Happy 4th of July!

We've celebrated all week long it seems! We enjoyed the Helena fireworks with great friends this weekend, shot of our own fireworks Monday night (with the Scoggins) while Daddy was off, and then we visited JNN to see Daddy and enjoy some good BBQ on Wednesday. JNN was rocking that day - Paul was a tired man when he got home.

Graham loves the fireworks, Catherine was unsure about them...

Everyone celebrated the parachute fireworks

Happy 4th Rob!

Graham picks the next fireworks to be lit. (Daddy did the lighting)

Rob is surprised!

We love sparklers!

Baskets of beans!

Farmer Graham picked us some dinner!

Rob's Eye - Update

Rob got a very good report from the doctor! All healed!

Dr. Anderson hopes this is an isolated incident. We have a few things to look for, however, to ensure this isn't an allergy or sleep issue.

Rob is thrilled to not have his eye ointment anymore. Thrilled!

How our garden grows...

Every morning is a new treat to see what is growing or ripening today. We are watching to see when the beans hit the gutter, and wondering how Daddy is going to get them!

Rob's Eye

Robert and Graham wish to share with you the picture from the "super cool glow-in-thar-dark" eye exam yesterday.

We took a picture so Rob could see. He was really left out of the excitement, even though he was the center of attention. Poor kiddo, he couldn't see the cool stuff because he was the cool stuff. In this picture, you see the black light at the bottom. The green is his eye. If it was green, it was torn tissue.

Little swimmers

Until our "eye incident" we've been swimming every day. Graham is now jumping in and loves - LOVES - putting his head underwater and looking through his "super awesome goggles." Rob prefers riding on the float with the "glass window" and kicking around. Life is good in the pool.

Look what we grew!

Tonight's dinner comes from our garden! (Not the chicken. We aren't growing chickens. Let us be more clear about this - we will never grow chickens!)

P.S. Paul says the long slender peppers, which we don't know what we bought, are very potent, very hot. So, since we have about 20 growing right now, we are giving them away! 

Rob Says "Eye, Matey!"

You know, if its abnormal, we probably have experienced it. Admittedly, we've been overdue for an adventure into the bizarre... we are all caught up now!

Rob has a torn eye ball. His eye lid stuck to his eye in his sleep and when he woke up, opening his eye tore the tissue of his eye. He has a tear that is like the equator around the earth, and some places are deeper than others. Its not a comfy condition. It requires an ointment, and yes, an eye patch at night. Devastating Rob, the eye patch does not look like a pirate. He really wanted a "tie around the head black eye patch." Last night he said what he has is "Not Cool, Mama!"

Here's the story...

Thursday morning, Rob woke up and adamantly declared, "My eye hurts." He rubbed that left eye, and we inspected... nothing. Rob very rarely complains of anything at all, so this has our attention. Maybe a headache? Maybe allergies? Maybe a sinus infection? (No runny nose, no puss, nothing that indicates infection. Hmmm.) Ibuprofen, allergy medicine and a kiss given, and we proceed to "watch."

Over and over we hear, "My eye hurts bad." He's turning out lights, staying in dark rooms, and finally lays down for a 3 hour nap. We leaned toward a headache, but nonetheless Googled symptoms and called the pediatrician's nurse. After he woke up in worse pain, we are off to the pediatrician.

Making us feel better a lot better about our perplexed worry, the sweet and wonderful pediatrician who squeezed us into her schedule scratched her head as much as we did. She was incredible. Incredible! She sat and talked to Big Rob, asking him to explain what exactly hurts and turned off the lights so he was more comfortable. After a few minutes, she tells me she's leaning toward a migraine, but wants to look to see if there is anything in his eye. Yes, preschoolers can have migraines!

Now we begin the first of many "awesomely cool" eye exams. After putting an orange dye into Rob's eye, the doc turns on a black light for an exam. This has greatly increased the cool factor of the day for Graham, Rob and Nick. She explains that anything that lights green is a tear. Well, there's a lot of green... Rob is diagnosed with a corneal abrasion and sent to our opthamologist.

Off to Montevallo to see our beloved Dr. Anderson, who, again, squeezes us in. Much to the delight of Graham, Nick and Parker, Dr. Anderson talks motorcycles, orcas eating great white sharks, and he lets all three boys look into Rob's eyes. Rob has great vision, but something is definitely wrong with his eye. After, again, the orange eye dye, we get to look into sweet Rob's eyes with a lot of different colored lights. This time, we discover its a little worse than a corneal abrasion...

I'm sorry, I didn't catch the official medical name for the diagnosis, nor doI believe I could even try to spell it correctly. By 4:30 yesterday I reached overload and when he was describing what happened my head was swirling with more questions, compromising my listening skills. In summary, Rob may have a dry eye issue which could be caused by a multitude of things: allergies, nature, swimming in the pool... that will be determined after we get this healed. In his sleep Wednesday, his eye dried out and his eye lid stuck to his eye. When he woke, as I described before, opening his eyes literally ripped his eyeball tissue. This can be heal on its on, but in some cases requires surgery to repair. We have an ointment that must be applied to the eye 4 times a day, and Rob despises it. He sleeps in an eye patch, which he ripped off in his sleep last night within about 30 minutes. We go back Tuesday to see how its healing. No water on the face, no swimming, and minimal sweating until then. Tears can help. We aren't purposefully making him cry, but we are getting plenty of tears when we apply ointment.

