Sadness

For many reasons. The most trivial, but the one I notice every night when we had our TV date... we finished Alias. Now I have nothing to look forward to every night. Sigh. Huge sadness... we lost a dear sister in Christ on Sunday. Miss Linda, who used to watch Caleb (and Levi sometimes) for Ladies Bible class. When we told Caleb, he wanted to pray for her. So we prayed for her family.

Let's see... other happenings. Levi appears to be attempting to say real words. At 11 months. First one, I think, was Dadda (for Daddy), bye bye, down, up, all done, ball, amen. He is getting into everything... loves my purse, Caleb's ladder on his bed, all Caleb's cars, shoes/laces of any kind, paper, outside/grass, water/bathtime, and a new favorite, Easter eggs. Although he isn't the greatest hunter because once he gets one, he is satisfied to chew on it while everyone else runs around him. Things he dislikes: naps (after the first 45 minutes, he's done), waiting for any length of time in his high chair for food, sitting still for a diaper change, mama leaving the room. He's a little high-maintenance. Everyone said your second would be easier and not at all like the first... still waiting on that and wondering what went wrong. My friend Angie says I waited too long to have him. It took that long to recover from the first high-maintenance. I need one that looks like me and has Joe's personality... maybe #3? Course I keep telling Caleb (who is already asking when we can have another brother) that we won't have any more if he can't learn to share and play with the one he has. He says, "Agh! Mom, I'll play with him when he's bigger." He is constantly lecturing Levi to stay out of his things and is very frustrated that Levi cares not a whit what Caleb desires. He has been told that if he hurts him in any way there will be swift and painful punishment, so he never touches Levi, but he keeps saying things like, " Levi, I'm very mad at you for doing that. You are not allowed in my room any more. I'm very disappointed that you keep messing up my things." complete with sighs and grunts, while he picks up the mess. Hey, I think it keeps him occupied. The other day we had our first little ball game together, passing it from the bed to the floor between people. Levi got a big kick out of "throwing" it to Caleb and rolling it (with a little help) to Daddy. Oh, and tonight at church he watched the boys leading singing and started waving his arm around while watching. He is a cutie!

Caleb has become interested in magic tricks. His newest trick is making his food disappear from his plate at mealtimes. I actually claim this as my newest trick, since I got him to eat all his broccoli, sweet potatoes, and chicken in record time tonight, and without the promise of dessert when he was done. I was so impressed with us both, we gave him 3 M&M's.

Disney on Ice

Guess I never posted about our incredible time at Disney on Ice. Toy Story 3. If I did, I can't find it, so here goes. Granna, Poppa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Lindsay, Mia, baby (in utero), Daddy, Mommy, Caleb and Levi all went to see it at the AAC on April Fools Day. It was SO fun! My favorite part was at the beginning, when the army men parachuted in onto the ice, "marched" on skates, doing rifles in the dark. Talk about impressive. I have attempted rifles before... not easy, forget about it on skates and in the dark!! Caleb's favorite part was Buzz Lightyear entering from above on some contraption with fire/lights, etc. to defeat Zerg. That, and the cotton candy. (Side note: Gross. How can anyone like something that takes like a medicine-flavored cotton ball?) Levi loved it all until about the last 15 minutes. Can you blame him, it lasted 2 hours. All the men were ready to go at intermission!

