Halloween Pain Train

Aunt Margaret called us this week and invited us to join her and her family at Crossroads Village and the Huckleberry Railroad. The Ghosts and Goodies Halloween theme has been going on all month and it is such fun. They do up the whole town in spookiness and the family gets to trick or treat from building to building.

It was such a treat to see so many kids dressed up in their costumes. Costumes are optional, and my kids didn’t dress up. We rode the train first. They have all kinds of wonderful things along the train route for the kids to see. Pumpkin rock bands, Skeletonville, aliens, and so much more.

The steam engine that pulled the train was build in 1920. All of the train cars have all been restored and some date back to the late 1800’s. We had the windows up and the kids were looking outside. Because of the age of the train and the cars, the windows don’t always stay up. Sam and I each held up the window where the kids sat. For one brief second, Sam let go of the window and it came down on Ella’s arm. It had to really hurt! I was worried she might have broke it, but thankfully, she just has one wicked bruise!

After the train ride, we grabbed our bags and began trick or treating. Each of the buildings was done up in Halloween themes. We were there during the day, and I am sure it has to look even cooler at night.

Midway through trick or treating, we passed the carousel. This is the fastest carousel in Michigan. It is FAST. You have to really hold on. I’ve taken a spin on it a few times, so when Margaret informed us that we were all riding it, me and Uncle Walt found a bench to sit on!

When we got done with the carousel, and the dizziness subsided, we went outside and there was a kiddie ride. Ella called it a roller coaster, but it was just a mini merry-go-round with horses and buggies.

Ella did fine, but Andrew was hanging on for dear life!

After we finished trick or treating, we got to go to the cafeteria where everyone got donuts and cider. Ella loves frosted donuts, so she wasn’t sure about the cinnamon sugar ones. Once she tried it, however, she loved it. She also stole a piece of Aunt Margaret’s pizza!

It was a perfect day to be there. It was a tad chilly, but sunny. We probably would have stayed a bit longer, but Sam had to go to work that night. Memories were made and there was a lot of smiles and laughter. Thank you Aunt Margaret for sharing such an amazing day with us!

They will be doing a Christmas train this winter, and we hope to be back for that, too!

After a Long Week – The Weekend

The weekend is finally here! It has been a crazy week.

Monday, I took the kids to get their pictures taken in their Halloween costumes. Our photographer, Beth, once again got some great shots in our 15 minute mini-session. Ella is going as Rapunzel this year.

Andrew is going out as Spiderman.

The pictures came out so good.

Tuesday, Ella woke up with a fever. It was crazy high. She slept most of the day and eventually, Sam took her to urgent care. Strep Throat and tonsil stones. She was miserable.

My brother came up Tuesday night and Wednesday they were going to stop by our house, but I told them it was better if I came to him. So Sam stayed with Ella and Andrew came with me. They were staying at an Air B&B near us. It was a brief visit because I had to work that day.

On Thursday, Ella was feeling a little better, but not 100%. Sam had to take Andrew to Occupational Therapy, so Ella and I stayed home. I was trying to fold laundry and get stuff done, but she called to me and asked me to snuggle with her on the couch.

You don’t say “no” to snuggles! She is so funny though. At one point, she faced me and put her arms around me. As she hugged me, she said, “I just love you, daddy!” She held me for like 5 minutes. I was thinking about just how amazing this was. She made me feel so special. It was amazing. Then, suddenly, she let go and said, “Ok, that’s enough hugging for one day, dad!” Hilarious!!

We got a Halloween Tonie for their Tonie Box and it plays all kinds of Halloween songs. They have been watching Halloween episodes of Miss Rachel, Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, and such. The Ghostbusters theme song is on that Tonie (and in the Miss Rachel show). I did a spit take with my coffee when out of the blue from the couch, she says, “Dad. Who you gonna call?” Immediately followed by her screaming, “Ghostbusters!”

She was actually making up lyrics to it in her room the other day “There’s a tree outside. Outside my house. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! It was complete nonsense and I loved every minute of it.

