Due to the Olympic Fever that’s hit our home, the boys have been exposed to new aspects of sports.

We’ve been swimming before, but they’ve never seen Mommy or Daddy do competitive swimming starts or flip turns. (I wonder why?! )

I won’t even begin to describe their fascination with parts of gymnastics. I’m just thankful that they can’t reach the rafters in the garage.

Anyway, the swimming thing hit new heights this week when Nate and I witnessed our boys trying to “take their mark” off the arm of the couch and dive onto the cushions. We pretended not to notice because it was oh-so-funny. We let it go, while wathcing out of the corner of our eye(s) again and again.

I suppose doing this in just their underwear was their nod toward Speedos.

We finally had to stop them when Andy and Brady decided to race and start off the “blocks” at the same time. Being older and wiser, Mom and Dad knew that their couch cushions  pool wasn’t wide enough to catch both of them!

Thankfully, they never tried it from opposite ends of the couch.

FYI, I really wanted to post photos of this Olympic event, but the aforementioned team “uniform” prevented me from doing so.  

Andy and Brady have recently grown interested in presidents. It’s nothing outrageous, but the idea of one man being “in charge of” the whole country is intriguing to them. (Nate loves all things presidential, too, so this could be part of it.) Anyway, the boys have a placemat with presidents on it and they often ask questions about different ones. They like that Geroge Washington was first and that we now have another George. Somehow the matching set makes it fun for them.

This morning the boys and I were watching the news. The anchor was explaining how George W. Bush was at the G8 Summit, so a small photo of President Bush was in the upper right hand corner of the screen. They hadn’t said his name — just “the President” — so I asked, “Who’s that guy?”

Andy piped up first, “George Washington.” He was just sure of it.

I corrected him and he said, “Oh, yeah… The other George.”

So I reminded him, “George Washington was the first president of the United States… a long, long time ago. More than 200 years ago!”

This sparked Brady’s interest. “Like when you and Daddy were little?”

Gulp! I tried not to laugh. He’s only four and all of his siblings have been born under one president! So, I explained it the best way I could think of that he might understand. “No, Brades. No one we know now was alive when George Washington was president. He was alive way before even Nana and Poppy were born.”

“Oh,” he said. “That’s a really, really, REALLY long time ago!”

I’m used to taking forever at the store. When you’ve got five children, how could it ever be a quick trip? Honestly, just buckling car seats and then situating everyone in (or around) the cart is exhausting.

So, I was giddy with excitement to do some real grocery shopping all alone today. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE being with my kids… but sometimes I miss the efficiency of errands that I had before we became parents.

Anyway, back to today’s trip. I went to two stores and it still took me three hours. THREE hours. Both stores are within five miles of our house, too.

Know why? ‘Cause reading almost every food label to check for dairy ingredients and milk by-products takes some time and patience. Whew! I think I did OK though.

Even though it still took forever, I’ll count it as a success. After all, it was an investment in Brady’s health!

Now… what to do about those cookies he ate right before I got home? They had whey in them and he didn’t think to ask Daddy. Ugh!

I’ve been putting off writing about this, because it just seemed like such a huge topic… But here goes!

We’ve known for quite some time that Brady had some sort of food allergy. He has had a million symptoms of food allergies basically his whole life, but we didn’t know what it was. Because none of the symptoms were severe enough to be life-threatening, I’d put off figuring it out.

The elimination diet is a daunting process! (We’d done one round of it earlier and it was very difficult. I blogged about it then here and here.)

A couple of weeks ago, when the weather started getting REALLY hot around here, Brady started wheezing. I knew it was time to figure out his allergy once and for all. I’ve read enough to know that if you continue to give the child the allergen, he can develop full-blown asthma. If you eliminate every trace of said allergen, he is much more likely to outgrow it! So, the wheezing scared me into a much more active search.

I’m so happy to say that we figured it out this time!

My boy Brady is allergic to milk / dairy in all its forms. Every tiny trace ingredient causes a bit of a reaction from him — thankfully not anaphylaxis! But every little speck does seem to make a difference.

So, last week, Brady mourned the loss of Ranch dressing, milk chocolate, and frozen pizza. He’s been drinking rice milk for a long time, so that hasn’t been an issue. I knew I’d be able to find ice cream alternatives. The cheese was going to be the hard part.

I’m happy to say we have really good health food stores around here! Last week we bought some rice-based ice cream and dairy-free bread.  I found soy pudding and tofu cheese (it’s vegan.) The thought sorta makes me cringe, but he’s young enough not to care and I won’t teach him any differently.

Today I found a dairy-free ranch dressing (Brady’s ecstatic) and an all veggie pizza that has no cheese! I can always make our own pizza, but this frozen kind will be great for days when we’re overloaded.

Many restaurants have their allergen information on their websites, so if we plan ahead, we can still partake. The part that scares me is the upcoming pitch-in dinner at church. I’ll have to pack him his own special meal, I guess.

He’s been such a trooper. I’m so proud of him! It’s going to be hard for awhile, but just having it pinpointed helps. I’m breathing a sigh of relief … and so is Brady. Wheeze-free!

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about ways to get my children to see the importance of service, specifically Christian service. We’ve been doing tiny things here at home, like actually serving dinner to siblings, etc., but I wanted it to sink in outside the home, too.

