It's back!!!!

The pink eye, that is. This time it is Joel, and I am expecting that I will get it next.

Joel woke up at 4:24 this morning crying because his eyelashes were crusted together. Poor baby! We didn't know that he had it until then. Steve was up by then, too, so we cleaned his eye and then fought him to get some drops in. Evan was bad with the drops, but Joel is even worse! I am going to have a LOT of trouble trying to get them in by myself.

So, there went our plans to go to the movies today. Thankfully we had some movies from the library, so I decided we would have a movie day at home. I was hoping this would help us all by minimizing the things that Joel, and then Evan or I, touched. I forgot that Joel doesn't sit still for movies very long. Evan does, so I was hoping that at least that would help. Alas, Joel feels the need to be in his brother's space and messing with him. So, now I am trying to keep them physically separated.

As for the movies themselves, the first one from the library was so scratched that it didn't work at all. The second one was working, until close to the end when it apparently broke the DVD player. It started skipping and then the screen just went kind of stripey, with green, red, yellow, etc. I can't even get the DVD player to eject the disc. Right now we are watching tv and later we will try the VCR.

So, it is one of those days where everything is going wrong, or at least not according to my plans. At least Joel is still doing well with the potty-training today, even though he doesn't feel all that great. Yeah, let's focus on the positive!

Playing doctor

The boys have been playing a lot of doctor and hospital in the past 3 weeks or so. I wonder what could have prompted that, hmmm?

*flashback*

They play this game together, and Joel plays it by himself with the toys. I know that they give "flu" shots sometimes and that the animals cry sometimes, but then they are consoled and things are better. (All shots are referred to as flu shots by the boys.) In the first picture Joel is giving Evan a shot. Joel's bed is usually the hospital bed, although we have also found them using the changing table as the bed.

Joel still remembers the incident and talks about it, but his toe is much better now. The nail bed is the only part of his toe that still looks injured. He only complains about it hurting when he doesn't want to do something that he has been told to do. This is how one of those episodes typically plays out: he will start to walk, jump up, throw himself into a sitting position with his legs under his bottom, and say (or cry) that he can't walk because his toe hurts or because he keeps falling. Very mysterious how he keeps "falling" in this unusual manner, or how his toe could possibly be hurting after all of that. All of me would be hurting if I tried something like that.

In other related news, Evan has been to the doctor for a continued nasty cough. He saw a nurse practitioner who said that he had a "little" bronchitis. She said that it was probably viral and best to let it run its course. He is mostly fine, but every time he has a coughing attack I cringe. He doesn't complain about it, and he is acting just fine. He hasn't even had a fever. VBS probably just made it last a little longer because it was such a tiring week.

The boys have been to the pediatrician 4 times since we got home from our July 4th trip. Hopefully, we will have fewer visits in August! (Dare I hope for fewer visits for the rest of the year?)

A pleasant breakfast conversation

Joel (to Dad): Can I see your eyeballs?

Dad shows Joel his eyeballs

Joel: Can I pop them out?

Dad: No, we can't pop our eyeballs out.

Evan: Unless you're dead.

**silence**

Dad: I don't even know what to say. What's wrong with you guys?

Hmmm. Is this a boy thing or a 5-year-old thing?

Exhausting!

That about sums up my week. VBS was fun, but I came home and took a nap almost everyday. Last night I went to bed about 6 or 6:30, got up about 9:30, went back to bed about 11 or midnight and slept until 9am. I then took another (shorter) nap while Steve and the boys went swimming. The boys went to bed early last night, too, but apparently they are still tired because they have been very grumpy today. Looks like it will be another early-to-bed night.

Here are a few shots from Evan's adventures in VBS this week.

practicing his music

listening carefully at story time

singing in the program on Friday

And here are some from Joel's adventures.
He cried every day when I dropped him off. After a ritual of several hugs and kisses, he took his place under the table with his blankie and paci. The teachers assured me that this was for my benefit and that by the end of the week he came out quickly after I left.

with one of his favorite youth helpers

at the program - he was not supposed to be participating, but ...

Blueberries!

Okay, so this blog is really about two topics, but both have to do with blueberries. The first is that when we were in MS for July 4th we got to pick some really yummy blueberries at my dad's house. Evan enjoyed getting to participate in the picking and was really good at it. We all enjoyed eating them, although I put most of them in the freezer and am not letting anyone get at them right now.

