The JEDI'S

Jacob has been playing soccer with the Jedi team since he was six. We were a little worried about this team when he first started. They were and still are amazing soccer players! It was hard for Jake to try to fit in and be part of the team but he has really grown into a confident and good player. He has an amazing coach...Coach Pete. He is so patient with Jake and really takes his time to teach him. They won 1st in their district this year, but the sad part is that half of the players are going to play select teams. Jacob will still be a Jedi along with the other half, but I think Jake will miss alot of his friends. This has been good for Jacob. He's always been the "cool" kid and having to force his way in to make friends has been a good and sometimes hard lesson. Seeing his teammates give him high-fives and pat him on his head (he's alot shorter than most of them) would bring tears to my eyes because I know that, that small gesture meant the world to him. Watching his first goal two years ago was amazing. I of coarse cried, proud mother that I am. He usually plays left center mid field (I think thats what it is) so getting a goal is not always easy at that position, but when they were beating a team pretty bad, coach would play...pass the ball to Jacob so he could get a goal here and there. He has developed into quite an asset to the team. Its so much fun watching your child go from knowing very little to being one of the "good" players. I do not get as nervous as I once did about him playing. Now it is so much fun to go to the games. I have always dreamed of being a soccer Mom. I will have three this coming season in soccer. Yes, I am crazy, but I'm living my dream! Jake has been begging me for two years to play football and I was hoping he would forget, but I have finally given in. This fall he will be in football and soccer. I hope he can handle the load. He is so excited. So now I am nervous about football. ITS TACKLE! I realize that if he wants to, I can't keep holding him back. This fall is going to be challenging but I know he will have fun!

MY JUSTIN IS SO FUN

A couple of weeks ago, at church, Justin was under the pew doing something. At the end of sacrament he came to me and said, "Mommy, I put a crayon in my ear.." I was so mad. Did he not learn from the gum up his nose? So I looked, and yep, there was a crayon stuck in his ear. I had Bro. Brown look at it, and he told me that I would probably be able to get it out, but by the time we got home the crayon was so deep inside that I couldn't get to it. So, since it was a holiday on Monday, we had to wait until Tuesday to call the doctor. They told me not to feed him just in case they had to do surgery. Daddy was so upset. Another deductible! They had us come in after 5:00 because the Dr. was doing surgeries all day. I could tell he did not want to do another one, because he tried really hard to get it out. Luckily we have a really good ENT and he was able to get it out without damaging his ear drum. It hurt Justin pretty bad and I felt a little sad for him, but I was glad it hurt. I don't want him doing that again and I'm pretty sure he learned his lesson.

Owen and the Frog

I found a big brown frog lurking under the tree house the other day and was so excited. I called the boys over to see and Owen loved it! He reminds me a lot like his Aunt Lindsey. She is an animal lover to an extreme that I can not comprehend. Owen loves animals! He especially loves dogs! Too bad Dad and I, do not want one:( Will my kids miss out on not owning a pet?) I don't know, but the guilt has not taken its toll yet. Soo...Owen went right up to that frog and picked it up! I, squealed and he just looked at me like..."What?". Yuck! Later that night Dad came home and joined in the fun. I am so glad I have boys. They make my world a lot more interesting.

Owen had a neuro. Dr. appt. today to follow up when he was in the hospital. He's perfect (except for the swallow dysfunction and c difficile thing).We have a GI Dr. appt. on Monday and I am looking forward to that. I want to be able to get him off the nutramagen. Its so expensive and I need to know what to try next. He is still having the runny blood streaked pooh's, so I don't know if I will be able to try anything until his pooh is normal. I would not be able to tell if he is allergic to soy, or a different formula because he already has the symptoms. Hopefully he will out grow the swallow dysfunction, but I am so glad that nothing neurologically is wrong! The Dr. suggested that if his next swallow test, which is in September has little change, to try electro shock on his throat for therapy so the muscle could strengthen. Owen, you are so high maintenance! But, I love every bit of you. You are starting to babble more. Its so cute hearing you chatter about nothing. I love living in your world!

Ethan had field day last week. I took Owen and Justin and they had so much fun! It was cahos, but a good one. Watching him with his friends was great. Ethan is one of those kids that gets along with everyone. If something bothers him, he usually shrugs it off or walks away, unless it keeps happening and then its like something switches in his head that he's not going to take it anymore....when that happens, look out! He is the sweetest child! He was born with a smile on his face and hasn't stopped. He has made a lot of good friends this year and he loved his teacher, Mrs. Cosand. She told me on graduation day, that Ethan had made teaching fun this year. I could tell he was a little sad to leave. He is a little shy about change. Graduation was so fun. When ever I hear that song dunnnn-dun-dun-dun-dunnnn-dunnnn.....I start to tear up. I realize that this is all part of life and growing up, but does it have to go so fast! Lining up to go on stage, there was my little Ethan, doing a crazy dance to the music. Always trying to make me laugh! I love him so much. I really enjoy every moment with you!

These are some of Ethan's friends, Brady and Noah. Grandma was able to come to graduation and afterwards took us all to his favorite place to eat...Taco Casa!

CONGRATULATIONS ETHAN!!!!

