SHHHHEEESH!!!!

what happens when you cross a baby rattle snake with a sharp metal object?
A Stain!

Yep folks we had a baby rattle snake on our driveway last week. We all walked by it a few times before i saw it. And it didn't even rattle until we threw a big rock at it to smash it. (by we, i mean Zach--i stood back watching in shock mostly. i didn't even get the heebeegeebees until about 3 hours later!) As Zach was getting the big rock to throw at it Blake went running into our basement to get a piece of our metal shelf unit that we are putting in the basement. At the time we didn't have any shovels or gardening things to get at it with. After Zach threw the rock it started to buzz it's rattle and then Blake came at it with the metal thing. after he had it pinned with the metal thing, it was trying to bite the metal thing. Once the thing was "mostly dead" Blake took it off to the side of our house into the neighboring empty lot and cut it into several pieces. And then told me he was pretty sure it was dead. Well I hope so! Since this all happened on the driveway we now have a stain. We're hoping it keeps all other snakes away (even though we really don't know that it will, it makes us feel better). We knew it was a possibility to have them, several neighbors had mentioned it was snake season. One of our neighbors that have lived here for 5 years hasn't seen any at all though. And we have been told the longer we are here they will likely stay further away. And of course we had just finished convincing Sam it was safe to get out of the car and walk to the house....(see previous post about gopher/bull snake). Actually it does have it's perks to have this happen the first week here. The boys all now know how to stay aware and away. That's right we instilled the fear into them! Sam told me he didn't like snakes and i said neither do i and neither does grandpa young (cause his mother instilled the fear in him). Sam then said "you and me and grandpa are just like Indiana Jones!" I said oh yeah, why? He said, because he's afraid of snakes too! Who knew, I'm just like Indiana Jones!

does an apple a day count for dentists too?

Over the last few years with Blake's job we have had some good insurance. OK let me restate that to us it is great, since there was a long stint we had no insurance. And we even have dental. Thank goodness too. I know i had a lot of cavities in my younger years and I'm pretty sure i passed that fabulous gene onto my kids. In the last month and a half we have been to the dentist 6 times. I asked them if i needed to start paying rent or if that's just part of my bill.

It all started with Ryan's pulpotomy (baby root canal) that i posted on a short time ago. I figured i needed to have the boys get their teeth cleaned so that we didn't have that happen again and they were due to be cleaned (since we have had insurance we have done it semi-annually like they suggest). So off we went to have Ethan and Sam have their teeth cleaned (Ryan's appointment was for later). Ethan didn't have any cavities. HOORAY!!! Sam on the other hand.....well he and the dentist/hygienist have a history. Sam does NOT like doing the x-rays. And generally after a few tries and me working up a sweat trying to get him to do it and sit still and all that we have given up a few times. BUT, not this time. We had talked to Sam before we even got to the dentist about Ryan's root canal and told him the best way to avoid that was to let them get a good x-ray so they knew if he had a cavity. So for this visit, i think it was the first of 6 maybe 7 visits, that he let the x-rays go smoothly. Ahhhhh. Relief. But much to our dismay Sam had a pulpotomy to be done 2 cavities AND had to have his front tooth extracted (pulled). Poor kid.

When the day came for the pulpotomy and extraction for sam, Blake took him to the office. I am secretly really, really, really glad it was blake cause it's a work out to take sam to the dentist. But also after hearing how it went down i think i might have cried for my baby. he did pretty good, all things considered, but the shots they gave him in the front were a bit more painful. And after pulling the tooth we are all really glad that's what they did. The reason they decided to pull the tooth was the adult tooth was coming in behind it. And as you can see by the looks of that root Sam was not going to be able to get that out on his own. The root wasn't "re-absorbing" like they should so that a little kid can get it loose and pull it out.

I'll spare you the really close up picture of sam's mouth--seriously kinda gross (looked like gray matter in there). But you can see the swelling in his cheeks and lips and the glazed look in his eyes. Fast forward to last week when he needed to go in for his other two cavities. (well actually because of the move we almost forgot and almost missed the appointment time, but they called to reschedule because of a time thing for them, whew!) I got to take sam this time since blake had to work, but after things going well last time i thought we'd be home free. Plus this isn't the first time sam has had a cavity so no big, right!? NO WAY! After fighting with Sam in the dentist chair for 45 minutes about the shot that he was SO not going to have anything to do with, we decided to change the appointment. Poor Dr. Taylor, he was trying so hard to help sam and sam was just freaked out by the shot. Before we left Dr. Taylor wanted to be sure sam knew he was his friend and that he really didn't want to hurt him at all, and that he wanted to be sure he was OK. Sam left liking Dr. Taylor. As i was re-scheduling his appointment sam said to me "next week works better for me anyway." For the next few days we talked over with sam the point of the dentist is to help keep our teeth healthy. Yes, shots sometimes hurt but they are over fast. Small cavities are better than big ones. etc. But we also told him he couldn't have any treats since we wanted to be sure his teeth were good and healthy since he didn't want the dentist to fix them. He went into the dentist today, flinched once over the shot, but then was good to go. The gas was high the movie was good, just had a hard time getting him to keep his mouth open wide enough all through the visit but after last weeks attempt i think it was a very very good visit.

(Disclaimer: i know sam was probably stressed out because of the major work he had had done the visit before, and i do not want to make it seem like we didn't acknowledge that.)

Like, he's totally a Tween, for reals!

