Scoutmamma Sez

I don't know why but it's funny to me to see how different my kids are. Matthew is growing it seems. He was a little chunky but seems to be thinning out. He's catching up to me in height. Now I'm not tall at all but it's strange to have a child almost as tall as you. He was always on the shorter to middle in height in his class. I wonder how he "measures up" now. He has dark hair and eyes and gets so tan in the summer. Now Michael. He's a chunk. Just a solid boy. He had his Kindergarten check up yesterday. The Ped. wanted to see where he was on the charts because he does look chubby. Well his height was at the top of the chart too so he was all in proportion. I guess he already looks like a football player at 5. As the doctor said, we need to watch it so that we keep it all in proportion. He has light colored hair although it's getting darker. His eyes aren't the deep dark brown that Matthew has. These boys looked so much alike when they were babies and now they don't. Then you throw in Melanie. She has this long and lean look. She was never chunky like the boys. Her hair, what little there is of it, is light like Michael's. She's just different from them.

It's fun watching them grow and change. It's neat to see all the similiarities and differences in them. I can see characteristics from both sides of the families in them. Two families coming together to make these incredible kids. What an awesome thing to get to see. I am very priviledged.

Whew. I've had a tough week. I didn't think it would be that way. Todd was going to be gone for the week. He had District Executive training in Daytona. I knew that it would be a long, tiring week but no big deal. I figured wrong. It turns out Melanie got croup really bad Sunday night. I took her to the ER and they said Bronchitis. Nope. She didn't get any better. Take her to the Dr. on Monday. Todd has left by now. After treatment the dr thinks we need to admit her to the hospital because the treatments aren't working and her stridor (breathing) is really bad. Todd comes back for the night and then has to leave to finish training. Then Michael comes down with it. Have to take HIM to the doctor. Luckily he didn't need the hospital but there were some scary times. The kids seem on the mend and I survived. I guess I'm stronger than I realized. Ever since Matthew got sick many years ago I tend to panic and not handle emergency situations very well. I'm proud that I did ok. Sure, when Michael was wheezing and the nurse said to bring him to urgent care/er I was starting to panic but I managed. He improved and we made it through the night. Through this experience I found out that we do have some friends here. People called to check on us. Even online friends were worried about us. I don't feel so alone after all. It's nice to know that people care about my family. I hope that I can share the kindness and the love to others too. I hope that I can develop some of these friendships and we can really start making some lasting relationships while we're here in Florida. Todd may have had the training this week but I also learned a few things.

Michael asks me this every now and then. Can you dot com Star Wars Cheetos? Can you dot com Spider-man? Basically he wants me to "dot com" whatever he is interested in at that moment. I find it funny that a just-turned-five year old has "dot com" in his vocabulary. Funny that he knows that it means to find something on the computer. Funny that 9 times out of 10 I can find what it is he wants. Did you know there are games about Pepperidge Farm Goldfish? Nestle Nesquik? Cheetos? I can remember when I was growing up and we had a Pong video game. Oh, the graphics! We had a Texas Instruments computer keyboard that hooked up to a tv. It was exciting when we had voice capability added to it. Technology is moving so fast. All of my kids know about the computer. Melanie hasn't played any games yet but she knows to move the mouse and click. She LOVES to do it when I'm at the computer. The boys aren't scared to sit in front of a computer. They've been playing games on it for quite a while now.

I wonder how it will be when they have kids. Will they remember back when they had to dot com in something? Tell their kids, we had to actually type in data? It will be interesting to see.

I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate my Dad's birthday today, April 17th. I don't say often enough how my dad is a good dad. He may not give a lot of hugs but he will say that he loves us. He has always supported me and my sisters in whatever we do. He seems to be well liked by his peers and I've heard more than once my mom say that he is a good man. I need to tell him how much I appreciate him more often. Time goes by so fast and before long I won't be able to tell him.

Thank you, Dad for being you. I hope you enjoy your special day. We love you.

I've been trying and trying to think of something to blog. There has been so much "stuff" going on right now. Some of it good, some of it sad. Therefore I decided I'm just sappy!

April is just such a hard month. Evidently not just for me but for others as well. There has been a lot of sadness around me. Others have experienced a loss or other hardship around this time of the year. Sometimes I think that spring is supposed to be a time of rebirth and renewal and that is not what I'm seeing. That is the sad part.

Then I'm reminded of some good things. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and supports me during this time. I get to celebrate my 2nd child's birthday this month, along with my husband's and both my parents. I'm blessed with a sweet, lovely, healthy family. That's the happy part.

I figure I'll just combine the two and call myself sappy.