Coleman is five!

My sweet Coleman turned five today--it's hard to believe my baby is such a big boy. Five things that I love about Coleman:

1. He is so happy! He says often, "This is the best day of my whole entire life!" and he really means it. He is quick to smile and laugh and that makes everyone around him happy too.

2. He is very polite... several of my friends have told me that he'll make a great husband someday because he is always thinking about how he can help others. I am sure they are right, but we'll hope that is a long, long way off.

3. He says hilarious things and pronounces words in a very funny way. His very favorite food is homemade macaroni and cheese (which he calls "mac-a-moni"). He also comes up with some pretty dang funny questions. I would love to see how this kid's mind works.

4. He wants to be good, and most of the time IS very good. He often says, "I don't ever want to be bad" or "I'll never, ever choose the wrong!"

5. He loves being with and making friends. He got assigned to a soccer team without anyone that we knew... before his first practice he kept saying, "When do I get to go meet my new friends on my soccer team?"

He chose crepes for his birthday breakfast and since our partying with cake is tomorrow, we put a candle and sang to him this morning... he was disappointed that we didn't sing "cha cha cha" and something about a monkey, so we did a do-over and Olivia filled in those gaps.
Coleman loves all things Star Wars and has recently acquired a love for little Legos--his favorite video game is Lego Star Wars, so we're doing a party with that theme... and we gave hime this Anakin Jedi Starfighter. Can I just say that I love my son, but I HATE putting Legos together? The box says it's for 7 and older... but they forgot to say that you also need an advanced engineering degree (I realize I'm not as savvy as some, but am I really that stupid?). It took me two hours, help from Ryan on a really tricky part that I kept putting parts together backwards, encouraging words from Coleman ("you can do it mom, I know you're good enough!"), repeated steps when pieces mysteriously popped out or off, crying from Coleman ("I just really wanted to play with it") when I was ready to give up, and not too few swear words under my breath when the pieces kept falling apart. When it was all said and done, it looks like the picture and doesn't fall apart when you pick it up...
...even though there were a few "spare" pieces which I'm sure belong somewhere... we'll just pretend we got everything where it needed to go...

I think we'll wait to put together the Imperial Dropship Lego set with storm troopers when Daddy is home to help. In the meantime... off to finish tunics, light sabers, costumes, a poster of Yoda, and some Lego cakes...

I love the Star Wars bobble-head ships (thanks Nicole and McDonalds!)....

Happy Birthday Coleman! I love you!

Reflections

Although I don't have anything profound to write about this day, my heart is full as I remember the tragedy that occurred 7 years ago. I remember watching in disbelief as the second plane hit the World Trade Center and then learning of the Pentagon attack and the crash in Pennsylvania. Olivia was only a couple of months old, and I spent days glued to the TV, clinging to my baby, wondering how this could have happened and if or when they would strike again. I was terrified to think that this was the kind of world Olivia would grow up in. I read a post from my friend Vanessa today who lost close friends on one of the flights, and I was struck by how personal the attacks were for her and for so many others.

I have taken for granted the safety and security and abundance that I have enjoyed during my life. I have also taken for granted the relationships that I have with my family and friends and the blessings that come from those relationships.

Currently my sister Megan is very ill and the treatments don't seem to be helping her situation. Her choices and circumstances have made it so that she no longer desires to have a close relationship with the friends and family members that have supported her and loved her for so many years. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on if I have been there for her in the ways that I should have been. I feel that I have failed her in so many ways. Is there more that I could have done to make her life better and to help her be happier? Could I have somehow prevented any of the sorrow and difficulty that she has faced in her life? Is there any way I could have helped her make better decisions or choose pathways that would bring her happiness?

I realize that many things in life are out of our control, as we saw seven years ago with the attack on our nation, and as I see with Megan today. My biggest inner struggle as of late is to understand what my role is and to know what I can and should do to fill that role to the best of my ability.

If you are a person of faith, I invite you to pray for Megan that her body and spirit will be healed and that she will know that her family loves her. Megan has so much goodness in her and so much potential to share that goodness with others, I only hope that she can find that too.

