Can You Say EWWWW!

S and I were walking around looking at different garage sales. I felt something down the front of my shirt. Because I didn't want to freak out in front of a lot of people have more control of myself as I get older I carefully looked down my shirt to see what exactly was down it.

Turns out it was a lady bug. Ahhhh!! How cute.

I called S over because she likes to let lady bugs crawl on her hands. I, however, don't feel the same way so I told her to take it off my shirt. In the process of this, somehow it didn't go according to plan and then instead of a cute, little lady bug crawling inside my shirt, I then had lady bug guts sliding against my skin.

I then took a yellow flower (did you know lady bug guts are yellow) and scraped the "guts" off and pretended all day that there was just the yellow from the dandelions on my shirt.

EWWWWWW!!!!!

It's all in the mind baby, all in the mind.

At least that's what I kept telling myself.

Gentle Girls

It is not unknown here how much M doesn't like girls. Even though we have all assured him that, 'This too shall pass." However, he has disliked girls with an intensity that is so HIM.

Enter in to this complicated equation two gentle, soft-spoken, fun girls. One is 10, the other is 8. When they are over he'll want to play with them and S will get so upset. She's never had to compete with him for her girl friends.

I'm just glad that there are girls like these two that have completely changed his view on girls. It is all completely innocent and friendly and the girls are two of the sweetest girls I know.

Words

Today Little Miss and I were visiting with my mom. Checking in on her before we left for the day. Little Miss asked to see her stitches or lack thereof because they've been taken out.



My mom lifted her shirt and said, "Grandma, you should clean it better."



To which my mom replied, "It's too tender."



"What does tender mean?"



My mom said, "Well, tender means it hurts to touch it."



S said, "Well, tender also means soft."

14th birthday pictures

Happy 14th birthday E!!

M and J-man

We went to my mom's deck so she could join us. There's a really funny story behind this picture, but I'm too tired to do it justice.

I was laughing so hard the camera was shaking.

Silverwood/Camping

I just had to take this picture. What it doesn't show is that M was crying because he wanted yet another a hamburger and we wouldn't let him eat fast food again.

We had just finished a long, but satisfying day at Silverwood. It was after 7 and we were waiting for Perry to finish changing.

This was the single most important item that we took camping.

Just like Will Farrell!!

Perry doesn't know what he was missing. It was all of 5 a.m. here. Maybe 4:45. See the tent on the upper right of the screen? Those were the Party Guys. I would've invited them for coffee. What? 4 hours of sleep isn't enough? No way!!!

Pictures from Camping/Silverwood

This is what Perry saw when he looked in his rear-view mirror.

Waiting ever so patiently to get going.

We're finally out of here.

Silverwood - Right before we took Perry on the ride from hell his favorite ride.

About E's Birthday Letter

Once Upon A Time a son walked into a room and his mom was crying.


"What's the matter Mom."


"I'm writing your birthday letter."


Son walks away saying, "I can't wait to read it. This must be good."


So, today, I set it to post at 6:26 on 6/26/09. I know he gets up early and is dying to read it.


And.............it didn't post.


But.............here it is, son.

Happy 14th Brithday - Birthday Boy

Dear Oldest Son of Mine,




Wow - The years have been so good to us. You are growing into a young man. I could talk more about that on this 14th birthday of yours, but I want to address one specific character trait about you instead.




What I see, unequivocally, as your greatest asset, you see as your greatest flaw. Now, dear son, you know that I am always right, so listen carefully.




Your ability to feel and embrace your emotions. Let that sink in for a moment.




Truly, I know you would like to be able to be stone-faced and not FEEL like you do, but what allows you to FEEL also allows you to forgive. Quickly. Easily. Forever.




You don't hold grudges. You totally and completely accept your responsibility for any wrong you may have committed. This is HUGE. It is a large premise of our parenting. Accept responsibility for your own actions. Accept your part. Then, move on.




You have already learned what many adults cannot/will not do.




