Crentist the Dentist

Please tell me that someone 'gets' my title.

Andrew has his first visit to the dentist yesterday. I had my normal cleaning first and he watched. I should use the term 'watched' loosely, because they had a television on with cartoons for him. At least he was well behaved since I wouldn't have been able to reprimand him while I mouth is propped open.
Then it was his turn. The original plan was to just have him 'ride' in the chair, maybe count his teeth, and give him a new toothbrush. More of an introductory visit. But the dental tech, Christie, was SO WONDERFUL! She said that she would just start slow and see how he does and if he'll let her, she just keep going with a cleaning. He rode in the chair first (all while watching cartoons on TV). Then he got to put on a 'bib' and cool sunglasses so the light wasn't in his eyes. He is still wearing the sunglasses around the house today. She then counted his teeth with just her green fingers. He did ok, so she 'counted' them again with instruments after first demonstrating the instrument on his finger. He was a little hesitant about it, but we talked him into trying one tooth first and after that - it went smooth.Then she cleaned his teeth with bubble gum toothpaste (after brushing his finger first). Bubblegum toothpaste seems like an oxymoron to me. He even got to have water squirted into his mouth and sucked out with a "straw". Which I think he really like because we had to keep reminding him to open his mouth back up when done with the straw. He even let her floss his teeth (but he wanted to sit up for that).


The dentist came in, checked him out and gave us a big thumbs up. Andrew then got some bubblegum toothpaste to take home, along with a new toothbrush he got to pick out and little toy from the surprise bowl. He was practically giddy.

I only hope this excitement for the dentist lasts well into adulthood.

You think that's funny? Check this out!

Ok, so my friend from high school, Becky, wrote this really funny post on her blog about an old artifact note she came across (you should check it out - especially you, Scott). I was cracking up and like she said it may not have been funny to anyone else but me. Anyway, I thought this would be the perfect time to post a little something I stumbled across myself.

In case you can't read it clearly since it is also written in the same typewriter fashion that she referred to in her post, you can click on the picture to enlarge it.

Edited to add: Since the clicking to enlarge doesn't seem to be working... Here is what it says.

Contract
I Kelli and I Becky agree to consider and try to form the company “Jad –n- Blu”, a fashion designing company, when we graduate from college.
We also agree to try and get all around full scholarships. This way we can use the money saved from college to start off the business.
These plans will only be changes if one of us chooses to go into a different field of
business.

This was dated September 2nd, 1990. Let's see - that's puts us about 12 years old. And as you can read from the Contract, it was apparently a very non-committal age. We even both signed it, and had our own copies. Jade is/was Becky's favorite color and mine was (and still is) blue.

Hilarious.

Life is Practice

AN INTERVIEW WITH RICK WARREN: (Author of "A Purpose Driven Life")

...thanks Jill

Interview with Rick Warren , author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain."
But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal my wife or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better ...
God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD

One day at a time...I just keep telling myself that.

The boys seem to be feeling much better. Even Saturday, they were fine. It was like a 12 hour flu that hit 'em. Weird. But I am thankful, because we got to go to church this morning. I put a roast in the crock pot for lunch, but church ran late and by the time we got home it was near two already - so we grabbed McDonald's on the way home and saved the roast until dinner. I mean... it can't hurt it to keep cooking. The boys had no complaint what-so-ever. Oh, wait... Andrew did. Apparently, four chicken nuggets are not enough anymore.

They took naps, we worked a bit around the house, read the paper, catnapped, etc... Then Ryan came over to get the last of their things from our house and invited us over to dinner to see their new place now that they've moved in. So, the roast was put off once again until tomorrow. But Andrew got to play again with Camdyn and Riley, we had a great meal (Ryan makes amazing steaks - definitely a perk to them living with us), and we got to admire their super nice home.

This week is another busy one for us. I am watching Noah tomorrow, Wednesday (a.m. only) and Thursday. I have evening meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, two doctor appointments on Wednesday and get this... I am meeting my friend from high school (and her kiddos) on Friday for a field trip to the Meijer Gardens. Then Friday evening we are heading out of town for Labor Day weekend. So I need to pack sometime in there. Oh... and we are still sharing a car - so I need to do grocery shopping and errands sometime in the evening after Marc gets home with the car. Phew.

The following week is more of the same craziness - then...we... leave... for ...

C A L I F O R N I A!!

Moo! Pass the corn.

Tonight's dinner was a flop. I had leftover shredded chicken and bacon that had been thawed and needed using. I thought I would get creative and make a Chicken Carbonara Calzone for dinner. I made the alfredo sauce and then homemade bread dough in the maker and pulled it all together. It looked great when it came out of the oven, but once we cut into it - it was way too soupy. It tasted fine and we still ate it, but most of it just got thrown away.