This is Megan, looking truly happy, with her son Chance just before he got sick in 2005.

Programs of the Past

Tonight at the dinner table we were discussing an upcoming PTA project (Red Ribbon Week) and talking about assembly possibilities. Ryan mentioned the police might do something, which made us think of the D.A.R.E program--but Olivia said she'd never heard of it (checking online shows that the D.A.R.E. program is indeed alive and well).
Out of curiosity, we asked if the kids had heard of McGruff--Take a bite out of crime? Never heard of him either.
Finally, Ryan tried good old Smokey the Bear. Olivia got a bright look in her eyes as she recalled that Smokey the Bear had visited her class when she was in kindergarten. She told us how Smokey barely made it out of the burning forest, and that his parents didn't survive. She said the firefighters were there to help save him. She spoke with such enthusiasm and sympathy for the bear that I asked her if Smokey was real... to which she got a very confused look on her face and said: "I don't know!?" I then asked her, "Well, did he talk?" to which she sheepishly grinned and answered, "Well, yeah...."

Coleman (who is feeling so much better, thanks for all your concern and well-wishes) didn't miss a beat though... he said, "Nah, it's just a person dressed up."

**Do you remember these programs? It should be noted, they are not programs of THE past, just programs of MY past.
**Can you recall (without cheating) what D.A.R.E. stands for?

And the "Good Mom" award goes to....

...I'm not sure who, but I'm quite sure it's not me. This, after I was feeling like such a wonderful parent these last few days because I'm reading The Glass Castle where the parents leave much to be desired. After all, I don't allow my kids to cook hot dogs themselves (and catch on fire) or ride in the back of a moving truck while holding a baby, or play with discarded chemicals in old sheds, or... you get the picture, right?

Despite my "competency" at parenthood, the last few days have proved otherwise.

Tuesday morning Liv told me she was sick. Her stomach hurt, and she didn't think she should go to school. However, I had errands to run and things to do and I was pretty sure she wasn't really sick... so Ryan and I teamed up and convinced her that she was fine and not really sick so she could still go to school. We had a stern conversation with her about telling the truth and got her ready for school. She didn't eat breakfast, but I packed her a lunch with Jell-O and juice. At school she told her teacher that she didn't feel good, who then told her maybe she needed some food in her tummy, so Olivia ate her Jell-O like the obedient child that she is. She sat through lunch recess feeling yucky and upon returning to her class promptly threw up in the garbage can. Let's just say the conversation with the teacher ended with "so you see, Mrs. Harper, she really was sick." Olivia made sure that both Ryan and I recognized that she had been telling the truth and that she was in fact sick.

Olivia recovered within a day and was happily back at school, soccer, eating, and wanting to play with friends.

This morning Coleman said he didn't feel good, his stomach hurt, and he thought he should stay home from preschool. Once again, I had things to do and I was pretty sure Coleman was fine. So, once again, I sent my child on his way and then did my thing.

When Coleman got dropped off from preschool, my friend Jill told me he wasn't feeling so good. He didn't look good either. He walked in the house and got to the couch and stayed there, taking sips of apple juice now and again, drifting in and out of sleep. He seemed warm (but taking his temperature didn't show a fever--good thing I have an awesome underarm thermometer that is oh-so-accurate) and then his breathing became labored. He couldn't seem to calm it down and he started coughing quite a bit. Jill called to see how he was and I told her his symptoms--she told me how a few weeks ago she felt so awful and was surprised to find out she had pneumonia. She asked if he'd had breathing problems before... and he hasn't... and I didn't think much about it, but I was sure it wasn't something like pneumonia or asthma. I decided that if he wasn't better within 12 or 15 hours, I'd take him to the doctor. When Ryan got home, he felt like we should probably take him tonight, so I set an after-hours appointment. Ryan and I assured him that the doctor would help us figure out what was wrong and poor Coleman was worried about having to get a shot. We both assured him that a shot wasn't necessary, the doctor would just look at him, and maybe give him some medicine to help him.

Turns out he had a fever of 101 F.

