'Round Here

Well, fall has arrived in Kentucky. As I type, Husband John is outside edging and raking while the children nap. Young John has loved playing in the leaves this week and our small yard is so manageable, the work is more like play.

William is taking after his mother with his cabinet antics. He can empty a cabinet in no time and he loves clutching his finds with all his might. He loves the cabinet under the sink--yes, the one full of sponges, gloves, and hazardous materials. Yesterday I found him hugging a can of Raid. (Call Social Services!) Later, John saw his brother in the cabinet, jerked whatever was in his hands and rebuked, "No, William! That's not a toy!"

Last weekend, I went out of town, leaving the children with Sweetie and Mush and John (when he wasn't on call). They enjoyed a Saturday at the races and I had fun in Atlanta. I came home to happy children and missed them dearly. My next weekend away will hopefully be with my husband...and a small miracle if it happens in the next two years!

Last month, we painted our kitchen. To say that it needed painting in an understatement. Actually, it could use a gutting, but since we're renting, we're making do. I thought not having a dishwasher would be a deal-breaker, but we've managed fine without it. I thought having only 3 feet of counter space would be problematic. It is, but again, manageable. The dank yellow walls? They had to go! After five (sometimes painful) trips to home improvement stores, we had what we needed to get started. We decided to do it right and prime the walls first. John did that during nap time as I taped the trim. We spent the rest of the evening shooing children out of the kitchen and praying no one touched the walls.

The next day, I painted after the children were in bed. Much better! The next morning, we realized it would need another coat of paint so that night, I finished the job. Painting is no joke! I took a break for a few days--after prepping some window panes with lovely blue tape--and painted the trim the next week. I'm no pro, and it could use some touch ups, but it got the job done. It was satisfying to peel away that last round of blue tape and scrape excess paint from the windows. Bonus! I managed to not paint our old windows shut!

Now, we enjoy beige walls and bright white trim. Like I told my mom, we won't be featured in Traditional Home magazine, but it sure looks 100 times better! The dingy cabinets still remain, and maybe we'll work up the courage to paint them. Only time will tell.

Stud Husband gettin' it done. No more green square in the kitchen!

Young John loves helping in the yard. Here he helps with the weeding.

Our beautiful 11-month old--can you believe it?!

"Oh William, what are you up to?"

John's first day of Mother's Day Out--everyone's excited!

Pray for Theo

(Theo, a couple of months ago)

Hi friends.

Sweet Theo, who I mentioned a few months ago, is still fighting for his life as he battles leukemia. Unfortunately, his transplant was delayed because his cancer is not in remission. A recent setback--an infection that isn't budging as it's being treated by four antibiotics--is adding stress and pain and delay. Pray for them--Mike, Raegan, Mallaney, Max, and Theo, his doctors and nurses--even if you're not the praying type. Here are his mother's words.

Please pray.

T has continued to run fevers and have significant pain. Infectious Disease was called back in for a consult and we are now looking into why, even though he is on four broad spectrum antibiotics, he is still running a fever. We are looking into fungal infections, as well as cellulitis in his bottom from the sores and the e coli. He had another positive culture grow out overnight, meaning we are back at the beginning of the 10-14 day wait for transfer.

Quite honestly the more that comes up, the more of a mess this becomes. The plans for transfer are in complete limbo, and could shatter if it's fungal. T needs this transplant to have a shot at life. Please pray that the tests run tomorrow would reveal treatable infections so we can get him to transplant. Please pray for reprieve from this continuous onslaught of trial. Please just pray.

No one else will think this is amusing

But still, I'm going to share.

Tonight while we were getting ready for bed, young John had weaseled into the hall closet and gotten out both hairdryers. I was on the couch with William, John is playing with the hairdryer, and says he's going to turn it on. He said it needed batteries, and I explained that it didn't use batteries, but you plugged the cord into the wall and electricity made it work. While I was pondering how many batteries it would take to operate a hairdryer, John points to the back of the hairdryer.

