Silliness and Visitors

Not too much to share and no in depth thoughts today. We had a fluff day today. That said, I just love how silly kids are. I'm not sure how the chair tipped over....

..but Doc and GQ had a blast treating it like a vehicle of sorts.

Doc sat and watched his blanket wash. He insisted it needed to be washed because it got a little bit of water on it. All the kids have enjoyed watching the new washer and dryer run. I guess it's free entertainment that isn't TV! Doc also made sure to pull his blanket out the second it finished. We are waiting on a new washer because the child lock on ours isn't working properly. Hasn't worked since the washer was installed brand new earlier this week. I love how easy things amuse kids though!

Lately we have had these visitors come on our patio. They will come right up to the door and look inside. The kids think it's great. GQ has also figured out that he can open the door and chase them....and that they will chase him back home quacking at him all the while.

I think it's neat that the ducks come right up to our door like that. I'm not sure why they come to our house because we haven't noticed them getting close to any other houses in the neighborhood.

The best news of all....my family is coming into town TOMORROW!!! I'm so excited to see them. I work the next 3 days but they are going to come over tomorrow and have dinner with WB and the boys. Then I will see them for a bit when I get home from work. I get 3 whole days with them next week and next Saturday they are staying with the boys so I can meet up with some friends from MI at Disney! I haven't been to Disney since I was 2 and I don't remember the one day I was there. Busy week ahead and I am ready for it!

Life is like...

...playing frisbee.

Everything seems to go along straight and smooth until a wind gust throws you off balance or completely off course. 

When you're falling, it's always nice to have a friend pick you back up.

Sometimes you need a mentor to help show you the way. 

Sometimes you need to keep trying until you get it.

Sometimes you just need love.

And along the way you need refreshing. 

What is so hard to remember sometimes is that Jesus is always there whether your friend is there to pick you up or not, whether you're on the straight path or the topsy-turvy one. Jesus is there always just like the air we breathe. Through Jesus, we can have a new life. Through Jesus, our paths become straight. Let's remember that tomorrow as we celebrate Easter because He has risen!

Good Friday

Today we remember the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I watched Passion of the Christ while it was in the movie theaters and it really put in perspective what Jesus did for me. I tend to think of the movie when I think about Jesus dying on the cross for me. I think I do that because it puts a visual to the concept. I'm sure the movie was flawed and I don't take it as truth, especially not as truth over what the Bible tells us. However, it does put a picture in mind of what Jesus went through. I think many times you can hear or read something but until you see it with your own eyes, it's hard to really get a grasp on it. I think that's why faith is so hard for many people.

My mother-in-law sent us these today:

Isn't it pretty?

This week while working, the hospital chaplain came in and prayed over each of us as we were working. It was a very nice gesture and I love that it is allowed and even welcomed on the unit. What surprised me even more was the hospital chaplain praying over the doctor's hands. That is something I never would have seen at my old job. This particular doctor has really been a pleasure to work with. He gets right in there and helps, and he picks up the babies and rocks them when he has time.

Another nice thing here is that Doc was able to do Easter activities at school! That isn't something you would normally find in a public school but they did Easter activities here. Doc decorated an Easter bag for the Easter egg hunt. His bag had a whole row of crosses on it. He also had an Easter mask. He seems to really like it.

Isn't that just precious?!

Change of gears...

Tonight, we put GQ to bed. A little while later we heard a door. We saw that Mr. X was in the bathroom and figured that was the door we heard. The WB went to check on GQ and his bed was empty. WB started looking through the house and I headed toward the front door sure that the door we heard was GQ leaving the house. We found him in the house.

This is where he was.

It only took about 30 sec from start to finish and GQ came out of his hiding spot while we were looking elsewhere for him. Even though it only last 30 sec, it about gave me a heart attack. I'm going to be gray by the time I'm 30 at this rate! For the record, we lock doors at night and he can't unlock them.

I'm tired tonight so I apologize if I don't make any sense. Have a good Easter weekend!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Lizards!

Practicing math facts on Mom's phone.

Trying to get it on or take it off?

OK....on...

Neverind...it won't work... OFF

Rain so desperately needed and so refreshing.

No Success

Today we took the plunge and tried to potty train GQ and it was a complete failure. He didn't make it in the potty ONE time. He did however proceed to pee on the floor.....repeatedly. I was sure he was ready but I guess not. We'll try again another time but I am not doing the pee on the floor repeatedly for the next month until he is ready. However, I also don't want to miss that window of opportunity. I think we will just stick with encouraging for now but not pushing it. He does love his Thomas underwear though!

