Toothless Wonder

In the span of a week, Grant has lost both of his front teeth!  I think he looks absolutely adorable like this! :)  There is just something about a kid with no front teeth that just makes you smile, isn't there?  Well, the first one he lost at school and calmly told the teacher he lost.  The second one he was at home after school with Brock and Grandma and just kept pulling until it came out....Now, I have to tell you that the tooth fairy took about 3 days to come for his first tooth, and Grant thinks there must be a lot of kids losing teeth and that she was really busy.  She finally came and the very next night he had another under his pillow....Do I even need to add that the tooth fairy is taking several days to come for this tooth???  He/she must be VERY busy, or is slacking off and going to bed too early or something????  Let's just hope she does remember to come eventually!  For Grant's sake.  He has been so patient though and just says, "Well, the tooth fairy must have been really busy again last night, she didn't come!"    Poor guy.  Oh, he still has 3 more pretty loose teeth too.  I told him he needs to learn the song, "All "I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth", but he thinks he wants more than that for Christmas this year! HA!

Basketball Boy

So, Brock comes home and tells us he wants to play 4th grade intramural basketball.  We explain to him that it is 3 nights a week, which means he must do homework right when he gets home so we can eat, go to basketball, take showers and get to bed on time (hopefully without fits).  He agrees to this and so we began practice a few weeks ago.  He has done very well and not complained about lack of play time, etc (for the most part).  Tonight was the long awaited night...the 1st Game!!!!  There is an A team and a B team.  Brock played on the B team, but was probably one of the best on the team.  He took off on the first play with the ball and dribbled clear down the court and shot and almost made it...Phil and I sat with our mouths gaped open.  We couldn't believe that was our son that just did that! :)   He played great and had a blast.  He came off the court a sweaty, stinky mess...but with a huge grin on his face.  The A team won by A LOT, but the other team was small so it was many of their A team playing against our B team.  The B team lost, but only by 1 point and the boys played great.  And again...the smiles coming off the court.  It was a fun time for all of us.  Well....Kiara didn't especially enjoy sitting for that whole time, but thank goodness she shifted between daddy, grandpa and grandma!  We are so proud of him!

Halloween and Pumpkin Fun

Time to carve the pumpkins!  This year was Brock's first year to completely carve his own pumpkin.  I was a little nervous about letting him use a sharp knife on his own (yes, I'm a protective mom), but he did GREAT!  (His is on the far right of the picture)He got a little frustrated that he couldn't get it perfect (just like his Paw-Paw), but the more he worked on it the better it got.  He did a terrific job. I was really proud of him.  Grant also worked some on his pumpkin.  He designed his face and then helped Dad do the cutting.  It ended up looking great too and he was very proud of it (his is the one on the left).  Kiara slept through most of the process of carving pumpkins, but came down at the end to get her hands in the pumpkin and even taste a bit, which she didn't like so much!  She liked taking the lid off and on the pumpkin and seemed to wonder what this was all about.  When Phil did hers he wanted to make it look like her with big eyes and 8 teeth, four on the bottom and four on the top!  It ended up looking a little creepy!

Time for trick-or-treating!!!!  I think Kiara couldn't quite figure out what was going and why she had to wear this pumpkin outfit, but she was darn cute if I do say so myself.  She hates things on her head or around her face so we were sure it wouldn't last, but she tried to push it off, it didn't slide off and so she left it alone pretty much the entire time.  When it was time to get it off, she was pretty happy though!  Here we are ready to go trick-or-treating just right around our neighborhood.  Brock ended up being

Annikan Skywalker (from Star Wars). He used Grant's costume from last year, so that was nice.  The face is so real with his blue eyes sticking out that it was almost eery when you looked at him.

Here are my three trick-or-treaters. Aren't they cute???  I think so!

Grant was Jengo Fet (Star Wars).  Don't ask me what/who that is, but the boys know and anyone who watches Star Wars knows!  His costume was really neat too, but the face mask didn't allow for his nose too well, so his little nose was smashed and by the end of trick or treating, his nose hurt and he wanted that mask OFF!

We ended our trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's house!  I love this picture.  It shows me so much more than trick or treat fun.  This picture to me shows the love that two brothers have for their little sister that even in trick-or-treating that she doesn't understand and they can't wait to get candy...that they love her enough to hold her hands and guide her through the process.  Sounds cheesy I know...but they are so sweet with her all of the time and so I just love this picture.

CAUTION...

Yes....CAUTION!!!!  If you want to read a happy, feel-good, praising God in the storm blog...do NOT read this one.  I need to just get some things out...and I'm totally okay if you don't read it! :)  So, I'm angry...angry at God, and just life in general right now.  Is it God's fault?  No, and I know that, but I don't know "who" else to be mad at...so He's getting the brunt of it right now.  Don't worry...I still love God, and know He is with me and helping me, and I know He will get me through this time...But I'm mad. And I've told Him that, so it's not a shock if He reads this :)  I just need to lay it on the line.  I'm mad about so many things right now stemming from the pain in my neck and head.  It's been consuming me and I'm hoping by laying it on the line...it will help me get past it and get back to trusting God completely again.  So here goes...an incomplete list of what I'm angry about because of the pain...
I'm angry that....

my family is bearing the brunt of this pain...
the pain in general that has lasted for 6 years...
i can't work out as i want to and have gained 5 pounds
i have to fake it all day at school to survive it
when i get home i can't seem to fake much more
i can't pick up my daughter without thinking of how my neck is going to feel holding her
i can't play football with my boys in the backyard because even throwing the ball hurts
that the pain has lasted 6 years
that i'm constantly at doctor's appointments instead of with my family
that my husband has to pick up A LOT of the slack around the house
every thing that i do, the pain is a factor in
people quote scripture to me that makes me feel guilty for being mad
that i am judged by other christians for my feelings
i have to drink clay because i'm so desparate for something to help me
there are days i spend more time with my chiropractor than my family
so much time of my day is spent to "treating" my neck...meds, icing, clay treatment, etc...
i don't sleep well because of the pain
i can't be the mom/wife that i so desparately want to be
that i've had pain for 6 years (yes, I've said that 3 times)
that i fake it so much that i'm okay
most people don't have a clue what it is like every day to deal with this (although I don't wish it
        on anyone)
by the time i go home, my energy is zapped completely
that i have become selfish and self consumed in my pain
my family suffers right along with me but in emotional ways
i can't just be normal and do whatever i want
everything i do has some level of pain in it, no matter how simple
that i've had pain for 6 years and we still have no "diagnosis"

There are probably so many more things, but that's what came to mind at this moment in time.  Yes, this was negative, but you know what....it feels good to get it out.  To purge it from my body.  I'm praying (yes, I'm speaking to God again) that this will help in the emotional/spiritual healing for me....I want to be that positive, God-praising lady from a few posts ago...I'll get there...I'm trying and I know the Lord is guiding me...Thanks for letting me spew my anger and hopefully it didn't bring you down.  That was not my intention...this was a purely selfish post...Pictures and positive things to come....