Daisy, our new puppy, is slowly but surely getting better about going to the bathroom outside. I’m not looking forward to standing outside in the rain and snow with her this winter waiting for her to go! On a funny note, I think she thinks she is going trick or treating with the kids this year….

The kids did a Trunk or Treat this evening and got a bunch of candy. They have the list of candies that fall under the “daddy tax” rule.

Tomorrow, we are heading out for a Halloween Train Ride with my friend Margaret and her family. I am SO looking forward to it. It should be a blast.

Have a great weekend!!

My Anxiety Needed a Paint Shirt

Maybe you share this memory. At the beginning of my first 4 years of school, my dad would send me to school with an old shirt of his. It was usually an old dress shirt, but I want to say that one year it was an old T-shirt. This shirt became my “paint shirt” for the year. Any time we used paints, the paint shirt went on.

That being said, I want to briefly remind you of a time recently where “messy” play raised my anxiety level through the roof. That particular incident involved beans and noodles. Read about it here:

Macaroni and Beans!

It is interesting to re-read that now, since getting my ADHD diagnosis. They said that I do have some obsessive behaviors. Anyway, on to the payoff from the setups of this blog…

Today, the lady from Head Start was at the house. She brings various activities for the kids to do. She works on fine motor stuff, they have little projects to do, have a snack, and stuff like that.

Today, she said to the kids that they were going to paint. As soon as those words were out of her mouth, my anxiety began to rise. I really don’t understand why.

As a kid, I made a ton of messes! I played in mud, I rolled in dirt, and got stuff all over me. So why should it drive me crazy when my kids do stuff like that? The only thing I can think of is that I don’t want to clean up the mess, or I’m afraid they will ruin something. I really don’t know.

It started innocently enough. Ella and Andrew dipped their fingers in the paint jar and began making dots on the paper. Then they began to smear it on the paper. Then in a blink of an eye, Andrew had dumped the jar of paint on his paper and was smashing it all over the place!

Kids do this! They like this! They love making messes! This kind of thing should NOT be a surprise to me. However, it took my anxiety to the brink! I was literally almost shaking!

Sam and the Head Start teacher got a chuckle out of it. Sam knows this drives me crazy. It is the beans and macaroni incident all over again. I did everything in my power to stay in control or myself, but I must not of did that good a job, because Sam saw through me right away.

Midway through the project, both Sam and I went to separate sinks to wash hands and such. We did however, get some nice art work.

I wonder what the project will be next week…

Monday Mish Mash

I suppose I could take each one of the following items and make them into a separate blog, but I decided to put them all in one. Short blurbs, of course.

Daily Dad

One of the hardest jobs I have ever been handed is that of being “dad.” I cannot remember who suggested this book, but I had it in my Amazon cart for a few weeks before finally ordering it.

I have only had it a couple days and the introduction in this book would make a fantastic blog in itself. It is very powerful.

Like a daily devotional, it is organized to feature a thought every day. I am glad that I bought this and look forward to making it a part of my day. I want to be the best dad I can be and teach my children life lessons. I want to raise them right. I hope to use what I learn with my older children, too.

Daily Devotional

I have been a lot better as of late in reading my Bible every day, or at least watching a Bible lesson from pastors I know. I stumbled on this daily devotional quite by accident. A fellow believer had a small picture of it on her Facebook page and I was able to nab a copy of it.

This isn’t set up by date, however it does have 366 devotionals so you can read it in a year. Again, I’ve only had it a couple days and I have really enjoyed this. The pieces are not too long, but loaded with solid information.

Other Reading

My wife has been telling me about a book for some time. I kept putting it off because of the other books I had from the library. I have started it and am progressing slowly, as my time to read physical books isn’t what it had been.

My oldest son has Asperger’s Syndrome, and so does the main character of this book. It is described as a crime thriller, a lesson in motherly love, a primer on Asperger’s syndrome, and a heart stopping trip through the legal system. So far, it is very good.

