Ten on Tuesday

Pictures 1. Steven. 2. Aeron and my husband the Brigham Young wanna be - he's in a play at our stake and they asked him to grow a beard. 3. Bekkah. 4. Jonathon - the real wild one. 5. Classic Ethan - we had to take his picture when he got the potty seat stuck on his head. It's side splittingly funny!

Here's my Ten on Tuesday:

10. Ethan makes me laugh. He is obsessed with Batman. About six months ago, I bought him a pair of Batman Underoos and he only wants to wear the undershirt. Yesterday I had to wrestle the shirt off him so I could wash it. Then, he insisted on wearing the newly washed and slightly dry shirt to preschool. He wore Batman all day and then wore it to bed. Today he smeared ketchup on it. He doesn't like getting dirty. We took the shirt off and then he changed into his Superman pajama shirt and wore it to school. I don't fight with him anymore. If he wants to wear it, so be it. At least I can get him to wear a pair of jean shorts to school so he looks mostly presentable. I pick my battles with him.

9. My daughter, Rebekkah, is an angel. She is my right hand. She helps me tremendously with the younger kids and tasks around the house. I hope I am not doing her a disservice by relying on her too much. I need to tell her thank you more often. We do reward her too. Recently, we got her a cell phone. For Christmas she got an iPod. We don't want to spoil her but we do want to give her the things she wants within reason and she works hard.

8. Jonathon peed his pants twice today, once at school and the other after school while playing. That really ticks me off. He doesn't take the initiative to change his clothes. He stays in them until he is dry and smelly. Gross! How does an almost 8 year old boy do that? But of course he is a boy. Maybe boys are just like that.

7. I think Aeron has 5th disease. His cheeks are rosy. He had diarrhea and mild cold like symptoms today - runny nose and not feeling well. He also has a rash; some on the top of his shoulder, near his diaper area, on his ankle, and legs. It resembles a blister and is kind of blotchy. The frustrating thing is that there is nothing I can do about it. It can last from 1-3 weeks. It can be contagious. But if he has it, he has already passed the contagious period because he is contagious during the incubation period. Hopefully no one else in the family will get it. Thursday we have a doctor's appointment. We'll find out.

6. Steven just finished reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. I am proud of his reading prowess. When recently tested, he the results showed that he reads at a 12th grade level. Rebekkah, naturally being a huge fan of the Twilight series, convinced him to read the books. He has whizzed through them at lightning speeds. His teacher, Mrs. Rush, told him Monday that it has been 17 year since she had a student accumulate as many Accelerated Reader points as he has. Good job, my little book worm!

5. We had a Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight. We are getting ready for the Pinewood Derby. Peter's calling at church is a Cub Scout Den Leader for the Bears. But, since he has this Cisco training class on Tuesdays, I am taking over his pack in the meantime. I enjoy it. I don't have to teach any of my boys. I like it better that way. I can be a better teacher to the Bears.

4. A couple weeks ago, I think I had walking pneumonia. That's when I had the 103.2 fever. I got antibiotics and cough syrup. The antibiotics have helped. I still have a slight fever and a chest cough. Thursday when I take Aeron in to the doctor, I am going to see him as well. I am going to ask for a chest xray. It may take a stronger antibiotic than what I was given. I hope I don't have it. I have been using an old inhaler recently to help with my chest tightness.

3. I love photography. I have been taking pictures here and there. I took this picture yesterday that I will post that I think is funny. It is of these weird cherry like looking orange spheres. If it is an edible fruit, it is one that I am not familiar with. I have thought of a funny title for the picture. I'm not going to spoil it by telling you what it is. That is what I think about in my spare time. Peter is happy that I'm so taken with photography. I take some pictures of the kids. Some are OK, but I like my photos of flowers best. They are pretty. Flowers make me happy. I walk around in my neighbor's yards and in the neighborhood, photographing flowers. I probably look like a nut. Oh well.

2. I miss jewelry making. It is hard to dedicate the space to it. Plus, with all of the helpful hands this house teems with, inevitably my project gets disturbed. Also, when I start a project, I develop tunnel vision; I just want to work on the project. I will leave my other responsibilities undone. I don't have the luxury to do that right now. I have too many little people that rely on me to meet their needs.

1. I haven't read a book since I was pregnant with Aeron except Understanding Exposure. It's a photography book. Oh, and I have read the last Stephenie Meyer book too. But, what I really enjoy is audio books. I have a monthly subscription to Audible. I love audio books! Right now I am listening to a book called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It is a young adult book, in the same genre as Orson Scott Card, science fiction. It is very good. It helps me get through the drudgery of my day to day chores. It also keeps my busy mind occupied.

Well, that's my ten. I've never done a Ten for Tuesday type blog entry before. I'm sure it is a little long winded. I think that should be my middle name: Bonnie windbag Gale. I like blogging. I should have included that as one of my ten.

Random little snippets

No more nursing
Aeron has now officially weaned himself. I am sad. It was one of the last vestages of babyhood and my childbearing years that I have been clinging to. Really, the only times I would nurse is in the morning when he woke up and right before bed. We have been slowly cutting it down to shorter and infrequent periods. And this weekend after our whirlwind trip to Sacramento, when I didn't have the time to nurse, he put his foot down and refused.

Granted, Aeron is 18 months old and has joined the ranks of cranky toddlers full of attitude. He would rather have a bottle on the go than sit and snuggle. I don't blame him. There is so much to see and do. 

Now I must say goodbye to the end of my nursing cuddles and snuggles. Kids grow up regardless of our efforts to keep them young. I have enjoyed nursing my kids, especially Aeron because he has enjoyed the cuddling and quiet time the longest. It has also forced me to take a break from the everyday chaos to sit down and be with him. I will continue to cuddle him, except with a bottle now. Breaking the bottle habit hasn't gone so well. Maybe in a month we'll try it again.