The past two weeks

Life gets so busy....so I have several topics to cover. Mothers Day was last Sunday. I am so grateful to be able to raise four fun boys. They really are my life and I would be bored without them. Justin had a Mother's Day Lunch for me at his preschool and it was so fun! Ethan did this for me as well the previous two years so I look forward to these. Ms. Becki always does a good job at making us feel special. One year Ethan was asked...what makes your mommy laugh, so his reply was...when my dad spanks her bum! We will never forget that one, it got quite a few laughs and a really red face from me, so this year it was Justin's turn to tell everyone about his mom. A few of the questions were....Who's the boss in your family-Justin said-My Mom, Q-what is her favorite food-J-cereal with raisins,Q-what does she like to do in her spare time-J-she likes to run, Q-what is the difference between moms and dads-J-my mom sends me to my room but my dad spanks my bum! Evidently we really like to spank bums in our family because that the only thing the kids remember:) I of coarse gave Dad a hard time about that one! Justin sang songs, did a "Are you my mother" play and made me lunch! It was so fun. I love being with him. He's such a good kid, he's always making sure I am "OK" and I love the time we are able to have together when his older brothers are at school. He is the smartest four year old I know! I tell him that he's a genius all the time, he really is:) On Sunday Dad made me breakfast in bed while the other kids brought me chocolate and bubble bath stuff. It was really sweet.

Owen got his first hair cut that same week! I was washing his hair and he had a knot in it and I thought......I need to buy some detangler. But then I realized...no I need to cut his hair. I was a little sad. I wasn't really ready for him to be a BIG BOY yet. But I'm sure that you can see by the picture that he really needed one. So I got the clippers out and off it came. Such a big boy!

This weekend I signed all three older boys up for a triathlon. Ethan and Jake have done one in the past, but it was Justin's first one. They were all really excited! I have such cute boys!!

The swim was first and Ethan blew right by that with no problems, in fact he was finished with the whole event before Brent even realized it. He came up to him and said, " Hi Dad!" eating a donut. Brent thought that was pretty funny, he went back and helped Justin run his 1/3 mile run. Justin was excited to have a buddy along the run. When Justin got out of the pool from his 25 meter swim he looked a little scared, but when he got on his bike he had a blast, hitting every street bump there was. I didn't understand why he kept running into those until Dad told me that you were doing it on purpose. Your such a silly kid! Jake was last to do his. He was so nervous. He's alot like his mom, not so much a distance swimmer, but he did great! He was amazing at the bike and run. That kid loves to run! I am so glad. Maybe when he gets older, we will be able to run together...if I can keep up. He's pretty fast! It was a so fun. The kids got medals and donuts. What a way to start your morning. That afternoon their school had a carnival. They had bounce houses and games, face painting, and we even won a door prize! By the end of the day they were beat. We had a great weekend!

Kids say some funny things

The other day Brent, "Daddy" was telling me about something Jake mentioned. Jake was watching TV and a commercial popped up on how you can take on line classed from home. He was so excited and went to Dad and said, "Dad, I don't have to go away to college, I can just take them on line from home!" I started to laugh, but let him know that he will be going away to college. He is one kid that would build a house right next to ours and never move away. Of coarse he's only 9 1/2 and I'm sure that his views will change when he gets older, but I love the fact that he wants to be with me forever. I do know that when its time to let go, it will be the hardest thing for me to deal with. I wish I could keep you right beside me, but I do know the importance of independence and letting you have that little by little is hard. I love you Jake!

This Fast Sunday

This Sunday was fast Sunday for our church, so that morning I mentioned to the boys that if they would like to fast they could. They all wanted to, even Justin. By the time we got home they were still willing to fast, but eventually one by one they started to "get hungry". So when each one was ready, I would say a prayer with them to break the fast. Ethan and Justin were first. Poor Ethan, he felt so bad he started to cry. I explained to him that this exercise was not for him to feel bad, but to help him grow and that Heavenly Father recognizes the effort and is proud of him. Next Jacob was ready. He felt bad too....so I sat all the boys down and told them that fasting is a humbling experience whether you fast for one, two or three meals and that you shouldn't feel bad just because you can only make it for one. I was so proud of them. Understanding the concept of fasting is hard to grasp at such a young age. You boys amaze me constantly with how willing you are to please our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful that you all have a teachable heart and that you love to learn. Daddy and I are always talking about how lucky we are to have all four of you. Thank you for helping me become closer to my Heavenly Father by your examples.

The scope was successful

Owen had his bronc. scope done yesterday. The IV took only three tries this time. He's gotten alot stronger since the last time and alot more vocal. He was yelling at the nurses in baby talk. It made me want to laugh and cry for him all at the same time. Daddy and I were in the waiting room for about ten minutes and then they called us into a private room. That freaked me out, but the doctor came and and said he was fine. Everything looks anatomically correct except for his epiglottis flap is loose and that they got some cultures, but we wont get the results back for a week or so. He thinks that all of this mess comes down to a virus. Good to know, because this means he will eventually out grown all of this, but there's nothing you can do to "fix" a virus. All of this trauma and worry and hurt and sadness comes down to a virus he picked up. Hopefully the cultures will come back and we can put this whole thing behind us. The pediatrician called on Tuesday and said he did have C difficile. I think its caused by too many antibiotics or he could have gotten it while he was in the hospital. Its a bacteria that is in his intestinal tract and the antibiotics have made it grow bad bacteria. This is the reason for the liquid pooh for over a month. He has to be on a complex antibiotic to try to fight this kind of bacteria. He should be starting that today. Last night he ran a fever of 103. I am a little concerned because he shouldn't be having a fever that high, especially after his procedure but I will watch him today and go back into the Dr. if he is still having problems. While we were in the post-op room the only thing that made him happy were bubbles. Becky took a really cute picture of him with some bubble in our back yard the other day. I love it! So here it is...