best mother's day

All week, Ella has been ducking into her room to work on her "project." We'd finish school in the early afternoon, and then she would disappear each day for at least two to three hours at a time. She kept things top secret, though I could tell she was very, very excited about what she was working on and that it was hard not to unveil it prematurely.

Then, on Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, I literally did not see her ALL DAY LONG except during snack times and meal times. She worked in her room on "the project" tirelessly. At dinner time, the kids went to their grandparents while Bryan and I headed out for a birthday dinner for a close friend. When we returned to get the kids, the first thing Ella voiced was her plans to finalize her work when we got home.

With Bryan's blessing, she stayed up late to put the finishing touches on things and then she banished me to my room so that she could prepare for the following morning. She was giddy when she finally came up to brush her teeth around 10 pm and she could hardly settle down for bed. Honestly, I've never seen her get this excited even for Christmas morning. She could not wait for me to wake up so she could show me all her surprises!

This morning, I opened my eyes to see her next to me, wide eyed, waiting for me to get out of bed. She's crazy! She roused Simon once I began to stir so that he didn't miss out on all the fun. To start, there was a Happy Mother's Day sign over the bathroom door. Then downstairs we ventured to see more of the same signage in every room. Balloons were hung in the doorways and a large banner hung in the kitchen:

She had everyone in the family sign it, including Josie.

Once she had me settle into the couch, she piled up the wrapped gifts. She had worked so hard I couldn't wait to see what she was up to!!

This is a sampling of a few of the gifts. At the top left, you'll see a short story she wrote and illustrated about a young prince and princess who grow up sitting next to each other in school who end up falling in love and getting married when they are 20. Next to that is a pop up card which lists all the years of her life that I have been loving her along with the rest of the years that I will be watching over her. Then we have a duck tape frame with the inscription "Mom's are Great!" and a duck tape hair bow. The fancy project is a pair of blue sandals she made for me out of cardboard and painter's tape. They actually fit! (I wondered why two of my pairs of shoes were missing this week :)

My top three favorite handmade gifts from Ella were these:

Bouquet of painter's tape roses in a duck tape roll vase

Duck tape sculpture of downtown St. Louis!

Duck tape ring with gorgeous jewels

I don't know exactly what I did to deserve such adoration, but I can't tell you how full my heart was all day today. There are so many days that I wish I could express my love in a more complete and full way to our kids, to always be a source of acceptance, security and unconditional love but somehow I feel I fall short in expressing the depth of these feelings in the day to day living of life. But seeing how much Ella wanted to serve me, make me laugh and treat me special...it made me feel secure that it's really getting through. All three kids are so incredible, so special in their own way. I am blown away that I get to be their mom.

Today I truly felt like Mother of the Year. Thank you God for entrusting me with these amazing people! Bryan, Ella, Simon and Josie...I love you, I love you, I love you!

Photobooth fun today!

gone gluten free

A bit ago I gave you the back story on some of Josie's health issues which included symptoms of arthritis. I mentioned in that post that I had plans to meet with a homeopathic practice to investigate if diet could be part of her problem, a possibility that the rheumatologists didn't seem interested in checking out and pretty much told me that diet has nothing to do with arthritis. Just so you know...I'm not bitter about this but I felt very strongly that I needed to at least investigate a possible dietary issue before committing to medicating Josie for an unforeseen amount of time or to label her with a very heavy diagnosis.

I saw a homeopathic nurse practitioner at Webster Family Physicians just after Josie had received a steroid shot for the continued swelling in her ankle. (The shot was the next step recommended by the rheumatologists since medication alone wasn't totally fixing the problem.) The homeopathic nurse and I discussed doing some blood tests to see if diet was a player in the arthritis. After drawing blood that day, it took nearly a month to get the test results back. Her bloodwork indicated that she had no "allergies" but several low grade offenders which cause inflammation in her immune system. One of the offenders was apple which I had been giving her pretty much non stop through juice and applesauce which were the only foods she consistently had interest in. I had no idea that it was causing inflammation to build up in her little body! :(

The nurse explained that it was good news that Josie's tests showed no severe reactions to food but that we needed to get the inflammation under control so that her fragile immune system could recover, mature and strengthen. She assured me that if we got things under control now, she would almost certainly outgrow these sensitivities!

The plan of action was to completely remove wheat and gluten for a year or two and also cycle through the other inflammatory foods every four days, giving her system a complete digestive cycle before reintroducing them into her digestion.

I have to say, since being on this diet since March, (about two months) Josie is like a different child! She is sleeping through the night (HALLELUJAH!) which happened almost immediately. She is no longer emotionally reactive. Before, she would scream in frustration constantly, needed holding all the time and just didn't act like the carefree, easy-tempered girl I once knew. Now she's back to her old self! She sings and runs around, and laughs and plays with her siblings. And she's finally eating food! She's become a GREAT little eater! In fact, this morning I noticed that the onesie she wore to bed was way too snug. I thought to myself, "I need to take these old onesies out of her drawer because they are pulling on her neck." Then I stumbled across this photo of her from only four weeks ago wearing the exact same onesie:

Here it is baggy and loose. She has gained 4-1/2 pounds in about six weeks. It's incredible!