In the car, I am listening to a very unique story. It has quite an interesting premise.

In a nutshell, Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit (yes, you become each witness). We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.

The main character wakes up each day as a different person, reliving the same day and it is his job to find out who murders Evelyn Hardcastle. So far, it is really good. The audio book is like 17 hours long!! I am about 4-5 hours in. I’m hoping it doesn’t disappoint.

At home, I read a chapter about one of my favorite characters of all time and a different case.

Great book by a fellow Columbophile!

The Biggest News of the Weekend

I’m not sure who is responsible – my wife or my daughter – but come this weekend, we’ll have a new addition to the family.

I’m not sure if that puppy is spitting her tongue out at me or is looking at a bone. I am sure that she is coming to our house on Friday.

It started with a text from my wife. “I want a puppy.” That was followed by a video call from my daughter telling me why we needed a puppy. Then my son chimed in, too.

We housed a dog for a while, but she bit one of the kids, so she went to live with my sister-in-law. Because of this, I was apprehensive about even entertaining the thought of getting another dog, let alone a puppy.

Sam decided to send me pictures of the available pups. Then they picked a couple (of the 9 pups) that they liked. Then the owner allowed us to go look at them.

It became very obvious which one liked Ella and which one Ella liked. So, she will be ready for us to pick up this weekend. Many names were thrown out by Sam and me, and Ella shot most of them down. We did talk her out of naming the puppy after her pediatrician!! Anyway, it looks like “Daisy” will be very welcomed in out home.

Puppy Project

When we had the previous dog, it didn’t go far and stayed in the yard. However, I know puppies. I don’t want to be chasing it through the neighborhood. So my father-in-law (my project manager) and I worked this weekend setting posts for a temporary fence. Pardon my amateur art skills….

Our backyard is huge. So my father-in-law and I mapped out how we were going to give the pup it’s own area. There is an area up near the back of our house where we can run fencing from the back of the garage to the chain-link fence of our neighbor. Then we can run some fencing from the house to the garage and add a gate. This will give the pup a nice little area to play (and poop) in for the next couple months.

Once the snow melts in the spring, my father-in-law and I are going to buy chain link fence and run 100 feet at a time and finish fencing the entire yard. For now, this will work.

Be ready for plenty of puppy pictures (probably of stuff it chewed up!).

Thanks for reading!

Two-riffic Day!

I had the day off yesterday for my son’s birthday. It was such a great day with the family.

He is all about tools and the construction vehicles that have been outside, so that was the “theme” for his birthday.

My dad sent him a tool box earlier this week. It had some cool tools in it and he was loving it! Without seeing one Three Stooges movie, he’s already showing me he’s going to love them.

When I came home Tuesday, I put together his birthday present so he could get it first thing in the morning. It’s a cool Mickey Mouse Tool Bench.

He also got some “power tools” that we got from Sam’s Club. They really look like Bosch tools and they all make noises. The drill actually lets you drive a screw in and reverses to get them out. He figured that out on his own. He is loving this!

Sam’s coworkers told her about a cool place north of us. It’s like a big McDonald’s Play Place. Slides, zip lines, and more. He was in his glory going through the tunnels.

They even had a rock wall for him to climb.

We played long into the afternoon and then made our way home. Sam’s mom picked up Andrew’s birthday cake. We were going to go pick it up and bring it home, but then Sam’s sister said she had a gift for Andrew and she’d meet us at their mom’s. We wound up eating cake and ice cream there before finally calling it a night.

We don’t often get days together as a family, so Andrew’s birthday was extra special. It was a really great day.

In my blog yesterday, I posted on of the photos from his 2nd birthday shoot. Our photographer captured this amazing candid that I cannot wait to hang on the wall. This very well can be one pose that I have them do every year ….

I am thankful that the Lord blessed me with my wonderful children. I am so happy to be their dad.

“Two” Fast!

