John's Train Museum

Please forgive my double entry for today, but there really is no clever tie-in for swim pictures and a train museum.

Two days ago John decided to build a train museum. At first it appeared to be quite the elaborate layout. Then I found him researching and writing a "script." We later had discussions of admissions charges, which I finally managed to reduce down to one cent. Finally, the day arrived (after I begged for a 21 hour postponement) and today Gram and I were treated to a visit to John's Train Museum.

John greeted us at the door and gave us our tickets in exchange for our payment. He then took our tickets and brought us in to his museum. I am not sure I have ever seen the playroom that clean, except for when I personally have done the clean-up.

John set up his museum in a small corner. The display came complete with postings explaining the display. We learned all about the modernization of trains from the original steam locomotive to current day diesels. He had examples of all different types of cars and explained the use of tenders. John actually put a lot of thought and effort into this display and both Gram and I were quite impressed and pleased by his achievement.

John explaining the modernization of trains.


This particular layout may seem simple, and is compared to most of the layouts John has been known to create. However, it is well thought out and rather than being too busy, seeks to impart knowledge.


James actually watched and learned. I love to watch the boys' as they learn, I feel like I can see the wheels turning in their brains. Most of the time I wonder if there is anything in there, so these moments are refreshing.


The presentation ended with a moment of brotherly love.

Waiting and More Waiting

Joseph and I have spent much time waiting for his brothers over the past several days. We were most thankful yesterday afternoon when Gram came back to the beach so he could hang at the house.

Yesterday morning I decided to try to get some pictures of Joseph's "Happy Feet." Of course, he would not cooperate. Somehow, somewhere between all of the "no!s," I guess he lost interest. (BTW, do you like my punctuation there with the no? I've got some research to do...). I intended to get some pictures of the boys playing soccer and tennis as well, but Joseph had other ideas.

Is it just me, or do you see that look of awareness that his mother wants him to do one thing and he is doing another?

Finally, at the second pool even Joseph got tired. I should explain this. There are actually two pools, one across the street where I do water aerobics (when not chasing Joseph) and the boys play soccer and tennis. Then there is a second pool for swim lessons. When Mom is not here I spend over two hours chasing Joseph around pools. Finally yesterday, Joseph was tuckered out. I even offered him to get out of the stroller (taking it with me was a stroke of brilliance) but he was more interested in re-fastening his straps. This literally kept him entertained for 45 minutes.

Note the fastened straps. I must have released these 50 times.

James once again tried to drown and had to be saved by Ms. Johanne while she was in the middle of the advanced class. It didn't matter how many times I told him to put his face in the water, he wasn't doing it. When Ms. Johanne arrived the first thing she did was to tell him to put his face in the water and swim. He was so tired by the end of his "swim" that he got out of the pool and sat with me. In the meantime John was working on his butterfly.

James likes to practice his "starts" for swim team, which he will be on once he turns 5 and can swim without drowning.

See how John is keeping his feet together? At least he won't be DQ'd in practice! How sad that DQ has come to have a negative connotation and no longer signifies the impending arrival of a Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

Finding Fastening Fascinating

Joseph's new thing is to fasten the straps in whatever he can find. One thing I didn't mention last night is that he will literally walk next to or in front of the stroller as we wander down the boardwalk. Why is he doing this? He is trying to fasten his straps! It makes me crazy, but I am quickly learning that if I just let him do it he is happy and can move on. This morning at the boys' swim lessons, amongst other happenings, Joseph entertained himself by doing the fasteners on all of Ms. Johanne's backpacks. The only problem with this is the backpacks needed to be available for the next class. So, there I am trying to unfasten as quickly as he can fasten. Finally I grabbed a backpack and my kid and took him off to a seat far, far away. This entertained him for a while. Nonetheless, before we left the pool he was back to fastening backpacks...sometimes to each other. The other location where this has become and issue is in his car seat. I am no longer allowed to fasten the straps across his chest, he must do it. Unfortunately, I never leave enough cushion in our schedule to allow for this. Again, I will have to learn. When we get out of the car, he insists on fastening the straps one more time. The one very cool thing about all of this is the great big smile and hand clapping I get most every time he succeeds in getting something fastened. There is something about seeing joy over the little successes in life that makes a Mom's heart glad.

What Happened to the Weekend?

Friday night I loaded up the boys and took them down the road to the Indian River Life Saving Station. This may sound like kind of a strange place to take your kids on a Friday night, but they actually run a "ghost crab" hunt. Honestly, they have a much better name for it than that, but I couldn't begin to tell you what it is. The ghost crabs were actually few and far between, which was much to my liking since we were all barefoot. Several were found, tormented and released. Below I hope to include a picture of one held by Sam's Dad.

