she could run to him and say, "Thank you for keeping us safe," but I was trying to manage her unruly brothers. Next time I'll take her. Our military men and women deserve to be greeted with something even as simple as a handshake and "Thank you for serving." I'm guessing by the look on the face of the soldier I cornered in Bed, Bath, & Beyond that it makes them feel pretty good. They deserve the respect!

I'll step down from my soap box now...

So, call me, Little Brother, if you wish for me to remove your picture from this post. Just wanted you to know how proud I am of you! I think about you every day. You are almost there! God bless you and God bless America!

Highway Robbery

It's official...today is the first time I've ever reached $60 at the pump!

My math tells me that it costs me about a quarter to drive a mile.

A Walk in the Park

Madeleine and the ENT

Madeleine saw the ENT specialist today, Dr. Nissen. He seemed nice. I thought that Holy Family would forward Maddie's medical records (or at least the relevant part) to him since they referred us. After all, it's the same physician network and they all ought to have fax machines and access to the postal service. All they sent was her name and birthdate. I was disappointed.

He began asking questions about how many ear infections she'd had and when and I was stuttering, trying to remember when her run started and when they'd come back and what the symptoms were. Now if I had one child, this would be fairly simple, but we visited the doctor's office quite a few times this winter with EVERY child, not just with Madeleine. Then in April, we had SIX doctor visits with an assortment of family members. So I'm thinking...hmmm...Maddie had this, but oh, wait, that was Noah...no, maybe Isaiah? Well, gee...maybe she had an ear infection once a month, doc? I was embarrassed when I couldn't come up with exact numbers and infinite details. Do you other moms keep records at home of which child had what, when, took what medication, what the symptoms were, and when they got better? Maybe that's something I ought to do? I could write a volume worthy of Encyclopedia Britannica!

So he looked in her ears and said she looks clear today. They tested her ear drums and found that she has a bit of fluid in there (our doctor also said this months ago) although there's no infection. An audiologist did a hearing test on her. It was a neat process; the lady set up a game with Madeleine ahead of time so that she knew when she heard a beep, she was to put a peg in the peg board. Then the audiologist, who was very good with her, put tube-phones in her ears and tested her hearing. I was with Madeleine in the sound-proof booth and the audiologist was on the other side, but we could see her through the window. Every so often, Maddie put a peg in the board. After that part of the test, the audiologist covered her mouth and asked Madeleine to repeat words. I couldn't hear anything, but it was funny to watch Madeleine repeat a word, giggle, and repeat another. The results showed that she has a very slight hearing loss on the low frequency end, which is within normal range and is common for a child with a little fluid in her ears. The ENT said that he would like to hold off on tubes at this time and wait to see if she gets another infection, which would indicate that it's something with Maddie as opposed to seasonal. This seemed like a good decision to me, so now we wait.

Noah in Armor

"Mommy, can you pick out my clothes?"

"Yes, doll. Let me finish this."

"No, I'm not a doll, because dolls are girls and I'm a boy."

"What would you like to be called, then?"

"A prince. Boys are princes, right? I want to be a prince when I grow up. Is Daddy a prince?"

"Daddy is a Knight in Shining Armor."

"Then I want to be in armor, too."

May Birthdays

Morgan turned six this weekend and Isaiah turned one the following day. What a weekend! Great-grandparents Daniel dropped off birthday gifts Thursday evening and Grandparents Daniel stopped by on Friday to bring gifts for Isaiah and Morgan. She got to take cupcakes to her classroom on Friday, too. Saturday afternoon, Grandparents Potter brought her a gift, part of which was a Bleeding Heart plant. She was so excited! Morgan wanted to sit in the hot tub on her birthday, so we got dressed Saturday morning and did that. She wanted bacon, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch, and cheese pizza for supper. As it turned out, we ended up having a last-minute, impromptu birthday party for her at supper time. Nana came with Great-grandparents Case, Sophie, Eli, and Brianna came. Some of us got into the hot tub that evening and it felt really neat with the rain. She had a good day. She even wanted to postpone going to pick out her birthday gift, which will be a bike helmet. She announced the other day that she is too big for training wheels and thinks she can ride without them (we know, we know--it's about time). Sunday, we traveled to Dwight to witness the blessing of a cousin's marriage in the church. We were treated to an excellent lunch afterward and we came home and had supper here with chocolate cupcakes for Isaiah's birthday dessert. He wore out his pair of leather shoes that Nana had given him for Christmas, so today he got a new pair (birthday present from Mom and Dad). Next up is Madeleine, who will turn five on June 16.

