Fall Fun!

Dear Joshua and Luke,

It has been a week of fall fun! Thankfully, you are both feeling better this week. Saturday evening started with the annual trunk or treat with friends Jake and Jack. Jake and Joshua have been friends since they were about six months old and swimming together at the YMCA. I think Luke and Jack have been friends since they were born. Joshua and Jake are about six weeks apart and Luke and Jack are about six weeks apart! The boys have had Shake, Rattle, 'N Roll, Little Gym, Zoo trips, Breakfast with Santa and the Easter Bunny, and much fun together over their short little lives. We do not get together with the boys as much as we used to, but Joshua asks about them all the time and we always enjoy spending time with them!

Sunday brought us to the Trunk or Trinket at St. Luke's Hospital. This party was with our other friends who have food allergies. There were fun and games, an hour long show starring Bobalu, and Halloween crafts. Mama was so proud of Joshua when the announcer was reminding the children about food safety while trick-or-treating. She asked, "What do you need to make sure you take with your trick-or-treating?" Joshua immediately yelled out "epi-pen!" He was the only child who answered the question.

We made sucker ghosts for the Halloween treat bags and put together about 25 treat bags. We also carved a scary pumpkin this week. A big thanks to Grammy for going with Joshua on his pumpkin picking field trip while Daddy worked the Halloween party at Luke's school. Daddy is always such a good sport!

By the way, did you know that you could double click on the slide show at the top left of the screen and make the pictures bigger? Mama loves you more today than yesterday!

Love,

Mama

Family Traditions

Dear Joshua and Luke,

This past weekend we took our annual trip to Pere Marquette to see the fall foliage and have some fall fun. The day started early with apple and pumpkin picking at an orchard outside of Grafton. You each picked some apples and a special pumpkin.

After lots of fall fun at the orchard, we headed to Pere Marquette for a hike through the trails. Of course, we had to stop at all of our favorite places. We stopped and looked for the persimmon trees at Lover's Leap. Everyone had fun eating the persimmons (except me). Dad especially enjoys predicting the winter weather with whatever shapes he finds in the persimmon seeds. There was a knife, fork, and a spoon this time. Not sure what that means, except maybe all sorts of unpredictable winter weather. Notice the bag in Joshua's hands to collect his things on our nature walk. What I have discovered with boys is that they are always collecting special things when we are outside. So here is a bag just for that reason. Luke already made a fall collage with his items, and he proudly gave it to Grammy for her birthday this week. I did get a picture of it before he gave it away!

We also took the Brussels ferry across the Mississippi River to Hardin. You both loved this so much. It is fun to jump out of the car and look around while the ferry moves across the river, then hurry back into the car before the ferry stops on the other side.

We also stopped to see the Piasa bird on the way home. The Piasa bird has an interesting story that is always fun to think about. Grammy loves to tell how

mama made a needlepoint of the Piasa bird while I was in high school for a history club contest. Then, I donated it to a museum in Madison County since I did not think this needlepoint would ever match the decor in our home.

We decided not to eat at our usual restaurant in Grafton since finding safe food outside of our house has been such a challenge for us. So you ate McDonalds in the car on the way back home. Luke was very restless in the car on the way home...which when we got home we realized that he had a fever. And this was the start of our week at home together. Joshua got sick on Thursday.

I just want to say a few words about family traditions. Going to Pere Marquette to see the fall colors is a family tradition that dates back about 20 years for daddy and me. Dad's family often made this trip while Daddy was growing up. Daddy and I started going with Grammy and Papa about 20 years ago. Over the years we have gone with Grandmom (Grammy's mum a.k.a. Grandma MacDonald), Kathy H., Mama's Little Sister, Nana and Papa Ed, and Grandma Nichols. We have fun memories and pictures with everyone there. I hope to go there someday with you and your children, too...if you want to take me along. I have so many good memories there....rolling down the hills with Grammy, finding this one special tree and climbing it every year, and so many more.




I hope you have so much fun with this, too and continue this tradition with your family. I hope you have many more traditions that you do with your family. Hopefully, they are some of ours and you make new ones of your own. These traditions are things we look forward to every year. Remember that I love you more today than I did yesterday.



Love,
Mama



P.S. The fall foliage was not that great yet, so we will go back again this fall.. A second trip to Pere Marquette has become a newer tradition since you two came along. :)

It's a Good Day to be a Duck!

Dear Joshua and Luke,

Today I interviewed both of you about some basic stuff that you might find interesting when you get older. :)













Joshua:

Favorite food: chicken fettuccine Alfredo

Favorite candy:Laffy Taffy

Favorite TV show: Wonder Pets, Olivia, Super Y

Favorite movie: Charlotte's Web (although I really think it is Lion King)

Favorite song: "Sing, Sing, the gangs all here..."

Favorite clothes: Spiderman underwear, shirt, and pants

Favorite toy: Little People barn and/or Lincoln Logs

Favorite game: Hi Ho Cherry O - I thought it was Flashlight Tag!

