Dog days of summer

It has got to be at least 300 degrees outside right now. Our little a/c unit is the little engine that could. It stopped working one night and it was definitely a sweat fest. But thank goodness for a quick fix, it was working by 8:30 the next morning! God put me in this generation for a reason. He knew my little whiney pansy self couldn't handle it in any other.

So besides packing up the kids with 10 floaties, towels, and sunscreen and heading to the pool, what else can you do to survive this heat that just takes your breath away? You slap a $10 inflatable pool in your backyard and let them run wild. I swear my kids love our $10 pool more than our neighborhood pool. It's like how they love the packaging and wrapping paper more than they love presents.

This had to be one of our most comical nights of backyard play. I hate wasting swim diapers just when they're playing in our backyard, so I just put Campbell in his swimsuit. I don't know what it is about this boy and playing in our inflatable pool that makes him have the urge, but it's almost just expected now. Last time though we caught the "warning" face first and ran him to the bathroom. It was a milestone...first poop in the potty! This time we tried to do the same but no luck. Sure enough, minutes after having him go try, we were busy filling up the pool. Suddenly, my poor baby looked like Pigpen from Peanuts but only with flies all around him. We did what any other normal parent would do…

This photo makes me laugh out loud…everytime. This poor boy doesn't even know what kind of blackmail I'm stashing away for his girlfriends.

So after we dealt with Mr. Poopy Pants, we went on with our fun. Which included giving the dog a bath. Poor Bandit hasn't had a bath in probably a year (or more).

First things first: get wet!



Then start scrubbing and rinse again.



Uh oh, here comes big brother who wants his turn.


And don't you just love how comforting big brother is…

But wait…it's time for the shake off!

And just like that, all is forgotten and life is good again.

Looks like Dad worked up a sweat. Nolan decides to cool him off.  I love how he's "cooling" him off but the water is going on both sides of him.



Pool time!

Our all-star doesn't take a break and practices his swing.



And it doesn't even matter if he's hit it or not because he looks like this when he does it.

Once again, I forget my troubles, the sink full of dishes in the kitchen, the blistering heat and all I can feel is the warmth of my heart.

Superhero to the rescue!

In a house full of boys you can only imagine the amount of bruises, bumps and boo boos that happen in our household. I had to get really creative really fast on how to distract them from their melodramatic ways after every little bump. First it was the boo boo train, a handy little ice pack we put in our freezer for those boo boos that are bigger than just mommy's kisses can cure.

But I resorted to spanking...hear me out. Spanking whatever it was that hurt them. Walls, chairs, floors, and especially those pesky toys have all be spanked in our house plenty of times. Works like a charm every time. Oh, and having a brother with superhero strength spanking skills always helps too.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I can't get Nolan to take this costume off. Justin even let him wear it to Chick-fil-a one night on one of their boys' nights. You can't help but smile.

"Today"

My sister's recent diagnosis has really put things into perspective for me in more ways than one. The sound of my boys' laughter makes my heart smile even more than it did before. Time with girlfriends to "getaway" are cherished and I soak up every minute. And when I hug Justin, I can feel both of us holding on longer. People cutting me off in traffic and our air conditioner going out on the hottest day of the year, really make me stop in my tracks, and think if it's really worth my energy to get upset.

Right now, I can't get enough of family time. I just soak it up like a sponge. It's a good thing that I'm off this summer because I'm really needed this time to process all of this and focus on my family. I know that school is right around the corner, but for now I'm grateful for "today" and all that it holds.

"Today" he smiled. It truly melts me everytime. Is there anything better? Actually, yes, the giggle that goes with it. It's just the cherry on top. 

"Today" I noticed the sweat that fell down their brows and made their hair look like they just took a bath and it made me so grateful that they are healthy boys who love to run around and be kids.

"Today" I saw through their eyes. Everything was exciting, everything was special…just like they are to me.

"Today" I'm reminded that I married a true partner in parenting whom I love more than I could ever say. And even if it stings a little, I love that they're more into to daddy right now than mama. Can you blame them? He's way more fun than me.

"Today" though,  mama's not too bad either.

"Today" I'm taken back by how much they've grown. How is that they've grown so fast right in front of my eyes and in pictures like these, they look years older? And just like that boyhood comes in without knocking and asking my permission.

So "today" is my favorite day. I think I'll have another favorite day again today.

Can you stand it?

Ok, another museum post. Can you stand one more of them? Sorry, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do to survive the summer. We've actually only been twice this summer after our nightmare last time. After promising Nolan at least 20 times that we wouldn't watch the scary movie, he was game to go along with us.

This time, I went with my best friend Angi and we were brave enough to take four kids by ourselves (she has twins). I can honestly say that it was fun. There were no beatdowns, no tantrums…from any of them! Just goes to show you that if you keep kids busy and on-the-go that the day goes smoother, even if you are exhausted at the end of the day.

The best part is that Angi's husband, Chris, gave Reese a stern talk about Campbell making any moves on her while we were at the museum. Well, looks like I need to be having talks with him about Reese making the moves on him. She had a serious crush, but can you blame the girl? She has good taste.

