Under Reconstruction

On Second Thought...

Since the boys will be starting back to school in 9 days (and 3 hours, 6 minutes) Jasper's days of having buddies to play with during the day are numbered (but who's counting?). We've begun the preparations, and gotten him a kennel for while we are away, while the weather is still nice out, anyway. Winter is TBD. Zachary, Nicholas and Pipi but the kennel up effortlessly on Wednesday, and after I had the dinner dishes done, I went outside to find this:

 

 

Is it wrong that I paused to rethink who's home this should really be? And is it wrong that I had wished we had gotton this the day school was out for the summer? This, my friends, could have been a terrific "time out" area! I kid, I kid! or not.

Whirlwind.

As I sat down to post this entry, I realized that tomorrow will be one month since my last post! Thanks for your patience...if any of you are still checking in!

Nicholas' ear continues to heal...we had a little "bump in the road" a couple of weeks ago. A layer of skin peeled off his ear (nothing major, just a real thin layer) and then the next day some boys got a little rambunctious with their wrestling and it got bumped, and was bleeding. To say I was sick was an understatement. It scabbed over, and the waiting game began. And the anxiety each time he put on his baseball helmet quadrupled. Last Saturday the scab came off and underneath was beautiful, pink skin! I still get anxious when I come home from work and see his ear for the first time that day, wondering how it will look. Part of that is habit from months of worrying...almost nine months...and part of it I'm just not too sure yet. There are still a couple of tiny tiny spots that I wonder about. I still have not been able to say "We're done." More like "We think we may be done." It's still quite red in some areas, and still pretty swollen. Here are a couple of pictures...I realize I never posted any!

[Stop taking my picture!]


[Last time, Mom]

So between healing lots of ball has been played. A typical week is Zach having games on Mondays and Thursdays, Nick having games Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Since school has been out they've been busy in the mornings with baseball camps. The difference in just a few short weeks is amazing, especially with Nick. Zach's team is doing much better than we thought (their first year with kid-pitch/stealing bases) and the improvement with Nick in just the past two weeks is terrific. This is his first year at machine-pitch and once he got the hang of it, he's been hitting great ever since. His whole team is improving and learning where the ball needs to be thrown to, etc. So...as busy and hectic as the schedule is, it is fun to watch them. I could bore you with a bunch of pictures, but after about 5, they start to look the same. Instead, I'll just share my favorite so far of each of them:

[Ready at First Base...my lefty]


[Not necessarily my favorite, but this show's him "whacking" the ball...as he tells me he's going to do before every game]

Swimming lessons and library started this week. At the end of the month we go on vacation and then when we get back we'll have about 6 weeks of summer vacation left...but who's counting? I can't believe how fast it's going! We are all looking forward to vacation and spending time with family. It will definitely be a treat.

Oh...and guess what I started doing again? Reading! I hadn't read anything for at least 8 months and I finally finished the Twilight series last week (hmmm...that could be part of the reason it took me so long to update the blog!). So, if anyone has any good book recommendations, I'd love to have them!

Have a great rest of the week...make it count!

Almost Home.

[Taken this morning as they waited for their flight to ATL]

The boys have landed and are on their way back home. I expect them to be home around 6:30. It's been a long day for them. They left the house at 5:30 this morning and I can't wait to give hugs and kisses when they return! It's always hard saying goodbye to Nicholas. He has always cried...I think mostly because it is so early and he is just so tired. Scott said he ate breakfast while they were driving and was asleep soon after, until they arrived at the airport.

Scott said his ear looked good, but there is a spot that was a bit "crusty." They had just arrived back at the airport when I talked to him, and it was hard to hear him, so I'm not too clear on what exactly "crusty" means. Dr. Jones thinks it may be a dissolvable stitch and Scott said he took some of it off his ear and it already looked better. Scott said it didn't look anything like his failed skin grafts from last time, so I guess that is good. Dr. Jones wants us to leave the bandage on until Monday evening and restrict activities (gym, recess and baseball practice) until the beginning of May. I'm all for being cautious if it means closing this chapter of our lives! Your continued prayers of healing will certainly be appreciated!

Zachary and I played a bit of basketball after he got home from school. He won. We ran a race. He won. And then I got some pictures of him practicing his pitching skills. I hope Spring is here to stay!

And my cutie-patooties from Easter:

Memory #31

The big brother. You were so sweet with Nicholas and loved to hold him and feed him. While these days there seems to be more fighting than loving, I know that your bond is deep and in those moments of being hurt or scared, you each come through for the other. You are his protector, even if you don't like to admit it right now.

Memory #30

Your first Halloween and Grammy made your costume (the first of many). You were quite possibly the cutest little clown ever! Surprisingly, you even wore the hat more than what we thought you would.

Memory #29

You loved driving the go-cart last summer. You would have spent hours on it if we would have let you. Unfortunately, my nerves could only take so much at a time! Maybe one of these days I'll get used to having crazy boys doing crazy things...

Memory #28

Some of our most favorite family times has been at Kelley's Island. I love this picture of you. It shows your love of water and love of life. When the water is warm enough, you will spend all day long in it. You will play on the beach for awhile, but it doesn't hold your attention like the water does. I love that you enjoy it so very much.

Memory #27

You love to be out in the snow, especially when there is work you can do in it. You would rather shovel the driveway than the sidewalk...maybe someday I will be able to convince you to shovel the sidewalk first! I wonder if you'll be so eager to shovel snow when you realize that you really are being a huge help!?!

Memory #25

We had to convince you to try this out at Kelley's Island. You can see the uncertainty in your face. While you aren't typically our "dare devil," I'm proud of you for trying new things that you are uncertain about.

Memory #23

After spending time at Grandma and Pop's and watching their "mower boys," you became obsessed with playing it at home. You would play for hours, using milk jugs and detergent bottles as gas cans. Nicholas was your helper and followed orders well in those days.