The Good, The Bad and The Tired

Well, the good news is that the antibiotics seems to be winning the battle of Daniel's ear. The ear pain seems to be fading and he was getting antsy and bored today which means he is feeling better.

The bad new is Sammy woke up feeling sick and was spiking pretty high fevers throughout the day. Poor guy. It is always very obvious when Sammy is not feeling well because he is so sedate, which is not Sammy at all. We'll see if he gets an ear infection too after all this is over.

Which bring us to the tired, which would be Dan and I. Tired of sick kids. Tired of fevers, aches, coughing, runny noses and soar throats.

I am looking forward to the happy, the healthy and the well rested that I am hoping is just around the corner.

The Dreaded Amoxicillin

You know that your children have recurring health issues when you can remember the ridiculous name of the medicine that the doctors like to prescribe.

Daniel, for the third year in a row (at least), has come down with an ear infection during the month of February. He barely made it, since we are less than 48 hours away from March, but he got the diagnosis in before the deadline. Amoxicillin is the prescription of choice for the pediatricians that we take the boys to. I am not sure why we continue down the amox path, since Sammy is getting more and more allergic to it, and it hasn't worked for Daniel the previous two tries, but we are nothing if not persistent. Actually, that is a mis-characterization, the amox works for Daniel, but they have to give him the boosted amox, called something like amoxicillin with augmentum. Augmentum sounds like someone out of a Marvel comic book.

'Ear Infections Beware! Augmentum is here to save the day!'

Hopefully Amoxicillin will be able to take care of this one on his own, and the trusty sidekick, Augmentum, can stay back at the Secret Medicine Cabinet Hideout.

A Night Out

I went to see Room Service at Lamb's Players Theatre with Nana (my MIL) tonight. It was very funny and I'm so glad I went.

I have been so busy lately (with the Gala, PTO, church and all the other on goings) and when my MIL asked me if I wanted to go with her I immediately thought of all the things I had on my to do list. Of course I wanted to go, but did I have the time to go.

So I asked Dan if he thought I should go and he asked me, "Do you want to go?"

"Yeah!" I love plays, musicals and anything theatrical.

"Then go." As simple as that.

And I did. And I had a great time.

Germ Boy

Daniel stayed home today. Yep, he is sick. Fever, spit ups, running nose and sore throat. He is what I like to call a walking germ. If I even pass a couple feet by him I have the urge to go and scrub my hands to the tune of Happy Birthday. I am hoping he will be feeling better tomorrow and that he doesn't pass it to anyone else.

I was looking through my photos and found these that I took on today's date three years ago. They look so little and are so darn cute. It almost makes me want another one.

The Crystal: Part 1

Last week the boys decided to venture into the backyard in search of some buried treasure. I am not sure what motivated them to do this, probably a book they've been reading or maybe treasure hunting is just one of those things that boys just 'do' (like playing with guns). So anyway, the boys are out digging up my garden (which I wasn't too thrilled with, but since they were happy I was willing to let it slide) and they start digging up pretty rocks and flattened marbles (the kind people use in vases and such). When Daniel was little we had a little fountain out back that had rocks and marbles in it and Daniel carried them all around and they got lost and buried over time. Well, the boys were pretty excited with their dug up treasure. They washed them up and put them in a box.

Then a few days later, Sammy is out in the yard digging around (Daniel is in class) and I am upstairs on the computer when I hear Sammy getting pretty excited downstairs. He comes running upstairs and is just ecstatic. He opens his little hand to show me the treasure he has found. It is a piece of a geode with pretty purple crystals.

"We're going to be RICH!" Sammy blurts out.

He is beaming. He is just beside himself with excitement. Actual treasure. Dug up in his own backyard with his own two hands. It doesn't get any better than this.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was part of a fountain we had and Daniel had thrown the geode into the yard when he was little. That would have been just cruel. And I was not going to be the one to burst his bubble.

Sammy is so proud of his treasure. He shows it to everyone he can and tells his story of its discovery. Just call him Sammy the treasure hunter.

The Crystal

I wasn't there for the discovery. I walked in on this episode in the life of Sammy after the pivotal moment had already occurred. But I like to think that without me, Sammy wouldn't have his treasure. I am getting ahead of myself here. Let me back up a bit.

Years ago Daniel took possession of a geode that Suzy and I had for some reason. He took it, and some other colored rocks he had found, into the back yard and was playing with them. Often times that is a one-way journey for things, they get taken into the backyard and never return to the house. Since the geode had gone missing I really hadn't given it much thought.

