Soccer anyone?

Whatcha been up to?

Well, I'm potty-training Brooke. But its hard when we have to take her somewhere so it only was for a 1/2 day today. I'm hoping to have her trained (knock on wood) soon. She has figured out not to pee every 10 minutes in her underwear now.

Jacob had soccer today and I helped coach. I know nothing about soccer, but I do know how to give positive support to the kids. And I'm good at giving high fives.

Sam turned 8 this week and we had his birthday party today. Its so nice to be able to sit down and let the kids play in another room.

Then Katie and Sam came over for a few hours and played with the kids. Its nice to have a few extra hands to clean up.

Scott is gone on a boys weekend and will be back tomorrow. He's been working a lot of hours and this is a well-deserved break. I'll take my break over mother's day. :)

I really like this warm balmy 30s and 40s weather we are having here. But we're supposed to have a snow storm tomorrow. And its daylight savings time. More like, momma loses an hour of sleep or something like that.

Chlorine hangovers

This was a busy weekend.

Saturday my church had a "Winter Flurry", which was a big carnival for the kids. I took the kids and we had fun. The babies didn't exactly like to play the games by the rules set out, but hey, they are 2. Matthew found Jim and Amy by the bowling game and stayed with them to "help" set the pins up and also throw balls at them.

Jacob didn't want to wander far from me and it was hard going from game to game without the other two monkeys getting into trouble. Grabbing at the prize boxes, getting in the way of the game and just other general mayhem.

But we survived and even had ice cream sundaes and John won mini-cupcakes, Jacob won Doritos and a Gatorade and Matthew won a matchbox car.

Then I took my niece and nephew Katie and Sam back to our house and picked up Scott along the way to go swimming at the YMCA. We got into the pool and the babies just wanted to stand at the edge or splash their hands and feet. Finally after a half hour John was the first to really want to start swimming and he used my arm as a floatation device. Then Matthew joined in. I was so lucky not to get kicked or punched anywhere. I took those two in to get showered. Brooke stayed back by Katie and Scott where she finally got into swimming.

Hilarity ensued getting all the kids showered and dressed. There was a family in the locker room with us with three kids (they were in the pool at the same time as us too). She finally asked at the end, "do you have four or five children?" I said "Six, but only four are mine." She said that she was so impressed at how I handled all the kids and everything. Which made me laugh. I told her it was my husbands first time swimming with all the kids and I don't know if he'd think it was so fun and easy.

But we do what we have to do as parents to give our kids the best start in life. They need to learn to swim just from a safety standpoint. But they also need to learn to get out and hold hands, listen to mom, and how to act in public. These are great childhood memories that I hope they will remember and appreciate. Or, since I blogged about it, they can read it down the road.

So then Scott took the triplets home because they had not had a nap and were tired. I took Jacob, Katie and Sam to Culvers to eat and then we headed back to the YMCA for "Family Night". They had inflatables set up and a bunch of other stuff. Sam and I played basketball, which he swears he beat me by two points. The game is formally contested and will be disputed this week.

THEN, we went home, set up cots in the living room and they watched the Transformers movie and fell asleep while I went to see Twilight with a couple of friends.

A few things I'd like to get off my chest.
The book is ALWAYS better than the movie. The movie is good but the book explored the characters more deeply, set up situations for later scenes.

I didn't like some of the special effects of movie. In the book, the vampires "shimmer" in sunlight. The "shimmer" stunk in the movie. There were some very important lines that were dropped between Edward and Bella that really solidified their relationship and defined who they were as characters.

And, I cannot believe that a movie costs $9.00. And the popcorn combos were all like, $10.00 to $15.00. So if I went with a date, the movie and concessions would have cost me $30-35.00. Wow. I can't believe that cinemas are still doing well in this economy.

Callaway Christmas letter

This is the Christmas letter I sent out with all the cards. So consider this your letter...



It is less than a week away from Christmas and I am just getting around to sending out Christmas cards.

This year has been plagued by hospital visits and sickness. Since this fall, the kids and I have had a couple of colds, John has had two ear infections and Brooke and Matthew have had one. Luckily this was the first time since they were born that they got ear infections.

