Is My Birthday Here Yet?

Nathan is at that age where he gets so excited and anxious for events coming up. For days before Halloween, every day he'd say, "Is How-een here, yet?" Then we'd look at the calendar and count and talk about how much longer he needed to wait. The minute we were through with Halloween, Nathan started asking (many times a day), "Is my birthday here, yet?" We followed the same routine each time until I could finally say, "Yes, it's here. Happy Birthday, Nathan!" He was a little frustrated to realize that he would have to wait until later in the evening to have his party, though. He was so excited when we I decorated his cookie "cake", when we blew up balloons, and when we started bringing out presents. He danced around the living room singing, "My birthday's here...it's here!"

So, on November 4th, my "baby" turned four. He's so grown up and so sweet. I'm so grateful that he's mine. Heavenly Father knew I needed him last to make me smile and laugh, keep me young and fit, cuddle and love me when I need it most (and when I don't) and to amaze me with his goodness. He has an angry streak that doesn't take much to come out, but most of the time (as long as nobody teases or crosses him) he's such a sweet and happy little boy! I love you, sunshine!

Nathan's train cake was actually a giant sugar cookie.
He really doesn't like cake much.

Make a wish...

Opening presents

The very favorite present, by far, was a "Mario Mushroom" Bryson made. Steve helped him cut a wooden ball and stick, drill the hole, and sand and glue it. Bryson painted it all by himself. Nathan loved his mushroom so much, he wouldn't even put it down to open his other presents. He slept with it for several nights after and it was his constant companion for days. So cute.

He Watches Over Me

I woke up this morning thinking about Veterans' Day and feeling gratitude for the many blessings I have in this free country and those who have sacrificed so I could have them. I obviously had no idea what was in store for me today. My gratitude for other things was enlarged as the day went on...

I was bringing Sarah back from school and ran over something on the freeway. By the time I had taken the exit, I could feel the pulling and hear the awful noise of a very flat tire. As soon as I could, I pulled over and parked. With Steve being out of town and unable to rescue me, Nathan and I would have to fend for ourselves. I remembered I was a grown-up resolved to handle this on my own. I remembered that I had been too lazy to put away the stroller yesterday, so it was still in the car. I was wearing my pajama pants and a trashed sweatshirt, but had (for some unknown reason) put on real shoes instead of my slippers, like I usually do. So, Nathan and I got out and walked home. It was only about 5 blocks. We went home and I exercised, showered, and tried to think through what to do.

I called David to see if he was available to help during his lunch break, if I couldn't do this by myself. He said he was available and happy to help. When we were ready, we loaded into the truck to go take off the flat tire and get it fixed. However, the truck wouldn't start (not really a surprise, but I was hoping). Nathan and I loaded instead into the stroller again and walked back to the suburban. Much to my dismay, I discovered that the jack and lug wrench were bolted into the cubby to keep them from rattling. I got the wrench free, but the bolts on the jack wouldn't budge. I decided I would just wait for David to come rescue me. Just as I was getting out of the back of the suburban, a nice man pulled up in his truck and asked if I needed help. After I explained what was going on, he said his name was Mark and he actually had a hydraulic jack and lug wrench in the back of his truck. He spent the next half hour taking off my tire and changing it to the spare. (Anybody else know how to get that "spare tire holder" down from under the bottom of an SUV? I never would have figured that one out on my own! Well... unless I read the directions.) Anyway, he got the tires changed and things cleaned up for me, wished me well, and got me on my way. I thanked him and asked if there was anything I could do for him, and, as I expected, he told me no and that he was just glad to be able to help. We parted ways and I headed to the tire store where they repaired my flat tire. Four hours and and only $10.95 later, the whole ordeal was behind us.

On my way home, I reflected on the many things that were in place to make that difficulty as painless as possible for me. Shoes instead of slippers, a stroller, how close we were to home, nowhere else we had to be, a brother available to help, Mark - my hero of the day - who just happened to be in the neighborhood at that time with the jack and wrench we needed in his truck and nowhere else to be, and a simple flat to repair instead of a whole tire to replace. The more I think about it, the more little details I see and marvel at how much my Heavenly Father must love me. He couldn't keep my tire from going flat, but He softened the blow the best He could. I don't believe in coincidences. I believe in miracles.

