Skate Night

After school today I took the kids to "Skate Night" at the elementary school. Kids could bring skates, bikes, scooters, etc. and ride around the loop between parking lots. It was a good idea. They advertised that they would be selling hot dogs and popcorn, among other things. Emily was the only one of my kids who wanted a hot dog. I was counting on the popcorn for the other kids, but they didn't have it as they'd advertised. That was disappointing. It would've been their after-school snack, and plus, popcorn makes them so happy, and I like to have happy kids! Then Emily dropped her hot dog off her plate before she even got one bite. She ran up to me and was so upset that she hit my arm with her plate (face down), getting ketchup all over my arm. I got upset with her and told her she was the one who dropped the hot dog, so she is the one that needs to pick it up and either eat it or ask for another one--and told her to get me a napkin for my arm! She did ask for another hot dog, and they were nice and gave it to her for free. I got rid of her plate so she'd have to hold onto her hot dog instead of balance it on the plate. Then someone bumped into her and she dropped her second hot dog! Another burst of tears. Again I presented her options. She asked for another hot dog. The hot dog seller gave ME the hot dog and said maybe I'd better hold it for her! Of course I had to hand it over so she could eat it.

The hot dog came with a drink and chips. I said Brandon and Nathan would get most of the chips since there wasn't any popcorn, and they didn't want a hot dog. Emily accepted that, and it went all right until Brandon took the bag out of Nathan's hands so he could get some. Nathan is so little that he feels like they're totally being taken away from him when that happens. Outburst from Nathan. So I put some chips on a plate just for him. Then the kids sort of settled down to eat. Nathan whined that he wanted to go sit inside the school, but that wasn't an option. (He likes to eat at a table.) We sat on the curb watching the skaters glide ride by.

After their food was gone, Emily wanted my help putting on our roller blades (a wonderful hand-me-down from some friends). They're really hard to put on and she seemed to think she depended on me to put them on her, although it was nearly impossible for me to shove them onto her feet. She needed to push her feet down herself. At one point she got frustrated and threw the skate toward me and it hit my ankle. Sheesh! Yes, I let her know I didn't appreciate that (and said I was done helping her). She pouted, but finally she got the skates on and I helped her skate. We recently got these roller blades and she had only skated on the carpet, so she was pretty teetery. I held her hand and she went a little ways and then plopped herself down on the curb in discouragement. I asked if she wanted to skate or if I should go back to where Jacob and Nathan were, and she said I could go back. I did. I could still see her, and she sat there and pouted or cried (I couldn't tell which). Then a friend of hers came along and helped teach her to skate. That worked out better. Sometimes someone other than me is best for helping Emily with frustrating things. Kind of like how my mom initially tried to teach me piano herself. With her, I didn't restrain myself enough when I got frustrated. My situation with Emily is extremely similar. She was proud of herself for skating and I was, too.

The rest of Skate Night went all right. Brandon was nice to share his scooter with Emily and Nathan. We also have some "heelies" that Nathan put on. He really likes those. He took one off so he could be steady on at least one foot. He likes that better. Cute Nathan. And then while Emily was riding the scooter and after Nathan got tired of the heely, Brandon and Nathan just ran around the loop. They enjoyed that. Nathan, especially, loves running. He sometimes says, "I'n a runner!"

When it was time to go home, Nathan had been the last one to take a turn on the scooter, and Emily wanted to ride it back to the car. I told her she could ask him, but if he said no, not to take it from him. Well, he said no. She tried to take it from him and I stopped her, so she plopped herself on the ground and refused to come to the car with us. We walked ahead and I silently prayed for help to know what to do. (Seems I do a lot of such pleading lately!) I called back to her that if she didn't come with us, (in other words, if I had to come back for her), she'd have to go to her room when we got home. She came.

We got home and hurried and had some dinner before bedtime. Fortunately I had lots of spaghetti leftover from Nathan's preschool picnic today. (It's nice when you bring something to a potluck that people like and eat up, but in this case, it worked out well that they didn't! Especially for Brandon, who recently discovered that he LOVES spaghetti and meatballs.)

Still infected

I took Jacob to the doctor today. She said he obviously is still infected with MRSA, a strong bacterial infection he was diagnosed with at 2 mos. It tends to live on the skin once you've got it. I got some more strong antibacterial soap and was also instructed to treat any bumps with the Bactroban and give him a bath in bleach solution.

Bumpy boy

Jacob always has some red bumps on him. They aren't simple baby zits because he's too old to have lots of those, they last too long to be those, and are too scabby to be those.

Two months ago he got four mosquito bites. At least I'm 99% sure they were moquito bites because I saw some mosquitos right where we had been. Well, they got to be horrible looking!
Here's a picture of two of the mosquito bites a few days after he got them. They improved over time and are all but gone now, but it's been 2 months and there is still a remnant. I think that's an extreme reaction to a mosquito bite.

