Westland Elementary School

A couple of weeks ago we found out that Jack's Make-A-Wish was being sponsored by a local elementary school. They had seen a picture of Jack, knew a little bit about him, and learned his favorite things. For weeks the school raised money, based only on the flyer posted around the school. The administration asked if we could come to an assembly where they could present the check, and the kids could all meet Jack.

I was asked to speak a little bit about Jack's story. I did my best to summarize our eternity that has occurred over the past 4 and a half years, and make it so elementary school students would stay interested. Jack just had to be there. When he walked through the doors it was though royalty had entered Westland. The student council shook his hands and gave him hugs, and on our way to the Gym all the kids in line would give him "five" and tell him hello. Everyone was crowding around him, asking him questions about Lightning McQueen, and Disneyworld.

Jack was LOVING IT. He would just look into all the eyes of these strangers and smile. It was as though he truly felt gratitude in his heart. (We were particularly proud because he'd had problems with being nice to strangers lately...) He even volunteered to show off his scars, and was very proud of them.

After I spoke, we showed a slideshow of picture from Jack's birth to today, including some of the serious shots of him right after surgery, and the kids' response was so genuine and heartfelt, you could feel it in the whole room.

As a whole they collected over $1500 to help send our family to Disneyworld. It was so humbling to think of all these kids that were so happy that they were a part of this. It really makes you think about how special little kids are, and how they can be examples to us. There were a few children that brought gifts for Jack, out of the goodness of their hearts; they bought him CARS toys, Oreo's, Mater trucks, coloring books.... it was incredible. I'm so glad we captured all of these videos, (thanks to Nat for the FLIP and Mom for the filming..) because later on in life he'll be able to see how special he was to all these little kids at Westland Elementary school.

We hope that after we go on our trip, we can return to Westland to share with them the fun that we had, BECAUSE of them- and keep them updated on Jack's condition. I'm currently working on gifts for all 616 students....

Pat The Bunny

We pay many, many visits to the pet store. It is perfect for this time of year, when it is too cold to do much outside and the Zoo is MUCH too large of an outing to embark upon you can go to Incredible Pets and have your own animal experience. The best thing about this store is how accessible all the animals are. There are bunches of puppies up front in glass bins that you can reach right in and play with. Those are always the bigger dogs, alaskan huskies, retrievers, eskimo's, wheatens, etc.

Then right next to the check out desk are the birds. Jack loves those dang birds. If you stand there long enough one of them will jump right on your shoulder and take a nap. Some are more friendly than others. One time, there was

one sleeping and he was so precious all curled up under his wing, I just wanted to sit and pet him. But each time I touched him he'd shoot me a look of disgust at my horrible manners, then take 3 side steps down the rod and go back to sleep.

In the back are all the puppies primed and ready to go. They are your classic "doggie in the

window" puppies that stare at you with big eyes and press their paws up against the glass in hopes to make human contact. We always choose one to get out and play with. Usually a shitzu or a lhasa apso because they are so bouncy and playful- and Jack LOVES being chased by them. He'll run up and down the isles with a little popcorn ball bounding after him, then stop so it can chew on his shoe for a minute.

Starting the new year they usually have a well stocked case of bunnies. These fella's are shaggy, lion-haired rabbits with the droopiest ears and the twitchiest noses- it takes everything in me not to buy one.

But then I remember, I can just come back tomorrow and play with it. Without cleaning up it's poop. :)

Oh THAT'S Why...

Have you ever been invited into someone's home in the middle of the day to find their table beautifully set, flatware, place settings, et al? I have. And each time I would say to myself "why in the world do they have their table set. Ready. In the midst of all the things happening around the table, why are these breakable dishes chillin on the table."

Yesterday I went to IKEA. I really do love it there, I have always loved furniture stores. Walking around in those mock-up living and dining rooms makes me feel so excited that change is possible and I won't be looking at the same rooms all day, every day, if I just put a little creativity into them. Once I made it downstairs with my gift card, it occurred to me that I have had the same dinner plates since I was married. They are the ones we registered for. And since then, dished have broke, and we don't even have a complete set for four people. Now was the time to get new dishes. I perused carefully, keeping in mind that my manly husband would be eating off these plates, along with my manly four year old. I decided on some lovely ones that were an off-shade of purple, or magenta, thinking it was something new that would look great on my table.

I put them in the 59 cent bag I was forced to by in order to get them all to my car, and took them home. I washed each dinner plate, salad plate, and bowl. I moved all my old plates to the top shelf, for when we "really needed extra plates", then I washed the shelf of the cupboard and grabbed the new stack of plates to set them in their new home.

