ladybug fun with madison ♥

One day when we were driving home from school, a giant ladybug flew right into our car and landed right by Kosty. We got him out and they played with him for a while. I love these two together. She brings out the best in Kosty. We will surely miss her when they move to California! I hope she does not forget about him because that would get pretty awkward on the day they are married.  

kosty's zoo field trip

^ happy because he was first on the frog

^ pouting because he did not get his preferred seating on el komodo dragon

Kosty and his class got to go to the Zoo a few weeks ago, and I got to tag along. Good thing I did, because I know no other chaperone would have carried him for the last 30 minutes because he had no shoes on his feet. (he decided to go stomp in the stream and soak his socks and shoes).

Yesterday, I got to chaperon Brayden's field trip to Halle Heart Museum. On our way there, I was sitting next to a little girl named Isabella. She had long brown hair with golden highlights and big blue eyes. She  immediately asked me if Brayden could come to her house. Her house on the mountain. With a pool and a dog. Her mom lives in Tennesse, and she packs her own lunches everyday. 2 Tuna fish sandwiches. I tried to sidestep the play date question, but she was not having it. When I told her that her dad would probably rather her have a girl over to play, she told me how mean girls are and how nice Brayden is and she only wants him to come play. Then when I said her dad and I don't know each other, she rattled off her phone number and told me to give him a call. Finally, I was able to change the subject and she told me this..."I know how to kill someone with my thumb." I asked her what she meant and she told me that she would just stick her thumb all the way through some one's eye ball. I said, "hmmm, like if there was someone attacking you or hurting you or trying to kidnap you ONLY, right?" she said, "or if someone is mean to me." Then she pointed to another girl on the bus..."You know Zoee? She hates me. She is SO mean to me." I told her surely she was not hated but that she should stick to kids that are kind. She said, "Like Brayden." Eek. After coming to find out that she not only has a crush on him, she is semi psycho obsessive, that dang thumb conversation keeps coming back...and I'm thinking I should have warned Zoee to be nice...


After the museum tour, we had lunch at the park and made our way back to the buses. As I looked for a seat, my eyes met with a special little girl named Dylan. She said, "Mrs. Figgins? Will you please sit by me?" 


(Dylan is a little girl in Brayden's class who last year got hit by a car on her way to the bus stop and while she was in the hospital getting an MRI, they discovered a tumor in her brain and she was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer). 


I told her I would LOVE to, and I began asking her about how she was feeling and what she liked about the field trip. She told me that they had been celebrating because last week the doctor told her that the tumor is now the size of a grape. It used to be the size of a walnut. It shrank because of her radiation. She told me all about the pluses and minuses of each hospital and that Phoenix Children's is at the very top of her list. She told me that she and her family were in the middle of a big decision: she can either have the tumor removed with the risk of losing her vision, OR she can go through chemo and just lose her hair. She then told me that she would rather lose her hair. Because she really didn't want to lose her sight. My heart was breaking and my eyes teary as I listened to her explain her tough choice. She did like the idea of a guide dog, but they don't give you those until you are 18. Then she told me that getting hit by the car had actually saved her life and that she was glad it happened so they could discover the tumor. I could not believe my ears. She was completely calm and collected. And smart. And aware. And brave. And unbelievably sweet. She was talking in a language that no child should ever have to know. She knew all of the medical terms, and she understood exactly what was happening to her body. Yet, she did not complain. She did not seem fearful of the future. Her maturity was astounding. I was looking at the face of a living angel, that is wise beyond her years. 


I told her how special she was and that she should keep on being brave. And sweet. And that Brayden and I will be praying for her daily. She smiled sweetly and thanked me and then she rested her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. 


I cannot get her out of my mind, and I know that I was at the right time and the right place and that being able to share that conversation with her was a gift. Life was surely put into perspective. I am becoming more impatient with petty complainers, including myself. I never want to forget our conversation. Life isn't fair. But what an example she is. 

Loving this post today. Nie nie has a knack for writing, and for being real. I really admire her; her motherhood style, and her writing style. She isn't one of those sugar-coated-everything-is-perfect types, she doesn't take life too seriously, takes pictures of messes, says 'freaking', and she makes me laugh. I wish we were friends.