I love talking to you. I will miss you so much next year when you spread your wings and soar. You won't just fly. You will soar, like an eagle ( Isaiah 40:31). I am ready to let you soar. What a poignant moment we are entering with you.




I know you were nervous when we introduced you to the people at your new school. I know they were thinking "typical" homeschooler when I talked to them on the phone.




Then,..............they met you, you looked them in the eye, shook their hand, they started softening. By the end of both meetings, they were anticipating your move into their school and what you and your personality would bring.




Lij, the ability to embrace your feelings and accept them and deal with them is huge. As your dad says, it's a double-edged sword. And, yes, I agree, but it also makes for some wonderful relationships. Deep, lasting relationships. Meaningful relationships.




You were our smallest baby. You slept on my chest so I could feel you breathing. Your dad just brought an outfit to me and said, "Why are you keeping this?" I do not keep a lot of material items, but I just couldn't part with the preemie outfit that was too big on you. It is so tiny, it looks like a doll outfit. It's hard to imagine the tiny baby you were to the broad-shouldered teenager you have become.




You were not an easy baby nor an easy toddler (that would be an understatement actually), but you have turned into the best son one could possibly wish for. I pray the rest of your life is as blessed to you as you are a blessing to us.


Know that you are loved.


Greatly.

I like to smile

When I asked M what he wanted for a cake, remember we have very specific tastes here, he replied, "A pikmin cake."

"What exactly does a pikmin look like?" I inquired. M told me to google bing it, so I did.

Hours later, lotsa food coloring and dye later, E, S and I had made a pikmin cake for M. He loved it. This made me smile.

When we were waiting for everything to come together so we could light the candles, M was so happy and smiling. He looked so handsome. He looked so excited and confident. This made me smile.

When I highlighted E's hair last night. He let me have free reign to do what I wanted. This made me smile.

When E let me fix his hair, like a movie star, even though he knew his one brother, who will remain anonymous, would tease him. This made me smile. And, his hair looked really good. That was just a bonus.

While decorating the cake, somehow S managed to get blue food coloring all over her pink jogging pants. This didn't exactly make me smile, but whatever, she has lots of pants. However, when she undressed to get in the bath with me and her hiney was blue. This made me smile. And laugh. But, then I wasn't allowed to laugh. But then I was. You never know if you're allowed to or not.

Then when Perry promised not to laugh she told him to come in and look at her hiney. We were laughing and he couldn't figure out why because the blue had faded just enough that now it looked like a huge bruise. His reaction made us smile.

When S told J and I that she was going to marry someone as close to, as just like her daddy as she could. This made me smile.

When she explained that it was because he "protects his kids and wife and makes us all feel safe." This melted my heart.

When J-man showed me his new "trick" and it was blowing bubbles way up and over the rim of his milk cup. This made me smile. And think that his brothers used to do that all. the. time.

When Perry came home on time early for him. This made me smile.

When Perry took S and I to see the sunset at The Falls and swung her over the Jumping Logs. This made me smile.

When S informed my mom and I that she, too, is sometimes, "shellfish". This made me smile. Then when she informed us, very seriously, that she feels bad about being, "shellfish". I smiled some more. I don't think I could stop smiling.

What a blessed day.

Happy Birthday Middle Son Of Mine

Dear M,




Happy 10th birthday. Double digits. Wahoooooo!





You have been, by far, our toughest child to raise. We know, if we can do this right, that what makes you tough to raise will also make you a very strong adult/man. You can't imagine how often your dad and I pray that we do it right.





You love heights. Anything high up exhilarates you. You scare people half to death with your fearlessness of heights. I remember when you were 1 and 1/2 years old, we were playing with some friends at a park. I had J-man in a snuggly on my front. My friend softly said to me, "Michele, I don't want to frighten you, but M is, um, up there." She was pointing wayyyy up.





My heart dropped. You were on the roof of the play structure. The play structure that was about 15 feet high. I quickly handed her J-man. She gathered all the other kids. I remember getting as close to you as I could and then directing you, softly, carefully to climb back down. Praying the whole time you wouldn't fall. It was a square structure so you would've fallen all the way to the ground if you had fallen.





