Up He Goes!

Kade noticed Darryl's climbing rope in the garage and has been bugging Darryl to put it up and he finally got to it today.  Kade made it look so easy-- he just climbed right up and then he'd hang at the top and count to 10.  He has increased his show to counting and hanging onto the bracket at the top and acting like he's sleeping.  What a funny kid.  So many of the neighbor kids have attempted but they can hardly get off the ground.  Kade chalks it up to him working on getting stronger by doing the monkey bars at school everyday.  I'm sure that helped a ton.  Clint loves to do it too.  Initially Clint didn't climb as smoothly but after climbing day after day he makes it look easy.  These are a couple pictures that Darryl snapped with his phone.  I love the picture of the boys in their church clothes climbing.  They're always on the rope.

Good Eye!

So I've been a paranoid mother lately about Kade and his eyesight.  It's so hard to know what's normal and what you should be concerned about.  So for my own peace of mind I scheduled an appointment for Kade today to have his eyes checked.  I could tell the Dr. was thinking I was being a worry-wort for no reason.  His teacher always looked at me like I was crazy when I'd ask her about it.  He reads above level and is above level in everything so I'm sure she couldn't figure out what I was basing my concern on.  He often reads sounds that aren't in the word, and reads some what slow so I thought it would be better to fix the problem now if we could.  Turned out those things are very normal, which I knew but I've also heard of them being signs for complications.  So what do you do?.  Well, thankfully Kade is fine and he'll get over those things in time.  I guess I'm just a worrier-- or maybe I'm just a mom. ;)

No More Sadness

I had been feeling so sad that I didn't get to go but as I mentioned earlier Clint's injury helped me realize it's a good thing I'm here.  Well Cole helped with that too.  He didn't get any better.  He was still having these unexplainable coughing fits.  We went to many Dr. visits and tried many different new things this week-- all with no changes.  I'm glad I wasn't worrying about that half way across the U.S.  Then Konnie the lady that was going to take care of the kids ended up getting stuck in Paige, AZ and then again in Beaver, UT, and then again in Nephi, UT!  They had some tire and trailer problems on their way back from Lake Powell.  She would have been about a day behind so I would have had to stress and try to line up some last minute caregivers for the boys all while being in Chicago.  SO glad I didn't have to deal with that.  I don't know when I'll ever learn that my plan isn't always the needed plan.

Clint's Head

I was suppose to be headed out with Darryl on a salt trip to the Chicago area.  Cole had been sick for a couple weeks and just wasn't changing so I had to back out of the trip at the last minute.  I was so upset about it because I really wanted to just have a trip with Darryl and I felt like I wouldn't go and then Cole would get better and canceling would have been in vain.  Well Clint, Cole, and Konnie (see other post) made sure it was worth staying.  Me and my disappointed attitude biked with the boys to school this morning instead of boarding a plane with Darryl.  I told the boys to have a great day and I loved them and headed home.   When I walked it the door my cell phone was beeping from missed calls and the answering machine was flashing.  There were several missed calls from the elementary school and a couple messages.  I listened to one and it was the principal saying Clint had hit his head and it "needed further attention."  I drove back to the school and found Clint in a little bit of shock.  He was covered in blood and the towels they were holding on his head were soaked.  They showed me the cut and I was surprised at how large it was.  It definitely needed stitches but I couldn't bring myself to take him to the Dr.  He didn't want to go and frankly I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars for a scar that would be covered by hair.  We went back to the house and after some hair cutting(we should have cut more but Clint was screaming because he thought I was going to cut his head off or something), gluing and taping with steri-strips he was asking to go back to school.  What a start to the day.  The cut was 2" long and about 1/4" wide.  I measured because I had to let Darryl know what it was like.  This picture was taken a couple weeks after the day of the injury.  So how did it happen?  He tripped on a rug as they were headed outside for PE and he bonked his head on the metal door jam.  No teachers were around so Chloe, a little girl from his class who is a cute 5-year-old mom, took him to the office.  Clint said there was blood all down the hallway.  It didn't surprise me considering how much he had all over him.  I'm glad I was there to take care of it and it wasn't another person's problem.  I'm also glad that I wasn't in an airplane and unavailable during his time of crisis.