Turns out he needed a breathing treatment.

Turns out he not only has a virus, but pneumonia.

Turns out he needed a gigantic, painful injection of an antibiotic, which I then had to rub in for FIVE minutes, which elicited even more agonized cries.

Turns out he needs 3 more days of nasty-tasting antibiotic.

Turns out he needs 4 days of steroid medication, that "could have a bit of an after-taste."

Turns out he might need another breathing treatment tomorrow.

Turns out he really needs to drink more liquids and get some food in his tummy.

Turns out, mothers don't always know (or do) best.

To those whose children have been around my sweet (sick) kids, the doctor assures me that they haven't been contagious for several days.

Coleman's First Day

Today was Coleman's first day of preschool. He was trying to make a "P" with his fingers to show he is off to preschool...
Then he wanted to show us his big muscles...
...and that he's an all-around cool guy. I'd have to agree.

Thanks to my bff TAMN and Scribble It!

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading TAMN's blog, you have been missing out. Seriously, So Blessed is the latest, greatest, most brilliant blog out there. If you are a Mormon Mommy Blogger like me and slash or if you can just appreciate good humor and poking fun at our unique Mormon culture, this will bring you to tears with laughter. If you are easily offended--thicken your skin, get over it, and get ready to laugh. TAMN has been featured in the paper a few times and she was even on KSL last week--and I feel seriously, so blessed to have been a reader (and therefore an e-bff of TAMN's) from the beginning. TAMN (Tiffany/Amber/Megan/Nicole) is a self-proclaimed hot, righteous, newly preggers 25 year old that has it all figured out. She went all Oprah and did a big give-away from her sponsors (the girl's got sponsors!!!). Long story short, I was a lucky winner!!! I won a $20 gift certificate to Scribble It!

I love vinyl lettering, but I have been commitment issues when it comes to putting words on my wall. I have lots of wooden plaques and tiles with vinyl lettering but only one other phrase actually ON the wall (it's in the laundry room, it says: Laundry--Loads of Fun). 2 Nephi 31:20 is my favorite scripture, and I particularly love this part, so I decided it would be a good one to put on the wall. I love the fancy font (Scriptina) used for the words steadfastness, hope, and love... and I just love how positive this is. I put it above our kitchen window so we could see it all the time. I always need a good reminder in each of these areas.

Scribble It did a great job... but unfortunately I'm not as perfect as TAMN and I seriously botched it during application... I folded it onto itself, so the letters and adhesive backing stuck to each other... I spent some serious time picking apart each letter and rubbing off adhesive, then I tried to get the spacing right and used tweezers to put the letters and words back together... amazingly enough, I salvaged the letters and even the punctuation. I had used a level to get a straight line, but as you can see that didn't do much good, and it has a distinct slant upwards to the right. Ryan is glad that I put it up by myself, so I have no one else to be mad at. I so wanted to say lots of swear words while I was trying to fix it, but given the content of the wording, I refrained. It isn't lost on me though that the word "perfect" is anything but perfect. Oh well, gives it character, right? Sorry TAMN (not that you would be reading MY little blog, you have way to many bffs to keep track of us all...), I hope I don't reflect badly on your reputation :).

**What phrase would you commit to putting on your wall?
**Have you heard of TAMN and read Seriously, So Blessed yet?

Soccer Season

Soccer season is upon us again and this fall Coleman gets to play! This age group (5) is so fun to watch... the kids are just starting to figure out how to kick the ball and which way to go. They don't have a goalie or keep score, they really just want the kids to get used to playing the game and have fun. Coleman got a great pass from his teammate Jeff and he made the first goal of the game--he ran down the field shouting, "Yes! That was SO awesome. Yes!" It was so exciting to watch the joy in his little body. I wish I had caught it on video!

You can tell that Ryan wasn't there with his camera--he is coaching Olivia's team this year and they only made it for the last few minutes of the game--so we don't have any great action shots.
Maybe in another lifetime I'll take better photos.

**Do you love soccer season?
**Could Coleman have a cuter personality and smile?