Birds and the bees with a six year old

So the other day we were in the car talking about our newest and cutest baby cousin Atticus when Tate asked "Mom, why aren't we going to have any more brothers and sisters." I replied "Remember that medicine Dad took to kill his bone marrow so he could get new marrow and make his blood work good again. Well, that medicine made it so we can't have anymore kids. " I wish I could capture the look of profound awe and self discovery when in wonder he said "So you mean Dad has something to do with it?" He was so proud of his Dad! I said "you know how plants start out as seeds. Well, basically Dad has the seeds." THANKFULLY, I SHUT UP!!! And thankfully he didn't ask any more questions!

Cancer--a family affair

To say our families have been amazing through our whole experience is an understatement. They have done everything from provide life-saving stem cells to the latest bit of service--delivering medication. This weekend we were up in Midway enjoying time with my family. In Jon's haste to rush home from work and meet us in the mountains he threw in his almost empty bottle of his most important medication rather than the bottle that was just filled. As soon as we realized the mistake we exhausted all our resources to fill his prescription at a local pharmacy. The only option was to make a 2 1/2 hour round trip drive back home. That was our only option until Jon remembered that our brother-in-law was biking the Tour de Utah and his race went right down Main Street of Midway. So a new plan was made. Justin would put Jon's medicine in a ziplock in his jersey and at the appointed spot he would throw Jon his medicine and continue on his race. I am continually amazed at the parts that everyone plays to make sure we have have everything we need and that Jon's transplant is successful. How many times can one say thank you?

As I mentioned earlier, we didn't start a blog when Jon was diagnosed because it made him feel like the cancer patient, but I do feel bad that the only way we documented it was random emails. So I have added a little cancer chapter (to the left, labeled "Cancer Updates") mostly for me so I can remember what life was like--the really wonderful and the really hard.

May the force be with you

The sole purpose of this post is to brag, but once you see where I was and how far I have come you will recognize the need to have some bragging rights. So, I always try to make my kids a birthday cake. I feel like I should save myself the embarassment, but I'll throw in this birthday cake story too. There are no pictures of Tess at her first birthday with frosting smeared all over her face. Why you ask? Well, she wasn't too thrilled with the cake I made her. Banana bread cake with cauliflower puree. Jon will never let me live it down. But back to the real birthday cake story. As you can see from exhibit A this was Tate's birthday cake when he was 3. He was so thrilled with it. He called it his "pancake birthcake." The real story is I forgot to add the oil so it never rose. I added some icecream in the middle layer to make it a bit taller and hopefully taste a little better. A little unsucessful on both accounts, but all that mattered was that he was thrilled. Hooray for a happy 3 year old.
Speed up three years to the "Light Saber Cake." After looking on line at star wars cakes and seeing amazing Darth Vader fondant cakes I realized I had to figure out something that was a bit more manageable. Nothing like a good jelly roll cake. So with exhibit B you have brag #1.

As for brag #2--Jon and I are excellent pinata makers. Of all the talents to posess, I'm sure good pinata maker should be somewhere on the top. Last year Tate loved his baseball pinata. This year--the Death Star (Darth Vader's huge ship) was a huge hit. I wish I could take more credit, but Jon was the mastermind behind it. Happy Birthday Tate!

Three Sweet Funny Kids

So I thought I should give a little update as to what the kids are up to and what their little personalities are like.

Tate started first grade last week. I felt like I was giving up a lot in terms of climate moving from NC to Utah and I told Jon there was one thing I WOULD NOT DO...year round school. Seeing as Tate started last week you can tell how well I stuck to my guns! :) I actually think it will be great. Tate has 1 1/2 weeks left and then he gets three weeks off. He gets all these brakes in the year and as long as we move before June (which we better or someone is in serious trouble!!) he will still have all of next summer off. So basically our hope is to milk the system for all it is worth and have our child in school the least amount as possible. Probably not the best stragegy, but for first grade I think it will be great!

Tate was born with confidence and a happy spirit. He is the forever optimist. It didn't even cross his mind that he should be nervous because he was starting a new school and didn't know a single person in his class. He hopped on the bus with his good buddy and rode off. He came home with the same spring in his step as when he left! He is really having success in reading and his favorite part of school is the monkey bars. I figured out that if I want to know what is going on at school I don't ask "What did you do in school today?" If I really want to know what is going on I ask "What did you play at recess." Now that has some interesting asnwers! His passion these days is Star Wars. He loves everything about Star Wars. His light saber is by far his favorite toy and I'm impressed that the duels he and Cale have don't usually end in tears. The funny thing about Tate is since we hardly ever watch TV, he is more sensitive to TV than any kid I've ever seen. For example most Veggie Tales are too intense and when any scary part comes where the good guys would be in danger he gets worried and asks us to turn it off or change to a different show. So Tate-safe shows include "Tom and Jerry," "Yogi Bear," episodes of "The Muppets," and amazingly enough "Star Wars." Who would have guessed. As long as you talk him through anything that could be scary he is just fine. I'm amazed at how slow a 1980's film is! It is the ultimate in the good guys always win. It suits him well. A classic memory I hope never to forget: 2 little boys marching bare naked across the driveway singing the Star Wars theme in "dunt, dunt, dunts." They were retrieving their swim suits from the car and apparently that was the best way to do it!

Cale is funny, sweet, cooridinated as I'll get out, and a bit more complicated. He really gets humor--what is funny and how to be funny. We are constantly laughing. I mentioned earlier that he adds "mo" to the beginning of words. This is not an attempt to be funny. I should probably start correcting him, and if he does it at 12 you must remind me it is no longer cute, but at four...I love it. My top "mo" words. 1. Mo-saster (disaster) This is almost always used as an adjective to describe his sister. 2. Mo-sgusting (disgusting) frequently used for a plethora of things that they make, find, do, and especially bodily sounds. 3. Mo-3PO (C3p0 from Star Wars.)
Cale had a bad experience last year from preschool, so we really talked it up this year. Friday was his orientation and it is a good thing they had cool pinwheels. I told him it was a rule I couldn't get it for him, he had to go into the room and get it. He warmed up and had a great first day today! Hooray!!

Tess, how to describe her: so cute, snuggly--she'll lay her head on your shoulder and melt into you, loving and FIESTY! At this age the boys were into places to go and things to see. Tess is more into interacting with you. My favorite thing, and I think hers to is after she wakes up in the moringing or from her nap I pick her up and set her on my lap in the lazy boy. We make faces at each other and she copies mine or does a few new ones of her own. She loves to give the meanest glare and then brakes into a huge smile. She loves to sing songs, play peek-a-boo, find her belly button and be quizzed on her body parts. She also understands SO much of what is going on. It really amazes me.
I remember the first time I saw my sister's little girl throw a tantrum. She is the same age as Tate. If I remember right I think I just stood there with my mouth open and thought "What is that?" Tate NEVER threw a tantrum. I don't think I'm exaggerating by saying never either. We had Cale so we could realize that tantrums have nothing whatsoever to do with how well (or poorly for that matter) you parent. We had Tess to be amazed at how young they could start! We just realized that she has the talent of crying hard enough that she can pass out for a second or two. That is always nice. She is actually so pleasant and fun to be around a good 90% of the time. I think she'll give us a run for our money though as a teenager. Watch out!!

As of 8/6/2008 that is pretty much the Silcox kids in a nutshell!