Found One!

So right after I finished writing the last post, I googled “otoscopes” & I found one for $25!! There’s my copay!!  I think I’m gonna order me one!  Anyone else want one?  Hee-hee!!

Boogers and Teeth

Wednesday morning Micah woke up with a snotty nose. He has allergies & used to always have a snotty nose until we discovered Zyrtec. Thank the Lord (& Dr. Squiers) for Zyrtec!! That stuff works wonders!! Micah had been boogery since October…well actually for practically his whole little life, until April of this year once the Zyrtec started kickin’ in.

So he had been dry since April…until this week. And Thursday night he woke up 6 times crying in the night. He never does that!!! Plus he had been pulling at his ears a little on Thursday. I just knew he was getting an ear infection! And of course, it’s right before the weekend! And it had to be the weekend that I work! (I work one weekend per month at a local hospital just to keep up my inpatient skills & for a little extra cash.) And it had to be the Friday that I work when I usually don’t work Fridays.

So anyway, I decided to go ahead & take him into the pediatrician on Friday morning to catch the ear infection before it got too bad. Well, his ears looked clear and basically I was told he had a cold & was teething, so there was nothing they could do…just Tylenol for the teething pain. I hate that!! I mean, I’m glad he’s not too sick & doesn’t need an antibiotic, but I just wasted $25 for the copay, plus I lost an hours worth of pay since I had to go into work an hour late in order to take him to the doctor. I wish there was a way you could get your money back if they can’t do anything for you!! Oh well!! At least I have the peace of mind knowing that he’s been checked out & his ears look good! I’ve got to get me one of those otoscopes (is that what they’re called?) that way I can check them at home & then only go in if they look red to me. I wonder how much I can get one of them for? They can’t cost more than I’ve spent on copays & lost wages!!

Frustration

Okay…I am so frustrated with this blog thing!  I thought I had it down until I tried to post some video clips (specifically the one of Landry singing…it’s so precious & I really want to share it!!)  Anyway, I can’t seem to get it to work for me.  If any of you techno-saavy people can help me out, that would be great!!!

So as soon as I get this figured out, I’ll be much happier…  (Don’t worry!  I won’t let it steal all my joy!!)

Memorial Day

On Monday we went to Dallas to hang out with Chuck’s family for the holiday. Chuck’s brother, Dan, is a fireman for the Dallas Fire Dept and is also a part of the Dallas Fire Rescue Pipes & Drums. They played in a Memorial Day parade, so went to watch “Uncle Dan” play his drum. 

Here’s a video clip of uncle Dan playing in the parade. He’s the one closest to the bottom of the screen toward the end. (Video coming soon…)

After the parade we went to Chuck’s parents house & took Landry swimming. He’s still a little timid of the water, but as long as someone is holding him, he has fun splashing.  Hopefully by the end of summer (and after lots of visits to the pool) he’ll be ready to jump on in!

Phase 1 Almost Complete

         We’ve been working on our landscape project for 3 years now. We either didn’t have the money or we didn’t have the time & we finally have both. We basically have 3 phases until it is completely the way we want it, but Phase 1 is almost complete!!! We still have a little more to do, but the bulk of it is finished.  And everything is still a little small, but it will fill in & look great in the next few years. 

I’m so proud of Chuck!!  I think he did a wonderful job putting it all together!  And he did all the work himself.  Well, Landry helped him level the dirt & mulch.  (I supervised from the lawn chair while holding Micah & drinking lemonade…hee-hee!)  I really think he missed his calling & should have been a landscaper.  But then all those lucky kids wouldn’t have the pleasure of having him teach them math & science!

 

Butterfly Garden

A few weeks ago we bought Landry a butterfly habitat kit. It came with a mesh butterfly house & we sent away for the caterpillars. A few days later we received a plastic cup in the mail containing 5 caterpillars. We watched them grow & then become chrysalids hanging from the top of the cup. Once they were in their cocoons, we transferred them into the mesh butterfly house & were able to watch them change into butterflies after about a week. Landry loved it!! We kept them in his room for about a week feeding them oranges & then we set them free in our backyard.

Here is a video clip of the freeing of the butterflies!  It’s kind of long, but if you hang with it, there’s a really funny part after about 2 minutes…

Singing Like an Angel

Landry has been going to Children’s Day Out this year & he absolutely loves it! His teachers are so sweet & he’s made so many new friends. He even had his first “girlfriend” according to his teacher. They belly-ached together about the blocks falling over…the things kids find amusing. Also they would run together in the gym holding hands. I don’t know where he learned about all that…It must have been the girl initiating!! (Hee-hee!) But who can blame her? How can you resist those big blue eyes & outrageous eyelashes! Not to mention his sweet, sensitive spirit & fun loving personality! (Of course, I’m not biased or anything!!)

