Friday, November 30, 2007

Big Daddy - not so big anymore!

Big Daddy, that's what the kids and I call Matt. He's lost {drumroll please} 41lbs since September. I couldn't be prouder of him! Last night I hear Zack say to Matt, "Daddy, your big belly isn't big anymore". We all know that he's lost weight, but when a six year old notices, you know you're getting somewhere!

Congratulations honey! I'm insanely proud of you! Keep up the fantastic work.

Oh and the downside to having observant children is when they point out that your belly IS big - such as Skyler did to me last week, thanks sweety! Off to do some crunches...

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Cough cough cough

Skyler is sick again. She's had a little cough for a few weeks now. The doc said it was just an asthma flare up and we've been watching it. Tuesday night she COUGHED ALL NIGHT LONG. Matt and I got only a couple of hours of sleep. I got up with her at about midnight and had her take her inhaler and some delsym and put her in my bed. Matt came to bed (after falling asleep on the couch) at about 4:00 and it truly must say something about how tired I was or how being a Mommy has beaten me down because I didn't even freak when I woke up and realized the entire back of my t-shirt and my underwear were completely soaked. Skyler had coughed so hard she had peed my bed. I have no idea if she was so close to me she peed on me, or if she peed and I happily slept in the warmth of it, but I was soaked, she was soaked, the bed was soaked. We figured that all out and tried for another couple of hours of sleep while listening to the lullaby of Skyler coughing us to sleep. When the alarm went off at 5:45 I thought - "there is just no freakin way" - she and I stayed home. OF COURSE, she was fine all day, some coughing but not too much. Come 7:30 last night it began again. WHY do kids only get sick symptoms at night? We've been through this enough times, and I have enough medications in my "Mommy of an asthmatic" arsenal that I can fight this without another doc appointment, but man does it suck. My lungs ache for her. I see a lot of quiet snuggling watching movies in our bed in our future!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The Magic of the Christmas Tree...

Yesterday afternoon I picked the kids up from school and they immediately grabbed a snack and headed for the living room. They picked out a game and asked if we could sit on the floor and play. We played games under the Christmas Tree until dinner. They were kind and courteous to each other. No one cried, no one complained if they didn't win. It was a Mother's version of the Twilight Zone. I LOVE this time of year!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Deck the halls....

I was determined to get the tree up this weekend. It was a hefty task as there is more furniture in the living room than there was last year. I decided that I would have to block the back door for a month. The first step was to clean up the toys. This is always a giant PIA. The good part is that I end up with several piles of junk the kids have accumulated that I can throw away. PLUS - they are always more likely to play with their toys if I've organized them.

Matt offered to go up in the attic on Friday/Saturday and get down the Christmas buckets. I was shocked, it took no begging/bitching on my part. Last year Matt organized the attic and was all prepared for this to be much easier than usual. Skyler was SO eager to help Daddy go up in HER attic (it's above her bedroom). She climbed right up the ladder and Matt grabbed both her hands and she disappeared. She was the big helper/flashlight holder, you would have thought she was a job foreman. Matt had a good time laughing with her.

I always love opening up the buckets of Christmas ornaments and decorations. It's like taking your memories out of storage. Each item is a little treasure. Last year was the first year that the kids really made ornaments and decorations in school. This year they had so much fun pulling them out and remembering making them. I have no idea if the memories were imaginary or not but they enjoyed it.

Don't tell any of my New England relatives but {whispering} we got a fake tree last year, a really nice one. AND it was a bargain, because I'm a bargain shopper. Matt thought I was absolutely nuts when I brought it home, but it was SO easy to put away last year, and click click click, fluff fluff fluff, and our tree was up this year. Granted we didn't do the tree dance that Matt grew up with, but really there's no reason why we couldn't. Maybe I'll make him do it next year.

