A Pirate's Life For Me. . .

Yesterday we held Skye's birthday party (yes, we were a couple weeks early but with everything else going on we figured that was a good thing or he might not get a party). After contemplating long and hard about what "theme" he wanted for his party, Skye finally decided to have a pirate party. Once that was decided Skye really planned the whole thing. He knew he wanted a treasure hunt where they would find an appropriate pirate pinata at the end filled with the best of pirate treasure (candy of course). He wanted his cake to be a treasure chest overflowing with coins, etc. Well the party was a complete success. The sun managed to shine through the whole party and the rain didn't start until a few minutes after the last child had gone home. The kids had all learned to duel with breadsticks, hunted for their treasure and found their treasure chest pinata which they enjoyed getting open. Skye decorated his own cake (well I put the chocolate icing on and then he wen tnuts with the coins). It was a fun time, and we were left exhausted after it, but Skye triumphantly proclaimed that it was just like he had wanted it to be. Whew, what a relief! 80)
On the topic of birthday parties, why does it seem that no one has simple birthday parties at home anymore? It seems all of Skye's friends have these elaborate parties out at some unique inspiring place (while I appreciate the idea of not having to clean my house for a party the places I see to have parties at usually cost through the nose it seems), they invite the whole class (I cringe at the thought of putting together that many goodie bags), etc. At the beginning of Skye's party the other kids were shocked to learn that Skye had chosen to only invite a few friends, the parents had been shocked that we weren't having the party at someplace special. UGH! But the kids all had a great time and said it was so much fun so my brief twinge of guilt for not living up to the joneses quickly went away. But I was left wondering about the standards that we set up for our kids that then leads to trying to one up ourselves the next time around. Their expectations go higher and higher and become impractical, and all because of what we as parents and society set up for them.
On a side note-did you know that there is a National Talk Like a Pirate Day? Yep, September 19. Check out the website dedicated to this National Day http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html or find our real pirate name here

My pirate name is:

Dirty Anne Roberts

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Two things complete your pirate persona: style and swagger. Maybe a little too much swagger sometimes -- but who really cares? Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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Debates. . .

Ok, I don't want to get into political arguments here and all that details. But I did want to say that I watched the VP debate last night and was pleasantly surprised. I think that both Biden and Palin did better than their counterparts did in last week's debate. They both came off well and handled themselves well, plus they were actually interesting to listen too. I say we cancel the rest of the presidential debates and replace them with more VP debates, it'd be more interesting! Neither Obama or McCain are interesting or good debaters based on last week's debate. Hopefully they'll do better next week!

Matters of the Heart

It's been a very stressful couple of days here. Last Thursday evening I was at soccer practice with Isaac when I got a call from Mom, I assumed there was some wedding detail she wanted to ask my opinion on. But as soon as I said Hi, I could hear the tears in her voice. I asked her to take a deep breath and tell me what was going on. She managed to get out that Dad was in an ambulance on his way to the hospital with trouble breathing and horrible chest pain. She was trying to follow the ambulance and wanted to let me know what was going on. I found out what hospital he was heading to and told mom to hang up so that she could drive safely.
PANIC
I called David to let him know, then headed home with Isaac. I was almost home before it occured to me that Mom probably had chosen me as the one to call since I was out of state. I know how she hates to disrupt schedules so calling Carrie or Troy out of work isn't something she'd do, she'd wait for them to be done with work before talking to them. So I started trying to call Troy and Vanessa. It took a little while to track them down, but I finally reached Vanessa. Have I mentioned how amazing my sister-in-law is? She took complete control of the situation immediately. Dropped off her 3 kids with someone, drove over to get Troy from work as he can't be reached when he's with clients, and headed down to be with Mom. When I talked to Mom again she was worried to think that Troy's schedule was being disturbed, but I think she was more relieved that she wouldn't be sitting in the waiting room alone.
Mom gave me updates from the hospital-they had Dad stabilized and he was headed to the cath lab to see what the problem was and what to do about it, the heart attack was still considered smaller at this stage and they needed to get it stopped before it got worse. She hadn't been able to see him, but hoped to get a report from the drs once they were done with the cath lab stuff in a little over an hour. When the Drs. finally came out they said that they had been able to stop the heart attack by putting in a stint into the artery that was pretty much completely blocked. Dad was resting at this point, and everyone was allowed to go in and see him a little while later.
None of us slept well that night, I knew the worst should be over, they had done something about the problem, but sleep was still illusive.
So another 24 hours has now passed. Dad seems to be recovering well, they took him off of oxygen, moved him out of the ICU, and even let him get up and walk across his room. He's feeling good enough to be begging for his i-phone so that he can send e-mails, etc. They say he should be able to go home Sunday or Monday depending on test results as they look closer at his heart and try to pinpoint any damage that was done by the heart attack.
Ok, it's now a week later, It's taking me awhile to get this post done. I'm finding it hard to express myself.
Dad was doing so well that they ended up letting him go home on Saturday afternoon. We were all very relieved to see he was recovering so well. So now he's recouping at home and hopefully not overworking himself.
David comforted me the other evening while I lay in bed shaking and with tears, telling me that Cheney has his first stint put in back in the 80's and is still doing well, and continued to list off other people that have had heart issues and gone on doing very well for many years.
When Dad had his double by-pass in 2000 I was able to be there with Mom through the ordeal. As hard as that was, and as incapable as I was to actually do anything to help him, I felt involved in it. When he had his leg reaction in Cyprus I felt isolated from it, and again when he had his pancreatitis in Vietnam, I just wanted to be there but knew it wasn't possible. Yet again this time, I was too far away to be involved in the crisis, and too far away to reassure myself that he's doing ok now afterwards.
There are so many reasons it's hard to be living away so far away from family, and this is definately one of the tops on my list. But I shouldn't complain. I'm just so relieved that this time Troy, Carrie and their families were able to be there to support Dad and Mom, and so relieved that Dad is back home where he is needed.
We love you Dad!