Jacob goes to 1/2 day kindergarten and a full day on Wednesday. He acts like he doesn't want to go to school (and will frequently tell me that he's sick or got a fever in the morning), but he seems happy once he gets there. I was surprised to find out recently that he is reading. Its amazing the things they do in kindergarten now versus when Scott and I were in kindergarten.

Jacob has had an interesting year with hospital visits too. He "ground" off part of his thumbnail on the grinder in spring and then a few months later cut the tip of a finger off on the boat trailer. (Long story) He has recovered very well and his index finger is only a little shorter than the other finger on the other hand.

Matthew had stitches in his thumb in February as he got into a childproof cabinet and broke a bowl.

John has some graphite in his temple due to getting a little bit too close to Brooke. That was the first and last time I gave them pencils.

I had carpal tunnel surgery in October on my right hand. It’s been interesting trying to take care of the kids while nursing a bum hand.

On a happier note, Scott, his dad, and Jacob discovered an old hobby this past summer. Fishing on Lake Michigan. Yes, Jacob would get up with the boys at 3 a.m. and go fishing on Lake Michigan. They had a lot of fun catching trout and salmon.
Even though some things will not get done before Christmas, the most important gift I can give the children is telling them of Jesus’ birth. We’re starting a new tradition and having a cake for Jesus’ birthday.

A Matrix re-take

I had a dream last night that was so weird and bizarre, that I can hardly believe its My dream.

It was like the movie Matrix where people live in one world and then enter another odd and bizarre world.

I was myself and others in the dream were people I used to work with when I was just out of college. We'd go to this "bar" and then walk through this door onto an elevator which took us to another dimension. And people were trying to kill me and the others and my mission was to save this little girl who was 2 or 3.

And to add to the bizarreness of this dream, I did not take anything to help me sleep or any muscle relaxers before bedtime. So I had this dream all by myself without the help of medication.

So anyway, I made the traditional Pumpkin pie and Sour Cream Apple pie tonight for tomorrows dinner. I love Thanksgiving for a couple of reasons. My moms crescent rolls, family, pies and whip cream, and ads for Black Friday. I don't even know why those excite me because I don't go shopping in the stores. I do all my shopping on-line which is already done. Gymboree started their 30% off and I got to use my 20% off coupon too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween pictures

Trying to get six, seven, eight or nine people to look at the camera, not cry, not make funny faces, blink or poke someone is like trying to catch water with your hands.

Whatdoyathink?

We took the kids to the park today to get that good ol' Christmas card picture. So whatdoyathink? Which one would you "vote" for?

Parenting for dummies

I'm not doing so hot with posting every day. Its because either it was user error or the laptop wasn't cooperating with the router. I would like to think it was the router.

I read a report the other day that the oldest children in a family tend to have higher IQs and attend better colleges or something like that.

I'm beginning to see in our own family that being the oldest child isn't always easy. For either us parents or the child. I think I tend to be tougher on Jacob and expect him to set an example for the babies. But on the other hand, I had more time with him, spent more time teaching the ABC's, counting, did everything by the textbook. (Until the babies came, that is.)

Tonight, Jacob wasn't listening to Scott and I. He was intent on doing his own thing. Finally, Scott put a marble in the sad jar and then Jacob got up off the couch to help us. Sometimes, I just want to ignore him ignore me. The "Pick your battles" thing that's in all those parenting books.
But with him being the oldest, there are three pairs of eyes on him and what he does. If I don't make him listen to me the first time I ask him to do something, the other kids will know that they can wait until mom asks three or four times.

I know if I don't make him listen and respect me now, it will only get worse.

And then this week when my mom was over. My nephew Sam and Jacob were goofing around. Mom said something to them and then Jacob and Sam were whispering to each other and then Jacob said, "I hate Grandma" out loud. So my mom could hear.
This devastated my mom. I got home a few minutes later and made Jacob apologize and give Grandma a hug. Then we had a talk about hurtful words. I put a marble in his sad jar, but I knew that something else should happen. He probably should have gotten 20 marbles in sad jar and be grounded from fishing, the boat and some of the toys he likes.
Actually if I would have been there I would have washed out his mouth with (liquid) soap. I remember that being a good deterrent growing up.

