Overheard

...while the kids were watching Lilo and Stitch and also running off to play "dogs" for a few minutes here and there. Gabe had stopped to watch the movie again:

Zion: You wanna be a dog?

Gabe: I am. *pause* I'm just a dog who likes to watch movies.

What Does Your Future Hold?

Just ask the Magic 8 Ball, AKA Gideon. He has a number of words down pat that he uses for every situation one of my favorites being a chipper little "Sure!" Such a positive little fellow. He also sings "Ring Around the Rosies" all the time. It is one of Zion's favorite games to play so I guess he picked it up from her. I didn't realize how well he knew it until I found him in the kitchen the other day - alone - toddling in a tight little circle singing "ashes, ashes, ashes, ashes" until I said "we all fall down" and he plopped on to his bottom.

He is walking quite well these days. Often times, while he walks he says "wa', wa', wa'..." (walk, walk, walk). I think I could learn a thing or two from him about keeping on task. "Making breakfast, making breakfast, making breakfast... or driving the car, driving the car, driving the car...". I betcha I'd stop walking into a room only to realize I couldn't remember why I went in there in the first place. "Getting a pencil, getting a pencil, getting a pencil..."

"Going to bed, going to bed, going to bed..."

Vacation Videos

Rob's camera takes short videos. Here's a couple from our vacation. (Scroll down to the bottom and hit "pause" on the music player if you want to hear the videos. If you don't, no worries, you aren't missing much.)

We thought we'd just put our feet in. We thought we'd just go to lunch afterward. Then Gideon plopped right down. Since I knew there was no way to make him not wet I just let him play. We ended up having to strip him to rinse his clothes and get the sand off of him so we took him to lunch naked but for a diaper. Only a few people in the restaurant looked at us strangely.

We could hardly keep the kids out of the pool while we were there, visited it every day. Gideon was especially funny. He loves to stick his face in the water. Over and over. Sometimes he didn't seem to realize he needs to come up for air.

Gabe and Zion had their fun, too. With water wings they were pretty much independent (with us keeping close by of course). By the end of the week they were jumping into the pool. I stopped cutting at a weird spot, don't know why, but no matter, they didn't do the "big jump" anyway.

On Tuesday we had the joy and privilege of seeing Gabe off on his first day of Kindergarten. Gabe has been waiting to ride a school bus since he first new what one was. He's been counting school buses that pass us when we're driving around for years now and asking which one is his. I am hoping that he will still love school as much once the newness of riding the bus has worn off.
All ready to go. Back pack. Check. New shirt. Check. New jeans. Check. Old shoes that barely fit because he's been wearing sandals all summer and we didn't realize he'd outgrown all of his shoes nice shoes. um ... check?

He even let me gel his hair a little. OK. So what I really mean to say is that I actually remembered to gel his hair a little. (I even had to go buy hair gel.)

The school asks that parents put their kids on the bus the first day then drive to the school to meet the bus, help them find their class and get them settled. The bus stop is a around a couple of corners (lucky us, the school district had to make cut backs so they no longer have bus stops in neighborhoods, so we have to walk a ways) so I drove us down. That way I could just hop in the car and head right to the school after he boarded the bus. Wouldntcha know it started to rain right after we pulled up to the stop in the car wiping out any doubt of which state we live in. Luckily I had thought to grab him a jacket and I was even able to spot an umbrella in the car (the umbrella being for my camera of course) so we waited outside in the rain.

And there goes my baby. Just like that. He doesn't even look back.

And *poof* just like that, he's back.

It had stopped raining so I surprised him by bringing his bike down.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Tonight at bedtime I asked him what his favorite part of school was and he said "my teacher". Very cool.

Olly Olly Oxenfree

Come out, come out, wherever you are?

I think I'm hearing y'all yell that. Where have I been anyway? Well, shortly after my last post we all went on vacation. I didn't blog while we were away. Shameful, I know. Then when we got back we were preparing for Gabe to start school. AHHHHH! My baby. It's too soon. For Gabe though it's not soon enough. He's been talking about going to school - or more specifically, riding the school bus, since he was two.

So Tuesday we saw him to the bus and we've been trying out our new routine for the last few days. This means a new nap time for Gideon and Zion so that they will be awake in time to meet Gabe at the bus stop.

