Pink dots

Yesterday while I was brushing Claire's hair before church, she was looking in the mirror at me and said,

Claire: Mom, I see pink dots on your face.  

Me: Thanks Claire.  I'm going to remind you of this when you are a teenager, ok?  

Claire: Ok Mom!  

Cade's latest...

Cade has had some trouble hearing lately, even with his hearing aids on.  The other day I was about 3 feet away from him and was asking him in a normal voice, "Cade, can you hear me?"  He did respond until he saw my lips moving and came over and put his ear towards me.   He has really been relying on lip reading a lot lately. Without his aids on, we have to talk directly into his ear for him to hear.  He also has been complaining about a noise in his ear that he has described two different ways.  The first is by putting his pointer finger and thumb together and making a circular motion by his ears and the other he described as a feet noise.  I asked him what a "feet noise" was and he stood up and quietly marched in place.  He went to the audiologist last Saturday and he did some tests, his hearing had gone down 10-15 decibels and the pressure behind his ears was REALLY bad.  We were able to get him into the ENT and we were told that he needs to have tubes put in his ears to help him with the draining.  We were really happy that this was a lot easier to diagnose then the hearing loss was.

We showed him the poster on the wall explaining the tubes being put in his ears and immediately he said, "I don't want that."  Then Casey said, "Maybe we can get you the Lego Batman video game if you get it done" and that sealed the deal.   We went to meet with the scheduler and he was ready to get it done right then.  Now he has to wait 2 whole weeks to get his game.  We go in on October 10th to have the procedure done, it will be a great day.  I can't wait for my little boy to hear well again.

The Gumball Machine is Back!

Cade and Chloe are so alike in many ways, it's a little scary.  They both like the same shows as little kids, they both can't sit still, and they have the same motivators to be potty trained. When I got back from Lake Powell I rededicated myself to try to potty train Chloe.  I know that it's all about timing but when all the kids her age and younger are done then I put the pressure on myself to get it done.  So the immediate reward is a gumball, I bought this when Cade was going through the process.  Cade loved it then and Chloe loves it now.  I should rephrase that, all of my kids love it, Cade and Claire think that if they go to the bathroom then they get a gumball too!  I hear them asking me a lot after they go.  The long term motivator for when she is done is Disneyland that is what it was for Cade too.  She's also like Cade in that one part of potty training is going to be difficult, I'll let you figure that out.  So the adventure begins... I can't wait until it's over!

Cade leads the school

While we were at Lake Powell Cade's class was in charge of leading the school in the pledge of allegiance and he got to do it one day!  Mandy and Erich practiced with him so he would be ready. So here he is in action!

Lake Powell

Last week we were so lucky to go to Lake Powell with Bruce and Lisa King, Jerry and Jackie King and Casey's parents.  This is our third year going and we have so much fun every year.  It was very relaxing, I took so many naps, I'm embarrassed to count.   A lot of that was because I was STILL sick and didn't have much energy.  Because I had so much junk in my chest I wasn't able to stay in the water very long without having a coughing fit.  The weather was perfect and the water was perfect and the food was, as always, excellent.  We were so lucky that Mandy and Erich came to watch the kids otherwise it wouldn't have been possible so thank you.  Check out this entry and this one to hear about their experience here.  

Cade lost his first tooth!

What a big event for our first child!  It was an exciting experience for us all.  He wasn't looking forward to his teeth coming out even though a lot of his friends have already lost their teeth.  I thought he was going to be the kind that wouldn't let anyone touch it even when it was barely hanging on, but he was tough!  It was getting pretty loose so tonight after dinner we made him eat an apple and after a couple of bites, it came out in his mouth.  He got cheers from the whole family and the missionaries were here for dinner so they got to join in on the fun too!  The Tooth Fairy will make her first appearance in our home tonight!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

My friend who is into nutrition and working out gave this recipe to me and I love it!  It's a great source of healthy protein and is delicious over brown rice.  It makes a lot so you will have plenty for lunch the next day.  It's actually a recipe that she changed to make healthier.  I put the ingredients that I used and the actual ingredients in parenthesis 

1 1/4 lbs ground turkey (1- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef)

3/4 cups rolled oats - add more until it has a thicker consistency about 1/4 cup more

2 egg whites (2 eggs)

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp salt

Few grains pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Sauce

1/2 cup honey (1/2 cup brown sugar)

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tsp prepared mustard

1/4 cup low sugar teriyaki sauce (1/4 cup BBQ sauce)

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients; mix well.  (I think because it is ground turkey it will be a little more wet than if using beef) Form into balls, each about 2 inches in diameter.  Place in a casserole dish.  Combine sauce ingredients and blend thoroughly.  Heat and pour over meatballs.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  This made 2 casserole pans full.