It scared me to death. You were fine and had no idea of the danger you were in. I watched you like a hawk the rest of the time. Kind of ruined the fun time I was having.





That same year you ran ahead with your brothers to some bleachers. I was walking, carrying J-man, with a different friend. The bleachers that were already 10 feet tall or so also had a chain-link fence off the back that was another 7-8 feet tall. Once I realized what you were going to do I ran, yelling at you, "Do not climb that."





You did anyway. I remember arriving at the bleachers, climbing them, still holding J-man, wondering what I was going to do with him while I rescued you. You had climbed up the bleachers, up the fence and climbed over the top so you were on the back of the fence with only hard dirt 17-18 feet below you. You weren't scared. I was terrified.





Friend stood below the bleachers where you would hopefully land if you fell. I climbed the fence, pulled you back over, all the while praying the fence would hold our combined weight. I had set J-man in Friend's stroller so both of us would have our hands free.

You have more control now. Thank God. You still don't fear heights, but if I told you not to climb something, you would obey. Thank God.

Your greatest gift from God is your mathematical ability. Your mind thinks in numbers/percents/decimals, etc. It is interesting to hear you and how your mind works. You will come up to me and say something like, "Mom, did you know the half percent of the tenth of the decimal of blah, blah, blah is 5.218? My reply, while attempting to figure out if you are correct, is usually, "Ahhh, no I didn't know that." To which you will reply, "Yep, that's it. Now you know."






Recently you told me that once you figured out how many seconds were in a day, blah, blah, blah was easier to figure out. I wasn't aware 9 year old's just one day decide to figure out how many seconds are in the day.





I was reading a blog and found a post about you. Scroll down to Difficult Child - June 21st.





Yeehawwwwww!!! I think I managed my first link. Oh, yeah........this is about M. Okay.





Anyway.........all you kids fit this description, but you are definitely at the top. But, you are our child and we love you and rise to the challenge of raising you into a Godly, gentleman.





Next year was going to be your first year of public school, but after spending our vacation time with you and your younger two siblings, we decided to continue homeschooling you and your two younger siblings until high school.





I am looking forward to letting you be the "oldest" instead of the "middlest". I think it will be good for you and look forward to seeing you operate outside your older siblings influence.





Thank you for teaching me so much about patience. You, J and E were instrumental in shaping me into the mom I am today.





When you were a baby, toddler and preschooler you didn't like any stranger (which included just about everyone) to touch you. You spent most of your time in my arms. I remember being pregnant, wayyyy pregnant with J-man. J and I had to get blood work done because he was so very sick and I was pg. I took all of you to the lab with me because your dad was working.






I sat you in the stroller, having E stand by you holding your hand. I sat 3 feet away in the chair holding J on my non-existent lap for the blood work. I sat still without flinching, of course, while they did my blood work. J decided that was quite easy and obviously didn't hurt and just stuck his arm out for his blood work.





Once the needle pierced his skin he absolutely freaked out and became this little screaming, biting, scratching terror. You started screaming in your stroller because J was screaming. I was still trying to hold J, but he kept slipping down my legs. A nice lady said she would pick you up and you then completely freaked out while I was trying to tell her that you would do better if she handed you to 4 year old E. She didn't believe me, I kept trying to hold J in my non-existent lap while you screamed and reached for me. It was a nightmare.



I was so glad to gather all of you, leave the lab where I strolled to a bench, put as many of you in my lap, against me as I could and held everyone until we had calmed down. People looked strangely at us. I assured everyone we were okay and just needed to be left alone.



I just want your wife to know that I will absolutely come to any blood work she needs to do and hold any babies so she doesn't have to go through this kind of experience.


Right now you only want a wife because I told you you have to be married to have kids and you do want kids. I promise you, sometime soon, that you will actually WANT a wife to go along with those kids.



I am looking forward to watching your face as you experience new things this next year. I think this next year will be a year of maturity for you. I'm looking forward to watching you grow into a man.





