Happy Fourth of July

Sorry this is late, but we have been busy. Now that the weather is cooperating, we have been out and about more. Brad actually had the Fourth of July off this year, so we headed out to Tacoma's Freedom Fair for the air show. We had lunch at the Ram restaurant and had great seats for the show. The kids did great until a F-16 flew low and loud over the restaurant. I jumped, Benny had a look of pure fright on his face (then cried) and Timmy had a look of surprise but didn't really cry. After the show, we came home so the kids could take a nap and then we were off to Cityblast in downtown Puyallup at the fairgrounds. It is sponsored by the Foursquare church. Unfortunately, we got there too late for Benny to enjoy all the kids activities. He did get to go into a bouncy house though. At about 10pm they shot off fireworks and it was really cool (video will be posted).

One of the many planes at the Freedom Fair in Tacoma, Washington.

This plane was just hanging around right by the restaurant. Pretty cool, but also very loud.

Here is Benny having fun in the bouncy house!

I think the kids had a great time. When we got home, we felt like we were in a war zone. People were shooting off fireworks everywhere. Benny didn't get to sleep that night until 12:30am and he slept in our bed. Another 4th of July is over and who knows where we will be next year.

Dentist, Doctor, Meds! OH MY!

It all began on Tuesday of last week (June 7th). Benny had to have some cavity bugs taken out of one of his back teeth. They had to put his tooth to sleep (ie give him Novocaine). This numbed his cheek, half of his tongue and the left side of his bottom lip. They (the girls at the dentist's office) told him many times to not bite his lip. He did very well until we had been home for about two hours. I had went to get him a snack, turned from the fridge to see blood coming out of his mouth. Well, he had chewed on his lip. We called the dentist's office and they told us to bring him back in. So I took Benny back to the dentist office. He did not need stitches (Praise God!). We just had to keep ice on it. Here are some pictures of his lip.


Part 2 of the story. On Thursday ( June 2nd) I had taken Benny to the doctor because he had developed a bad cough and a slight fever. The doctor prescribed some anitbiotics for him to take. He had to take it for five days. The fifth day was the day he had the dentist appointment. Well, by Thursday (June 9th) he still had the cough and his lip was not looking any better, so I took him back to the doctor (mainly to look at his lip). I am glad I did. The doctor listened to his lungs and his left lung sounded raspy. She sent us for chest x rays. After those came back, she diagnosed him with bronchialitus and sent us home with a nebulizer and Albuterol. He is to have a breathing treatment once a day as needed. They gave him some Albuterol at the doctor's office and that seemed to help him breathe better. We knew it was probably a matter of time before we would need one, but hoped it would have been farther down the road.
Here is a picture of Benny getting his breathing treatment this morning. He did really well with it. He likes the "steam" that comes from it.

Update!

Okay everyone, we sure have been busy around here. Most of you know that we have made the decision to move back to the East Coast. Primarily to be closer to family ( i.e. Timmy and Benny closer to grandparents). We have still not heard anything regarding the three job opportunities to which Brad has applied. We have taken the initiative and put our house back on the market to sell. So far it has been on the market for about 2 weeks and no one has come by to even look at it. Truthfully, I would be surprised if it sold by the end of the year. Anyway, with all that going on, we have re-joined the our local YMCA. In order for Brad to be release by his chiropractor, he needed to join a gym. This summer is going to be very busy as the boys will be involved in swim classes and possibly gym classes at the YMCA.

On a sadder note, one of my former co-workers at Sylvan passed away suddenly on May 17th. Her name was Carol Parke. She was 10 years younger than my mom, but she was like a surrogate mom to me. Her daughter Jesse had a little girl (Emily) 2 months before Benny was born and Jesse's third child (Emmett) was born just 7 months after Timmy. I have always been invited to Carol's grandkids' birthday parties and we have always invited her and Jesse and the kids to our kids' birthday parties. I miss her now and I know that celebrating Benny's and Timmy's birthdays won't be the same without her. But the good news is that I will see her again one day. I know she is in a better place. A place without pain and sorrow.

So, as each day passes, I am trying to make the most of them. I hug my kids a little tighter and tell my husband that I love him more often. You don't know just how long you have, so I hope we all make the most of it.

More Easter Pictures

Here are some more pictures from Easter morning. Benny was excited about what the Easter Bunny brought him. Benny's basket contained quite a few musical instruments, a few balls and cars and most important, a bowling set. Timmy's basket contained mostly cars, trucks and a little basket of plastic fruit and vegetables.

Here is Timmy eating his chocolate bunny.

Benny and his chocolate bunny before he started eating it.

Here is Benny helping Timmy get things out of Timmy's basket.

Benny and his trumpet!

Mmm! Chocolate Bunny!!!!

Benny ended up eating most of his bunny. Timmy only ate one bite of the ear. Oh well, there is always next year!

Walking Timmy!

Yes, our little Timmy is learning to walk. He is not very steady on his feet, but he is trying. He will let go of things and try and walk on his own. His favorite thing to do is walk behind his walker all around the downstairs of our house.



He also likes walking behind his Winnie The Pooh ride on toy while outside. He would rather walk behind it than sit on it and try to make it go.

AWANA

At the end of April, Benny celebrated the completion of his first year in AWANA. He had a lot of fun with his friends and learned a lot more about Jesus. Here he is with his buddy Connor. This was taken at the Awards Banquet. Benny received a certificate, Cubbie pin and a little Cubbie Bear that goes on his vest.

Here he is showing off his certificate.

As part of AWANA, Benny learned the Cubbie song as well as the Pledge of Allegiance. Here is a video of him saying the Pledge. We did not help him practice this at all. It is just what he has picked up from his time at Cubbies.

Spring Fun!

Ah Spring time in the Northwest! On those few rare occasions when it is not rainy or too cold. The boys like to venture outside for some fun. This fun includes bubbles!

Driving cars in the street.

Playing in the dirt with trucks.

I don't know if you could notice, but Timmy tasted dirt and purple sand all in one day. You can see traces of it around his mouth.
Timmy found out that he could "walk" the bike, but not ride it. He wasn't happy that he couldn't make it go as fast as his brother can.