I can’t even believe that my son Andrew is two years old today! As the title of this blog indicates, it has gone by TWO fast!

Oh the things that this boy has been through! I think he has had more medical tests than I have at this point. Through it all, he has been a champ!

It has been amazing to watch him and his sister create a bond together. Like any siblings, they love each other and drive each other crazy.

He is my helper. Our helper actually. He is always bringing us things. He is always picking up toys (usually after dumping them out). He is constantly on the go! He is FAST. If this was the old west, he’d be called Quick Draw!

He’s our explorer. He watches and learns by watching. He wants to build things. He loves tools. He would rather play with my drill (bitless, of course), tape measures, and wrenches than toys.

He has no fear. He’s our adventurer. He is curious about everything. He’s our monkey!

He has a joyful laugh and beautiful smile. He’s my practical joker!

The joy and happiness that this boy has brought to our lives is immeasurable. I know that in the years ahead, he will continue to provide moments that make us laugh, make us cry and make us proud. I look forward to each and every one of those moments.

This little impromptu writing doesn’t even begin to convey my thoughts and feelings. My wife posted this on Facebook tonight and it says it better than I could:

“As I sit here typing this I am filled with emotions. I am happy that we get to celebrate another year of being blessed with you in our lives. I love seeing you grow, and develop and find the person God created YOU to be, and I am so excited about all the great and wonderful things that you will still do in this life, but I am also a little sad. Sad that my baby is officially no longer a baby, and that time goes by so fast.

You are 2 now and everything has changed, YOU have changed . You are no longer a fragile little baby, fully dependent on me, nope… you are now a strong-willed, stubborn little boy who wants to do everything himself, and you love reminding mommy that you CAN. You are full of surprises and bring something new and exciting to every day. You are sweet, SO funny, silly and friendly with the best smile and you really do always smile.

However, we also learned to not let that sweet, innocent smile fool anyone, because you have a naughty side to you too, clear as day as you take something from your sister or off the counter and hide it behind your back, under your arm, just to take them, and when spotted those little legs of yours run as fast as they can with the naughtiest little giggle and scream following behind.

You are curious, wild, adventurous and daring – nothing is too high, too big or too fast for you. You are one of the best thing that could have happened to our family!

Happy 2nd Birthday Bubby Drew!”

I won’t ramble anymore, so I will wrap this up by simply saying, “Happy 2nd Birthday, Andrew!” I love you, so much! I thank God that He sent you to our family.

Have a wonderful day, Bubby!

Nature is Amazing!

The kids and I had a neat experience the other morning. I went to take the garbage out to the road. When I went to grab the last can, I saw this amazing caterpillar on the rim. It was huge!

I rushed back into the house and had the kids come outside to see. They were captivated. I went and grabbed a stick so the caterpillar could climb onto it.

It was so cool to see their reactions! Andrew really loved it!

Ella said, “He’s got to find a tree so he can make a chrysalis and turn into a butterfly!”

She went with Andrew on a field trip to a local nature preserve and she remembered that caterpillars go into the chrysalis before turning into a butterfly. She is so smart!

Since we already had it on a stick, we walked over to our neighbors tree and it moved to the branch. Ella and Andrew were in awe watching it move from the stick to the tree.

We found out later after searching the net that this will turn into a Cecropia Moth. A friend even posted a photo on Facebook for us.

This was such a cool experience for me and the kids. I don’t think I’d ever seen a caterpillar that big outside of a zoo. Who knows, maybe it will come back to say hello when it makes it change…

Mischievous Message

The other day I was at work. My wife had texted me something while I was working with a patient. When I came back to the tech room and saw it I responded. “Sorry, I just now saw this. Was with a patient.”

The text that followed threw me …

We call Andrew “Bubby.” and I joked that maybe he had gotten ahold of the phone. I truly didn’t think it was him, because Sam has a lock code on her phone.

When the second text came through, I was a bit freaked out. Was my wife ok? Was she having a stroke? The worry started to hit me. Suddenly, she responded – with a picture of him.