I pray for you daily and am glad that God gave you to me. I love you my dear son.

The Rest

First off - My mom came home today. She is healing well and glad to be home. The Lord has really spared her a lot of pain through this illness for which we are all thankful.

Time seemed to be elusive for us. Everything took longer than expected and none of us cared.

We arrived at the campground hours later than we expected. The teenagers and our boys took it upon themselves to erect our tent. What a huge blessing.

I scurried around getting everything else ready while Perry unloaded the canoes and bicycles. The tent was up before we knew it. We managed to change the dinner plans since I didn't get the message that someone dropped out of our group and didn't bring extra hot dogs. Whoops!! It all worked in the end.

I felt like we were in a different state. The campground and the surrounding 26 mile lake was formed from the Grand Coulee Dam (we did go see the dam and watch the incredible light show). We climbed to the top of the Mesa. It was a really steep climb with a lot of volcanic, loose rock. We were told that if we went to the farthest point we would get cell phone service to call and see how my mom was. We did manage to get there, carrying rocks (Perry's idea because the people we were with were a bit on the fearful side of there being snakes and scared Little Miss half to death) to kill any unsuspecting snakes with.

We didn't actually see any snakes, but not for lack of looking. Nor did we mange to get enough cell phone service to call my mom. Oh well. We tried.

It was beautiful up there. Had J not poured a bottle of water in his eye attempting to cleanse it because it was stinging we may have hiked to the other side. As it was, we were all hot and tired and it was a very steep climb back down.

The days were filled with biking, hiking, climbing, fishing, canoeing and lots and lots of swimming. The swimming was awesome. We usually had a gaggle of different aged kids/teenagers with us wherever we went. S absolutely loved having girls around her all the time.

The water was really shallow near the shore in many areas. I would take a group of kids and see how far we could walk, always telling them to look for a dark area because there were a lot of sudden drop offs. We would either canoe or walk/swim across this little area and go get a mocha or ice cream from the concession stand.

The kids would jump the sand dunes, ride bicycles and scooters all around and visit from campsite to campsite. Each evening brought dinner together for all the families.

Night would roll around, our boys would build a fire and kids would gather around to roast marshmallows, potatoes, blueberries, biscuits, you name it, they roasted it. S'mores were made and eaten.

We would drop into the tent completely exhausted wishing for sleep, but instead would stay awake to the sound of people laughing, wood being chopped, partying being enjoyed. We were fortunate enough to be between two campsites, fathers/sons, that went to bed around 1-2.

Funny thing though...............the older two kids, Perry and I woke between 5 and 6. Every. Single. Morning. Not sure why, but payback being what it is and all................I'm sure the Party Guys appreciated it.

We did meet and enjoy them it was just funny the different hours we kept. Which forced both parties to adapt to the other. Hard to sleep when you're all of 20 feet from the other people who aren't sleeping.

We left a little early because Perry's air conditioner in the white suburban went out. We are all sporting new tans and/or sunburns depending on who you are, lots and lots of bug bites and sore bodies from the non-stop activities.

We all definitely want to go back again. For now though the battle of the sand begins. I, after awhile, just slept in the sand that wiggled its way into every part of the tent. It was absolutely every where. Much better than mud though. It did feel good squishing between our toes in the water. Not so much in the clothes.

Now, we prepare for two birthday's.

Silverwood

We had a complete blast at Silverwood. Well, there was that one incident when two kids went missing. Well, not exactly missing, but we couldn't find them. They couldn't find us. Yada, yada, yada, It all worked out and it wasn't the youngest two so...........

Oh, well there was also the fact that when we arrived at Silverwood we realized that the Swimsuit Bag (that's the formal name for swimsuits in a bag) was not in the suburban.

Okay, then.

It was determined that I would just go in to Silverwood with the kids while Perry drove back to our Idahome and picked up not only the Swimsuit Bag, but towels and coats.

It only took him 2.5 hours to get back to us.

Oh, and, well, knowing how much Perry detests loves rides, S grabbed his hand and led him straight to a twirly ride. That makes it sound like S knows he doesn't like rides. She doesn't know. I do.