I too love being a stay at home mom, and this post nailed it for me.

sunday fun day.

today I woke up, prayed and started my fast.

we were running behind, but I was not about to miss the sacrament (and I needed that bread).

i threw my wet hair in a side bun thingy and got in the car.

kosty tried to get in but his door was locked.

i saw the church bag over on the shelf and asked him to grab it.

he didn't see it, so I got up to tell him nevermind & get it myself.

just then, he found it.

he brought it to me, and he started to close my car door, but he had lego guys in his hand.

he started to adjust them with his other hand and so I proceeded to close my door.

next thing i knew he was screaming, his finger had gotten smashed.

i grabbed him and saw how bad it looked, and rushed him in to clean it up.

i was shaking and so so angry with myself.

my poor little boy. he was trying to help me, and i smashed his finger.

is there anything worse as a parent when you accidentally hurt them? really hurt them? no. there isn't.

i felt sick to my stomach. i so wish i had a rewind button.

forget about the sacrament, he screamed and cried for 30 minutes.

we iced it, and iced it, and cleaned it.

jer kept saying it was oozing, and it made me cringe.

i asked him to stop using that word. i couldn't even look at it after he said that.

it was harder to look at because it was my fault. i caused his pain.

he was so sad, and in so much pain, but sweet and forgiving.

i sat on the couch, with a pit in my stomach, depressed as can be.

i asked brayden to try and cheer him up.

he proceeded to morph into an instant comedian and cracked kosty (and us) up for the next 15 minutes.

laughter really is the best medicine.

week in iphone pics.

I text this pic to jer when I was at the Dr with Kosty. I believe I said something like "he's never going to be able to wear sunglasses!" Kosty was born with the cutest ears ever, they look like they are pinned to his head. There is simply no space between the head and the ears. He tried and tried to get the string to stay up but those ears just made it impossible. Jer reassured me that he spent all summer in sunglasses.

The next night, I took Brayden on a date. We had dinner and ice cream sundaes and then spent an eternity at Target. After a good couple hours, I told him that we were trying to break a world record of hours spent at the beloved Bullseye. He liked that idea. I don't take him on dates enough. He is a seriously fun kid to hang out with. I sorta felt like he was 16 and it made me happy to realize that him growing up is pretty fun after all. He is just plain cool.

He wore these glasses the whole time we were there. His goal was that someone would mistake him for Justin Beiber. He even turned his 'Patterson Pride' shirt around and pushed the cart around with his chin resting on his arms. He thought that's how Justin would push a Target cart. He did get a lot of looks, but I'm pretty sure they were 'why is that kid wearing sunglasses in Target at night' looks. But he liked it anyway.

Half day lunch date at Costco. Kosty goes to school at 11:30 and Brayden gets out at 11:30 when its half day. I love having him all to myself! He said, "so this is what its like to be Kosty.."

Kosty fell asleep on the way home from his student led conferences last night. He was in his school clothes and had just eaten popcorn and an ice cream bar. Ooh, and an Airhead, yikes. I struggled with the decision of waking a sleeping bear to brush his teeth or not. I decided NOT. He woke up on the right side of the bed and in the best mood ever (for once) and he thought it was pretty cool that he was already dressed for the day. So, we went to the park before school. Second day clothes + playing in the sand = even dirtier clothes. I am learning to let go sometimes... So. He wore those clothes again to school. But he did brush his teeth and hair.

I found a fresh water bottle in the fridge this morning from Jer. He even labeled it. ♥

harry potter.

Back in the day, when Kosty was obsessed with Harry Potter, Brayden turned up his nose and declared he hated it. No reason, other than he didn't want to like the same thing as his little brother. Now, Brayden is reading the Harry Potter books. He is hooked. He reads before school, in the car, and stays up entirely too late just to get a few more pages in. Now, that Brayden is loving it, Kosty claims to no longer like Harry Potter. Its a shame they can't be into the same thing at the same time! sheesh.