Playlands

Being a Mother of 3 boys gives me a unique perspective on life. Boys are a strange breed. The need to climb, run, jump and explore are an absolute necessity to their survival. I have grown accustomed to them jumping off the arms of my couches, climbing trees and scaling door frames.

I am not grossed out by the toads and worms they seem to always find in the backyard. I don't balk at them getting dirty and muddy. It's just part of the package.

When the weather is rainy, or it's to cold to go outside, I've often resorted to taking them to a fast food restaurant with a play land to "get some wiggles out". It is here that I am faced with a dilemma. The dilemma is based around the slide. My boys love the slide. They go down it with gusto and climb it with ease. Sometimes they climb up the stairs and go down, other times they climb up the inside of the slide. There have been times when, a mother (most likely a mother of girls...no offense to my friends who only have daughters) absolutely insists on their child going down the slide the "right" way. I can only assume that means going up the stairs and down the slide in that order. Several Mothers have looked sideways at me while explaining to their child just loud enough for me to hear that "We never go up the slide, that's not the right way to do that".

I do insist on my boys being courteous, watching out for "littler" kids, no pushing or being rude. But I absolutely will let them climb and run and play. It's a PLAY land. Is there really a rule book for proper slide etiquette? If so, I've obviously misplaced it.

Living the Dream

Well, it seems like the boys are on the rebound. After Calebs ordeal, JD got sick for a couple of days. I'm so done with fevers and sickness. Thanks for your prayers. It's great to see them up and around and being the crazy boys they are.

Yesterday, Caleb had fun with eggs. Unfortunately, he had fun with them on the freshly mopped kitchen floor. He got in a bit of trouble, and I made him clean them up. I did manage to snap a few pictures of the mess. I know someday, when the boys are older, I will miss these days. However, at the moment, it can be a bit annoying! (Funny...but annoying)

Monty built a tree house for the boys. They LOVE it. JD ate his lunch up there yesterday. I think he'd sleep in it if we let him. Our back yard is coming together to be a fun backyard for the boys. I'm so glad its warm outside and we can let the boys play.

I'm so grateful for my life. I may be exhausted, and I worn out at times. But I wouldn't trade it. I remember when I was single and wondered if I would ever get married and have kids. I longed for the day when I could spend time raising children and taking care of my husband. I now have this dream as a reality. I need to remember that I am living smack in the middle of my dream...

The best laid plans...

So, the boys and I were planning on heading to Grandmas to help out and just spend some sweet time with her. She is doing much better, but was a little nervous about being alone. So, last weekend, I ran around town like a crazy person, trying to get everything done for a 12 hour road trip with three boys. We were planning on leaving on Tuesday.

Monday arrives and Caleb has a fever. I'm not the type of Mom who rushes to the Doctor for every sniffle, but I figured we had better figure out what was going on. The appointment took a few minutes and we filled a prescrition for an antibiotic and headed home. Tuesday the fever was still here and we were giving him tylenol/motrin every four hours. His fever would not go below 103 even with the medicine. Tuesday evening his fever went to 106 and I decided that an emergency room visit was in order. After several hours,IV's and Xrays it turns out the little guy has pnemonia.

We went home and he went in for a check up on Thursday. Still running a fever, still miserable. The Doctor did not seem overly concerned. Just said it would have to run it's course. Friday, Calebs nose started running in a way that I did not know the human nose could. It was actually POURING out of his little nose. He started drooling and would not drink anything. (He also had not really eaten since Monday. ) Saturday morning Caleb came into our room at about 4 AM. We pulled him in bed with us, he was burning up. He stayed in our bed motionless until 10:30 am. I made an appointment for him at the urgent care center at Childrens Hospital.

We headed down to the urgent care center. My neighbors watched the other two boys until my wonderful friend Jasmine could get to our house to take the boys home with her for the night. The Doctors at the urgent care center were really concerned over little Caleb. They found a HUGE abcess on the roof of his mouth (which explains the drooling) They were afraid that he may have abcesses throughout his sinuses, so they did a CT scan as well as X-rays to check on the pnemonia. They gave him IV antibiotics and steroids as well as fluids. They were going to admit us, but the had given him all the medicine they could and figured he would sleep better at home. So, they gave him Tylenol with Codine and sent us home for the night. We had to go back in the morning for more medicine etc.

THANKFULLY, the medicine has seemed to work. He's still not "better", but he's much improved. What a crazy week. I'm exhausted!

News

I just got off the phone with my parents. My Grandma was just taken to the emergency room with heart related pain. My Grandma is 90 years old and lives alone in a small town in Nebraska. Grandma is one of the most Godly people I know. She and I have been so close through the years. I know that she would want nothing more than to go home to be with Jesus. I long for her to be with the saviour whom she has served faithfully for over 7 1/2 decades. However, if this is the beginning of the end for her, my heart trembles and tears flow freely as I try to imagine my life without her. She has always been a phone call away, and I know that many things that have occurred in my life are a direct result of her faithful prayers. Anyway, if you could send up a prayer for her, for us, it would be greatly appreciated.

Seeds

I don't enjoy gardening. I never have. I hear people talk about "loving" the smell of the earth and finding in gardening a great sense of stress relief. I on the other hand detest gardening. I find it annoying and time consuming. I don't like pulling weeds, and I feel like I'm wasting money when I water the lawn.

However, in a great twist of irony, I have a child who is absolutely fascinated with plants and watching things grow. So, last week JD and I went to Lowes, and purchased a small green house geared for children. We dutifully planted the seeds and carefully set them in the window. Wouldn't you know it...they grew. In the process, I've become strangely excited about seeing if they will actually survive and eventually bloom.

As a mother, I have the priviledge and responsibilty to sow seeds in my childrens lives. Everyday God gives me opportunities to tell my children about Him. Everyday I have the oppourtunity to live a life in front of them that reflects Christ. I know that ultimately, like the seeds JD and I have planted, it's God who is responsible for the growth. Each of my boys will have to stand on thier own before God. My prayer is that I will faithfully sow seeds of truth and tend to the tender shoots of growth while I have them in my care. My hope as a Mother is that when the harvest comes, that these three boys will be Godly men sowing seeds for the next generation.