I have a ton of pictures to post though so I promise to be back soon. For now I'll leave you with the fact that Gideon is pretty much walking all over the place now. His mimicking the tones and cadences of our speaking has cranked up a few notches as well. While he can actually say a few things and sign a few things, he'll mimic an entire sentence nearly perfectly just with sounds. Right now he's walking around with a stuffed Big Bird under his arm. Experiencing an extreme cuddle need at the moment I guess.

Well, ta ta for now. Back soon armed with many photos.

Bittersweet

We have been having some great fun as a family in the last couple of weeks since Rob came home. I know I'm behind in posting and pictures. Soon.

Yesterday we got to go to the zoo for my MOPS Park Day and had a great time enjoying the animals and the company of friends. Sadly, when we got home we discovered that Spot passed away while we were gone. We had still been battling her injuries which included a surgery to repair a hernia not discovered for a week after the attack. While the vet was repairing that she found a hole in her intestine which caused an abscess. She removed about 6 inches of intestine and cleaned her out. Spot seemed to feel better immediately but it only lasted for a couple of days. She kept refusing to eat (she's always been picky) and then drinking, then quit cleaning herself. She mostly just slept and purred when you pet her. The vet and I weren't sure if it was simply nausea from the injuries or something worse. We had just talked that morning and were going to try a new med which I was going to fill after the zoo. Poor Spot. I'm so sad and I am battling feeling like there was something else I could have done (like force feeding her more often). The vet and I were both so bothered that we agreed to have her take a look inside. She discovered that part of the surgery site had failed (not because of the doctor's work but because the tissue tore at the site). Spot also had a damaged liver caused by her not eating for so long. I have had Spot since she was a week old and fit in the palm of my hand and she was 13 this year. Almost twice as long as I've been married.

Oh My Word!

There simply isn't a word that I can think of that describes how excited Gideon gets in his swim class. We started the latest swim session on Tuesday. Gideon and Zion are both in the same parent/child swim class and Gabe has his class at the same time, other end of the pool so all five of us are in the pool at the same time. How fun is that?!

OK, so I thought it would be fun but wasn't certain it would be fun when I planned it. After all, Gideon has never been in a pool like that before. Sure, he has fun in the tub but you know how kids can be. A pool that large can seem very intimidating and scary to a baby. This pool has steps that go down into the water. I had Gideon on one hip and was walking holding Zion's hand until it got too deep for her and I lifted her to the other hip (Rob was taking Gabe to his teacher so he was meeting us in the water later). The moment Gideon's toes hit the water he started laughing. The second his hands could reach the water he started splashing and laughing. It only got better after that. Everything in class made him laugh. He doesn't mind going to the teacher for "motor boat" or coming back. He loves playing with the noodle. Today I think his squeals of delight could have been heard outside the building when we were playing with the ball. He did NOT want to share even though it was a circle time game. He is getting really adept at getting in the pool from sitting on the edge and can almost climb out of the pool on his own. In today's class he took every opportunity available to put his face in the water. It may end up being that this kid learns to swim before he learns to walk.

Before we hit swim class tonight we hit the local county fair. I almost enjoyed it better than the larger fair we kit every where simply because it was so much smaller. Spacious even. Not overcrowded, not crazy busy. We didn't see EVERY single there because we did have to get to the swim class but we saw enough. Zion got to ride on her first carnival rides and LOVED it! Tonight I asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was. Gabe said it was teaching Daddy how to play Paper Mario on the Wii. Zion said her's was riding on the "sycomotos" (motorcycles) - one of the rides she got to do at the fair. We shared corn dogs, a hamburger, garlic fries, licorice, apple kueleg (I have no idea if I spelled that right) and a ton of lemonade. There was a lemonade vendor that had $1.50 refills. Yeah. Can you believe it? I think they lost money on our family. It was also military day and "family day" so we got in for free. Sa-weet!

It was a fabulous day! The only damper on our sunshine, well, except for the fact that there wasn't really any sun (a relief actually!) was that my kitty Spot is still not doing well. She won't eat or drink. She hardly moves off the towel bed that I made for her. She prefers to stay in our bedroom closet. I have litter box for her there and bowls with water and food, which she ignores. Today I picked up the supplies to give her sub-q fluids at home. I also got a tube of NutriCal which is a high calorie vitamin paste. I'm hoping that a few more days of rest, fluids and some calories will get her eating and drinking again. Hoping.