Not overly thrilled about me taking his picture.

His little Thomas underwears! I think that little kids in big kid underwear is just so cute!

OK, now he'll smile just a bit.

The Red Wings have their Social Media Fan of the Day. Doc decided he wanted this shirt on. When he was told it was going to be almost 90* today and he needed a short-sleeve shirt, he thought we could just roll up the sleeves. Do you think he could win the Social Media Fan of the Day?

After the potty training adventures today, we decided to pull out the little carpet cleaner we have. We hadn't used it before but it seems to work well. We have it ready to go for the next time we might need it. Afterall, we have a lot of light-colored carpet and 3 boys!

Doc decided that the empty box from the cleaner was a great toy. 

Mr. X had a new friend stop by today to ask if he could play. It was neat having someone come looking for him.

They went out playing with frisbees. Not a one of the boys could throw the frisbee properly but it was hilarious to watch them. WB and I decided that one of these days we'll show them how to throw a frisbee. Mr. X has been trying to get away with not wearing a helmet on his bike. I caught him and said he either wears a helmet or doesn't ride, so he stomped inside in a frump. We talked about how he left his friend outside and his friend might think he doesn't want to play anymore. Mr. X said he likes playing with his friends and wants his friend to come back so out the door he went to go play again. I know this seems like small things but for Mr. X it's a huge social step for him! I am so excited about what this could mean in the future for him. After awhile, he got upset with something his new friend did, so he came in and refused to go back out. I hope his friend comes back again. It's a work in progress for Mr. X though. :)

We ended our day with a good laugh at GQ. He loves to put the blanket over his head and walk around like a ghost....but every time he runs into something. Today he ran into the wall. He always laughs and rarely seems bothered by it so we can't help but laugh.

Never Enough Time

Why is it that when your to do list just continues to get longer? I feel like I have accomplished very little lately and yet it's not for lack of trying. I thought that we would have a few laid back days this week to just relax and enjoy....Yeah not so much. Today we spend 2 hours at the doctor's office. I must say that the wait time was awful and for an office that sees children, they have NOTHING for them to do. OK well maybe they have 2 puzzles and a table and 3 chairs.....but that keeps kids occupied for all of 2 minutes. I am seriously thinking about donating some of our kids' toys just so the other kids that go there have something to do while they wait, especially if the wait is going to be an hour. Of course, it was always lunch time and nap time for GQ and he was not a happy camper. That said, I do like the doctor. She seems very knowledgeable and really easy to work with. I am so glad that we have found a doctor that we all seem to like. And it's the first doctor we've visited down here! By the time we got done with the doctor's visits and got Mr. X back to school, he had missed lunch. I hung out with him at a picnic table so he could eat before he rejoined his class. It was crazy how the day just seemed to get lost. GQ had two shots today and he did really well. However, that was not the case tonight! He has been pretty cantankerous all afternoon since his nap was cut short. This evening though he was just downright unhappy. Nothing was right and everything was very wrong. Somehow we finally got him settled enough and he went to bed. He fell asleep quickly and seems to be sleeping well.

This was one of the rare moments tonight that GQ wasn't screaming bloody murder and flailing around.

I've also started looking for some exercise/workouts that will tone my transverse abdominals to correct the muscle separation in my stomach. Nothing I can find online lets you watch anything to help explain how to do the exercises nor does any of it sound like fun. We found an app on the blue-ray called GymBox. It has a variety of workouts. One of them is CardioDance and it sounded like it could be fun. Unfortunately, we can only watch 3 minute clips unless we pay a monthly subscription fee. I was kind of bummed about that. Anyways, Mr. X decided he would check out some of them too.

Here he is doing a 3 minute clip of Step Aerobics.

I wouldn't mind finding some way to get something like that in the house that we can try to be more fit as a family. I've heard good things about the Wii Fit. Maybe down the road. In the meantime, we'll stick with just trying to stay active outside. Now if only I could figure out how to get my tummy back in shape to avoid surgery on it.....