The second is that this week is VBS at our church! You might be wondering what that has to do with blueberries. We are studying the fruits of the spirit and in keeping with that theme Evan's group is called the "Blueberries". They are a cute little group of kindergarteners! We are also taking two of the girls from Evan's class last year with us, and the four kids are having a great time together.

Joel is also going, but he stays in one class the whole time. His class is called "The Pea Pod". How cute is that! He really didn't like staying without me the first day, but he is getting better.

I am one of the storytellers of the VBS. We are taking turns with the duties. I told the story Monday and am on again on Friday. We will also have a closing program that day, and I will update the blog with more pictures I am sure.

No more stitches!

Apparently the ER made a mistake and put in non-dissolvable stitches because they should have dissolved out several days ago but didn't. So, today we went back to the pediatrician and he had to remove the stitches for us. It was not as traumatic as getting the stitches, but it certainly wasn't easy or pleasant for anyone. Joel was squeezing my hand, crying, and telling me that "it hurts really much!" and "I don't like it!" All I could do was agree with him and try to talk about other stuff. The nurse was holding his little foot still and the doc was snipping and pulling. Evan just sat in a chair and read. He may have been watching, but he certainly didn't say anything. By the time we got home Joel was able to laugh, so he recovered pretty quickly. He has gone back to full activity and the toe is healing quite nicely. He still likes to use his hurt toe as an excuse, but by now that's about all it is. Thanks for all of the prayers and concerns for Joel and his toe!

So tired ...

But not too tired to let go!

Today was a huge errand day for the boys and me. We haven't really been out of the house all together this week, except for that quick trip to the doctor on Monday. So, today we were out for about 4-1/2 hours, and Joel missed his nap. Correction: he missed a real nap, but he did sleep for about 5 minutes on the way home. When we got home I knew he was asleep, but I didn't realize that he still had his sucker in his mouth.

I'm doing it!

I haven't posted about this before, but about a month ago I joined a gym. I have been pretty faithful in going, even through a vacation and some medical issues with the boys. I have to thank Steve for helping me keep that commitment by being flexible with work and watching the boys for me.

So tonight I went to the gym and had myself re-measured to see if the past month had really made a difference. I am pleased to report that I have lost 3 pounds, about 6-1/2 inches, and my body fat has gone down by about 4 percentage points! I was scared that the results wouldn't be that good and that I would lose motivation. I am still definitely motivated, and am now ready to get more serious about my food choices, too, to help with those pesky waist inches.

I am hoping that next month will be even better. I want to thank Steve again - and all of those who have helped me with motivation during this past month!

In just an hour and 15 minutes!

I was away from the house for just 1 hour and 15 minutes yesterday, and when I came home I was greeted with the sight of my oldest with pink eye! He was perfectly fine when I left, but by the time I got home his eye was a little swollen, definitely pink and had a huge amount of green drainage in the corner. (I know that's probably TMI, but I really had to share.) We made a doctor's appointment, and I got the appropriate eye drops after Dad got home. (I wanted him to have the medicine earlier, but I also didn't want to take him out to get the medicine.) He also has a barky cough that seems to have gotten worse with the pink eye. The doctor said that sometimes ear infections come with it, but that his ears looked fine.

He is doing much better today. He even started wearing his glasses again this morning. I didn't post any pictures, because he just looks so pitiful. I don't want to take a picture of him when I know he feels so bad, because looking at those sad eyes makes Mom want to cry, too. (I have taken pictures of boo-boo's before, but this is just different somehow.)

He is being pretty good about the eye drops, too. At least he has been getting better with each dose. The doctor said that if he got two doses in yesterday he shouldn't be contagious today. What Evan heard was that he would be fine today. He protested the first dose based on those grounds, but we finally got it in. The second dose was not nearly as bad, partly because I was better at doing it by myself, too. Looks like Evan and I are both growing through this.

Lessons in action

Yesterday Steve and I each heard Evan using some of the things that he learned in VBS to help his little brother and himself.

Yesterday we had a thunderstorm during the middle of the day, and Joel and Evan do not like thunder. I told them that they needed to pick up the toys that were out before they played with new toys. Joel said that he couldn't because he was scared of the thunder. Evan said, "You don't have to be scared, Joel. God is with you!"

Later that night they were going to bed, and Joel got upset when Steve turned off the light. Evan said, "It's okay, Joel. God is with you!"

These things would also normally upset Evan, too, but yesterday they didn't! It was one of the times when I was struck with the fact that my little boy is growing up. I am proud of him, but also sad at how quickly time is marching.

