La•bile (lā' bīl') adj.

1. Open to change; adaptable.
2. Chemistry Constantly undergoing or likely to undergo change; unstable; capable of changing state or becoming inactive when subjected to heat or radiation.
3. Medicine Readily or frequently changing, as a: readily or continually undergoing chemical, physical, or biological change or breakdown b: characterized by wide fluctuations c: emotionally unstable.

Yesterday, David's pediatrician mentioned offhandedly that the albuterol he is taking to open up his air passages (due to a wheezy, coughy cold he and Joshua have contracted) may make him more "labile." Today we are learning what this word means.

A few examples:

He gets yellow mac'n'cheese stains on my shirt. I change. "Mommy, I don't like that shirt. Take it off. I want you to look nice. I want you to look like William's mommy."

Receives a granola bar, plays vigorously with it, finds it broken. Result: Tantrum.

Joshua attempts to console, receives a shove. "Joshua, go away. I want you to go in the living room."

Expresses desire to go to bed, hears that he must brush his teeth and change his diaper as usual. Result: Tantrum.

I can't fully describe the nonsensical defiance, screaming, and battle of the wills going on here today, but let's just say I'm thankful he's sleeping now. This is nothing like the sweet, sleepy, cooperative, angelic boy of yesterday, cuddling close to Mommy through the doctor appointment and chest x-ray, who took a 4 hour nap. That was Jekyll; this is Hyde! We are thankful the inhaler and the steroids seem to be working great on the lungs - of course because David is recovering, but also so that we may not need these awful drugs much longer!

A Little Cutting and Pasting?

You might think this post is going to be about Joshua starting preschool tomorrow. We are all taking it very coolly on the outside, but I wonder if Joshua is as keyed up as I am on the inside? It's so hard to believe he is old enough to be going to school. Where did my baby go?!

But actually, that is another story. Joshua is not the only one in the family doing some cutting and pasting. On Monday morning, I very neatly sliced my calf open while taking out the garbage, just as I heard the broken dish rattling around in the bag and remembered its threatening presence. We had plans to go downtown with friends for the U.S. Navy Band's annual Labor Day concert, but first, we had an impromptu visit to the urgent care center. (I suppose nobody ever plans to go to Urgent Care!)

Thankfully, I did not need stitches. Instead, they glued my skin together! Much less ghastly than stitches, in my opinion, and we were even able to go to the concert afterwards. The wound stung a bit yesterday, but today it has mostly been itching around the bandage.

The worst part isn't that I will have yet another scar - rather, reminder of God's protection - but that I can't get my leg wet for two weeks. I have yet to figure out exactly how to bathe with this constraint, so please excuse me if I begin to stink! Meanwhile, I'll try to stick to cutting and pasting on the computer, never put anything sharp straight into my trash bag again, and leave the true cutting and pasting for Joshua to handle.

A Muddled Mom in McDonald's

This is what happens when a tired mom tries to buy her family fast food but can't think fast enough:

