On this day...

11 years ago, at 8:31 am, a beautiful blue-eyed baby boy was born, weighing just 6 lbs 5.5oz.

It had been a somewhat long labor, starting the previous day, and had some stressful moments. At one point, the baby's heart rate had dropped low, and the obstetrician - whom this mom chose to never see again after her horrible bedside manner!! - suggested if the mom didn't "hurry up and push this baby out, we WILL be doing a c-section." (She also ripped the blanket off of me several times, even though the nurse kept covering me back up since I was very visibly cold in a very cold hospital room - it was July but the a/c was on full-blast! - and she made other rude comments to myself and Jason...) While there is nothing wrong with having a c-section, this young - just barely 21 at the time - first time mom KNEW she could do this! Within the half hour, a little blue baby with the cord wrapped around his neck twice was born. The dr removed and cut the cord immediately and got the baby screaming and pink within seconds.

Today, that tiny, little boy is growing up into a fine young man.

My son Ethan, with all his little quirks and particular ways about him, is such a blessing. I couldn't ask for a better big brother for his 2 younger brothers, Alex and Jackson. Not only is he highly intelligent and advanced in school, breezing through most subjects, but he is funny, sweet and oh so loving. We've gone through some scares with him, first his ventricular septal defect, diagnosed at just 2 days old, then not knowing why he wasn't speaking at 18 months. We've had ups - moving from 1st to second grade early, winning the school and district spelling bee in 5th grade, winning the school bee and coming in 2nd to an 8th grader/previous winner in the district bee in 6th, learning to ride a bike with two wheels and tie his shoes, and maturing so much after his youngest brother was born a year and a half ago - and downs - struggling with frustrations, anxiety, and meltdowns at school due to his Asperger's/Autism diagnosis, lack of social skills and understanding certain social cues and sarcasm and remembering simple day-to-day things. It's definitely been a journey. One that I wouldn't change for the world.

Ethan, we are so blessed to have you as our son (and brother!). Thank you for being you, and I can't wait to see what you become as you grow and eventually reach adulthood.

Happy Eleventh Birthday, to our oldest son. I hope you have an amazing day. We love you to the moon and back!!

7 Quick Takes ;) - July 5, 2013

--- 1 ---
Just the 3 of us!

Yesterday was the 4th of July. Independence Day. We didn't have our 2 older boys with us, so it was just Jason, Jackson and I. After a light lunch, we went to Great Lakes Crossing and walked around for a couple of hours. Jack LOVED the animals at Bass Pro Shops. He was pointing at them and trying to name them. Even the fish were just the most amazing thing to him! We decided to have dinner at Toby Keith's I <3 this bar and grill. It was pretty good. I ended up ordering a half-rack of St. Louis style ribs, baked beans and sweet potato tots.

We didn't go see fireworks last night, but we sure did hear them. Our dog is a scaredy-cat and spent the whole night whimpering and whining. I can't wait till people are done shooting them off... 
Actually since Monday, we've just been kind of not doing a whole lot. Jason has had class most evenings, so Jack and I have been spending time together.

--- 2 ---
Technology growing pains...

While at the mall, we passed the Verizon Wireless store. My Droid X2 has been acting up for the last couple of months. Missing texts, not dialing, dropping calls, the screen freezing up, having to do a hard reset by removing the battery. It has gotten quite irritating. I'd already gone over once to the store nearest to our house, but the customer service rep was less than helpful (kind but unable to offer me a replacement). So when Jason suggested stopping in to this store, I wasn't exactly enthusiastic. However, the very nice lady looked up our information and found that not only do we have insurance, but also the extended warranty, meaning they would replace my phone with something NEWER, of equal or better value! For FREE! And it won't change our plan or "renew" our contract so we won't lose our current unlimited data. I should be getting my brand new Droid RAZR M on either Monday or Tuesday! It looks pretty sweet. Smaller phone, but all screen, so it's actually a bigger screen, lighter, faster, 4G, and I won't lose my apps. I'm pretty thrilled to say the least.

--- 3 ---
From me to you! 