Favorite color: silver

Favorite animal: duck

Favorite thing to do at school: draw, color, and paint masterpieces

When I Grow up I want to be: A scientist that keeps track of when volcanoes are going to erupt or not. (A geologist)

Favorite quote: "You are a 101 star prize mom and dad." "It's a good day to be a duck!"



Luke: Luke was not answering too many of my questions or he said exactly what Joshua said. So this is what I think he would say....

Favorite food: sausage, although he likes so many foods and is willing to try new things

Favorite candy: saltwater Taffy

Favorite TV show: Wonderpets

Favorite movie: Fox and the Hound

Favorite song: Who Built the Ark? Noah! Noah! or 5 Little Monkeys Jumpin' on the Bed

Favorite clothes: the pajamas Grammy made for him ~ Cars pajamas

Favorite toy: horse on a stick

Favorite game: Hide and Seek

Favorite color: pink

Favorite animal: duck...quack, quack

Favorite quote: "Me, too!"

Favorite thing to do at Mother's Day Out: play on the playgropund and do projects with Miss Diana

When I Grow Up I Want to Be....An engineer or anything I can put my hands on and fix or help.

Here is a little about your week. We got some sad news from Joshua's new allergist at Children's Hospital. He confirmed everything we already knew about Joshua's food allergies, but we also found out that Joshua has a severe, severe allergy to eggs. We knew he was allergic to eggs, but thought that he could tolerate it in certain baked foods. We were wrong. Poor Joshua. He seemed most sad (and sobbed) to learn that he still could not eat shrimp. It's OK because I cried too with the news before I got home. He has to be sure to wash hands after being near anyone eating eggs or foods with eggs in it like cupcakes, cookies, etc. The good news is that I have since learned that eggs can be substituted in foods so that is awesome. And once again, Joshua, I promise you that Dad and I will find a way to make all of this OK for you. We will continue to make this not such a big deal for you. And we will also keep you safe. I promise.

Luke is definitely two years old, and proud if it....especially with his perseverance with activities. If he gets something in his mind, he sticks to it. You might call this strong willed. There were at least two instances this week that Luke had to learn the hard way. There was one night where we stayed in and watched Joshua play with the neighbors and another night that we left Taco Bell before ordering anything. It was especially sad for Joshua. But I know you are learning. And believe me....this was harder for me than it was for you. :) On the lighter side of things, you have been such a big boy in that you have been telling us when you need to poop in the potty. You have been so big, and I am very proud of you! You are also getting really good at saying, "I'm sorry." when you need to.


Sunday we had fun at the movies with Grammy as we saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." You both got your fill of popcorn and soda. There was only one mildly scary part. We also went to Eckerts to do some fall shopping. Luke's first birthday/costume party got cancelled.....Derek's big brother got sick. Luke was sad, but got over it pretty quickly. Maybe next week? Saturday Luke went on a bike ride while Joshua was learning to walk or coast in his roller skates. Saturday night was movie night complete with hot chocolate and popcorn. The feature presentation was none more than the Lion King. Guess whose movie pick it was?

I love you both so much!

Love,

Mama

Bye Bye sugar!

Dear Joshua and Luke,



That is a quote from Luke this week. Miss Sarah's(from Shake, Rattle, 'N Roll) mom was saying goodbye to Luke, and said, "Goodbye sugar." to Luke in which he repeated back, "Bye, bye sugar," to her. The words truly melt your heart coming out of his sweet little mouth. Luke's words are coming out more and more every day. He is simply amazing ~ and I am not prejudiced about him at all. Just ask Grammy, Papa, Nana or anyone who knows and loves our little Luke.

This week found us at the Strange Folk Art festival. Mama volunteered to help children make crafts at one of the booths for Joshua's preschool so the family walked around and took in some of the festivities. You can see that both of you had a great time listening to the band play some folk music. I can only imagine what you will be thinking when you see this twenty years from now and wonder what kind of festival your parents took you to with the band straight out of the 70's complete with a "flower child" as the lead singer. While we do not usually listen to this type of music, it was perfect for the beautiful, sunny day this weekend.

Luke is showing off some of his new dance moves in this video along with saying "Rock 'n roll, Rock 'n roll," as he dances.

Be sure to take a look at the new slideshow in the upper right corner of the blog. There are pictures of Joshua's last soccer game (and yes he kicked a winning goal!), Joshua's apple picking trip with school ~ his first field trip, and fun at the festival this past weekend. The two pictures of the boys getting nebulized are not fall fun pictures, but got included nonetheless since that was a big part of our fall so far. Enjoy ~ and remember that I love you more today than I did yesterday.

Love,

Mama

A Week In Review

Dear Joshua and Luke,

It has been another great week for the Litteken's. Here are some highlights:

Last weekend, Dad and I went out for the first time in a long time, and we came home to this sweet little picture that Daddy took. Thank you for being so good with the babysitter. There weren't any tears at bedtime. We are so proud of you boys!