My Boys Love Me

I know my boys love me, but sometimes they have funny ways of showing it.
A couple days ago, I bought a $2 coffee at Starbucks. This is a semi-rare treat, so I was excited to get it home and enjoy it. I had the coffee in my right hand and Isaiah in my right arm when....he leaned over and spit up in it. That's right, he spit up in my nice, fresh, expensive Starbucks dark roast. This morning, Noah is eating breakfast at the kitchen table and he sits there singing, "Mommy, I love my Mommy, I love you, Mommy, when you die!" Then he smiles at me like he's made up the sweetest song on earth. I love boys!

Moving Day!

Moving Day was Saturday, May 3rd. Franny took the kids on Friday and kept them until Saturday night. Grandpa and Grandma Daniel came down Friday afternoon to help; Grandpa took the swingset down, moved it, and reassembled it and Grandma helped me to pack, clean, and move the kitchen, clean and paper the shelves at the new kitchen, and unpack. On Saturday, Jeremy and Joel went to pick up the U-Haul at 9 a.m. People trickled in to help: Leighton, Joel, Grandpa Daniel, Donny, Jacob, Dad, Sue, Eli, and Sophie. The day began with the messiest adventure. Leighton and Jeremy were trying to disconnect the washing machine from the wall when there was a CRACK and suddenly, Leighton was taking the coldest, most powerful shower of his life. The faucet for the cold water had rusted through and snapped off when he applied pressure. Water was shooting out of the broken pipe (see picture of offending fixture above--it is a little hole in the pipe that should look more like the faucet on the left) while Leighton tried to control it and the rest of us scrambled to try to find the water shut off. Finally, Grandpa Daniel disappeared into the smaller bathroom and, in a couple of minutes, said, "Did that do it?" The water was off. Leighton changed and we were busy once again. Everyone broke their backs loading our truck and the 3 pick-ups that also came. When I was returning from running a load to the new house, I was surprised to see the U-Haul, Joel's truck, and Donny's truck heading toward the new house. By the time I loaded up again and drove back to the new house, they had nearly finished unloading the U-Haul and it was only 11:30! Sophie and I ran to Super Saver and picked up fried chicken and other fixings for lunch and by the time we got back, the unloading was finished and people were ready to eat! The Time Warner Servicemen (all 3 of them) arrived early and had our phone, limited basic cable, and internet up and running by 4 p.m. that afternoon. Jeremy figured out the washing machine last night and ran into a little glitch with the bathroom sink plug this morning (it was doing its plugging job REALLY well), but other than that, things seem to be going smoothly here. The people that lived here before us took very good care of this house. The windows are less than 5 years old, the grass is growing and is thick and full, and the kids are LOVING it! They've divided their time today among the different play areas; the driveway makes a good place to ride their bikes since it's 3 cars wide, the backyard is nice and big and their swingset is up, thanks to Grandpa Daniel. I made my first meal in the kitchen tonight and we'll settle back into a routine tomorrow as the girls have school. Morgan actually has a field trip tomorrow; I'm supposed to drive her and some of her classmates to the zoo and Antelope Park. She goes in for her six-year-old well child visit Tuesday and Madeleine goes to see an Ear/Nose/Throat Specialist on Thursday because she needs tubes in her ears. Hope you are enjoying the warm weather. We are!