The Kids

Morgan was talking to Eli and Josh about where babies come from because Eli had kicked Josh in the "bean-bag."  He told Eli that if you kick a man there it could rupture a testicle and then he may not be able to have children.
Then Josh said, "Yeah, and I really, really want children."
Eli said, "Why would you want children?"

Why indeed?



Josh was at the dentist a couple of days ago. We try to talk about it positively so they aren't scared or anything. He was really good, as still as a stature and glued to the television above him.  Our dentist came in and counted his teeth for him.
Dr. Walker said, "You have ten on top and ten on bottom. Do you know how many that is?"
Josh shook his head no.
Dr. Walker said, "20'
Josh - "WHAT!!!"

(I wish you could hear his "What!" It was very incredulous.)



Josh got new shoes.  As we were driving home he tells me that he wants to have a race with me, Eli, and Dad. But no skateboards, and no bikes, and no scooters and no tricycles. Only shoes. Then Josh said that he was going to win because his shoes were super fast. Even faster then Dad.

We haven't had the race yet, I don't want to crush his dreams.

Sorrow

This sweet little boy, Oliver Palmer died last week. He was ten years old. Two years ago he was diagnosed with DIPG a inoperable, and incurable brain cancer. He was so brave throughout the whole experience. He was a wonderful example.

Oliver became an Honorary Firefighter and Honorary Police Officer here in Waterloo. That is not something that the police or firefighters take lightly. At the visitation there was a firefighter standing guard at the corner of his casket during the entire 4-8pm time. People from the police and fire department were also at his funeral.

I didn't go to the cemetery, that was a family only event. But I just found out that the family was escorted by two police cars and a fire truck to the cemetery. There was a police saluting the procession as it passed major intersections and whenever they passed a fire station the trucks were outside with their lights on. It was a fitting tribute to such a brave, kind little boy. I'm very grateful that I got to know him.

Hair

Noelle has a lot of hair.  Especially on the top of her head. Sometimes it is hard to figure out what to do with it.  Here are some pictures of Noelle with her (mostly) cute hair.

First day of pig tails!

She is all ready for church. 

This one is Triceratops. One in front then two pig tails. 

She didn't want to show it off. 

Crazy hair day.  I think that pony started on the top of her head. 

This is today's hair. She's taking a nap so it will probably get messed up. 

Still, she's pretty cute!

A Good Day

Today has been a really good day. Actually, there were a few moments when  I wondered how we were going to make it through, but those have passed and now I am feeling really positive about life, the universe and everything.

I think most of my negativity comes from feeding Noelle. Lately she has not been eating well. Plus she is spitting and getting food all over her and all over me. I know it is just a phase and I need to just deal with it. I know (or at least hope) that she is not spitting peas at me on purpose and that she has no malicious intent. I don't want to feed her only fruits, I always offer her veggie's or a main dish first but she doesn't seem to want them. She also doesn't like anything with chunks yet. She wants her baby food as smooth as possible.
Its a work in progress.

I think that one of the reasons I feel good today is that my house is mostly clean. I made a promise with myself this morning that I wouldn't let the boys use any electronic entertainment after school until their bedroom was clean. It took them about forty minutes of playing to realize I was serious but then they cleaned it up pretty well.

While they were cleaning their room I got the dishes done and then I pulled out the vacuum. I vacuumed the office and living room and then pulled up the grates and started cleaning them out. It felt so nice to get all of the dust and crumbs out of my house.

Also, I don't have to cook dinner tonight. We are going to be having leftover Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder. I did, sort of, make bread. It was a sourdough artisen bread that I just had to pull out of the fridge and stick on a pan to bake it. So good food without a lot of hassle.

Finally, the sun came out this afternoon. This morning seemed a little hazy and gray but the clouds went away. I always feel so much better when I have sunlight coming through my windows.

An Update

Here are some photos of life at the Lasley's.

Eli made this hawk mask for himself. 

He taped it to his face. 

We did some night sledding with friends and had a great time!

Morgan made jumps for everyone to go off of. 

Noelle is cuter than ever. 

Especially in fun hats. 

Josh

Sweet Noelle 

Josh is a great brother. 

Noelle has got a second tooth on bottom. She has also learned how to crawl on her knees and clap her hands. Sometimes she says "Hi."  She is also starting to pull herself up to standing.

Josh loves being in Primary and loves singing loudly. We have to remind him not to scream the songs.

Eli is learning more and more and is doing well reading.

My diet and exercise program is going well, although I haven't weighed myself after the Super Bowl. But everyone needs a break.
I was also released from being in the Primary last week. I substituted taught in Primary yesterday, so I still haven't been to Sunday School of Relief Society.

Morgan and I had a good time going to a Fundraiser for Grin and Grow preschool. It was a Pirate themed party and we saw a lot of great costumes. I'm hoping we can save up our money and go again next year because they had great things on their auction. We did win a dinner at Hy-Vee and a gift card to Target (they were a blind buy, we didn't know what we were getting but it worked out great!)  We also won bids for a personal Santa visit next Christmas and tickets to the Shedd aquarium in Chicago.

We've been busy but enjoying life. We even went on a bike ride last week. Most of the snow is melted which is really nice.