Do You Die If You Swallow Pennies?

Call it mother's intuition, but when I woke up Monday morning I just had a feeling something was going to go wrong. I remember making a mental list of all I had to do before Thanksgiving, and knew that this was the one and only day I had to do them. . .my luck was never that good. . .right??

And so the day began:

Got the two kids off to school--check

Exercised--check

Jackers dressed-check

Looking for keys. . .found, and in hand to go. All of a sudden a very serious Jackson comes to me and says, "do you die if you swallow pennies?" I replied, "I don't think so, but you may have to go the doctor if you do . . .so don't."

Jacker's then says, "O-tay, but what if I already did?"

Me: "You are joking, right?"

Jack: "Maybe." Long pause, longer pause. "But, I might have."

Me: "Seriously? Did you forget to put your brain in when you woke up this morning?"

Jackson: "Call the doctor, and then call grandma." (My children seem to think Grandma is the know-it-all when it comes to stuff like this; she usually is!)

So that is exactly what I did. While on hold with the doctor I called my mom. Both encouraged me to go to the ER to make sure it was not stuck in his esophagus.

I will admit, the car ride to the ER was not pleasant. I did a lot of thinking out loud, except for the four letter word of choice!! Jackson was totally quiet the entire ride, until we got to the hospital when he just had to make sure he was not going to die. My first response was that the penny wouldn't kill him, but I was about too. He then asked if you go to the "kid jail" for swallowing pennies. He was white as a ghost at this point and terrified for his future.

To make a long story short. The X-ray showed the penny in his stomach, and just waiting for nature to take it's course. For the next few days Jackson pooped a lot, and would stick his head in the toilet to examine each stool. We never found the penny, but I lied one day and told him that I thought I saw something shiny in the toilet. He believed me, and now he tells me that pennies are "spicy" and he hates spicy things.

Lesson learned. . .I hope.

Proud Of My Boy

Before I get into Zach's B-day festivities, I just have to tell you how proud I am of Zach. A few weeks ago he came and told me that he is no longer going to watch one of his favorite cartoons because they say naughty words. Since I was pretty sure my son didn't know any actual four letter words I was interested to hear what words he was talking about. Reluctanty he told me: "stupid," "dumb," and "poopy-head." I was so proud of my son, that I grabbed him and hugged him as tight as I could. I assured him that I would never let him watch anything that I thought was bad, but he expressed concern that if we have bad words in our house, Heavenly Father would not be happy. After that, I decided to learn by his example and just be proud of my son. His sister has refused to go along with Zach and expressed great concern that she could not miss this particular cartoon; when she turns it on Zach goes to his room to play with his toys, or goes to another room to watch a different show. He has never asked if he can watch that cartoon since. I am so proud of Zachary. It seems like just yesterday he was telling me how boring church was, and now he can't wait for primary, and fast and testimony meeting. He has quite the testimony and is proud to share it with us every month.
Zach's birthday was short and sweet. I made him a Star Wars Lego chocolate birthday cake which was a huge hit. He got Star Wars Lego for the Wii, a space book, and lots of science stuff to experiment with. I have decided that the age of seven is pretty awesome! I am so proud of Zach, he is loving, kind, responsible, and wants to be independent. He is really growing up!

Happy #7 Zachary!!

Happy Birthday Zachary!!

Some interesting facts about Zach:
He was a BIG baby:
9 lb 5 oz

He has had more surgeries and been in the hospital more than anyone in our family!

He loves computers and video games, in fact we think he is a genius when it comes to both.

He is a very picky eater, but his favorite foods include:
pizza, brownies, sugar cereal, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies,
mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, bacon,
pancakes, and chocolate (he gets that from his Grandma Dinger!)

He loves BYU

He HATES BSU (His father has brain-washed him just a little!!)

He is obsessed with:
Star Wars Lego on the Wii, Batman Lego on the Wii,
Pokemon cards, and most Superheroes

What you may not know about Zach:
He is a Math Wiz
He is a perfect speller
He is fascinated by space

We love you Zachary!
Happy Birthday Big Guy!!