It's raining, it's pouring

It's late and I should be getting ready for bed, but I haven't posted in a while, and a lot has been going on.
On Black Friday Dan, the boys, my mom, and I went to Greenville to see family. Grandma had been over to my aunt's the day before for Thanksgiving and wasn't doing well by the time the day was over. She was weak and not feeling well, so the home put her on oxygen. On Friday when we saw her, she was still on oxygen. We decorated her room for Christmas and took her down to the large room with the piano so Isaiah could play some of his piano songs for her. She seemed to enjoy herself even though she was tired. We went to my aunt's for a while, then drove home. When we were almost home, my cousin called to say they were taking Grandma to the ER with chest pains. Throughout the evening, it was obvious that she was headed downhill fast. So my dad drove through the night from CT to get there, and I left about 9 p.m. to drive up. She was largely nonresponsive, although she did squeeze my hand when we asked her to. She had a bypap helping her breathe and was wearing a DNR bracelet. We kept telling her my dad was on his way, to try to keep he with us until he could see her and say goodbye. The next morning, she was doing better, sitting up and wanting to talk. And four days later, she is supposed to be moving out of the ICU as soon as a room is available. Not the outcome any of us expected!
Then my cousin Jon's wife went into Magee today for an outpatient laproscopic surgery. It seems she aspirated some fluid during the surgery, had difficulty breathing, and ended up on a ventilator. Now she's in the ICU at Magee. Her doctors plan to wean her off the ventilator tomorrow.
I never thought I'd been in this many waiting rooms with the same family members in such a short period of time. And all during what I refer to affectionately as Christmas Concert Craziness. When it rains, it pours.

Cheating

The boys and I totally cheated late fall today by spending over an hour at the park on this beautiful 70 degree day. I indulged in an A&W root beer and sipped it in between helping kids on and off swings, coaxing Sam down from dangerously high places, and conversations with other moms. Never have you seen 15-20 happier kids or more elated moms.

American Violet

Dan and I just finished watching this movie. EXCELLENT movie. It reminds me alot of Erin Brokovich, but about the legal system. A young mom is unjustly accused of selling drugs and takes on a corrupt DA. I just heard about drug raids in Pittsburgh, and it makes me wonder if this stuff is happening in our own backyard. This movie also has some Child, Youth, and Family involvement, and would be interesting to anyone involved in social work. Highly recommend.

Sam's birthday

I can't believe my baby is three!! Nana's cake for Sam, the night before his birthday
He wanted to go to Chick-fil-A for his birthday. After all, it's his favorite place. =)

Sam and Isaiah put together Sam's new Toy Story puzzle. Trying out their new hooded towels. Grandma's cake for Sam on Sunday

Now that he's three, he:

• Can say his name, thank God! Except now he gets so excited when he says it, that he blurts out his full name so fast (and loud!) that it leaves people (especially other kids) confused... Still working on that one.
• LOVES TOY STORY 3. Maybe obsessed is a better word. Ever since my aunt gave it to him for his birthday, it has hardly left our dvd player. He is in love with Jessie.
• Loves to put puzzles together. He can do a 24 piece or so without much help.
• Would eat mac n cheese for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I would let him.
• Is very sensitive to other people's feelings. If he senses that someone is sad or needs something, he will do anything to make them feel better.
• Just loves babies and dogs and pretty much all animals. He thinks lions are nice and wants to hug one. In fact, just today in the car, the boys got in an argument over lions. Isaiah was trying to convince Sam that lions eat people. Sam insisted that they're nice. And on and on it went. Haha!
• Is just starting to want to be like his brother. The other day he chose a vanilla jr. frosty instead of chocolate, because Isaiah chose vanilla. This is SO unusual, because Sam has never been known to turn down anything chocolate!
• Still has no fear. He likes to hang from monkey bars and doesn't care if anyone is there to catch him. Little nut.
• Will decide for himself if he needs a nap. The other day, Mom and Isaiah were sitting at the table and realized they hadn't heard Sam in a while. They looked around and found him like this:
  Is a little ray of sunshine in our family. =)

Looking back: Sam at birth, Sam's first birthday, and Sam's second birthday.

Sponge balls

We made these quick and easy sponge balls yesterday. I picked up a pack of ten sponges (enough to make three sponge balls) for $1. They literally took five minutes to make. Both boys picked what color of sponges they wanted to use. Isaiah was able to cut his own sponges. We used tie wires around the middle instead of dental floss. Super fun. I guess they're meant for outdoor water play, but the boys and Dan just ran around the house beaning each other with them. Provided a good 30+ minutes of fun last night. Nerd alert: We combined the sponge balls with our preschool level study of the skeletal system. I had printed out a child-sized skeleton, and the boys (mostly Isaiah) were learning what the major bones in the body are called. Once we had our goofy sponge balls, I had the boys throw their sponges at the skeleton's skull, rib cage, femur, phalanges, etc. Then the education dissolved into nailing each other with the sponges. Fun time.

Halloween

Four cousins, Cinderella, Aurora, Transformer, and Buzz LightyearSquirting out the candles

Pumpkin bowling!