Busy, busy, busy

It all started with a little flyer. "Dinosaurs and donuts" at the zoo... Caleb's 3 favorite things. Of course, when I planned it, I didn't plan on taking the boys by myself everywhere today. We arrived at the zoo at 9:15, only 1hr 15 min after I'd hoped to get there (when it opened, at 8:00am... who was I kidding right?). And guess what... no donuts. Silly me, why should there be any left. They only put that on the flyer as a way to get people to go, like doorbuster specials. They don't actually expect to hand out donuts until 10am. Sigh. Luckily, Caleb was so enthralled with the dinosaurs that he didn't even miss the donuts. (I have to stop typing that, because it's making me really want some). The dinosaurs were VERY cool. Spread out all over the zoo, they make noises, move, and even blink their eyes. Caleb insisted they were not robots, but were, in fact, real. And another discussion on the word extinct ensued. Levi was a real trooper; he didn't fall asleep until about 10:30 -- when we were ready to find our last dinosaur by the exit doors. So I decided to let him have a nap and we went through the reptile house. I need to note that CJ was SO into the dinos, he didn't even want to play in the barn. A first since he was 2. Didn't ask to ride the train or the carousel (gasp). Safe to say he really liked it. We made it home in time to throw together some lunch before heading to a birthday party for Caleb's friend from church. It was really great... a bounce house, playground, pizza, and the ultimate... an Easter egg hunt. This is the only hunt Caleb actually scores more than about 5 eggs, since there are SO many. I think he runs to a group, picks up one, then runs to another group. My competitive instinct is to teach him the proper egg-gathering strategy, but then my mother instinct kicks in which says, "This way, he'll have less candy to eat.". Mom won. Caleb left with about 20 pieces of candy as opposed to several I saw with probably at least 50 eggs! Levi even picked up one. I attempted to get him to get another one, but he staunchly refused to have anything to do with any egg that was not his bright blue one. Side note - Levi had potato chips and cake for the first time (with icing, of course... what is cake without icing???); first dessert of any kind! Welcome to the world of sweets, little one.
Joe, sadly, did not join us, due to a persistent little bug that keeps finding new ways to torment him. I'm not all that sure he was terribly upset at being left behind. The Detroit Tigers were playing.
oh, added the pic of the lady who must have missed the memo it was the ZOO today, since she wore silk shorts/top and 3" plastic Cinderella-heels.

Chuck E Cheese

We loaded up and took Levi (and Caleb) for his 1st Chuck E Cheese experience. He had fun and I let him join me in "Deal or No Deal". Probably should have let him push the buttons for the cases, since I have NO luck at all. I won 3 tickets... pitiful. This is why I never gamble. It's not a gamble for me, I know I would lose. I am not positive since I was pinching off bits and lost track, but I'm reasonably sure Levi ate at least one piece of pizza, maybe 2. And a whole jar of baby food. Caleb sweet-talked the prize lady into extras -- only to discover mom has a new rule that for everything that comes in, something has to go out. So we pulled out some unused items to donate. He wasn't amused, but he stopped asking for things!
Round two of medicine went much better than expected... apple juice and/or lemonade is the key, we have discovered. Along with M&M's and Girl Scout cookies. It's a good thing there are 15 cookies in that whole box (tongue in cheek), since we have 10 days of antibiotics left and Mommy has already helped a little with the emptying of said box. Caleb asked if we could buy more at the store (which he does with everything when we are getting to where he can see the last of the product). I told him, "No, they only sell these one time per year. You have to buy them from the girl scouts." (I did not add "it's their way of ripping you off and they know no one will continue to pay such outrageous prices all year long, so they make it seem so special that you won't notice your arm and leg leaving with the cute little girl in pigtails." I'll let him draw his own conclusions when the time is right. After I buy some from all his friends in the years to come).
Levi was a hoot tonight. He is truly mobile. He was chasing Caleb's remote control car around the laminate floor tonight, spinning all around on his backside. Even crawling and pushing it with one hand. He was very proud of himself for this accomplishment and kept laugh, grinning, and spinning all over the place.
Tomorrow... Dinosaurs and donuts... if we can be at the zoo by 8am...better hit the hay.

Antibotics...anti-kid-friendly

We finally took Caleb to the Dr to check his ears, which he ONLY agreed to do on the promise of a new lizard from his nurse, Miss Lisa. He had not seemed to be hearing us (WAY worse than his usual selective hearing). You know something is wrong when you whisper about Chuck E. Cheese and get no response. So we tried chewing gum, which he isn't very good at, blowing air out his nose and pinching it shut to "pop" them (also not very good at this), and taking decongestant. Nothing worked. He kept saying, "Say it again". Couldn't hear anything in the car or across the room. Sure enough, there was fluid behind his eardrum. Dr. said a lot, though it didn't appear to be infected. So we gave Caleb his first antibiotics in his 4.5 yrs tonight. We had to do antibiotics and steriods for the fluid and to keep out infection. Wow, that was a treat. giving nasty tasting medicine to a young 'un. I thought we would never find a way, but several drink concoctions, m&m's, and cookies later, success. For 1 night, anyway.
One fun thing, Caleb and Levi rode together tonight in the wagon for the fist time. They were a pair. Already having "kick fights" (Levi isn't even 11 months yet). I can tell he already wants to do everything Caleb does. He was happy as a clam when I put him in the swing next to Caleb... he kept looking over at him and laughing. Then he wanted me to put him down the slide every time Caleb went down. This is going to be a trip!! (Oh, I attempted to get a pic of them in the wagon, but Caleb is anti-picture right now, so I knew it wasn't going to happen.. so I just took a mental photo). I'll post Levi's 11 month pics instead. Should have been 9 months.. just a little behind. At least he still poses, sort of.