I so appreciate medicine and love our doctors. But I can't tell you what a relief it is to speak to a medical professional who sees the validity of diet and who is not in a rush to over medicate. I thank God for this amazing turn of events!

As of now, the swelling in her ankle has not completely disappeared. But it is well under control and is not causing her any stiffness or changing her gait. The difference between her two ankles is very subtle. But the idea is that once the inflammation has worked it's way out of her system over time, she should return completely to normal. I'll keep you updated as things progress! I'm one relieved Mama, I have to say! xx

For your viewing pleasure, here are some recent photos we had taken last week. The happy changes are visible!

Check out that healthy little toddler body!

To close, here is an image of her sleeping, sweet sleep, on the couch. She just laid down after lunch and fell right to sleep:

So happy to have my girl back.

treehouse progress

Bryan (and various helpers!) are making loads of progress on the treehouse! The floor is finished, the ladder is built and walls are going up! We picked paint swatches to try to make it look purposeful up next to the rest of the structures in our yard and hopefully, to not annoy our neighbors with a gawdy box in our big tree.

I'm so impressed with the way it's shaping up and also at how earnestly Bryan is working to complete it. He'll probably finish the walls next week and continue painting. Following that will be the roof and then all the extras like the swing and the deck railing on the front.

This photo shows where the front door will be. The extra flooring off the front is a deck which will be enclosed by a nice railing that a friend helped Bryan build. The long board that sticks out on the right side is where a swing will hang (yay!!)

This angle shows the back side of the house which is still unfinished. I'm so excited that almost every wall has a window which we plan on fitting with hinged shutters so the kids can open and close them as they wish. We've decided to paint the siding a stone/khaki color (I know...a very safe choice for me) in order to blend in with the siding of the additions on the house and also the colors in our fence and garage. The trim will be a darker shade of said khaki but I'm hoping to use a deep, statement color like peacock teal or kelly green for the shutters just for fun (and because I can't help it.)

The kids are dreaming of the amenities they want on the interior. So far we have plans for a table and chairs which are already being stored in our basement, a hanging chalkboard (also in my "inventory" in the basement), and possibly the play kitchen. I'm thinking the kitchen won't make the cut as I have plans to create a seating area out of a pallet I found in our alley. Something along these lines:

Image credit: http://ashleyannphotography.com

It won't be nearly this large, and most likely not this pretty, but it will be comfortable and fun! Other exciting details will be strings of lights or paper lanterns, a radio (per Ella's request) and a mailbox. We might throw in some house numbers and a mailbox just to make the residence bonafide.

And that's where we're at! I'll post more photos as things plow forward!

treehouse!

Last weekend we were out in our back yard hanging out when I scanned the scene, taking inventory of projects that needed to be tackled to spruce up the place. I concluded that the overall picture was sad and neglected. As I mentally perused the landscape, my eyes rested on the huge sycamore right next to the back of the house and I commented nonchalantly, "Ya know...it would be kind of cool to have a tree house in that tree..." It was one of my "dreamings" which Bryan is very used to hearing me verbalize, and most often filters out due to time or finances (or possibly annoyance :P). But he perked up at this particular idea. He's become a bit of a handy man since our humble DIY beginnings as newly marrieds. Over the years he's installed a bathroom, remodeled a kitchen, installed siding, laid tile, and accomplished lots of other feats involving carpentry, plumbing and electricity. He's often itching to tackle a project, especially a building one, but time is at a minimum these days.

The mere mention of a tree house seemed to push an "on" button. As soon as the kids got wind that there was even TALK of the subject, they latched on and there was no turning back. Simon especially has asked about it every other second. Even at a wedding last weekend, (the day after the idea was mentioned) he asked in the middle of the ceremony if we could go home and start building. And he has decided that it belongs to him, but that he will share with his sisters.

Bryan has been online doing research, looking at architectural drawings and budgeting out materials. He even went old school and checked out a book from the library. Today was building day.

We all pitched in, though Daddy and Papa (Bryan's dad) did all the carpentry work. The kids and I, along with Grandma, did a lot of yard work, weed pulling, raking, trimming, cleaning, mulching, arranging bricks, etc. Much of our efforts focused on removing English ivy which was used as ground cover on a lot of our property before we moved in. I have decided it's the Devil's weed. It is such a nuisance and is so invasive. It covers most of the trunk of the hefty sycamore that the tree house is being built into, and as we removed the vines, most of the bark came tearing off at the same time. Grrrr....