The Adventure

So are y'all just dying to hear how things are going with Rob home? Yeah, I thought so. We were grateful with the airport and airline that Rob flew in on for allowing us to go through security as smooth as silk so that we could meet Rob at the gate. We had our kid-made "welcome home, Daddy" sign and got many smiles while we waited for the plane to come in. I noticed that the crew for the next flight was particularly interested in our reunion. I'm glad that we provided some heart warming entertainment for the folks waiting at the gate. The kids were thrilled when they saw him and Gideon quickly wiped out any worries that I had that he would not know his Daddy. Rob took him in his arms, Gideon was all grins. A little while later he passed him back to me in order to take Gabe to the restroom and Gideon was NOT happy. He pointed to the bathroom and grunted over and over until Rob came back and immediately leaned to go back to him.

And nothing welcomes home a deployed soldier like immediately taking them to a one-year old's birthday party. We were a little late due to the time of the flight but we went straight from the airport to my friend Nora's house so we could celebrate little Sarah's first birthday. I'm so glad Rob is a people person and was happy to go.

Sunday we got to go back to church as a complete family for the first time in a really long time. Even when Rob was home on leave last we didn't get to do this because of sick kids so it was really, really nice. We had a nice lunch afterward and a leisurely remainder of the day.

On Monday morning we awoke to a commotion outside. Neither one of us could identify what made the noise but then came a frantic knock on the door a few minutes later and I knew without opening it what had happened. As soon as I opened it my neighbor confirmed, her dogs had attacked one of my cats who in her backyard. I walked right over, in my pjs, my glasses, no shoes, hair a mess to find my poor kitty laying in a heap in the gravel. She was head to toe froth and slobber, she was panting, not moving, clearly injured. I wrapped her in a towel borrowed from my neighbor and took her home just long enough to ditch the pjs and don clothes and shoes. I drove the entire way to the emergency clinic with her cradled like a baby in my right arm, driving with my left and realizing how glad I was that Rob was home and I didn't have to try to take care of her and try to organize all three kids. They would have been frightened by seeing poor Spot kitty in that state not to mention me in mine.

Spot's injuries were not as bad as I thought but she's still in a sorry state. She came home yesterday with a broken sternum and damage to her liver and possibly her pancreas. She is a walking, when she can manage, bruise and has swelling all over. She refuses to eat or drink. This morning I had to force water into her with a syringe. But she purrs like mad when you pet her and tries to arch into your hand as it travels down her back. She has a towel bed in our master closet which is a small walk-in type, with a litter box on one side and food and water on the other. She doesn't have to move more than a couple of steps for anything that she needs and doesn't have any tempting places to jump up to or down from.

So, as I said the other day a new adventure is beginning. I wish it hadn't been quite like this but I'm so grateful that Rob is home. Things mostly feel like he was never gone. We are going to have a lot of fun this month before Rob goes back to his civilian job. Lots of down time and lots and lots of fun.

This Adventure Is Near The End ...

...tomorrow I pick Rob up at the airport and a new one begins.

(And thus concludes what is possibly the worlds shortest blog post.)

Prayers for Noah

A little prayer request. My friends Brian and Bethany have a son named Noah who is the same age as Gabe (they also have three other children). Little Noah recently started having seizures. Lots of them. Of many different kinds. My heart has been breaking for them but it only occurred to me today to pass on the prayer request for this lovely family. Bethany has started an online journal here The Strongest Gilpin. Please feel free to visit and read about Noah. You will have to sign up as a member but it's free and it's worth it. So prayers please for little Noah and his family. Thank you.

Sum, Sum, Summertime!

Have you heard? Washington is in a major heat wave right now. (Thank God for AC - seriously, I THANK God for AC!) Mostly we've been staying indoors lately. The kids try to go outside and play but the only one who doesn't turn around within a few minutes and come back in is Gideon. That kid doesn't seem to be bothered by the heat one iota. Blogger is not letting me rearrange my photos tonight so SERIOUSLY in no particular order:

Sunday I slaved away in the heat putting up a tent canopy over some of the kids' toys. Especially the ones that Gideon likes to play with, not that he seems to care one way or the other but I feel better having him in the shade. It looks like there's a ton of stuff under there and no room but things are more spread out than they appear. We made a tunnel and cave with cardboard the other day and Gabe is using their chairs to keep them upright.

We have a little wading pool. After putting up the tent I waded in. Gabe wants to know why the diving duck has a cupcake. I can't think of a valid answer to that question. Why would a duck have a cupcake underwater?

Gideon loves to climb up in a chair and kick back and relax. In the background you'll notice two pairs of little legs climbing and jumping.

I picked up a t-ball set at Target the other day. Gabe took to it right off. He can smack that across the yard and you better not be in the way!