I want to let people know that if you get a message from me on Facebook, I'm not spamming you, nor am I just trying to bug you or sell to you. I'm genuinely reaching out to help others. My thought is this: If I don't reach out to so-and-so and they DO want help reaching their goals, I'll never know, nor will they know I want to help them. If I do reach out, and they don't need or want help, at least they know I care, and if they ever need support, that I'm there. Also maybe they know somebody that wants or needs assistance. So please don't mind my messages. If it's not of interest to you, a quick no thanks would be grand, but if you forget or don't have a minute, I understand. Just know that it's not to bother you or because I think you are in particular need of something. I figure all of us could use some support at sometime or another. :) Thanks for your understanding!!!

--- 4 ---
It's all relative

You don't realize how much you are alike (and different at the same time!) until you spend a lot of time with family members. This past weekend, after dropping the older boys off, I picked my mom up and we drove down to Columbus. We stayed at my sister Heather's house for the weekend, and while it was fun, it did get a little, ahem, tense? sometimes. Really it was over silly stuff, and most of it was myself overreacting. I do want to apologize though, again. Love you!! We threw her a bridal shower, and even though no family from out of town came in (...), we still had a good time and made the most of it. Jackson had a blast running around with all the "little" girls that were there. They ranged from 4-12, I think? Oh my gosh, he was so funny. Back at the house, he'd chase the dogs, yelling "dog" or "gigi" (one of Heather and Matt's pups names). Jack loved that they were almost all smaller than him.

--- 5 --- 
Shoe important!
 

Looking for boots for the wedding party proved fruitful. We found a pair all of us girls liked, though a different color we originally talked about. We did have to go online to order them (planning to do so this weekend actually) and found a better deal too! I promised I would share a picture if it was alright with the bride-to-be and she obliged :)

Justin Boots Red Torino

On top of finding those, yesterday proved fruitful too. I found a new pair of tennis shoes for exercise, walking and hopefully, eventually, running! They are Asics, very cute, comfortable and not terribly expensive. I guess, after reading the description on the site linked below, they are technically trail-running shoes, but whatever ;)

Asics GEL-Venture 3

I'm still on the lookout for a good pair of tennis shoes for everyday wear to replace my 4 year old Sketchers shape-ups that I love but are worn out... I did find a pair of Sketchers D'Lites that I like, but wanted to price them elsewhere before I got them. These look and feel good, and even though they are actually considered "athletic training shoes", I could wear them everyday, with jeans or whatever.

I'm not much of a shoe or fashion person, but since I'm losing weight now, I need to start slowly replacing my clothes with things that fit. I may need a fashion advisor... anybody want the job? LOL.

--- 6 ---
Finding myself in my hobbies is a chore in itself

I got married pretty young and never really developed a sense of "self", so to speak. I didn't really have any hobbies or at least I didn't really grow them? As I build this blog, and grow as a person, I want to find new things to do. Photographing things has been fun, but I always seem to put it away and never learn more, or I forget my camera and miss out on opportune shots!

I have tried learning to knit, and while I did successfully make a hat, I just don't seem to take the time to work on my projects!

Excuse after excuse, really. I have got to stop that.

--- 7 ---
Kicking the Summer Bucket List starts...

NOW! Well actually tomorrow. Well, technically, it already did a few weeks ago, BUT we only did a few simple, already scheduled things. Now it's time to hit it and hit it HARD! Ethan and Alex will be excited to get moving on it and start doing some of the fun things we have listed. I think first thing we should cross off is making homemade donuts. A couple of weeks ago, we found a BabyCakes donut maker on clearance at Meijer and snagged it. Sunday morning would be a great day to do this :) I will try to remember to snap some pics of the process and the aftermath! I'm thinking using our whole wheat pancake batter recipe, just a bit thicker might work? Any thoughts? I'd like to make them a healthy version. They are basically baked, not fried, and we have tons of King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, and fresh berries we could add. We'll see how they turn out!

Thanks for reading!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

The road we travel...

