I am hoping that I didn't make a mistake the other day.  We have some special markers that are washable and designed for drawing on glass.  And so I turned both kids lose with them to decorate the storm door.  Yes, both of them.  Meaning that he has NO idea why Mommy suddenly allowed markers on the front door.  So I just hope that he doesn't then get ahold of some and color the walls or something.  She understands, but not sure he is old enough to.  But he was just so excited to be turned loose with markers that he did more grinning that actually coloring.

And she enjoyed it just as much.  So much so that she wasn't really willing to turn around and get her picture taken.  Oh, well, that was the point wasn't it? 

On another note, Justice is busy trying to do everything just like Jordan.  Just like the other morning at breakfast.  She wanted Cheerios with milk, so guess what he had?  :-)  And you know they looked a lot like each other while they were eating them...

Can you see the matching milk dribble on their chins?

I think it is safe to say that our little man is feeling all better.  He seemed timid around food for a little bit after the pain seemed to be gone, but now he is ok.  So hopefully the trauma of the syringes is behind him!  To prove his health he and his sister had a blast playing at the new local park on Saturday after dinner.  I wish there were pictures, but sadly I didnt' have a camera.  Justice discovered the round plastic slide and LOVED it!  The slides in general seemed quicker since the playground was damp from rain and he had on nylon shorts.  He had a blast!  He even went down the tube slide face first, though he couldn't seem to remember to pick up his hands, so he went down VERY slowly that way.  Probably a good thing. 

The two kiddos are becoming good buddies, which warms the heart.  Today they have seemed extra close.  Might be because it turns out instead of napping or playing quietly in her room, our little angel slipped into her little brothers room and they were playing together.  Or as well as one can with one of you secure behind bars.  But you can see the closeness here.

Where she goes, he follows.  And he follows her every lead.  If she's done eating, he's done.  That instant.  If she is out riding her bike, he wants to too.  So much so that you must watch or he will end up being hit by her, through no fault of hers.  And then he must get a turn when she's done.  It can really be something to see them in action together while they are happy with one another.  But feel pity for us when it isn't going well as it swings full circle the other direction too.

Oh, I forgot there were other photos from the other day I forgot to share.  Here they are being sweet again.  He didn't want his picture taken, until I tried to take hers.  Then he had to have his taken too.

And here she is posing for a picture...

While he is back to being busy...

Look who is feeling better...

No pain meds today and no crying about it.  Yeah!  He is still very limited in his eating (thank goodness for milk and Ritz crackers), but he's acting much better.  He ate a couple bites of yogurt before bed last night, which isn't much compared to what he used to eat before bed, but hey we'll take it.  And then today he ate bread.  Again not much, but it's something.  Then for dinner Daddy bribed (I mean enticed) him with McD's.  He ate at least half his nuggets, part of an apple slice, and some french fries (and of course milk - that part is no surprise).  So yeah!  Who knew I would be so excited that he ate McD's?

Not that him feeling better has made him any easier to photograph.  He still wants to see the photo before I can get it focused to take the photo. Here he is "helping" me take pictures.  See how he's holding the lens cap in front of him, so I can ALMOST get him in the shot?

     I am back for a rant.... I am feeling like Andy Rooney.   Anyway... I was reading the paper this morning and they were talking about the new toll booth system they are are building for the expressway to RTP.  A lot of people are pissed because who wants to pay tolls.  Well an email to the paper was published, from a reader.  The reader basically said (Paraphrasing)...Tolls suck but if not for tolls where is the money going to come from?  Gas tax... which pays for roads hasn't been raised since 1992.  Fuel efficiency and cost of gas has shrunk the revenue even more due to less consumption.  Simple addition and subtraction!

    Well it finally stoked my inner grouch because you see in politics that every candidate wants lower taxes.  Why... because no one will vote for a candidate if they don't promise to lower taxes.  The reality is... you can't lower taxes forever.  We love having services.... police... fire.... paved roads... streetlights...etc....  Lots of citizens even bitch about not having enough services.  When cost of living rises for us... the citizen... cost of business also rises for the public services.  Things cost money.. yet instead of getting a boost of money to afford general supplies and staff they need to perform the service... they get the next politician that lowers taxes.  Taxes suck... but sometimes they are a necessary evil.  The common argument is that the government just wastes the taxes anyway... so what... pick up your toy and go home?  That is not the answer.  The beauty of this country is if you don't like what the government is doing... you can become proactive in it. You can run for office.. or you can join a watch dog group... write letters to congressmen.  Most people sit in their homes and gripe but never send a letter to their representatives.  How is the rep supposed to know what his/her constituents want if said constituents never speak except to gripe to each other?  For majority rule to work... the majority must be at least a vocal percentage as the minority.  Problem is... the minority always seems to have a louder voice that makes them sound like the majority.

 I guess my point is... we can't keep lowering taxes.. because you keep cutting into ability for services to buy supplies and staffing.  With the price of things increasing they can't keep their budgets stagnate because realize it or not.. with the services come jobs of friends and families.  But I guess it is like everything... if something doesn't directly effect you, you turn a blind eye and resist any burden you have to shoulder. 

 Nobody cares about education quality until they have kids, don't care about everyone getting healthcare until they are suffering from a serious illness with no insurance, and don't care about the war unless they have a relative impacted by it.

/rant

Have a good Sunday everyone! 

Yesterday was pretty rough.  Justice wasn't happy at all.  Can't say I blame him, but the issue at hand was that he would not drink.  And that gets extra tricky with a child that doesn't like ice cream or popsicles on a good day.  So, I had to resort to feeding him liquids with the syringe.  Let's just say that didn't make me his friend.  Luckily he would forgive me quickly and then mommy hugs would help make it better.  Sigh.  It was rough for everyone here, but especially for him.  So needless to say I was very concerned when he woke up this morning that it would be more of the same and that he may end up back in the hospital if he kept it up.  Instead, when he woke this morning for pain medicine (again with a syringe, a small one, but assure you he doesn't like any size syringe anymore) he actually asked for milk.  Yeah!  Such a relief!  He is still not exactly liking foods, but he is liking milk, which is all I am asking right now!

Oh, and he's told me "no" so many times in the past few days that he actually woke up from nap saying "no."  I was worried that was not a good sign, but then he came down and not so happily got pain medicine, but then asked for milk again.  Thank you Grandma for the spongebob sippy cup - it has been a huge hit, especially lately when we've needed any incentive we can find.  Though yesterday he wanted the cup, just not to drink from it.  He was content to tuck it under his arm and call it a day.  Growl.  But today he's back on track to recovery, which is such a relief.  

Here are a couple of pictures to show he is doing better.  He was busy checking out the animals to see what they were up to.  These were early today and he has a bit of a zombie stare in them, but that was all I seemed to be able to capture.  He kept trying to see the pictures on the camera before I could even snap one, which made getting a shot very hard.

Update:  Here's a good one that I managed to capture as he caught me putting the memory back in the camera, which meant he wanted me to get another picture of him.