Pizza!

We have not gone out to eat in. for. ever.

Today we had a little mini-celebration at Talliano's Pizza. My kids all accomplished the goal that they set for our very own Summer reading program! The pizza dinner was the grand prize. 

Thomas read over 2500 pages this summer. Jordan read 300 pages and Rose read 50. Leroy read 25 with some help from the other kids. The rules were that when you read to a little kid the pages count for both of you. What could be sweeter than having your big brother read to you?

Tomorrow we will be cleaning out the garage and laundry room closet. This has to get done because there is a mouse problem in the neighborhood. I was sitting on the front porch the other day when a little gray-blue mouse popped out of a hole next to the steps! Bold little fellow. Go ahead and come in the house. I have some little green pellets waiting for you.

I'm leaving for Kansas City after Sunday church service. I'm hoping that Ralph will sleep much of the way if I drive during nap-time. Ralph has an Monday morning ENT appointment and an afternoon hearing aid consultation. Of course, I'm taking Ruby. I'm taking Thomas to help me. I'm also taking Jordan for kicks. I'll let you know how it goes!

Night Out

Can you tell he is HOT!

So tonight was our local Night Out event. This always sort of puzzles me. It is a crime awareness event, yet people are asked to leave their homes and meet at the city hall or wherever. All the cops were there along with the firefighters and EMS guys. Perfect time to break into houses if you ask me.

But, I digress.

We went to the city hall because of the moonwalk and the free hot dogs. My grocery budget has exploded over the summer so heck yeah I was gonna score a free meal for the children!

I made sure that all the windows and doors were locked before we left the house. Then we made the short drive over to city hall on this steamy hot evening. Really. Hot. Breathing through a dishrag humid. I felt like sort of a low life because of my mooching attitude, but guess what? We had some fun!

The moonwalk was a barrel shaped thing with monkeys painted on it. Cute! The firemen showed all the kids around their latest fancy firetruck. Thomas really wanted to look in the ambulance, but the EMS guys were standing over by the BBQ grill chatting.

I told him to go and ask them if they were paramedics and then tell them that he would really like to see the inside of that ambulance. Easy, right? He wanted me to go with him. *sigh* I did. But I didn't say much. In fact, I had to go chase Ralph, or something, and ended up walking away from him. Next thing I know Thomas is following them over to the ambulance.

They open it ALL up and the kids go through. They even got to sit up front and play with the siren. Even Rose! They each got to pick out a stuffed animal to keep. By the time we were done there every kid in the place had descended on the ambulance, too!

After that they had a door prize drawing. (Of course, it was a little late starting because they had to wait for all the kids to get done playing with the ambulance.) Between us all we won a camping chair, three restaurant gift certificates and a $100 Target gift card! The kids picked up some beachballs, frisbees, and some flashing do-dads as well.

What a fun evening!

This gurney is rated to 700 lbs and has a hydraulic lift. Here the kids are playing with it...up and down!

This is probably the ambulance Ralph and I rode in on the night he was born!

Rose in the moonwalk. She can jump ALL DAY long!

Ralph and Thomas in the moonwalk. Umm, Ralph's walking now, but not quite ready for this.

Break

I'm going to be without a computer for the most part starting tomorrow. I was able to recover most of the pictures ((thank you Ruth!)) on my computer that crashed, but I've not been able to get it fixed yet. I've been using Thomas' school computer and it gets returned tomorrow.


Here are some photos for your enjoyment. Sorry they are out of order...can't move them around tonight for some reason.

Wesley with his triforce cake on his 18th birthday. Yes, he can and does smile on occasion!

Ralph in the tub with way too many bubbles! I had to give him another bath after the bath, just to get all the bubbles off!

Ralph is always ready to go! He is well prepared with and hat, diaper bag, swim diaper, and extra shirt.

Another tub shot. So happy!

He is smiling because he blew the candles over when he blew them out! We all had a great laugh.

Ruby in her car seat today. Rose put a little clippy bow in her nearly non-existent hair. Ruby was all smiles until I got the camera out. Obviously she needs more training.

One last tub shot. I gave him a faux-hawk. Too cute!

Ruby

She's so pretty.

She's so tiny.

I hear this all the time.

It's true.

Now I'm getting really concerned. I've got to get her gaining weight somehow. She will be four months old this week. She weighs 9 pounds. She is not even on the chart.

But, she is happy. She talks and coos. She kicks her legs. She tracks me visually from across the room. She is strong.