We never really put down our roots for very long, it's the wandering gene that Jason and I both were inherently born with. A few years here, a few there, never more than about 5.

Having live in Michigan now for just about 5, we've actually been getting that itch. The itch to move somewhere new, somewhere away from here.

It's funny actually, when we lived in Maryland with two small children and the dog, all we ever wanted (so we thought) was to move back to our hometown in Ohio, to be near our extended family. While we missed them, and still do, now that we live 2 hours away AGAIN, I've realized that it's just not meant to be. Never would Jason find a job doing what he does in Toledo, nor would we end up being settled. It's just not us.

We always hated the long drive back and forth when we'd go for a holiday or summer visit, even knowing that our short time would be so filled with activities and time with loved ones, because it just wouldn't ever be truly enough enjoyable, quality time with our families. We knew we would have to leave too soon and we had two crabby, out-of-their-normal-routine kiddies. Now we live just far enough that it's a hassle for us to go visit too often - packing up bags of clothes for overnight, diapers, the dog and his necessary things - but just close enough that we feel we should and everyone expects us too - not that that's a bad thing, but it's true.

There are days when I'd love to just pack up the car, fill it up and drive with my amazingly supportive husband and our 3 crazy, funny, annoyingly-loud-at-times, awesome sons and just go in one direction until we run out of gas and just stay a while. And then do it all over again. And again. And again. That's my wandering gene, my gypsy blood, if you will.

Mind you, I'm a "lister", a planner to an extent, when it comes to silly, frivolous things. But the big things? It's ironic because not so much. I think Jason and I both have a tendency to be impulsive. Not in a bad way, but just going with our guts. Our first instincts are almost always right, for both of us. We are so in tune with each other, he will call to ask me something and I would have just been thinking of the same thing, or sometimes, I'll be ready to tell him something and boom, he was just talking to somebody about that earlier or whatever. It's kind of freaky. But it just shows me how perfect we are for each other, how we just seem to fit together. Before anybody says, "gimme a break!", that doesn't mean we always get along, or even close to it! It just means that we have definitely grown into this relationship and understanding of each others' wants and needs over the years. We certainly are both still quite selfish sometimes - I more than he - but that's how it goes. But I digress.

Where we will end up next? Who knows? We've both talked about moving somewhere, Jason finding a new job or a different position/place with his company and going somewhere South or West. I know the boys love their school and their friends and it always seems just as I finally make new friends or at least become more social with the ones I have ;) , I'm ready to move on in a sense to a new place, not leaving those people behind, but to find more to add richness to my life. That's how I look at those people I've met along this long, strange road called life. They've all played a part, and added something to my life, taught me something, shared their little corners of this place with me, made me a better person in some way. From the girls I went to high school with or met in Germany to the co-worker who became one of my best friends in Maryland to my newest friend and co-blogger Julie, they've all changed my life and truly helped me grow and still are!!!

The real question at hand is where are we being "lead to" and should we follow the pull down this winding path? I guess time will tell...

Umm...

I never thought I'd have to say to my almost ELEVEN year old that he can't use scissors without adult supervision...

Last Saturday after Tons O' Trucks, Jason gave the boys a hair cut, which was needed but not absolutely necessary. They could've waited another couple of days. Except for the fact that E decided to cut his "sideburns" and around his ears because it was bothering him. Without telling us. Oh and then he cut the small little "Alfalfa" tuft he tends to get once it's a certain length. Ugh. It was kind of funny, but I'm just glad he didn't snip his ear in the process.

This was what it looked like. Of course, we didn't notice until AFTER we left the house!

Tonight, we went out to dinner, and when we outside waiting for our table, I kept looking at E and thinking "What is different about him? His eyes look different to me." I asked Jason what was different and he couldn't figure it out either but saw what I meant.

After a few minutes, I leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek and noticed what it was...

HE CUT HIS EYELASHES!!

He's always had really long eyelashes, and apparently they were bugging him this morning. So he decided he was going to use his "kid" scissors to trim them. Wow. That's all I can say.

