I Would Have Made a Good Looking Man...

My friend found this photo of me from our senior year high school band trip. As I was loading it Caeden came in the room and said "Hey There's Cameron!"



You be the judge...

Back To The Land Of The Living

Jackson came home Monday night. Tough few days - ultimately they wouldn't do the surgery because of the location of the abscess.

I've come to the conclusion that it is VERY STUPID to rotate doctors every 24 hours - we had five doctors in five days. Continuity of care? Not likely...

One of the first doctors only ordered two doses of steroids. Had this treatment been continued without interruption, we probably would have been home Sunday. As it was, the follow up scan showed the abscess had organized and GROWN - not the result we were looking for with the second scan.

Long story short - two doses of steroids and a good night's sleep and Jackson woke up Monday morning with full movement in his neck. He came home to 12 pills a day for six days - we'll know if we're completely out of the woods with the "final" CTscan next Monday.

Here is a chronicle of his hospital stay in pictures. The best is the shot of the Chicago Bears jersey. It is an original 1980's Mike Singletary jersey from our pastor - he just happened to have it hanging around in his closet for the last 20 years. BTW - did I tell you that Jackson is the BIGGEST Chicago Bears fan in the history of the Chicago Bears?!? He'll be very happy I mentioned that...

Day One...
Da Bears...
Cardinals and Eagles Playoff Game...
Going Home...

Time For A Second Opinion

This has gone on long enough...

The neck is still not better. He's not eating, he laid on the couch from the time he got home from school until he decided to go to bed at 8:30, he has a weird smell coming out of his pours (probably the meds), and he fluctuates between screaming at me and crying.

He won't put heat on his neck because it smells (it doesn't but his senses make him think it does), he won't let me touch it to gently massage the muscle (the doctor has also told me to not touch it), and he won't try to move it to loosen it up.

He's fading away before my eyes - all this because of a stupid muscle spasm!?!

Give me a break - something else is wrong and I'm not going to wait for the "meds" to kick in anymore.

Look out medical community - SportsMum is on the warpath!!!

Ugh - Snow and Sickness

This actually would have been a great weekend had it not been for Jackson being sicker than I have ever seen him!

We had a "snowstorm" Friday night and Saturday. It really wasn't much of a storm by Canadian standards - lots and lots of snow (about 12 inches)and Ohioans really don't know how to clear it away quickly. Or, as Canadian's would do, simply plow through it in their four-wheel drives.

We would have gone sledding except for Jackson's misery. Instead, Caeden invented a new game - "Professional SNOW Jumping"

So about Jackson...the sleepness night I spoke of earlier in the week became unbearable as the muscle spasms in his neck contracted to the point of excruciating pain in his ear and throat. We had xrays on Friday that showed his spinal cord in his neck pulled back as far as it could go from the muscle spasm. The doctor put him on an anti-inflammatory AND a muscle relaxant.

I don't know a great deal about meds as I truly hate taking them myself but I was horrified by the effect the muscle relaxant had on Jackson. He was a virtual zombie from Saturday morning until last night. I made the decision not to give him his second dose yesterday and he woke up this morning with (almost) his personality back. The neck is still a little funky (and he's still getting the anti-inflammatory) but I will NEVER give him the other pills again.

I will admit, he was still an absolute BEAR this morning but so is his mother when she's sick. Not so glad he inherited that trait from me...

The Spelling Bee - Round Two

Jackson once again made the finals for the Spelling Bee at his school.

He bravely entered today's contest with 600 mg of ibuprofen in his 100 lb body and a gait resembling the Hunchback of Notre Dame. (His neck is still majorly out of whack)

While he was one of only 8 fifth graders last year, this year 21 sixth graders made the cut. He finished in the top three.

The "you've got to be kidding" moment of the event was when all remaining 20 or so finalists (including Jackson) had to spell the word BEQUEATH. Every single kid misspelled it and they were left with no winner. I swear I heard one of the kids spell it right but the moderators missed it. So they ended up calling all the remaining kids back and starting with a new word.

The word Jackson ultimately went down on was GESTAPO. The moderator pronounced it GUS-TA-PO and how do you think Jackson spelled it? GUSTAPO.

The Christmas Concert(s)

It always makes me laugh that we parents take our video and still cameras to every concert our children are in, but very seldom manage to get close enough to actually see our own children!

Witness this photo of Jackson's Christmas band concert last week. Can you see him? He's the dot on the right, with the glasses, in the white shirt, wearing the grinch tie...

