Unexplained Absence

To those of you who took the time to email me during my absence- Thank-you! I really appreciated it. :)

The trip to Ohio was short and a bit tiring. My dad had to stay in the hospital longer than he's first thought. However, the good news is that the DR is sure that he got all of the tumor in the bladder. It was cancer. The second operation (for another known cancer) will be in September. Thanks to all of you who prayed. Keep praying. :)


Pneumonia is really hard to recover from when you can't rest as much as you should. :) Thankfully that seems to be finally going away as well. (After 4 weeks and 2 rounds of antibiotics) Michael did try to let me rest more but things kept coming up with the business. He did give a a few weekends where he watched the boys a lot. I was really grateful. I got on a message board several months ago but hadn't posted much because normally I'm really busy. During the rest period I got to know SO many amazing people via the board. :) It was a tremendous blessing in my life.

Other happenings:

The first day of homeschool for us this year started August 4th. The boys BEGGED to start then. We have only been "off" for 6 weeks. I was planning on going another month but they REALLY were SALIVATING over their new supplies. Judah was salivating over the new books and Thomas was salivating over the art supplies. heehee
Judah is in second grade and Thomas is in first grade this year but Thomas will be doing 2nd grade Science and Social Studies and History with Judah. :) When I see how things are going (it's only ben 4 days) I will post our new schedule for this year mostly so my family can see it. :) I want them to know we are taking this homeschooling thing seriously. ;)
I had never even thought about doing anything "special" for the first day of school. The interent is an amazing resource. Mostly my kids are just happy to be doing school. LOL I won't take special pics, etc. However, the were presented with all new supplies this year (crayons, markers, scissors, erasers, glue) and on August 14th (the official first day of PS around here) we will take a PE Field trip somewhere FUN and talk about how wonderful it is to be homeschooled!! LOL

The boys are also excited about playing football again this year. I signed them up last week. Now if I could just remember to schedule them a dentist appointment, sigh. :)
Thomas is still in flag football this year but Judah is moving up to "contact" football. heehee They have no idea what kind of linebacker they are getting. :D
That won't start till September. So we have about 4 more weeks of "How many more days till football?" SIGH. :)

NURSING UPDATE:
He still talks about nursing EVERY SINGLE DAY. However, he no longer cries or looks sad. Now it’s all about being funny and/or sneaky. Sometimes he “says” all gone and cracks up laughing. Other times he waits till I lay down, opens his mouth wide, and tries… It’s hilarious. 

I’ll close with a few recent funny things the kids did/said. Enjoy!!

I WAS PUT IN CHECK - BY MY 5 YEAR OLD!!!!

"Listen" to this folks...

Yesterday Gideon, who is 2 1/2 and was still in a crib, decided that he wanted to sleep in big brother's bed for naptime. Daddy authorized this deal much to my irritation. I just knew that I would have to outlast him to get him to stay there. Well, I was reading to Thomas in my room. Gideon tried to come down but Michael ambushed him on the stairs, corrected him, and sent him to bed. (then Daddy went back to work) I finished the story and went to see why it was quiet in the boys' room. SHOCK! Gideon was fast asleep. (Peaceful sigh)

So, after his nap I asked him if he was ready for his big boy bed. He got SO excited. We set it up and I realized that he didn't have matching sheets or a matching comforter like the big boys do. So, I proceeded to search on Ebay. Judah and Thomas came in to watch and Gid was on my lap. Judah said that he wanted a new one too. I understand the desire to change the look in a room so I said that we would keep the paint color and then try to find matching bed in a bag sets. Well, all the sets were too expensive for 3, plus, nobody agreed on what they really wanted. (well not the cheaper ones anyway) Gideon kept pointing to ones he liked and Judah kept saying "I don't like that one."

Finally, Thomas looked at Judah and said kindly but firmly, "Judah! Mommy is buying things for Gideon's bed. She is NOT buying things for our beds. We already have some upstairs. We don't need to buy things when we already have some. Mommy is buying us a toy at the Dollar Store tomorrow. This is for Gideon."

I was suddenly slapped back into reality. I said something like, "Good point Thomas." And that was that.


IN THE WOMB
Thomas (who makes up all kinds of funny stories about things he supposedly did) was talking to me at naptime today.

Thomas and I were talking about death (his idea) and about being sad when people die. I was explaining that if the person knows Jesus that it can also be a celebration as well.
I used the example of my brother (who died 5 years ago). I told Thomas that I was sad because I missed him but really happy for him because he was up in Heaven having a great time.

Thomas said that he remembered hearing him play with Judah. I explained that that wasn't possible because Thomas was still in my "tummy" when Jay died. He looked at me and said, "You can hear in there. You have that belly thing remember?" He proceeded to lift up his shirt and point to his belly button. I went into gales of quiet laughter. When I had regained my composure I asked him, "So what else did you do in there?"

Thomas: Swim. I remember diving in there.
Were there toys in there Mommy?

I was practically ROFL by that time.

I SO enjoy talking to my kids.

Blessings!!