My little superhero might regret this someday. Tonight, though, it’s just too cute.
Ben found Zander’s new superhero underwear while I was at swim lessons with the older boys. He told Mike it was his “pire pighter” (fire fighter) pants. He wore them all night and I couldn’t help but smile every time I saw him.
We really wanted to see the Sturgis Falls parade this year. We’ve gone just about every year since Nick was born. But, Mother Nature once again had different plans. The weather channel said it was supposed to rain all morning. By 9 a.m. the sky was dark but not a drop had fallen. We decided to cross our fingers and hope for the best. The first drop fell before we reached the end of the street. We forged on, still holding out a sliver of hope. That sliver was washed down the drain during a torrential downpour about 10 minutes later. We were waiting it out in the car just a block or so from the parade route when the rain hit. Everyone was pretty upset when we decided against braving the elements. I figured with Zander’s cough and the amount of rain pouring from the sky it was probably in our best interest to just come on home.
That little summer cough turned out to be bronchitis. After another sleepless night I decided to take Zander in to the weekend clinic. My plan was to have them tell me it was a cough, that they couldn’t do anything about it and then beg for a prescription cough medicine (it’s helped some in the past). I was admittedly quite surprised when the doc said he had bronchitis … and an ear infection. So it’s an antibiotic, oral prednisone and breathing treatments for this little cutie. His pediatrician keeps talking about the possibility of asthma (a diagnosis he won’t make until Zander is able to effectively complete the breathing test ~ likely about 7). The more times I hear bronchitis the more I think the diagnosis is inevitable. Thankfully it doesn’t seem to bother him much except when he gets these coughs. He just gets them quite a bit.
Last night was a great night. We were outside with the neighbors until way past bedtime. The kids played together nicely. The weather was perfect. It was the kind of night that makes it clear we are right where we are supposed to be. This morning was the kind of morning you wish never happened. I ran to the grocery store. No big deal. I got home, was carrying Ben around and noticed some bright red spots on his shoulders. Peeled off his shirt and found this.
What the …? I had no clue what it was. It was like no other hive I had ever seen. He had been inside all day so a heat rash was quite unlikely. I sent my sister the picture and even she was a bit curious. She thought it was too big for a hive, but figured it was probably was. Her recommendation … give him some benadryl and wait it out. The benadryl knocked him out, but I kept watching him all through his nap. Thankfully, that big spot on his back went away. Unfortunately, he had a bunch of smaller ones on his belly.
Kelsie said keep the benadryl flowing and just keep an eye on him. Reluctantly, I did. The spots kept coming and going throughout the day (and the next day), but then they just disappeared. I still have no idea what caused them but I hope whatever it is he doesn’t come in contact with again.
Nick played his first game of coach-pitch baseball tonight. I couldn’t be more proud. He listened to his coaches. He kept his eyes on the ball (not on the kid next to him). And he hit the ball. Hard. His first hit was a good hit. His second hit touched the fence before dropping to the ground. His third hit hopped once before touching the fence. Not bad kid, not bad at all.
Just last week at practice he had really struggled with hitting. He swung and missed a lot before finally connecting with the ball. Mike took him out to practice once or twice. I don’t know if that helped, if he is just finally getting the feel for hitting or if it was dumb luck. Whatever it was it gave him the confidence he needed so badly. And silly me, at dinner, as a joke, I had promised him $5 if he hit the ball out of the park. He remembered. He’s got his eyes set on that for next week. There is a small part of me concerned that I may have to pay up. There is another part of me that hopes I do. I could get used to watching baseball all summer long. I’d prefer something indoors with air conditioning, but if I have to be outside this isn’t so bad.
Nick also learned a valuable baseball lesson tonight. After one of his hits he slid into second base. He said he had to, but I don’t really remember if the ball was about to beat him or not. Then, after the kids finished playing they all ran the bases and he kind of slid into home plate (he’s seen the coaches’ son do it and thought it looked fun). Well, sliding might be. The aftermath isn’t. I thought he’d seen enough of Jamie’s burns to know that. Evidently not. As he limped out of the shower he said “I learned a good lesson tonight, a very painful lesson.” You sure did kid.