On the move

....finally. Levi has learned to crawl, although he is quite reserved about when he chooses to show off his newest accomplishment. He took four "knees" on Mon, a few yesterday, and then some more this morning and this afternoon. He'd still rather be carried. I'm not sure he even realizes he is moving. Maybe we should stop scooting backwards as he advances.... hmmm. He has also begun waving bye/hi, and accompanying those movements with babbling that sounds like hi/bye bye. On Sunday, he had turned himself around in the pew and was gripping the back. I was trying to turn him around, of which he would have none of. He kept looking at people, saying "huh". Joe says it's no wonder he is taking so long to crawl, since we apparently have another talker. Crazy Simmons' genes. I'll try to post a pic or video, but so far, all the ones I've taken occur after the fact, and he just rocks and whines (not entertaining).
Tonight was a crazy night at church. I blame it on the 5th Wed singing. I left Levi in the nursery and Joe, Caleb, and I sat up near the front, thinking we could since we didn't have the distraction of a 10-month old. Wrong. Caleb insisted he had to go to the bathroom (again) about 5 minutes into the service. I took him since Joe had to lead singing at some point. I barely sat down before someone informed us that Levi needed new clothes. I left to change him, but realized once out the door that I had removed all his extra clothes to put in summer clothes (not yet done). No worries, I had clothes in the car. Which would have worked out great had Ihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif not left my keys in the car. As soon as I came up with the idea to go get Joe's keys, I heard his voice leading singing. So I traipsed back in to wait for him to sit back down, at which time I promptly left (again) to retrieve the clothing. When I came back to sit down, I realized Caleb was not in our seat. He had apparently felt abandoned when Dad was leading singing and gone to sit with friends. To top it all off, when I got home, ready to do my work notes, I restarted the computer and it died. Seems to need a new hard drive (again). Here's to a better day tomorrow, my last day of work this week!
Oh, and on the way home (after discussing our friend's new-to-them vehicle), Caleb informed us that for our next car, he wants a monster truck. Typical.
here's the link to watch Levi crawl

waiting game

I don't have anything amazing to post today. We both called UTMB (Joe first, then me, to get more details, of course) to check waitlist status. Turns out, they still have spots to fill and he is being considered along with another interview group. This group will interview April 1, I think, so it would be a couple weeks after that and we might hear if he gets moved off the waitlist. The lady I spoke with was encouraging and said he was a good candidate, so we'll see. I check a forum, so I know 4 of 53 spots have been filled. I also saw that one other school we haven't heard from yet is sending out stuff soon, University of Minnesota, so maybe that will be good news...keep those prayers coming, folks!
Speaking of prayers, I guess we do pray for it a lot with Caleb present, because last night he mumbled something about helping Daddy get into school so he can get a good job. At least this way, if we do have to move, maybe he'll take it as an answer to prayer. I don't even want to think about that battle...he has already said he is not leaving his friends. I know how he feels; we have great ones!

YUCK!

Not sure if it had to do with being out in the windy pollen-filled Spring air, but Levi's eye infection has returned with a vengeance. Poor guy... we toted him around all day to Firehouse subs, to Lowes to buy paint for the back porch, and to Target. I practically tossed him in bed when we got home and when he got up his eyes were puffy, red, and goopy. We did the eye drops for 8 days, but Caleb's also relapsed last week, so I guess we are going through this one more time (sigh). On top of that his two bottom teeth are still coming in. They have been coming in for a month... they are SO slow!

Farm fun

Sunday we went to our friend Grayson's birthday party at a petting zoo/farm. Caleb wasn't too keen on the animals... he could take them or leave them, but he loved the hayride, train ride, bounce house, and playground. It was extremely windy, and poor Levi looked like he was thinking, "You guys call this fun?!"