So no more scissors anywhere for E. Again, I'm REALLY glad he didn't hurt himself somehow.

I do have to laugh though, not in a mean way, but a what the @%#* kind of way!

Surgery, birthday and bucket lists... oh my!

It's been a pretty crazy 7 days around here!

Jackson's "adventure"

First, Jackson had a minor surgery Tuesday, which took all day long. He had to be there at 10:30am, with the surgery scheduled at 11am, and since he was having general anesthesia, it meant he couldn't eat past midnight, nurse past 2:30am and he was only allowed water, apple juice, or pedialyte till 6:30am. Jack was a trooper, but they never even came to get him for surgery till 5 minutes to 1! Then what should have taken about an hour, ended up taking an hour and half, plus then I was still in the waiting room at almost 3. They finally brought him out to me, he woke up and was in and out of sleep for the next hour, while I nursed him and we attempted to give him tylenol with codiene :( Not my favorite thing to do, but he was miserable at that point. Finally, we had the all clear and made it home around 5. Thankfully, Jason was able to leave work early and get the boys from school, though Julie offered too. That's a good friend right there!

Waiting...

Playing with "new" toys

Mama and Jack-Jack

Finally home: Daddy and Jack-Jack

In case, you're wondering, he had a "Fowler-Stephens one-stage orchiopexy" and it is expected to remedy the problem. (After you google that, know that yes, he is sore and a bit bruised, but all is well and even though he has a slightly wider gait at the moment, he will be fine :) )

 

 

Alex's Birthday!!

Alex turned 8 last Thursday and decided he would like a digital camera as his present. We didn't do a huge celebration, but he took watermelon slices to school for his treat, I made him a (dye-free, natural) chocolate cake with decorated homemade frosting and natural food coloring (made from annato) for the words, and he was given his presents.

From his brothers: 2 new Skylanders, one is a giant and the other a regular size one, as well as a storage bag.

 

From mom and dad: a new digital camera, a camera bag and memory card (plus some rechargeable batteries ;) )

Mom forgot to buy candles, so Jason improvised and grabbed the 3's from his cake in December and the 2 from my cake in April and we just counted that as 8, LOL! Alex and Ethan both thought that was funny. Jack really wanted some cake -------->
(Not sure why he has 2 sippy cups out... but looks like one had water and the other milk)

Summer Bucket List

Home Depot Workshop

So first thing Sunday morning, after we had breakfast and all that fun stuff, we took the boys over to Home Depot for their craft. They each got to make lawn-mower pencil holders. Even Jack got in on the action!

  It was a lot of fun and they even got to paint their creations! Jack, of course, wanted to just play with his and kept calling it a car. He still plays with, driving it around.

So bucket list item #5 done (home depot workshop - June 1st)

Tons O' Trucks

Then it was off to Tons O' Trucks, where we met up with Julie and her boys for a bit!

This is only one of many, many pictures we took but blogger is being finicky and not uploading anymore right now! Anyway, bucket list item 7 done! YAY!

There were lots of neat vehicles including a swat TANK! Of course, Jason's favorite was probably the GNX. :)

E and Alex each planted a flower to bring home and we got some free goodies, like chips, spray hand sanitizer and some teddy-bear shaped cold/hot packs for the first aid kit, as well as some coloring/activity books.

Alex also signed up for a free kids' hockey clinic in July! He's super-excited to try it out. The nice thing is that the kids don't need experience playing hockey OR even ice-skating!

We attempted to do our picture scavenger hunt but there were so many people and there was so much to see that it didn't work out. Plus Alex's camera settings were all off and it kept freezing up on him, as well as the photos weren't coming out clear. Now that we have that all figured out, we can plan it for another day.

More Birthday Celebrating!

