Nearing the end of two handfuls

This is what Sam informed us of - as he was turning 6. He was now two handfuls. In his mind - ages 1-5 can be handled by just using one hand - so the magic of turning six was that now two handfuls were needed.

Despite what he says - the last 5 years have been a great joy. Sam is a wonderful son and has a mind that never stops. He is always thinking about a new invention, or how something works or a question that no one has ever thought of before. He keeps mom and dad on our toes.

Sam celebrated his 10th birthday yesterday. He had some friends from school over for a sledding party, Wii tournament and pizza and root beer floats; it was a fun day.

Sam - Jan 29, 2001 (hard to believe - this was before we had a digital camera).


and fun on the sledding hill;



and afterwards a cup of hot chocolate tastes sooooo goooood. . .



and playing Wii with friends is fun. Sam won his own Mario Kart tournament; but that is no surprise - because he usually beats all of us too.


and ending it all with pizza and root beer floats.

Happy 10th Birthday - Sam - we love you.

dad

Boy Genius . . . .

OK - when you are the 7th kid - sometimes the photos are not as frequent and the notoriety not as great - we are determined NOT to let that happen to David.

Here are a few photos from recent days of our little genius.

First - he has a shirt that he wears around that has a picture of Elroy Jetson and says, "Boy Genius"



But the past few weeks - he has been to the science center to climb on stuff.


Been to the Mall of America - to look at the latest Apple iTouches




and today used his brothers electricity set to build his own creation; (not smoke or fire).

He was a little frustrated when the lights, siren and motors did not come on - just a few basic rules of circuitry were broken in the process.

We love our Davey!

- Lee

How to do a Sleep Study (or zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)

Annie and I had the privilege of doing a sleep study on Thursday night (she did the study); I was the adult supervision. A sleep study for a 6 year old goes something like this.

Gather: Teddy bear, purple blankie, butterfly pillow, snacks, Little Mermaid DVD, Little Mermaid book, nighttime CD packed all in a ladybug backpack.

Drive down to Childrens Hospital at 7:15 PM. Arrive and follow the blue stars to the Childrens ICU unit; find the sleep study room; it is quite small. A hospital bed, chair/bed for dad to sleep in, dvd player and two cameras that record every movement.

Then hook up child to much electrical equipment. Oxygen sensor on toe, 2 probes on legs, two on chest, one on back, 5 on the face and about 5 on the head. Each has a small wire attached to probe; then route all wires through the back up to the head and put a sock with a small face hole - so that patient can rest comfortably.

Watch Little Mermaid until subject gets tired; turn off Little Mermaid, get scared so dad has to crawl in bed with patient. Wait for patient to fall asleep - maybe 15 minutes, carefully try to sneak out of bed to go to his own chair. False alarm once, false alarm twice - ahhh then I get to go to my own chair.

Patient awake at 11.00 PM - calling for daddy; patient awake and 4:00 AM - all tangled up; patient awake at 5:00 AM - time to go home and see mommy. Dad encourages another 60 minutes of sleep - no go. Out the door into the chilly MN January air; just to be met by a couple coming in for a baby (that brings back memories). . . .

Home at 6 and everyone slowly waking up here - and just in time to put Little Mermaid on again; dad showers; we have strep running in the family we load everyone up for a quick trip to the clinic and 3 strep tests (all negative) and then drop everyone off at home and at work by 8.45 AM.

You have to see it to believe it.

Lee

What is Average . . .?

We are just getting back to our 'normal' routines after 2 weeks of traveling and vacations - and I started thinking - what is 'normal'?

According to the statistics.

• Average (or expected - read that normal) number of kids / parents is 2.09
• Average number of TV sets / household = 3
• Average house size = 2,300 sq ft
• and in Chad, Africe - the average number of years that a child goes to school is 3.9.

OK - now for us.

We have 7 kids (above average)
We have 4 tvs, 6 computers, 2 iTouches, 2 cell phones . . . way above average
House is bigger than average (but that follows 7 kids) - our previous house - was, well very average.

and over the past 2 weeks - we have:

1. Traveled to Iowa to visit family and have an early Christmas.
2. Traveled to South Dakota to visit family for late Christmas and New Years
3. Had a great Christmas at home
4. Been swimming
5. Gone to the Science Museum to see Hubble
   
6. Spent time at the library
7. Played lots of games
8. Went shopping
9. Watched movies
10. Played for an afternoon @ McDonalds Playland
11. Had lots of late nights
    
12. and miraculously enough - this year; no one has been sick.

We got a book called Radical from my sister for Christmas - and I am very anxious to read through that in January - I have a feeling there is not a lot of 'normal' in that either.

We never claim to fit the mold - and one last proof. David on the potty - holding the kitty hostage with a pistol - nothing normal about that.


'til next time . . .


- Lee