Friday Five

I've been tagged.

Five things that I want my children to know before they grow up:

1. I will always love them, value them, and respect them.... Not for the people that they are going to be, not for the people that others think they *should* be... but for WHO THEY ARE, right then, at that very moment in time

2. You don't need to be in a church to find God. God is everywhere.

3. There will always be negative people in life, people who want to tell you you're not good enough, not smart enough, not strong enough. YOU ARE. Forgive them and forget them. Focus on your true friends and family who lift you up instead of trying to bring you down.

4 Kindness and respect are important - both for others, and for yourself

5. Sometimes the unexpected detours end up being the best part of the trip

Now I tag you Erika! : )

"Daddy, there's two doors!!"

One of the side effects of Spencer's eyes healing is double vision. The doctor told him, and us, that it was common and totally normal during the recovery period, but I still worried that it would freak him out when he experienced it. Not my kid. He's amused and entertained by it. His vision is normal most of the time, but every now and then he will randomly, and happily, shout out, "There's two TVs! There's two doors! There's two vacuums!" This prompts Paxton and Everett to run over to wherever he's looking and ask if there is two of them. Sometimes there is, which amuses them all to no end, and sometimes it has already passed.

I love these kids.

Rolling with the punches

What an interesting several weeks it's been. Good-interesting, or bad-interesting, you ask? Well if you asked the sleeping boy on the couch who's resting off the effects of his surgery (and his third time being anesthestized in as many months) I'd go with the latter. Ditto if you look at the morning(AKA ALL-DAY & NIGHT) sickness, the mounting stack of dental and doctor bills, and the fact that we were essentially kicked out of our initial Cub Scout troop.

Still...

Paxton turned 7, and rocked his party at the bowling ally:



We did find another Cub Scout group, and the boys are already busy working on their badges. Spencer earned his Journeyman badge, and they both had a successful day selling tickets to the upcoming Scout-O-Rama.



Mike finally got to take the new truck on an off-roading run, and since the big boys weren't interested that day (and I was sick with a lousy summer cold), Everett got to experience a Daddy and Everett day to remember:





Spencer is thankfully done with the ridiculous amount of dental work he needed done this summer, and Paxton and Everett are both going to get theirs completed in two weeks. Today was his strabismus surgery, which has more or less been in the works since he was 18 months old and was diagnosed. We always knew it was a possibility, and a month ago we were told it was a necessity. As with most unpleasant things in life, the anticipation was almost worse than the reality. It went off without a hitch, and he has been home - sleeping - all afternoon. He is uncomfortable and sore, but in typical Spencer good spirits. The recovery period is supposed to be brief, and as far as Spencer is concerned, the worst part now is that he has to have drops put in three times a day. My poor boy; he is such a trooper.

We're praying for a calmer month of October. The boys have some fun Cub Scout stuff coming up, we're going to the state fair, and we may - or may not - get involved with a homeschool group soon. We're not making too many plans, because if we've learned anything this year, it's that plans change. Right now we're just buckling up and preparing for the ride.