Most normal people wake up sort of slowly. They stretch, they yawn, they rub their eyes, they sit up in bed before contemplating their next moves.
Not so for my Dustin.
This morning, he woke up, and not 10 seconds later he was literally bouncing down the hall to the bathroom while humming The Entertainer as loudly as he could. He continued his humming for several minutes. How the littlest children didn't wake up through all of this, I'm not sure.
But he sure was cute.
Showing posts with label Dustin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dustin. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The Free Frosty Story
Yesterday I wrote on Facebook: "Dustin scored a free frosty at Wendy's today!"
The comments that followed were all about how I was feeding my kid wood... nobody seemed to care HOW my son scored a free frosty. This was one of my comments:
Anyway - for the *one* person that did ask, and for my own memories and for the recounting of the story to my middle son in years to come, here is the account of the Free Frosty.
We were in Wendy's yesterday - because, yes, once in a while, in my defeated and exhausted delirium, I do feed my kids fast food. I obviously underestimated the amount of food that Dustin needed to sustain his very existence, but I couldn't go up to the order counter again with Spencer and Meaghan and all our junk in tow.
The lineup was short, so I handed my five-year-old a $5 bill and sent him up with very specific instructions for what to ask for. It was quite a ways across the restaurant - far enough so that I couldn't hear him, but close enough that I could see him through the pillars of the front of the establishment.
The order-taker leaned down to him, and I could see she was trying to make sure she understood what Dustin was saying.
He came back 2 minutes later, proudly carrying his tray with two more items and dipping sauce, exactly as instructed. He sat at the table, handed me my change (which I promptly handed back to him for being such a brave boy!), and dug in.
Two minutes later, the lady who took his order came up to our table with a frosty in hand. She told me, "This is for your son. He was so polite and so good and so cute when he came up to order!"
The look on Dustin's face was priceless. He said a huge thank you, then he went and got an extra spoon and shared with Meaghan. He was in his glory.
Even if he *was* eating wood in his frosty.
The comments that followed were all about how I was feeding my kid wood... nobody seemed to care HOW my son scored a free frosty. This was one of my comments:
Apparently if you want to eat clean, you have to be a cave man. Or have a snot load of time on your hands to research and process information and shop - time that I do not have. This was a one-off outing in the midst of running a couple of errands...for a mom who is utterly depleted and, for once, needed to grab a bite while out with hungry kids. Shame on society for taking advantage of someone like me.(For the record, the long story made short is that apparently lots of restaurants use cellulose - a byproduct of wood pulp - as fillers in their food. Wendy's frosties apparently fall into that category of foods affected.)
Anyway - for the *one* person that did ask, and for my own memories and for the recounting of the story to my middle son in years to come, here is the account of the Free Frosty.
We were in Wendy's yesterday - because, yes, once in a while, in my defeated and exhausted delirium, I do feed my kids fast food. I obviously underestimated the amount of food that Dustin needed to sustain his very existence, but I couldn't go up to the order counter again with Spencer and Meaghan and all our junk in tow.
The lineup was short, so I handed my five-year-old a $5 bill and sent him up with very specific instructions for what to ask for. It was quite a ways across the restaurant - far enough so that I couldn't hear him, but close enough that I could see him through the pillars of the front of the establishment.
The order-taker leaned down to him, and I could see she was trying to make sure she understood what Dustin was saying.
He came back 2 minutes later, proudly carrying his tray with two more items and dipping sauce, exactly as instructed. He sat at the table, handed me my change (which I promptly handed back to him for being such a brave boy!), and dug in.
Two minutes later, the lady who took his order came up to our table with a frosty in hand. She told me, "This is for your son. He was so polite and so good and so cute when he came up to order!"
The look on Dustin's face was priceless. He said a huge thank you, then he went and got an extra spoon and shared with Meaghan. He was in his glory.
Even if he *was* eating wood in his frosty.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
My Week
My week?
I don't remember much of it, really.
It involved a horrific stomach flu, the details of which I'm sure you'll be happy I'm sparing you from.
It involved a 5-year-old boy getting a really sudden and really severe case of bronchiolitis, resulting in a really sudden trip to a really serious doctor who really suddenly put Dustin on prednisone for the swelling (or something... I don't really understand...)
It involved me thinking I was on the mend, only to find out that I can pass out at the drop of a hat and, three (or is it four?) days later, still find that I can barely put anything in my stomach without feeling absolutely disgusting.