Anyhoo, after the ride we ate a quick bite and Serena talked him into one more. We had already been on this ride, but let me tell you with Perry's extra weight in there we went spinning and spinning and twirling and twirling and spinning. IT WAS SO FREAKING AWESOME. For S and I anyway.



I tried really, really hard to stop laughing. So did S. It was just so much fun all that spinning.



Perry managed not to vomit. His face didn't actually turn green, but it was pretty darn close.



We took pity on him and went on the log-ride next. That was more his spin speed.

We all found each other and went to the water park. It was great. I think S and I were in the water for the next 4-5 hours. It was really quite cold if you were out of the water so we spent most of our time in the Wave Pool or Lazy River. They offer free life-jackets which S wore the whole time.



M and J-man were with Perry, S and I 95% of the time. We would all hook our inner tubes together with S leading the way. She was FAST. M and J-man would alternately flip on and off the tube, more or less staying up with us.



At one point I decided I would like to just lay on top of the tube and enjoy the scenery. I told Perry I trust him to make sure I do not go under any waterfalls.



I am hear to say that I meant I am trusting him and so I did. Just to test me he decided to bring me just as close to as many waterfalls as he could without actually getting me wet just to see what I would do and then pull me away at the last second. It was funny. The kids laughed while I laid there. Sure in the knowledge that he would make sure I didn't go under any waterfalls.

He kept his word, barely, but that worked for me.

When we left we met a new friend at a campsite who fed us hot dogs and the kids roasted marshmallows. We really enjoyed their company and invited them to our house when they go through the Seattle area in August.

We arrived back at our Idahome around 11 p.m., exhausted, and dropped into bed .

S is snuggling E on the couch. We have three hours until checkout and a lot to do until then.

My mom's surgery was successful. They removed the cancerous tumor. The doc said her liver is a little beat up because of the chemo, but he didn't see any other cancer. I'm sure that is great news to her. We will attempt to call her when she's moved out of the ICU. Which, prayerfully, will be today.

We are looking forward to starting our camping portion of our vacation.

First Destination

We, after a few false starts, and 5 hours and 45 minutes after we planned on leaving, finally left.

I only felt like the canoe was going to fly off the suburban once. We pulled over. Perry fixed it and then I decided that I was simply going to have to trust the 6 straps that were holding it on the suburban.

We stopped many times around 7 p.m. to eat dinner at Perkins. At 8 p.m. we were finally getting our food. We ate in 15 minutes and headed back out the wrong way.

I thought I was following Perry'sirection. Elijah was saying, "No, the GPS says go straight." I turned anyway. It must say something good about me that I followed Perry's direction over the GPS. I'll follow you anywhere baby!!

However, turns out that's not what he was telling me. At least that's his story.


Sgns get confusing at times. We laughed really hard. Found a way to turn around, sure we were going to be going wayyyyy out of our way, but this time we did trust the GPS and we just couldn't see the entrance back to the freeway it was talking about.

We arrived at our Idahome (the kids nicknamed it) around 10 p.m. Pretty good since I had planned on arriving around 1 p.m. We then unpacked and loaded back into one suburban to go get a swimsuit for E.

Somehow we got lost again. Perry so eloquently grabbed took the GPS out of my hands and programmed it himself.

We may or may not have attempted to drop into bed by midnight. And........since we're on vacation E and J woke us up at 7 (apparently to pray for my mom) because we didn't really have to get up until 9 a.m.

The three youngest are sleeping. They are smart like that.

We are going to go to Silverwood/Boulder Beach today. It is bright and sunny.

E is fixing me more coffee because when I looked at what he brought me it was full of grounds. Ewwww.......not exactly like a chocolate covered coffee bean.

Pretend like all the letters are correct above because for some silly reason I can't edit it and it's getting worse every time I try. :-)


Please keep my mom's surgery and recovery in your prayers.

Help

Packing was coming along nicely inside so I went outside to ask Perry if he needed any help.