Jonathon and Bus 21

What can I say about Jonathon? He is such a boy! His is dirty and messy. He is the middle child and thus struggles with his position. He isn't a baby and he's not a big kid either. He will turn 8 in August. I worry about him. 

Yesterday, he got a bus ticket! No child  of mine has ever gotten a ticket before. He got it for writing on the back of a seat on the way home. What was he writing? Well, that's the funny part (although I can't tell him). He was writing, "I don't like you bus driver." When I was alone and thinking about it, I laughed. I can't help but smile. That boy was just trying to make his feelings known. He struggles with that. His older siblings tend to ignore him. The younger ones aren't old enough to understand yet.

So, yesterday after we lectured him about the importance of respecting other people's property and talked about how riding the bus is a privilege. We punished him by not letting him play on the computer or his Nintendo DS. He also lost out of the chance of going over to a friend's house to play. We also talked about the need to voice our feelings. I believe we will be revisiting this topic continuously. When he gets frustrated, he will physically lash out in anger, start to scream, or break down in tears. I really feel for him. It must be hard to be 7 and feel stuck in the middle and misunderstood. We're trying to teach him responsibility and how to appropriately express his emotions.

He had to return the ticket with our signature on it in order to ride the bus. Before I sent it back, I made a copy of it and plan to write a note to the transportation department. This particular bus driver is always SCREAMING at the kids. I think I will write that while I do not condone his behavior, maybe if there was less screaming and hostility towards the kids behavior would improve. I doubt it will accomplish very much, but I do want to make the effort. I can't excuse his behavior, but I do find it humorous. I'll can't let Jon know that I think it's funny. Jonathon just struggles to express his feelings. We'll be working on that.

Escapades at the ER

Last night we spent 6 hours at the emergency room. Sunday and Monday Aeron started running a low-grade fever of 100-101. Then yesterday, after a visit to the park, Aeron's temperature spiked to 103.4! 

The last time I experienced a temp that high, Jonathon was 8 weeks old. He ended up staying in the hospital for 3 days due to pneumonia. Temperatures that high are so frightening. Too much can go wrong. 

So, Peter and I found a last minute sitter (thanks Justin!) and headed off to the ER. I couldn't believe how busy it was there! So many people, and there were so many little ones. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long to see the triage nurse (I think we waited an hour). She administered some Tylenol and ibuprofen which helped to bring the fever down. Then after 2 hours we went to this side ER. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I know how to handle a fever. My concern is that the high temp was an indicator of a bigger problem. I know my kids. Aeron had refused food most of the day. And right before he left for the hospital, he started refusing liquids. Dehydration can happen too quickly. 

Thankfully, we got assigned this really great lady who is a nurse practitioner. She was very thorough. She noticed a viral breakout in Aeron's throat. But, was concerned that there was something more going on. She ordered a tortuous chest x-ray, and they found a spot on his lungs. Sure enough, Aeron had the beginnings of pneumonia. So, she gave him an injection of antibiotics in addition to a prescription for both antibiotics and oral steroids.

While we were stuck in the ER, we were forced to watch/listen to television. They were showing ABC's The Bachelor, where all these hussies parade around hoping they can be the next Mrs. Right. 

I am rather disgusted at the degenerate nature of the Bachelor. This single father of a 6 year old boy, has left his son in the care of another person while he appears on television, trying to find a mother for his child. A lot of the women he has chosen look like they could be porn stars in training! The man made this remark that he wants to use his brain and his heart to make this important decision. Meanwhile, they advertise future episodes and show how he spends the night with one of the ladies and she comes back to the house wearing his clothes the next morning. It sounds like he is using a different body part to make that decision. Moreover, what a great message this show sends to our young women. I resent that they portray an act so special and sacred as a lure a woman can use to hook a man! Yuck. 

Peter kept making all these snide remarks as we waited and cared for Aeron. He made me laugh as he mocked that show. I am grateful for my husband, that we have a marriage based on a solid foundation of faith and friendship. In retrospect, we could have asked the attendants to change the channel, but we were more concerned with Aeron.

I remarked to Peter as we drove home, I would have much rather have spent the last 6 hours on a date as opposed to stuck in the ER. Looking on the brighter side, he said, "Honey, we had a date. We only had one child to care for and each of us got to take turns playing games on our phone while the other cared for Aeron." I didn't realize our date nights had deteriorated so badly. They really haven't.

Peter always helps me to look on the bright side and see the positive. Yes, it was nice to have a break from the kids. However, I was scared to sit there in the waiting room with Aeron. What if something happened? Having a sick child requires both parents sometimes. And if they were going to have to draw blood or admit him, I wanted both of us there for Aeron. Thank you for sacrificing your precious work time to go with me to the ER. 

Peanut Butter Boy, August 29, 2008

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Aeron.  Ethan, Aeron's 3 year old big brother, LOVES peanut butter. He eats a half sandwich of plain old peanut butter and just bread multiple times a day. Or, if he is feeling particularly independent, he will get the jar and a spoon and help himself! On this particular day, he helped himself and left the jar open on the kitchen floor for Aeron to find. Aeron found it and dove in with both hands. At first, I was SO frustrated and upset because of the huge mess I now had the privilege of cleaning up. And, most days like every other mom, I follow around after my 3 year old whirling dervish trying to minimize the amount of damage. Well, after seeing the mess, that little voice in my head said to stop a moment and look at the situation from a different point of view.  I followed that prompting, changed my attitude, and took a picture of my littlest one literally covered from head to toe in peanut butter. It is now one of my favorite pictures. Thanks Skippy!