You haven't lived until you've tried to put a ribbon of ointment in a oversized and overly strong 3 year old's eye and tried to tape a pressure eye patch to his eye. Thus far, Mama has a chipped tooth, numerous claw marks, two bruises and a poked eye. The kid is scrappy; he doesn't go without a fight!

But, Rob hasn't complained of eye pain this morning. We are still keeping the house dark, but we're making progress! Say a little prayer for the big guy!

Fun times!

Our best buddies, Parker and Nick, came over to play with us yesterday. The house was demolished, so fun was had by all. I must brag on the behavior - they were angels and such good sports on our unexpected adventures. (See "Rob Says Eye Matey" for explanation) We are so glad to have such wonderful friends!

Nick would appreciate everyone checking out his blog: http://thenickwork.blogspot.com/. We've added a link on our friends and family blog links. The world is a very different place from when we were entering the 4th grade!

Things they say...

Here's a gem from Rob.

(Mommy painted her nails with a chocolate brown color.)

Rob: "Mama, your nails are brown!"

Candice: "Yes."

Rob: "Mama, poop is brown."

Candice: "Yes."

Rob: "Mama, is that poop on your nails?"

Candice: "No, Rob. It's just brown polish."

(Rob raises his brow and cuts his eyes to the side in his mischievous glare...)

Rob: "Mama, are you sure that's not poop on your nails?"

What we are reading...

Our most read nighttime story lately has been "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf. The story of the sweet bull who prefers to sit under his tree and smell the flowers rather than fight is a great lesson for little boys who learning to not fight. Graham thinks he likes to sit in the shade because it is summer and he is hot; Graham says he would rather sit in the shade, too! Rob thinks he likes the flowers because they smell good and maybe Ferdinand's mommy grows the flowers for him to smell. However, Rob wants to visit a bull ring and see a Matador (or Man-doo as he calls them). Each time we read, we find something new to like about this story.

What we parents didn't know is this 76 year old story was originally written as pacifist propaganda at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. It was initially banned after publication, but eventually became a "mucho" loved book published in many languages throughout the world. In schools, this text is currently being used with lessons to fight bullying. And, if you've seen The Blind Side you remember Sandra Bullock's character reads this to her children and decides Mike is Ferdinand. 

For more the source of some of these tidbits and more information, visit this NYTimes article about the 75th anniversary of this adorable book we love. May you not find yourself in a bullring but under a shady tree today!

Good morning, Rob!

In the early mornings, Mommy sips on coffee and works on school work on the patio. Frequently, she has a little buddy...

Our first tomato!

This small little gem is from our Roma plant. We've watched it turn for five days now, and Graham couldn't stand it any longer. It's plucked and will be eaten tonight!

Summer is hard work!

Shhh... they are sleeping! Summer fun can be hard work!

Summer is here!

Grilling out tonight we saw our first fireflies! Summer is here!

Things they say...

We are working on table manners. Tonight we were practicing taking two bites, wiping our mouth, and then sipping our drink. Repeat. Graham: "What if I starve to death before I get my drink down?" Rob: "If I have to burp, I'm gonna burp. Even if it's before its two bites." Mommy's lesson learned: don't teach table manners with spaghetti.

Our first harvest

We picked our first vegetables from our garden for dinner! Rob loves the yellow squash, just because its yellow!

Rob picks and shows off our squash

"Look, Mama, its as big as my head!"

How does our garden grow?

We are growing, growing, growing....  This is 8 weeks growth.

Tomatoes, green beans, squash and zucchini

Eggplants and peppers

Our classic tomatoes

What's going on this summer...

VBS - done!

Adventure days - one a week for the boys, if we do our chores.

School - Candice finished May term, has two classes in June, two in July.

JNN - Paul is working and managing the peeps, with a week vacation coming at some point in the summer.

Fun times at Alabaster City Fest

Saturday was Alabaster City Fest, which means friends, music, inflatables and fun! Thanks to Jim N Nicks and their catering for the bands, Paul received some VIP passes which meant we had an awesome time! Several bands took the stage throughout the day, including Everclear and Lonestar. Ashley spent the day with us, and the kiddos never stopped! Noah G and his Granny Sharon (our friends from the Holy Spirit) joined up with us, and we jumped and slid in every single inflatable they had until the sun went down. Graham did the Bungie Bounce, giggling the whole time. When he jumped the highest, we could hear him scream, "Look, Mama, I'm touching space!" Rob played the Strong Man game and smashed the bell with no help, but his absolute favorite was the carnival swing - he never stopped smiling. With the wonderful kiddos and beautiful weather, it was a great day! Here are some of our pics to share:

Rob, Ashley and Graham waiting for the band

Ashley and Rob start a cow/bat fight

Rob loves the swings!

Noah G played in the inflatables with us.

Rob paused for one whole second in the jump house

Rob plays the Strong Man game! Yes, he hit the bell!

Graham is ready to fly!

Graham on the Bungie Bounce