He laughingly replied, "If I had any more help, I'm not sure I'd get anything done."

We've greatly missed his presence around here and everytime I turn around to ask someone to do something I find them with Perry.

Imagine..........

..........packing for an outside adventure for 7 people. Like Perry says, "We'll pack what we think we need. Put it all in the suburban. Drive to our destination. Realize we forgot many things and go buy them."



But, I'm hoping to prove him a little wrong for the sake of saving some money so I'm packing......



7 pairs of sandals

7 pairs of water shoes

7 pairs of regular shoes

7 life jackets

7 boxes of food (my mom's jaw dropped when she saw them all lined up nice and neat)

7 sleeping bags

7 pillows

7 sleeping pads

7 bicycles

7 helmets

7 bicycle bags

7 bags of clothing

7 paddles

5 kidlets

2 bottles of sunscreen

2 bottles bug spray

2 DVD Players

2 Zunes

2 canoes

2 suburbans

1 refrigerator

1 microwave

1 light

1 really big first aid kit

1 husband

and a gazillion paper products and books for every one's reading delight


And...........lots of other miscellany.

The fun has only just begun. We are headed out just as soon as we get the 2 canoes and bicycles on.

As an aside......Please pray for my mom on Tuesday. She will have the cancerous part of her liver taken out at 7:40 a.m.

Modern Camping

Some people were nice enough to give me their camping lists so I don't have to make one from scratch. It has occurred to me in reading these lists that I might take a few shortcuts. Well.....a lot of shortcuts. Wonder what that says about me.

They Say - Camp Stove, Pots/Pans,
I Hear - Electric Skillet and Microwave

They Say - Washtubs
I Hear - Use the containers that you packed food in.

They Say - Cutting Board
I Say - Buy it already cut

They Say - Cheese Grater
I Say - Buy already shredded cheese or use American

They Say - Sharp Knife
I Say - My kids all have sharp knives they'll let me use if I need one.

They Say - Clock
I Say - We're on vacation

They Say - Matches
I Say - We have a ton. All the kids will want to play use them.

They Say - Beach Towels/Bath Towels
I Say - There's a difference?

They Say - Compass/Maps
I Say - GPS

They Say - Kickboards/Arm Bands/Water Toys
I Say - Life Jackets

They Say - Marshmallows
I Say - Add Chocolate and Graham Crackers and we're set.

They Say - Blue Ice
I Say - Refrigerator

And............the list goes on. Multiply everything times 7, except for the first aid kit which I add all kinds of things to just so we won't need them and we're set.

Two Canoes

We knew when we bought the first canoe that we would actually need two. On Saturday, we bought the second one.

We had so much fun today. We went back up to Hyak (where the bike trail is). It also happens to have a reservoir that is, don't quote me here, King County's Water Reservoir. We have gone up there for years and let the kids play in the water. There are usually little canals and ditches that we walk/wade through.

Today, however, everything was under water. It was amazing to float over the tops of trees that we usually use as shade.

Perry and I learned today, that we are not comfortable being so far from shore with 5 kids (even in life jackets) when the water is so cold. Naturally we learned that by paddling out to an island (the second picture) and then fighting the wind to get back.

Once we managed to get back, we ate a snack and headed out again. But this time we stayed within 50-100 feet from shore so that if anyone tipped, they wouldn't freeze to death before we could get them out of the water. The reservoir is filled from the snow melt. The waterfall is pretty amazing, but boy is it cold right now.

The kids are having to learn to be still. Be very, very still. No, don't just reach over all of a sudden because that wave looked pretty and you want to touch it. No, don't do that. Perry and I feel like we're counterbalancing their movements the whole time. I'm sure we'll all get the hang of this. We just need more practice.

I Love My Brothers

It's been great that E and J have canoe duty. Getting two canoes on and off, tied and untied takes forever happens flawlessly. M and J-man have, what I call, S Duty. This was previously handled by E, J or me. They are supposed to entertain her and keep her safe while the rest of us strain and struggle work together to get the canoes in the water.