Working together, we had one of the most productive days around the house we've had in a long while. I tidied the whole back yard and am so pleased with it! And Bryan completed the  first phase of building (framework of the floor plan and supports). The next phase will involve building the ladder and laying the flooring. We hope to have it complete by the end of April! And, Oh. My. Goodness...The kids better play with it every day until they leave for college.

Anyone out there have tree house experience? I always wanted one, especially after watching the movie Swiss Family Robinson.

Floor plan view. Also note my nice black mulch around the tree in the back? Pay no attention to all the bald spots where grass should be growing...that's the sad and neglected part. Grass will not survive back here!

sippy cups and silk

Remember the scripture in the Bible where Jesus tells us we can't serve both God and money? Well the same goes for loving children and loving fancy vintage furniture. I know that's what Jesus really meant, right?

I've been on a whirlwind vintage kick lately and in the midst of finding some amazing deals on gorgeous unique things, I've sold much of our old furniture which always seemed too big for this city dwelling. Finally, after living here for five years, it's starting to feel like the furnishings suit the house and fit within the nooks and crannies.

In the midst of my thrifting, I stumbled upon this GORGEOUS mid century olive green tufted sofa with wood detailing. My heart was all aflutter. I go nuts over nearly anything tufted! So I swiped it up even though the realist in the back of my mind said, "Don't get too attached. Silk and sippy cups cannot coexist." Or something like that. But the price was right, the style was insane, and so I promised myself I would hold it lightly.

Within the first couple of days, there was an oily residue left on one of the cushions by somebody's little grubby fingers and I contemplated selling the sofa before it got ruined. But then, I reminded myself that I paid next to nothing for it and if it got ruined, it wouldn't be a huge loss, as long as my heart was not attached.

Shortly after, I bought two cans of scotch guard and doused the thing from head to toe. I tested the stain resistance with some water and it beaded up and rolled off and my mind was at ease that maybe sippy cups and silk CAN coexist. Folly? You may be right.

This morning I should have known better than to be productive first thing out of bed because, as I was downstairs putting in a load of laundry, I heard cries from upstairs that Josie had thrown up...On. The. Couch. And it wasn't just regular old throw up, it was a belly full of grape juice. It might as well have been sulfuric acid, or blood, or a flaming kebob of oily cheese. By the time I was able to get to it, it was still beading up, but had soaked in enough to leave a very noticeable stain. I cleaned and blotted and wiped for a half hour or so, fighting off frustration and irritation. But all in all, I'm not that upset. Surprisingly. I love my kids more than I love fancy vintage furniture, and I don't even mind if God wants to keep checking me on this one. I say, if I ever get close to loving stuff more than people, I'll be looking for a boatload of grape juice vomit to come my way.

Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

scattered

Today was a bit of a scattered day...I was meant to take Josie to her quarterly eye appointment (it is recommended she be examined every three months as a preventative measure for a rare complication called iritis that sometimes occurs in JIA patients) but the doctor was out due to a death in the family. So, while I was in the neighborhood, I made a quick thrifting stop at Salvation Army (one of my favorite spots.) No awesome furniture to be found but I got a lovely little round, tufted pillow in the perfect shade of pink. It pops just right against the olive backdrop of the sofa! And you can't beat $1.99!

I also picked up some tshirts for Simon to make it through the spring and summer. Since I've been frequenting the thrift store circuit over the last couple of months, I just don't think I'll ever be able to pay full price for kids' clothes again. This is a good thing!

I also got Ella an illustrated Children's Bible from the mid 70s. It's one that I remember having at our house as a kid and I always loved looking at it. She's very interested in the Bible and has outgrown some of the more basic versions and is really more drawn to the actual text which we read together every morning after breakfast. I thought this one would be a great middle ground for her and the illustrations have a certain retro charm!

Ella and I then crammed in about a half day's worth of school (we hit the books pretty hard at the beginning of the week in order to have a light day today) and Simon went to school while Josie napped. Then all the kids headed over to our sweet friend Shannon's house while I ducked out to the annual St. Louis Homeschool Expo. Since this is my first year as a homeschooler, I have never been to an event like this and I have heard it can be overwhelming. I actually had nightmares last night in anticipation...Mommy guilt doubles when you homeschool, I think, as one can question whether or not she's doing enough for her little ones. I was afraid I would enter this homeschool world surrounded by a hundred vendors selling various appealing curriculum, and begin to get shaky in my current plan.

