Today

Molly and Emily have done this on their blogs, and I think it's cool. You describe your day using only nouns. Here goes:

Jack. Cry. 5:00. Jack. Sleep. Jodi. Morning. Insomnia. Textbook. Online class. Park. Run. Sunrise. Breeze. Peace. Tranquility. Breakfast. Zoo. Yogurt. Fruit. Kids. Leftover pizza. Jodi. Messes. Cleaning. Game. David. Winner. Preschool lesson. Jack. Markers. Face. Laugh. Mess. Bath time. David. Cry. Jack. Splash. Jack. Finish. Towel. David. Shampoo. Cry. Jack. Poop. Bathroom floor. Scoop. Potty. David. Towel. Jack. Shoe. Throw. Tub. Markers. Tub. Jack. Nap. David. Cartoons. Jodi. Textbook. Online quiz. Cleaning. Jodi. Tornado. Gym Bag. Diaper bag. Snacks. Race. Clock. Swim lesson. New Teacher. Satan. Dunk. David. David. Scream. Cry. Teacher. Fear. Hate. Loathing. Lesson. Disaster. David. Trauma. Jodi. Hug. David. Gym. Kid Center. Exercise. Relaxation. Home. Boys. Naps. Jodi. Phone call. Swim school. Discussion. Teacher. Satan. Dismissal. New lessons. Old Teacher. Resolution.

That's it so far. The day is half-over, but I think this will suffice. More on swim lessons later. It's quite a story. David's birthday was yesterday, so more on that later too.

A Good Lie

As you can see from the pic at the top of the blog, Jack's nose is cut and bruised. He looks like he lost a boxing match... lost it bad. Considering his big bro is Rocky, I have my suspicions. The day it happened, I was doing major housecleaning with the world's loudest vacuum, commonly referred to as "the cyclone." It emits a shrieking roar at such a volume to strike fear in the hearts of even the bravest of children. Jack and Rocky were playing in their room (cowering in fear more likely). When they reappeared, Jack's nose was cut, puffy and deeply bruised, but he seemed unaware of it as he was not crying. I was perplexed. So I asked Rocky what happened. He explained in great detail how Jack had lunged at Rocky's miniature wooden chair thrusting his head into the edge. I might have believed it except that the story incorporated an invasion of Decepticon robots, whose mission was thwarted by the butting of Jack's hard cranium.
When the story had ended, I asked, "Is that what really happened?"
"No," he said. "I made it up."
"Ok," I responded calmly. "Will you tell me what really happened? I want to know what happened to Jack's face."
"Sure," he said. Then he began to tell an even more elaborate tale involving a daring swoop of Jack from the sky as he was engaged in a rescue mission of some kind. Rocky included in his story every object he saw in the room, like Kevin Spacey's character in the movie "Usual Suspects."
When he finished, I asked, "Is that what really happened?"
"No," he said. "I made that up too."
"So you told a lie?" I asked.
"Yeah, but it was a good lie. It was a really good story."
Hmm....
So what really happened to Jack... we will never know.

Back in Business

Our desperate flight to Utah in search of a cure for David resulted in the birth of a new boy, figuratively speaking that is. We returned home just as hastily to take care of another sick boy, Rich. He doesn't do well without us. I guess we're just that great. Making the 12 hour drive alone was tough, to say the least, but empowering to have survived... there were moments that I doubted we would. After the McDonald's stop where I had to rescue a panicked David by quickly squeezing my way up the tunnels to the top of the playcenter while Jack screamed unattended below, I determined not to stop again, so we barreled through the next 6 hours. The pivotal moment came on a busy, winding mountain road, when I was sandwiched between a wall and a line of semi's. Jack began to scream, so I threw David's half-eaten sandwich at him, which seemed to appease him for the time being and set the system I employed for the remainder of the trip. If the kids complained, I threw food at them. Either they were really hungry or just enjoyed the spontaneity of it all, but it seemed to do the trick, about every couple minutes or so. Of course, cleaning the SUV the next day was not pleasant. Just ask Rich. It was a good thing I drove home when I did though, because a tire blew out the very next day. Apparently all four tires were the originals from 1997! How is that even possible? Big O-mazing!



So it's been a while since I have updated this blog. I could blame it on busy boys, endless housework, or the fact that Rich's Xbox is temporarily out of order and the time I had to myself is no longer existent. I'm not complaining. The truth is that the boys and I have been having far too much summer fun to spend any time at the computer. Since David regained his health and Jack can do, well, just about anything now, we have been on the go. The last few weeks have been jam-packed with trips to parks, trips to the gym, preschool lessons, camping trips in the living room, costume creating, trike and wagon rides, swim lessons (more on that when I have pictures) and my attempts at keeping the house clean and the boys fed. There have also been bowling league nights (to our fellow leaguers amusement or dismay), daytime dance parties (kid collisions to music mostly), backyard weeding, episodes of So You Think You Can Dance, and online course studies. Needless to say, it's been busy and wonderful. All is well when all are healthy.