Alas - I was able to get real shots of Caeden in his final elementary school chorus concert. But I had to arrive 45 minutes early to do it - and I have the grumbles and whines from Cameron and Jackson to verify that we were there that early.

It was worth it :)

Demolition Derby

I have discovered that I am a complete and total embarrassment to my 14 year old son.

Not that I didn't have some clue that this was the truth. Aren't all Mothers an embarrassment to their son's? Doesn't it start when they refuse to let you kiss them goodbye when they leave for school? (For me, I was banned from public kisses around 10 years old)

I, however, have apparently gone too far in the department of making my son not want to be around me.

We went to the Canfield Fair on Friday night to watch our friend compete in the Demolition Derby. I decided to be fun Mom and take the boys a few hours early to enjoy some rides.

First, I apparently take too many pictures. Evidence of this is my, "Evolution of the Ride", series of Jackson and Caeden.



I think it's pretty clever...Cameron just said "you have to take that camera everywhere, don't you?!"

Fortunately for him, several members of his football team came by at that moment and I told him to go off and hang with them for the next few hours. I gave him some money and sent him off. I thought that was pretty darn big of me. The relief on his face was palpable.

Eventually, he found us at the Grandstand for the start of the demo derby. As our friend started to compete and I was cheering him on from the stands, Cameron half-whispered to me in an extremely irritated voice, "he can't hear you Mom"!

At which point, having had enough of his disdain, I turned to him and said, "am I an embarrassment to you Cameron?" - thinking this would make him think about his attitude towards me...

He looked at my, lowered his head, and said, "we'll talk about it at home"...

Bet He's Hurting Today...

The boy's asked their Dad to play football with them last night. Here are the pictures to prove it - the blur is John...


I remember when we were first married I would nag him about taking better care of himself so that he would be able to play football with his children when he was 50.

Well he's 51 -- with all the hobbling, aches, and pains, that go along with playing competitive sports when he was a younger man. In fact, just recently, our doctor (who is also a good friend) commented that John is a typical example of a man who played too many sports and had too many injuries when he was younger...

So I expect he's hurting today - REALLY hurting. In fact, I have predicted that he will have an episode of gout in either his ankle or knee by the weekend.

The price you pay for believing you're 20 again...

Awards Season

I very seldom received academic or sports awards when I was in school. I was always in the upper end of the pack but never the stand-out when it came to achievements. The only thing that kept me from completely fading into the woodwork was my singing ability. I was always the go-to girl for special songs and talent shows. But oh, how I coveted recognition for being smart!

Well - my oldest son is smart, very smart. But he really doesn't want anyone to know
and, up until this year, never really worked too hard to be! So it was with GREAT pleasure that I watched him receive one of the highest overall academic awards at his middle school - The President's Award (signed by Bush himself!)

It is given to student's who maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA AND 85% or above in state achievement testing - for four consecutive years...
Cameron's the one in the striped shirt - oh darn - they all have striped shirts!!!

There are over 200 kids in the graduating 8th grade class - only 27 received this honor - so I guess this ranks him in the top 10%.

But getting back to Cameron really not coveting attention (unlike his mother)...the awards ceremony ended with a 24 minute slide show tribute to the graduating class.

Cameron wasn't in a single picture...

The Ugly Side of Baseball

We saw the ugly side of teenage boys playing baseball tonight. Especially a team of boys who have been preordained as "THE" team to beat in our division.

These boys expect to be perfect, especially Cameron, and when they aren't, it is nothing short of embarrassing.

It's not because they play badly - we, as parents, know they are not perfect. It's because the ATTITUDE is awful.

For instance - Cameron missed two DIVING catches at center field tonight and you'd think he lost the entire game for the team. He came in hanging his head, throwing his glove and wallowing in his self-pity.

He wasn't the only one - tonight's pitcher kicked the dugout walls and actually "quit" the team after the visitors had several good hits and poor defense from us.

My "I've had enough moment" came when Cameron hit a solid grounder to the short stop, advancing our runner from second to third. Unfortunately, he was thrown out at 1st. He turned to go back to the dugout and our first base coach stuck out his hand to high five him on a good hit. Cameron ignored the gesture and ran past.

I promptly ran over to meet him as he came off the field, led him away from the team, and told him if I EVER saw him disrespect his coach again, I would pull him out of the game. He knew I was serious and didn't dare cop an attitude with me.

Initially, I felt I had been out of line in addressing him during the game. But then I realized something - he is 14, he is MY son, and John and I have taught him that, no matter what, he will ALWAYS respect his teachers and coaches.

I may have no control over what he does on the field in his performance...but I will do everything I can to make sure to teach him the qualities of CHARACTER and RESPECT in every other area of his life.

