Happy Easter everyone!

According to tradition, we will have ham today to celebrate a neat event. It was many, many years ago that Jesus came back from the dead.

According to historical records, his first words were “I had this crazy dream! I was on a hill, and surrounding the base of the hill were dozens of giant bunnies with baskets chanting ‘He is risen!’ and pelting me with chocolate eggs and baked hams.”

And thus a tradition was born.

…and as I walk the house, I do the rounds. The checklist. Doors? Locked. Lights? Most off, a couple on.

Walking around, I see the remains of our evening. Glasses from homemade milkshakes in the sink…a few dog toys scattered around… And even more kids stuff.

I check on the boy – as usual, his pillow is on the floor. Tonight, however, it has a companion: The MegaRobot 2000 – a contraption he made by combining many of his toys with a lot of duct tape and, yes, he gave it that very modern sounding name. I think back to when I was tucking him in and he started singing me a song he’d learned in music class – he was shocked to discover that yes, I TOO know the words to Puff The Magic Dragon!

I check the girl. As usual she’s sleeping on top of the covers…and 4 seconds after I pull them up over her she’s kicking them back down to the foot of her bed. The foot of her bed which, as usual, is full of Girl Stuff: 2 books, one stuffed animal, a gift bag full of clothes (?), and a sketch she drew of the giant paper maché tree she wants to build for her bedroom (?!). I think back to earlier this evening when, during our family board game, her brother made her laugh so hard and so unexpectedly that she shot homemade milkshake across the table. The cleanup was worth the laugh.

I check my wife. Eyeglasses and book removed from bed now that she’s fallen asleep? Check. Now, though, the puppy sleeping at her feet seems to be doing a little coughing and rasping – that’ll need watching. Next, steal a glance at her alarm clock: the wrong number of glowing dots means she’s forgotten to set it, and there will be trouble in the morning.

And as I hit the pillow, I think of the milkshake dishes and kids toys and dog toys and how I should straighten them up…

But aren’t they just evidence of a house well-lived-in?

Yes. Tonight, they definitely are.

So the doctors have said, at last, “He’s gonna be fine. It’s nothing surgical.” Whew!

Basically it’s a combination of a couple of things:

Some intestinal blockage that was undiagnosed until the XRay, plus probable intestinal virus and/or flubug caused the painful abdomen & low platelet count. He’s eating now.

So basically we go home, flush him with fiber, keep him rested and on lots of liquids for the virus, and go back to the doctor on Monday for another check of his abdomen.

Again, I’d just like to state for the record: Whew.

We’re in a room at the Pediatric Emergency Room of Mott’s Children’s Hospital, at the UofM Hospital… Max is sleeping soundly in his hospital bed. The doctors seem now to be more concerned that his platelet count is low, and how it’s related to his abdominal pain. Apparently the low platelet count in addition to his abdominal tendernss and his tendency to bruise easily could be a symptom of a couple of things…

He’s resting comfortably, Jeanne and I are just waiting and not sleeping in the chairs next to him.

They’ve done some more bloodwork, taken an XRay of his abdomen, and now they’re considering admitting him to get him out of the E.R. area…

So we’re in a holding pattern until they figure out the next step.

Its 1am. I’m in the UofM Hospital with my 7 year old son, who is having abdominal pain, possibly appendix related.

Seeing your son with an I.V. In his arm, asleep on an ambulance stretcher, sucks.

He’s in pretty good spirits, and is being very brave. The pain comes and goes, and they’re not sure why yet. Waiting to run a couple of tests right now, and he’s resting.

The view driving down North Territorial, which is a beautiful drive no matter the season!

A wonderful dinner, lots of great food, quality time with my wife’s side of the family. What a great day! And we get to have another one on Saturday with MY side of the family! Yay!

Things I’m thankful for:
My wife and kids – I’m truly the luckiest man in the world.
The rest of my family and friends.
The chance to do what I love for a living.
Our wonderful home.
A sweet puppy who has become a beloved member of our family.
My co-founders at Williamston Theatre, and all of the volunteers, supporters and people who helped make this year successful..
My health, and the health of my loved ones.

I’m thankful for having a pretty blessed life.

So last night my seven year old, who is supposed to be in bed sleeping, tiptoes around the hallway, poking his head into the family room.
He’s trying to hide something behind his back, and asks, in a very 7-year-old-trying-to-be-inconspicuous manner, “Mom, where’s your lunch box for school?”

“Well, I don’t really have a lunch box, sweetie…”

“Weeeelllllll, um…what do you take your stuff in?”
Jeanne and I share a look – clearly there’s some cute sneakiness going on.

“My school bag. It’s on the table. Why?”

“Nothin’. Dad what do you use?”

“My brown bag, it’s next to my bookcase.”

“K…g’night.”

Jeanne and I went back to watching Chuck, but a little later went to check on the kids. Both were fast asleep. Then, of course, we couldn’t resist checking:

In our bags we found two of the sweetest, most awesomest bestest lovingest “I Love Being A Dad” notes ever.

Click on the pic to embiggen it!

[Translation: Hi Dad! I love you. Have a grat day. Love: Max. PS Maggie loves you to]