However, I did my best to prepare. I brought a suitcase on wheels so I didn't get a sore back lugging heavy books that I might buy. I fixed myself a large coffee in my most favorite insulated thermos, and I had a very specific list with online prices marked in the margins to make sure I found the best deals. And you know what, it really wasn't very overwhelming at all! I left feeling confident in what I'm doing and really pleased at how much Ella is learning. (Gosh, she's an amazing student.) I even got to meet up with a dear friend while there and talk strategy for next year as well as just be comforted by the familiarity of a friend I love :) I bought all of my curriculum for next  year except for the big Sonlight order which involves the bulk of our reading materials and is a huge box of books! But I got a coupon code for that order which is reason enough to attend the Expo on it's own! A bonus was that I came home with an art curriculum that I plan on doing over the summer with both big kids and a cursive curriculum for free.

When I walked through the door with my suitcase, Ella met me, bubbling over with anticipation. She peeked through the materials and ran around giddy and silly. She was very excited for next year's science workbook (Botany) and exclaimed, "OH! I could just start RIGHT NOW!!" She's a nerd in the most beautiful way!

We capped the evening off by relaxing and hanging out in the living room watching old Spiderman cartoons which were ridiculously entertaining. And then, surprisingly, the most amazing thing appeared in the sky outside our window:

We scrambled out on the front porch to capture this photo. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Ella suggested we find the end of it and dig up the gold. And I remembered what it felt like to really believe there was gold at the end of a rainbow, if I could only get there before it disappeared!

It was a scattered day, but I'm still smiling at day's end!

what's old is new

If you know me, or have visited my house, you know I love aged things: music, art, housewares, linens, whatever. I much prefer the character and story that vintage items innately possess, and really appreciate finding beauty in things that most people want to discard or "upgrade." I've tried my hand at selling some things on Etsy, and had some success with what little I listed, but found I just can't keep up with maintaining my shop and dealing with mailing them out efficiently. But it hasn't stopped me from adding to my "inventory!"

I have had my eye out for THE perfect stereo console for years. I wanted one with simple, clean lines that was on the more petite side. Most consoles are really wide and we just don't have the wall space available. A couple of years ago, I fell in love with the German brand, Grundig, style consoles, but when I saw the price tag of a restored, working model, I knew that it was something way out of our reach.

And then it happened.......the craigslist clouds parted and a ray of light shone through! Late one night, I happened to be meandering through craigslist, doing my regular searches looking for something of interest, window shopping I suppose, and there it was. A Grundig stereo console. Beautiful, clean lines, rare in form, very well preserved. It was not producing sound, though it powered up. Either way, I was all aflutter!

I was able to get the price down to a very manageable amount (with some help from a friend who piped in to buy another item the guy was selling to sweeten the deal) because I knew it would take some money to restore the thing. Now it's sitting patiently in our hallway, waiting for TLC. I can't wait to spin my first record on it!!!! Ugh...the suspense is killing me.

Isn't she lovely? Sleek and graceful!

The details! Ack! They give me goosebumps!

Patiently waiting, cozied up next to Grandma's old wall clock.

I'm super excited to tell the kids to "Keep their hands off the Hi-Fi." Won't that sound so funny?

So, in all my excitement, I've been mulling over the idea of renting out an antique booth. It would add to our income and be way easier to manage than an etsy site for me. I could just price things and leave them there to be discovered! I think it would be a really great creative outlet and exciting to see things sell.

Here's a little number that will make it to the booth once I get my hands on one.

I just love anything tufted, don't you?

She's a little champagne colored Kroeler chair from the 1960s sometime. I would love to keep her around, but we have too many chairs than floor space. She'll look great in an antique mall! I'm on the waiting list of the closest one to our house...I'll keep you posted!

dressing herself

Josie is very independent. She much prefers doing things on her own, I suppose that's part of being two now. It's so funny to see the clothes she puts on. We have to keep the folded laundry out of reach because she pulls things out, one by one, strips herself down, and tries to wear all the new stuff one on top of the other. Here's the progression the other day:

Rocking the outfit

Ok, there's something wrong here...

Must. Get. Out!

Enough with the camera, already! HELP!

The funniest thing about this outfit is that the bottom half is actually another shirt. She's wearing three shirts folks. She much prefers that particular shirt on the bottom half of her body.

And shoes...oh how she loves shoes. She's always wearing somebody else's shoes around the house, and even with a 50-50 shot, she always puts her own boots on the wrong feet.

Josie is such an entertainer at this stage!

finally a family day

I'm not sure what to pin it on, but between travels and special occasions, visitors, or a to-do lists, we haven't had a bona fide family day in a good while. Having stayed out late visiting some friends last night, we started things right today by sleeping in till after 9 (most of us, at least.) Simon didn't change out of his pajamas all day long, and even after a bath at the end of the day, he put his original pjs right back on (along with the same underwear, ew.) I had lots of ideas about tasks I wanted to accomplish, but, it ended up just being better to mosey around the house with little direction. I think we all needed that.

