Will's Doctor Visit

For quite some time now, Will has been having some breathing issues. He snores a lot at night, it is difficult to understand him while he is reading out loud because he breathes through his mouth while doing so and he has had a lot of congestion off and on since school started last fall. At first, I thought it was a cold, but even that is odd for Will because he just NEVER gets sick. As these problems have lingered on for months now, I finally decided to take him to a doctor. We also switched doctors as of this visit.
To start the visit, the nurse was asking me if Will was allergic to anything. I told her "no" and Will interrupted by saying "yes". Of course, I looked at him like he was crazy, but he went on to explain that he is "allergic to salt, errr, I mean pepper, just like everyone else". I could not, for the life of me, understand what he was getting at. Then he started explaining how everyone sneezes when they smell pepper. Thus, everyone is allergic to it! That nurse about fell out! She was still laughing about it when she left after all of her questions.
Then came the doctor. First, I was told that he has incredibly large tonsils and adenoids. This is not news, but since he is now 7 years old, we are past the window which allows a child to "grow into" his tonsils. Given this, we were referred to an ENT and Will will more than likely have both tonsils and adenoids removed in the near future. I can't wait to squeeze this event into our busy calendar!
Next, the doctor suggested that he more than likely has allergies that are related to our current environment/region. She believes he has allergies because of the purple half-circles under his eyes, the pale color of the inside of his nose and the allergy-related nodules that are in the back of his throat. To find out more, she did some blood tests on Will. He had to have 3 large vials filled.
The boy was cracking me up during this procedure. The nurse wanted him to lie down so she could draw the blood. All he wanted was to see the vials, the needle, and the rest of her equipment. He wanted a full explanation of what everything was and what it was used for. He even asked if the vials had to be completely filled! I think she thought he was nervous, rather than inquisitive, so I had to step in and briefly explain Will's nature and his future ambitions of being a researcher. That being said, SHE calmed down a little and was able to fill all 3 vials.
To get a hold on these allergies, we left with instructions to buy Zyrtec, a probiotic, Lil' Critter vitamins and cod liver oil. How's that for a combination? I'll keep you posted on his progress.
THEN, to top off Will's already fabulous day, I demanded that he get a haircut in preparation of the upcoming annual Bunny Pictures. He really was not happy with me. Even though, I did not let her cut "the wall". But that is a whole other blog topic.

Our Will

It certainly isn't news that our kids amaze us. Not a day goes by that one of them doesn't do something that makes us say "wow!", or "can you believe they said that?!". I certainly can't share everything (even though I would LOVE to). But, from time to time, I just have to get it all out.

Sunday night, after the extreme excitement of welcoming Chris home, I was talking to Will in bed. We reviewed our experience of happiness, excitement and pride that went along with Chris coming home. I then asked Will if he thought he would be a soldier when he grew up. He was very thoughtful and then said, "probably not. I think I would prefer to be one of those guys on the boats. That would be much safer. I am going to take the safe route." I figured out that he meant he would like to be in the Navy. That is good enough for me. Please, DW and PD, don't give him too much information!

Last night, Will attended "Faith Formation". This is our church's form of religious instruction for children. His assignment was to "love and serve" someone in his family for a day. We as parents were asked to write down who he chose, how he intended to love and serve them, and then follow up with what he did to love and serve this person. On the way home, I questioned him as to who he was going to choose and what he intended to do. He said that he would choose Mommy and that he would give me a "makeover" as a way of loving and serving me. I won't get into the rest of the conversation, but will say this: my children think I am already pretty, but have the ability and desire to make me even MORE pretty. God love 'em.

Tonight, Will quizzed us at the dinner table with presidential facts. Do YOU know what bird Teddy Roosevelt wanted to have as the national bird?! If not, ask Will.

Children are complex and unique individuals. They bring more insight, love and joy to my life than I can even describe. It is something that no one can even venture to understand until they themselves are a parent. I feel extremely blessed that God has allowed me to have this experience.

Chris and John are home!

After 15 long months in Iraq, my cousin, Chris is finally back in the US. We were SO fortunate to be able to witness his homecoming along with his wife, mom and dad, grandparents, two aunts and an uncle. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget. The kids can't stop talking about it and Will has already started writing a story about it at school. I have pictures and more details to write about, but don't have time to put it all down right now. I just wanted to let everyone know the good news!

