Spyrou Chronicles

Give Him Two Days and Then "Let Them Eat Cake"

From the moment you give birth to your children you start to become aware of their wants and needs.  You also become aware of their health.  Like all parents, I have gone through trial and errors when it comes to knowing the health of my kids.  You hear them sneeze and think to yourself, "okay, there's one sneeze, let's see if they sneeze again."  And then you wait.  You keep track of every cough, every sneeze, every poop.  How many days ago did you notice the cough?  When was their last bowl movement?  If you think about it and let your mind fester, yes, it can be disturbing on so many levels, but to a parent, it's routine.  Therefore, I knew when Joshua's tonsils didn't look so "normal" anymore and I brought it up to our pediatrician. 

I'm pretty sure I noticed his tonsils getting bigger around the time he was 3 and a half and we noticed his breathing at night, which started off as pretty heavy had turned into full blown snoring around the time he was 3.  But it wasn't until his 4 year check-up that his tonsils raised some red flag with the doctor and she sent us to an ENT doctor, Dr. Girgis.  Dr. G tested his hearing and found that Joshua had some significant hearing loss in his left ear.  He suggested we have a temporary tube put in and he recommended that his tonsils and adenoids be removed.  We agreed, and I couldn't be more excited for him.  I knew he was going to feel much better and that his snoring at night was going to disappear - resulting in a better nights sleep and a more well rested boy come morning.

Two days ago, this is Joshua awaiting his surgery.

This is Joshua after his surgery; still groggy and in quite a bit of pain.

 

This is the cold orange-flavored shaved ice that he was allowed to eat before we left the surgical center.  And this is how it stayed because he wanted to have NOTHING to do with cold things of any kind in his throat.  We tried everything.  Sherbet, popsicles, ice cream, jello and even applesauce.  But, he was so against it, he would get very upset and run from us - like we were asking him to try alfalfa sprouts. 

 

When we brought him home, the first thing Hayden wanted to do for him was read him a story.  I love how concerned he was for his big brother and how he just wanted to make everything all better.

 

It only took 5 hours to put a smile on his face, but it seemed like forever.  I had to keep reminding myself that this too shall pass.

 

So since we couldn't get Joshua to eat anything cold, we went the other direction and made him soup. 

 

And he LOVED it.  He ate it for breakfast.  He ate it for lunch.  And he ate it for dinner for two days straight! 

 

 

By the second day our boy was eating pizza for dinner and cake for dessert!

 

 

On Doing Dishes

"I like hugs and I like kisses, but what I really love is help with the dishes!"  I don't know who said that, but ain't it the truth!

 

If You Give a Boy a Beautiful Day,....

....he's going to ask for a hose.  When you give him the hose,

 

he'll probably ask you for a dinosaur.  When he's finished washing the dinosaur,  

 

 

 

he'll ask for something else to wash...ANYTHING else!

 

And chances are if he doesn't get something FAST enough.......

 

he's going to end up squirting his brother instead!

Boy or Girl?

Mother's Day at the Arboretum

Dear Lord, it’s such a hectic day,
With little time to stop and pray,
For life’s been anything but calm
Since You called me to be a mom -
Running errands, matching socks,
Building dreams with wooden blocks,
Cooking, cleaning, finding shoes
And other stuff that children lose,
Fitting lids on bottled bugs,
Wiping tears and giving hugs,
A stack of last week’s mail to read –
So where’s the quiet time I need?
Yet, when I steal a moment, Lord,
Just at the sink or ironing board,
To ask the blessings of Your grace,
I see then, in my small one’s face,
That you have blessed me
All the while –
And I stoop to kiss
That precious smile.

Dear Mom,

Once I was your little girl,
And how you cared for me.
You gave me love and tenderness,
and taught me who to be.

You watched me grow and learn,
and caught me when I fell.
Encouraged me to do my best
Proud, even when I didn’t do well.

And now that I’m a woman,
You are still there for me.
Supporting me in all I do
Yet allowing me to be free.

The love I have for you,
No words could ever say.
You’ve made me everything I am
And I am thankful every day.

"All women become like their mothers.  That is their tragedy.  No man does.  That's his."  ~Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

 

 

"If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden."  ~Attributed to Claudia Ghandi

 

 

 

 

"Boys are beyond the range of anyone's sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years."  ~James Thurber

 

"It kills you to see them grow up.  But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't."  ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

A Mother's Day Celebration

Joshua's school held their annual Mother's Day Celebration today and I was lucky to have been a part of it.  I LOVE to see the look on his face when I enter HIS house.  (That's what they call it because it's their place of work, a place that is scaled down to their level and a place THEY take care of and call "home."  I simply LOVE that mentalityand philosophy.)  Anyway, he always is so happy to see me and he's so eager to show me around and introduce me to all his friends.  Today, I walked in and he took my coat and helped me hang it up.  Then, he immediately wanted me to go over to his friend Noah and say, "hi."  After-wards, he asked me if wanted to have a snack.  So, he sat me down at the snack table and he brought us our snacks and drink.  (If you haven't guessed yet, many of the areas they work on with the kids is sociability, grace, courtesy, manners and etiquette, just to name a few.)

 

 

Here he is showing me all his work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was so excited about the tulips that had bloomed outside one of their classroom windows.

 

Before I knew it, the celebration was coming to an end and we gathered around for circle time to listen to the song they had prepared for all of us.

 

Then, they handed out presents, this is the present he made for me.

 

It's a magnet for the refrigerator!

 

 

This was such a beautiful day in every way and I'm so glad to have a son like Joshua.  I love you, Joshua!  Thank you for making feel so special. 

Key Lime Cove

We spent the night at Key Lime Cove Indoor Waterpark Resort and Spa with Nana and Grandpa Bill.  We ALL had a blast!  Even me who, 19 weeks pregnant, tried every single slide they had the park.  I'm so glad we only spent one day there, I don't think my body or my mind could have taken another minute there. 

In the following pictures, you see the Toukie’s Big Deluge - not only does it have three slides, it has tons of areas to make/keep you wetter than wet AND lets not forget about the giant pineapple dump bucket.  It fills up with water and then slowly dumps it out. 

 

 

 

This is the Play Pond area for Lil' Limers with mini slides for a little less adventurous kid, like our Hayden.  This was actually quite perfect for my mom who is not a big swimmer.  However, I have to say that she did venture out with me and Joshua and she did ride all of the slides like I did. :)  We were so proud of her.

 

 

 

 

This is a picture of the Hurricane Vortex, a swirling whirlpool ride, and the KeyLime Creek...for those who want to take a lazy ride around the park. 

  

 

At the top, looking down into the vortex.

 

 These next two pictures are of just some of the shopping with-in the resort. 

  

 

The hallway outside our room.

 

And this is the Riptide Reef Arcade.....you could find the boys here when they weren't in the water. 

 

There was a few things we didn't get to try out while we were there, like the Leaping Lizards craft area.  A special place at the resort designed to keep the kids occupied when they get bored with the waterpark.  And the other place I would have loved to try out is the Paradise Mist Spa.  Before we even left we were all talking about the next time we were going.  For the kids, it can't come soon enough!