She explained to me what happened and I chuckled. Her post from social media:

Walk into the bedroom to check on Andrew who was sleeping. And this is what I walk into… with him on my phone.

Take my phone away from him, his response….

“Hey! Me text daddy!”

I’m sorry to anyone who gets random texts from my kid. He knows how to unlock my phone :-(

This kid is brilliant. How he knew her passcode is beyond me!

Oh, and I am sure she probably had to delete about 274 pictures of his forehead afterward. He always winds up taking many selfies!

Post Surgery Update

I apologize for not posting a dedicated blog to an update on my son. Many blogger friends have reached out and asked how he is doing after surgery a week or so ago.

We are blessed that he didn’t need to be in surgery very long. They had booked the operating room for 4 hours, due to the “possibility” of other surgeries, but he did not need them. This was good news mostly, but there are now other questions. From my wife’s social media post:

Surgery went amazing. You would never know this kid had anything done. He bounced back fairly fast and is eating and drinking like a champ now. But surgery left a TON of questions and opened up new concerns. Andrew has severe sleep apnea as well as a speech delay, which we have always blamed on the laryngeal cleft and his Laryngomalacia. Both of which are still there, but surgery revealed they are not the cause of the obstruction like we were thinking. We have an appointment at the end of September with neurology to start looking at different things.

Some of the stuff we are witnessing is really leaving us scratching our heads. In speaking to the neurologist, some speech delay or speech regression could be neurological in nature. There is also some concern about muscle tone loss in some areas. We’re working with PT on that.

He’s been a toe-walker for a very long time and that can cause future problems. So this week, he received his braces. Both feet go in them and he needs oversized shoes so the braces fit in them. He wears them off and on for a couple hours and as the days progress, he’ll eventually be wearing them all day. This will help him stop toe walking and with those lower calf muscles.

He continues to have non stop energy and leaves mom and dad exhausted at the end of each day. He has come up with creative ways to climb up to counter tops, turn on and off lights, and destroy anything in his path. He is our little firecracker!

We will continue with his speech therapy and physical therapy and hopefully he’ll keep making progress. We are praying that the neurologist will provide further answers.

Thanks for keeping him in your thoughts and for sending positive messages our way.

Weekend Review

It’s Monday and there is finally a bit of normalcy back in our life. It was a crazy weekend for us.

Thursday, Andrew had his surgery. It went better than expected and we were grateful that many of the “possible” surgeries were not needed. This time the recovery went a bit better than the last time. When he woke up from his last surgery he had what they called post op “delirium” and he began pulling the IV out and was just a bear! This time, they gave him something that let him sleep a bit more and he woke up much more calm.

On Friday we were home. He seemed to be doing well. He was eating a lot of soft foods and popsicles. He seemed a bit more like himself, but we knew he wasn’t 100%. On Saturday, we had a scare as he just didn’t want to eat or drink. We even took him out for ice cream in hopes that would work. Naturally, a trip back to the ER and what does he do? Drinks and eats.

Not sure why he felt the need to grab a winter hat for ice cream, but he did.

That night my wife caught a very cool picture. Let me set this up for you. When I put him to bed, I will lay him in his bed and turn out the lights. I will say prayers with him, cover him up, and turn on his sound machine/night light. Then I’ll put on my reading glasses, grab my mini-flashlight and read my book where he can see me. He will eventually close his eye, knowing that dad is right by him, and go to sleep.

While in our bed that night, he grabbed his sunglasses and put them on. He grabbed his Paw Patrol flashlight and one of the books my wife and I plan on reading. He said, “Wook, Mommy! I Daddy!!”

Little by little – he is acting like himself.

We were home just in time to watch the sunset yesterday. Before the rain, the kids saw fire flies lighting up the back yard. So they ran around trying to catch them. Both were successful!

It’s been years since I’ve chased fireflies, but I have vivid memories of doing so. I hope they will never forget doing it.

Hopefully your weekend was a bit less hectic!