MIA

We had been at Grandma Browns visiting for the weekend. There was a moment that I realized I hadn't seen Cole in a very long time. I asked the boys and they hadn't seen him either. He'd vanished. I was panicked. I called his name outside the house, upstairs, and then downstairs. A reply came back from the downstairs bathroom. The reply was, "Mess." I went to the bathroom and found that he had found the bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Nice. That was a great smelling, very slippery mess to clean up. Can't leave you for a minute! :)

The Black Salve Post

This post is kind of a gross one--not kind of it just is. I wanted to document this though so it's going to be posted. Don't look and read if you don't wish to see something nasty.

Darryl and I have put Black Salve to the test this year.  He has a wort on his foot that he has had frozen and burned off by doctors but it won't go away.  He's even tried himself to freeze it or cut it off but no luck.  He tried black salve this time and we're waiting to see if it worked.  He also put black salve on a mole on his leg and then here on a wart on his finger.  The finger was by far the most dramatic result.  So far it seems the wart is gone.  It's amazing how quickly your body heals. The gaping hole heals in about 4 days.

I did it on a lump on my leg and too had some crazy gross results.  The first time I tried it the result was more like a burn.  The second time was very different as you can see in the pictures.  I ended up doing it one more time because the salve had slid down a little and missed some of the lump.  I'm anxious to see how each of these spots look in a year or two.

He's Ours

This is a text I sent to Darryl today:
He's got the screwdriver and the electronic fishing game. 
Me: "Kade what are you doing?"
Kade: "What--I just want to see inside it."

Darryl replied, "That makes me happy." 

Flat Stanley goes to Canada

Mrs. Mecham has been reading Flat Stanley books with her class and then they learned about letter writing and the mailing system.  With all of this they made their own Flat Stanley and then mailed it to someone.  Kade new right at the beginning where he wanted to send his Flat Stanley; To Aunt Wendy in Canada.  Wendy is currently serving a mission in Canada and even though I warned him that it would take a long time for her to get it and send it back Kade was not about to change his mind.  Wendy did a stellar job on her response and so I'm glad it wasn't able to persuade him to send it to someone else.  This is exactly why Kade loves her so much; she's just great.  She and Stanley had some great adventures together.

Cole sings Temple

When you put Cole to bed he starts begging, "Temple, temple, temple."  He wants you to sing I Love to See the Temple.  He's been requesting "Temple" for months but tonight he joined me and sang the song.  He mostly just sang the last word of each line and smiled so sweetly as he sang.  It was the perfect day for such an experience because we'd just had a huge battle about dinner with him.  I've been trying to get him to just eat his dinner without me sitting next to him, or without playing with toys, his brothers, or his food.  It hasn't been fun but he went from being a monster to melting my heart.  I love these moments that remind me of what eternally matters.

Can't keep his feet on the ground

Kade has this crazy instinct to constantly get has high as he can.  I went outside today to check on the boys in the sandbox and found Kade here. :)

Who's that Chef?

On our way home from the airport and picking up Cole from the Nance's we were all starving so we stopped at Tepanyaki's for one last night of dinning out. It was earlier evening so we had a non-typical chef. To stereo-type him I'd say he's a white, country-boy, fisherman. He was so fun to talk to. He's learning the trade and loves doing it. When he was done he went and got marshmallows and chop-sticks so the boys could roast marshmallows over the burning tequila(at least I think that's what they make their fires with).  The boys thought that was so fun.  He also let the boys wear his hat and try flipping shrimp.  He wasn't the textbook chef but it was priceless experience for us.

Reunited!

