Stephanie Nielson day....

On August 16th Stephanie Nielson was in a plane crash with her husband, Christian
Nielson, and his flight instructor, Doug Kinnear, near St. Johns, Arizona. Doug Kinnear passed away soon after arriving at the Maricopa County Hospital. Christian & Stephanie remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. His wife Stephanie's body was burned over 80%. They have four kids- who are staying with family in Utah. The medical costs for their recovery will likely reach millions in the upcoming months of pain and healing. The events are tragic,yes. But, the outpouring of love from complete strangers is turning tragedy into a story of love and sympathy. The example of selflessness from the Nielson family and fellow bloggers is nothing short of amazing. Many bloggers out there are holding "silent auctions" on their blogs.
Today has been named Stepanie Nielson day.
Stephanie's family blog: http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/
Stephanie's sister's blog with updates: http://cjanerun.com/
on her sisters blog you will find a link to list of the silent auctions starting today to help Nie and Christian. There are over 165 auctions from bloggers going on today! I have worried many times that Ryan would not come home to me when hewas flying the small airplanes... I have been so blessed and want to help these people and their families as much as I can!
Thanks everyone!
Lisa

LIfe without Josh

Zack and Bradley are lost without Josh around. Zack has asked me at least 100 times today when Josh will be home. I forgot how much Zack and Bradley fight without Josh to keep the peace. I also never realized how much cleaner it is with Josh around- he is the only one that listens when I ask them to pick up- he is his father's son! So, after two days- I am ready for school to be done! I miss my little guy!
On a funny note: I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and her daughter Alexis came home from school (she was in Josh's kindergarten class last year) and announced that she was going to marry Joshua Willard... In the picture above- Alexis is on the far right.

school days...

Bradley is so happy to get to stay home with m0m for three more years!

Josh catching the bus- literally!

Josh just got home from his first day of school. He said "he didn't miss me one bit." So sweet. We waited for the bus for a half hour this morning- which I wasn't super surprised about considering it was the first day. After waiting and waiting, the bus finally came- and whizzed on by! The driver glanced over as she passed and slammed on the brakes. Josh ended up having to run down the road to get on the bus. I found it fairly comical myself.
As far as what Josh did today, I don't have much of a clue as he claims to have had such a busy day that he can't remember anything except for that Jessica (who he loved all last year) sat by him on the bus on the way home from school without him having to ask her to and they talked- he doesn't remember about what...
So that's about it. He loved his lunch and ate every bit of it- that he also remembered, so I guess between the food and the girls he is going to be one happy first grader- who doesn't miss his mom one bit. (insert little tear in my eye here).

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Today Josh turned six...
We had huckleberry pancakes with whip cream and jam, bacon and eggs for breakfast. Josh got a new bike- which he was thrilled about. For dinner we went to Applebees for ribs (his favorite). Ryan's parents, his brothers Greg and Jeff, my parents, my sister Kricket and her huband and daughter Tom and Annie all came to dinner with us. We came back to our house afterwards for his Peterbilt cake. It was such a great day!
I am not sure why I am emotional about him being so old. I guess it also makes me feel old... Maybe it is also the fact that he starts first grade tomorrow and will be gone ALL DAY!
Josh is such a sweet boy, and is so good to his family. He always comes into my bed in the morning and scratches my head for me. Yes, we are pretty much monkeys around here....
He is very sweet and thoughtful and always watches out for his brothers. I am going to really miss having him around so much.
Happy Birthday my favorite six year old!

It's my party....

Josh got High School Musical- which he now thinks is so cool. Warning to every parent though- the songs get STUCK in your head! Maybe it's just that we have been watching it several times a day.


Josh's birthday party was Saturday, August 16th. We had 13 kids show up, and Josh said it was "pretty much the best day of my life". Once again- too much Napoleon Dynamite...
I decided to go with the theme of "organized chaos" for his party. I threw out the slip-N-slide and set up tables with pizza, chips, apples, cherries and shelled peas from the garden. The kids ran around in the water, rode bikes and chased each other around on the lawn.

soccer 2008

Josh and his buddy Dylan- who he will really miss when we are gone....