On Sunday, you had fun on a late night bike ride with Grammy. Mommy chose not to go on the walk due to my broken foot, but Grammy and Daddy had fun walking along. Joshua got a new bike this weekend for no special reason other than he outgrew his Thomas bike. Notice Luke and his "new" (inherited-hand me down) bike.

The beginning of the week found us at the doctor with Luke again. His cough has gotten worse. He is now on five medications every night this week. Poor guy. Joshua needed the nebulizer this week, too. The only thing the boys like about the nebulizer is the TV they get to watch while nebulizing.

I love you both to the moon and back and back again.

Love,

Mama

Mother's Day Out

Dearest Joshua and Luke,

It seems like yesterday we were taking Joshua to his first Mother's Day Out in Miss Diana's class with Luke in tow, only a few months old. But here we are with Luke starting Miss Diana's class this week. I am so proud of the amazing job he has done. Luke has been so brave and has had such a good attitude about school. Luke has grown up so much in the last few months. Luke has went to school both days and had great days! He shed a few tears the first day because Dad left without saying goodbye, but after five minutes he was fine. He actually did not shed a tear until Dad came back in to say goodbye...with Miss Diana politely reminding him that he was not supposed to come back!

We are so lucky that Luke's preschool class has a window that parents can see in, but the children can not see out, so you can spend time really watching the children in the class. Luke liked sitting right at Miss Diana's feet. He likes being close to people once he gets to know them. Luke is also so proud of the two stamps he gets on his hands for good behavior! This is going to be so good for Luke. To the left, see Luke's project that helps him remember his school friend's names.

Luke also learned how to say, "I am sorry."this week. This has been a major breakthrough for him. He has not wanted to say it at all, but he is saying it regularly now. I can tell you that Joshua really appreciates it. Poor Luke has been extra close to the nebulizer for the past week. We are so blessed that Luke does not have the food allergies that Joshua has, but he does have pretty bad seasonal allergies that leads to cough variant asthma. Poor thing. The only good thing about having to get the nebulizer is that he gets to watch TV while he gets it. His favorite station is Noggin thanks to the new AT&T U verse that daddy got. I have no idea what that means, but the guys I know tell me it is very exciting! :)

It has been a rollercoaster week ~ sadness, happiness, and so much in between.

I love you both very much, and I am the proudest mom in the world!

Love,

Mama

A Visit With Cousins

Dear Joshua and Luke,



Wow! It has been another exciting week with cousins!
"Cousins are the best!!!!!" just ask Luke. The week was fun filled complete with a trip to the Museum of Transportation, fun at three of the city parks, Monkey Joes, the Missouri Botanical Garden, a picnic at Tower Grove park, watching the Rescuers,....I could go on and on. Even the simplest things like having dinner are made 100 times extra fun when you get to do it with your cousins!

One of the boy's highlights of the week were sleeping in the giraffe tent on the three season's porch. I need to add that Elsa and Ethan voted me the "Best Aunt in Illinois" that day.
And they should have as I slept the whole night on an air mattress with Ethan on one side and Joshua on the other side. Elsa actually slept in the giraffe tent by herself. Luke willingly went into the house with Dad about forty-five minutes into the slumber party. Elsa organized the party by having the others pick a number between one and ten. Then, the kids took turns telling a made up story. After that, the kids picked numbers again and took turns saying different prayers. It was so sweet. Even Luke had a turn with "Now I lay me down to sleep....."

Before I end tonight.....my mom' son, Richard, and my brother, passed away tonight after a long, courageous battle of life. Twenty years ago next month, Richard's life came to a screeching halt when he fell off a roof while working. He has been paralyzed from the neck down since that time. He spent months and months in the hospital, and managed to stay in his house with a nurse coming to help all these years. After many bouts in the hospital, this last one was more than his strong body could take. When having to make the choice of putting in a trake again to help him breathe, he made the decision to try to breathe on his own, knowing that it was a very slim possibility it would even happen. After removing his breathing tube, he passed on eight minutes later.

I know that you two did not have a chance to know Richard very well, but I want to tell you what I know about him. He was a good, strong family man. And family man he was with eight children!!!! Can you even imagine? He had a good and kind heart, and he would do anything for you if you could. Even a day or two before he passed, he was concerned that his motorized wheelchair and van go to a friend in a similar situation as him. I remember him doing anything for you or anyone that he could. That was the kind of man he was.

Joshua summed it up tonight by saying, "Mom, I bet Richard is walking in heaven now...with the angels." My dear, you have hit it on the head once again. Richard, we will miss you and love you, and we will find peace in knowing that you are in heaven walking with the angels, laughing with Grandpa Al, and playing fetch with all of our dogs. Joshua also added to the prayer that he hoped that Jesus would help Richard make new friends in heaven. What a sweet thought, but no doubt that Richard won't need help with that. We love you, Richard!

Love,

Mama