That's Not What I Paid For....Is It?

I like my boys' hair short.

Summer is my favorite when they get it buzzed super short!

Unfortunately, we let them go a little to long between hair cuts and they all discovered how fun it is to have hair long enough to spike.

The desperately needed haircuts, but they all refused.

In the spirit of compromise, I offered to let them go to someone other than the Jonker Boy Barber--aka Ben.

Forty five dollars later--that's why it's a special treat!--they all had nice haircuts that they could still spike and style how they wanted.

Three hours later, I was chatting with Ollie and noticed this:

He was super, super mad when he ended the day with a short summer buzz cut.

It will be awhile before he gets anything but a Daddy Special!

The Year I Ruined Christmas

Last year Luke was on the fence about all the Christmas fibs--Santa, the elf....

He would make little comments about how we are the ones that move the elf around the house and other little bits about Santa.

Usually those sorts of things came out when he was feeling a little rotten.  Plus it seemed like his way of getting under his brothers skin while testing the water at the same time--not actually asking the BIG question.

I dealt with it by pointing out that there were other people in the house who actually did believe in all the magic and, although he was welcome to believe or not believe, I would appreciate if he didn't try to ruin the fun for the rest of us.

It worked.  

He stopped making comments, I didn't lie to him, and he seemed to believe more than he didn't by the time Christmas was through.

About two weeks ago, Luke started in on it again.  

I'd already told myself that this was probably going to be the year that he stopped believing.  He was already on the fence, plus a lot of the other moms said that their 4th graders already knew.  I was prepared to have a sit-down with him.

As soon as we dropped the other two off at school, I laid it all out for him.  The elf, Santa, everything.  

He said that he already kind of knew.  I felt good about our chat--a little sad but excited to have a helper and someone to scheme with! 

Later that day, I went to check the mantle where Henry left notes for elf to take to Santa.  What I found were two notes from Henry and one from Lucas.

My heart immediately broke.

I realized that I completely jumped the gun. 

I worried all day.  I went to work before he got out of school so the first chance I had to talk to him was in the middle of the night when I got home.  

I woke him up and told him how sorry I was that I spoiled everything for him.  He told me that he was a little sad about it, but excited to help.  It was a dagger straight through my heart.

I cried--a lot.

I probably could have gotten away with just telling him that we move the elf.  Anytime that he questioned Santa it was just thrown in at the end of his "Mom and Dad move the elf" bit.  I don't think that he made it far enough into really questioning Santa.

I should have never doubted his belief in Santa.  I do an excellent job at it!  

I never give anything, not even candy, that can be directly linked to a store.  Everything is generic or gets reworked and repackaged so it looks generic.  If anything's ever questioned I say that the stores must have gotten the idea from Santa!   

Luckily Henry and Josh believe in all of it with every fiber of their being--especially Henry.  

After what happened with Luke, I may never tell them.  They are going to have to learn it the hard way, and even then, I'll deny that it's true!

Henry's Wishlist

Our elf, Elmer Sam, showed up at our house yesterday.

The kids have been anxiously waiting for him since Thanksgiving.  (Well not Luke because he thinks he's "creepy"!)

The other two, though, love to search him out!

Their favorite was when they found him in the fridge!

One time when Henry was about 3 or 4, Elmer Sam was hiding on the shelf in his closet and Henry shot him with a nerf gun and he fell to the ground.  I don't really know if it was on accident or on purpose, but Henry came tearing out of his room screaming bloody murder.  He was terrified!

I had to go in and talk to the elf, make sure he was okay, and tell him how sorry Henry was.  Luckily, he flew back up to his place on the shelf and there were no hard feelings.

The boys love to talk about the time that "Henry shot the elf"!

Anyway, last night, Henry left him a note to take back to Santa.  (Elmer Sam forgot it last night, but he's taking it with him tonight.)

All Henry wants is a camo bow.

It may not be from the North Pole, but he's going to be over the moon when he opens his present from Gigi, and Grandpa John!!

The Jester

Gigi took an unconventional route with Josh Oliver’s Halloween costume this year—she made it first and  then convinced him wear it.

It was exactly the best strategy!

He really wanted to be a puppy, but I got to her before he did.  After two years of full fleece turtle costumes, I have forbid her from making anything that involves the dreaded material—it’s a nightmare in a house of dogs!

She instead made him a Jester costume.

He wasn’t the least bit excited when he first saw it.  It took a lot of convincing, plus a matching outfit for his stuffed dinosaur, before he would even consider wearing it.  Even then, he was really on the fence.

