The Boy of Many Scars

I am going to start calling Joshua the boy of many scars. He has three scars from stitches and two in spots where he probably could have used a stitch or two. These are all on his face. Now he has a new one to add to the group. It's on his lower abdomen - right where his appendix used to be. Two weeks ago we had friends over for dinner. The kids were playing outside and jumping on the trampoline - Joshua included. He was fine and having a great time. When he was getting ready for bed he started complaining about his stomach hurting. We didn't think a whole lot of it since he has a sensitive stomach and complains about his stomach hurting pretty frequently. We got concerned though when we were up with him most of the night. He had a hard time getting to sleep and then didn't sleep for long before he woke up again. We debated whether we should take him to the ER. In the morning he threw up and we thought maybe it was just a stomach bug. We waited a little while but the pain didn't go away. So, I took him to urgent care. To my surprise (and Joshua's) they said we needed to take him to St. Francis hospital because it might be his appendix. Joshua was very upset at urgent care because the doctor talked about the possibility of surgery. He threw up again on the way to the hospital. They took blood and a urine sample. They put an IV in and did a CAT scan. They decided from the tests that he did need to have his appendix taken out. So, at about 6:30 on Sunday he went into surgery. Thankfully his appendix had not ruptured. He got to go home by 5:00 on Monday and was back in school by Thursday. It was all really crazy! He was a real trooper. The most difficult part was when he was in the recovery room after surgery. That was not fun! He's doing well now. He's ready to be able to play outside again and jump on the trampoline but he has to wait one more week. He also can't participate in PE at school. He wasn't very happy about missing out on PE and recess. I'm just so thankful that he hasn't had any complications and he will be all better by summer break. I'm also very thankful that we have insurance!

Still Alive

Ok, I figured I should blog since it's been over two months since my last one. Life has been very busy and doesn't show signs of slowing down (it will actually probably get busier). I am enjoying my part-time job! It's only 10 hours a week. I can't imagine working more than that. It's so fun being around little ones again! I can't believe it but my "baby" will turn 8 in 3 weeks. I think that's why I enjoy being around toddlers and preschoolers again because I don't have any at home. Joshua and Jacob just finished Upward basketball. I just love that program! They both enjoyed it. Jacob tended to be a ball hog but he wasn't the only one on his team. He seems to be more aggressive with basketball than he is with soccer. Soccer has started again now. You would think that soccer and gymnastics would help Jacob get out all of his excess energy. Unfortunately, he always has too much no matter how many activities he is in. Joshua is in Cub Scouts still. He really enjoys it. He is a Webelos this year. He has a great den leader and is earning a lot of badges (they are actually pins but they are called badges). Caleb stays busy with band (percussion), guitar lessons and friends. He has always been very social but that has increased with his being a teenager now. We got him enrolled for high school next year. I can't believe I will be the mother of a highschooler. How did that happen? He is excited about being in the Union high school band next year and taking a web design class. I spend a lot of time driving them to all of their activities. I often feel like a taxi driver (except that I don't get paid).
I don't have any pictures to put on here right now. I need to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer. I will try to get that done soon so I can post some of them.

Snow Fun!

The boys love to go sledding when we actually get snow!

Kenneth got to go with us this time.

Our snowboarding boy

The boys built a snowman with our neighbor, Jimmy.


The boys were so excited to have a white Christmas! The best part was that it snowed while Kenneth was home. Usually it snows during the week and I have to take the boys sledding by myself because it usually melts before the weekend. It looks like the snow will stay around for a while this time. The boys had a blast sledding! We were the only ones sledding and it actually didn't feel too terribly cold because the wind wasn't very strong. Jacob had fun snowboarding. Kenneth tried out our snowboard also. I asked Jacob if he wanted to snowboard on a mountain sometime and he said yes. He would probably love to go skiing with his Dad. I'm not much of a skier myself. The bunny slope is about all I can handle. I prefer to stay inside by a fire with some hot cocoa and a good book. The boys also had a snowball fight and built a snowman with our neighbor. Unfortunately the snowman lost his head shortly after being built.

The Teenager/Musician, the Scout and the Gymnast

Joshua - our Scout
Jacob - our Gymnast
Caleb - our Teenager/Musician


I got this idea from a friend of mine who did this in her Christmas letter. She is more talented than I am and made hers rhyme. I gave up on that idea quickly.

T is for Texting in all his spare time
E is for Eating all of the time
E is for Electronics - he likes Macs the best
N is for Never enough time with friends
A is for Always Annoyed with his brothers
G is for Guitar player - acoustic and Guitar Hero
E is for Excited about web design
R is for Rhythm-maker (drummer)

Caleb is my teenager. He is very social and would spend all of his time with friends if he could. He is our musician. He plays percussion in the band, takes guitar lessons and likes to play on the drum set also (and of course he enjoys Guitar Hero - and is really good at it).


