Croup, anyone??

Well, I've been a bad, bad blogger. Now that I have downloaded some photos from my camera, I will post them!!
First, a Christmas re-cap: After a fun-filled day of a zillion presents, Ethan got one last bedtime gift that we really could have done WITHOUT! Somehow my almost seven year old got croup, which I can honestly say I don't think he ever had as a baby or toddler (the normal victims!). They say it can resurface with 5-6 year olds, so I guess he's still technically 6, even though I think of him as more like 12. He was better last night, as usually the 2-3 night is the worst, but half his school vacation is pretty much gone and he has been sick. All of his tentative playdates will be crammed in next week.
So, the following photos are Christmas morning, when he was feeling ok...
after unwrapping a bunch of stuff, he decided to make a Paper Angel (think snow angel) and did a backwards dive off the couch into the heap of paper and started flapping his arms. It was quite humorous.

The thing he wanted most, Nerf Dart Tag, was what Santa brought him, and he just happened to be wearing his camouflage pajama pants. He knows how much I hate army and shooting stuff, and he has told me that he really wants to join the army to help defend our country, but not to worry, he won't join until the day before he dies. Yikes! What do you say to that!?

I have more Christmas pictures, but they need to be edited (red eye and cropped) so they aren't so cluttered with gift wrap piles. I'll save them for next time.

This was at his Den meeting on the Thursday before. I didn't know they were having a Santa, so I was just as surprised as the kids when they were all singing "Here comes Santa Claus" and in the door he came. Ethan didn't believe he was the "real" Santa, as he knows there are all sorts of "helper" Santas since there are so many malls and places to make appearances during his oh-so-busy time. But, again, my little guy is questioning how old will Santa live to be, and does he have a son to take over for him when he dies? I'm thinkin' this will be the last year for the Jolly 'ole guy. When Santa asked Ethan what he wanted for Chrismas, he figured the real Santa should already know!

The present for the adults is here! Although I think Ethan likes it just as much as we do.


(Insert time warp here...)
Well that was fun. I just had to take a little break to sit in the super-steamy bathroom with Ethan, then went outside for a little late night chill on the porch swing. Hopefully that will last for a few hours, then I'll only have to do it maybe only once more tonight. It has worked the last few nights, and is what the nurse recommended. We have a humidifier in his room, but I'm not sure that's doing anything.
OK, I'm gonna go. I have the feeling this is going to be another late night, so I need to get a few things done. Tune in next time for more holiday cheer!

Some Frosty Photos and a Tiger

Well, we finally have some snow. I can't even remember how long ago they kept saying it was coming, it finally did. It started out more like solid ice, but now it's sleddable snow.
It started out as an ice storm last Friday, and this is what it left. I thought the lights covered in ice looked so cool. You can pretty much see the giant icicles hanging from the wreath, but they look much cooler (no pun intended) in person. Ethan liked the icy driveway, which is pretty long. We "slung-shot" him down it, and he would veer to the side at the end and wind up in the huge heap of snow that the snowplows so lovingly placed at the end of the driveway. Kind of like our own little bunker. It's shoveled now, though, but we have the hill between us and the church next door.



OK, enough snow talk...

Ethan is officially a Tiger Cub! Yay.

We went to his first meeting on Tuesday. He had a great time. He knows a bunch of the other kids. It's a pretty big den. If any more kids join, they'll probably have to split it up. Needless to day, Glen is thrilled. I think he has been patiently waiting for close to 7 years for his son to become a Scout, and now he is. Glen has a special hat (not sure the rank or name or whatever it means), but here it is... (no, he didn't wear it to the meeting, just for this picture.)

I didn't get the Tiger baseball cap since they aren't required and he hates hats, but after seeing the other boys wearing them at the meeting, he wants one. Now if only the other boys will eat vegetables in front of him. I won't hold my breath.

I'll have to go downstairs today and take pictures of the basement. It's almost done. Just the last strip of flooring where it meets the wall so it's kinda tricky, and the thresholds. Someone he works with is going to help do those. It looks really good. It looks like an actual room! After having a concrete floor and studded, see-through walls for SO long, it's odd to have it done.

Happy December!

Here is Ethan decorating the tree while home sick from school. He really wanted to decorate, so I figured (hoped) he had been on antibiotics long enough that he wouldn't get all of the ornaments sick. It looks like Glen and I are in the clear and didn't get whatever he had (still not sure what it was) but he's still on eye drops (only 3 more days, thank goodness), they are the WORST. They give us this teeny-tiny itty-bitty little bottle, and it even says on it that it is only half full to begin with. It will be a miracle if we make it without having to get another. He has had over half the drops land on his eyelids and lashes. There must be a trick I don't know. Tracie - help? And he has 5 more days of bubble gum flavored stuff. He loves that, though.

Anyway, we think the tree came out quite nicely. There is a poll going on at a scrapbook site I hang out at about colored vs. clear lights. Personally, I love the colored, but was about the only one who voted that way! Everyone picked clear. I dunno, I think they add to the decoration and are cool. One person says colored are tacky. To each his (or her) own, I guess. First is a photo in the dark with it lit, then in the day. (Sorry, I tried to make them side-by-side and can't get it to work.)


It's hard to see the ornaments, but we have them all jammed on there. We may do another tree in the basement next year, so we'll have to buy some on clearance after Christmas this year.



We got the outside lights done just in time. The following day (yesterday) there was a huge ice storm, and today was a snow day for Ethan's (and just about every other) school. We had to drive in it twice. Last night we went to get Glen from his surgery (went well) but they decided to keep him overnight. So last night we drove in the sleet, and today in the snow. I'll take a few photos of the outside lights tomorrow. You probably can't quite see them from space, but I'm working on it.