Until, that is, I came home from work last week and Sammy rushed up to me with a look of sheer excitement.

'Dada, guess what I found!'

'The battle droid command base?'

'No, I found... a crystal.'

'A crystal?'

Of course you have figured out that the crystal was the very same one Daniel had taken into the backyard years ago and had been buried by bushes, dirt and who know what else. After finding this tremendous treasure, Sammy was convinced that our backyard was fertile ground for geological wonders, so he kept digging. And he found stuff. All of those other colored rocks that Daniel had left out there years before were recovered, washed off and proudly displayed in the house.

Sammy was so proud and excited by his discovery of the crystal that he had to take it to school to share with his class. I don't know how that went (oh, to be a fly on the wall during that show and tell), but when Nana brought Sammy home today, the crystal was coming home too.

There was a problem though. We got a call from Nana stating that the crystal was stuck. Sammy had put it in the cup holder of her car, and it had fallen through and wedged itself deep in the recesses of the Prius. My poor son was distraught. Being the good father that I am, and having watched too many episodes of MacGyver to count, I knew that I could help.

'Come on home, I'll take a look at it.'

So, since Suzy was off at the church at a meeting, I had Nana be in charge of getting the boy's teeth brushed and put them in bed while I battled with the geode. It was a terrible battle. Many times I thought of giving up, but the thought of facing Sammy without the geode was too much to bear. I brought tools from the garage, I powered up the flashlight. Even a poor wooden chopstick was sacrificed at the alter of the recovery process, but in the end I did it. I managed to grab hold of the geode with a pair of pliers and carefully extract said geode from the crevice in which it was jammed (thank you Operation). I made my way upstairs and presented Sammy with his treasure. The crystal rock had been recovered, a bit worse for wear maybe, but recovered.

Sammy looked at me with loving eyes, and said,

'Thank you, dada' with such sincerity that all the effort was worth it.

'You're welcome buddy. Goodnight.'

And that is how I saved the crystal rock, and restored it to its rightful owner.

Change of Weather

It was a strange weather day today. The sky was covered with these beautiful low and fluffy clouds and it was quite warm and humid. A very strange feeling in Winter.

We went down by the marina after church today with some friends and had fresh fried seafood for lunch. Yum. While having lunch we ran into a friend from college that I hadn't seen in over ten years. It can be such a small world sometimes.

We had dinner with some friends tonight and the kids ran around outside all night barefoot and sweaterless and the adults hung out on the patio. It almost felt like a spring day. Is the weather turning or am I just getting my hopes up?

One out of Two

Well, I didn't get to sleep in this morning... BUT I got my pancakes!

Yippee!!!!!They were moist, buttery and slathered in syrup.Just the way I like them. A+++++, Dada! Thank you, thank you for making my Saturday morning.

Saturday Morning Pancakes

I love Saturday mornings. I love it for many different reasons. It is the start of the weekend. There is the possibility that I might get to sleep past 6:30 a.m. (if the boys aren't already awake and making a racket in their room or I haven't woken up at 5:45 out of habit). I don't have to get ready to take the boys to school. And I don't have to cook breakfast. Why is that you ask? Because my wonderful husband makes us pancakes for breakfast. And not just your average everyday pancakes, these are the best homemade pancakes I've ever had (thank you Alton Brown). My mouth waters just thinking about them. Butter, syrup and whipped cream on top. Yum! I can't wait till tomorrow morning!

(Sammy is laughing because he thinks the whipped cream sliding off Dan's pancakes is hilarious.)

The Blue and Gold Dinner

Tonight was the annual Blue and Gold Dinner, which is the big banquet of the year for Cub Scouts. Banquet might be a stretch. Chaotic night of 6 to 10 year olds running around a church dining room might be a better description.

Some of the highlights:

Suzy won the prize for best dish, her award winning chili comes through again. If you haven't tried it yet, bug Suzy until you do.

My boys (is it ok that I claim ownership of them?) did great in the trivia contest. The theme of the night was something like A to Z USA, and the trivia questions covered the topic of Americana. Some of our questions were:

'What is the capitol of Washington?'
or
'What is the state reptile of Arizona?'

I was particularly proud of one little fellow. I might have done some coaching last night at our den meeting, but when the pressure mounted tonight he came through big time,

'What is the state insect of California?'
'Dogface Butterfly!'

