Not the best photo of a photo, but I had to share Josiah’s preschool picture. What a handsome little guy!

I made some snacks for Analise and Josiah’s classes this week… they were pretty easy and turned out cute!  Of course, no one likes the licorice legs.  For Josiah’s class I used Oreo Cakesters instead of the Hostess Ding Dongs.  I saw the idea originally here.

Josiah had yet another follow-up visit at Children’s South with his pediatric urologist today for his annual tests to track his vesico-urethral reflux (VUR).  All my good info links (and a cute baby Josiah pic!) are on the original post from when he was just a couple months old.  Short story – urine from his bladder backs up his urethra to his kidneys, which can could cause kidney damage.  Amazingly it was diagnosed before he ever had an infection, and he’s been infection-free thanks to prophylactic daily antibiotics since he was a baby.  We do have to get every fever over 101.5 checked out with a doctor, but he’s been SUPER healthy for the past year.

The tests seem more difficult now that he’s older and can understand and fight against them somewhat.  It’s surely hard for this mother’s heart!  I can’t even imagine how other parents manage chronic illnesses with their children.  Anyway, we’ve done this each year since he was a baby, so we’ve come to know how it goes.  Funny moment at the end of the VCUG test… they have to fill his bladder with contrast dye through a catheter (that was the hard part), and then they take xrays to get pictures of the bladder/ureters/kidneys.  After the pics are done, he has to pee out all the contrast media, under the xray machine so they know that it’s all out.   So we finally convinced him to pee, and he peed and peed and peed (into a towel).  “That’s a wotta pee!” he said,  exactly what we were thinking!  His little iron bladder had held an entire bottle of contrast liquid, and so it was one seriously long pee to empty his bladder!

After the VCUG and ultrasound, we met with the doctor.  His reflux has improved from grade 3/4 to grade 2.  It looks like he’s slowly outgrowing this problem.  We’ll continue with the antibiotics, pray he continues to stay infection free, have one LAST VCUG test next year (hooray!!!), follow his kidneys on ultrasound 2x a year, and hopefully be done with antibiotics at age 5.   That’s the plan anyway…

This quiet Saturday had one of those unassuming moments I wish I could bottle up and keep close to my heart to remind me of everything that’s most precious to me. Brian was playing worship songs on his guitar, Analise was singing, dancing and wearing a feather boa and a tiara, placing a princess tiara on Brian’s head, and Josiah was singing and bouncing on his hopper ball. I was reminded of 8 1/2 years ago as he proposed to me with his guitar, singing my favorite Bebo Norman song, just the two of us under a sunset sky on the edge of Lake Hartwell in Clemson, SC. We’d never have imagined this moment in all it’s sweet quirky details!

Brian was singing an old worship song (from a CD called The Burn Service) called “Surely Goodness and Mercy” with the words of Psalm 23.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

The song says, “My cup, it overflows… with love, peace and joy.”  That line just summed it up.  The beauty of being here with my family, seeing them dance, laugh, sing, bounce, make music… my cup, indeed, overflows.

Brian continued with another favorite song of his to play from Psalm 36, “Your Love Reaches Me”.  I realized as we sang the chorus how true it is…

O Lord, how priceless is your unfailing love!

It was glorious.  Simply glorious to sing those words and revel in their truth in the middle of the bouncing, dancing, twirling, sweetness of this evening.

What a fun, fun day! Rocky Ridge Elementary’s Boosterthon Fun Run was a fantastic event for kids and family to be involved in. I was so proud of my sweet Analise! They’d come through the start line, stop to get a mark on their shirt for each lap, and then she would take off running again, even when most kids were walking. On the little Boosterthon “Speedway” (1/16th of a mile), her 33 laps were more than 2 miles of running… and all with a smile on her face!  And I’m so thankful for all our family who generously supported her.  This was one of my favorite school fundraising events!

We just got back from Analise’s Boosterthon Fun Run. What an event! She was SERIOUS about running… while some of her classmates ran around 25, Analise ran 34 laps! I’m so proud of her! Enjoy these iPhone pics!

Today’s a big day! The Minnesota Twins are playing the Yankees in the game 2 of the playoffs… Woohoo! AND today Analise is running in the Boosterthon Fun Run at her school, their main fundraiser for the year. She’s done a great job of calling people and asking them to pledge for the laps she’s going to run. She’s had a blast making the phone calls herself and reaching different incentive levels. We so appreciate all who have supported her.

So she’s decked out in her Minnesota Twins shirt for running. Josiah, Grandma, Grandpa and I are going to cheer her on. Look for more pics!

I’m wayyyyy behind on posting pics, but hopefully this will bring a smile to Grandma Sandy’s face!  I always look forward to her extended visits during the summer.  We have fun with the kids, and she’s a great motivator to get little projects done around my house.  Here’s some cute pics of her and the kids, as well as a couple of the projects we finished.

I’ve had this project half-done for a YEAR now, and we finally finished it.  These silhouettes are from this post, and I’m really pleased with how they turned out! My friend, Jane, also did a set of these for her girls when I was in Nicaragua.  A fun keepsake project!

We finally took down the jail (cute baby Analise pic alert in that link! AKA the hearth gate that blocked the fireplace), and mom helped me fashion a simple padded bench.  The fabric matches the pillows on the couch… and it will not show crumbs/dirt 🙂

We also put up a custom wording from Upper Case Living that I ordered last year.

Analise pulled out her lacing cards this afternoon, which she hasn’t played with in months… or maybe even since Grandma Sandy was here last year!  She said, “It’s been like a week since I played with these!”  She’s just finally caught on to the go up from the bottom/go down from the top to “sew”.  I was impressed.

She was really excited about the lacing cards, though, and said, “I’m going to sew with Grandma Sandy! And you’re going to… do chores!”  Haha.  Sounds like fun.  Maybe Grandma Sandy and I can at least work in a trip to Kohl’s around all my chores…

(This post is going to be filled with randomness, as that’s the status of my mind today, this week, this month… come to think of it, this year!)

Analise has also reached another wonderful developmental milestone.  She hopped on a swing, got herself going, and started pumping her legs, swinging completely independently.  Honestly, this is an exciting achievement!  It means that my work on the playground just got much easier… or at least divided in half.  Between potty-training and swinging, it’s serious freedom for a mom 🙂

I do have pictures from our Out West Adventure in the works.  At the moment, it’s an open folder on my desktop with my favorites.  But currently, there are more than 80 of them, not counting Corrie’s and Michelle’s from our visits with them.  I’ll try to pare it down to less than 50 for your enjoyment 🙂  Actually, I’ve got coupons for photobooks that expire soon, and so that may happen before they get uploaded here…  Or not.

But Grandma Sandy’s coming tomorrow, and we’re going to have a great visit with her this next week!

I swear… my kids are so cute.  Well, Josiah’s cute, but Analise is beautiful 🙂  We had photos taken this week (and Analise isn’t quite 5, but she’d excitedly tell you there are 3 more days!!!), and I’m so pleased at the way they turned out.