However, before we ate, Andrew was asking what we were having for dinner. I told him a calzone. He exclaimed, "I don't want COW food, I want big boy food."

Cutie Cootie

Well, the good news is... is that Andrew seems to be feeling better. Not great and still warmer than usual, but much better. But AJ's got it now. He super hot (like 104*) and puky. Poor kid. Of course, unlike Andrew who can be propped up with a puke bowl, a blankie, and the TV. AJ just wants to whine and be held and is very needy. It was taxing. And I'm already sleepy from last night and feeling icky from the iron and it was just a blah day.

But regardless... I got some cuties!!

Lazy Day...

Andrew seems to be feeling better and getting a little bit of his appetite back this morning, although he is still warmer than he should be. It was a long night last night. He ended up sleeping (or trying to sleep) in our bed and Marc ended up on the couch. This means, I also got little sleep and I am feeling it today. We don't have anything going on today and we don't even have a car. So today might be a bare minimum day. Andrew's already watched too much TV between yesterday and today and I plan on napping when the boys go down also.

But as I promised - here are pictures of before and after haircuts.

AJ is demonstrating his "please" sign in the second picture, requesting more apple slices with caramel dip.

How do you find me?

Here are some of the Google Searches that have led people to my blog in the last year...

• yada Dykstra
• diaper was already wet
• behavior issues
• got baptized blog
• ear infection or teething + 5 year old
• Isn't it crusty
• cough drop overdose (This one is quiet common)
• laundry and dishes
• don dykstra blog live
• pms while pregnant (I've gotten this one several times also)
• crawl in your nose at night

Of course, there are the normal searches too, such as Dykstra Blog, or Kelli Dykstra's blog, etc... that lead people here. Those, I am assuming that those are people who are already familiar with the blog, but may have forgotten the address.

You can tell by most searches - generally - that this is a mom blog. Maybe I should mix it up and bit and try to attract new readers by including more words in my posts like:

• Britney Spears
• High School Musical
• NFL Fantasy Football
• Global Warming

....(won't they be sorely disappointed)

Let the experiment begin...

Fine Dining

Nothing makes the boys nap quiet like seafood for lunch...

Never Ending CoPays

Well, as I mentioned below - we have a lot of doctors appointments coming up. I'd thought I'd fill you in a bit (mostly Grandma and Papa's) just so you know we are not deathly sick or anything.

I had my appointment for my RLS this week and now I am currently on a trial of Mirapex - so my hubby is on the look out for any pathological gambling that I may start. It seems to be working alright - but no more or less than when I was taking half of Tylenol PM and stretching every night to 'control' my RLS before. But I am only on day 3 - so we'll see. Oh, and the doc. requested a bunch of lab work to rule out thyroid, kidney, liver problems etc... And those all look good - except for that I am anemic (which in turn could cause RLS). So I am also on high dose iron supplements (which make me nauseous as all get out). I go back to doc next Wednesday for a follow-up appt and we will decide then whether he will write a prescription for the Mirapex, just stick with iron for now, etc...

I also have a eye appointment coming up so that I can order more lenses since I just realized that I opened my last pair yesterday morning. I also have a dentist appointment next week where I will be bringing Andrew with me. Yes, he will have his first visit to the dentist. It won't be an official cleaning, but more of an intro for him. He'll get to watch me get mine cleaned, ride in the chair, they'll count his teeth, give him a toothbrush, etc... He is already talking about it excitedly. We also have an appointment with AJ soon for his tympanogram.

Speaking of health - something got Andrew today. Not sure what - but he just wasn't himself this morning. I couldn't get him to eat lunch at all. And after only a 30 minute nap he woke up with a high fever (my thermometer broke so I don't know how high - but we've done this enough now to know it was high). He was miserable with a high fever from there the rest of the night. Tylenol would bring it down a bit, but it would spike back up when the meds wore off. Finally at dinner time (of course) he puked a couple times (sorry) and after that seemed to feel a bit better. He is still warmer than he should be, but he's finally sleeping. My poor little man.

Dilemma

Augh - There is a possibility that our Bible Study (which I am super excited to get started up again) might be meeting on Tuesday mornings this year instead of Thursdays. But the thing is, is that MOPS is also on Tuesday mornings... and I am on the steering committee this year creating the newsletter. Well, as much as I enjoy MOPS, my heart is in the Bible Study (this year we are doing Beth Moore's Believing God study). And my role at MOPS while nice, is not absolutely necessary.

I've already talked to the MOPS leader (my friend and college roommate) and she completely understands and is cool with it. But just don't want to not do MOPS. And even though it hasn't started yet, I've already put a lot of work into this newsletter... my own little project that I would hate to have to scrap. Plus, even if I wasn't doing the newsletter, MOPS is just a nice morning out a couple days a month. Let's me socialize over a nice brunch with grownups and gets my kiddos socializing with other kids. Any other day works for me to have the Bible Study - here's hoping it's NOT Tuesdays.