I might have raised my arms in celebration, but don't tell anyone.

Daniel and Sammy behaved well, so I was happy. They got to bed about an hour later than normal, so tomorrow will be an interesting day. Good luck Ms. Foust, good luck Mrs. Denney.

The Start of a Masterpiece

Well, I'm not quite sure if this will turn out to be a masterpiece, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. I spent the morning with Daniel's class mixing up colors and having the kids paint their faces for our Warhol art project. I anticipated it taking a lot longer and being much harder than it turned out. I am quite pleased with the whole process. I just love all the different colors we've got going on. City Tree is incredibly diverse and it is one of the many reasons I love the school.

Next up will be hair and clothes. Wish me luck!

I went on an amazingly beautiful and wet hike on Saturday. We had planned to hike South Fortuna Mountain, but the part of the trail that crosses the river was a mass of rapidly flowing water. Nobody was too inclined to get their feet wet, so we turned around and found a less wet trail that turned out to be beautiful. There was so much water (and even a few waterfalls) after all the rains. I loved hearing the rush of the water as we hiked and we were even rewarded by a stunning view of San Diego at the end. You gotta love Mission Trails Park. And I love it even more that it is just 15 minutes from my doorstep.

The Bet

Sammy goofed tonight. He jumped right into a parenting moment, and he didn't know it was there until it was all way too late. Let me set the table for you...

Suzy and I were wrapping up dinner (hotdog-adillas, worthy of its own blog post some day), while the boys were scouring the house for what they could have for their dessert. They each stumbled upon their respective Valentine's Day booty from class, and were debating which piece of candy to consume. Daniel wolfed his down so quickly I couldn't even tell you what it was. Sammy, on the other hand, was savoring it. He had out a little package of Starbursts and then he made his first mistake,

'This one is broken.'

'No, buddy, it's not. There are just two pieces of candy in there.'

'Nope, this is broken.'

'Really, buddy, it's not broken, there are two pieces of candy in there.'

A good parent would probably have let this drop, but when has that ever stopped me? He has been making me grumpy recently by his habit of acting like a 'know-it-all' when he doesn't know what he is talking about. So I decided this was a 'teaching' moment. By the way, Suzy was completely cringing because she knew Sammy was in for it.

'Wanna bet, Sammy?'

'Yes! It is broken.'

'Ok, here's the bet, if it is broken, you can have both candies, but if it is not broken then I get them. Sound good?'

'Yep!'

So, quickly he tears apart the package and of course it is not broken, two nice little individually wrapped pieces of candy fall out, and he is not happy. Quickly he shoves the whole mess into his lap and says,

'See, they were broken!'

'Sammy.'

I held out my hand and he sheepishly gives me one of the two Starburst.

'Sammy, the bet was I get both if it wasn't broken.'

The tears started rolling. He reluctantly handed over the second piece and sat there sobbing. Suzy was looking at me like I was the biggest jerk in the world, which I pretty much was.

After everyone had calmed down, Sammy and I talked about betting, and about being a 'know-it-all'. I don't know how much he is going to take in, but later that night when I asked him if he wanted to bet me on something else you would not believe how fast the 'no' whipped out of his mouth.

And, yes, I did let him have the candy once I felt he understood what I was saying. I couldn't have Suzy mad at me all night, could I?

Our Valentine's Day

Last night, since it was Valentine's Day, I decided to really go crazy on the romance scale. I know, I know, it's hard to believe that I could be even more romantic than I already am, but sometimes I surprise even myself. To celebrate this year... we let Daniel invite his best buddy over for a sleepover, and we had three crazy boys running around the house, staying up late, and just generally causing a ruckus. It was a blast. Suzy somehow managed to be 'running an errand' when drop off occurred, so it was just the four of us for the first hour and a half. I was chopped with light sabers, blasted by lasers, and just generally attacked for the entire 90 minutes. You can't imagine the relief I felt when Suzy finally returned.

Despite our best efforts the boys stayed up way later than normal, well, at least Sammy and the buddy did. Daniel was out. Out like a light. Snoring up a storm, his Papa would be proud. Suzy and I wrapped up the threatening at about 9 (which is pretty late for us, especially since we had church early the next morning).