Parenting is hard. Parenting is only going to get harder. I know that God will give me the tools I need to raise thoughtful, loving, Christian children.

Hot air balloon pics

Here's the lowdown on the ruckus the triplets have caused.

Saturday - Triple paste was found in the hands of one triplet and in the hair of the other two.

Sunday - One triplet went exploring and a board fell on his toe. Blood. While triplet mom was fixing his toe, other two triplets were drawing with chalk in the minivan.

Monday - One exploring triplet took his ride-on toy next to the cupboards in the kitchen and used it as a stool to get triplet mom's margarita which he spilled everywhere.

Tuesday - Would Tuesday be any better?

Triplet dad was watching the kids and triplet baby in diaper was digging out pieces of excrement. Triplet dad and triplet mom cleaned up floor and triplet baby.

Children are really no different than animals. Really.

My hats off to Katie. My niece is 9 and she really helps out with the kids. She dresses them, she can change them, she can get them to mind. She's a mini-mom. I wish she could be with me everyday.

Popcorn stealer

I already posted once today, but I HAVE TO blog about my Johnny. Oh, special Johnny.

We get to Bay Beach (local amusement park) and the first ride was decided. The kids were going to ride the "race cars" which are cars that go are on metal bars that go around in a circle. The kids each picked their race car. John was touching one, but as soon as Shell Dinter put him in it. I mean, tried to put him in it, he became stiff and uncooperative. So, he wasn't ready to go on a ride.
As went the rest of the night. John would run into the ride area when the gates were opened, but never wanted to get in. So each time I'd ask for his ticket back.

Then Shell Dinter took Katie and Jacob on the Ferris Wheel and I had the three monkeys. I had three 2-year olds and only two harnesses. Soooo, I put the harnesses on Brooke and Matthew and carried John since he's the lightest.

We sat at a bench right near the ferris wheel eating snackwell cookies and mini-Oreo cookies. (Its the fifth food group that really isn't talked about much in health class) A lady was sitting next to us with a newborn in a stroller. She had some popcorn that she asked me if the kids could eat popcorn. So she offered some and John sat by her and ate 3/4 of the lady's popcorn. Brooke was more interested in cookies and Matthew just stared at the popcorn, but didn't seem interested. So fast forward to the end of the ferris wheel ride for Shell Dinter, Katie and Jacob. Shell spies us down below and sees John eating out of this ladies popcorn and starts laughing. I'm sure it was a funny site, this child eating a stranger's food.

I don't think John wanted to leave because he liked "sharing" this woman's popcorn.

A moving force

I had a lot to say all day, but didn't write it down.

A story that I had meant to tell, but forgot. (Foreshadowing) We have some next-door neighbors that are an old-retired couple. They are originally from a state that talks slower than we yuppers. One of the first things Scott did when we moved in was cut some branches that were hanging in our driveway from the neighbors tree. This tree is planted a foot from the lot line. He did go and talk to them about it. The guy made a comment like, "you have something against trees?" and we weren't sure how to take that. So each year Scott trims the tree parts that hang in our yard. And these branches are literally hanging in our faces and our cars hit them when we drive in the driveway.

This couple watches their grand kids every so often. These kids are ages 8 to 13. These kids have done the ding dong ditch to us. These kids aren't watched when they are outside.

Last year we put up a white vinyl fence in our backyard to keep the kids in. It also helps to keep everyone else out. It has one gate and we keep it locked for two reasons. 1) So the babies can't get out. 2) Deter nighttime visitors from entering our garage from the back.

These grand kids of the neighbors seem to always get a ball over in our yard when they are over. The neighbor is nice enough to come over and ask if they can go in the back yard to get the ball. I do appreciate that. But it seems like the kids keep hitting the balls over the fence when they are playing baseball. The ball they use is a smaller light ball that is normally used by toddlers for play. You know, those 97 cent balls from Walmart?
So last week, I had put the babies down and they were not falling asleep. And ding-dong, the neighbor rings the doorbell. Don't people universally know that at 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon not to ring the doorbell of a homeowner who has young children. Really? So they go get the ball. Five minutes later I see someone running in our backyard getting it again. More time elapses and I see a head and an upper torso of a kid leaning on our back fence. Not sure if they are trying to climb it or see over. Another kid runs and gets the ball.
Scott walks in the room a few minutes later and as I'm about to tell him this story, it happens again. Head and torso leaning on the top of our fence and a kid in the yard. Well, of course I flip out and tell Scott to go talk to them or I will (and it won't be nice).

