gas under $4!

Wow -- I gassed up the van today at Costco and only paid $3.95/gallon!

olympic fever

We have all been loving watching the olympics in Beijing and rooting for the USA. Our favorites have been beach volleyball (totally cool!!) and swimming (some VERY close races). I have been amazed at the strength and focus of the Chinese gymnasts and inspired by the "no regrets" team effort of the US men's gymnastic team -- I don't think I've ever seen anyone so incredibly happy about getting 3rd place! The boys of course are anxious to watch some USA men's basketball (we didn't watch on Sunday) and we are all excited for track & field to start.

jared

Jared has been saving his hard-earned money all summer. About a week or so ago, he spent it on this -- the Lego Mars Mission Crystal Reaper set. He had the thing put together in just a couple of hours and has had lots of fun playing with it!

In other Jared news, he finally lost another tooth last night. His permanent tooth has been trying to come in for a couple of weeks now, so getting the baby tooth out of the way should be a huge help! He let Jacob put the tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy to find. This morning Jacob was sure the tooth fairy hadn't come, but much to his surprise when he checked under his pillow, she did in fact pay him 50 cents for Jared's tooth. Jacob was very thrilled with this magical money-making!

stitches

Yesterday morning got off to a rough start. I had just finished showering and was getting dressed when Matthew ran through my room and headed for the bathroom. I slowly followed him in there and watched as he headed for the shower, which is one of his favorite bathroom playing places. As he stepped over the lip of our large fully tiled shower, he slipped on the wet tile and his head landed just right on the corner of the tile shower lip and split open the back of his little head. (I am replaying this in my mind and it just makes me sick.) The bleeding and crying stopped relatively quickly, but I thought the cut looked rather deep, so I called the Kidscare -- closed (apparently kids are only allowed to get sick between 5 and 10 p.m.) It was 8:30 a.m. and I was pretty sure our pediatrician wasn't in yet, but I called the office anyway and talked to the receptionist, who told me the doctor would be in at 9:00 a.m. and she would try to catch him and ask if I could bring Matthew in immediately and call me back. I told her I was just going to show up at 9:00 a.m. and meet the doctor as he walked into the office! She told me that just wouldn't work and that I could try Instacare at 9:00 a.m. or come in to the office at 9:50. I hemmed & hawed and complained enough to get Matthew in to see the doctor at 9:10. Thank goodness! Jared took care of breakfast and was in charge of the other boys while I headed to the clinic -- what a great kid. Mark met us at the doctor's office and they took Matthew immediately into the procedure room and got busy with the stitches. The poor little guy had to be strapped to the papoose board so he wouldn't move, but luckily the doc was able to numb the immediate area and stitch the wound closed, while the MA held his head still and Mark and I tried to comfort him. Matthew cried a lot, but mostly because he couldn't move, not because of being in pain. The MA gave him 2 suckers for his brave behavior -- he deserved them both, but only got to eat one due to the nice sticky mess he makes with them. We got him home from the clinic about 10:00 a.m. and put him in the tub to wash all the blood and betadine(?) from his hair and take off his bloody clothes. The boys were anxious to see his stitches and try to count them -- really it's just one big stitch, but for counting purposes, it equals about 5. He immediately began playing and cruising around the house as if nothing had happened. As I followed him into Jacob's room, Jacob came over to me and said, "Mom, I don't care about Matthew anymore." (Translation "I'm not worried about Matthew anymore) Me: "Why?" Jacob: "Because I said a prayer". Me -- holding back tears. The faith of children is so simple and great. I need to take a lesson from Jacob and not worry anymore either, although we're all going to keep praying for him to heal quickly.

boys everywhere

As I sit here at my computer, I have a bazillion boys in my yard and in my house. OK, maybe not a bazillion, but just about every boy in the neighborhood under 12 is here this afternoon. I love that they are playing outside (except for Jacob & his buddy who are here in the family room) -- its more fun and creative, its much quieter inside, they aren't attached to video games, and its less stinky too (a bunch of sweaty boys in a room = stinky)! I like to know what my kids are up to, so I don't mind having everyone here. Gotta go -- it's popsicle time!

need new tunes

I need to add some more good workout/running music to my ipod. Suggestions? What do you like to listen to?

holy bowls of cereal!

oh.my.gosh. Last week & this week Smith's had certain Kellogg's cereal on sale for $1 a box -- you had to buy in quantities of 10 to get that price. Crispix, Raisin Bran, & Rice Krispies (normal size boxes) for a $1? Those are some of our favorites! Stock up time!! I went crazy-- um, I think I bought 40 boxes of cereal! Hate to admit it, but we eat cold cereal for breakfast about 4 or 5 times a week. I bought this many boxes thinking that it would be a year's supply. I'm very curious to find out how long it lasts.