If anyone asked him what he was going to be, he would tell them that his Grandma and Grandpa were making him be a Jester.  (How sad that he has such bullies for Grandparents!)

When we actually got to Halloween, though, he was really happy with his costume.  He got so many compliments on it—way more than he would have as a puppy!  

Even Henry noticed how people gushed over it.  I told him that apparently next year he needed to let Grandpa and Gigi pick out his costume for him if he wanted to be a crowd favorite! 

As for the other boys….

Henry went as a vampire.  Gigi made his costume, too.  It was really cute, but it’s hard to stand out as a vampire.  Plus, he ditched part of his outfit which would have probably gotten him a few more compliments.

Luke made his own again this year—a zombie.  I’m pretty sure he picked it because it was a good excuse to rip up some clothes!  He looked good, though, and as a bonus, he fit in perfect to work an impromptu spot in the haunted playground at church!

A Slippery Slope

Our house is in a bit of shambles right now.

Our washer has leaked one to many times and our flooring has to be replaced.

This is our third floor that we've put in since we moved--thanks to a broken disposal and a crappy washer.  

This time we decided to go with tile, instead of laminate wood, in the hopes that it stands up better in our next inevitable flood.  

We should probably just buy a new washer, but I just won't give up on it yet.  I'm my parents' girl!

Getting new flooring seems to have started us down a slippery slope. 

Since the flooring is getting replaced anyway, I want to knock down two doorways and a partial wall to make our entry closet and laundry room one big functional mudroom. 

I've been working toward getting that done for awhile!  Sometimes I have to do things in babysteps with Ben!

We also decided to extend the tile into the dining room.  The carpet was gross and it just makes more sense to have cleanable flooring where we eat.

Then, since the flooring that I fell in love with is a dark walnut, my orangey oak cabinets have to be painted white--another job that's been on my list!

I don't really do well with the chaos of our main living space being turned upside down.  I'm slowly learning to work around it.  I just keep repeating to myself, "It's all going to be worth it."

Sadly, we are both already dreaming about phase two.  

Ben's hoping for a new counter and backsplash.  I'm shooting for a revamp on the bathrooms.  We both want a nice backyard!

Either way, I'm planning on painting all the trim in the house white and switching out all the doors.  

Wish us luck!

I'm trying hard to stay focused on making it through our current mess.

One step at a time!

Saying Our Prayers

Cooper had another seizure early Thursday morning.  

There was only 4 hours between the 2nd and 3rd.

They are getting less scary for me.

I know what to expect.

It was the first time for Ben, though.  I think he was equally terrified and relieved that he finally knew what exactly was happening.

The vet now has him on Phenobarbital to try to control the seizures.  Ideally it will fully kick in within the next 5 or 6 days.  We're praying that there is no more excitement before he reaches that mark.

She also straightened me out on the priority list.

While I felt like the stones were next on the list--I just really want to take care of what we can--she said that once the seizures are under control, we really need to figure out what's causing them.  In addition to the concern about putting him under anesthesia, we need to make sure that he is going to live long enough to make the surgery feasible.

It was really hard to hear it laid out like that.  

Really, though, she's right.

For now I am being pessimistically hopeful.

I have to assume that he is going to take a turn for the worst at any time--I can't emotionally afford to be caught off guard again--but we are holding on to the slim possibility that the seizures are a side effect of the injection that he got on Tuesday.

It's only a sliver of hope, but at least it's something.

I Spoke Too Soon

Ben took Coop to the vet yesterday.

We were pretty sure that he had a urinary tract infection, plus he needed an update on some medicine.

They did an x-ray and it turns out he has kidney stones.  

That's a rough one, but it's manageable.  

He looked like he was in great shape, otherwise.

Today, however, he had a seizure.

It came from out of nowhere.

It was so very scary, but I'm grateful that I was home with him.

Ben rushed home and we took him to the vet right away.

She told us that it was most likely either caused by one of his organs shutting down (worse case scenario) or a tumor on the brain (usually they're slow growing).

That was the most terrifying things to hear, especially when we just lost Bailey.

I ran some tests on his blood at work.  His liver, kidneys, everything looks good.  His urine, however, showed that the type of stones he has can't be broken up with medication.  

He's going to have to have surgery to get those out.  

The problem is, that since he just had a seizure, it's very risky to put him under.  We're kind of in a bad position.

After talking to the vet, I felt like we had a good grasp on things.  The kidney stones are our immediate concern.  We'll deal with what's causing the seizures once we get past the surgery.

How naive.

He had another seizure tonight.

Two within twelve hours is not good.

I don't know where we're at with things right now. 

It's hard to stay optimistic in the middle of the night.