Anyway, among the things that I’ve loved about him going to “school” there is what he has learned in Chapel. They teach them wonderful songs…and I don’t mean “Zaccheus Was a Wee Little Man” and “This Little Light of Mine”…although these are good songs too!! But he’s learning praise & worship songs like “Awesome God,” “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever,” and “Shout to the Lord.” What a precious sound it is to hear my 3-year-old praising the Lord at the top of his lungs! He sings all the time & I love it!! Of course we sing at least one song together, if not more, at night after we pray, but most nights he can be heard praising the Lord as he falls asleep. And every morning I hear him humming these praise songs as he wakes up. So sweet!!

He usually gets shy if you ask him to sing for the camera or for other people, but we got lucky the other day & he allowed us to capture him singing on video after dinner. Hope you enjoy!!

Love My Job!!

I feel so blessed to be a Physical Therapist! I absolutely love it!! I mean, what other profession can you further your career only working 2 days a week and still have lots of time to be a mommy?!?! And not only that, but actually enjoy what you do!!

I worked today & how fun!! I currently have 2 patients who are believers & we have so much fun talking…and yes, we do therapy too! (Don’t worry, I’m not charging insurance companies to sit around & chat!) But the best part is getting to know these people & then being able to see them actually get better! So fun!!

Thank you, Jesus, for blessing me with this occupation!!

A Clean House

So I was reminded today of something that I learned earlier this year…

Both boys were down for their naps at the same time & I thought it would be a great idea to mop the kitchen floor. (Unfortunately I don’t get to do this as often as I would like!) So anyway, I mopped the floor & got it sparkling clean (well, as sparkling as linoleum can get anyway!) It looked so good & I was so proud of my accomplishment! Then about 30 minutes later Micah woke up and was ready for a snack, so I gave him some crackers & juice. Of course, a 14 month old eating crackers means lots of crumbs on the floor. And Micah has this thing about throwing his cup on the floor once he decides he’s had enough to drink, so there goes beads of juice on the floor. And of course, Vader (the black lab mix of a vacuum cleaner) was right there to lick up everything…yummy, dog slobber!! So there went my perfectly clean floor in a matter of seconds. I started to get a little frustrated at my apparent waste of time (the mop job) until the Lord reminded me of what He had taught me earlier this year… (P.S. I had not yet spent time in the Word that day…)

At the beginning of this year I was in a Bible study with 7 precious moms. We studied “A Mother’s Heart” by Jean Fleming. There were so many things I learned through this study & from the insights of our leader, Deb, as well as the other girls. Among other things we talked about priorities & values. Jean Fleming states that she previously considered “good” days those days when she scratched lots off her “to do” list whereas “bad” days were those when she had few tangible results to show for her day. Being the task oriented person that I am, I can certainly identify with this. However, she goes on to write that “though the visible tangible world is so insistent and clamorous in its demands, I must not let it badger me into spending my life unwisely. The results of living by God’s value system (the importance of spending time with God & investing in people) aren’t immediately apparent like clean windows or a newly papered wall. But years from now, by God’s grace, my time with God and my children will produce results brighter than sparkling windows…. I must choose to do those things that will give satisfaction as I view my life as a whole, rather than measure satisfaction at the end of each day.”

So I’m not saying that I shouldn’t clean my house, but the value that I place on it (and its priority) should not be above spending time with the Lord or my kids. And I shouldn’t get frustrated when things aren’t perfect from the world’s standards. That’s life!! Thanks be to God for grace & mercy!

"Pray for Red!"

Landry loves to go grocery shopping with me. His little treat is that we get to go look at the cars in the toy section if he’s good & obeys mommy. Well, today Landry, Micah & I were at Target and apparently Target has this replica of the firetruck, “Red,” from the movie “Cars”…which by the way is his all time favorite movie. Anyway, as soon as we pulled into the parking lot of Target, Landry started saying, “Can we go look at Red?” It took me a few minutes to realize what he was talking about and if I hadn’t been his mommy & known of his obsession with the movie “Cars,” I might have taken him to the crayon section or just been completely confused. Anyway, I figured it out & after we finished doing our shopping, we headed to the toy section so Landry could see Red. However, we couldn’t find him. They had the other “Cars” characters, but no Red. We searched & searched, but couldn’t find him. “I guess Red’s not here today, Landry. I’m sorry,” I said.

“Hmmm…is Red sick?” Landry asked. “We should pray for him.” And then he proceeded to ask Jesus to make Red feel better so he could come back to Target. It was absolutely the sweetest thing ever! I wished I had my camera in my purse so I could have caught that on video! It’s times like this that you realize all that time you spend praying with your kids & telling them they can talk to God whenever they want is actually sinking in & they know how to do it! AWESOME!!