"Can I help you?" asked the cashier briskly, obviously eager to turn over customers to cut the lengthening line.
I slid closer to the register, eyeing the menu board, mentally calculating, while questioning my two young sons about their lunch preferences. At least, I thought I asked both of them what they wanted.
"Yes please. Can you get a 4-piece chicken mcnuggets without buying a kids meal?" I fervently hoped so, but it wasn't on the menu.
"Yes," she said to my relief.
I didn't bother asking how much. "We'll take a 4-piece nuggets, a mcdouble, and a hamburger." I was happily thinking, "That hamburger is only 89 cents, even less than the dollar menu! I really saved us some money with that wise choice!"
The clerk rang it up; I swiped my Visa; she left to fill the order. Then remembered I had been falling asleep in the van and wanted a coffee.
I cleared my throat. "Ahem. Ma'am? Can I also get a small mocha? Did my card already go through or do I have to swipe it again?"
"You have to do it again but wait a minute while I fix it so it will let it use the same card twice in a row." Ah, security. I'm glad "it" is protecting my financial assets so that we have more money safely available to spend at McDonald's in the future.
She brought the coffee and scanned my overflowing purse, my tray, my sons and their friends jumping around like a hungry tribe, and my generally disheveled appearance. "There you go. Is that all?"
"Yes, thanks," I mumbled in some embarrassment as I prepared to leave.
Then I glanced at my friend's tray. Three chocolate milks. I set down my tray. Oops.
I flagged down my now harried cashier. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I forgot the drinks. Can we also have two chocolate milks and a cup for water?" Unwilling to subject the security software to a third swipe of my credit card and possibly freeze the whole system, I pulled out five dollars.
She retrieved two milks from two different refrigerators - I guess we were buying them out -and plunked them down on my tray. She fixed her eyes on me and pointed somewhere out of sight. "The water cups are over there. Anything else?"
I looked back at her. Only half joking, I responded, "I don't know. Ask me in 15 minutes."
Finally at our table, I distributed the food. I proudly presented David with his 89-cent hamburger. He did not appreciate it and loudly rejected my offering. "NO! I don't want that! I don't want a hamburger! I want chicken nuggets!"
"You do?" I was taken aback momentarily. "You always get a burger. Well, start eating the burger, and soon I will go get you chicken nuggets. I'm sorry, I guess I forgot to ask you what you wanted."
David, of course, would not start eating his hamburger and started eating Joshua's coveted nuggets. "What should I do?" I lamely wondered. The only way to ward off World War III would be to face that cashier again with my fourth order!
My friend's son unwittingly came to my rescue. "Mom, can I have another cheeseburger?"
"Are you going to eat the WHOLE thing?" Emphatically yes.
"Here Marshall," I said as I fished out some more bills. (I had helplessly noted on my receipt that the 4-piece nuggets cost a whopping $1.99.) "Could you please bring us another 4-piece nuggets too, please?"
He graciously did, and thereafter peace and harmony were restored. Mostly. Now there were some disagreements about whose turn it was to eat of the rejected hamburger, and on top of that, we ran out of apple dipper slices.
As we ran out the door hustling to get to our show on time, I downed the remaining chicken nugget in one bite. No way was that half-dollar going to waste! The hamburger? Well...I confess that I threw away about 35 cents worth.
But, I was very thankful not to have to admit to the cashier that yes, actually, there will be something else.

Robert Goodwin Brinson IV

Our friends in Charleston had a baby boy yesterday, making it to the hospital with a half hour to spare. Whew!

Welcome Dru!

(They have dubbed him Dru for quadruple. I like it.)

Congratulations Rob, Christine, and big sis Sharon!

Richmond

Well, the wedding has dominated the past couple of weeks and rightly so, but it's time to wrap up our vacation post before it is ancient history. We spent the last day in Richmond, where we got to spend an evening with my dear college friend Virginia and her husband Charles, who, FYI, recently published a book - pretty impressive!

Maymont Park

The next day we traipsed through one of our favorite city parks, right up there with Como Park in St. Paul, Central Park in NYC, and Wheaton Regional right here at home.

There were lots of cute baby goats to see, along with their parents and some sheep,

as well as a zoo that includes a black bear, bison, and bald eagles.

After you wander through beautiful gardens, cross the stepping stones, hike up to the waterfall, and then climb up the hundred or so stone steps beyond, you get to this gorgeous garden with a trellis walk just made for wedding photos. Then we cut across hills and over rustic bridges like the one below to finally circle back to our parking lot, where we threw open the cooler and guzzled juice boxes like we had just crossed the Sahara.

Were we on a mission to get the kids tired out? I'm not sure we actually intended to wear out the boys, but they walked probably a couple of miles in this place in fairly intense heat. But I wasn't content to stop there. I knew they would just love...

Tredegar Iron Works & Belle Isle

And they did. The machine pictured at right made little pieces of iron that connected two pieces of rail, and another machine made railroad car wheels. They were quite impressed. We surveyed these relics while Chris parked the car a long way away. David fell flat on his face while we were crossing the street - thankfully no cars were coming! - and then fell again on the other side - fortunately right into a thornless blackberry bush, which was bursting with ripe berries for the public picking. That cheered him up right way! I couldn't believe it, such a thing seemed very un-American (why wasn't somebody profiting from these berries!) but we thoroughly enjoyed them until Chris caught up to us.

Then we called upon the little legs to keep on trucking, over this pedestrian suspension bridge which dangles between a car bridge and the James River, to Belle Isle,

which the boys apparently thought was called "Belly Isle" as Chris observed.

The rapids viewed from rocks in the midst of them were arrestingly powerful as usual.

Naturally we did not let the boys go near them and instead bade them cool their feet in the somewhat stagnant water pooled among the rocks.

By the time they had walked back across the bridge and part of the way to the van, this refreshment was long since forgotten. I had meanwhile trotted up a huge hill to the van to bring it back to meet Chris and the boys. He definitely had the easier part walking down hill earlier! And we once again were drenched in sweat and quenched our thirst with juice from the cooler. Multiple juice boxes on one day is definitely a sign that we are on vacation!