I, apparently, was taking a break from my duties to snap pictures.

It was nice to see M not give up in his quest to get S up to where they were headed. She was scared and wanted to go back down, but he just patiently kept talking her into going up, never letting go of her. They tried many different ways before they were finally able to get her up safely.

They were all so proud of themselves.

Then............they walked about 3 feet behind the tree they are standing by and took the trail that leads back to the suburbans.

Go figure.

Did they learn anything?

Perry decided to take E and J out and let them flip the canoe. We get that it seems funny when you're their age and not so much when you're our age. We wanted them to get the seriousness that it can be and know what to do if it does happen.

There were a few moments when I was wondering if the canoe was going to make it back to shore. I'm sure this wasn't exactly fun for Perry had a blast. He was a good sport and I hope the boys learned something.

Oh, I do know one thing they learned.................When you flip a canoe, you're swimming to shore with the canoe. They thought they would just be able to flip it over and get back in. Didn't work out so well.

Canoe

We had a great time trying out our canoe on Rattlesnake Lake. In the top pictures the kids are trying to flip Perry out of the canoe. He was quite patient and they didn't succeed.

J took S out over her head in an attempt to get her to be less afraid. We're trying to prepare her for the time when the canoe does actually flip. I want her to feel safe with her life jacket on so she doesn't completely panic when if the canoe flips. It will be more of a miracle if it doesn't.

Trail Along

Once, again, we will talk in reverse. I am so bad at this. These are the pictures from the other day. The post titled Then. I am going to learn to link next. One thing at a time here.

When we were not able to go bicycling through the tunnel, we went the other direction. Who knew there was going to be snow? Well, I told Perry it was too early in the year had a slight suspicion that there may be. But, being the adventerous sort we are, we headed out anyway. Now, go read the other post if you want this one to make sense. This is really about the pictures from that day!

This is our old tag-a-long. It has been used hard. It has had a good life. Doing more than what It was made to do. It has gone mountain biking. It has had the privelege of carrying 5 precious cargo's hundreds if not a thousand miles. But, who's counting. We certainly haven't. Who knew when we got It that It would play such an instrumental part in our lives. We will miss It, but It is tired and It lists to the side no matter what we do. While It is not a problem for me, per say, I mean, you know, I am not the one towing It..................It is going to join the landfill. It....we thank you for your faithfulness in our lives and for carrying our precious cargo. I'm happy to say that we now have Wee It to take your place.

Meet Wee-It. Wee-It is a nice shiny silver. Wee-It is the prized choice of carriage at this time. Wee-It...........we hope you are as wonderful as It.

Let me tell you that bicycling through the snow with Little Miss on the back is a little bit of slip and slide and pray that I am able to keep the bike upright as the back tire is slipping out from under us. But, she really wanted to, so, being the sucker wonderful mom that I am I acceded to her demands screams of glee and we plowed through.

Wonderful

Our doctor called with M's blood work results. Everything, especially the lymphocytes (I think) look normal. That is absolutely WONDERFUL news.

We decided to use this as a baseline for M. We are going to go on our vacation soon, unless something goes wrong before then. Like, more lumps, lumps grow bigger or M seems obviously sick. After our vacation I will take M back to the doctor and we will determine if we continue to take a wait and see approach or get the biopsy.

Clearly, the biopsy would be traumatic for M AND IF the blood work had come back abnormal in any way we would not hesitate to get one done. But, it didn't, so that buys us some time.

The doctor says it is possible that M had strep or some type of viral illness that has caused this. It's possible we will never know.

We'll be praying that his body is able to fight off whatever is happening and all will be normal. I now know what I'm feeling so will keep a close eye on him to make sure he stays healthy.

My mom could certainly use prayers as she heads into liver surgery (they are going to take out the tumor, removing part or possibly all the left lobe of her liver) on the morning of the 16th. Philip and his family will be staying with Jered at her house. Our family will be on a vacation that we have had planned for 6 months.