This picture makes the crab look kind of scary, which it really is not. I had only my cell phone for the picture, so the poor thing is being subjected to lighting by multiple flashlights.

On the way home from "ghost crabbing" we stopped at the Wawa to pick up some milk. On the way out, James decided he wanted to carry the gallon of milk. He made it through one door, but on the way to the second decided the gallon of milk was too much for him. I asked him to carry it 3 more feet to me (I was carrying Joseph and holding the door open), but in order to demonstrate his weakness he chose to let go and allow the gallon to drop. As you can perhaps imagine, milk began squirting out of the gallon jug. So now you have me, carrying Joseph (who is allergic to milk) and a squirting jug of milk, guiding two other children to the car in a busy parking lot at 10pm on a Friday night. We will stop the story there...

On Saturday we had our adventure to the Giant in Millville. James wanted to carry the milk...

Saturday was to be a big clean up day, but it is absolutely amazing how little I managed to accomplish. Of course, there were lots of little things that got in the way...such as Joseph finding the container of blueberries John had left on the kitchen table. I didn't see what happened, but did find Joseph eating blueberries off the floor (which made me thankful for John's Friday Lysol adventure). I ran to get the camera and of course missed all of the best pics

Blueberry Thief!

Of course, there was a moment of panic when I found Joseph eating the blueberries, we are suspicious that he is allergic. Over Father's Day the kid ate incredible amounts of blueberries, grapes and strawberries and then broke out like you wouldn't believe. He started eating grapes while I was finishing my radioactive period and was fine. I was planning to add blueberries...eventually. The net result is that he is broken out in his thigh area only. I am not sure what that means...it could be from nasty blueberry diapers (don't laugh...I'm serious).

Saturday afternoon we hit the pool for a big whopping 20 minutes before they called adult swim. I wish I could tell you I was disappointed to have to leave so early. From there we came home, showered ate and headed for the boardwalk, complete with my Diet Coke refill cup in hand. Joseph was pretty clingy and we got a lot of looks on the boards. I guess they thought it pretty funny that the kid was clinging to my thigh as we walked. Finally, as the evening was about to end he loosened up and took off with his brothers. Of course, by then the battery on my camera had died. I am still working on this whole camera thing.

James is becoming more willing to have his picture taken...something about having his picture in the "family of bests" which has become an item of interest between the two big boys.

Sunday morning I was awakened by boys. They were done with my sleeping. John brought Joseph into the bed and I was forced to evacuate. I shot this video so you could see how my morning began. Mind you, this is MY bed!

We got dressed up but with no place to go. I failed to get us out the door in time to make church (lots of excuses - my responsibility in the end), and I feel funny about showing up late to a church that is not ours. And, we were more than a little bit late. So, since we all looked so good we headed to Rehoboth to buy John some much needed shorts and to go to the Home Depot. The boys will be doing a VBS during the evenings this week so I will be painting the front deck. This ought to be interesting.

On the way home, we opted to hit the boardwalk. The forecast was calling for afternoon rain so we figured this was our best shot. Sadly, I was without my Diet Coke cup. Today Joseph started out clingy, but managed to separate and get his "happy feet" moving. Everyone should dress their children alike at the beach. It is amazing all the comments one gets...and today Joseph didn't even match. Yesterday I was told the kids looked like bars from a cell phone commercial and today I heard several passersby comment to one another, "look - there is another one!" I also received my favorite question today, "where did they get the red hair?" I gave my standard answer about Lang having red hair at which point the gentleman noted that my hair was kind of "reddish." Reddish!?!? I didn't go through my adolescence being teased for having red hair to be anything but now that it is popular!

I am having trouble getting the pictures off of my cellphone and onto my laptop, so for now we will have to settle for those few I got with the real camera and I will update with a picture of the ghost crab and hopefully a video of Happy Feet later.

In (and out) of the Pool

Last night was John's final swim meet this summer with the Sea Colony Sharks. Unfortunately, it was not his best night, but he looked good, had a great time and won a ribbon anyway. In the end, what more could we want?

Normally, John likes to have his picture taken. Here he is indulging me. Can't I tell that he is busy with his friends?


Enough with the indulging. He is making a point of not looking at me as he talks. I have 5 more pictures just like this one.


After the 3rd time he came and asked if he had won any ribbons I made him stop for a picture. I think he may be about to tell me that there is a time and a place for pictures.