Scott goes and talks to the kids. He told them to hit the other way, not towards our fence. And the ball keeps going underneath the fence the kids say. The ball isn't a normal softball or hardball, its those inflatable kind. There is NO WAY that it is going underneath our fence and traveling 30 feet into our yard. Light balls like that don't have that momentum. Well, unless someone is sitting right on the other side of the fence and batting it through. Hooligans.

Did this ever happen to you? Have you ever had a sore or pimple in your ear? It hurts like a, a, I can't say the word I really want to say. Actually its a three part word. I have one right behind that thing that sticks out in your ear canal. So of course it hurts if I lie on that side.

I took Katie, Sam, Jacob, Matthew, Brooke and John to Sam's Club today. Katie pushed Matthew in a cart and I had the other two monkeys. We were quite the interesting spectacle. As we were approaching the main aisle, I had to stop because another woman was in the main aisle and she had 7 or 8 kids with her. She called her group a "moving force." Which means, don't get in my way or we'll trample you.

So later as we were eating she went by with her litter and asked if the kids were all mine. I said four of the six were. And since she asked me, I asked her if they were all hers and she said yes. The thing I noticed after I asked was that she had a child of another race with her and I'm guessing that this woman adopted some of the kids or she's a foster parent. But seriously, I couldn't even count all the kids because they kept moving around so much. It was seven or eight though.

One of my proud moments today was at City Park in Appleton. I was pushing Brooke and she looked at Shell Dinter and said, "Shell". She normally doesn't point out peoples names. None of the kids do. Well, they will for mama and daddy and Jacob and Cosmo. That makes her family. Another cute thing is that Brooke and John have been calling Matthew, "Math". And now Jacob calls Brooke, "Brookster".

Very Interesting.

A new day

Today, I was all alone in my house for the first time ever. EVER. EVER! For two glorious hours I didn't have to listen for babies, take care of babies, be responsible for any two-legged things.

My sister-in-law and brother volunteered, no, asked!, to take the babies for the morning. So I dropped them off and was back at the house by 9 a.m. and I cleaned the downstairs toy box out. Seriously, this is a catch-all for anything. And one of my pet peeves is when, instead of putting the fisher price animals in the fisher price farm, they all get thrown in the toy box. If I, as an adult, would think twice before playing with something that doesn't have all the parts because I'd have to go find them, I'm sure that two year olds and a five year old feel the same way.

So I put all the constructions stuff in a sterilite box, all the fishing/hunting toys has a new home in its own box, all the play tools have their own home in a new box. All the Tinkertoy have been returned to their original container, all the matchbox cars put back into the car holders, all the train stuff put on the train table.

I want it to stay this way. Sooooo, I guess no one will be playing downstairs for awhile. I'm going to have to remind anyone that plays down there to put the stuff back where they found it.

So then, I picked up the babies, they got their Daisy dog fix, and we went through McDonalds drive through to get some cheeseburgers. Brooke ate a whole cheeseburger by herself. She loves cheeseburgers and hardly even eats the french fries anymore. Matthew on the other hands loves the french fries and really doesn't touch the hamburger. Not surprising because he has more texture issues and also takes awhile to try something new. (Sounds like another 5 year old in my house)

Then it was after one, I put the kids in bed and John, the ringleader, started jumping up and down in his crib and the other two monkeys followed. He was wound up so much I took him out and rocked him for awhile so the other two could fall asleep. I put him back and noticed that Matthews foot was through the crib slates. About a 1/2 hour later and into my nap, I heard some crying and it was Matthew. He couldn't get his foot out. Its what happens when you have wide and pudgy legs and feet.

So then we cuddled and I tried to get some more sleep.