Anyway here it is:



Pre-ornaments:


A work in progress:


Ooooh Sparkley


That's as far as I've gotten. No lights outside, no garland, I'm working on the mantel. The tree is always first! I hope you enjoy decorating your tree this year!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving Day - Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, we had a wonderful day yesterday. My cousin Jackie put on a wonderful dinner. Everything was cooked perfectly and everyone really enjoyed dinner. There were 8 kids and 7 adults. The kids actually behaved for dinner (minus eating their peas) and then we scooted them back outside. We ate SO much food. The women cooked and laid out the table, the men cleaned the whole kitchen!!! That might have been the best part of the day. Then we sat and ate many many desserts and drank wine and coffee. Then Jackie's entire neighborhood went outside. All the kids organized a game of wiffle ball. We brought out a big table and each household brought all their desserts out to the street. We pulled chairs out to the curbs and cheered on the game. It was so much fun. Thankfully it was a warm and beautiful day. Once it got dark people started heading indoors, probably to start making turkey sandwiches. The kids finally wandered in around 7:00pm moaning that they were starving. We dragged all the tupperware back out and made sandwiches and snacks for everyone. They started dropping off one by one. The littlest, Madison (who reminds me of Cindy Lou Who,) passed out in Jackie's arms first. We didn't head home until almost 10:00pm. You just never know how a Holiday is going to go, but this was certainly one of the best! Thanks Jackie & Patrick for having us over!


ps - Matt wanted me to make sure to mention that he made a double-play in wiffle ball, apparently that's a great thing. I'd tell you more, but I have no idea what any of that means.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving Day - Part I

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family! We had a wonderful dinner at my cousin's house with my cousin, her family, and my aunt & uncle. It was such a fantastic day - I'll post pictures later when I upload. I just wanted to take time to tell everyone how thankful we are to have each of you in our lives. We really have the very best friends and are fortunate to have a wonderful and supportive family.

We hope you all enjoyed your holiday!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Old people and airports - kid conversations...

At the breakfast table:

Skyler: You can't kick old people or they will die.
Daddy: You shouldn't kick anyone.
Skyler: Yeah but OLD people will DIE if you kick them.
Zack: Not old people in China! Old people in China are strong.
Daddy: How do you know about old people in China? We don't know any old people in China.
Zack: In the Karate movie, the old guy is strong and beats up the bad guys [Karate Kid anyone?]
Matt: Oh yes, Mr. Miagi was very strong, but he was from Japan.
Skyler: Daddy, remember when I was a baby and we went to China?
Matt: No Skyler, we've never been to China. But Daddy went to Japan before you were born.
Zack: In your submarine?
Matt: Yes.
Skyler: Yeah, but I didn't know you then.

~~~~~~~~
We're in the car going to the airport to pick up my Mother. I'm on the phone with Amy (I didn't follow this conversation until Matt & Sky started yelling to each other), Zack is playing his DS in the back-back, Skyler is in the middle talking Matt's ear off.

Skyler: Where are we?
Daddy: Virginia Beach
Skyler: Is the airport in Virginia Beach?
Daddy: No.
Skyler: It's not even in VIRGINIA?
Daddy: Yes it is, it's about half an hour away.
Skyler: Do you wish the airport was really close so we could walk to get Grammy?
Daddy: Well, then it would be really loud if the airplanes were always flying over our heads. You'd have walk around with your fingers in your ears all the time.
{silence}
Daddy: Skyler?
Skyler: WHAT?
Daddy: I said it would be really...
Skyler: WHAT? I can't hear you, I have my fingers in my ears!

~~~~~~
Little Zacky update: He had a MUCH better day at school today. He's even talking quite a bit which leads me to the realization that his voice has changed. :-( {sniffle} I'm going to miss that raspy Zacky voice. The doc said that it could change a few times over the next two weeks as the swelling increases and then decreases. He's a little squeeky right now, almost like a toy that hasn't been used in awhile. His voice has always been so distinctive. I'm going to miss it.

This is the stuff that makes my heart beat...

Zack's class made a book about Thanksgiving today.

Front cover:



The best part?

That's a picture of me reading to Zack.

Do you ever have one of those days where you think "hey, maybe I AM doing something right!"?

Monday, November 19, 2007

Back at School...