This morning after soccer and tennis we headed over for swim lessons. John's lesson was much like swim team practice, just more lanes. James is still in the beginners class, but has made it to Mr. Brian's team. This is big...it was with John as recently as last year and is something we as parents laugh about. This summer Madison is helping with Mr. Brian's team. James loves Madison.

James attempting to relax while kicking on his back.


Madison succeeding in convincing James to put his face in the water. This is BIG!


James ignoring instructions from Mr. Brian.

During James' lesson John was working on his Kumon. John could not have been happier to see Morgan arrive so he could walk away from his work. They played together along with James while waiting for the intermediate kids to finish their lesson. Finally, it was time for advanced. James at this point had removed his backpack and did not wish to put it back on. Imagine my shock when Ms. Johanne had all of the big kids "diving" into the pool and James went with them!

Freedom!


This is actually not the first time James got ready to dive in. This is try about 4-5. I was given very clear instructions to say, "On your mark, go." I got in big trouble for adding "set" in the middle. What do I know?

Finally, I took a video. By now James has dived into the pool multiple times and swum to the ladder. I had to end the video early because I determined it would be wrong to video my child drowning instead of saving him. You will be glad to know that he came out of the pool with a great big smile and his first words were, "did you get that on video?"

James NOT drowning! The belch you hear is his not mine.

After swimming we came home and ate a fabulous rib lunch. The boys got cleaned up and then John was helper extraordinaire while his brothers struggled to go down for their naps.

What you see here cost me $1, although he offered to do it for free. It is possibly the best dollar I have ever spent. Can you see the middle finger on his right hand? It is wrapped in plastic because he keeps chewing his nails and has now peeled the skin off the finger. Lysol and wounds don't mesh well.


This little face is not happy with me. I will never understand why kids protest their naps so much. I would love to be napping right now.

I Chronicles 29:11

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty. For all that is in heaven and on earth is Yours. Y0urs is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all.

That pretty much says it all. This is Cherrydale's Worship Focus today, and a great reminder to me that no matter how much I ever try to (or fail to) control what is going on around me, God is bigger than all of it.

Back on the Boardwalk

In an effort to make ME happy, we all went to the boardwalk again yesterday evening. Because we had made no plans for dinner, we decided we would have dinner at Bethany Blues. And so we began what I was hoping would be a fabulous evening...

No sooner did we park than James began complaining. Apparently his neck hurt. Joseph had no desire to let go of my hand and John decided that holding my hand was just fine as well. What happened to my leisurely stroll and sense of freedom, that all is right with the world? Well, as the old adage goes, a bad day on the beach is better than a good day elsewhere. Not that I necessarily buy into that, but I was absolutely going to enjoy my time on the boards, whether the kids cooperated or not.

When I decided to take pictures, John was ready to cooperate. As you can see, the others were not. Can you see James hiding behind the bench?


Here the boys go after James for the picture.


James is having "nothin doin" with smiling for the camera. Don't tell James I actually took his picture. I will be in big trouble!


Finally we give up and go for the two cooperative ones.

James did his best to disobey but yet stay within the lines. We ended up at the bandstand, one of James' favorite places. The boys played some "hide and seek" and just ran around. Both John and James created videos. James was heavily bribed, although I don't recall the cost. He doesn't know about these pictures either, so once again, don't tell!

James getting ready to hide for hide and seek.

Not that James will admit it, but he was starting to have a good time in this picture...


Not one to miss out on the fun, here comes Joseph, otherwise known as "Happy Feet."


As always, John was glad to stop and pose for the camera.

Sandwiches are Beautiful


Yankee Doodles

A Day or So...

John was a real trooper at his swim meet on Monday night. The meet was held at an indoor pool that was really quite warm. One of the parent helpers was concerned John was overheated because he was so pink. Alas, it was just the sunburn. John still did a great job of "diving" off the block and swimming. He swam 25 meter back, 25 meter breast and he participated in a medley team where he swam the 25 meter back. Thank goodness for medley relay teams, since everyone shares more kids get a ribbon. John's medley relay team came in 3rd and John has worn a huge smile on his face ever since he received the ribbon this morning (Wednesday).

James and I left early Tuesday morning to see his specialist at Children's. It took us 30 minutes after crossing the Bay Bridge to get to Annapolis. Needless to say, with the traffic on New York Avenue, we were tight getting there for his 11am appointment. We checked in at 10:59am. We were supposed to arrive 15 minutes early, but at least we were not late!