After all the naps were done we went outside and I filled up the pool. Interestingly enough, Matthew is very comfortable in the pool. While John sat on my lap pressing against me until he felt comfortable enough to get in. Brooke isn't all that thrilled about the water. She doesn't mind it, she's goes in for a minute and then goes and plays something else.

We ate dinner outside and then I got the ice cream cones out. Amazingly, Brooke didn't want hers so John had two in his hands. He steps in the pool with the ice cream cones and he starts doing this dance. Matthew was in the pool with his ice cream cone and he starts dancing too. It was hilarious. I wish I had the video camera. We had a really good time outside.

Then during bath time, which didn't go so well, I noticed John started mouthing things, his arm, me and he was getting almost hyper. So I got out his chew toys for his oral issues and then he stopped licking me and his arm. Its really weird to have a child lick you. When I got him out of his crib after bath time he had licked his whole left arm. You got to wonder about him...

Partly Cloudy, Partly Sunny

You know when you have those mixed days? Those days when you realize that there has been forward progress made, but you can never go back to what was easier.

So today, I'm upstairs putting clothes away (which is a whole another story) and I heard the gate open. Thinking it was Katie or Sam, I didn't say anything until I heard the pitter-patter of footsteps. Little footsteps. And Brooke came running into Jacobs room and then ran out. I heard the gate wiggle and then open again and I walked out of the room just in time to see her close the gate all by herself and go down the steps.

The boys have no clue how to open the gate, but Brooke, she's detail-oriented and a girl. She's got a couple of good things going for her. I just knew when I brought her home that she'd be the first to try to sneak out of the house and I still don't think I'm wrong about her.

So now tonight, I have to clean up my spare room, which is Brooke's room, which has a hodge-podge of stuff all over. I need to put the little stuff away that they can't swallow or just wreck.

Why can't we just lock them up and leave them? Why do we have to let them spread their wings and learn to fly?

I'm a planner. I love for things to be orderly and done on my schedule. I didn't plan for this. I plan on keeping the crib tents on until they are three and keeping them in their cribs even after that. I'll just lower the one side so that it will be easier for them to get out, but they still won't fall out. By the time they are three I hope to have one potty trained and will be working on the other two. I don't want them out of their rooms at the crack of dawn because sleeping in is all I have left.

Come August 26th, Jacob will have to be school before 8:00 a.m. Which means that either Scott or I have to leave here by 7:30 a.m. to get him to school. Which means that I'll have to start getting up earlier and get Jacob ready to go to school. I have had four years of being able to sleep in to some extent. I guess my vacation is over.

Today Katie, Sam, the babies and I went to Target to pick up some Vanicream sunscreen for the adults and the babies. I had just heard that some chemicals in some of the sunscreens have some bad side effects. So I did a little bit of research and realized that zinc oxide is the safest physical blocker of the sun. It protects from UVA/UVB and all the junk. But Vanicream also has titanium dioxide in it which on some sites it says it is safer than the chemical blockers, but also may be linked to some cancer or DNA stuff. What to do, what to do?

Some of the "all-natural" sunscreen is so expensive. Since I have four very pale children, I go through a whole tub in about four or five applications. And since I'd like to stay looking like I'm 25, I've been using a whole bunch of screen too. And if you've seen my husband and happened to see him put on sunscreen, you know we really should buy it by the case.

After Target, the crew and I head over to Stride Rite. Matthew got new sandals less than a month ago and I don't like how they fit. I even mentioned it to the girl when she put them on and she said that they looked fine. But after watching him take them off all the time, I decided to see if they'd take them back, even though they were worn. I happened to pick a day when a girl was in training. I told her that I was unhappy with the fit, that they had been worn, etc... and she said that she was told that as long as they look pretty new and its before 30 days, I could exchange them. Whoohooo!

So we picked out another size 8 water sandals for my boy and we got next years sandals for Brooke.

Then we stopped at the pretzel place to get a bite to eat. Its in the middle of the mall where you sit and as I got back to the tables where the kids were, Katie said to me, "Everyone is looking at us." And I nodded my head and said that it happens all the time. People don't normally see triplets and its obvious in the stroller. I think we get more looks when I have more kids with me too. Because you know what everyone is thinking... God those kids are cute! Or maybe more realistically, God that's a lot of kids! Did you ever hear of birth control? And all those canned phrases.