Lessons from VBS and Super Mario Galaxy

Evan attended his first VBS of the summer this week. I also helped out with it, so this has been a busy week for us. As we were coming home each night I tried to talk to him about the Bible Point of the day to make sure that he had gotten it. Just so you know these were the 5 Bible Points from the week:
1. Jesus gives us the power to be thankful.
2. Jesus gives us the power to help others.
3. Jesus gives us the power to be brave.
4. Jesus gives us the power to live forever.
5. Jesus gives us the power to tell others about God.

Tonight I asked him what his favorite part of VBS was, and he said it was his little soccer ball from crafts tonight. He said that when you played with it, it reminded you about kids that live all over the world; some live in hot places, some live in jungles, some live everywhere! (The kids decorated the soccer ball with stickers of these places.) I said "Yes, and when we think about the kids we can think about how we need to tell them about God." He said, "No, that's not it. We just think about the kids." Then we talked about why people need to hear about Jesus, because if they don't know about Him they can't get the power from Him. Evan said, "Yeah! Kind of like Super Mario." I asked for an explanation, and he said that Mario goes around and does things to get special power. And he also gets star bits to feed the hungry Lumas (hence, helping others). Then he started talking about fighting Bowser (the bad guy). I racked my brain and said, "Yeah, and Mario has to be brave to try to stop Bowser from doing bad things." Evan said, "Yeah, but sometimes Bowser wins." By then we were about home and Evan was excited to see Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Matt who had arrived our house while we were at VBS, so the Bible lessons stopped. It seems that he was paying attention this week, and he is continuing to learn.

The Healing Toe

Joel's toe is getting better! We have gone from full bandaging to a bandaid and a sock. He still has pain from time to time, but he is much better. He has even been running and jumping for 2-3 days. We are blessed that he has been doing so well with this injury, in general. Sometimes it's fight to get him to take his medicine, and sometimes he loves it, but I guess that's life with a 2-year-old.

The Saga of the Toe

I was going to add a picture of the toe without the bandage, but Steve suggested that I not. We also did not keep the toenail for the scrapbook, although I considered it for a milisecond.

Catfishin'

USM

Beach pictures

Pictures from the pool

Vacation week

This past week we took a vacation to Mississippi to see some family, mainly PawPaw and GiGi. We had a really great time and got to see several aunts, uncles and cousins, too.

We spent most of Tuesday swimming in Uncle Freddy's pool. Evan loved going down the slide and jumping off of the diving board. He even stopped his dad from catching him and swam to the ladder all by himself. Joel went down the slide once, but I tried to catch him and it didn't work out so well, for either one of us. We did survive, but Joel wouldn't go down the slide again. He loved the diving board, though.

Wednesday we all went to the Gulf Coast (including PawPaw and GiGi). Evan had been asking when we could go back to the beach, and I told him it would be a really long time. He was very excited to be at a beach so soon and played for hours. The boys played in the sand and even swam with the fishies in the water. (Yes, we really saw schools of fish swimming around us. I tried to catch some of the smaller ones, but they got away.) I got sunburned in some weird places, but the guys who stayed in the water escaped without damage.

Thursday morning we went to USM for a little bit. It sure has changed a lot in the ... years since I have been gone. There were new buildings and roads were closed off, but we made it around the campus and took a short walk through the rose garden. Then we hung out at PawPaw and GiGi's house for t rest of the day, until we went fishing. PawPaw and GiGi had a fish fry yesterday for the 4th and we helped them catch some of the catfish. Evan and Joel each caught one fish and then they were done. Everybody else caught a lot of fish!

Friday morning we went back to PawPaw and GiGi's house for a final visit before we drive home. It ended up being a little longer than we had planned, due to a trip to the ER. Joel had an accident just a few minutes after we got there. He dropped a heavy metal truck on his foot and cut his big toe pretty deeply. PawPaw drove us to the ER like a Nascar veteran (minus the wrecks) and the staff was very nice, quick and efficient. Joel was x-rayed, cleaned, stitched, and we were on our way in about 2 hours. We were worried that we would have to wait 2 hours to even see a doctor. He got seven stitches, and is doing pretty well. He complains about it hurting every now and then, but he is happily playing on the floor right now. He slept a good bit on the way home yesterday, and the trip back was actually a lot smoother than it could have been, given Joel's injury. Evan is being very good with Joel and was trying to protect him this morning. If Joel dropped a toy, Evan would say, "I'll get it for you. You might hurt your toe." I had to convince Evan that Joel could get off the couch and walk around and play if he wanted to. Now Joel is even running around the house. I think that he will be just fine.