Is it even possible that we have been doing the school’s summer reading program for three years now? That three years ago Nick was a super-shy almost-kindergartner. We were so thankful to learn about this wonderful opportunity sponsored by our new school’s PTA. And now, three year’s later, Zander is ready to head off to preschool, but there is nothing shy about this kid --- at least not around his favorite teacher librarian Miss Oppelt.
As a kid it would be hard not to love her. She has always remembered his name (and everyone else in the family’s). She has always treated him like one of the big boys. And she reads a mean Skippy Jon Jones and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Even I like to listen. So (almost) every Tuesday all summer long we load up the family for a night at the school library. We listen to books. This summer we do puzzles. We check out books. And we see all our friends (my favorite part of the night). Our (not-so-little) crew takes up a good chunk of the library when we all can make it.
Ben likes to hang out in the reading loft.
Nick doesn’t want to read so he does puzzles.
Zander spends a good portion of the time selecting his two books. It’s a very long and drawn out process every week.
And then every once in awhile I get a gem like this. Unfortunately I didn’t get the shot off quick enough before Ben saw me and had to ham it up for the camera. It’s still adorable though.
It’s back to the ball field for the Christensen crew – but this time it’s a whole new experience. Nick is in his first season of coach pitch baseball – and his coaches are amazing. All five of them live and breathe ball and one even has minor league experience. And there are five of them! Usually you get one dad and a teenager to help out. When they do throwing drills there is a coach for every pair. It’s great! Nick still needs some work on his attention span (he’s easily distracted) and his stance (he stands with his knees together while waiting to field a ball) but when he connects with the ball he can really send it flying. Speaking of flying – he’s even caught two pop flies! His throwing is getting better every game, though they can still go a little wild sometimes. It will be interesting to see what happens when they actually play a game – with outs and everything. I’ve never liked baseball before, but I’m thinking I might need to start. This could end up being his sport.
He was standing at the fence waiting to bat when I managed to get these next two shots. The dang red on his shirt is reflecting something crazy on his face, but I love that smile! I don’t see it nearly enough anymore.
And of course we have to keep the other two entertained as well. We bring toys and let them have some play time at the park.
He’s practicing his Power Rangers balancing skills. Whatever keeps him entertained!
Oh, and this is what happens when the spoiled baby gets sleepy after a night at the ball field.
That’s what we are going to be in just a few years. We already push the budgetary limits some months. It’s our own fault. We get lazy around dinner time (hence the McDonalds cup on the end table) way too often. But soon we won’t be able to make those quick stops. Nick can already eat more than I can. Zander is getting close some days. Ben, well he can eat quite a bit for a 2 year old when he wants to. I don’t want to think about what is going to happen when they are all teenagers. We are going to be BROKE.
We went to McDonalds for dinner. Usually I would feel guilty about this, but tonight we ran into my Mema and Papa their, bought their dinner and the boys got to sit with them while we ate. The older boys loved seeing them and Ben gave them both multiple hugs and kisses. It was good for everyone. I love seeing my boys love on them and they seemed to enjoy the extra excitement too.
So, Nick ate his six nuggets, a couple of mine and his apples. He’s not a fry guy so he didn’t eat those. Zander ate his four nuggets, his fries and his apples. Ben ate three nuggets, half his fries and half his apples. We got home and within 15 minutes Zander was asking for a snack. I held them off for awhile, but when they finally did eat it was like they were filling a hollow leg.
Nick started with a bowl of ice cream. Zander had a giant Scratch cupcake (a gift from our neighbor who had tons leftover from a shower earlier in the day) and Ben had fruit snacks. Yep, real nutritional. But no snack time is complete at our house without a piece of string cheese, so when they were done filling their bodies with pounds of sugar they added some dairy to the mix. That wasn’t enough. Zander was still complaining about how hungry he was so I caved and gave them each a bowl of grapes.
Three snacks each. That is just uncalled for. And they are only 7, 5 and 2. What am I going to do when they are 17, 15 and 12? My guess – get a second job. The only other option is to start playing the lottery now.
A recent hail storm means everyone in the neighborhood is getting a new roof (including us). The crew showed up at the neighbors house this morning to drop of a dumpster and the boys flocked to the window to see the commotion. I couldn’t even pull them away with promises of donuts and pop-tarts. I can only imagine how geeked they will be when a crew starts working on our house. If it wasn’t for the fact that I have a new job and no vacation days just yet I probably would have taken the day off to let them watch the shingles fly from our roof. Maybe Mike can do it instead.