S is for Studious (he's got all A's)
C is for Chess - which he loves to play
O's for Obsessed with video games
U's for Unbelievably good at math
T is for Ten years old

Joshua is our Scout. He is a Webelos this year and really enjoys it. We even attempted to camp out in our backyard with our neighbor's tent. He is in the gifted program at school and is proud of his all A's (this is his first year to get grades).

G is for Giving his mom gray hair
Y is for Yelling all the time (no volume control)
M is for Mischievous Monkey
N is for Non-stop energy
A is for Athlete
S is for Soccer player/Skateboarder/Snowboarder wannabe
T is for Tumbling & Twisting (even the splits)

Jacob is our gymnast. He must get it from his Dad. He is really good! I love to watch him do handstands, cartwheels, splits, etc... He goes non-stop all day and then crashes at night. He is a daredevil and scares me sometimes. We went sledding and he likes to snowboard down the hills.
He thinks he would like to snowboard on a real mountain. He must get that from his Dad also.

Pumpkin Patch

October was insane! Which was very sad because I love fall - especially October. I love the cooler weather, the leaves changing and the pumpkin patch. Kenneth was out of town a couple of times during the month and he was really busy at work one week. So, I felt like a single mom quite a bit. Add in some sick kids during part of the month and busy schedules with lots of activities and that's a recipe for chaos and stress. We did manage to make it to the pumpkin patch. Caleb didn't go with us because he was sick over fall break. The rest of Tulsa and Bixby seemed to be there though. It was extremely crowded! We had a good time though and brought some pumpkins home. I was going to put some pictures of the boys' painted pumpkins and costumes but they are still on my camera. I might get them on here by Christmas.

We love going to the pumpkin patch! Caleb didn't get to go with us because he was sick.

Jacob loves having his picture taken. He kept posing for me. He's such a ham!

Joshua didn't want to go through the maze so I managed to get a picture of him by himself.

Blogging Again - Finally!

Ok, I'm finally getting around to blogging. It's been forever! I'm working at our church's preschool this year and it's really thrown me for a loop. It seems like the days when I am home are filled with chores, errands, etc... A lot has happened since I last blogged so I will probably write a couple of blogs today. Joshua turned 10 in September. I still can't believe he is 10 now. My boys are all growing up so fast! We had a bowling party. The boys had a lot of fun. We used the special lanes that glow in the dark and have video screens. That made it something special and out of the ordinary. Joshua won the first round so he was excited about that.
We've also been busy with soccer and gymnastics (Jacob), Scouts (Joshua) and band/guitar lessons (Caleb). The fall has been so busy that it's passed by in a blur. Soccer is over now so I'm hoping that the rest of November will be less crazy. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is a little over a week away. Joshua and Jacob will start Upward basketball in December so we will get busy again. December always seems to be super crazy!

We had a fun bowling party for Joshua's 10th birthday!

Sitting on a bowling ball doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable.

Who's that silly kid with the bow on his head?

Back to School

Jacob has Ms. Forbis again - we are happy about that. Can't believe my baby is in second grade.

Joshua got Mrs. Roueche. She's very nice and has been teaching for a long time.

My tall son (taller than me now) is an 8th grader now. Unbelievable!

Jacob was excited to see his friends, Jackson and Eli. He is definitely Mr. Social!




Ok. The boys have already been in school for 3.5 weeks so I am a little late getting this blog done. The beginning of school is always crazy and it takes awhile to get back into the routine of things. Caleb is in a new school this year and likes it pretty well. The food is better than at his last school and food is very important to a 13 year old boy. He likes his math teacher better this year which is a major relief. Joshua's teacher doesn't believe in giving homework very often (unless they don't finish their work at school). Joshua is really enjoying that. I am too since Jacob has more homework this year and is now doing book reports every month. This is a big challenge since he doesn't like to read very much. This last week was pretty crazy. Joshua and Jacob were already sick and missed some school. Jacob had bronchitis and missed 3 days of school. Joshua only missed one day of school but has been feeling bad again today. It's crazy that there is so much illness going around this early in the school year. Caleb hasn't gotten sick so far. Hopefully he won't! It's harder for him to miss school. He is at the lake this weekend with one of his good friends. It's getting to where we don't see him much on the weekends because he spends time with friends as much as he can. He's definitely a teenager now. I am working part-time this year at our church's preschool. I am enjoying it but it is tiring. I didn't get to work at all this last week with the boys being sick. Hopefully, this week everyone will be back to school and back to work for me.