Flying at 120 knots

Wow - I've done a bad job at keeping up with my blog lately. Things have been crazy - and they are not slowing down until the end of September... and even then, things slow down but far from stop. Let's see if I can touch the bigger parts without boring the snot out of you.

Our house guests officially have their own house and last night was their first night in it. They still have quite a bit of their stuff at our place which is fine. I am excited for them. They really got a nice place at a good price. Andrew seems to be doing alright with CJ not being here. He still asks often where he is and tells us that he wants CJ and Riley from time to time.

However, we have started to watch my good friend's 19mo old boy a couple days a week and I think this is helping Andrew not having CJ here. Noah is only three months older than AJ and another cute little blondie. He is a sweetie and a fairly easy child to care for. And since there have been four children here for the past summer, caring for three boys a couple days a week seems like a piece of cake. Plus Andrew still has someone to show off for. There is a little bit unsportsmanlike conduct between AJ and Noah on occasion, but for the most part they get along swimmingly.

Let's see what else. We also snuck in hair cuts last night and I'll try to post pictures tomorrow. This next couple weeks are filled up with more watching Noah, lots of doctor appts, meetings, field trips, trips to Ohio, etc... Plus we are thinking about about helping with the college and career this year at church, I'm on the MOPS steering committee this year and working on my stuff for that, etc... So we've been hopping. I am really looking forward to our trip to California, then to getting back into a routine with MOPS, library, Bible Study, etc...

So please please forgive me for not posting nearly as often as I would like. I am hoping to do much better real soon.


Here's a picture of Noah - the cute little man we are watching...

Peeking...

This is cute picture that I am posting of the kiddos more or less to get the RLS post off the top.

RLS

Well, I finally sucked it up and called the docter for my restless leg syndrome. We are going to California next month and I can barely handle it now - I not enjoying the thought of an airplane ride or long car rides. So hopefully I can get this taken care of... just in time, too... cause all my time has been tied up trying to beat the guy who made this video.

Lucky Number Seven

We made it. Seven years. Marc and I celebrated our anniversary (which was Sunday) last night. We left the kids with Ryan and Becky and went out to dinner. We didn't do anything fancy - but it was Monday -so we hit Chili's... our usual Monday night ritual pre-kids.

Here's to another several sevens!

This is AJ. This is AJ on blueberry yogurt.

Little man is starting to exert his independence... and by this is he wants to feed himself... and by this he does NOT want you to feed him... and by this he will adamantly shake his head NO to anything you offer him, but will turn around and eat it himself once you put the spoon in his hand.

I'm not the only one!!

There was a nice article in our newspaper about babywearing. It was very exciting to see that it's catching on. I'm not a crazy kook.

Wonderful gut!

As you know, I've been working through the Harry Potter series and I am currently in the middle of the fifth book. However, one of those days I was at my folks last week , while my parents were working, I took my boys to my parent's church's nursery to play a bit since it was SO hot outside. The church library was right outside the nursery, so I browsed over the books and somewhat randomly picked one up and started reading it, thinking it would merely give me something to read for the hour that the boys played. Well, two days later I am finished with the book - I got totally caught up in it. It is by Christian author Beverly Lewis called The Shunning. It's about the Old Order Amish - a truly fascinating group.
Oh my... I stayed up way into the wee hours last night finishing it up because I couldn't put it down - crying the last four chapters. And now I can't get it out of my head. And even though I am not totally surprised by how the book turned out (well, I kinda am, but I don't want to get into that and give anything away), I am completely shocked at my reaction to it. I mean, it was interesting enough to keep me reading whenever I had a free moment... but the book itself was, um, I'm not sure how to describe it. Even keel. Kept plodding along. No highs or lows. Mild. I felt that while it was good, I was more reading it just to see how it ended that the fact that I was loving the book.

But then, come the last four chapters or so, I find that I am completely invested in these characters, sobbing with every page turn. What in the world?! I hadn't found a book that did that to me since I read the Zion Covenant books by Brock and Bodie Thoene. Now those books need to be read - only once... at least for a long time 'cause they are still very much with me. Anyway - it was just one of those books that I got wrapped up in and needed to share. Now I'm off... I have to jump on our library website and see if I can put a hold on the next book in the series.

Do a little dance...

Get Down Tonight.

A Place for Everything...

As I mentioned in a previous post, my mom, aunt, cousin and myself made purses/bags this weekend. I would love to say that I made mine, but since we were making 3 of them, it turned into more of a production line process than each person making their own. And if I must be completely truthful, the hardest parts were left to the more experienced sew-er... my mother, while I did more pinning and trimming and turning, etc...