It involved me thinking that since I was on the mend, it would be a good idea for me to actually, you know, HOLD Spencer. But then when I went to walk with my crabby baby, whom I was sure was only crabby because he hadn't seen me much the day before since I was busy visiting the inside of a toilet bowl instead, he decided that he was also not feeling well. There's baby spit-up, and then there's baby-all-out-barfing. I've *never* seen that quantity of stomach contents expelled at one time from such a tiny baby. My entire back was soaked (I'm *so* glad my hair was in a ponytail at the time), and the puddle on the floor required an entire bath towel, completely unfolded, to cover. (Did I mention it was on a carpeted floor?) No wonder he was crabby. He spent the rest of the night heaving and gurgling and gulping...
It involved me sleeping while my children decorated the Christmas tree this morning. Saddest thing ever. I've never *not* been involved in decorating the tree. But really, I'm completely spent. (See points 1 through 4.)
It involved missing out on a trip to Prince Albert to attend a special church service where our friends Mike & Christina were being inducted (installed?) as the new senior pastor (Mike) of their church there. We've only been looking forward to this for at least two months. To say we are disappointed to be missing it is the understatement of the century. We did get to Skype with them last night, though, which was a highlight for me.
It involved Dustin's random thoughts about food and politics, all in the span of 5 seconds. At dinner last night: "I'm still hungry. I like this yogurt. We saw Tim Uppal at school today. Is there anything else I can eat?" Tim Uppal is our PC representative (or something like that) for our area. He was apparently visiting the kindergarten class at school yesterday. Of course, when we grill Dustin after school about the things he did and saw, all he can ever come up with is "I ate lunch" and "We had recess". I love Dustin's randomness.
It involved me telling Meaghan that I was so glad she's my girl. She responded by falling on the floor and laughing hysterically.
It involved Joshua stepping up this afternoon to help me make lunch, without any prompting whatsoever. Simple lunch - cheese melted on crackers. But he got out the oven mitts, hopped up on the stepstool, opened the microwave, and melted the cheese on crackers on the plates I had prepared for him.
It involved Spencer finally going in his jolly jumper. My kids seem to be older and older every time I start them. Spencer loved it. Dustin serenaded him.
It involved parent-teacher interviews for both of my boys, thankfully the night before the flu hit. I love my kids' teachers, and I trust them. I love the rapport I have with them, and the absolute investment they are making in my children.
It involved knowing that people care about me, but being so absolutely depleted to formulate a response worthy of their care.
It's involving a lot of reflection, a lot of self-doubt, and a bit of hope. It's involving God's grace and love.
I don't remember much of it, really.
It involved a horrific stomach flu, the details of which I'm sure you'll be happy I'm sparing you from.
It involved a 5-year-old boy getting a really sudden and really severe case of bronchiolitis, resulting in a really sudden trip to a really serious doctor who really suddenly put Dustin on prednisone for the swelling (or something... I don't really understand...)
It involved me thinking I was on the mend, only to find out that I can pass out at the drop of a hat and, three (or is it four?) days later, still find that I can barely put anything in my stomach without feeling absolutely disgusting.
It involved me thinking that since I was on the mend, it would be a good idea for me to actually, you know, HOLD Spencer. But then when I went to walk with my crabby baby, whom I was sure was only crabby because he hadn't seen me much the day before since I was busy visiting the inside of a toilet bowl instead, he decided that he was also not feeling well. There's baby spit-up, and then there's baby-all-out-barfing. I've *never* seen that quantity of stomach contents expelled at one time from such a tiny baby. My entire back was soaked (I'm *so* glad my hair was in a ponytail at the time), and the puddle on the floor required an entire bath towel, completely unfolded, to cover. (Did I mention it was on a carpeted floor?) No wonder he was crabby. He spent the rest of the night heaving and gurgling and gulping...
It involved me sleeping while my children decorated the Christmas tree this morning. Saddest thing ever. I've never *not* been involved in decorating the tree. But really, I'm completely spent. (See points 1 through 4.)
It involved missing out on a trip to Prince Albert to attend a special church service where our friends Mike & Christina were being inducted (installed?) as the new senior pastor (Mike) of their church there. We've only been looking forward to this for at least two months. To say we are disappointed to be missing it is the understatement of the century. We did get to Skype with them last night, though, which was a highlight for me.
It involved Dustin's random thoughts about food and politics, all in the span of 5 seconds. At dinner last night: "I'm still hungry. I like this yogurt. We saw Tim Uppal at school today. Is there anything else I can eat?" Tim Uppal is our PC representative (or something like that) for our area. He was apparently visiting the kindergarten class at school yesterday. Of course, when we grill Dustin after school about the things he did and saw, all he can ever come up with is "I ate lunch" and "We had recess". I love Dustin's randomness.