"What's 'dis?"

"That's the back of the hairdryer. Air is drawn in on that side and it gets heated up and comes out the other side."

"It comes out and gets John's hairs hot."

I chuckle. "Yes, son. That's exactly what it does."

Gets John's hairs hot--he's a funny kid and he's understanding more and more about how things work.

Another funny from last week that I forgot to share. John has a look and find book (think a very watered down Where's Waldo?) called Elmo and Friends that he looks at it occasionally. I don't read it to him, I just ask him to find the hidden objects in the pictures, but lately I have, introducing him to some Sesame Street characters. He really has no point of reference for the characters, so he identifies most of the creatures in the book as "Big big one."

Last week, he hands me the book and says, "Read Elbow and Friends, Mommy?"

I tried not to laugh. I've since explained who Elmo is.

Last week, the phrase was "I need _____________." This week, he came home from Mother's Day Out asking, "Why not?" when he didn't want to do what I asked.

"John honey, it's time to get out of the car."

"Why not?"

From the Mouth of Babes

Young John saw me working in the kitchen the other night and ambled over with his step stool:

J: Help Mommy?

Me: Sure, son.

J: What's this? Mommy's digging.

Me: Yes. It's brown sugar.

J: starts "digging" and dumping sugar into the measuring cup. Grandaddy's sugar?

For Grandaddy, who always asks for "sugars" from John--but not the granulated kind!

At the end of this week, John added a new sentence starter to his conversations--"I need"

On the way home from church: "I need a peanut butter sandwich...and chips!"

Upon waking up from his nap: "I need water. Ice water."

Just before going to bed: "I need to play in the den."

So many needs, so little time!

So long, no post

Sorry family. We've been busy! We've vacationed and visited and have a few pictures to share.

Oh William! This sweet child will eat anything, rarely complains, and the comment I hear most is "Is he always this easy-going?" The answer is yes.

Here he is, riding on my back at the orchard. We went last weekend with friends--it was my first time picking apples and peaches and our keep has been thoroughly enjoyed.

Here is John picking apples. He enjoyed all the trees and fruit. He almost took a bite of his dad's peach but then thought better of it. This child does not like to do anything he's unsure of!

William is all smiles at the beach. We had a great time at Kiawah. So much fun that we only pulled the camera out on our last full day. One moment I wished we'd captured was John and me on bicycles with the boys riding on the back in their little seats and helmets. They were precious.

If young John's trip to the beach had to be summed up in one word, it would be "dig". This child dug and dug and dug. He's been digging up flower beds all summer and he loved having the freedom to dig all he wanted on the beach. Grandaddy faithfully took John to the beach every morning. He cried for him after we'd gotten home and continues to dig in the yard.

This week I accepted a job as our church's Children's Ministry Director. We're knee-deep in recruiting for Sunday school and getting the new year underway. I also committed to keeping our neighbor's 2-month old Esther while her dad goes to class and does his schoolwork. We are so grateful for our neighbors and I hope I haven't added too much to my plate! John and William love Esther and thank goodness infants sleep so much!

Brothers

My Mother's Helper Bailey put both boys on the couch today to play. John started tickling William and I heard their giggles from the kitchen. Bailey took all of these pictures--didn't she do a great job? More than anything, I'm grateful for a record of such sweet times with each other. You can almost hear the laughter.

Communication

Here's a conversation (Husband) John and I had after church this morning:

J: So, what do you want to do for lunch?
SJ: Well, we could go to Mr. Kebab but that's in the other direction.
J: Mystical Bob? What's that?
SJ: No, honey. Mr. Kebab. You know, the Mediterranean place on Richmond Rd?
J: Oh, Mr. Kebab!

In all fairness, say Mystical Bob and Mr. Kebab a few times. See what I mean?! Also, Husband had been awake for 36+ hours when the conversation transpired.