Above: My son modeling the bags at his mother's request (sshh...don't tell his dad).

Below: The inside of the brown striped bag - pretty pink pockets.

Regardless, I love how they turned out. My aunt and mom both have the giraffe bags (my aunt originally made hers and we all loved it) and my cousin and I have the brown and pink striped bags. And they have lots of pockets! Nice big pockets!! It's almost more a messenger bag than a purse - which is exactly what I wanted. In fact, maybe now that I 'made' the first one with lots of help, I'll experiment trying to make another one in a different print all by myself. I mean, you can't have too many purses, right?!

Sounds Like Laundering...

While driving back from Ohio I was lost in my thoughts and almost missed my road. I had to slow down quickly and Andrew asked what happened. I said "Oh, I almost missed my road, since my mind was wandering."

He replied, "Is your mind washing clothes?"

Out here in the Internet Wilderness

This week is Marc's annual fishing retreat up north with my cousin and the gang. So as usual, I am down at my parents with the boys - where the internet is SO SLOW that I've read 2 chapters of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix just while checking my bank account and e-mail (and I only opened 4 e-mails). Yes, something that literally should have taken me 5 minutes. Love it. I will not be torturing myself by getting online anymore while I am here, so I wanted to get in a quick update.

Um...other than what I told you about our trips - there is not much to update. We (the kids and myself) spent the weekend at my Aunt's where the town had thier annual Bullthistle Festival. Buthithle Fethival to most. It was nice with a parade and what-not. The kids LOVED it and got filthier than they might have ever been. And us ladies made homemade totebag/purses today during thier naptime that I am super excited about. I will post pictures of those later, for Amie, when I am back to internet civilization. The boys are doing well, albiet sleep deprived. They are loving spending time with Grandma and Papa and AJ is actually coming out of his shell more and more - especially for Papa.

Ok - I don't have much else to post about so I won't ramble just for the sake of taking up space. You probably won't hear from me for a while. I won't be back to MI until Thursday afternoon/evening. I start watching my friend's little man that Friday (and of course unpacking/settling from our trips) and then the weekend is here. So, not that I've been doing a steller job posting lately anyway, or that you wanted a play by play of my life's schedule - but that's what's going on and why you I might be AWOL for a bit.

Side Note: Have I mentioned that even though we are having a great summer filled with super fun stuff, I am SO looking forward to the end of September when we get back into a routine and normalcy. Crazy isn't it?

Speaking of crazy - here's a "shout out" to my cousin Scott! This post is for you, man. I didn't want you to get the shakes by not posting at all. Love ya!

New Zoo Pic!

From my Sis in Law, Kris.

Hat's Off

We made our own hats!!

We Found Him!!

After library lap time today, we headed to Target for a few items before hitting the grocery store. It really was an in and out trip as we only needed a few things. As we were heading out we passed the toy aisle. Well... I had pretty much given up on my Mission Chick, only checking on the rare occasions that I think to. This happened to be one of those occasions, so we popped into the Hot Wheels row and started searching.

I did my typical rifle through the packages looking for either the name Chick or the green car, when Andrew starts saying, "Chick is right there." I quickly ask where and stop looking. He is pointing right in front and I still don't see it until he points two more times. And right there in front of me is Dinoco Blue Chick!

As far as I know - an even rarer CARS car. I snatch it up, we do a little dance in the aisle and keep looking. Guess what I find next! CHICK HICKS!! Right there waiting for me (can you tell this has become more of a mommy than Andrew quest ?)

Again, another little aisle dance and we kept looking. It was like the jackpot rifle. I found the Hudson Hornet! Another one I have never ever seen.

And that's not all - but that's all I allowed myself to buy. I also found the Dirt Track Lightning, Sarge, and Hydraulic Ramone. Again - three more that I had never seen before. Beside - if I bought them all now - what would I have to search for when I hit the toy aisles - now that my interest is back up.

For a split second, I actually thought that maybe we should not play with Chick Hicks and just keep him in his package since he was so hard to find. But what is the fun in that? Andrew loves these cars and he plays with them e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y.

Now - just because I have my obsession fun with finding these cars, does that means Andrew just gets to reap the benefits? Well, yes and no. He will get the cars to play with, but he will have to work for them. Andrew is a fairly obedient child in most areas except for staying in bed at nap/bed times. We've pleaded, bargained, swatted, bribed, etc... and yet it is a struggle every night for him to stay in bed. I swear he lays there in between ventures out just thinking up excuses why he needs to be out of bed. So - before nap today, he got to pick out one of the cars (he chose Hudson Horton) and if he stayed in bed he could open it when he woke up. And I didn't hear from him the whole nap time (which it why it is open). Great! However, he picked Chick Hicks for bedtime tonight and already lost it. So, he can try again for it tomorrow.

Wooda thunk what silliness could make my day.