He had such a fun team this year.

Really, do they get any cuter than this??

Zack and Bradley would usually fight out of boredom at the games...

Josh "getting after" the ball (blue one in the middle)...

Josh just finished up his soccer for the season. He did awesome this year and really started to get after the ball. He scored a lot more, and seemed to enjoy himself more then last year.

looks like a house!

Things continue to progress quickly on our house. Projected finish date is the end of October- or so the builder says. They don't look too far off the mark. I am starting to panic about packing. I hate to do things last minute- and I hate moving even worse... Hopefully we get moved before the flakes begin to fall!

I'm smooshin up a baby bumblebee...

Yesterday we went to a friend's house for a BBQ. Josh and Zack were out chasing quails by the barn and suddenly Josh came running out screaming that Zack was covered in bees- followed by Zack running and screaming for his life. I checked him out and it looked like he had found a hornet nest. There were over 20 stings and he was miserable. I quickly gave him some Benadryl and put baking soda on the stings. About ten minutes later he broke into hives and began to turn red. I threw him in the van (was told by the ER that I should have called 911) and took him to the hospital. As we got closer he began to clear his throat like he had something in it and then started to cry without getting much air. I could tell he was having a hard time breathing and ran him into the ER. After carrying Zack/running from the parking lot to the ER doors (it is up-hill and Zack weighs 45 lbs) we were both struggling for air... They got some meds in him quickly. By then he was covered in hives from head to toe and the trunk of his body was very hot but his head and fingers were freezing. He was miserable but knocked out fairly quickly from all the Benadryl they gave him at the hospital. We stayed for a couple of hours and his hives began to fade. They said I could take him home, so I loaded him up and headed for the door. Just as I reached the door, he puked all down the front of me. I turned around and went back into the ER. They gave him a shot and made us stay for another hour and a half. It was a long night, but he is feeling much better today. His left shoulder and right hand took the brunt of the stings and they are still very swollen today. We have to carry around the EPI pen with us now wherever we go. It is scary to know that something so simple can kill him so quickly. As if I didn't have enough to worry about already just having three boys! (see sweet jump post below!)
You can see his swollen left shoulder and right hand in the picture. It is after we got home from the hospital and so most of the hives were gone from his legs and face...

losing my child- or my mind....???

Summer free lunch at the park is one of the greatest things ever. They serve up great food to anyone under 18 and then there are all sorts of playground toys and the spray park to hit afterward. We have spent lots of play dates there this summer, and it is a great way to get out of the house. Did I mention it's FREE! So, a friend of mine and her kids decided to meet Kricket and Annie for lunch at the park. We got our food and all of the kids were running around. Suddenly, I realized that I had lost Bradley. I start frantically looking around for him from where I was sitting. I ask Kricket and Emily if the could see him and they could not. Josh ran by and I yelled and asked him if he knew where Bradley was. He looked at me like I had lost it- at the same time I felt a wiggle in my lap. Low and behold there was Bradley. He had been sitting in my lap the whole time... Please tell me I am not the only one in this world that has done that.
I don't lose my kids, but I have lost my mind...

"Have you ever taken it off any sweet jumps?"

What was left of the "sweet jump"

My kids love Napoleon Dynamite. They watch it more then I would like to admit, and I chuckled today when I heard Josh and Zack outside playing and Zack asked Josh if he took his bike off any sweet jumps. I did not know that just minutes later Josh would be speeding his way down the sidewalk towards a "sweet jump" that Zack made of dead tree limbs. I saw him just in time to yell "be careful" out the door and see him hit the limbs. He crushed them and I thought he was okay and then his bike began to squirm and he was thrown off of it face first. It was so funny to watch. I mean the really really funny- where you feel so bad for them, and even worse for laughing, but oh so funny none the less. He laid there in the dirt for a bit and then the tears came. He had his mouth and nose full of dirt, but no blood. He did scrape his elbows and chin, but not too bad. Maybe next time he will let his dad help him make his "sweet jumps"...

progress....

Ryan and I took the boys to Utah to see how the house was coming along. They have the foundation poured and things are going- slow but steady. It is nice to see something there besides dirt...