All Boys. . .

I arrived home from taking Skye to his first Cub Scout Meeting to see a panicked/shocked look on David's face. I asked him what was up and he just pointed to the backyard. When I looked it was filled with boys, some who I didn't even recognize. I asked where they all came from and David answered, "I don't know, they just kept coming to the door asking to play with Isaac and Skye so I kept letting them in. I didn't know what else to do, and just hoped you'd be home soon." I laughed and told David he could go relax, I'd take it over. I went out and discovered who the few I didn't recognize were and made sure that they were all playing nicely which they were (as they hung from monkey bars, scaled the "treehouse", and chased each other around the yard with foam swords). Nicole was out playing with all the big boys too, but she soon wore out and came in to hang out with Mommy. . .
Isaac had a big day yesterday, we took the training wheels off of his bike! He says that he is now officially a big boy! He does great without them too. We don't have to help him balance to get started riding or stopping, he was definitely ready to ride without the training wheels. . . Isaac is still also greatly enjoying riding his friend's go-cart up and down the street. He calls it the speeder. Here's a picture of him on it having a blast!

Rain. . .

OK, to preface I realize that much of the country received more rain this weekend than we did, and that many have lost their homes in the hurricane. My heart and prayers go out to them. . .

Here in northern Indiana we had a record setting weekend in rain. We received 11 1/2 inches of rain in 48 hours. I've never seen rain like that in Indiana, our average rainfall for the month of Spet is 1 1/2 inches.
When I walked across our lawn yesterday, with each step there was several inches of water covering my feet. My garden patch looked like a pond under several inches of water, the pumpkin leaves looking like lily pads. We had to drain the pool several times over the weekend to keep the water level from getting too high and putting too much stress on the walls.
A block away at a low spot in the road the neighborhood teenagers were going innertubing through the street. A new neighbor not too far away said that not only had their basement flooded, that they actual had earthworms throughout the basement there was so much water in there.
I was so thankful that our house stayed dry inside and that the waters are starting to recede today. We don't need any more rain for awhile, and I've never been so thankful to see the sun (I really don't know if I could handle living in Seattle, after just a weekend of rain I couldn't wait to see clear skies and sunshine!).

Busy Week. . .

Ok, I know that I haven't been writing as often as I usually do, but life has gotten busy!
First a huge congratulations to my sister who got engaged this past weekend and is now trying to plan a wedding that will take place in just 7 weeks! She really wants an outdoor wedding and they don't want to wait for spring so time is of the essence. 80) I am soooooooo excited for her! Her fiance seems like a great match for her and they have dated for quite awhile so know each other well. She got to go wedding dress shopping this week with my SIL and they had the best time. I wish I could have been there for it. I got to at least see links to her favorite wedding dresses-she's going to look stunning! It's been even harder this week to be so far away from family and miss out on these special things. But I'll be heading out to Seattle with the kids a week before the wedding so I'll get to be a part of the final preparations and of course the big "simple" event that Carrie wants. They are doing a wonderful job of keeping me in the loop of things too, I appreciate all their e-mail updates and phone calls to help me feel like a part of it all.
I'm madly trying to get the house deep cleaned so that it will just sparkle before an appraiser comes on monday to appraise the house for a loan that we are trying to get. With the market the way it's been we are saying lots of prayers that our work on the house shows and that it's gained some value in the little over 2 years that we've been living here.
Skye has had a rough week at school just with forgetting to write down, bring home his homework, "hear" instructions, etc. So we have stuff to work on. But he's had a great week at home. He's writing an oral book-meaning that each night he is telling us the next chapter of the book he has written in his head. He's enjoying weaving his story together and teasing us with the title of the next chapter as to what might happen next in the story. As much as he wants to be a volcanologist I think he might be an author when he gets older. He loves to tell stories and always has one in his head (probably part of why he forgets insignificant things like homework and listening when there is so much else to think about). He is such a special joy in our lives!
Both boys have discovered that other kids live around us this week. Skye found out that the new boy in his class lives just 1 1/2 blocks away and since that discovery they've been at one or the other's houses whenever possible. Isaac has formed friendships with the handful of boys his age that live on our cul-de-sac. Mason especially has become his buddy as they chase around together. I had 6 boys chasing through, around, over, and under the house yesterday afternoon as the whole block became their battlefield. It's just too much fun to watch!
Isaac started his new preschool this week. He was really nervous the first day, but came home disappointed that he had to leave to come home. He comes home very proud and talking of all that he did. I've been really nervous about switching him to a new school this year as we loved the old one, but the teachers and staff have been so wonderful at his new school I know that we made the right decision, and I am enjoying that it only takes 1 minute to get to pick him up vs 15 minutes just to get there with his old school.
Nicole has really missed her brothers this week. She can't quite keep up with the wild play in the afternoon, and she misses Isaac especially when he heads off to school. She is becominga percocious young lady. Very determined in how things should be, unfortunately that usually conflicts with how Mommy and Daddy say that things should be so we've had a busy time. She is so sweet though, and has a really caring heart.
Fleur is surviving having the kids drag her around to whatever they are doing. I'm surprised at her patience as they all just pick her up and make her do what they want. But she always comes running back for more.
Ok, I think those are the highlights of the week. Hopefully I can be better at keeping updated now.