They stuck 3 inches out of my cupboard. Not only will the door not close, but they could very well fall and break all over the floor by the slightest bump. "How in the world!?" I thought to myself. Then I realized that the plates I currently have were even pushing the limit and the fact became quite clear that I have extremely shallow cupboards. My kitchen itself is narrow, and I know that the designer thought that the kitchen would seem much more open if they installed the smallest cupboards known to man, and could most likely sell the house.

And now, my table is set, and will be, until I find somewhere to put these seemingly gigantic, new dinner plates. I imagine that could possibly be why people have their table set all hours of the day.

Or so I hope.

FACT:

My Son, the Genius.

Merry Christmas, everyone. On a completely non-festive note, I want to acknowledge how very observant my now- four year old son is. He will take note of things visually. Like anywhere he sees the BMW logo, he makes sure to tell me it's "just like our car!" or he pegs any Honda as "Natalie's car" or Prius as "grandma's car" and he knows how to tell which is which.

He also has designated each color as a Disney or Gabba character, as anything red is "Lightning McQueen" and anything green is "Chick Hicks" and so on.

A couple weeks ago it was finally brought to my attention HOW DETAILED Jack's photographic memory is. He came running upstairs to tell me he had "built our house downstairs" and after a lot of 'way to go! good jobs!' he finally took my hand and brought me down to the basement to show me how he had built our house.

After a good look- I realized he did a spectacular job, and I was quite impressed.

Our house is, after all, yellow, tall and skinny with other colored houses on each side, with a pointy roof, and a front door on the right.

Good job, Jack. Way to go.

December 17th

Jack's birthday was on a thursday. The most boring day of the week. So we spruced it up with some birthday breakfast eggs, a trip to Primary's to deliver gifts to those responsible for Jack's ongoing birthday's, lunch at the PlayPlace, a fun visit to the Pet Store and then Zoo Light's after we did presents. It was certainly a lovely day and Jack had fun and was a great participant in all of it. We love him so much, and feel blessed to have this fourth birthday.

THEN, on Saturday, we had his birthday party at the Barn. It was SO much fun and I'm so thrilled I thought of the idea.. :) Because otherwise, Jack's birthday would have just gotten lots amongst all the other get-together's everyone is having during this holiday season. So it was very special, and I think he'll remember it.

We all got to play with the bunnies, kiss the llama's, and pet the goat at the barn. Then we had presents and ice cream and it was a grand old time. Thanks to everyone who came, and thank you to the Flamm's for letting us use the barn.

Four.

How strange, that I have a four year old. Even more strange, is to be at this point where we have no surgery on our calendar this year. Ever since Jack was born I couldn't see past his third surgery. Now that we are after our fifth, I can't explain the bliss- of moving forward. It is a simple thing, but to have a four year getting ready to go to preschool is the biggest accomplishment for our family. Jack's year consisted of many ups and downs, illustrated by this collage.

1. Jack gained a very genuine interest in Cars. Be it trucks, sports cars or cartoon cars, he loves them. Anything red is "Lighting McQueen."

2. We got to take Jack to Universal Studios this year and he learned that Dora and Diego are NOT of average height.

3. Jack grabbed some scissors and cut off his beautiful golden locks. It turned out to be a good thing because he wouldn't have had time for a haircut in the upcoming months.

4. Jack had his third open heart surgery, completing the Norwood Procedure to adjust his blood flow to and from his heart. It changed him forever.

5. Jack made many trips back to the hospital, due to his pesky pleural effusions. His spirits were bruised but he took it like a rockstar.

6. In between hospital stays he got to enjoy the warm weather and do fun things like visit Red Butte, Thanksgiving Point, and go to a carnival with his cousins.

7. After his fourth pleural effusion, the surgeons decided to do surgery to help him recover from the new heart adjustment. Another surgery followed that one..

8. A three week stay in the hospital set us back a bit, but we took advantage of summer and got Jack's skinny bum outside.

9. Jack LOVES to swim... and tries to be brave by ditching any floating device. We are still working on keeping him above water.

10. Make A Wish granted Jack a wish, to go to Disneyworld and meet all of his disney friends. We are so excited to take this well deserved trip with him in February.

11. For the better part of the year Jack became quite attached to WALL-E and opted, or demanded rather, to be MO from the movie. That costume lasted 10 min.

12. We went to California a couple of times per Jack's request. He was able to go to SeaWorld and get drenched by Shamu.

13. Because of his mommy's example, Jack prefer's to be behind the camera more than in front, and has proven hard to get pictures of as of late.

14. Jack has managed to be potty trained despite taking his diuretic everyday that REALLY makes him need to ... evacuate. We are really proud of him.

15. My little baby bum is turning into a boy. He loves guns and tools and he doesn't always want to be my little side kick each and everyday. He is very independent and capable.