Halloween with Mystery, Inc.

This Halloween's costumes were inspired by a cute little dog costume I bought at our school yard sale last August for Nathan. Since the girls are a little too big to do the whole Halloween and Trick-or-Treating thing, I thought we should have them all be the Scooby Doo gang. That way, the girls could dress up, too, and help the boys for me! Besides, the boys love to watch the old Scooby Doo cartoons. They all loved the idea and we went searching for clothes and accessories to make it work. Both the other boys had clothes that worked great, and for the girls, we hit three different thrift stores and Wal-Mart, and borrowed a few accessories from a friend, and had everything we needed. I was so excited with the way their costumes turned out, and the kids all loved them. Bryson had a brilliant idea that Steve and I should dress up as the "Mystery Machine", but we declined. Sarah, Bryson and Joshua all won movie tickets in the costume contest at the school carnival, and we got a lot of comments. Joshua's yellow hair ended up being a nice neon green, and Rachel's red hair spray ended up all over everything in the bathroom, but it was so cute, and so worth cleaning up the mess!!

Freddy (Josh), Shaggy (Bryson), and Scooby Doo (Nathan)

Velma (Sarah) and Daphne (Rachel)

The whole gang from Mystery, Inc.
Scooby-dooby-doo!!!

Family Pictures 2009

We haven't had our family pictures taken since Joshua was about 6 months old. Yeah, six years ago. Well, we wanted a bunch of fun pictures and didn't want to spend our life savings, so David spent the good part of a Saturday in October taking our family pictures. He has a new hobby in photography and is really very good. This was his first "Family Portrait" shoot, except for his own, so we all learned some things. We had four locations in mind, but we started out pretty cold, and then the sun came up pretty fast and made things a little more complicated with the shadows and light. He took about 260 shots, and we hoped a few of them turned out okay. With that many people, you always have somebody blinking, not looking, talking, or crying. Well, he got many more than a few good ones, and I am so happy with what we ended up with. Actually, there are too many to choose. I might just make a collage for the wall instead. There are just so many that are so fun! I love my brother and am so grateful for his willingness to do this for us!!

That's Progress...

One Saturday, a couple of weeks ago, we had one of those days where we went from one thing to another and then I crammed Halloween costume shopping into all the little spots in between. I picked up Bryson from a birthday party, where he had a wonderful time. Then, instead of going home, we parked at the church parking lot. Our family was assigned to clean the building that day, and were already late, so I just planned to meet Steve and the other kids there. Well, I had forgotten to notify my son that we had other things planned for his afternoon, and this surprise really didn't sit well with him. His Asperger's responses kicked in and he asked in a pretty angry voice, "What are we doing here?" I answered that we were there to clean the church. He folded his arms, glared at me through his knit eyebrows, and said, "You didn't tell me. I'm not going." Well, I tried not to stay calm, and just apologized for forgetting to tell him, and told him he could stay in the car, but we were here until the work was done, and I was going in to help. I locked him in, and went into the church. I secretly checked to make sure he was safe out there, but he sat like that for quite some time.

After a while, I saw him slink into the building and with an embarrassed smirk on his face, he told me he had to come in to go to the bathroom. After he was done, he stayed and helped clean the bathrooms and vacuumed. On the way home, I thanked him for his help and as I put my arm around him, I asked, "So, was that really so bad?" He looked down at his feet and said, "No, Mom. I was wrong. It was okay. Sorry." We talked about how good it makes you feel to be helping others and showing our gratitude for the nice church we have to meet in. It took me a few days to realize how much his simple admission must have cost him, and how much it really meant. He admitted (without my prodding or "guilting") that he was wrong and that he was sorry for his behavior. He recognized that it was not acceptable, and not the correct way to respond to that situation. I know he was frustrated, and probably had much different plans for his day. I should have remembered how important it is to prepare him for those things. But I was so impressed with his thoughts during our short conversation in the car on the way home. I think that's what I'd call progress.... Boy, I sure do love that kid!