Serious and Fun

I have been reflecting on a lot of things lately. Things that I can't go into a lot of detail on a public blog. What I can say is that it makes me all the more thankful for my kids and it makes me reflect on how precious life really is. It's not that I'm not thankful for my kids all the time, or that I don't realize the precious gift of life, but the things I've been reflecting on, drive it all home that much more. It's hard to explain. As I reflected internally today, we had fun as a family. WB is finished with the semester and has 3 weeks off from school. This will be a wonderful 3 weeks of family time (minus the time Mr. X and Doc are in school).

Doc is so my child. He looks not a thing like me but he is into spinning and hanging upside down. I wrote a couple weeks ago about us going on all the rides at the fair. Well, now this seems to be a regular occurrence. I remember being told all the time when I was a kid to get my feet out of the air because I would prop myself upside down on the couch. I just have to laugh when I see Doc do this. And at the same time, my heart hurts for the families that won't get to see their child do these things because their child was called to Heaven. These parents won't get the chance to recognize the similarities between them and their child.

We also had GQ's hair trimmed today. We didn't want to get rid of all the curl so we just had it trimmed up so it wasn't in his eyes. His cheeser. Gotta love the cheeser that comes out every time the camera is out.

Mr. X also had a hair cut. We went pretty short with him because he likes to be outside so much. His hair was getting so long and shaggy. It hadn't been cut in almost three months!

When we cut his hair this short, we noticed that he has a bald spot! I don't think we've had his hair this short in a really long time. We are pretty sure the bald spot is from when he hit his head at 4 years old. The ER doc said it probably could've used a staple but since he was already so traumatized, that they would let it be and it would be fine. He passed out a little while after hitting his head so had an ambulance ride, IV started, and a CT scan of his head! I was OK with not adding anything more to that visit.

Doc didn't get his hair cut but he didn't want to miss out on the photo op.

Following hair cuts, we took GQ to the store to use his gift card for his birthday. He picked out a new Thomas the train track set and a new train to go with it. The new train is named Bill. We added the new se tto the old set and the boys all played with it for awhile.

We also got GQ some "Big Boy" pants. We are going to delve into potty training so we had to get him some new undies. We got him Thomas and Mickey. We put them on him so he could try them out for a few minutes today and he seemed to like them OK (though he looks rather indifferent int he picture).

GQ also had a blast rolling around in the clean sheets that I was trying to fold this afternoon. This kid and blankets/towels/sheets. He's always wrapping himself in them, rolling in them, covering himself with them. He will even cover his head and walk around like you would if you were dressed as a ghost but without the eye holes! Doc will do it too but not to the extent that GQ does.

After bath, GQ ran around the house barking. I caught the picture as he was mid-bark.

Doc was quacking and GQ was barking.

It was suppose to be bedtime but we stopped for a good laugh when we caught Mr. X and GQ dancing. I love watching little kids dance.

As we went through the moments of the day, I can't help but think of the children without this opportunity and the parents that don't get to see their children grow up. How blessed we are that our children are here and healthy. Lately, I have also heard more and more stories about how orphans in other countries live. I feel adoption is such a beautiful thing and would love to adopt one day. WB isn't on the same page as me and that's OK. It's not for everyone. That said, I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want to adopt. It's not something WB feels strongly about nor something he feels led to do. I am not going to force it on him nor am I going to just ignore the plight of these children. In my heart, I feel that there is something I need to do for them, something God is calling me to do. I just haven't figured out what yet. I do believe that when the time is right, God will make it known to me and WB. I will not pretend to understand where WB is coming from but it's not something I want to force on him either. Please do not mistake him as a cold-hearted person that doesn't feel anything for these children. He does, he just doesn't feel like he should parent them. He has nothing against adoption but doesn't feel it's right for him. Maybe one day that will change, and maybe it won't. That is in God's hands, not mine. Anyways, back to where I was since I went off on a tangent there. I have been reading about the plight of some of these poor children. One of the places I have read some of the information is from Adeye. She has adopted 4 beautiful girls and has shared on her blog the plight of some of these children. Special needs children left in cribs day and night without any love shown to them. They are not held, they are not cuddled, they are not read to, they are not played with. They are severely malnourished nutritionally, developmentally, emotionally. Their lives are not valued. How can that be ignored?! How can a life be worth so little to people? Let's face it, nobody is perfect. These children were born with disabilities but that doesn't mean that they can't thrive if given love, attention, and a nurturing environment. These children are children of God just like you and me. It breaks my heart. One day I hope all children have the chance to do this....

Enjoy!