Reese going in for the kiss

We first went to the Tinkertoy room and our kids could have stayed there for two hours. It's amazing how long scissors, paper and blocks can entertain children. Nolan AKA Edward Scissorhands could literally cut with scissors 24 hours a day. So this room had him in his scissor zone. 

love sweet little Reese's hand in this picture helping him

We wandered outside and stayed out there about 10 minutes before this mama was "glistening" just a little too much from the heat. But the kids of course didn't seem to notice because they were playing with water. 

And we finished up with a trip to the kids grocery store, but it was getting really close to lunch time and you could tell they were getting worn out. Campbell got his glazed look on his face that he gets when he's super tired. It looks like this…

I'm so glad that we got a chance to bring a friend with our membership. It really made it more fun to share the benefits. 

My sister's keeper

My world has just been flipped upside down in a month. It's so hard to type the words. It's this irrational thought that I have. Maybe if  I don't type them, then somehow it won't be true. It won't be my new reality. So I just have to say it. 

My sister has cancer.

I'm hurting. I'm hurting for my sister. I'm hurting for her pain that she's about to encounter. I'm hurting for my mom and what this must feel like to have this happen to your child. I'm hurting for my brother-in-law and how he's going to manage taking care of a sick wife, three girls, and an autistic son. I'm hurting for my nieces and hate that they're dealing with this at such a young age.

I got a call from her in the middle of June saying she found a lump when she was putting on deodorant one day and brushed against her breast. It was one of those "you better go and get that checked out" conversations. She was so diligent about getting it looked at right away. 

She went to have a mammogram and they knew right away it was cancerous. The weeks that followed consisted of test after test. The biopsy confirmed it. A mastectomy was to be scheduled soon and followed up with chemo a month later. I just wanted it out of her. The surgery couldn't be scheduled fast enough.

We made light of the situation as much as we could. "You're going to look so hot. You'll have a sassy wig with cute new perky boobs."

A glimmer of hope surfaced when we got back results of the CT scan. It looks like Stage 2 and it's contained. Relief…momentarily. They wanted to do a PET scan just to make sure these tiny spots on her lungs weren't anything. Panic began to creep in even more. We had to wait another week. We prayed and prayed. My goodness, did we ever pray. 

My motto has been be strong, be positive…for her. I would talk to her on the phone and one day on the phone, it just hit me. 

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. Be strong for her. The tears welled up so much my jaw began to ache. The harder I fought it, the more the tears came. And she heard it all, every blubbering sob. 

Then, last night our worst nightmare was confirmed. It's in her lungs…both of them. And the PET scan saw that it's actually in her lymph nodes. And just like that, she went from Stage 2 to Stage 4 in a week. Surgery is canceled. There's no time to wait, we need to do chemo right away. How did this get so serious, so fast?

I think I cried for hours yesterday. I've been a mess. 

I wish so much that I was one of those women that could take trials gracefully, but I just might be the most ungraceful person when it comes to life's challenges. I break into the ugly cry at the drop of a dime. I cuss. I yell at my children for no reason at all. I'm a wreck and there's nothing about me that's strong or graceful.

I just want to play fast-forward on the tape of my life and see that everything is going to be okay, and I made it and she made it. How do you go on with "regular" life when your life has been flipped upside down and this is all-consuming? 

Here's not what to do. DON'T google "My sister has cancer" because that will totally give you a panic attack. Bad idea, very bad idea.

Yesterday was a lot of questioning. How do I help? What does this mean? Do I call her everyday? Does she feel enough support from me? Am I being the best sister I can be?

Then I came across this quote and it's my new motto:

"Cancer is a word, not a sentence." 

I'm not going to let it be all-consuming. She's not just my sister with cancer. She's my "Hey come over and let's bake cookies with the kids" sister. She's my "Do you want to come watch Nolan play t-ball?" sister. She's my "The kids are driving me crazy, did this happen to you?" sister. She's so much more than cancer. It's a word and nothing more. 

I'm scared. Cancer is what happens to grandparents and strangers…not to my 39-year-old sister and mother of three girls. The fear is almost paralyzing. 

If I'm feeling scared, I can only imagine her anxiety and I started thinking how can I help her make it through that? Several of you have asked if there's any thing you can do and there is. I desperately need your help. I'm not one to beg for comments on my blog but I'm shamelessly begging for them now. I want to give her story after story about survival, about people who've made it. I don't care if it's your neighbor's dog's 2nd cousin removed. SHARE IT!  Not just breast cancer, any kind of cancer. 

I've heard from others who've gone through chemo that it's going to feel like they're killing her rather than helping her when she's going through chemo and radiation. I want those feelings of utter despair to be suppressed as much as possible with a book she can open with stories of survival and hope. 

So please send me your stories. Comment at the bottom of this post or if you want them private, send it to me directly. Please only share positive and uplifting stories/advice that can help and encourage her to fight for her life. 

And there's one more thing. Pray. Pray and pray and pray. I am such a firm believer in the power of prayer and what it can do. I will continue to keep everyone updated on how she's doing. I found such a great quote that reminds me to "Let Go and Let God". 

Every evening I turn my worries over to God.  He's going to be up all night anyway.  ~Mary C. Crowley

But for now, I'm going to go to have a fabulous weekend with my "let's go to Six Flags and scream like teenage girls on rollercoasters" sister.