Ethan at the beginning of June had a birthday. He turned 11! I don't think i really wrapped my brain around it for the first week. Now that he's 11 and so close to 12 and all that follows that i feel just a tad older myself. Ethan has told me a few times he's a pre-teenager or an early teenager and i tell him no you're 11, and you're not a teenager until you are 13. We don't need to rush this anymore than it already feels. What is scary is that i totally remember 11, vividly. So at this point i could be scarring him. We try not to, but being a parent is hard, and being the oldest he gets to be the guinea pig (and i suddenly have a little more sympathy for the oldest children in all families). The time has flown by. As is tradition we pulled out the scrapbook of the day of their birth and reminisce. I looked at some of the pictures and it just seems impossible that the little baby that i was soooo overjoyed to have out of my belly is now 11. He still smiles the same, he still has boundless energy, still fights sleeping each night, and we can still see the gears turning in his head. The reasons we love Ethan:
-his spongyness (he absorbs all information)
-his raw talent that is focused and channeled into great accomplishments
-self determination (he is very driven all on his own)
-the way he loves music and creating his own songs
-he is a good big brother and is always willing to play whatever game Ryan is begging for. (Ryan told me the other day that he liked being by Ethan--i thought that was sweet).
-he is a great helper around the house (like the jobs are actually done to a level that i don't feel like i have to go back and re-do or touch up on) he's always been a great helper but it's hit a new level.
-I love that he has no fear of being up in front of an audience
I do not question that Ethan will do many great things. (and no I'm not in the least bit biased). He is a wonderful boy, and we are very happy he is a part of our family.

WE LOVE YOU ETHAN!

still here

After taking a small break from the electronic world for the more simple life of a cardboard box we decided we'd join the fast lane once again. Oh who am i kidding, we have been in the fast lane with the cardboard box, and we live to tell the tale. We are finally settled enough (i guess) that we felt it was about time to get a post on the blog.
We are feeling more and more settled and the house is feeling more and more like home. The boys have over the last few days as we've pulled away said "mom, i really like our home." That to me is a big step to feeling more at home here. The fact that the boys are feeling good here makes the move less painful. Since the weather has finally decided to be good and summer like they have had the chance to meet some neighbors and make some friends. They are outside lots riding bikes and scooters, playing in the yard, catching grasshoppers, and just loving the summer. They have been real troopers over this last month. Blake and I have been working on getting our home ready for the parade, all our stuff packed, and getting mom and dads home in order for their return. Needless to say they have had to adjust to many long filled days. I am so grateful they have been so flexible. Home is defiantly where the heart is. And since i just found the box that i had packed my heart in i guess we can call this home. (Visitors are always welcome!)

Hey, that's my birthday!

Today as Ryan and Sam were sitting at the table eating their lunch we had a conversation that went like this.

Ryan: Mom, what day did i come out of your tummy?

Mom: Dec. 10th

Ryan: Hey, that's my birthday!

Mom: Yep, that's why it's called your birthday.

Sam: Ryan did you know you were supposed to be born on Jesus' birthday? But mom didn't want that. So you would have been pretty lucky to have the same birthday as Christ.

Ryan: Dec. 10th was when i was a baby, and i wasn't two.

Mom: Nope not on the day you came out of my tummy. (whew)

Ryan: And you called me Ryan, but my name is Ryan.

Sam: Was it hard to name us?

Mom: No, i knew what we were going to call you both as we got close to the day you were born.

Sam: So how did you know that?

Mom: Well i had a dream that i knew Ryan's name was Ryan.

Sam: So you had a vision?!

Mom: No, i just knew that it felt right that his name was Ryan. And I knew i wanted to name you Sam.

Several parts of this conversation just made me smile. I wish there was a recorder close by to record some of these conversations, cause I'm not always very good at writing them down. Who knows maybe in heaven we can sit and watch the videos of our life and smile again at the things our kids said.

Ever have one of those days?

Have you ever had one of those days where you just worry what can happen next? Over the last week or so it has felt like that..... a lot! Not to say that there haven't been a lot of good things to balance things out and really i feel quite blessed, but it just seems that there can't be a day that isn't full of surprises! Today's surprise was this:

Ryan had an abscess on his tooth, that we only noticed yesterday evening. Needless to say the plans that were in order for the day changed the moment we saw his tooth last night. So our morning started with our blood being taken (only after a few extra pokes cause my veins wouldn't cooperate) for our life insurance to racing to the dentist office to have Ryan's teeth checked. Sure enough the tooth had been infected and had some major black stuff on the x-ray. Lucky kid. He had to have a pulpotomy (a baby root canal). But this little guy smiled through it. I took this picture with my phone and showed him and he thought it was funny to see the "elephant nose." I asked him if he looked like a teenage mutant ninja turtle--he said yeah. He was so good and didn't even flinch once. I was holding his hands just to be sure he didn't try to grab things but also to be right there for him. He would just smile and watch the movie they turned on for him. What a good guy! All is well tonight, and i can't wait to see what will happen tomorrow.

Dance dance baby!

Can you see ethan in the photo above? he's the one waving.

Sam is the one in the light blue in the middle of the photo below. (this is the proof i have that he did in fact dance at this years festival.)

Today was the boys school dance festival. At the end of the school year each class does a dance that they have learned. When i was a kid it was the mayflower and the Mexican hat dance, ah the memories. These days they do it to more modern music and the kids love it. You can see it in all their faces. There are even some that will probably deny it but they enjoy it. Last years dance festival Sam was one of the kids in the back only kind of doing the dance. He was too busy playing with the grass and the butterflies to be dancing. We got it on video. This year Sam was a dancing it up with the rest of his class. I do have to say i was proud. Proud that he was participating and proud that he has such awesome moves. I only have still shots of the dance at this point, but maybe in the future I'll get the video from my friend and post it. Ethan's class did some fun stuff and he being the performer he is enjoyed it greatly. I bet if anyone wanted a rerun we could have the boys do their thing, if not in years to come we will sit and watch the videos and have a good hardy laugh at how the boys have changed. (remember Darin's and Nathan's dance? It's electric! hehehe)