One errand Ella and I did run, was a trip to Lowes and the grocery store. I was on the hunt for some "Super Washing Soda" in order to make our own laundry detergent. I have been determined to undertake this task in an effort to pinch a few pennies this year. The recipe I found for homemade laundry detergent yields 576 loads for $6! (On a side note, I LOVE pinterest for this type of resource.) For inquiring minds, making your own laundry detergent is so insanely easy. It's crazy to think how much money we could have been saving all this time! Well, no use crying over it...here's to the future!

After the errand, and lunch, we tackled making Valentines for Simon's class. Ella and I made hers last week so it was a breeze knocking Simon's out. I had loads of fun doing it (and Simon did all the gluing, some of the drawing, and writing his name.) Again, thanks to pinterest for the grand idea! It was a HOOT! (You'll get the pun once you see the image of the finished Valentines. :)

Witty captions include: "I'll OWL-ways be your friend!", "You are a WISE guy!" and "You're a HOOT!"

Simon's Valentines had to be candy-free, so we used pencils as a favor. Ella put Tootsie Pops on her Valentines. This was a really fun thing to do together.

We topped off the afternoon by tidying up the girls' room, purging old toys, books, papers and straightening the bookshelf. Josie has officially moved out of the crib and into the big girl bed which meant lots of rearranging! WOO to the HOO! (Is that another owl pun?) Now there is lots of room to play once more and Ella loves being in her room again. It's a relief to me, because she used to spend tons of time in there reading, playing, imagining, creating...since the crib has been in the way, she's avoided her room like the plague, even preferring to sleep in our room or Simon's room on the floor. Those issues are all resolved now and bedtime is getting much more streamlined.

Family day was a success today...it achieved relaxation, togetherness, leisure, and even a bit of honey-do accomplishments. I'm breathing a happy sigh....

josie turned 2

January 12 was a momentous day! Josie turned two, can you believe it? She's growing up and leaving behind the baby stage. It's always sad to say goodbye to the baby stage, but oh so fun to explore what lies ahead as kids develop into their own little people.

Her birthday started out with a magical dusting of snow! It was very pretty, though it seemed to throw all of St. Louis to a halt. We didn't mind one bit.

Because Josie had an outpatient procedure scheduled, she wasn't able to eat anything but she could have clear fluids till 9:30 am. So she had all the apple juice she could possibly handle! Fortunately, she tends to be a light eater in general, so she really didn't complain much. I just kept her distracted and her crazy sagging diapers changed.

After all the hospital stuff I mentioned in the previous post, which was an unfortunate part of the birthday extravaganza, we were pretty pooped out. Josie had a mega nap (she had partial anesthesia and pain meds that made her sleepy.)

At dinnertime, we celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa as well as Dillon Neely (who is living with us until he and Rebekah get married in March...Josie is nuts about Dillon and actually says his name which, in my opinion, gives him rockstar status) and ate some of Josie's favorite foods (and when I say favorite, I mean, stuff that she'll actually ingest. It had to involve ketchup.) We had mac and cheese, hot dogs, and salad, the ultimate kid meal. I couldn't stand to feed this meal to the grown ups, so we had a slightly "higher brow" version...browned apple chicken sausage with kraut to dress it up. (I don't know why, but I just love sauerkraut and took this as an opportunity to inflict it upon others.) Topping it all off were chocolate cupcakes with chocolate butter cream frosting and ice cream. (I can hardly bear to think of how many calories were in these little suckers, but I'm glad they're finally out of my fridge!) This year, she loved the cake. Last year, she didn't bother. So that was definitely a step in the right direction!

 

We sang the birthday song to her and she surprised me by getting a bit quivery in the lip. Not sure if it was because the lights were turned way down or if she got overwhelmed and confused. But she's not usually very shy about being the star of the show. Regardless, she totally knew what to do about the candles!

Then she opened presents which, again, she knew exactly what was expected of her coming directly off of Christmas just weeks ago. She got some cute clothes and shoes from us and a great kitty cat piano with a microphone and the most wonderful meowing sound effects! Of course, we all know that anything musical will thrill Josie.

All in all, it was a wonderful day, a real success I think. I just can't believe she's two. But I think two will be a very good year for her. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about her as she reveals more of who she is!

Not much else to say, but just feast your eyes on this sweet little girl who thinks she's so big, she should wear lipstick now!

the back story

January 12 was Josie's big birthday. And that's what I really want to post about. But there's a lot of behind the scenes information that you need to know. It was full of happy moments, and also, not-your-normal kind-of-birthday moments. I haven't posted anything about some of the health stuff that's been going on with Josie over the last several months because, I guess I just didn't feel up to rehashing all the details. It's a long story and frankly, I'm at a time right now where I just don't like sitting in this computer chair for very long! So, as a back story before we get to the birthday fun, I'll fill you in on the details of what we've been dealing with.

But to start, here's a fun picture of Josie just before her birthday. The angel hair is in full fluff mode!

It's hard to get a crisp image of this little mover and shaker!

