One of my first Christmas ornaments. My mom gave this to me a few years ago to hang on my tree. It's 30 years old and I love it!

Sweet baby hands "decorating" the tree. I use the term loosely...it was more like setting ornaments on the branch and then letting them fall to the ground while you ran to grab more.

Gracie...my sweet niece. She and her mommy made me this little paper angel when she was just two years old. She's 9 now and has been such a blessing to me! She was so excited to hang it on my tree for me and thrilled that I saved it all these years.

Daddy's job...putting the tree topper on! When I bought it we only had two little boys...I had to add a third snowman to make it right!!

The finished product!!

Bigger and Bigger and Bigger

I made each of our boys an ornament their first Christmas. I cut their handprints out of fabric and glued them to an ornament of some kind. We made one for each of the grandparents and great grandparents. My mom has one she made with my on MY first Christmas..30 years ago!!
I love having the boys hold their ornaments each year and see how much bigger...or BIGGUH as O says it...that they get each year!

Not Me

Therapy time.....

I did not buckle O into his "big boy" car seat this week to see how he did. I know he's not quite there on the weight yet, so I'd never try to use the booster seat.

Since I didn't use the booster feature on the seat, I did not, while driving down a BUSY road, feel a tap on my shoulder. I didn't look in the mirror to see my 3 year old dancing around the back of the van. My children NEVER unbuckle their seat belts while driving.

I am not still wearing the same shirt that I slept in two nights ago. I did not, decide on Sunday morning that it looked and smelled clean still and wore it to church. I always wear clean fresh clothes.

I did not justify wearing the afore mentioned shirt because I was "teaching the preschool class" and would just get dirty anyway...

I certainly did not tell S to, "just go get the pants you wore to church yesterday", because I was too lazy to go and get the clean jeans out of the dryer. I always have everyone's school clothes set out and ready to go each morning.

I definitely did not yell "shut up" to my 6 year old this weekend. I am always composed, kind and loving.

O did not have to go and get his head glued shut this week. While having his head glued shut, I did not place two large paper clips in his hair like make shift barettes. The docotr didn't glue the rubber glove to his head either. At one point, I did not have a son, with two giant paper clips, a bloody head, and a rubber glove hanging from his forehead....

We did not traumatize S, after he caused the bloody head either. WE certainly didn't make him look closely at his baby brothers bloody head and tell him that he would now have to get NEEDLES in his head....we did not overhear S in the bathroom praying for his baby brother a few minutes later...that moment did not make my heart happy.

I did not beam with pride when M's para told me that during a lock down drill at school this week, he told the other kids not to be afraid because: "JESUS IS ALWAYS WITH US"...I am a modest mother who is never ultra proud of her babies!

Who Isn't?!?

I took O to the doctors to get his head fixed and was greeted by a HUGE sign that read like this:

***If you have ANY of the following symptoms, please see the staff at the front desk and a mask will be provided for you, free of charge:
**Coughing
**Body Aches
**Fever
**Chills
**Fatigue
**Vomiting
**Diarrhea
**Severe Congestion

GREAT...I need like four masks just for my ailments and I'm quite sure I don't have influenza of any kind...piggy or regular!
It's fall in Michigan. The high temperatures have ranged from 40 degrees to 71 degrees - all in the last WEEK!! If you have even a touch of seasonal allergies they have been thrown into the funk to end all funks!!
Cough - check, Congestion - check, Stomach upset - check (I ate McDonalds today)...Fatigue - CHECK, CHECK, CHECK - not that I'm a mommy of three boys would be a contributor to the fatigue thing...
The nurse and I were joking when O went back into the room. I told her who doesn't have at least ONE of those problems right now! You'd think they'd have to raise their rates just to provide masks to all the people who would need them!!

Gotta Get Me Some

I have gotta get me some of that awesome glue they use at the doctors office. You know that stuff that glues open flesh back together....that's some good glue!

Here is how our Monday evening unfolded:
Dinner was finishing on the stove and in the oven.
I was vacuuming the rung
Daddy was changing out of his work clothes.
The boys were playing in their room.
Mommy hears a scream and cry...over the hum of the vacuum cleaner...that's NEVER good.
I tell daddy to please go check on the boys.
I hear daddy yelling: "WHAT HAPPENED?!?!"
I turn off the vacuum.
I go to boys room to hear the story that goes something like this:
**O was playing with my big dolphin
**I told him to give it back and stop
I'm sure you can finish the story here.
I grabbed O from daddy when I saw the blood on his head...and not just a little blood. It was by no means as bloody as I would have thought though. For this I am grateful.
I took O to the kitchen counter and attempted to wash off the cut. I pushed his sweet little boy curls off to the side and saw that stitches were DEFINITELY in his future.
We've had two other moments where they were debatable and we chose to "tape" them shut...this one was not "tapeable"...is tape able a word?!?
We took O to show S his head and explained to him that O would now have to go and get a needle in his head to fix the damage. S was significantly traumatized and started crying.
I also heard S in the bathroom a few minutes later praying for O, then he took O his Jesus Fish necklace to wear. It was a sweet moment. S apologized and all was well. M kept bringing him all the toys he thought he'd like to play with and kept looking at him with the horribly concerned look in his eye.
We loaded the van when the bleeding was all done and went to...McDonalds. Yes, McDonalds. O requested a cheeseburger for dinner (remember, I was in the middle of making dinner). We ran through the drive thru and headed to the doctors.
I was thankful our doctor's office was still open so I didn't have to mess with the ER or Urgent Care.
We were greeted at the door of the doctors office with a GIANT saying you to get a mask if you think you have the flu...that's another blog in an of itself!
We go in and asses the situation. After a conversation with the doctor about how I don't care if she has to cut the front of his hair...she is relieved that I don't care...and we decided to glue instead of stitch. It would have needed at least 4 stitches...I thought two...guess I was wrong!
The nurse comes in and rubs some numbing cream on the outside for us. I place two LARGE paper clips in O's hair to keep his hair from falling in the bloody and creamy mess. He looks hysterical running around the office with two giant clips in his hair!
The doctor comes in and tells me about how I have to be super careful to NOT touch the glue while she is working. She says I'll be stuck for a week! I agree and we go on our merry way. She did awesome, even sitting on the floor next to me and O while I read O a Thomas book.
Round 1 of glue didn't work. Dr. Kramar went to stand up to get more glue and realized her glove was indeed stuck to Mr. O's forehead.
He was quite a site...two giant paper clips, a bloody head and a rubber glove glued to his forehead! I wish I would have had a camera at that moment!
Round two of glue proved a success and no gloves were glued on that time!
O was a champ! He didn't fuss or fight...well he did when the glove was glued to his head. I guess he didn't like that. Before we were even home, O had the bandaid and half the steri strips off the cut...let's hope that awesome glue keeps holding!!

Thousand Words...or Less

If a picture paints a thousand words, than these two photos speak volumes! These two pics may be my favorite photos of the boys! It couldn't have captured their personalities any better! S, isn't paying a lick of attention, which is par for the course. M, is smiling...probably because I promised him doughnuts if he'd smile. O, well, O, is being himself. My ham of a child. Always silly and just bored with the whole thing!