Sunday afternoon, Jason's parents, sister and niece came up for a visit to celebrate Alex's birthday. He got a new skateboard and elbow and knee pads and wrist guards. Of course, he had to try it out right away, so Jason took him in the basement along with Grandpa Joe and gave him some quick lessons. I swear, the kid is a natural at anything daring! ;) After a little practice, we had cake and ice cream and played outside before Grandma and Grandpa and the girls went home (I say girls because Madison (Jason's sister) is only 17 and Jason's brother's daughter is almost 4).
For Alex's birthday dinner, he wanted to wait and go out Sunday night, so we went to Bagger Dave's - which was a new restaurant and bucket list item for us! It was ok, but we've had better burgers. I did really like their mac and cheese, though!

It's settled down around here now, at least till this weekend. We are possibly going over to the VFW to plant some flowers with the cub scouts on Sunday. In the evening, I have my kickoff for my June challenge group as a Independent Team Beachbody Coach. Looking forward to just getting caught up on the laundry and finding and organizing all the garage sale items. Jackson does have a follow-up with the urologist tomorrow afternoon, so we should know how everything is going.

Summer Bucket List - It's gonna "B" fun!!

*Guest post from Julie - well not really guest post, because she is technically a contributor/writer on this blog, BUT we are having issues right now getting her added on so she can access the page and write her own posts! So therefore, I - Crystal - am sharing this for her :) * (<--- hey, I figured out something new! I can highlight things! LOL.)

 Julie and the "B's" Summer Bucket List!

1) Visit a lighthouse 6/19
2) Play card games 8/12
3) Play in the rain 7/28
4) Watch fireworks 7/20
5) Watermelon eating contest 7/16
6) Blow bubbles 7/26
7) Make s'mores 6/30
Write & mail a letter to a friend/family member 7/8
9) Read a book as a family (a little every night) in process
10) Go to the beach 7/6
11) Go to Tons O' Trucks 6/1
12) Have a family picnic on a blanket 6/27
13) Go swimming 7/6
14) Plant a plant  /18
15) make a bird feeder 7/30
16) Play sardines or hide n' seek
17) Visit a splash pad 7/5
18) Visit a new Zoo 7/12
19) Stay in a hotel 7/11
20) Get an origami book and create some 6/8
21) Go to a nature center 6/9
22) Play board games 7/29
23) Have a garage sale 8/8-8/10
24) Dance party 6/27
25) Walk for a cause (Autism Awareness) 6/15
26) Build a sandcastle 7/6
27) Go to the movies 6/28
28) Boys cook dinner 7/8
29) Make cookies 6/28
30) Go to a new playground/park 6/1
31) Play tag 7/28
32) Play twister
33) Corn on the cob eating contest 8/16
34) Go for a bike ride 7/5
35) Go to River Raisin National Battlefield 7/13
36) Reverse meals day (breakfast=dinner, dinner=breakfast) 8/17
37) Make a mural with sidewalk chalk 6/8
38) Go bowling 6/27
39) Camping in the backyard 8/9
40) All day in PJ's 8/12
41) Ice cream from the ice cream truck 7/4
42) Home Depot's kid's craft 7/6
43) Have an "Unbirthday" party 6/27
44) Scavenger hunt 8/11
45) Make popsicles 6/8
48) Have a bonfire 7/20
49) Catch fireflies 7/26
50) Watch a sun set 8/25
51) Build a Lego city
52) Create & play a new board game
53) Go to a fair/carnival 8/15
54) Go fishing
55) Play video games mom vs. kids
56) Go to the library
57) Play charades 7/10
58) Watermelon seed spitting contest 7/16
59) Play a game of kickball 8/16
60) Write a story together 8/9
61) Have a water balloon fight/toss 8/26
62) Cookout/BBQ with friends 8/25
63) Visit 3 Metro parks 7/5
64) Play mini golf
65) Bury the boys in the sand 7/6
66) Put puzzles together as a family 8/12
67) Make a soda fountain
68) Dinner by candlelight 7/8
69) Go for a boat ride 7/21
70) Go strawberry picking 6/18
71) Fly paper airplanes 8/2
72) Melted crayon art
73) Pie eating contest 7/10
74) Have our faces painted 7/20
75) Play Pictionary
76) Go on a treasure hunt/ Geocaching 6/29
77) Go skating
78) Paint rocks 7/21
79) Go to the Dairy Queen 7/18
80) Roast hot dogs on a stick 6/30
81) Go to a water park 7/11
82) Visit a farm 6/18
83) Run through the sprinkler
84) Visit the fire department
85) Try photography (everyone gets their own disposable camera) 8/25
86) Play croquet 7/5
87) Go out to breakfast in our PJ'S 7/9
88) Visit the Detroit Zoo 7/31
89) Make sundae 7/21
90) Make our own mini beanbags
91) Volunteer
92) Build a birdhouse
93) Walk a nature trail 7/21
94) Teach the boys to play Chinese Jump rope 6/6
95) Create & run an obstacle course
96) Make "Sponge bombs" and play toss with them 7/9
97) Race in a foot race 6/1
98) Stay up late watching movies 7/24
99) Dress up and put on a play/skit 8/14
100) Make root beer floats 8/2
101) Cool Summer Hair Cuts 6/4
102) Complete a whole coloring book in process
103) Make a Summer Bucket List scrapbook (include pictures and journaling)
~Julie