Anyway, this morning after he woke up he had an ugly-looking blister on his foot! Later in the day it popped. Any idea what in the world is going on? Here's a picture of his foot today, after the blister popped:
I am treating it with Bactroban (prescription-strength antibiotic ointment) to prevent infection since it's such an open sore, and I'm sure it will be okay, but the cause is what is mysterious to me. He had chicken pox in June and they were big and weird-looking as well, although sparse, and they healed up like normal chicken pox. Anyway, the reason I'm posting this is to see if anyone has had experience with something like this.

Update: Oct. 27: He was diagnosed with MRSA, a strong bacteria.

Day off

Don't faint because I'm writing this less than three months after my last entry!

Today is a day off school for the kids (It's Educator's Day, when the teachers to go workshops) and has been really fun for me. Not only did I get to avoid bus stop deadlines, but I got to relax and soak in the fun of having such cute kids. And I went to bed early last night. Otherwise I wouldn't be feeling so great.

First, Brandon was so kind and thoughtful during breakfast. Emily started out the day not feeling too hot because, she said, she was up beginning at 5 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep due to a lot of "hullabaloo" regarding her nose. As a result, she's been pretty cranky today, so when Brandon poured a little pink lemonade for himself and for Nathan at breakfast and Emily saw very little left in the pitcher, she slammed the pitcher down on the table (splashing some onto the floor) and threw a fit. I decided to mostly ignore her behavior for the moment (and she sort of "cleaned it up"). She calmed down and asked Brandon nicely if she could have a little of his lemonade. He kindly gave her ALL of his lemonade. Classic tender, generous Brandon. Later in the day when I sent Emily up to her room for "rest time" when she was again being difficult, Brandon hopped up and gave her one of her "American Girl" books to take upstairs to read. She had already read it and said so. Well, if not Emily, at least I acknowledged Brandon's nice gesture!

Anyway, I don't mean to give Emily a bad rap. We'll cut her some slack since she's a little sick!

So for the day off today, after Jacob's nap we went to the post office, the bank, the library, and the park by the library. It was just a nice time, and the kids were good and happy. It's blustery today (typhoon passing near) and a couple pieces of mail blew away from my pile, and Emily and Brandon chased them down . It was a remarkable moment to me because it reminded me that I've finally passed the point where I have to do all the work all the time! I just waited with Jacob and Nathan while the others ran down the sidewalk after it!

Brandon brought along a picture he had brought home from school the other day and colored with colored pencils. It looked so nice that he was really proud of it, so he showed the bank teller, post office clerk, and librarian. The bank teller didn't notice it right away, so he said, "Look, Miss." I loved that!

At the park there's a set of four swings--two baby swings and two big-kid swings, and I enjoyed seeing all four of my happy kids lined up on them (all wearing shades of red). I should've brought my camera!

Cute things Nathan said today: When he was crying, he said, "I need some milk to feel me better." Later he made an announcement for me: "Mom Gentlemen, come here" (in the tone of "Ladies and Gentlemen"). Then he whispered it, and I thought he was so cute that I asked him to do it again so I could take a video:

This past Sunday in Relief Society we discussed the CES Fireside talk by Elder Bednar called "Things as they Really Are" and someone made the comment that some people's blogs make their lives sound too rosey. I don't mean to make my life appear better than it is. A friend of Paul's who reads our blog told me this summer that it seems like I'm a really calm person, from what I write in the blog. My response was that I just don't write in the blog when I'm flustered! I do often feel like writing in here to complain, but I never do because I think I would probably regret it later. Anyway, today is one of the good days of really appreciating my kids. Now to come up with something to make for dinner that might not result in kid-whining. (Very hard to do.)

AH! Update--Paul just called and said he got a free cheese pizza that he's going to bring home for dinner. Wow, the great day continues!

Fun kid stuff

Nathan really wanted to make his own PB&J sandwich for lunch (like Emily and Brandon often do for their lunchboxes), so I let him. Here he is with his creation. He only ate the middle part since that's the only part with any peanut butter and jelly! He asked to make his sandwich the next couple of days as well, so I let him, but helped with the edges this time. (By the way, I've been enjoying focusing on Nathan more than before, now that Brandon's in school.)

"Want that ball...want that ball..."

"Yay!"


They made a throne and said Jacob was the king.


Emily's assignment was to paste a photo or draw a picture of something in each box that was important to her in each year of her life.



Jacob loves the remote.



Nathan made a big mess of Cheerios so I had him vacuum them up as a consequence. He had so much fun doing it that I'm not sure it was much of a punishment!

Brandon and Jacob get along well. They even share a room now! (But this took place in the living room.)

Emily came home one day and said, "I know how to jump rope!"After all these years of wanting to do it, she finally arrived! (Play video.)

Little Bunny Foo Foo (Nathan Style)

Listening to Nathan sing on the way home from church today, I was thinking how much I'd love to get it on video, but didn't think he'd do it on demand at home. Then I realized I had my camera in the car, so I captured it! (And showed a little bit of Jacob for you.)

