My Helping Hands

Rocker Edging

Shaggy Mowing

DK Mowing Too

Our next door neighbor had a heart attack 2 weeks ago so I got the boys to help
take care of their lawn until he is feeling better. Our neighbor who had the heart
attack takes care of our other neighbor who is 89 years old so we ended up mowing
and edging 3 lawns. It was a great outdoor experience and the boys are doing a great
job learning yard work.

I just had to throw this one in as a bonus. I guess hard work makes you bad to the bone!

A Smile in the Midst of Sickness

DK now is sick. He has been running a fever of 104-102 for the last two days. Last night he started throwing up and I had the night time shift so Scott could make it to work in the morning. Nothing gets you up and running out of a dead sleep like the sound of a puking child.

Anyway, my Knight let me sleep in while he took the other two to the bus stop.

Then a little while later I heard...

very quietly "Mommmmm, hey Mommmmm"

When my eyes finally popped opened I saw my poor, pale white DK standing by my bed smiling. It was quite the sight. I then heard him say "I puked in the toilet all by myself. You didn't have to help me. I didn't even miss." Still smiling ear to ear, still pale and sickly.

He was so proud of himself. I just had to chuckle.

He asked for "his soda" which is Ginger Ale because no one else can drink it during flu season except the sick person. While getting him Ginger Ale he proceeded to ask me what could he eat. Here was his list...

DK "Can I have a banana, is that good for my stomach?"

Me"No honey, not good."

DK "Can I have cereal, is that OK for my stomach?"

Me "Nope not good either."

DK "Can I have fudge?"

I smiled and brought him a piece of toast and Ginger Ale. I could see the disappointment on his face but he started to cheer up when the soda made him burp. He told me he likes to burp when he's sick it makes him feel better. With that he ate his toast slowly turning it into as many Letters and Numbers as he could with each bite.

I need a few smiles in the midst of flu season. This will carry me through more puking and clean-up. :)

DK Turns 7 Today!!!

My little one is not so little any more...sniff, sniff. I now have a 7 year old/ 1st grader. Boy, has time flown bye. Today we are throwing him a last minute Pirate party. We thought everyone was agreed to celebrate DK's birthday Sat. but when I woke up to a sobbing little boy who thought we were going to surprise him this morning with his birthday plans got changed.

So I am off to get this party ready.

DK, I love you and you bring such joy to mommy & daddy and you brothers. We all love you. Happy 7th Birthday my love!

Spiderman Spotted in Central Pa!!!

The rumors are true! Spiderman has officially retired from

fighting crime bosses and king pins in NYC and moved to

a smaller not-so-metropolis little town in Central Pa.

Being a part of our towns poperotsi I was able to get

a few shots of this reluctant Super Hero as he ventures into

the low key life of defending Shiremanstown.

Just take a look.

Here he is! I actually got one of him on the run with his mask off.

I'm thinking he looks an awful lot like the kid Peter Parker or our very

own DK. I might have to send this photo to the FBI so they can

enhance the picture for identification. We might just know

the real identity of Spiderman!

Oh No! Apparently the entire Spider-family lives here

too and I ran into Spidermans mama. She wasn't so happy

with my pictures. Got to go!

A Funny DK Quote

DK is home again today from being sick. At Breakfast with just the two of us he pipes up with this cutie.

DK: "Mommy did you have dideo (video) games when you were alive?"

Me: "Ummmm, yes I had video games when I was alive, I think I am still alive."

DK: "No I mean did you have a Wii or DS when you were alive?"

Apparently with little sleep, no make-up and my hair looking a little whack-a-doodle this morning I must look more dead then alive. That's OK he is just following in Mama's footsteps. When I was his age I asked my grandfather who fought in WWII did he die in the war. It must be something in my genes. :) Hopefully next time you see me I will be looking a little more alive!

DK Asks Jesus Into His Heart!