And more good news....Allan's nephew, John is also back from his deployment in Iraq. He arrived safely a few weeks prior to Chris. We are so happy and fortunate to have our family members back safe. Our prayers were certainly answered.

Thanks to John and Chris for being so brave and serving our country! We love you guys!

Happy Valentine's Day!

No time to write a lengthy description of our day - even though it merits one! Instead, here are a few photos of our day so far.

The scene outside our backdoor this morning. We were shocked to say the least! A two-hour school delay resulted.
The excited WEJ ready to eat their pink heart pancakes. Emma had been up since 6am. I am guessing that is why she looks so terrible in this pic.
Everyone is decked out in Red today!
The boys have a lot of love for their sister today!

The Wow Factor

People with children know about the wow factor. It happens when you least expect it.
Today was a normal day. A day that I would never expect the wow factor to come into play. As usual, everyone was up and around by 6:45 am. I asked Will to please go upstairs and start getting ready for school. As always, I was met with little resistance, but I also knew that I could let 20 minutes pass and Will still would not be dressed, let alone have his bed made, dirty clothes picked up, etc. I also asked Emma to please go to her room and get dressed. As always, I was given the pouty looked, followed by the "I want YOU to pick out my clothes today". What girl says that?! Nonetheless, I sent her up to at least work in the right direction. I left Jack to do as he pleases as I now know better than to ask a 2 year-old to do anything and expect it to get done.
10 minutes later, rather than start cooking breakfast, I decided to check on things upstairs and just see how well my children could follow directions today. When I got upstairs, I was met by Jack who was fully dressed, had his teeth brushed and was munching on a vitamin. Emma announced that she had taken care of him this morning and was just finishing her vitamin after having brushed her own teeth. She had placed Will's vitamin on the counter for him after he was finished brushing his teeth. I was just getting ready to throw out the "WOW!", when I decided I had better change Jack's diaper. No need, Emma tells me. She already did that as well. This is where the wow factor comes in. How in the world did she get all of that accomplished in approximately 10 minutes?! And I didn't even ask her to do it! And Jack looked great - matching AND with a perfectly placed diaper!
Enough said.
Sometimes, we as parents, just step back and look at our children and say "WOW!".
No other words are needed.
Well, maybe "thank you", in this case.


In case any of you are wondering, Will still was not dressed, didn't have his bed made and his teeth weren't even close to being brushed. No wow factor for Will this morning.

A Train Table - Finally!

Waaaaay back when we were in Crown Point, IN, Allan finished a train table for Will. Me being the nut that I am, I refused to let Allan paint the table because:

1. He isn't a good painter
2. I had not yet found the right color
3. I was pregnant and didn't want to mess around with another project

I'm sure there were more reasons, but these are the ones that come to mind, now, two plus years later!

So, now that Jack is full force into Thomas and all of his train buddies, we decided that it was time to get that table painted and in use. Before we know it, Jack is going to be in college and no longer interested in using the table for trains. I won't even mention what I anticipate him using it for.

The table has been a huge hit with everyone. At first, it was used for everything but trains (use your imagination - they did!). However, with a little instruction it is now a huge hit and Thomas no longer tips over due to being on soft carpet.

For now, it is in the boys' room and makes things a little tight, but it makes playtime very fun. The plan is to move it to the basement once that is finished and ready for toys. I won't even venture to guess when that will be!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Love was in the air last weekend! It was our church's second annual daddy daughter dance and Emma and Daddy had been looking forward to it for weeks! When the time finally came, Emma got all dolled up. She and mom spent lots of girl-time primping. This involved curling hair, doing nails, finding the perfect tights, etc.
Before going to the dance, Daddy took Emma out for dinner at Applebee's. They spent a very fun night dancing and making crafts. It was another successful date night for Daddy and Emma. What a great tradition.

Q is for Quarterback and Qtie Pie

Today at preschool, it is "Q" day. The kids were asked to dress up like their favorite quarterback. Since we no longer have convenient access to our favorite teams, the kids have little or no football gear. I did however, remember that my mom found one of Allan's high school jerseys while cleaning out recently.

Emma thought it would be pretty cool to dress up in her daddy's old uniform, so we put that on her this morning. I realize that I am partial to the cuteness of my own kids, but I simply could not stand it! She was cuteness beyond words and I just had to share it with everyone!

The last picture is of Jack and I that Emma took. I had to post it to show just how much hair I had whacked off two weeks ago. Compare that with the family Christmas picture a couple of blogs ago. I am sure I lost two pounds after that haircut!