At about 6:15 or so this morning the noises started, which is probably a good thing, because instead of having to get two squirmy wormys ready for church, it was three. Three, I found out this morning, is much more than two. The buddy has his own way of getting ready in the morning, and I just couldn't get him to conform to my ways. Well, we got them brushed, dressed and fed by 7:35, and off to church we went. The other fun part of the weekend was that Suzy taught in the church pre-school this morning, which meant I was on my own in the sanctuary with the squirmy wormys. I survived, with one arm tightly wrapped around Sammy to keep him in line. The buddy and Daniel were perfect in service, and we all had a good day.

The boys were pretty grumpy when the buddy left around lunch time. But that is probably a good thing, because it meant that the first sleepover was a success. I think I will be waiting for a while before the next one, though, because I am tired.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Rose are Red,

Violets are Blue,

I'll LEGO a piece of my

Heart for You!

100th Day of School

Yesterday was the 100th day of school. As a way to celebrate, Daniel's class all dressed up like they were 100 years old. Daniel didn't want to make his hair gray or paint on wrinkles (he was too embarrassed), so he looked more like a nerd or engineer than an old man. One of the kids came with the top of his head shaved to make him look like he was balding. It is amazing how a balding head can age someone. It was hilarious.

Sammy really wanted to take part in the fun too. He hobbled around with a PVC pipe as a cane and wearing my old glasses all day.

What would you look like at 100 years old?

My Economist

It is strange to me that my five year old grasps complex economic theories, while the world at large struggles mightily. Sammy is tight. Tight, tight, tight. Won't spend a dime on himself. Works hard for his money (exaggerating a bit here), but is unwilling to spend it, unless he REALLY needs to. The exception to that is if he chooses to spend it on others. If he sees someone in need he is overly generous. If he wants to give someone a present, the tightly clenched fist opens wide. I don't know where he gets these theories, but they have been true for him as long as he understood the concept of money.

Don't be wasteful, save if you can, buy only what you need, unless a friend needs something, then do what you can to help them. If only we all were so wise.

Portraits

I worked in Daniel's classroom today. It was a busy, but productive day. I love to bring my camera with me so I can take photos of the kids. I love taking photos of kids. They love being in front of the camera. And they are so photogenic. But I really love catching them in those unposed moments. When their true personality emerges.
I also took portrait shots of each kid in class for our Gala art project. Next week I will be working with them on painting the background.

I snapped a picture of Daniel's 'Shades of Me' art project too. Looks just like him don't you think?

Soon to be Kindergartner

Dan and I attended a Kindergarten Parent Preview at school this evening. And the soon to be Kindergartner is Sammy. "How can that be?" you ask. I have no answer for you. Somehow 5 years has slipped by and now my youngest, my baby, will be off to elementary school this fall. How exciting for him. I hope he loves it as much as his brother did. For me, I am in for another adjustment. Right now I get an ache in my throat thinking about Sammy being in school every day. But I felt the same way when Daniel went to Kindergarten and everything turned out great. But I still had Sammy at home with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now it will be just me, myself and I. Hey, that actually doesn't sound so bad. Yes, I think I will adjust just fine.

Making Them Laugh

I can remember so distinctly when Daniel was a small little baby, making him laugh. He would be lying on his changing pad and I would tickle him and he would laugh and laugh and laugh. His face would just light up and he would look so happy. The joy he would show through those laughs would be a nice balance to the hardships and difficulties that are inherent to having a small baby.

Today I still love to make the boys laugh. I know just what to do to make them giggle uncontrollably. For Daniel, it is still a good tickle, he just can't help it. Sammy, on the other hand, is susceptible to many different forms of laugh attacks. While he is ticklish, I oftentimes consider that too easy. I like to go for the challenges. Tonight we were battling (laser blasters, and yes, I was the bad guy), and I was looking for a laugh, so I went for the always difficult, 'across the room' laugh. As Sammy was running away from my ferocious onslaught of laser destruction,

'Sammy! I got you in the bum!'

Laugh, laugh, laugh. And I loved it.

Mama, I see a ...

Attending a downtown church has many benefits. We worship with a group of people from all over San Diego County, from all walks of life. The opportunities to serve are limited only by our capacity for service.

That being said, there are drawbacks. This morning, as we were driving away from church the following statement was made by our youngest child,

'Mama, I see a pimp!'

The following thought went through his father's mind,

'Yes, I bet you did.'

I leave it all to you to figure out what he really did see. Any guesses? My first hint, it wasn't a pimp.