Sometime around mid August, I noticed some swelling around Josie's left ankle. She didn't act like it hurt, she walked normally and so I thought I must have missed her twisting it or something. But three weeks later, the swelling persisted. Over the next several months, we went through multiple pediatrician appointments, several rounds of xrays, and a trip to a pediatric orthopedist who ordered further xrays and an ultrasound. No one seemed too alarmed, though a bit puzzled and we left the ortho with no real answers and plans for an MRI in order to see more detail around the ankle. This was the week just after Thanksgiving.

Two days later, Josie woke up in the night with pain, further swelling in the ankle and a mild fever. She couldn't get comfortable to sleep and was unable to stand or walk. It was a quick and alarming turn. Honestly, seeing her try to stand only to crumple to the floor was a heartbreaking scene.

The following day was spent in the ER doing more xrays, bloodwork and she had to fast from all liquid and food in case they ordered the MRI. It was a sad and difficult day for her, and for us, but I was hopeful that at least by the end of the day, we'd have an answer to what was causing the trouble.

But that didn't exactly happen. They ruled out all the really scary things like cancer, lupus and a "septic joint" and said that they suspected arthritis (this was one of our earliest questions we'd had since Bryan's youngest brother had juvenile rheumetoid arthritis. Doctors kept dismissing that idea since it's somewhat rare to see it in kids this young as well as without any other symptoms.)

We've met with arthritis specialists and the Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis diagnosis is nearly certain with them, though I haven't quite "embraced" it yet...I am interested in investigating any dietary sensitivities that might cause arthritis symptoms and meet with a homeopathic practice in a couple of weeks...more info to come later, I'm sure.

So.....anyhow....all the backstory to say that, on her birthday, Josie was scheduled to receive a cortisone (steroid) shot in her ankle to decrease the swelling so that we could relieve any pain for her and also get her off medication. The doctors said that half of their patients who are only affected in one joint will receive this shot and never have any further issues. So that's what we are praying for!

The people at Children's Hospital are so great and had birthday balloons for Josie as well as two wrapped gifts and birthday cake. It was really helpful because she played with the toys non stop until it was time for the laughing gas. They gave her a baby doll and a tea set. I loved watching her feed her little baby with a spoon!

She never shed a tear the whole time, even with the anesthetic mask on and doctors in her face. She was incredible. It's been three days since the shot and her swelling is probably about 80% gone. I'm praying for a total recovery...

...now that you're informed, feel free to jump to the next post for all the happy birthday fun!!

thanksgiving and other merry making

Our Thanksgiving holiday always involves time with my dad and siblings. For the past four or five years, they have traveled to be with us at our place and we share a huge feast, play games, visit some sort of local spot of interest like the City Museum, Magic House, Powder Valley, or a local park depending on the weather. This year, we mainly focused on spending time together at the house or at the hotel where Dad, Cimi and the kids stayed. Simon and Ella stuck very close to my little sister Keely who is nearly 11. She entertains them and makes life extremely fun for the few days they are here. Every year, I feel like our time together gets more enjoyable and it's always sad when they all go back home.

This year we embarked on a new undertaking that I secretly hope will become a tradition. I had an itch to hang Christmas lights (which I have only done once and I believe it was during some serious nesting impulses). My older brother Josh seemed very receptive to the idea of helping me. One encouraging word was all I needed to move forward! He worked very hard to hang the lights and climbed all over the porch like a lemur (descriptive comparison drawn by Bryan.) Once Dad and my stepmom, Cimi arrived with the kids, they helped out by running to Big Lots for an extra extension cord. They were so excited to contribute to the merriment, they returned with a couple of lawn ornaments. I have never owned a lawn ornament before. The decorating began to take on a life of it's own, but I have to say, I am drawn into the cheer of it all! I'm very excited to drive up to our house and see the lights glimmering in the dark from down the street.

Let the holiday merriment ensue!

reading, studying, bathing and celebrating

As usual, I have fallen behind in keeping track of all the little milestones and sweet sayings around here. But I don't feel too bad as I've been busy "living life" with these guys. Sometimes getting on my computer feels like more of a drain than productive and helpful. But there are a few notables so I thought I'd pause a moment to scratch them down.

I think I can make the statement that Simon is really reading now. He has been sounding out words here and there and chiming in when I read with him when he recognizes a word or when I push for him to figure it out. He has always liked letters, loves writing words and drawing pictures, but he does get frustrated if he feels like he's not succeeding. So I thought it might be helpful to get him some super early readers that seem less daunting than some of the "I Can Read Books" we have in our library. I purchased the "Bob Books" from one of his school's book orders and he officially began reading them on his own yesterday. He was so thrilled that he stayed up with the light on to read after I'd tucked him in. I am so proud of him and very excited for where this takes him!!