The good news is that James is now on an alternate day dosage of prednisolone. His doctor raised his dosage back up to 15mg to cover for the skipped day. There really isn't any bad news medically, but we are still struggling with fatigue and behavioral issues. His specialist thinks the behavior may well be linked to the prednisolone (not at all uncommon). I think it is linked to the fatigue, but it is next to impossible to get him to take a nap. We have been instructed to take James to see a psychologist for an initial interview.

After our visit to Children's, we went to James' PT appointment. James is still not getting stronger, but he is improving in other ways. While I was waiting for him, I had to walk up to the 5th floor to complete paperwork for a 3pm appointment. Here's the rub. I went back down and walked back up with James. At this point I am huffing and puffing...and James is doing just fine. Somehow this is seems wrong to me.

We ran a few errands and had dinner with James' teacher before the board meeting that night (which was a hit for both James and for me). Yes, I managed in my day trip to Virginia to schedule 3 appointments and attend the board meeting for James' school. When we stopped at the house we were amazed to see how big the sunflowers have grown.

Joseph woke up from his nap rather cranky today. However, before he went down for his nap he was really quite entertaining. It would seem that he was upset to not have clothes on so he was trying to wear James' shoes. He had managed to get one on and was working on the second one when I ran for the camera. I got back just in time to watch him hurl the shoe at the window. I'm just not picture savvy.

Sunburn

Sunday was a quiet day for us. On the way to church (to which we were late, as always, arggh), I noticed that our beach adventure on Saturday turned into disaster on Sunday. John has a hefty sunburn on his back around his waist line and the other two boys have blisters on their shoulders. Blisters?!?!? I may be a red head and have fair skin, but blisters are new to me. I can keep most any sunburn from peeling, but I have no idea what to do for blisters. Oh the fun.

So, after dosing everyone with Tylenol, we spent a quiet day inside. Perhaps I should rethink the word "quiet." There is nothing quiet about my three boys. Oh, and did I tell you? Mom returned with Lucy (Mom's enormous 8 month standard poodle "puppy") who is now in heat. Needless to say, this did little to calm the situation.

Finally it was evening and we were able to get out. We headed to our favorite place, the boardwalk, for ice cream, a diet coke and to run. I have discovered the deal of the beach: for only 50 cents I can get a giant refill of soda all summer long as long as I remember my cup. Needless to say, I have yet to forget it. John and James take it upon themselves to refill my cup and to get a Sprite for themselves. As you can well imagine, this is my absolute favorite part of any day at the beach.

Now this is service!

I've got to get my camera repaired. I still get some great shots, but last night I couldn't figure how to get the flash to work.

Unfortunately, when it came time to run the boardwalk, Joseph was done. I think the Tylenol had worn off. James couldn't stay within eyesight and John drank all of the Sprite, upsetting the other two. So much for my favorite moment of the day. By the time we got everyone in the car, even the diet coke didn't taste good anymore.

This morning the boys' sunburns were no better. However, after swim lessons, James' blisters went down. His teacher (Ms. Johanne) says they will come right back up. However, as of now, almost two hours later, they are still down. I am crossing my fingers and anything else I can think of in hopes they will stay down. Tomorrow we head to Children's and I am going to get an earful from James' specialist. Avoiding sunburn is critical for children with dermatomyositis. I am still hopeful that we will get it down to a dull red...

That is about it. As I write, James has found a new friend (renters next door) and he proceeded to harrass me for the last 18 hours about getting outside with his scooter. So, the boys are out with their scooters and the friend next door is on his bike (he is probably 8-10ish, really nice kid). Joseph is taking a nap and lunch is still sitting on the counter waiting to be put away. Decision-making: watch children in street, clean-up left over food in kitchen.

After years of avoiding the camera, John is back. Perhaps we should revisit his short-lived career in modeling?


I wish this was me...


James, who started this whole scooter adventure.

James is upset because he fell, see the new "owie" on his right knee? See John sneaking into the picture?

This afternoon John and I leave with Sam and Jana for Dover and another swim meet. The last meet was heartbreaking as John was DQ'd in butterfly and lost his other races. A no ribbon meet. Here is hoping that this team gives participation ribbons...not that I have ever been a fan of such things, but since there are so many events and so many ribbons, it is hard for him to walk away empty handed. Please don't feel too bad for him, he has quite a few ribbons, including some for 3rd and 4th place. And, he has improved so much over his swimming (or lack thereof) last year that I am just thrilled to see him out there and swimming anything that even looks like the butterfly!

