Gus is a lil stinker!!!!!

I finally found one drawback to having a son (Evan) who reads well above his reading level. Sometimes he reads words he ought not. Tonight he checked out a book from the library that said "crap" and he proceeded to tell me when Gus was sitting in the same room. Of course, Gus starts saying it too. After I told both boys they were not to say it again, Gus still insisted on repeating it! Uggh!!!!!! Here's the rest of our conversation.

Me: Gus, if you say that again, you are going to get a spankin.
Gus: Can you just ignore me, then?

HAHAHA!!!! It was soooooooooo hard not to laugh!

Sickle Pickles

Yesterday morning I got off work and came straight home. I was hoping to catch a few zzzz's before beginning our busy weekend. Almost immediately upon walking in the door-all my plans flew out the window. As I was smearing my just purchased "fresh from the farm REAL butter" on my whole wheat bread, Craig flew past me and into my butter knife (thank goodness it wasn't sharp!) and proceeded to vomit into and along the side of my garbage can. Yum. I put the bread down, appetite somehow gone and got the cleaning supplies and removed the garbage bag from my house.

After all was cleaned up, I climbed into bed and snuggled up to Gus. Just as I closed my eyes, Gus sits straight up and starts yelling, "My throat is sucking in! My throat is sucking iiiiiiIIIIIIiiiin!!!!" Not knowing what that meant, I asked him what in the world he was talking about at the same moment he upchucked ALL over my bed and carpet. (And darn it if it isn't the only room in the house without hardwood!)After I cleaned up Gus's mess, I began to get a little queasy myself-but chalked it up to the germs that were swirling around in my head now that I knew we had a virus among us. Nope. Not in my head. I got it the worst. Thank goodness sweet Evan was spared, and Craig and Gus didn't end up having it too bad.

I need to give a shout out to my Evan because he actually cleaned up my "mess" as I was getting sick. He really is the most fantastic boy in the world. I told him that he was going to be the best husband in the whole world someday and that he will be an absolute treasure to his wife in the event she should get sick. Evan, heart of gold-stomach of steel <3

Today was clorox and clean sheets day. I did laundry sun up to sun down. I think I did a great job, too because Evan never did get sick. Praise the Lord!

Mom of the Year right here!

This morning when I got off work, I was rushing and in my haste forgot to stop at Kroger to pick up a few things so Evan could pack his lunch. Gus had enough for his, but Evan is super finicky.  He kind of whined, then asked me to look up on the school menu what they were having. I totally forgot and sent him off on his merry way. Later, I looked at the school lunch calendar and realized they were having Mexican Pizza. (THAT SOUNDED AWESOME to me, but I knew Evan was going to be bummed and would forgo lunch, yet again.)

I made a decision right then to do something my mom would have NEVER done in a million years.  I skipped my much anticipated slumber (night shift workers can understand how big a sacrifice this is!!!) and turned my car into his school parking lot.  I pranced into the office and told the staff that I wanted to take my son out to lunch as a surprise. I was giddy with the knowledge that Evan was going to be on cloud nine. He was. He picked Mickey D's, of course and he had a blast. He told me about a bazillion times that this was the best school day ever and I was the best mom in the world. Yep. Today I agree :)

My baby brother isn't a baby anymore

My mom's birthday was Oct 2nd and as her birthday treat, she went jaunting off to Tennessee for a week long vacation with my stepdad. Little did dear Momma know, that while the ink was still wet on her contract, her baby (OUR baby, my little brother Dakota) was asking a girl out on a date for the first time! To his first high school Homecoming!!!! Oh, horror of horrors-it was the same weekend my mom was out of town!!!!

Guess what happens to the poor kid stuck with three older sisters when his mom goes out of town and he has his first date?!?!?! Yep, you get three picture taking, nagging, embarrassing adults gushing all over you and the lucky gal who accepted your invitation.

Dakota was a trooper.All week, he let me, Jessica, Aimee, and my brother in law Steve all contribute to and pick out his attire. We commented (rejected and replaced) pants, shoes, hair style, shirt, tie and he even let me do a test run with my flat iron! He hated it, but still-he let me.

I know my mom was so sad to miss it, but she should take comfort in the fact that it took three of us to replace her.

Just a reminder to myself, mostly....

The Vintage Pearl: happy birthday to me. (BIG giveaway!)

The Vintage Pearl: happy birthday to me. (BIG giveaway!) Go sign up to win a gift certificate! This is the cutest website!!!!!

Just something cute...

Gus has a little buddy at preschool named Andrew. Thursday when I went to pick Gus up from school, his teacher, Mrs. Birmingham pulled Andrew's mother and me aside. With tears in her eyes she told us the about the sweetest thing that had happened that day. Andrew was so worried about Gus's hand, he leaned over to Gus and said, "Don't worry, Gus. I'll take care of you and make sure you don't hurt your hand again." Soooooooooo cute!!!!

Well, Andrew must be trying to get a good citizen award because his tender little heart reached out to Gus at school again today! They did an art project where they dipped both hands in white paint and stuck them on black construction paper. This was made to resemble x-rays of the childrens hands.  All of the kids were able to do it, except Gus as his left hand is still wrapped up.  Instead of two symmetrical (well, probably not exactly! They're only three...hahaha)  hand prints, Gus's paper has two different sized palm prints.  Gus's right hand and Andrew's left.