16. This was Jack's 3 year old pictures. I will be doing his 4 year old ones soon. He is FINALLY getting so big, and for the first time I am sad about it... every pound he gains is a huge accomplishment and each inch he grows is a celebration, but suddenly I want him to slow down now that I don't have to worry so much about it.

Jack is the most charming little boy I know. He can make you smile seconds after making you mad. He knows he has the skills. I will never take him for granted and I hope he grows up knowing that he is a blessing to everyone's lives. This birthday is so special for him and I hope that this next year will bring more imagination, more laughs, more games, more clubhouses, more vacuuming.. and more love.

Happy Birthday, Buddy. You conquered 2009.

I'm Thankful for Food..

Probably one of my top five favorite things about the holidays is the food. Trying new things, preparing new things, tasting the old traditional ones. It's just lovely. There are a number of foods that are a must during the holiday's. Shrimp cocktail, always makes an appearance. My mom's ROLLS. She doesn't seem to take as much credit as she should for them. Fernwood's mint sandwiches.. divinity. This year I woke up and decided that these muffins* will be Thanksgiving morning's tradition. They are so easy to make, fast, and melt in your mouth.

Truly, I will make these a lot. Which may deter from the "specialness" of it. But I don't care. Thanksgiving morning, the parade, muffin's, it all works together to make for a wonderful tradition.

A new staple to my list of what to make when people ask me to to bring an hors devours, is this amazing sesame bake. It doesn't look like much, but once cracked open I constantly have people asking me where I got this "rare and delectable cheese." It is a block of philadelphia soaked in soy sauce, rolled in toasted sesame seeds and baked. Incredible.

This dip, which sports the magical colors of Christmas, came to me via a dear friend that more and more we find we are much more domestic than we believed. It is pretty delicious. The tart sweetness that comes from the pomegranate soothes the quiet flavor of the avocado. And the cayenne pepper and corriander gives it a nice kick.

Dinner was spectacular- don't get me wrong. I love my potatoes and gravy. But I sure do love finding new things to bring to the table.

*These recipes are becoming my most favorite to add to my collection. This blogger has the same delightful taste in food as I do, and I am always excited to see what she posts next. Her link is to the left, "Baked Deliciousness"

Cell Phone Etiquette 101

I'm all for cell phones. I've had one since I was 17. It comes in very handy. I honestly don't know how we picked people up from the airport before cellphones. However, with these technological blessings have come many, many pains. Although cell phones went from an adult to a teenage necessity, I think we need to start at the other end and hold classes in school about the proper way to own, and use a cell phone.

1. Places that a cell phone should be neither seen nor heard: Church, school classrooms, movie theater's, on date's, and the dinner table. It is just unacceptable, rude and completely unnecessary.

2. While driving, keep cell phone conversations under a minute. Not only is it unsafe, and becoming against the law in more and more states, but it's annoying to the other people in the car, and frankly I hate driving by people going 75 mph to see that they aren't 100% focused on their driving.

3. When in public places in close confinement, (ie: grocery lines, bathrooms, airport terminals etc.) keep your voice down. No one likes a loud, obnoxious talker gabbing away while we are all stuck in the same place and can't walk away from you.

4. Remember there is always someone listening. Keep private issues for private conversations. Everyone else doesn't need to hear you chew out your significant other, or how bloated you felt this morning, or how much you hate your co-worker.

5. Again, do not answer your phone on a date. It just shows that you aren't interested and they'll pick up on that quickly. Your attention should be on them, and not what ELSE is going on.

6. Do not text unless it is something that can be exchanged in 4 texts. Example:

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I'll be there in 5 minutes."

"No problem, where are you?"

"Just getting off the freeway."

"K, see you soon."

NOT:

"Hey how are you?"

"Good how are you?"

"I'm alright, just hangin."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

"Wanna do something?"

"Sure. Like what?"

"Dunno."

"Me neither."

(this continues on for another five minutes...)

That is why you bought a cell phone in the first place. To be able to talk to people from anywhere at anytime. It's really irritating to see people clicking away on their phones forever. Especially at meals, during conversations, or in any of the places mentioned in #1.

7. Don't play games on your phone in social settings. It just tells everyone around you that they are boring you and you'd rather be somewhere else.

8. Always hang up on conversations when approaching or speaking to someone that is helping/serving you, ie: waitresses, bankers, grocery store clerks. You need to be available to them for the service you came to THEM to provide.

I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting. But I feel like cell phone's are rapidly decreasing the quality of human interaction. I hear about break-ups over texts, and people getting in car accidents due to people on cellphones, so much more texting rather than actual conversing, and it makes me sad. We DID manage... before cell phones.

Anyway. Again, I am a fan, but let's do it right.

Happy Halloween