Ella's homeschooling is going well. We have our moments of difficulty, which I notice happen more if we aren't prompt in getting on the ball early in the morning. The more she gets in play mode, the more difficult it is to focus and the day takes longer. But we feel very productive and really get things done efficiently if we start right after breakfast. She is excelling and I have seen so much growth in her confidence as a person and her self expression. Some of that may just be in maturing as she ages, but I have to believe that meeting her needs as she has expressed them has contributed to some of her growth. She loves all the reading and we've finished quite a few books already. She is writing in cursive now and is really quite proficient at it. She likes science and our world history is fascinating. We're learning about Ancient Egypt now and had a field trip to the art museum to see the mummies and Egyptian art. I dare say, I am seriously loving homeschool and the enjoyment, closeness and quality time it fosters!

Josie's vocabulary is expanding and she's successfully repeating words back to us quite a bit now. She's "sugar and spice" as we've always said...the sweetest, most affectionate child I've ever known, but very expressive when she's irritated. She screams to show she's mad and sometimes she screams to show she's thrilled! She's growing so much and is starting to grow out of some of the things that can be so difficult with little ones, like requiring being held for an hour before finally falling asleep at night. We're getting past some of those more "intensive" things with her and she is capable of doing lots of things, but she's still our baby!

Last night during bath time, I was finishing up with Josie when Simon decided to jump in the tub as well. Josie was all washed and rinsed and playing in the water and Simon and I commenced in talking about his fifth birthday plans. I was engrossed in our conversation and hadn't noticed that Josie had gotten quiet and was looking down at something next to her in the water. At the angle I was sitting at, I couldn't see what she was looking at and continued talking until I finally got curious about what she was studying. I sat up and looked next to her to see a small turd floating in the water. She seemed confused at what it was and had been studying it trying to decide if it was friend or foe. As soon as I jumped up with alarm and said, "Oh my GOSH!" she decided it must be foe! She began crying in desperation and panic. I pulled her out and wrapped her up (Simon had already made his exit) and she shivered with nervousness and fear. After the inconvenient impromptu scrubbing of the bathtub while my two youngest waited to be re-bathed, I really couldn't get annoyed or frustrated. It was all too hilariously entertaining. Simon was a champ. I couldn't believe he didn't freak out about sitting in Josie's poo water. But he laughed right along with me. Once I ran the clean bath and Simon got back in, Josie was still afraid. She shook her head emphatically saying, "nuh-uh" multiple times. But I stuck to my guns and she got her second bath. She came around eventually with no more tears shed.

Oh my. Such an event.

Tomorrow is our eleventh anniversary. Tucking Ella in tonight, I told her how excited I was to go out to dinner to celebrate at a fun restaurant (we're doing a family date for this one...Bryan and I had a big Mexican vacation all last week to celebrate year 10-11). Ella said, "Oh no! I'm such a ding dong! I forgot to make you a present!" to which I replied, "YOU are my present, and Josie and Simon too." She added, "And Dad. He's absolutely your BEST present."

She is so right. I couldn't be more satisfied with a life if I had written it myself.

taking credit

Whenever we go on a trip of any kind, Ella is known to "pack a bag." Even on a trip to Target or to the grocery store, she has to have some kind of little something to entertain herself like a book or activity of some sort. Sometimes it's a pain because the unpacking doesn't always happen AFTER the trip so there are often shoulder bags full of books, crayons and toys at various spots in the house.

Late this afternoon, Bryan decided it would be a fun treat to take the kids on a spontaneous camping trip just for tonight. Ella was thrilled and immediately commenced to packing her bag. I packed for Simon and gathered all the linens and as the time to depart neared, I racked my brain for things we may be forgetting.

Me: Ella, did you get your boots?
E: Yes, and Simon's too.
Me: What about socks...I think you'll need socks with those because it will get quite a bit colder this evening.
E: Yes! I got TWO PAIRS!
Me: Wow Ella, you thought of everything! You don't even need a mom!
E: Yes I do. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have learned any of this stuff.

Credit is nice, though, I think she's done just fine on her own. She's a great kid.

 In the tent

mommy date

I'm always the behind the scenes arranger of dates for our children. But I rarely actually get a date with any of them one on one. When Bryan took Simon on a camping trip a couple of weeks ago (must post about this trip at a later date), I seized the opportunity for some alone time with our eldest. Josie stayed with Elijah and Anna for a couple of hours and Ella and I went out just the two of us!

Ella requested a trip to get a new pair of earrings since she finished the six week waiting period so I took her to a department store to find a nice pair to switch to. We listened to music in the car on the way there and took some photos of ourselves for fun.

Can I just tell you what this photo means to me? Pure bliss. Daddy dates are important for sure, but I think this girl really needed a mommy date. She is always wanting to connect with me one on one and it's hard to meet that need all the time with many demands on my time and attention just to keep this ship sailing! But you can see it on her face. She is happy. And I relished the time alone with her just having fun.