 I cannot wait to see this adorableness! I will post a picture as soon as I get the "x-ray" sent home :)

My poor little Gussers!!!!!

Monday night, my sweet baby boy got burnt on the stove. We were coming off the most amazing day. We had gone to the park, uncovered a new coffee shop, and then had a picnic at the airport viewing area. It was awesome! The time came to make dinner and I made the (now) regrettable decision to let him help me.

We prepared the food together, dipping chicken breast in a beaten egg, then coating it with a crumb mixture and then put it in the oven.  Then we moved to the stove, where I was boiling a pot of water to make mashed potatoes....I kept telling Gus I no longer needed help and that the stove top was super hot. I did not however ask him to leave the kitchen. Instead, I reveled the the glow of our glorious day together, not entertaining the notion that things quickly might turn....

As I was removing the pot of boiling water I told Gus to be careful because the burner was hot and as I set the potatoes down on the other boiler-Gus threw his left hand down on the red hot, newly vacant burner. Ahhhhhhgggggghhhh!!!! What followed next can only be described as utter chaos. Gus and I were both crying, I was calling my sister Aimee (an ER nurse) and trying to get Gus dressed and out the door. After a few minutes, the burns that at first looked clear, began to darken and I knew he had 2nd degree burns. My sister talked me into driving Gus to Children's ER and I am so glad she did.

He cried the entire way, apologizing for not listening to me. It was horrendous. 
"Mom, I should have listened to you!" (He was in so much pain, he was twisting an elastic band that goes to his carseat cover around his other wrist trying to transfer pain away from his injury.)
"You're the best mom in the world."(Crying.Followed by screaming....followed by growling.)
"I never cooking with you again!"
(more growling)
"Oooohhh. It's all my fault!"
(I kept telling him it was 100% all my fault. I had no business having him in there with a hot stove.)
"I want to sit up front with you! I want you to touch me!"
(By this time I was hysterical myself)
"My hand is on fire!"
(screaming)
"Am I still the best boy in the world?"
(broke my heart!)

Once we got to CCHMC, they ushered us into a room within 10 minutes. I guess they felt awful for the poor little guy. He ended up with 1st and 2nd degree burns-but no 3rd. Praise Jesus!  We have to wrap it and do dressing changes a few times a day-but the dr thinks he will be just fine. As bad as it was to see him in so much pain, I realize it could have been so much worse. I am going to be more careful and protective of my kiddos from now on. It just stinks it took something like that to teach me a lesson.

Book club!

I  am thrilled to say I am back in a book club. It combines two of my favorite loves....reading and talking! HAHAH!!!! This month the book selected was The Hate List, by Jennifer Brown. The book focuses on one of my biggest fears :BULLYING. Uggh. I hate bullies!  I am so scared that someone will someday make my child feel less than what he is (perfect) and worse yet-that he will believe it.  The book is based around a tragic school shooting and all the blame flinging that ensues. I loved it.  If any of you end up reading it-let me know! I'd love to discuss! :)

Bedtime prayers

Lately, as they boys and I are doing our bedtime prayers, Gus has decided God is in the business of granting wishes.  He starts out with "Dear God way up in the stars" or something just as goofy and then lets his list fly! Here's a few:
-"Um, God, I wish that everybody in town was robots and you got fired." (Yeah...I was not a fan of that one!)
-"God, I reallllllllly wish we lived in a big, giant cupcake."
-" I wish I lived on a boat with an elephant and he could sleep in my bed"

So, needless to say, a talk was in order! Craig and I always tell the boys that God is in their hearts, and also in everything around us in the whole entire world.  Tonight, as Gus was laying down, he asked me, "Mom? Is this where my heart is?" (He was patting his chest.) "Yes dear, that's your heart." "So....that's where God is? And Jesus? They both fit in there? I must have a big heart!"  (Then he leaned with his chin to chest and whispered) "Good night God and Jesus....sorry you're smooshed!"

Ahhhh....he is the funniest!

So proud of my boy!

Today Evan came home from school and immediately asked Craig and I if he could go door to door to all of our neighbors and ask them for money.  Knowing him as we do-we knew this could be for a multitude of reasons...so we didn't even try to guess. Evan then handed me a packet of paper and explained that he wanted to participate in JumpRope for Heart, an event at school geared towards raising money for the American Heart Association to help kids with heart conditions.

 He proceeded to email all of our family and then ran into his bedroom. He came back with his piggy bank and a screwdriver. He told me that he wanted to give all his money to help kids with heart disease. With all his money (really only about $60) he figured he could save a thousand kids lives!

 Ah....I love this boy! He has the sweetest heart. I let him donate $10 and then told him we'd help him raise the rest. He is so special and I couldn't be more proud!

He asked for my help to set up a web page. He began to fill all the info out himself. Imagine my surprise when he added a zero to the default fundraising goal of $100! Yeah. He wants to raise $1000 dollars :)  The entire school's goal is only $2500! We lowered it to $300, because you can always overshoot that goal-but I really wanted him to feel accomplished when he met the goal and not bummed if he doesn't.  So far, he has raised $170 with the help of FB and family!

If you'd like to help Evan raise money for the AHA JumpRope for Heart, you can follow this link: http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/JumpforHeart/GRA-GreatRiversAffiliate?px=2761974&pg=personal&fr_id=1439