Remember the planter that I had my brother build? It's nice and filled in now. The flowers are beautiful and the Allysium smells fantastic!

Look at that face! That's mischief right there! Like he's daring me to stop him. Since I had watched him put it in and out a few times before he noticed me I was going to do no such thing. I was really hoping that he WOULD do it again so I could get a picture. Good boy, Gideon!

This morning the kids asked to set up the ball pit. I thought it was so they could, you know, play in the ball pit. Apparently it was so they could play with the ball storage bag. Gideon had serious fun getting a ride on it from Zion. Zion is reluctant to believe me when I tell her it is not safe to climb in the plastic bag - no no! (Luckily there are holes for ventilation but still...)

Gideon is very creative when it comes to problem solving. Needing to carry your lovie when your hands are otherwise occupied? No problem. Just use your mouth.

Zion may need a little coaching when it comes to t-ball. Even after I showed her how to use the bat she preferred the wrong end. I guess whatever works, eh?

Random

Gabriel is the sweetest kid. I think I may have mentioned this once or twice. Lately he's been making all of the kids' beds in the morning. I never asked him too, never even hinted. He just started doing it one day recently. So after they all wake up and I take Gideon and Zion downstairs he stays upstairs and puts all their blankies on straight, sets up their stuffed animals in cute ways, sometimes at the head of the bed sometimes he tucks them in, he makes sure Gideon's paci is in his crib for the next time he goes to bed. I should take pictures. He also tidies the rooms sometimes too. Yesterday he folded one of Zion's extra blankies and put it on her wooden rocker as a cushion. I think Acts of Service may be his Love Language.

Speaking of Love Languages, there are supposedly five (find out yours here). Acts of service (which is mine - mostly), words of encouragement, physical touch, receiving gifts and quality time. I actually think there are five. Gideon has the sixth Love Language I think and that's "causing laughter". He is the funniest kid but not only that but he loves to tickle. Not be tickled but to tickle. He even says "tickle". He reaches out to me, his siblings, sometimes even a toy and flutters his little fingers and says "tika tika tika tika" over and over. I will try to get it on video and post it. It may just be the next YouTube sensation.

Gideon loves laundry. He loves to wrap it all over himself and hug it and cuddle with it. The only bad thing is that I had just folded it.


He also loves putting things on his head. This is appropriate when it is things like Zion's kitty hat but once Jamie was with us and went to get Gideon out of his carseat and he had a book balanced on his head. With no hands. He's quite talented actually.


Gabe made Play Doh pizza. He's got mad skillz.

Zion is smelling "Gi'eon's stinky feet". I'm sure this sort of thing goes on in other households. Couldn't just be ours.

Allie I think is full grown now and is a funny bunny. She loves to jump and play and is pretty much just a sweet little thing. We have "bunny time" at the end of each day still where she gets to run around Zion's room and be free of her cage for a while. She has only a few "small" faults like chewing on the wall by Zion's closet and digging in her laundry basket. On occasion she has been observed actually nibbling on the clothes. Naughty bunny! I may have to invest in a laundry basket with a lid so that Allie can start having extra free time when we can't be with her.

We have been enjoying a slower schedule than normal. Our last swim session ended and the next one doesn't start until August. I have signed all three of the kids up hoping that they will all get the same time slot. Both Gideon and Zion require a parent in their class and I thought it would be lots of fun for us all to be together for a session since Rob will be home.

This coming week will be my "home preparation" week getting things ready for Rob to come home. Mostly just making sure that I'm caught up on errands, cleaning and chores so I don't have to welcome him home with a honey-do list. As it stands we hope that he'll be home sometime between the 3rd and 7th. We all got to talk to him on the phone this morning. Zion's first question of him was "Daddy, you wanna come home?" to which of course he said yes. Zion's face immediately lit up and she shouted to me "He said YES!" Needless to say we are ALL excited for his homecoming.

Happy Birthday, Jameson!

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since we last celebrated my sweet nephew's birthday, this his third heavenly birthday would have been his eighth earthly birthday. Blogger is apparently having issues still and not allowing me to rearrange photos so, again, in no particular order, some photos from this celebration of a wonderful life.



Zion on a brief break from the water table takes a moment to paint.


I left Gideon for a good while to play by himself. He loved this bus which had activities all the way around and on the inside too.


Gideon enjoying a ride on this little bike. He didn't figure out how to go anywhere but didn't seem to mind.