And indeed, the boys were completely tuckered out. It was a good day, and a good way to end our trip. We're thankful for lots of great family memories and quality time together.

A Wedding!

Renee and Del got married Saturday!



I don't actually have a picture of the bride and groom together, but you can see Renee looked like a princess that day.



Here's a happy couple. After the off-site photos we went with some other bridesmaids and friends to Starbucks to chill before the reception.

Joshua and David were the ringbearers. In addition to successfully completing their mission during the ceremony, they simply outdid themselves for joy, obedience, and self-control all day long. My parents took charge of them for the day and had nothing but good to report - praise God!!

The reception was tons of fun. Everyone seemed so relaxed. Joshua asked Kathryn to dance. Almost everyone was out there on the floor having a great time!

I think David was almost asleep on his feet at this point. He hung in there without complaining, and without a nap.

It was a completely wonderful day. Now the boys just have to figure out if they are going to call their new uncle "Uncle Del" or "Uncle Jerry."

Congratulations Renee and Del! It was a joy to be part of your big day!

Charleston

Scenes from Downtown

We're back from vacation! It was a wonderfully relaxing trip. We stayed with our friends the Brinsons, who moved to John's Island from Gaithersburg about 6 months ago, and their amazing hospitality allowed us to get plenty of R&R. To more fully appreciate the extent of their hospitality, realize that South Carolina in July is HOT, and our hostess Christine is 8 months pregnant.

We opened and closed our stay by enjoying the 83-degree water on Folly Beach. In between, we toured the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown, wandered around downtown Charleston's stately old homes, and watched boats.

The South Carolina flag against the backdrop of the new Ravenel bridge, quite a lovely bit of architecture.

U.S.S. Yorktown, CV-10 (Essex class)

If you can imagine a floating airport, with a hotel/dormitory and a dining hall underneath, along with an entire level devoted to machinery, and another to a cluster of lecture halls, and a third to storage of ammunition and sundry supplies and services such as a post office and a laundromat, then you can begin to imagine the size of this ship. We found ourselves wondering how long it took the sailors and aviators on board to learn their way around their ship.

The ship is actually the second Yorktown. The first Yorktown sank after being heavily damaged at the Battle of Midway. The present ship was being built when the sinking occurred and was promptly christened Yorktown in honor of the first. Yorktown the second played an important role in the victory over Japan during WWII. It was a bit of a thrill for me to be strolling the decks where men became heroes, courage conquered, and freedom was bought with blood, after Samuel Morison depicted Yorktown's battles so vividly in the naval history series I'm reading.

Our wonderful hosts, who will probably have to see this vessel many more times than they wish.

After seeing the aircraft carrier, Joshua and Chris built their own.

When we went downtown, the boys climbed all over the cannons and cannonball piles in White Point Gardens. They ran around pretending to fire and load, fire and load, and fought off an invading armada of about "200 battleships," according to Joshua.

Here we are...this restaurant was situated just below a drawbridge, with an excellent view of passing pleasure craft. The bridge didn't open while we were eating, but we did have to wait for it once while driving. And for the record, while it's nice to watch other people's boats, we cannot imagine ever owning one or wanting to.

This is Miss Sharon, spunky gal!

During afternoon naps and after bedtime, the grown-ups talked, read, rested, and played lots of games (by the way, if anyone has a copy of Rail Baron lying around not being used, we are now on the prowl for one). While we were cooking and cleaning up, Joshua and David enjoyed playing with 18-month old Sharon, who has bright red hair, the chubbiest cheeks, and a big grin that lights up her whole face. She is as bright as her hair and smile, and as bold too - she has no qualms about running right into the ocean or squishing unwelcome little ant visitors with her fingers, and she passionately loves fire trucks.

The Presbyterian church the Brinsons attend is renting space in a historic Lutheran church downtown. Next door, some members of the church are renovating a historic home, and they opened it up for light refreshments and tours after church.

I loved how they were blending new and old; I've always had a fancy for interior brick walls for some reason. And the bathrooms! Marble this, granite that, my goodness it was gorgeous.

Joshua and David best loved the beach, the bridges, the boats, the horses, and - maybe tied with the beach - the cannons along the Battery. We ALL enjoyed quality time with our friends, visiting a beautiful place, gelato at Charleston Candy Kitchen, and getting lots of rest! (I even read a whole book - A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.) Thank you, Rob and Christine, for giving us the gift of this refreshing vacation and all the memories!