From March 2011

From March 2011

From March 2011

From March 2011

10 years

10 years. A decade. Wow. There were lots of things I imagined I'd do on this anniversary. One of which was renew our vows. Thing is, it seems like yesterday that we said them. I'm a little scared at how fast my life really will go by. If this is 10 years, and I'm only probably going to get about 6 more sets of those... better try to capture every moment of them.
Joe and I won a night at the Gaylord Texan last spring. It was really nice to get away for a little while. I am still nursing Levi, so it was pretty brief. We had a nice Italian dinner, hung out at a restaurant on Lake Grapevine while the sun set, found some yummy dessert to take back to the room, wandered the grounds of the atrium, (edit) and ended with some great Alias-watching/dessert eating! Joe would have been happy to skip the late-night mad dash to the Sundry store (before closing) to grab me some contact solution, but that's what great hubby's do, without complaint.
10 years: Our $6 apartment, Joe being a meter reader in Arkansas, moving to Birmingham without jobs knowing only 2 people, our wonderful church at Hoover, buying our 1st car (2001 Ford Focus), working at AmSouth bank together, joining the USAF, moving to Pensacola, watching him fly USAF trainers, Blue Angels practicing over our house every week, moving to CA, trips to somewhere cool every weekend in CA, Monterrey Beach, Pebble Beach, moving to North Dakota, blizzards, your new "Eskimo" look in your gov't issed parka, plugging in our cars, grilling outdoors in the snow... in April, calling you in the missile launch facility (just because I could), working with the teens in Minot, trips to Canada, driving 8 hours to buy a car in Minneapolis, having Caleb so early/so scary, living with mom and dad and Papaw, finding our amazing church/friends at NYA, buying our first house, having Levi without the scary, discovering a new career field and trying to get into Occupational Therapy school... all of it... priceless.
I am so blessed to have found a man with so many wonderful qualities. Sure, we are in a rough spot right now with career transitioning, but we were never promised things would always be peachy. I distinctly remember the part about "For better or for worse", and what's funny is, even though these last couple years could be called "worse" we've had lots of the "better". I love you Joe. Thanks for 10 amazing years, and here's to many more... Love you, Kelly

From March 2011

P.S. Sign that maybe we are watching a little too much Alias: we saw someone left a purse on a trash can at night as we were walking around the grounds. I told Joe I should take it to the front, and he said, "What? There could be a bomb in there!" I laughed at him, but I sure didn't go get it.. just let the desk people know where it was... because, what if?!?!

Has it really been a month..?

I'm sure it has. I know the reason I have neglected to post on here is because I have been consumed with praying for/talking about/etc. Joe getting into OT school. We haven't had any great news, only that he was waitlisted at UTMB in Galveston, so I haven't felt like posting anything. But I guess I will catch up really.
So Caleb learned how to mop, which has been helpful, to a degree. Hey, it's better than nothing, which is how I tend to let it get lately.

From March 2011

Then we had our ladies retreat. It was a blast, and Joe kept the boys. Then Caleb came down with pink eye, and although we got him on antibiotics quickly, we didn't use them more than 5 days, so it came back, and Levi got it. Lovely.
Then Spring Break! YEA! We did lots of fun things: zoo, 6 Flags, auto show in Fort Worth (I will never understand how it can be so thrilling for a male to sit in cars and trucks. Caleb was like a kid in a candy shop... he has already asked when we can go back.)

From March 2011

From March 2011

From March 2011

From March 2011

From March 2011

Levi is becoming almost mobile. He gets to his knees, pulls up on things, and flips all around/scoots. He is still not crawling, not even army, although he finds it hilarious when I put him in crawl position and move his arms forward to "make" him crawl. He is babbling all the time: m, dada, baba, baibai. He is also waving (sort of). And quickly growing tired of baby food.

Table food! YUM!

Levi had his first real meal of table food. He ate pieces of carrot, roast (a tiny piece), mashed potatoes, apple juice, and squash/zucchini (that was baby food). He loved it! He didn't get choked, so that was a good sign. He clapped when he was done. I had him say "all done", and he said "da. da." So smart.