It involved me telling Meaghan that I was so glad she's my girl. She responded by falling on the floor and laughing hysterically.
It involved Joshua stepping up this afternoon to help me make lunch, without any prompting whatsoever. Simple lunch - cheese melted on crackers. But he got out the oven mitts, hopped up on the stepstool, opened the microwave, and melted the cheese on crackers on the plates I had prepared for him.
It involved Spencer finally going in his jolly jumper. My kids seem to be older and older every time I start them. Spencer loved it. Dustin serenaded him.
It involved parent-teacher interviews for both of my boys, thankfully the night before the flu hit. I love my kids' teachers, and I trust them. I love the rapport I have with them, and the absolute investment they are making in my children.
It involved knowing that people care about me, but being so absolutely depleted to formulate a response worthy of their care.
It's involving a lot of reflection, a lot of self-doubt, and a bit of hope. It's involving God's grace and love.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Miscellaneous
Sometimes a brilliant blog post title doesn't come.
I really want Spencer's face fixed. The oozing has started again. Most of the rash is gone, but there are these two residual patches - one on each cheek - that refuse to give in completely to the medication. He seemed pretty good last night, but then all day today he's been rubbing and scratching and oozing and kinda grumpy with his face and head. Poor hunny. I really *really* don't want to know what the next step is... or wait, maybe I do want to know, but I don't want to have to go there.
Sometimes.... sometimes God puts someone else in your path, and you just *know* it's His doing. I could never orchestrate something so profound. I'm thankful tonight for a new friend. Don't worry, I'm not replacing any of my old friends. It's just... well, God is cool that way.
Dustin does handsprings. Graeme has *shudder* been letting the boys watch certain scenes out of Spiderman... the 'safe' scenes (are there any, really?)... and so Dustin comes upstairs and says to me, "Mommy, do you want to know how Spiderman does his flips?" I don't even get a chance to answer before he says, "Like THIS!" - and proceeds to do a perfect handspring. WHAT?? He's, umm, 5. I need to get this kid into some kind of serious gymnastics program before he kills himself. He has no clue that he's not invincible. He learned last week how to execute a front flip (no hands) on a trampoline and land on his feet. I finally gave up telling him "NO, Dustin, NO front flips!" - well, he was doing them anyway, so I told him that he was no longer allowed to land them on his bum; he has to land on his feet (less whiplash to the neck that way). So after about another 20 attempts, he got it. And again. And again and again and again. But he's not allowed to do them if I'm not watching.
Oh, and then Dustin decided - after he'd done his post Spiderman-viewing two-hand handspring - to try a single-hand handspring. And he nailed it. In my living room.
Oh, and then he decided that if he could do a front flip on a trampoline without the use of his hands, that he should be able to do a front flip, no hands, in my living room.
That didn't go so well. He landed on his back, thankfully (what on EARTH? - he actually rotated and made it all the way around to his back???), but we told him "no way!" No more. Gah!!!!! How this child has not landed in an emergency room yet is beyond my comprehension.
Meaghan is potty trained. Did I mention that somewhere? Right around 28 months. I'd gotten about 80% of the way there before Spencer came along, but I couldn't continue after he was born. So I gave us all some breathing room and resigned myself to diapering two children. Well, 4 months after he was born, I thought I was ready to try again. Got the toilet seat ready with the little insert downstairs... potty upstairs... and juice in sippy cups (so that she wouldn't spill - we normally use regular cups with water or milk - we're not juice junkies, but juice is such a novelty that I knew she'd fill her bladder quickly!)... she was great on day one, resisted on day two, and somehow woke up dry on day three, after a 12-hours nighttime sleep. Had an OK day on day three, and woke up dry again on day four. I still had her in diapers at night, but she ended up night training before day training; however, she was day-trained very quickly also - inside of a week - and so we gave all her diapers to Spencer and she's a big undie-girl now! She's been "trained" for almost a month now. I have rules - always go potty before a meal, and before and after nap time... and beyond that, I don't bother. She always tells me when she needs to go. She has had all of about 5 accidents in the last 3 weeks. Not bad, little girl! Not bad at all!!
Joshua is a machine on the piano. I might video something and upload it to here one day. 'Cuz he's been playing for only a year, and he's just that good. He's 7. He is really owning it, too - he loves to go practice almost as much as he loves to read. Such an awesome kid. He also willingly takes Meaghan to the bathroom if she requests to go and I'm busy nursing Spencer or something. He's even wiped her bum!! How many 7-year-old boys wipe their 2-year-old sister's bum?
Some guy in line in front of me at the grocery store was rearranging my groceries for me the other night as I was taking them out of my cart. It was odd.
