Friday, November 28, 2008

Thankful for Thanksgiving








Every year I dread Thanksgiving. It's sort of a thorn in my holiday side. I always feel a little blue because I'm far from family. It doesn't feel like a big enough event to actually travel for every year, and there are no gifts to soften the absence of loved ones.

I've realized this year that as my kids are getting older, they are beginning to appreciate tradition. This year, my children were excited to take part in the tradition of Thanksgiving. They helped cook and enjoyed being in the kitchen. R and I had little stress because even if the turkey was a disaster, or the potatoes were cold and lumpy, there were no guests to disappoint.

This is not to say I prefer no guests, it just means there are nice things about a holiday sans guests, too. So next year, if you want to come to our place for Thanksgiving, please do. But if not, I will still find plenty to be thankful for.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Desperate Times

R and I have agreed that we will only eat sweets once a week and/or on special occasions (for instance; pie at Thanksgiving and ice cream on the weekend). Generally, I'm doing pretty well with it. I just came off a month "fast" from sweets (allowing for two indulgences when we had family in town), so I have much better control than I used to. This is not to say I have it completely under control. Some days I get desperate for a sugar fix and I snack on my kids' gummy vitamins. I only eat two or three, but this is in addition to the adult multi-vitamin and two calcium supplements that I have each day. Is this bad for me? I'm waiting for my skin to begin molting or my hair roots to turn orange. If something weird happens, I imagine I'll have the willpower to lay off the gummy vitamins. Until then, they get the job done.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Skinny Is the New Chubby

I bought L two clearance shirts from Target today. When I showed her these shirts, she was excited about the first and told me to "take back that one" on the second. Okay. I'm not sure when she came to the conclusion that she could take new clothes for granted, but I'm kind of frustrated that she has. I had previously told her, about a pair of jeans she wasn't instantly thrilled with, that I saw Hannah Montana wear jeans "just like that" and she was convinced. I couldn't think of a good "persuasion technique" off the top of my head for the shirt, so I'll have to convince her why she should love shirt #2 later.After trying on the first shirt, L exclaimed, "Good thing! Now I can pretend to be skinny!"

"L, you are skinny. You know that, right?"

"Uh, well I'm just saying now I can pretend to be skinny. I like this shirt."

WHAT?!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Visit to Station 18

Q's Cub Scout den visited a firehouse today and siblings were invited to tag along. So the kids and I (poor R missed out on the action) went to visit our local firehouse - Station 18. The experience was really educational. The best tip I came away with; if you are trapped in a room because of a fire, and you are waiting for the fire fighters to rescue you, stay by the window but DON'T OPEN the window - it creates suction and all the smoke and fire will be drawn to the room.

Q was pretty eager to answer every question the firefighters asked - even if he didn't know the answer, he'd raise his hand and say, "Umm. I don't know." When the boys were asked, "If you are on a second story and you can't get through the house to go outside, what should you do?", Q said he would take his pillow, throw it down on the ground outside and jump off the balcony onto the pillow. Hmmm... I think we might need to discuss a fire evacuation plan at our house.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Almost... or Totally

So I said D's static issue was almost enough to make me get his hair cut - I changed my mind :)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

He's Electric

I don't quite understand why D gathers SO much more static electricity than the rest of us, but he does! It almost makes me want to chop all his hair off... almost. I typically just lick my hand and run it over his head to help alleviate the craziness - I know that's gross, but I just can't stand to see it that way. It makes my eyes water.

Throw Uping

Early this morning (like, 1 a.m. early) L came into my room and said she had been "throw uping". Poor thing was covered in puke and it was all over her bed. So, R and I changed the sheets, put her in the bath and got her back into bed. I was feeling pretty unsettled because, besides the smelly puke and sad little L, I was dealing with the fact that said puke was, in fact, blue. Kind of blueish-green, really. I was worried that perhaps she had ingested something really bad, but she's six years old and probably knows better. I thought about calling my mom to ask if she had ever run across blue-green puke. I settled on scouring the Internet for clues.

Our previous pediatrician once told me that the Internet was a "mixed bag" when it came to medical advice and mothers shouldn't rely on it. At 2 a.m., I was presented with two possibilities; bile from deeper in the intestinal tract - totally normal, or an intestinal blockage - head to the emergency room. I wasn't feeling particularly panicked, and I like to think mothers have a bit of a sixth sense about their children's needs.

As the night (really morning) progressed, L continued to empty her little tummy two or three times an hour. Each puke was progressively bluer. I was racking my brain to figure out what she could have eaten that would, seemingly, fill her stomach with blue. Then, out of the blue (ha, ha) I realized the culprit.

The afternoon before, we had gone to Q's football team party. There was pizza and soda and cake. The cake was really good... it was also covered in blue frosting; the kind of blue that instantly turns your teeth, tongue and lips bright blue. Why I didn't make this connection before, I don't know. It could have to do with the fact that I was trying to think during the time I'm usually sleeping.

So, I felt some relief to know that L was likely fine - other than the "throw uping." After a long night and several sets of sheets, L finally fell asleep. She woke up feeling good and went downstairs to watch t.v. She then puked on the couch. Luckily, she had already gotten rid of all the blue puke and was producing pretty colorless stuff.

We've been doing a little better the past few hours and she has been able to keep a little food and juice down. After making her eat a little toast (I don't know why she hates toast), L said to me, "Mommy, thanks for helping me get better." Being a mother can feel like a thankless job at times (cleaning up puke is one of those times) - but, L gave me all the thanks I need. I gave her a gentle hug and told her, "That's what Mommies do." I've rarely been more grateful to be a Mom than I was today - and I don't think that's the sleep deprivation talking either.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Love Hurts


Thursday, November 6, 2008

A "Steamy" Getaway




R and I are very lucky to have great friends whom volunteered to watch our kiddies so we could spend some quality time together. The really great part of that is that we got to spend our time in Florida at a really fun resort. R had a conference for work at the Disney Dolphin Resort. I met him there on Saturday and we spent three days doing whatever the heck we wanted.

The weather was excellent, though a little humid (thus the "steamy" joke in the title). We played miniature golf and tennis, swam in the pool, and went running. We also spent part of one day at Downtown Disney window shopping and having lunch. The food at Wolfgang Puck's was really good and the shops had a lot of fun stuff. I do have to say that Disney execs must see people with big dollar signs on their foreheads - everything was really overpriced!

All in all, being able to sleep in was just about the best part of the trip. Though we missed our children and it was great to get back home, we certainly feel motivated to plan more getaways in the future!!

Halloween




We had a very fun Halloween, despite being sans Daddy (R had a conference and so he was out of town). We trick-or-treated for about 20 minutes, then the kids said they were ready to go home. This meant that we didn't come away with gobs of candy, which I was happy about! Then we went to a rockin' party at our friends' home - it was the best Halloween party I've ever witnessed. The weather was really nice and no one went into a sugar induced coma - so I'd say the evening was a success!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

So Sweet


My friend sent me some photos taken at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. Her uncle works at the zoo and sent her some pictures of a new addition to the zoo - a baby orangutan. Thanks for passing them along, A - I hope you don't mind me posting a picture!