My niece Mia came over for a little while today. She and Caleb had a blast riding around in his jeep. She kept saying "Iwageko", and she finally went and got Caleb's blue lizard... "I want gecko." She is so fun and we were sad to see her leave.

Funny Caleb story, he told Joe the other day, when they were watching Backyardigans, "That's Pablo. He's a blue penguin. He doesn't wear any clothes." And yesterday, we saw a guy out running without his shirt on. Caleb said, "Look Mom, that guy doesn't have a shirt on." I said, "I saw, Honey, but people shouldn't go around without their clothes on. God didn't make our bodies so everyone could see them like that." He said, "Yes, because if people see that, they will be frustrating."

My silly boys

Levi learned to clap today!! I don't have a pic because of course he would not cooperate when I had the camera, but he did it several times today. We didn't do too much today, but Caleb did ride his lizards around in the jeep while we went on a lizard hunt. I took a picture because he reminded them to wear their seatbelts because "safety is important". Oh, and I took the other picture on Sunday when he insisted on wearing his shirt backwards. Not an unusual thing for him, since he has worn his underwear backwards since he started wearing them last fall!! Caleb gave me a bracelet he made a school today for Valentine's Day. He said it was a heart, and I love it. He told me I could put it in my bracelet drawer (which he secretly covets for his own).

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I had to take these because Caleb was cracking me up trying to "drive" his little coupe around. He can barely get in it, much less shuffle his feet along to move it. Don't let his expression fool you, he was having a blast in the car, he just didn't want me taking his picture. Proof that one is never too big for a Little Tykes Coupe!!

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Happy Valentines Day

From valentine

I remembered this morning that today was Valentines day and I just barely thought to get Caleb something.. of course I forgot to get something for Joe or anyone else. Barely remembered valentine cards for CJ's class on Tues. Those of you who know me well are not surprised by this, since I am one of the least sentimental people I know. Caleb brought me a flower (dandelion picked from the backyard), which he later told me he gave to Daddy, who suggested he give it to me for Valentine's Day. Caleb got a couple of cards with some money, and we finally got him the lizards he wanted from the Zoo (that he reminds me every week Santa forgot to bring him), so he was pretty thrilled. He told me he didn't want to leave them outside though because something might want to eat them. To him, they are real, and there is no amount of explaining that plastic toys are not real which will convince him. Stinking Toy Story.
A note about Levi. He has a virus and a cold, but no Strep or pneumonia or anything, even though he sounds awful. He is in the 5th percentile for head, 10th%ile for weight, and 75th%ile for height. Yep, what I figured. Developmentally on target, but Doc wants me to lose the walker so he will actually make an effort to crawl. Thing is, he loves it, and Doc doesn't have to hear him complain... so maybe it will hang around a little while longer. He is so funny to watch, scooting all over following me around in the kitchen!

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Sick babies

Sunday has not been fun, like it was supposed to be. We had a blast eating lunch with friends, but I hope we didn't get them all sick! We were supposed to have a baby shower, Bible Bowl practice, and a going away party for some friends...but...Levi had a fever of 102ish and Caleb has a constantly runny nose/cough. I am afraid we may be dealing with Strep throat. Joe also had a sore throat/aches. I was a little achy with a slight fever. I was supposed to take Levi to the Dr. for his 9 month well baby. So now I guess we will see if they want to see him for a sick visit instead. I HOPE it's gone by morning.
Oh, and I just realized I never posted this. I think we heard Thurs, and we were so busy. Joe got an interview for the Occupational Therapy program with University of Texas Medical Branch!! It is scheduled for March 4. We are SO excited!!! He was on a waiting list last year after he had an interview for their second round (we missed the deadline for first round last year). But this year we are in the first round and REALLY pumped. Yay, Joe!!

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Leadership class

I neglected to post Thursday night, I guess because we got back late and just went to bed. Joe and I had a graduation dinner in honor of two wonderful groups of people who completed a leadership training class under our preacher at New York Avenue Church of Christ. Really, Joe did so much more than I did. He made visits with Bill 2 times each month and had 2 early breakfasts each month, in addition to what we ladies did. We all read about 1 book per month and discussed/wrote about it. He often wrote lessons. We all met with our groups for about 3 hours once per month. We learned so much, and we will always be grateful for the opportunity to be taught how to lead and teach others' in the Lord's Kingdom. The course helped us with our own marriage relationship, family relationships, and relationships with others. We made valuable friendships that we will always hold dear. Thank you, Bill, ladies, and men, for the wonderful experience we shared. We love you all!
P.S. I curled my hair all over... took me about 2 hours total, I think, if you count the first time this morning and the second time before we left. I told my friend I would post pics... now I want to see her straighten hers. It was really fun. Made me think about getting a perm!