I thought it would be a good idea to buy some pepper plants - chill peppers - in the spring to toss into my garden. I figured I'd get maybe 5-6 peppers on each of the 6 plants. Umm, so far I've given away about 60 peppers, and the other day I counted 138 left.
I smell like baby puke. My head is spinning (it's nearly midnight). My eyes are bloodshot, and my brain is ready to hit the hay. This has become a very, very random post... and since I haven't actually dumped my camera card yet, well, you get a post full of words, but no pictures.
I really want Spencer's face fixed. The oozing has started again. Most of the rash is gone, but there are these two residual patches - one on each cheek - that refuse to give in completely to the medication. He seemed pretty good last night, but then all day today he's been rubbing and scratching and oozing and kinda grumpy with his face and head. Poor hunny. I really *really* don't want to know what the next step is... or wait, maybe I do want to know, but I don't want to have to go there.
Sometimes.... sometimes God puts someone else in your path, and you just *know* it's His doing. I could never orchestrate something so profound. I'm thankful tonight for a new friend. Don't worry, I'm not replacing any of my old friends. It's just... well, God is cool that way.
Dustin does handsprings. Graeme has *shudder* been letting the boys watch certain scenes out of Spiderman... the 'safe' scenes (are there any, really?)... and so Dustin comes upstairs and says to me, "Mommy, do you want to know how Spiderman does his flips?" I don't even get a chance to answer before he says, "Like THIS!" - and proceeds to do a perfect handspring. WHAT?? He's, umm, 5. I need to get this kid into some kind of serious gymnastics program before he kills himself. He has no clue that he's not invincible. He learned last week how to execute a front flip (no hands) on a trampoline and land on his feet. I finally gave up telling him "NO, Dustin, NO front flips!" - well, he was doing them anyway, so I told him that he was no longer allowed to land them on his bum; he has to land on his feet (less whiplash to the neck that way). So after about another 20 attempts, he got it. And again. And again and again and again. But he's not allowed to do them if I'm not watching.
Oh, and then Dustin decided - after he'd done his post Spiderman-viewing two-hand handspring - to try a single-hand handspring. And he nailed it. In my living room.
Oh, and then he decided that if he could do a front flip on a trampoline without the use of his hands, that he should be able to do a front flip, no hands, in my living room.
That didn't go so well. He landed on his back, thankfully (what on EARTH? - he actually rotated and made it all the way around to his back???), but we told him "no way!" No more. Gah!!!!! How this child has not landed in an emergency room yet is beyond my comprehension.
Meaghan is potty trained. Did I mention that somewhere? Right around 28 months. I'd gotten about 80% of the way there before Spencer came along, but I couldn't continue after he was born. So I gave us all some breathing room and resigned myself to diapering two children. Well, 4 months after he was born, I thought I was ready to try again. Got the toilet seat ready with the little insert downstairs... potty upstairs... and juice in sippy cups (so that she wouldn't spill - we normally use regular cups with water or milk - we're not juice junkies, but juice is such a novelty that I knew she'd fill her bladder quickly!)... she was great on day one, resisted on day two, and somehow woke up dry on day three, after a 12-hours nighttime sleep. Had an OK day on day three, and woke up dry again on day four. I still had her in diapers at night, but she ended up night training before day training; however, she was day-trained very quickly also - inside of a week - and so we gave all her diapers to Spencer and she's a big undie-girl now! She's been "trained" for almost a month now. I have rules - always go potty before a meal, and before and after nap time... and beyond that, I don't bother. She always tells me when she needs to go. She has had all of about 5 accidents in the last 3 weeks. Not bad, little girl! Not bad at all!!
Joshua is a machine on the piano. I might video something and upload it to here one day. 'Cuz he's been playing for only a year, and he's just that good. He's 7. He is really owning it, too - he loves to go practice almost as much as he loves to read. Such an awesome kid. He also willingly takes Meaghan to the bathroom if she requests to go and I'm busy nursing Spencer or something. He's even wiped her bum!! How many 7-year-old boys wipe their 2-year-old sister's bum?
Some guy in line in front of me at the grocery store was rearranging my groceries for me the other night as I was taking them out of my cart. It was odd.
I thought it would be a good idea to buy some pepper plants - chill peppers - in the spring to toss into my garden. I figured I'd get maybe 5-6 peppers on each of the 6 plants. Umm, so far I've given away about 60 peppers, and the other day I counted 138 left.