I've attempted to talk my mom into waiting for 5 days so we will be back in town, but she is not willing to do that, so, as strange as it seems to be at an amusement park when she has such major surgery, I guess that is where we will be anyway.

That could've gone better.

Today, M said, "Mom, I have had this bump under my chin for a long time. Come feel it." I walked over, put my fingers where he said and gently probed. Sure enough, there was a marble size lump there. A few minutes later I touched again and it had moved. He says he's had it growing for a couple of months.



So, instead of going to Homezone today we took M to the doctor. Clearly knowing where this could be heading I explained to M that he would probably need blood drawn. He has NEVER had any needle near his body so I knew this wasn't going to be great news. However, we are always honest with the kids about any procedures they may need to have.



So, being typical M style, he asked, "What is the percentage of chance that I am going to need blood drawn."



"About 50%," I replied. That was pretty high, he decided.



We arrived at the doctor's office and unfortunately, the doctor found more than one marble size lump. "First, we need blood work done," he said. "We should get it back tomorrow and then he'll need to have a biopsy done." We discussed his other symptoms - dark circles under his eyes, lack of energy, sores not healing quickly........not sounding real positive at this point.



The doctor also looked at J's rash and decided it was probably the sunscreen, but gave him a cream to hopefully take it away.



We headed to their little room that is their lab. I had all the kids stand against a wall quietly while I talked quietly with M. I totally bribed him with something I knew he wanted and he walked fearfully to the chair. I explained to the lab tech guy that he has never had blood drawn or had a needle near his body so he was very scared. The guy was quiet and efficient.



M was shaking so hard his whole body was moving. He had a death grip on my hand, with silent tears running down his face. I was talking quietly, reassuringly. M told me he was going to throw up. I looked at his face in time to see his eyes roll back in his head and, thankfully, I managed to catch his head before it hit the chair.



Trying to support his upper body while the lab tech removed the needle the lab tech asked J to go get a doctor while I told S and J-man to go out in the hall with E. The lab tech and I lowered M to the floor where he eventually came back to consciousness.



A doctor came in. They transferred him to a room and put cold wash clothes on his face and belly (all his pain centers in his belly when he's upset), gave him some apple juice and we stayed there for awhile.



Eventually...........around 20 - 30 minutes later, E helped M to the suburban. I had shopping planned, sandals to buy, camping supplies to buy, etc, but M's face and lips were still so colorless that we just bought some lunch instead and came home.



I talked to M about being strong mentally for what his future is going to hold. I know he doesn't get it, nor am I going to scare him, but this isn't over for him. Next week, unless the blood work is horrible - which would land us in the ER, M is going to go to a pathologist and get a biopsy.

Prayers for his well-being are greatly appreciated.

Joy

We had a really good day today. E took S to a park while I had my doctor appointment. I told her that her job was to obey E. He was The Boss. She told me later, "I didn't want to obey him, but then I remembered that it was my job, so I did anyway." They both had a great, hot time.

We then went to Bellevue Library which is a huge, huge library. We all found lots of books to read. It is such a nice, huge library. We are going to try to go once every two weeks this summer.

We then went to Bellevue Mall. I think this is the third time I've been there. E didn't find what he was looking for, but we did go out to eat at Cheesecake Factory. It was delicious. S managed to slam her thumb in the bathroom stall door while closing it which made it bleed. Then she sat back against the seat and slammed her head on what looked like padding, but was just material. Not her best hour for not getting hurt.

Finding the suburban was quite a challenge. I led E to a parking garage that was 2Z. I explained that we were in 2D so clearly we needed to walk around. We then walked around while eating our dripping ice cream cones to 2D only to realize that our suburban was definitely NOT there. We stopped some nice young ladies who explained that there were two parking garages. We, clearly, were in the wrong one.

I said to E, "Thanks for leading us to the wrong parking garage. I knew there was an east and west parking garage, but you just had to lead me to the wrong one." He laughed because I had totally told him that there was only one parking garage so we had to be in the right one when he suggested that maybe there were two.

All in all we had a great day. We ended it with a walk/bicycle ride around our property, enjoying the cool night.