October 16

Daisy has a nasty cough right now; it's the kind of cough that sounds really scary, and every once in a while leaves her freaked out and gasping for breath. Part of me feels sorry for the poor girl, but another, awful part of me gets annoyed with all the drama. Daisy has always had a flair for the dramatic, and I think it's fair to say she gets it from me. So really when I'm annoyed with her, I'm annoyed with myself. (I seem to remember a time when I had several bouts of strep throat - maybe I was nine? - and by the end, I would carry a little paper cup around with me and spit into it because "swallowing hurts". Flair for the dramatic, right there.

But luckily, Daisy was feeling well enough to go to gymnastics today. She loves gymnastics so much, and has determined that she will be a gymnast when she grows up. I wish we could afford regular classes for her, but right now once a month is the best we can do. 

I love when she's sweet and excited like this! She looked like this pretty much the whole hour, except for a moment halfway through when I looked out into the gym and saw that panicked look on her face. She couldn't breathe. Poor girl. I pulled her out, gave her some water and a snuggle, and then walked her back in. She ended up taking a four hour nap this afternoon; I hope she wakes up in the morning feeling significantly better.

We are dedicating Eli at church on Sunday, and they do a photo slideshow as part of it. I sent my pictures off a week ago, but today the children's minister emailed and asked if I had a couple more to send - maybe one of the whole family, or of Eli with his siblings?

She knew what she was asking. I dove into my photo files to pick a few more for her... and realized that there weren't any recent photos of all four kids together that I thought were "slideshow-worthy". So even though dinner was in the oven, I riffled through the kids closets, dressed them, and herded them outside for a whirlwind photo shoot. Chris got home in the midst of the chaos; he didn't even bat an eye or ask what was going on. He did, however, make silly faces and throw leaves in the air to elicit this:

I know, right? It's my new fave. I figured that I've been spending a lot of time lately making lovely pictures of other people's children; why not make one of my children, too?

Can you tell that Lily is wearing pink Crocs? It was a battle I chose not to fight. Another battle was the hair issue; I put a sweet little bow in Lily's hair, but then she found that giant flower, pulled the bow out, and applied the flower headband. Again. Smiling child = who cares about the goofy flower? It is very much Lily right now, and she felt lovely. 

Also, while I'm thinking about it, I want to share these pictures. Caleb's school is gearing up for Veterans Day in a few weeks, and I asked my mom for a picture of my dad from his time in the Army.

I think this was circa 1972? He served during the Vietnam era, though he was not sent to Vietnam. I can't get over how handsome and fierce he looks, and how much of Caleb I see in him.

Mom also brought this one of my Grandpa, who served during the Korean War.

This was probably 1949, or 1950? The crazy thing is that my nephew Ryan is the spitting image of Grandpa. 

Caleb was beyond tickled by these pictures; I will print copies and send them to school with him so that they can be posted on his school's "Wall of Heroes". How cool is that?