Because before I had kids that's what I thought when I saw people with a bunch of kids. See what happens to ignorant people? They eat their words.

The Vacation

I'M BAAACK! I'm so happy to be back home. In my own house, using my own bathroom, my kids in their own beds, sitting on my own couch and touching a computer for the first time in seven days.

Last Saturday, I left in the van with the babies and Scott with Jacob in the truck towing the boat. I was getting sick. I could barely keep my eyes open during the trip, I'm not sure if its a cold or allergies or a bit of both. Pretty scary driving with your precious cargo when you're not feeling well. But I had a lot of caffeine and had the window open. No accidents that day.
The next morning I took the kiddos to Walmart to get some infant Tylenol, a tarp and some milk. On the way back, I wasn't feeling well, hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, my head felt like, like, like a block of snot. I pulled into our resort, and was careful not to drive on the grass. But in the meanwhile, I sideswiped my sister-in-laws SUV. Yep. Ahhuh. Read it again. I hit a car.

So with that said, get all your snide remarks out of the way. Lucky for me the taillight was just cracked on her car, but I have a nice four foot mark on mine. Now, if I had been feeling 100%, the likeliness of this happening would have gone down dramatically. This is just a great life lesson of not driving while impaired (even it is sick in the head).

So, each day Scott, my brother Jim, my nephew Sam and Jacob went fishing each morning, most afternoons and every night. So their vacation was probably pretty good. Jim and Scott found a fishing spot on Blue Lake that there were tons of small mouth Bass and were really fun to catch. They caught a bunch of them and they were 18- 21 inches.

The babies learned a lot of new words and loved spending time with Daisy the dog. Johnny especially. He would get down to Daisy's level (well, he'd bend over a bit) and then pet her and look her in the eye. Maybe he'll be an animal tamer. The next dog whisperer. Brooke said her first 3 word sentence. "Where dog go?" "No, dog, no!" And Johnny's every other word was Daisy.

The babies loved to roam around the resort. There were really nice playsets and Matthew surprisingly was fearless and would climb up them to go down the slide. Johnny decided after landing on his butt that he didn't really like a bruised bum. I'll post pictures in the next few days of our adventures.

Also, our vacation was riddled with sickness. I was sick first, then Matthew came down with a fever and a cough, then Brooke, then John (and the world ends when he gets sick), then my nephew Sam and then today Jacob woke up with a fever in the middle of the night. And then he threw up at the cabin. Yep. Ahhuh. Lucky for me the Green Machine was there to clean it up.

Johnny knew something was up and cried and screamed all morning so we left at 9:30 a.m. to go back to Appleton. When we got home, Grandma Callaway came over so I could run to the laundromat to do six huge loads of laundry (it was all I could fit in my van). Then, when Scott got home tonight, he brought home the rest of the laundry and I think I've done four or five loads with another two to go.

The babies somewhat enjoyed the beach and water. Matthew and Brooke liked playing in the sand and Matthew loved to tromp through the freezing cold water. But John would rather sit on my lap and cling to me. I don't think he was comfortable around the water. Or maybe because of the new situation, he wanted to melt into me.

Regardless, it was a MUCH better vacation than last year. I even got to read two whole books at night. I LOVE Janet Evanovich. She's hilarious. She's got a line of books - the Stephanie Plum series - that are just a hoot. Jacob asked me what the book was about. For those of you who know Stephanie Plum, its hard to describe to a five year old without being PG-13. So I told him I was reading a book about a girl who gets bad guys and puts them in jail who have been bonded out for their crimes.

Against the grain

I'm doing wordless wednesdays on Haiku fridays.

David Jackson Photos

We had a photo shoot a few weeks back and here are some of my favorites from the photo shoot.

Check out Dave Jackson's website. http://www.davidejackson.com/ He is our friend, but boy does he have tremendous talent. He's accredited by some fancy-dancy photography association in the U.S.A. and its a hard club to get into.

The picture of John and me. Dave captured our relationship in one picture. This picture tells the story. It brings tears to my eyes.