It’s easy to see that Ben is our last baby. There was a time when I thought I spoiled Zander because he was little, and cute, and so dang lovey. Then Ben came along. And he’s littler, just as cute, and so dang lovey. And he’s got Mike (and me) wrapped around those chubby little baby fingers.
It started when I had to work a lot of nights because of school board meetings. Mike would get the older two to bed and then just let Ben cuddle on the couch with him until he fell asleep. Then he’d let him lay there until I got home. And I would think it was so sweet. And I would want to have that same cuddly time with him the next night (though Ben regularly ditches me for Mike when it comes to bedtime – I think it’s because I sometimes actually take him to bed). So I would let him stay up late and fall asleep on me. Next thing you know we’ve been doing it for a month and Ben really doesn’t like falling asleep in his own bed anymore. He will, but not without a little fight. So we gave in and let him keep falling asleep on the couch.
I figure we will end this about the same time we take away the pacifier and stop letting him come into our bed if he wakes up anytime after 4 in the morning. Until then, I’m going to keep spoiling him rotten. It’s kind of hard not to when he is this stinking cute.
However, a torrential downpour. That can sting. It’s been raining a lot here. I don’t know the last time we saw the sun, but it’s been awhile. And it’s been cold. Not a great way to start the summer. Tonight was one of the worst rains. The weatherman called for flash floods and for once he was right.
This is the end of our street. It’s now a small lake.
Like any good parents we put our kids to bed at a normal time (they did have to get up the next morning). But then Mike got worried about his truck either floating away or impeding the flow of water so he decided to go move it. This is just up the street from us. And yes, those are waves. The curbs were completely covered by this point in time.
The river that regularly runs between our house and our neighbors’ was in full flow mode.
And there’s the truck.
Mike braved the water (he went awfully slow because he was worried about losing one of his shoes in the current)
Eventually he made it. Thankfully the truck started (it has a tendency not to when the weather gets too wet and I think this would definitely qualify).
By this time the boys had heard the commotion outside and wanted to see what kind of fun was being had while they were supposed to be sleeping. I was tempted to tell them to go back inside, but the rain had slowed just enough that I guessed it wouldn’t actually injure them if they got pelted. So out they came. Mike grabbed the umbrella even though he was already thoroughly wet and took the boys to the end of the street to let them play in the current. My only rule was they had to hold on to someone. Nothing like forcing them to get along.
Now I’m trying to decide if this makes me the best mom in the world or the worst. I guess it just depends on who you asked. The boys repeatedly told me how much fun they had and how nice I was for letting them come out to play. I take what I can get because those words seem to be few and far between around these parts lately.
Nick wrapped up his first session of taekwondo with a promotion (white belt with one stripe – even though he doesn’t have a belt yet) and the chance to finally get to break some boards. A friend told me that most dojos (we are just at the Y) don’t let students break boards until they are black belts, but not this one. And Nick was stoked.
The class started off the night practicing on these pre-broken boards. Nick had two and handled it with no trouble.
Then they moved on to the real thing. Kids could choose from different sizes. Nick took the second smallest (there were two larger ones) and assumed the position.
With one swift ke-hop the board was busted in two and the grin on my boy’s face was irreplaceable.
Unfortunately they were only able to break one board because they had to save some for the older kids who were coming in later. Nick was kind of sad as he really wanted to try his hand as something a little more difficult. And he got the chance. The instructor let all the kids attempt to break a board using a front punch (a very difficult task for little people).
Nick and the rest of the kiddos gave it their best shot but were unable to complete the task. Instead, they all sat around rubbing their knuckles and comparing their red spots.
Then the kids were recognized for their hard work this session. Nick earned his black stripe.
And a badge for his hard work. The instructor told him his kicks were much improved from the first day of class and that he was impressed with the work Nick put in to make them better.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t give Nick the patch because we never bought a uniform. However, if I do buy one (I wanted to make sure he was actually going to do it more than one time before I spent the $45) Nick will get the patch right away and not have to earn it again. Of course Nick came to me right after class to tell me he wanted to do the summer session even though just last week he said he wanted to be able to play and didn’t want to do taekwondo until the fall. We are still on the fence about what we will actually do.