Hours in Line for H1N1 Flu Shots

Sarah's cardiologist confirmed what the pediatrician told us...that she really had to have an H1N1 (Swine Flu) Shot. Originally, we weren't planning on getting one for any of us. Something to do with a government-infused scare tactics, not enough testing, more problems with the vaccine than the flu...yadda, yadda, yadda. Anyway, we figured we'd be careful, sanitize, and be fine. Well, with both doctors telling us she needed one, we figured Bryson should probably have one, too. And because they're both high risk (with Sarah's compromised immune system because of her heart problems, no spleen, and PLE, and Bryson's asthma), the other kids should probably get them too. We've always had our kids immunized, and never been crazies who refuse shots that could protect our kids, so we figured we better just do it.

The health department was having H1N1 flu shot clinics in Pocatello a couple of weeks ago. They had to cancel one because their shipment of vaccine was less than they expected. So, at the only clinic in October (and the only place the vaccine was available) people started lining up 6 hours before the clinic began. We were beginning to get a little paranoid about how to make sure we got Sarah's shot, until my mom called earlier in the day to say that if we brought her by the school (it was happening at the school where she works) at a certain time, that she could get in line to get one with her. Steve went and checked her out of school, sent her in to meet Grandma and then got in line to save the rest of us a place. We were in line, all the way around the church across the street, by 3:15, and worked on homework on the sidewalk, whined about being bored, and tried to calm the ones that had just figured out why we were there. It was fun.... okay, not really. We stood in line for 3 1/2 hours before we were able to get the kids their shots.

We did have a little excitement, though. Some wonderful Domino's Pizza owner had his drivers come around 5:00 with a whole bunch of pizzas that he was passing out to different sections of the line. I couldn't believe how generous and thoughtful that was. There were so many tired and hungry kids and pregnant mommies, it was very appreciated. About 15 minutes 'til the front of the line, the news station asked to inteview me, and I had yet another 5 seconds of fame. (Couldn't find a clip this time, though.) When we got to the front of the line, the nurse confirmed that the kids would all have to get shots since they had so recently had their seasonal flu vaccines, and Josh fell apart on me. He thought he was getting the nasal spray again. They all did fine, though, and we stopped at K&B and let them each choose a candy bar for their reward. Poor kids. We're such mean parents. I really hope it was a good thing to get the vaccines and it really will protect my kids from harm. We're still really going through the soap and sanitizer, though!!

An Alien Invasion on Bryson's Birthday

Bryson turned 10 on Monday, October 12th. He was out of school for his Fall Break, so we invited 10 of his friends from school, and had a birthday party. He helped me plan the whole thing, from the theme to the invitations, to the games and treats. He wanted to do an "alien" party (one of his greatest interests at the moment) and drew pictures for his invitations. We decorated with lime green crepe paper and Bryson drew alien faces on all of the green balloons. At the party, we made Alien masks, played "Alien Battles" (2-person contest requirement in his bear cub scouts book), musical chairs (with alien pictures Bryson drew on each chair and alien music), and a sculpture contest with alien goo (bright green kool-aid playdough). Bryson and Rachel helped me create the cute little UFO cookies we passed out for treats. The gray frosting was a little tricky, but they turned out so perfect! All but a couple of his friends were able to come, and they had a great time! Prizes were rubber aliens and body parts candy. They had so much fun! I was so grateful Rachel (and her friend Ellie) helped at the party. I was so surprised to see how big all of these boys have gotten over the last three years they've been at the charter school together. They really filled up my house. They were so excited about their presents for him and were all so grateful, polite and kind. Bryson was the most grateful little alien at the party. What a sweetheart.

That night, we had his favorite dinner...waffles! Grandma and Grandpa Dixon and David and Valarie and their kids came over for dessert that night. We had hot fudge pudding cake that Rachel actually made for him. It was sooo yummy! We had to cram all 10 candles into his ice cream so the hot fudge wouldn't melt the wax candles.

He got lots of treasures and we got lots of hugs. He was so grateful and so sweet. It was worth all the time and energy to see that huge smile and get so many hugs and thank-yous for so many days afterward.