of matchbox cars and woo woo's...

I have had a stomach bug this week. I strongly recommend avoiding this at all costs. Yuck! Every part of my body ached and I moaned a lot. The good news is I am now feeling better.

I have been wanting to purge the basement playroom for awhile now. The boys are getting bigger and have broadened their interests a bit in the last few years. Bigger toys for bigger boys I suppose. It should be that way too, kids learn more as they grow, their needs and desires change. They grow up. Sigh. It's all good though.

Still, I miss the days when they would run to the window to see a passing firetruck and a .99 car would make them smile. The years go by so fast.

random cuteness

We went to the Columbus Zoo for the lights. It was very, very cold outside. Thankfully, there are barrels with burning firewood set up around the grounds. We also consumed yummy hot chocolate! This is Fiona, one of the boys sisters.

From the rear...

Who knows?

Sophie, the Buckeye cat. Oh, and Elijah too.

RIP fishy

Once upon a time, we attended a friends Nemo birthday party. It was great fun, and the goody bag was even more exciting. A real live fish! (or two or three.) Being unprepared, we drove to the petstore and purchased the equipment needed to house such a pet. This was in 2003. Let's forward ahead to 2008. We lost Fishy on New Years Eve. It was horrible to say the least. This was the first time that Sam had experienced a loss. He was crushed. Unfortunately, I was totally unprepared in how to explain death to him. It was a long and twisted story, but Fishy now lives in the Atlantic and we are going to visit him this summer. He lives with his former tank mates (Lucky and Lefty, that we lost almost immediately) and will be much bigger when we get there. Why of why didn't I just tell him that he went to Fishy heaven? Now we are going to spend part of our first beach vacation searching for a fish that never made it to the ocean. Geez!

heart cracks...

That's my boy. See that smile? Oh, how I love him. Sometimes, it is very hard being his mama. I imagine that sometimes it is very hard being that boy. The world is fighting against him at every moment with it's sounds and bright lights. Wtih the constant movement of people and things. His brain is on overload trying to filter out the nonsense and hold on to what is important. Then he has to try to figure out just what is important. Oy!

He gets very angry sometimes. Mostly it is a reaction to someone here at home. How he deals with it is wanting out. I mean really wanting to leave. He has done it too, most of the time never venturing further than the perimeter of the house. Just to spice it up a little, he has added that he wants to kill himself or swallow coins so he will choke and stop breathing. I don't know how to help him. Usually, I start crying while talking to him and that just angers him more. It is just a mess...

We have contacted an outside agency and a behavioral specialist to help give us some guidance. It will take time.

For now, I will continue to love him and try to glue the cracks in my breaking heart.

the throat...a new look

Elijah had his tonsils and adenoids out in December. It has been long awaited. We started seeing this ENT in 2001, finding out then that he had enlarged adenoids. We have listened to the pediatrician since then even though he had strep too many times last year. This time we listened to our gut and took him in. His throat was a mess! Dr. M said that he was getting a slim arch of air and his tonsils were almost touching. How could the allergist and pediatrician not see this as a problem? He did really well, recovered for the most part in about 10 days. Whew, the bad breath though was a killer. Think dying animal.

We are now on Winter break. The boys half-sister and mom came for a visit and we were busy. The zoo, a water park, COSI and an indoor climbing place that the kids love. We have ice skating at the zoo, and the boys really wanted to give it a try. They did really well combining hugging the wall with some actual moving out into the rink. Then Elijah fell, and fell, and fell again. See, the thing about falling is that you use your hands to catch yourself and it happens quickly. So, one trip to the ER later and we have a sprained wrist. Aside from the initial pain, I think he is enjoying the attention that having an arm in a sling brings to him. Vacation has been a bust!