True Love, Conversations, and Marriage

First, I have a new example of true love. While we have had Skye in soccer for the past 2 years, this is Isaac's first year playing on a team. Somehow through that past years while it has often been wet or cold during a game, we've never had to sit in the rain for a soccer game or practice. Today changed all of that. It has been raining off and on all day, but we headed out for soccer practice as there was no lightning. As practice started I was glad that Skye and Nicole were home with Daddy so that they wouldn't get wet. There was a light drizzle, but hey, I'm a committed soccer mom I can handle it. Isaac was just excited to be out there practicing and didn't even notice the mist coming down. That quickly changed as the mist became a downpour within the first couple of minutes of practice. This downpour continued to get worse over the next 45 minutes. I kept thinking, they'll call it off any second, but that didn't happen. Soon the 4/5 year olds on the team and their parents started to give up and leave. This continued until there was just two other parents and I sitting on the sidelines cheering on our dripping wet but happy children. One little boy turned to his mom shouting, "I get to play even in the rain!" As I stood there wetter than I could ever remember being and not moving to get out of the rain I thought, "Boy, us soccer moms could really take on those hockey moms!" I must love that little boy a lot to stand in the rain cheering for just a soccer practice. 80)
Isaac had a great conversation this morning that I have to share. . . We were laying on the bed and our new kitten came to curl up beside me purring loudly. Isaac quickly said to me, "Mommy, she wants you to pet her because her sound is turned on!" I tried to hold back the laughter as I asked him about her "sound". He turned to me and solemnly said "You know, that sound she makes that sounds like her heart going Beep, Beep really fast." At this I did have to laugh and give him a big hug.
My boys have been asking about marriage lately. Questions on how they will know who to marry, etc. have been asked quite often. They have finally given up on the thought of marrying anyone related to them as I said it wasn't allowed (although they don't know why I'm already married, and why someone unmarried like Aunt Carrie or Nicole can't then be married to them). The other day I was telling them that they had to marry someone who they really loved, someone who loved God like they did, someone nice, etc.. All of a sudden Nicole pipes up "I really love God, so I'm going to marry God when I get big!" I smile and give her a hug.

Isaac's Big Week

Isaac had a good week of first's last week, and I just wanted to share his exuberance of life with you all.
Probably the most anticipated event of the year finally happened on Thursday evening, he had his first soccer practice. He's been watching in misery as his big brother has played soccer on a team for 2 years now. Thursday, it was all about Isaac. He was dressed for soccer practice well ahead of time (I shouldn't have been surprised considering he'd been asking me every 5 minutes all week when his practice was). We got to the soccer field a few minutes early, and from the minute he stepped onto the grass he just beamed. He glowed as he met his coach, his eyes sparkled as he kicked the first ball. He kept looking over at me while he practiced to make sure I was noticing that HE was the one on the field practicing with his very own team. He was so proud, and I just felt my heart would burst as I watched and shared in his joy. He had a great practice, scored a goal in the scrimmage, and was still glowing when the practice was finished. He's already asking when the next practice is.
Isaac and Skye have also started playing with some neighbor kids down the street this week. One of the families has a go cart type vehicle that the kids speed up and down the cul-de-sac on. After just watching the kids ride it for the first couple of days while Isaac rode his bike alongside, he finally got up the nerve to ask if he could have a turn riding the go cart. I watched with bated breath the first time I saw him on it-would he crash and hurt himself? But I should have known better, he was a whiz on the thing. Shooting down the street and pulling a u-turn and whizzing back. I was happy to note that he did seem to have a sense of his own limits and wasn't pushing it too far to make me really worry. AlthoughHe did have to prove that he could go faster than the bikes. He was all smiles the rest of the day, and when tucking him in bed that night wanted to say a special thank you to God for letting him have a chance to ride the "speeder".