There’s a sweet older lady at church who has quietly been responsible for pulling all the weeds around the landscaping at church for years. She was so meek about it that it never even occurred to me that someone did it or even that it needed to be done! Anyway, she recently had surgery, so I volunteered our services. Friday, I loaded up the van and the six of us went to pick weeds while Daddy was working. (OK, really just three of us… Connor and Evan were easily distracted and Ferris was no help at all! )

Andy and Brady did fairly well for the first hour, but then their focus started to waver about halfway around the church. I decided to teach them a new song to keep them interested. Here’re the lyrics, just in case you’ve never heard it. It’s an echo song.

“I sing a new song …
Since Jesus came…
Serve a new master …
Wear a new name…
Walk a new road…
Have a new goal…
Know a new peace…
Down deep in my soul.”

Every single time we sang it, the boys would start to giggle about halfway through… Yet they asked me to sing it again and again. I couldn’t figure out what was so funny. Finally I tried to listen to exactly how they were singing it. Here’s what they sang:

“I sing a new song …
Since Jesus came…
Serve a new master …
Wear a new name…
Walk a new road…
Have a new goal…
Knowin’ who pees…
Down deep in my soul.”

What?! “Knowin’ who pees?!”

I had to try really hard not to laugh as I corrected them and explained what peace is. What’s even crazier, though, is that we don’t even use that word. (We’ve been a “potty” house since we first had kids.)

But what can I say? They weren’t completely wrong. God does know all.

Our house is in an uproar this weekend because the Cubs and Sox are playing the Crosstown Classic. Around here, it’s equivalent to the Civil War.

Though we live southeast of Chicago, we’re die hard north-side fans. We bleed Cubby blue.

We’re currently going through another round of the elimination diet to determine Brady’s food allergy. (We’re making progress finally!) While eating a carefully chosen lunch (void of the milkshakes Andy and Connor wanted,) Andy said, “Mommy, I think I’m allergic to the White Sox.”

I tried not to laugh. “Oh really? What happens if you get near the White Sox?”

“I stink!” Andy said, giggling hysterically.

Don’t worry, buddy, I’m sure more than half of Chicago has the same allergy.

PS– For those of you who give a hoot, Cubs won game one of the series. Game two is being played now. The Cubs won game two also. Can you hear us singing the “Go, Cubs, Go” song?!  :)

We finally got around to taking a whole-family photo that includes Ferris. We needed an updated photo for a project I’m working on, so my mom took one some of us in our front yard on Monday and here it is…

My favorite part of this photo is that Brady and Connor (aka: oil and water) are holding hands. We all look so peaceful and almost normal, don’t we?

As a nod to The Wizard of Oz, “pay no attention to the graphic artist behind the computer.” She may or may not have altered three photos and combined them to get one where all five children look relatively normal.

Then again, maybe she should have tried a bit harder. We’re pure cheese.

B, Brady, Baseball!

I haven’t written much about Brady’s baseball experience. He couldn’t be any cuter in his little uniform. In fact, the whole junior T-ball team is just plain adorable. Imagine about 30 four-year-olds, all gussied up as if they decided to be Mark Grace for Halloween. They make me smile before they even hit the field.

I think poor Brady has been slightly disappointed by the difference between Junior T-ball and T-ball. (Andy’s league is T-ball; it’s for the five and six-year-olds.) Junior T-ball is basically an organized practice in uniforms. They haven’t even picked up bats. Most of their hour each week is spent taking turns fielding grounders in the outfield.

After his first “game,” Brady got situated next to me to watch Andy’s second game. He looked up at me and sweetly asked, “Mommy, is my game after this?” Poor boy knows there’s more to the game!

So, as this season draws to an end, we’re all looking forward to next season… when Andy and Brady should get to be on the same team!! Woo-Hoo.

As frustrated as my Brady-Boy is, he’s been a real trooper. He still gets excited and looks forward to his Saturday mornings. After all, they do get to run the bases…

This evening, tornadoes ripped through our area, not too far from here. In fact, the town of Monee, Illinois is just 40 minutes from us got hit pretty hard, and some good friends of ours live there. Thankfully, they were unharmed and all of their property remained untouched!

(This is a photo of the tornadoes that went through northeast Illinois tonight!)

After viewing some of the footage on the news, the boys had millions of questions. Since I’m not a meteorologist, I answered their questions as best I could. I also used this opportunity to remind them of the way God is always in control and how He protects us. “He kept us all safe, just like He does with Daddy each night,” I said.

“Cool!” Brady said. “How come God is so strong? Is He stronger than the tornadoes?”

“Oh, yeah, Buddy,” I said. “God is way stronger than any tornado. He controls the wind. He’s in charge of the weather and everything else.”

Brady sat quietly as if he was amazed by the Lord’s strength. Then he asked, “Did God protect Alfonso Soriano and Derrek Lee, too?!”

That’s my boy. Even in the midst of a deeply spiritual discussion, his mind is never far from the Cubbies. Such concern for others! ‘;)

You know how, when you can’t sleep, you’re supposed to count sheep?

Around here, we count sleeps.

Like most moms of toddlers, I’ve taught the boys to count the number of “sleeps” (overnight and nap-time) until their next long-awaited event. It may be a visit from family or something special at church. Here recently, though, it’s all about baseball games.

Andy played a game Thursday and doesn’t have another game until this Friday. Eight days (16 sleeps) is a LONG time in pre-school world! Poor Brady only has games on Saturdays.

Just for the record, my system has worked! The boys no longer ask how long it is until their next game! You’d think that was a major triumph, huh?

Now they just keep asking how many sleeps.