I'm working with her new doctor. I'm working with a chiropractor on her colic issues. Next week I'll be working with a speech therapist at Heartspring. I am working with a lactation consultant. If I don't see better gains in the next week...I don't know what.

My identity is a bit wrapped up in the way I mother my children. I'm feeling a bit lost at the moment.

SEW Private Pool Party

Here's Ralph at Thomas' baseball team pool party.

I was not comfortable with him in the pool with 15 9 year old boys. But it was soooooo hot out. At the last minute I asked the boys to stuff his baby pool in the back of the van as we headed out of the house. He had a blast in his own little pool while carefully supervised by big brother Richard.

6 months

Ralph saw the cardiologist today! He was soooooo good at first. A real big boy!

First we have the EKG done by the most wonderful nurses. They just love on Ralphie like he's the best baby ever, which he is by the way! He let her check his O2 levels and sat real still. He let her take his blood pressure nicely, too. Then the EKG...he didn't try to rip off all the stickers or the wires at all! The past few visits were very exhausting, trying to keep him still for the EKG and pulse ox and blood pressure. The nurses and I end up dancing around the room, blowing bubbles and singing like fools to keep his mind occupied elsewhere.

Then the echo.

Well, it wasn't all that bad. The echo tech knows Ralph and always has a video going when we come to the room. Ralph had a hard time keeping still. He kept kicking his legs and trying to grab the echo probe. There were actually two techs in the room. One was working on Ralph and the other was on FACEBOOK!! I could hardly believe it. I thought about playfully scolding her about FBing at work, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I usually don't keep my mouth shut, so I was pretty proud of myself for being so mature.

Ralph's ASD closure device looks like a little yo-yo on the echo. Pretty cute, huh? He was done with the echo in no time today. I took that to mean things were looking pretty good.

We went back to the exam room to wait for the doc. Oh man, did we wait a while! I'm glad I brought Richard and a box of toys with me today. Richard played ball with Ralph and played a "name the toy" game, too. Ralph wore him out and started trying to escape from the room. He figured out how to open the door and got out a few times!

When the doc came in he talked with Ralph for a minute, but Ralph grabbed his stethoscope and made the doc listen to his chest. I guess he likes to cut to the chase! The echo looked good, he said. The pulmonary pressures were running about 25! YAY! This is lower than I can ever remember. (Normal is around 15. Ralph has been as high as 70) AND he is getting bigger so he is outgrowing his medication.

We are going to continue to let Ralph outgrow his medication over the next six months. Do you realize that puts us into January before we see the cardiologist again? 2010? Wow. Barring any severe illness, Ralph should continue to outgrow his pulmonary hypertension. Praise GOD!

Random thoughts

The very eloquent words in my head aren't translating well. Here are some of my random musings:

• Ralph is starting to really want to walk! I know I've said this before, but this time I think I really mean it! Here he is shooting a toy rifle. He is making the sound, too!
  



• Didn't find my Managers of their Homes book yet. Didn't really even look. I'm starting a loose summer schedule anyway. It presently consists of "make your bed and tidy your room before you get any breakfast" and quiet time/nap time at 1pm. How's that for loose?



• I have Social Security Administration paperwork to fill out. It is sitting on top of my pile of things to do. I keep looking at it. It keeps looking back at me. Very intimidating.



• I tend to over-promise and under-deliver.



• Are you as sick of the R-word as I am? People who would never use the N-word feel pretty comfortable using it. It's not OK. It's not about being PC. It's about being a decent human being.



• I'm eating a lot of raw beets lately. Do they taste like dirt or what?



• Richard turned 17 last Saturday. Him and Wesley are both 17 years old this week. God I love those boys! Here is Richard with Ruby on Independence Day. (I've decided to start calling the 4th of July Independence Day. I never want to forget that it IS about independence.)
  



• I pulled about 200 bag worms off of my little ornamental evergreen tree. I put a bunch in a jar for the kids to look at. Rose thinks they are cute. Ick.


• A friend of mine had to lay of some people off this week. Just thinking about it nearly made me sick.


• Oh, yeah. I'm sick. I've been having gallbladder attacks for a few months. I finally figured out what they were a about three weeks ago. I have a surgical consult on Friday, but I'm still hoping to avoid the knife by cleaning up my diet. Hence, the beets. I've been attack free for two weeks tomorrow. I can feel myself falling off the wagon, though. Birthday cake and ice cream = evil.

• Wesley turns 18 on Sunday. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I don't feel like I'm finished with him yet. But, he's really turning out to be a neat person. I really like him. I just wish he would smile more often.