After she picked out some lovely (half priced) silver butterfly earrings, we went out for gelato and chatted. We held hands everywhere we went and came home with full hearts!

school's out for summer!

Simon has been finished with preschool for nearly two weeks now. But Ella's kindergarten graduation was yesterday and the final day of school was today. After her graduation and awards ceremony (she received awards for perfect spelling, excellent grades, a citizenship award, whatever that is, a character word of the month award for displaying respect, and an attendance award which was clearly a mistake because she missed ten days of school!) the school allowed kids to leave early with parents to celebrate.

Ella's class waiting for their awards

So we took Simon and Ella out for lunch at the Murdoch Perk where Simon ordered a big Belgian waffle and Ella got the hungryman's breakfast! Yowzers...scrambled eggs, bacon, two pieces of toast and potatoes! She shared with Josie. The sweetest thing was that Simon insisted on dressing up. He's still stuck on his new clothes we got him for the wedding. It ended up being great that he did that as I was able to get a picture with them both dressed up!

Check out the huge bruise on Ella's cheek. It's a big one. She ran into the wall somehow in our hotel room while she and Simon were playing. It totally looks like she took a beating. But she still looks pretty in her graduation dress! Isn't Simon sharp in his tie?? He is all about looking handsome these days and is particular about picking out his own clothes.

I'm ready for summer, but we'll miss Mrs. Morton. Ella truly loves this woman! She wants to invite her to her seventh birthday party.

Bring on the summer!!

promised photos of Josie

I wish I could find words to describe the angel that is Josie. I know she's my kid, but seriously, there is no denying there is something SPECIAL about this one. I've never seen a kid so affectionate and so quick to connect with others. She is not shy about sharing her smiles with people and warms up to new friends quickly.

This may be my favorite picture of her...it really captures the silly smile she doles out on us daily. And her expressive eyes...always raising her eyebrows to let you know she's ready for fun!

This photo is just a bonus. Enjoy!

Love my girl!

tidbits

I've been out of the habit of updating some of the bigger happenings as of late. So, to try to get back in the swing of things, this post will consist of some small tidbits of recent happenings.

We went out of town last weekend. The plan had been to stay with our close friends in Joplin but the recent tornado that devastated the town derailed our plan. We drove through though and had a look at things and it was beyond the worst my imagination could have conjured. All this talk of tornadoes has had an impact on the kids and Ella was really saddened by what she saw. I could hear her gasping in the back seat as she said over and over how SAD it was. And then I could hear her praying under her breath. That Sunday we visited Frontline church in Oklahoma City where Bryan was speaking as a guest and the kids talked about things they were afraid of as well as things they were thankful for. Ella's depiction of this was a drawing of a large blue tornado and a picture of Bryan and me. For clarification, she's thankful for us and scared of tornadoes.

On the same subject, Ella told me she wanted to move. Her exact words were, "Mom, I like our house a lot but I think I want to move somewhere else." I responded: "Why? Where do you want to move?" Ella: "I want to go somewhere where there aren't tornadoes." This spring has been kind of scary weather-wise.

Some hail at our house this month. It had begun to melt by the time the photo was snapped, but was originally around 2.5" diameter.

On a happy note, Ella finally learned how to blow a bubble! She also got her ears pierced and didn't even shed a tear!

Time with Simon has been fun and challenging at the same time. He is so sweet and kind and always the gentleman. But also, he's been pushing some discipline boundaries and picking silly fights with me about not wanting to comply with simple requests at random times throughout the day. Today was a bit challenging and, even though it was mainly a good day with lots of smiles and fun together, there were a couple of trying moments, mainly due to tiredness I think. As I prayed for him tonight, he made his requests known and instructed me to pray for the things he asks for every night: Good dreams, no bad dreams and no nightmares. But during the prayer, he tagged on, "And to OBEY." Sweet boy. I know sometimes it feels so hard to respond right in the moment, especially when you're physically out of whack and tired. I know he wants to. We have got to get this whole to nap or not to nap thing figured out.

Along with the prayer time, Simon pulled me close and asked if he could tell me a secret. I leaned in and he whispered, "When I grow up, I want to become a pilot." Dramatic pause...."or a PIRATE."

In Josie news, she's pretty much sleeping through the night and is close to being fully weaned. WOWZERS. She's growing UP! She's soooooo sweet. Such a hugger. Always cuddling and scrunching up her nose to give a sweet smile. Totally need to post some pictures soon. She's a doozy. Here's a quick lookie-loo:

Lovin' the swing!

Alrighty, that's all for now. Life is busy and changing...summer's almost here (Simon's school is over now and Ella's kindergarten graduation is tomorrow morning!! UGH. So ready to close this chapter of kindergarten stuff.) Onward and upward! Hoping to be better with the blog during the summer months!

Simon's last day of school.