My nieces and friends dancin' on the porch.


Jamae attempting the hula hoop. I believe she won a hula hoop contest in elementary school. What happened, I wonder? ;)


For a little while Gideon joined Zion at the water table. I think we may need to get one of these.



Gideon and my dad (who is doing really well since my mom passed in May).


Gabe hit the water toy first thing.


This was the first thing I saw when I got there. Bob manning the barbecue. I think he needs bigger coconuts.

Yummy Summer Days

Oh man was today a good day. This morning I thought our heat wave had come to an end but it ended up getting pretty warm, just later in the day. Really, it was darn near perfect weather. We ended up spending a good portion of the day outside starting after lunch. We set up a tunnel and house out of cardboard and the huge Thomas the Tank tent that my mom got Gabe last year and the little playhouse with the slide. Gideon is perfectly happy to hang out and play wherever the bigger kids are so I sat on the porch swing and read for a while.

The boys ended up in the pool at some point. Just try to keep Gideon out of it. He is nearly to the point where he will be able to climb in on his own. Lord, knows he tries. Gideon just cracks me up in the water, he just seems so at home just sitting there and playing. The older kids splash around him and get all crazy and he doesn't care at all. Today he was trying to climb up the teeny little slide and kept sliding down and even being face to the water (but not in the water, just to reassure you) he was totally comfortable. Gideon also got to enjoy his very first Otter Pop. We shared an orange one, Gabe red (naturally) and Zion had green. What flavor is green anyway? They played until Zion and Gideon went down for a long nap all tuckered out from play and then went right back out to play. Zion was so eager to go back outside she didn't even bother to bring down her blanky and lovies. I cannot remember the last time she got out of bed with her menagerie. Made hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner.

The only way it could have been more perfect was if Rob was home. On that note, his coming home date has been pushed out by a few. :( We won't know for sure until he gets stateside and is being "processed" because it totally depends on how long that ends up taking. My irritation is that he pretty much could be back in the US and starting that process if the Army would just arrange for it. Right now they just have him sitting on some base in the desert waiting transport to the next base in the desert and then to another one. Then to the East coast, then the West for "processing" and then, only then, does he get to come home. Grrrr. Annoyed.

Can't end it on a bitter note though. The other night on the knitter's forum where I like to hang out online (and crocheters too, shouldn't leave them out) I won a skein of hand-dyed laceweight yarn in the color of my choice. How cool is that?! One of the groups that I'm involved in there is particularly for one of the projects that I'm working on (which shall remain otherwise in the dark - stop asking me to spill the beans!) and when you post a picture of your progress you get entered in the drawing. I'm just so excited that I won! When I get my prize I'll post a picture. Then I'll have to figure out what to make with it. Eeeee!

Question

Know what's great?

If I went out tomorrow and checked out a library book (which is actually pretty likely), there's a very strong possibility that Rob will be home before it is due.

Yeah. I thought it was pretty great, too.

Oh Give Me A Home...

..where the buffalo roam... even though there really are no buffalo in the US, only bison but that's beside the point. Friday was a great day. Jamie had driven down the night before and that morning Jamae and Jessa joined us and we all headed off to NW Trek. The last time I took Gabe and Zion was the day before I went into labor with Gideon. To say I was more comfortable with walking this time around is an understatement. :) I think Gideon enjoyed it more too. Less cramped. Actually getting to SEE the animals. Getting to hitch a ride on "Tantie" most of the day.

Aw, cute sleepy little fisher.

Checking out the river otters (or so I thought, Miss Can't Stand To Not Text For Five Minutes!)

Gideon really got into pointing out the animals.

Mountain Lion. Or cougar if you prefer.

At NW Trek they have about 400 acres that are open area for a number of animals and trams that take people through. According to our guide the only time the staff get involved with these animals is to provide extra food so that they don't overgraze the area and when the animals need medical attention. Otherwise they are left on their own. We are on the tram and ready to go.

Deer.

"You can't see me!"


Moose taking a drink.

Zion sporting braids thanks to Jamae. SO cute!

Gideon started to run low on fuel, we took our tram tour a little too close to lunch.

Herd of big horn sheep including new babies.

They have a large herd of bison as well.

Cue diabolical laughter.
"Hm, I wonder what this stuff tastes like."
"Ew, I think I got a hair in my mouth."

One of the last animals we see is the Grey Wolf. Then we head to the discovery center where the kids get to color and make a couple of crafts then off to take my sleepy heads home.