Crossing off the bucket list and having a blast

The boys and the bucket list :)

 By the way, when we got home, the whole display had fallen, so we have to figure out something else...

This weekend, we went down to Toledo (#1 on our list) to see both my parents and Jason's family. The boys had an absolute blast!!

 

 At my mom and dad's on Saturday, we had a small birthday celebration for Alex, and had homemade cookie cake and homemade ice cream! So yummy! Mom and I took the boys for a walk and we all just visited for a few hours. We spent the night at Jason's parents and spent Sunday over there just being outside and hanging out. Ethan and Alex played on the playset, went swimming for a little while and just ran around. Saturday night, before bed, the older 2 learned to ride the mini-bike! They got quite good at it, and Alex likes to go FAAAAAST! We got to see Jason's sister, Madison and her bf, Rob. Jason's brother Jeff came over with our niece, Jocey and she played with the boys for a while. The 4 kids and I took a little walk.

 My father-in-law, Joe, and Jason decided to tie a kite on the mini-bike and the boys got it going pretty good and it was flying. Pretty cool :) (thinking of counting that as #11 ;) )

For the most part, our weekend was really nice. We got home late last night, and were up early this morning for Alex's cub scout parade for Memorial Day.

#51 - done!

Tomorrow is going to be a long day, with Jack having his (minor) surgery tomorrow, and we didn't go bowling over the weekend, so I'm thinking since Jas has class Wednesday, I may take the boys bowling sometime after dinner - the kidsbowlfree.com coupon we have for our local bowling alley is good on Wednesday from 6-9pm.


Check out The Happy Family Movement for more bucket list ideas and info!

Behind on pictures!

I was just looking through a bunch of photos I uploaded, trying to find a couple from today, and realized I never shared the ones from Alex's first Communion! My sister managed to get a few good ones at church and I got a couple there and some fun ones at the party after.

You can barely make him out but that's Alex standing by the cross

Ethan :)

Jason, Alex and I

All the First Eucharist students with Deacon Dennis and Father Chris

Deacon Dennis, Alex and Father Chris

Jack didn't want to sit still for this one ;)

Finally a great picture of all 3 sitting together!

Alex, Jackson and Ethan

And...we're off!

My nephew Jake, reading to Jack (my dad and sister Heather are there too!)

Ethan had to sneak in to the picture, and I love the look on Jack's face here.

Jake, Jackson, Dad, Mom and soon-to-be BIL Matt

My beautiful (slightly) older sister, Heather Jean

Dad (Gale), Mom (Linda), BIL Matt, and his daughter (niece-to-be ;) ) Megan

Miss Julie!!! Matt's other daughter, another new niece-to-be, Ashleigh, and Ethan

Ethan and Miss Julie's nephew

Heather and Jake

Being silly ;)

Tired after a LONG day!

Here's some cub scout pictures too.

flag retirement in the winter

Alex at Blue and Gold

Dad and Alex

Dad H (Joe) and Alex

Getting his awards at Blue and Gold

Awards :)

More pics to come later!