I'm pretty sure he got the message...

President's Day With Our Next President

As most of you know I am Canadian, therefore not able to vote in this country. That small detail doesn't stop me from following politics, and actively working on behalf of good candidates. As a taxpayer, I still want my family to have the best life they can in our adopted country!
My children have asked me if I am a Democrat. No...
So they asked if I am Republican? No...
What am I then?...I am someone who believes in choosing the RIGHT person as our leader in a time in our history that we so desperately need change.

And today I took my children to see this person...meeting our next President on, what will be for them, a historic Presidents Day.

This was our day with Barack Obama...



It was amazing being a part of this day as Senator Obama visited our town. 5,600 people crammed into a gymnasium at Youngstown State University - many times these numbers will be exaggerated but I can attest there were very few empty seats.

I loved that I had my camera...I was particularly mesmerized by the media frenzy surrounding his appearance.


Even more so...the genuine outpouring of love, gratitude, excitement, energy - the hope that everyone felt in hearing him speak.




I was particularly impressed by his statement that he will refund a portion of a student's college tuition, providing they perform a number of hours of community service! What an awesome idea!!!

But the best part of the day was the woesome group who had assembled outside the auditorium to exercise their constitutional rights. You go baby...



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UPDATE ON CAMERON

Cameron had his MRI this morning. He has a "slight tear" in both his cartilage and his ligament (but not the ACL, it's the other one...). We will see the orthopedic surgeon (but this time a knee specialist, not a hand specialist!) on Wednesday...

Wordless Wednesday

A Boy and His Dog...
wordless wednesday

And Then There Were Three...

We are experiencing a rare occasion in our home tonight...We only have ONE child!

Cameron went to church camp for the weekend. Jackson is at a sleep-over birthday party. Caeden is the lone child occupant of our home for one night - and mighty happy about that!

He had already planned the evening when I picked him up at school..."First I want McDonalds Happy Meal WITH a chocolate shake...then can you, me and Daddy play Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader AND The Amazing Race DVD games. Oh yeah - can we have popcorn too?"

The guilt washed over me...John and I had tried so hard to pawn him off on someone else tonight so we could be alone...until we realized he has an 8AM basketball game tomorrow.

Oh - to have a grown up Friday night...just one more time before I die...:)

Wordless Wednesday

Beautiful Four Eyes -- new glasses -- still my beautiful baby boy!

Love and the 5th Grade Boy

As Jackson was getting ready for bed last night I went to his bedroom door to ask him a question. I obviously surprised him as he jumped and quickly stuck something in his pajama bottoms. In his hand he was holding a pair of scissors...

My mind immediately went to the worse cased scenario, especially in this age of easy access to all things immoral.

It didn't help my suspicions that he was completely mortified that I had caught him with whatever he'd been doing. No matter how I prompted, kindly and thoughtfully I might add, he wouldn't give up his secret.

So I went downstairs. A few minutes later, he came down and went to the trash can to stuff in whatever he'd been hiding. His Dad walked in behind him, completely oblivious to what had happened upstairs. So, of course, he wants to know what he's hiding!

By this point Jackson is completely devastated that both his parents have caught him hiding his stuff. He begs us to stop "interrogating" him and goes to bed.

I, being the good mother that I am, go into the trash can to fish out the contraband.
What I discovered broke my heart...

It was a note from his beloved 5th grade crush, Betsy -- to another boy. He had somehow got his hands on this at school and confiscated it so the other boy wouldn't see. Before he destroyed the evidence he needed to cut one thing out for himself...Betsy's phone number.

Innocence lost? Not for my 11 year old son -- he's just lost in love!

Fifty and One-Tenth

John turned 50 and 1/10 today. It's evident on the cake...the candle on the right...the short one...with the finger pointing at it. Cameron decided the cake needed five candles and one-tenth of a sixth. Fifty-one...

Ice Cream cake, milk mustaches, and his three sons! A very happy birthday...

Demolition

We have a holiday tradition that the boys look forward to all year. It fits naturally into a boy's innate desire for chaos and destruction...

The perfect mother in me takes the time to buy just the right gingerbread house kit. I construct the walls and roof, squeeze icing over the entire structure with just perfect icicles dangling from the sides, and select colorful candy pieces with just the right Christmasy feel.

All of us used to participate in the construction of this seasonal treat; but only Caeden and I took the time this year to lovingly create our family masterpiece.

All the boys eagerly anticipate as New Years Day approaches. In keeping with family tradition, our beautiful gingerbread house was slated for DEMOLITION...