Summer pictures

Summer in America

We spent five weeks in Michigan and Ohio this summer. It began with a house full of Paul's side of the family in Granville, Ohio, for the 4th of July weekend. Granville makes a big deal of this holiday. They block off their main street and put up a fair with carnival rides, fried food, and live music. They put on a big parade with pretty decent floats. And they host the annual "Firecracker Five" 5-mile race, in which Paul participated for the 3rd year running. And a pretty decent fireworks show! Emily got to go for the first time and was duly impressed.

One ride at the fair is the kiddie roller coaster. In previous years, the kids have bypassed this ride. Too scary, they figured. But I guess Emily and Brandon figured they were brave enough this year. So they got on with their cousins Tori and Abby. As you can see, Brandon had the time of his life! And Emily and Tori, well, they asked the ride operator to let them off early.

Here's Jacob, proud to be an American during this first week in the country in his entire life.

After the relatives left, we got busy househunting. We selected a really 4-bedroom house on a cul-de-sac in Newark, Ohio.

To begin with, we will be renting it out. We got it now while the market's good, and the interest rate, too. I must say, now that I know what our house would be like if we lived there, I want even more to move there! But I realize that we have it good here in Okinawa, so I can be patient and wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. So anyway, yes, we bought the house. I thought I'd be pretty nervous about it, because every time we buy a car I get nervous. But we involved the Lord in the decision and felt good about it, so I was able to move forward with confidence (with just a couple of nervous moments).

Besides buying a house, we did some fun things like eating Whit's frozen custard. There is something magical about going there! It's not just the smooth, creamy texture and the delectable flavor combinations they put together, but it's also where you eat it--on the streets of cute little New England-style downtown Granville, where the locals all know each other and chat on the sidewalks as they eat their custard or walk their dogs. Plus, we always go after dinner so the air feels so fresh and cool. It just makes me glad to be there (and not in Okinawa at the peak of the hot, humid summer). I didn't take any pictures by Whit's this year. But here's a picture in front of some building downtown.

We also went to a children's museum in Newark (The Works), which was lots of fun. Later we went to a big, famous children's museum in Columbus (COSI), which was huge, expensive, and not as cool. And a little tiring. But it was still fun.

More pictures to come.

Emily's dance

Emily participated in the "Tinikling" dance of the Philippines for her school's Asian Pacific Heritage celebration. Two teachers clapped bamboo poles down and together, and the dancers did their dance between the poles. Emily was nervous at the first couple practices that she'd get her feet caught!

For a few months, I have been taking the boys to a weekly music group that a friend of mine headed up. Parents and kids do a half hour of music time with simple musical instruments (shakers, castanets, sticks) and puppets and scarves, etc. with songs to sing or music to accompany. It was our turn to host music group in May, and my friend loaned me her supplies. Emily wanted to do music group on our own so she could see what it was like, so we had family music time on Memorial Day. After the usual half-hour, Emily wanted to keep going!

Also on Memorial Day, for Family Home Evening we had the first ever Campbell Family Talent Show! Emily did a ballet dance and showed some of her paintings, Brandon sang a song he learned in preschool and showed some of his paintings, and Nathan danced to “Upside Down”(hilarious--he really gets into it) and sang “Bill Grogan’s Goat” with Paul leading him. I played a song on the violin and Paul played a song on the kiddie piano and showed one of the scrapbooks he made. It was really fun. Brandon was a bit nervous at first to sing, but he did it! Here's a video of some of the show. Unfortunately my video of Nathan dancing didn't work out, so I'll have to capture that for you another time!

The reason I wanted to do a family talent show was to help Brandon feel more comfortable performing. Last week on the last day of preschool, the class sang some songs for the parents. Brandon had been excited about it for days, telling me, “We’re going to sing for you!” When it was time to start singing, he started out singing and doing some actions for about three seconds, then apparently the shyness struck him and he stopped singing and started wiping his eyes, and then moved behind another kid and sat down through all the rest of the songs. He didn’t make a scene at all, but just made himself invisible. Then when the kids sat down again and it was time for Mrs. Vroman, his teacher, to pass out their folders and certificates, Brandon scooted back to his spot. So he didn’t cause any problems, but I thought it was a little sad that he missed out on the fun of performing the songs. He also won't say the scripture or give a talk in Primary because of his shyness. So the family talent show was a good step for Brandon. The next week for Family Home Evening, we all gave talks or testimonies and the kids stood up at a makeshift pulpit. It was really wonderful.

Potty Training

We're halfway through week 3 of potty training Nathan. He's done really well going pee-pee in the toilet and rarely has accidents. But does anyone have any great tips for getting him to go #2 on the TOILET? Not only is he pooping in his underwear two or three unpredictable times per day, but now he won't tell me when he goes (probably because I will show my disappointment), and he'll SIT in it, squishing it into the fibers of his tighty-whities. Not fun to wash out. Not fun at all.