It's been a prayer of mine since each of the boys were born that they would give their hearts to Jesus and that my Knight and I would be a part of that. The two older ones gave their hearts to Jesus separately when they were 4 & 5. We have never pushed just always asked the Lord to prompt their own spirit to want to know Him more. On Monday March 2, 2009 after a discussion about scripture we were reading DK asked me "Is my name written in God's book in heaven?" I said "Yes when you ask Jesus to be Lord and Saviour in your life." He smiled and told me he wanted to do that. So with Rocker and Shaggy watching DK repeated after me a salvation prayer. We always write the day down in their Bibles after they pray but for some reason we couldn't find DK's Bible that afternoon. We had to run out to Karate that evening so I just put it in the back of my mind we would find it the next day. My husband said later that night after checking in on the boys while they were sleeping DK had found his Bible and fell asleep with it in is arms. That just makes me cry. :)

The next morning he rushed down got his Bible and made sure I wrote it in there for him. It is one of the greatest moments in parenting. I may have never led anyone else yet in a salvation prayer but to me I have led the three most important people in my life to Christ. That is worth it all to me. God is so good!

Back-to-School Excitement Has Worn Off

Today we had to drag DK out of bed and down the stairs. He is not a morning person and resembles mommy in the morning a little too much. After his two older brothers dressed him (FYI...I did not encourage or make them apparently they enjoyed the wrestling match that erupted from trying to dress him) he sat on the steps with his lip jutting out. He then told me "I don't want to go to school any more".

I just patted him on the back and said "I know honey but you have too." He replied with "I know you miss me and that makes me sad. I will stay home with you and help you cook."

Even with the lip and sadness I still did not fall victim to his drama. I plopped him at the table and we ate breakfast. He is on the bus as we speak with his lip still hanging out but he'll do fine. I told my Knight at least we got almost 3 good weeks of excitement for school. Poor Shaggy fought us tooth and nail for the entire 1st year. Don't worry we will get over it and move on with life quite well.

Mr. Roboto

I had a little fun with my cell phone, 2 of the boys & a greeting card( one of those music greeting cards) ! :)
Did it take you back to the 80's?

Lyme's Disease Update

Drama King is doing really well physically, with his recovery. His bull's eye rash has completely disappeared and the lymph nodes are noticeably shrinking in size. He has also not complained about his joints being achy in a while and you can touch his hair and scalp without pain.

His only hurdle now is the antibiotic he is currently taking. One of the side effects of the medication is diarrhea and vomiting. He started throwing up this past Friday evening and we thought maybe he picked up a stomach bug some where, but now we are realizing a pattern with his upset stomach and he has also begun battling daily with diarrhea. We are coming to the realization that this is caused by the prolong use of the antibiotic. There is not much we can do. Children under the age of 8 do not have any other choice for medications with Lyme's and the antibiotic must be finished for the treatment to be successful. So we just have to hold on another 9 more days to finish his treatment. As long as there is no significant weight loss or other signs we will have to deal with the diarrhea and occasional vomiting/nausea. Please continue to pray for Drama King as you think of him this month. He doesn't show a lot of out ward signs or symptoms but he has been struggling this month as he battles this nasty bacterial infection. We are just standing for complete healing and restoration of his little body.

Happy 6th Birthday DK!!!

Drama King turned 6 yesterday. Wow has time flown by! My baby is no longer a baby any more.
We just had a small family party. Drama King wanted a Transformers party so we went out and got the party supplies. Daddy was in charge of presents. You can tell by the gifts purchased. Let's see....

One very large Nerf gun about the same size he is and a new fishing pole. You can just barely see it standing in the corner behind DK in the last picture. He was thrilled with both of them and so was everyone else, especially with the gun. The boys (My Knight included) all thought it was funny to shot me while cleaning up after the festivities. They would shot me from across the room or pop out around a corner. I'm glad I come in handy as a great target. The day was filled with the pool (hence the red face in the picture) and ice cream cakes and goodies. Over all a great day to celebrate our beloved Drama King. Happy Birthday my love.

Lyme's Disease

Well as summer starts officially for the Livin' family with school done today we also begin a battle. Drama King was diagnosed with Lyme's Disease today by our Pediatrician. The test results came back positive. He has a great prognosis but it still is hard realizing your youngest now needs to fight this horrible bacterial infection. The Doctor was surprised with how quickly we were able to determine something wasn't right.