We were all so excited to see Cole. He was excited to see us and show us all the fun things at the Nance home. They'd gotten baby chicks and a duck and he was obsessed with the duck. He was so full of energy and just ran all around the house pointing to everything and jabbering about it all along the way. He had a great time with the Nances and thankfully he was pleasant for them too. He really is such a fun little boy to have around; super sweet and super funny. BUT there are moments that aren't so great. That is usually when his tummy is empty or he is lacking sleep. The boys had picked out a gun that blows bubbles for a gift for Cole and they couldn't wait to show it to him. It was the perfect gift for him. They also gave him a Fin-McMissile car that had wings. Cole loves the Cars cars and he loves airplanes so it was a perfect gift. He didn't let the car out of his little fist.

The REAL Beach!

We went to church in an Anaheim ward this morning.  It is always so interesting to attend church when you're traveling.  The boys didn't want to stay but when primary was over and they came out with their arms full of Easter candy and a cupcake their demeanor's had changed.  We thought we'd spend the rest of the day at Newport Beach.  The boys were so excited to see a real beach.  Up until today a beach to the boys was the shoreline at Deer Creek Reservoir.  They love both now.  They're little boys; water and sand what's not to love?  The wind was a little cool and the water was freezing!  However, the boys had a blast.  After a wave would get them they would run away from the water screaming from the cold but they loved it all.  They had to have us bury them in the sand.  They thought it was great but then we needed to clean off the sand--burrrr!  We walked along the beach and a lady pointed out that there were some dolphins out in the ocean.  It was so neat to watch them.  We didn't spend much time at the beach because we were cold so we went back to the hotel to warm up in the hot tub.  What a nice day.

Dinner at The Cheesecake Factory

We went to dinner at the Cheesecake factory tonight. It was so fun on the trip to watch them be so "big." They would decide what they would like and then when the waitress would come they would order and ask the waitress for anything they needed or let her know how their food was. It was crazy to just look at them and wonder when they grew up.

Easter

We were in Disneyland so we sadly missed the traditions of Easter. Cole was with the Nances so he didn't miss out though. They started the morning off with an egg hunt in Herriman then drove to Grandma Brown's to color eggs and look for Grandma's many eggs. The Nances were so great with him and you can see he was a pretty happy guy. Thanks a ton guys!!!!

DISNEYLAND!!!

We had a fabulous time at Disneyland. We skipped through the park for three days and it couldn't have been better. It was so laid back and enjoyable. Unlike the previous times I've been to Disneyland. I always thought of it as the Stressfulest Place On Earth-- not the Happiest. We didn't take Cole because he's just not old enough to remember it, go on many of the rides, and be happy during the long days at the park. What a wise choice that was. We all missed him and it was the boys that kept making comments like, "Too bad Cole's not here. He'd love that." However, overall we all had more enjoyable days apart. The boys favorite rides were: Kade-Indianan Jones, and Clint-Soaring Over California. They both loved Star Tours too(which shocked me because I get so sick on that one but Clint, who rarely goes through Provo Canyon without throwing up, went on it again and again and again with no problems). They loved Toy Story Mania, and Astro Blasters too. They liked Tower of Terror ride minus the scary stuff that they do with the hotel history. They had fun spinning with Darryl on the Tea Cups too. They were the fastest cup by far. On the river ride Clint took the water for the team. He was totally soaked when we were done. We were with a family from England and we all thanked him at the end. :) The boys really loved Russell's Wilderness Adventure Area too. They could have spent a day there I think. Everything was perfect for them; climbing, zip-lining, challenges, and exploring. The days were so great. One day we had an early morning pass so we were there at 7 AM.  When we got to the gates there was a long line but we noticed a few gates to the side that no one had lined up in front of.  We went over and asked if we could get in here and the workers said we could so we were the first people in Disneyland!  They had a countdown and then we were through the gates.  We took a picture of the boys with the castle in the background-- notice not a soul on the streets of Disney.  It was strange to see it bare but it didn't last long.  That first hour before they let everyone else in we rode Space Mtn. a few times, Astro Blasters a few times, Star Tours a few times, and more.  Amazing how fast you can go with no lines. :) We had beautiful weather. There were a few moments that were chilly but a light jacket was all we needed. What a perfect vacation. It was so much fun to watch the boys just enjoy themselves so much. I loved this week.