I love this picture of Brooke. You can see the lightness of her eyes. And the barrette I made for her hair.

Jacob, keeper of the babies.

ER - the sequel

Its going to be a long one, so go grab something to drink, sit in a comfy chair and hold on.

Not in chronological order, but in order of importance.

I got a call at approximately 7:45 p.m. from Scott who was at his parents house. He said, "Could you come over and take Jacob to the hospital, he cut the tip of his finger off." So, luckily Luann and Mark had stopped by and I told them I had to take Jacob to the hospital and ran out the door. I sped all the way over to Grandpa and Grandma Callaways.

Jacob was crying and he had a rag on his finger. Scott showed it to me and maybe a 1/4 inch of his finger tip was cut off. It looked hamburger raw. Scott was moving the trailer which has a swing tongue and at the same time Jacob put his finger in the hole, which line up with the swing tongue to hold it in place when its straight. (Imagine a cigar cutter) Ouch.

So I sped all the way to the hospital - which I am very familiar with. I had been there once in February with Matthew, once for myself in March, we skipped April and now the third time in May. Jacob cried and shrieked all the way there.

So, knowing that waiting would make it worse, I wrote down on the 2 inch by 2 inch area to describe why we were there - cut the tip of his left finger tip off. I could have put, laceration to the finger, but I wanted to get in since Jacob was having a melt down in the ER.

We had such nice nurses. They were very caring and told him that they knew he was scared and it would hurt, but they had to look at it so they could make it better. The doctor was very nice too for the 30 seconds we saw him. We were in and out of the hospital in less than 40 minutes.

This will be described in unmedical terms. They put this piece of foam over the tip that was cut to help promote the growth of skin and stop the bleeding. Then they wrapped this gauze stuff over his finger and then put this metal thing that goes from the base of his finger to cover the tip so if he bumps his finger, he won't re injure it. Then they put this sticky gauze over that to keep it in place.

They also gave him Motrin with Codeine (bless them) to help with the pain.

Now for the normal Callaway stuff. Jacob set up a boat show today at the house. He made a sign and had Scott write on the sign, "Boat Show, please put money in bucket" or something like that. He put the minnow bucket and sign on the mailbox so people could pay and then come see the boat. Very entrepreneurial.

Brooke keeps taking her pants off. I have to be creative when I dress her because if her pants are elastic, she takes them off and tries to run around naked. We went outside today after dinner and they played on the swings and went down the slide and take everything out of the toy box for me to put back in later.

Then Aunt Julie and Uncle Kelly came over to drop off some stuff for the rummage sale and they played with the babies in the front yard. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.

Because of this emotional roller coaster and lack of self-regulation, we stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home from the hospital. Jacob had an ice cream cone and I had a small (small is somewhat a self-regulating move) doublestuff Blizzard with Reese's Peanut Butter cups and fudge covered cookie dough. It filled my emotional needs, but I may still have a drink too.

The Hangover

After the big day, I'd say we all had a sugar hangover. The babies were super whiny today when I was around. But when I was gone, they were fine. Its nice to know I'm needed. But I wish they'd learn to verbalize their feelings more.

Matthew is learning his numbers. Well, they all are, but he counts the most. He's so darn cute when he does it too. He looks at his fingers and counts twoooo, foooor, fieee, ninnnneee. Luann and Mark have been teaching them to count. He or John will count their cars too. Its just another sign that they are growing up. The really funny thing is that at that age Jacob was much more interested in counting than the alphabet. Looks like Matthew will be the same way.

I'll be calling the doctor tomorrow to get in for Jacob's thumb. When I looked at it tonight, it may be infected where the nail came off. Its so hard for him to keep it out of water and probably keep it clean. Its wrapped up good, but I could tell it had gotten wet and was all wrinkly and gross. I'm not going to even tell him until we get to the dr's office. He will freak out. He does not want to look at his thumb, much less have it touched.

Sam was helping Matthew find Easter eggs.

Two of the sweetest children on earth. Matthew and my niece Katie.

Look at our vacuum cleaner. It looks like we never empty it, but it gets empty almost every time I use it. Notice I say, "I" not we. Lots of dust and cat hair. And cheerios. And raisins. And cracker crumbs.