After my Knight went on his missions trip we went to a friends house to stay for the duration of the trip. As the boys played in their backyard I found a deer tick in Drama Kings hair, embedded into the scalp. We were able to remove it successfully and began the weary vigil of watching and waiting. Lyme's Disease symptoms can take up to a month to detect. Thank the Lord he gave us wisdom and we began to pray. Not until this week did the symptoms begin to become visible. Today is exactly 3 weeks since the bite and the doctors were very happy to detect this so early on.

Now Drama King will under go 1 month of potent antibiotics and we are to keep a close eye on any other developing symptoms. I am glad we are starting the treatment now. We will continue to go out in the wilderness this summer but with added precautions. Just a note to other moms as I was telling the Doctor as we have camped regularly every year for the past 10 years we have never seen a deer tick. When we step into someones back yard we now are faced with Lyme's Disease. He said most reports of Lyme's is from people's own backyards. Hikers and outdoorsy people will be on the look out for them where as you let your guard down in your yard. So spray your kids when they go out. My husband and I always say that everything we camp with smells like smoke and bug spray. Now I will be more vigilant about spraying the boys for our yard. Please keep us in prayer over this next month. DK is doing great but the antibiotic is nasty tasting and the poor kid has to take it two times a day for a month. He tires really easily and is not himself, very cranky and irritable. He also complains that he is sore where the rash is. The Ped. said they were normal symptoms. It is also a non-formulary prescription which means the insurance is not helping us. We have to pay full price. Isn't that wonderful.

My Drama King

I wanted to take some time and journal about my boys and the blessing each of them are to me and my husband. Today is Drama Kings turn. My prophet, my dynamo. He reminds us daily his middle name is "Paul" which means little dynamite. He is full of life and unending energy. My dramatic one. He isn't that out going but can be as soon as he warms up to you, then he turns into a ham. Drama King also needs down time away from people. He is a mixture of extrovert and introvert. He is very social and loves to be around others but then he must retreat into his solitude to decompress for a while. It has been interesting to watch this dynamic in him.

He has many prophetic tendencies that continue to amaze my husband and I. The things he declares and then we watch as they comes to pass are phenomenal. He likes to sing all the time and play our small child drum set. One time when I was struggling with something major going on in my life he sat down at the drum set and started pounding away at it. He than sang "God is all powerful, God is all powerful" over and over again. It snapped me out of my funk and got me to refocus on the Lord.
He is also very black and white about life. He takes life at face value. I see him as a giant sail filled with the wind of God blowing him on into his destiny. We pray for anchors though. He needs to be very grounded in the Lord so that he will never blow off course. Drama King is my spontaneous one that can roll with the punches, well if not overly tired. We can just pick up and go and hes off running ahead of me. My love, my precious young man. Handsome to boot! I was excited when last week he asked for a Mohawk again! I am so happy to have the privilege of being his mother.

Sister Paul

No not a new saint the Catholic Church is trying t canonize, but the name of Drama Kings baby sister. For a year now he has been praying for a baby sister despite the reality physically we cannot have any more. We haven't told him that. His determination and persistence has increased my husband and my faith to believe again for this to happen.

Last night was the best. Drama King asked "When is she coming, it is taking forever."

I replied with "Very soon honey." (smiling at my down trodden child)

He then declared to all of us "I have the best name, we will call her Sister Paul."

The older boys laughed and after seeing Drama Kings reaction from them my Knight and I tried very hard not too. So I asked him why Sister Paul.

His response "My middle name is Paul and she is my sister.I want to give her my middle name because I like it."

Me: "OK, but how about Alexis Katherine. That's a pretty name."

Drama King: "No only Sister Paul!!"

Well the conversation went on for some time with no resolution. I guess we still have time. The funny thing is the Lord did remind me it was Drama King who started the fire burning in our hearts for one more. Does that give him the legal right in naming her? Hummm....got to think about that one. :)