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Future gymnast?

Caleb had his first taste of gymnastics today at a birthday party for his good friend, Rachel. He had a total blast. I wish we could get him in for lessons to burn some energy, but they aren't cheap! He loved the rope swing and the big foam blocks. He said he did the balance beam, but I never saw.

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Bouncing is what my boys do best!

I took Caleb (and Levi) to the Bounce house place in the mall today to meet with some friends. Even though it is loud in there because of all the blowing air, it is SO great. They can just run from place to place without being told to slow down, watch out, be careful, etc. Although we do have to remind not to punch, which it difficult when there is a boxing inflatable. Caleb ran and jumped for about an hour, downed 11 chicken nuggets, some fries, and a lemonade, and was good to go for another hour. He will probably start growing feathers soon. They were all so cute walking from the inflatables to the food court. A long line of boys + Emmy holding hands. So cute that I was busy taking pictures and not realizing I was following them right into the boys bathroom. Oops! Luckily, my friend caught me right before I stepped in and I got the boys to come with me to the girls bathroom, where it was a race to see who could get finished going to the bathroom and washing hands the fastest. And then the blow dryer fun. How boys can make anything and everything a competition and a form of entertainment is beyond me! Caleb already has a big day planned for us tomorrow. He told Joe and I that we needed to get ready, because #14 (a car he has) told him tomorrow it's "going to be the big race" before Rachel's Birthday party. And if we want to watch from the couch we can, or if we want to watch from the chair, we can. Thanks for the permission. Where does he get his administrative genes???

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Game time

I am proud to say that Caleb FINALLY learned to play a game. By the rules. And not just any game like Candyland or Barnyard Bingo, which of course he could play, but just wouldn't agree to take turns, count correctly, leave other people's tokens alone, etc. So today we broke out the Skip-Bo Junior and he was patient enough for me to teach the game, and we played 3 hands in a row before he wanted to move on to something else. And another thing... he actually agreed that I won a hand (gasp!). I pretty much nearly fainted.
Talking with him today, we discussed that it was his friend Rachel's 4th birthday. He said, "Great! Now she can be on my team!" Apparently, he has "teams" for everything and nothing at all. I have no idea where he gets this competitive nature from ;-/
Oh, one other small milestone. I let Levi have short halves of green beans tonight, and he was finally quiet for most of the meal. Not totally sure that is appropriate for an 8 month old, but I watched him closely for signs of aspiration and didn't see any. He is getting pretty good at using the pincher grip to get food off the tray. He is such a momma's boy. Any time I get him he stops fussing and starts sucking his thumb. Caleb was always content as long as someone had him, but not this guy. He wants ME...ditto.

Finally, a day without snow

Caleb was pretty surprised it all melted today, except for our snowman. I told him the little guy must like us a lot to stick around after all the other snow was gone. All of a sudden he had a much greater affinity for him. We got out around lunch time today and ran a couple errands, mostly looking for Caleb some new jeans, since he still wears holes in the right knee. Yup, only the right knee. That is the one he "scoots" on while he plays cars and trains. Caleb informed us at Chick-Fil-A that he didn't want to play in the playplace because it was too loud (huh??), but he was more than happy to sit and eat his ice cream (in place of a toy --love that!)... for 20 minutes. Sheesh. We had time to run in Ross and I found 3 pairs of jeans for $5.50 and $6.50 each! I guess it was a successful mission. I ran to make a couple visits while the boys had quiet time. When I got home, I threw together some delicious (if not loaded with sodium) chicken and rice soup. Well, Joe and I thought it was delicious. Caleb spent an entire hour trying to figure out exactly how much of the bowl he had to eat to earn his dessert. He did eventually eat most of the bowl, even though it was stone cold. Now, off to bed to read a little and be excited for worship with my family tomorrow!