Day at the Beach

With Mom gone today I was scrambling for what to do. Here is an obvious choice: take them to the beach! Up until today I managed to resist all temptations due to my being weak from lack of thyroid meds and the radiation. However, today I felt great so off we went.

We met the boys' friend Sam and Jana (his Mom) at the beach. We got a great spot, right by the lifeguard stand. The boys played for hours and hours. I don't remember the last time I spent that many hours on the beach. I think we were there for a total of 6 hours. Thank goodness I packed a lot of snacks. My biggest disappointment of the day was that I drained the camera battery and managed to take only two pictures. One of them was of James' belly since he walked in front of the camera right as I snapped it. I took the other pictures with my phone. I am quite sure you will have no trouble telling the difference.

The boys spent most of the day playing in the sand, although there was a time when John and Sam played in the water. James dabbled with playing in the water, even got his suit damp, but still ran whenever the waves came in. Nonetheless, it was a start. Joseph was hit by a wave while playing in the sand. He was furious, but by the time he found me he had forgotten what he was crying about and was focussed on the snacks. That was pretty much Joseph's theme for the day. And, if I wasn't quick about it, he would simply put fistfuls of sand in his mouth, much to the chagrin of the people around us.

James, being James, decided to run off. He disappeared so thoroughly that we had the lifeguards involved. When they asked for a description I pointed to John and Joseph and stated that he was in the middle. All the people around us were able to look at the boys (they all have matching suits), and finally someone saw James running back from off in the distance. The lifeguards were great, and I think they have a new appreciation for geeky parents dressing their kids in matching clothing.

Today in Bethany Beach

While at the beach the boys enjoy swimming and soccer weekday mornings. Right now John is participating in a swim team which meets at 7am. Getting him there has been quite the sacrifice for all involved. Thereafter, both boys have soccer at 8:30am and John plays tennis 3x per week at 9:15. The nice thing is that both soccer and tennis are located across the street from our house. If I were really smart, I'd be doing water aerobics while the boys are at soccer. Thereafter, James heads over to the front pool for a swim lesson and the morning is done.

Today, there was no swim team practice, so we stayed at swim lessons long enough for John to participate. This was a real hit as at least 4 of his fellow swim team friends were there as well.

We also discovered an "urgent care" center which we liked a lot. We have been going down the road to the BeeBee, but it is run like and emergency room and it always seems like such overkill. This place was perfect, although we must have come during a peak because it took us 2 hours to get out of there.

On most days here, you will find the boys outside playing baseball in some way, shape or form. Not to be outdone, even Joseph likes to get his swings in. The Hurricane is set a bit high for him, but even Joseph can get a good hit on it from time to time.

Tonight we had a swim team friend over for dinner and we all headed to the boardwalk. This is probably our absolute favorite thing to do. The boys like to run on the boardwalk, and John does a great job of taking responsibility for "Happy Feet," better known as Joseph. We generally get ice cream and we have found the "deal of the boardwalk." Boardwalk Fries sells a cup for $5, and from then on refills are 50 cents each. We always show up with two cups.

Nationals Game

Today we took the boys and John's friend Nicholas to the Nationals game. To do that, we managed to orchestrate the delivery of Nicholas, the retrieval of James from Lang's Mom and the reassignment of Joseph from my Mom to our neighbors, Peter and Sally. All of this took place before we left for 10am church.

After church we left in a rush for the game. Today was signature Sunday and we were going to get signatures. As it turned out, we could get only one, but it is John's Lannan's. All three boys (John, James and Nicholas) had their Junior Nationals hats signed. We even managed a picture with the pitcher himself. Lang has reminded John I don't know how many times that John Lannan is a LEFT handed pitcher. I'm not sure that John is taking the hint, but I'm getting it.

Today was Toys for Tots Day at Nationals Park. We packed up three toys and each boy was able to deliver a gift. It was also Children's National Medical Center text your donation day. Mom refused because she gets charged 20 cents per text. I told her it was just one. Dumb me. 4 texts later I managed to donate $5 (standard donation for the day). I changed our texting plan yesterday, here's hoping it kicked in already.

At the game, I had to sit apart from everyone just in case of lingering radioactivity. Tomorrow it ends and I finally get Joseph back. I can't wait to see him! James is definitely suffering the ill effects of not being with Mom. He had such a great time with Mimi that being with Mom and Dad is like torture, but yet he craves Mom like you wouldn't believe. I am looking forward to getting back to the beach tomorrow and settling the boys down for a few weeks.

The boys decided to bag running the bases (did you note my clever play on words?). Don't be thinking it was intentional.