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!!

Yikes!! A New Calling For Dan!

Does this look like the next Young Men's President or what?? I'm not sure if congratulations or condolences are in order, but I do know that the boys are lucky to have such an amazing guy!! Wednesdays and Sundays will be busy for a few years, but Dan will do great!!

Lost

I am sure every mother has lost a child at one time or another. You take your eye off of them for one second at the grocery store and the next thing you know you are frantically searching every isle to find your kid; they wandered off at the park and didn't tell you they were moving on to the next play structure, etc.; deep down you know they couldn't have gone far, but panic strikes and you start thinking like a crazy woman!! Yesterday I had one of those moments (actually 20-25 minutes that felt like an eternity!).

Jackson loves his dad. He waits for him to come home from work every night. They are "best friends." Last night I told Jackson that Dan was just about in the neighborhood and told him to go wait outside. Five minutes later I hear the car pull in and hear Dan talking. I figured he was just talking to Jackson. A few minutes later he came in with Zach. Being the good homemaker I am, I had dinner on the table ready to go and told Dan to grab Jackson and come eat. Dan asked where he was, I said, "isn't he with you?" and we proceeded to search the house for Jackson. Front yard, back yard, all six bedrooms, under beds, in closets, every bathroom, and then we started searching outside, each taking half of the block to explore. After about 15 minutes of searching, Dan headed to Jackson's favorite park and I got in the car. It was at that moment that I began to visualize Jackson's face on every milk carton in the state. I tried to stay calm, but wasn't sure how long I would keep my composure. I had a feeling to go straight to the road that takes you out of our subdivision and onto Locust Grove (a busy road!!) and sure enough he was waiting at the corner for his dad (thank goodness Heavenly Father answers crazy women's prayers!!). He had the biggest smile on his face until he saw my face!! I wasn't sure if I should spank him or hug him so I pulled over, grabbed my son and starting crying. He had no idea what was going on, but soon realized he had made a big mistake!! AAaaaaahhhhh, Jackson may be trouble, but I love him.

Swine Flu or Swine Fluke

Zach stayed home from school today because I thought he had the swine flu. It was a little ironic because the school was being vaccinated for the Swine Flu today. I was almost positive he had it, until about 12:00 pm. By lunch time he was begging to go back to school or ride around on his new bike. He had a mild fever, and a really bad headache, but it seemed to just disappear shortly after lunch. This afternoon he and I played against each other on the Wii Sport. It was actually a fun sick day for the both of us, I am now starting to think it was just a small case of the 24 hour flu. Maddie came home today complaining of a headache, and wanting to rest. What ever they have seems to be short lived. (Maddie went to bed early tonight, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will wake up feeling great!) Now I just hope Zach can last until Saturday when I go get him the swine flu vaccination.

In other news....my sister came to visit me this weekend. My mom was in town watching my brother's kids, so Meg decided to take the weekend to hang out with my mom and I. I know I've said it a million times before, but my sister R-O-C-K-S!!! I had her take some pictures of my family, so I thought I would treat you all with a little sneak peak of what will be displayed throughout my house. . .hopefully soon. My mom was amazing as always, treating us to lunch, entertaining the grand kids, and helping us do crafts. (By-the-way: I learned how to make the cutest watches ever!!!! They look a lot like the watches you would find at bumblesdesign.com. If any of you are interested I would love to make one for you, I can make them quite a bit cheaper!!!) The long weekend tired us all out, but it was so fun to hang out with my two favorite women in the entire universe!! I miss them so much.

More pictures to come. Isn't my Zach adorable!! I'm afraid Jackson was in one of his "moods" so every picture you will see of him is either of him crying, screaming, or just plain grumpy! I guess when he is a father dealing with a grumpy child I can pull out these pictures, laugh, and say "pay back!!"

Autism Run/Walk

Saturday was a great day. As many of you know, Autism has become a huge part of our family's life. So, this month was the Autism 5K Run to raise money and awareness for Autism in our community. I pulled a ligament in my leg and couldn't run, but Dan, and two very awesome friends, Kami and Andrea ran in it. . . and did awesome!! Andrea won first place in the women's division, and Kami and Dan were close behind. My parents came up from Utah, to participate in the Family Stroll with my kids and me. Ammon and his kids also came to support. I just have to say that while observing other families with their children I was very grateful for my amazing children. They may have some developmental obstacles to over come, but they are so light compared to what many other children with autism have to deal with. I know it is due to early intervention, amazing children, and my Heavenly Father. We plan to do this every year! Thanks Kami and Andrea for participating! I am so proud of my amazing husband for training hard and getting healthy.