Boys Will Be Boys

*Warning, this post is not for the faint of heart. If boogers or snot make you queasy (like me), stop here :).

We have been really sick at our house. All of us got the flu (or something like it), around Christmas time and it is truly the sickest I  have been over a period of 14 days. I also had a strange variety of strep throat which came after a blood draw and lab tests five days earlier. All that aside. Drake has continued to have a tiny cough or a minor runny nose or something of the sort since then.
He I and were doing school on Monday morning when I went to deal with a particular goobery nostril he had had for a few days. It was the left one, and it ALWAYS had thick green boogers, and crusty stuff coating the entire rim of his nostril and he would sniff incessantly.
"Come on, buddy! Blow Hard!" I cheered as I had a wadded up tissue squished against his nose for the umpteenth time. Three big blows later something dislodged. This was no ordinary booger. This was huge, and hard! Since I already struggle with anything of the snot variety, I had a hard time getting the gumption up to examine the thick green contents of the kleenex. When I pulled the tissue back from his face however, there stuck to the collar of his shirt was a greenish/brown, enormous, shiny, crusty booger. At this point I was literally swallowing vomit down as I tried to be a mature adult and handle the situation. Ever so tenderly with as much tissue between my fingers and the culprit as I could manage I un-stuck the nasty thing from his collar realizing it was in fact a large popcorn kernel.
"Drake!" I gasp. "When did you put that in your nose?!"
"At Family Movie Night!" he tells me amid hysterical laughing.
Family movie night was four day prior...
No wonder his little nostril was wigging out. That thing must have been nigh unto his brain for how many times we had him blow his nose over the course of those four days.
I spent the rest of the morning nearly sick to my stomach while Drake spent it randomly chuckling after his initial fit of laughter subsided.

New Year = Changes

Carson had the most wonderful primary teacher last year. His name was Josh Lyman and his little family just moved to Texas. Boo. Fortunately, he LOVES his classmates, and his new teachers are consistent and prepared. It will be a good year for him. It is still so strange to me that I have a 5 year old!
Drake enjoyed his first day as a Sunbeam. He was SO ready to go. He has been asking me since September when he could go to primary. The answer was always, "after Christmas". Today whenever anyone asked him about being excited to go to sunbeams he would automatically shout, "AFTER CHRISTMAS!!!!" and jump up and down. (Then, I would have to explain to everyone what on earth he was talking about since they had no clue and he was obviously very animated about something or other...) His teachers will also be fabulous. They have somewhere around 40 grandkids! How could they be anything but perfect?!
I should also mention that Brooks is in nursery and has been for a month. He doesn't seem to notice he his being dropped off, and doesn't really react when he is picked up either. He just goes with the flow and loves playing with all the "new" toys. It is SOOOOOOOOOOO nice to get a break in church. Of the three boys he has been the most difficult to take to class with us and we usually ended up walking the halls with him. We were ready to pawn him off enjoy the 2nd and 3rd hours at church.
As for me. I  was just released from Young Womens. I have been there for over 2.5 years and while I know it wasn't terribly long, it was a year and a half longer than I had held any other calling, and it was demanding. I have a new calling but haven't been sustained yet, so I will stick around and help out till I am either replaced in YW, or sustained in ...:). The changes are very bittersweet for me. I will miss the wonderful YW and leaders I worked with, but I am relieved to be done. It was pressure trying to balance Dave's and my calling. His requires multiples days/nights a week, as did mine. Finding time for each other was difficult.
Dave is still cheerfully plugging away in the bishopric. Now that church isn't till 1:00, he doesn't have meetings till 9:00 am. (As opposed to 8:00 when church was at 11:00.) I know it's only an hour, but it was DIVINE having him around for an extra hour this morning, even if he won't get home till 5:30. I might be the only one in the whole church, but I think I am going to like the late shift at church!