I smell like baby puke. My head is spinning (it's nearly midnight). My eyes are bloodshot, and my brain is ready to hit the hay. This has become a very, very random post... and since I haven't actually dumped my camera card yet, well, you get a post full of words, but no pictures.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Adoration and First Smiles
My big boys can't stop loving their littlest sibling...and I can't blame them!
Spencer's first smiles (first caught on camera, anyway - he started smiling around 3 weeks old; these were taken at about 3 1/2 weeks) - he's just so precious, and melts me with his gorgeous smile and happy eyes!
Telling stories...
Spencer, tummy time on mama's favorite baby play blanket (uhh, mama's ONLY baby play blanket), new FuzziBunz diaper...
This little man brings me such simple peace and joy... in a family where chaos sometimes reigns supreme, I can always find a little oasis of peace when I snuggle down with this littlest treasure. I love him.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Preschool Graduation
Dustin is a riot, and is getting harder and harder to take pictures of! The little man had his preschool graduation at the end of May, and it was nothing short of pure chaos (to me, anyway, with the crowds and a 3 week old baby).
Receiving his diploma:
Sometimes, he just really doesn't like to pose... I think this might be either "indifference" or "I'm cool" - I'm not sure which.
Heh heh - the pinata. Graeme is on the right, and another friend is on the left... when the big swingers would come up, the men (very smartly) moved their bodies farther away from the pinata, extending their arms. At the Christmas party, one dad almost got, umm, injured - if you think about the level of swing in relation to the body part that might get injured...
Dustin and his two best buddies, Hudson and Will - these three are such stooges!!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Snippets
Man, what a ride it's been...
But just so that you know I'm still alive, here are some pictures from the past couple of days!
Spencer here with his daisy we received from our church... they always put a flower on the table at the front of the church to "commemorate" a baby's arrival!
Post-bath posing...
These are the two tulips we got from the Walk to Remember... I can't believe they actually bloomed!!
Meaghan...snack... 'nuff said.
Meaghan...Dustin's finger...nose... 'nuff said.
Graeme, Joshua, post-soccer water drinks...
Yah, totally posed.
Spencer with his great grandma and great grandpa. This is their first meeting, and it was pretty sweet!
The "I love you" hand.
Pretty girl. No time to crop photos, folks, so ya get a little tiny girl and a big van in the picture!
Joshua... Meaghan's hat... oh boy. Yikes.
More another time...
Monday, May 2, 2011
Dustin & Meaghan's Day!
I'm pretty sure that these first two pictures weren't taken on the same day as the kids' "combined" party, but maybe the day before... and I just can't resist adding them here. My two littles are awesome little buddies, and we are blessed.
Meaghan feeding my her bear. Overalls used to be my bear, but she has now claimed him as her own. I still try to get it back on my shelf, where it might stay for a couple of days, but then she finds him and reclaims him.
Buddies.. so precious. They wanted to be "wrapped" together. They stayed like this for several minutes.
Remember the angry birds? These are the pigs & birds in action. I actually have a couple of pictures of the red birds flying through the air, but the quality is not great, so I've just put these here instead...
Muss-ohs! (Muscles!)
Beautiful girlie...
Beautiful girlie with Graeme's mom...
Beautiful girlie and handsome brother...
Signing and saying "thank you" to one of the party-goers after she opened a gift. Funny - everyone thought she was simply blowing a kiss!
The cake - I didn't notice until much later that Dustin had his arm around his sister. How he loves her!
It was a fun party. We are blessed with so many friends and family, and it's been wonderful to celebrate with them!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The Birthday Boy - finally!
Slackin'.... but finally, here is a post about Dustin's birthday parties! The lucky kid actually ended up with 3 parties, but one of them was combined with Meaghan's (very early) birthday party, so I'll save that for another post.
These first pictures are from his little "friends" party. I was pretty deliberate about not including pictures of all his friends... but they WERE there!
The cake:
The birthday boy:
The sister of the birthday boy:
The brother of the birthday boy:
The birthday boy opening a present... he was such a happy thankful little guy!
These pictures were from the night of Dustin's *real* birthday. Our friend Karen (I hope you don't mind your picture on here - I'll take it off if you want!) came for a few hours on her way from Saskatchewan to Camrose, and this was the night she was through town. It was lovely to have you here, Karen!! It's obvious that the adoration between my children and you is mutual!
Dustin opening a gift... I wonder if it might be a new pair of pants?? I hadn't noticed the huge hole in his knee until now...
Joshua showing some brotherly love, right before he gently threw her down to the floor in a brother-sister wrestling move. She laughed.
We'd blindfolded Dustin for his "big" gift - a skateboard! He's only been asking for one for months and months...
Karen and the boys. :) We can't wait to see you again!
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