Warhol Style

I will be spending the next few weeks working on a Warhol inspired art project for the boy's annual school auction. I am pretty excited about this project. The kids will be painting the background and then a photocopied photo on a transparency will go on top. We will see how it goes. Art projects with Kindergartners and 1st graders are always a bit tricky. I want it to look nice, but I also want them to have a part in the process. It is a hard balance to find. We'll see what my little artists can create.

Lost Lost Tooth

Daniel lost another tooth. He lost it (as in it fell out), but he also lost it (as in he doesn't know where it is). This morning I heard frantic knocking on the boy's room door. When I went to see what was going on their room was a mess. Pillows, blankets and stuffed animals were strewn all over. Daniel proceeded to tell me that he had lost his tooth last night while sleeping and couldn't find it anywhere. We did a pretty good search of the premises, but no tooth. Maybe he swallowed it? In that case it will stay lost.

Daniel wrote a letter to the toothfairy and hopefully she'll understand. Four down...

Colors of Sammy

I spent all day Wednesday working in Daniel's classroom. One of the projects I was working on was mounting and making a display board of a class art project. The art project was so cool and creative and wonderful, that I just had to try it myself. So yesterday Sammy and I made our own 'Colors of Me' pictures. Here is Sammy's. I just love how it came out. And I love his big chunky preschool handwriting. Love this art project!

Over Extended

Shhh, please don't tell, but I ditched a cub scout meeting tonight. It was the parent meeting, and I am sure you can understand why I didn't want to go, the last time I went to one of these this was the result.

Between cub scouts, school board, pto, bible study and session meetings, way too many nights for Suzy or I are spent away from the house. Is it any wonder why we are resisting the urge to add organized sports? Just the thought of another activity makes me quake a bit.

Today was the science fair at the boys' school. While they are still too young to do projects themselves, for the past four years I have volunteered as a judge. Suzy asks each year if it 'was fun', and each year I have a hard time saying yes. It is something that I enjoy doing, because I like the interaction with the kids, but it isn't really 'fun'. Really, I think it is hard work. You have to balance all of these factors and come up with some judgment on their efforts. It makes me appreciate all the more what teachers go through. Having to do that on a daily basis would drive me batty. Well, more batty.

Anyone know what meeting I have to ditch tomorrow?

There are only two shows the boys watch on t.v. (not counting watching Myth Busters and Dirty Jobs with Dan). Clone Wars and Scooby Doo. They love Scooby Doo. They have for a while now. I did too as a kid and even as an adult they are pretty funny. I like to watch the boys as they watch a Scooby Doo episode because they think parts are just hilarious and laugh and laugh. And they watch the same episode over and over and over again and yet laugh just as hard the 20th time as the 1st. They are silly boys. Scooby Dooby Doo!

Ask and it will be answered...

Do you ever ask your kids a question and as soon as it leaves your lips you regret having spoken? That happens to me quite often. In fact that happened to me tonight.

The boys and I were snuggled up in my bed reading an exciting mystery (The Kidnapped King) and I came across a word I thought the boys didn't know. Being the good mother I am, I asked the boys if they knew what the word meant. I knew mistake as soon as I asked because the word was 'tutor'.

Asking two smallish rascally boys what they think the definition of 'tutor' is is just asking for trouble. Daniel was the first to answer, "Is it someone who toots for you!" And then they both broke down laughing (and I admit even I giggled a little bit). From then on every time I read 'tutor' (and it was mentioned quite often) the boys started a giggle fest.

Boys sure are a different bred. And I sure do love them.

I was out in my garden the other day (I have been neglecting my little plot lately) and discovered this going on...


It took these photos in my backyard last week. That would be the last week of JANUARY. Isn't that the middle of winter? And I've got buds and flowers and fruit still? The poor plants are so confused with all this beautiful weather we're having. Me? I'm loving it.

A Month of Blogging

"Bad habits are easy to make, but extremely hard to end. Good habits, on the other hand, tend to take more time to make. Luckily, scientists agree that the average person needs at least 3 weeks to form a good habit." (WikiHow on 'How to Form a Good Habit)

At the start of the year I decided to challenge myself to post a blog every day for a month as a way to make writing more of a habit. There is so much that happens each and every day with our family of four and I want to get it all down, so I won't forget it all. So I can reading these postings years down the road and remember the funny moments, struggles, random thoughts and our everyday life.

Well, it is the first day of February (where did January go?) and I was excited to see that we had a post for each day of the month of January. Over 4 weeks of daily blogging. Does that mean it is now a habit? I guess I'll just have to wait and see.