After having been out for a week of school, Zack's first day back was a bit strenuous. For starters, he was nervous last night so he couldn't sleep. It was after 11:00 the last time I remember telling him to get back in bed. I finally turned my light off and pretended to be asleep so he could crawl in my bed and let himself fall asleep. He has some stealth, he crept in, sat lightly on the bed, eased himself under the covers. I fear he'll be an expert at sneaking in past curfew. He was up by 4:30 complaining that his ears hurt which the doc warned us about (did I mention that? I can't rememeber). He took his medication and was up again when I got up at 6:00.

Matt says he went off to school okay but at 10:45 I got a call from the school nurse telling me that he was in pain, no fever, and could I bring his medication to school. I did that. I just got another call at 2:30 telling me he was resting in the nurses office through P.E. I explained to his teacher and the nurse that if I brought him home today, he'd want to come home again tomorrow. He's been really great all week. I think he's tired and needs to ease back into class work. They agreed to keep him quiet and take it easy. His doctor really urged not stopping normal activity for more than a week. I have that giant pile of Mommy Guilt riding on my back, but, he's there until I can get there at 4:15. Poor Baby! He's going to bed at 6:00 ;-)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Pierogi Day Virginia Style

For as far back as I can remember and much further than that, there has been Pierogi Day in our family (Mom's side is Polish). It's usually the weekend before Christmas. All of the women in our family get together to make pierogi to be eaten on Christmas Eve. It's a lot of work so this only happens once per year. Everyone brings an ingredient, my mother makes the dough.

Since moving away from home seven years ago, I haven't attended many pierogi days. It wouldn't matter much anyway, I'm not much help. They've dubbed me "The Pierogi Princess", which basically means I sit around and munch on goodies and do my nails while they work and make fun of me! :-)

Since my mother was coming to visit for Zack's surgery and Matt and our friends Mike & Amy love pierogi, we got her to agree to help us make some. She had to bring the cheese with her as Farmer's Cheese seems to be impossible to find around here.

In true Mom style, she had all the prep work done long before we got home from work. The dough was made, the filling cooked. All we needed to do was roll, stuff, boil, cook, and eat YUM! Mom was the super star, but we did pretty well. Skyler LOVED helping. I think from now on I'll ship her up to Grammy's the week before Christmas so she can further enjoy this tradition - goodness knows she's not going to get much exposure from me!







Matt walked in JUST in time to grab a plate of deliciously cooked pierogi. He's got great timing!


edited to explain: A pierogi is a Polish dumpling. You can make them with just about anything in them, but our family has always made them exactly the same and only once per year. The filling is mashed potatos, farmer's cheese, and onions.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Tonsils look like meatballs... or so I'm told.

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile, Monday Zack had his tonsils & adenoids removed. He was SUCH a trooper! I was a nervous wreck. Matt couldn't understand it, but there's something about your child being unconscious that makes a mother's heart skip a few beats.

We had to be at the Children's hospital at 7:30. Zack didn't seem nervous for the most part. He just didn't know what each step was going to unfold so he was cautious.


We signed in in the day surgery office and were careful to obey the NO FOOD signs posted everywhere. One Dad showed up with his thermos of coffee and was asked to leave and find a place for his cup. They meant business. If the kids can't eat or drink, neither can you! I love it. The first order of business was having the nurse check Zack in and take his vitals. Every time she asked him to do something, he glanced at me like "is this going to hurt?", even if it was just getting his weight. They assigned him some cute jammies and we met with nurses and the anesthesiologist.

He was a little nervous at this point because we were talking a little bit over his head, his eyes were wide as he glanced back and forth between us. We had a great chat with a nurse from Massachusetts - we compared notes and teased her about her accent.
Back out to the waiting room, I found the key to making any six year old boy calm. The adolescent waiting room was empty and had a video game console. Zack and Matt played Mario Golf for about 45 minutes while we waited for Zack's surgeon to come get us.
Right at 9:30, the scheduled surgery time, Zack's surgery nurse, the nurse anesthetist, and his surgeon came in to get us. They had him give us a kiss and a hug, took him by the hand, and walked off down the hall. Zebra got to go too. This is a bad pic, but there they are at the end, walking towards the surgery suite.

Matt and I were sent to the waiting room with the rest of the nervous parents, well I was nervous, Matt was cool and calm! Mikey stopped by and hung out with us while we tried to play rummy with 51 cards.
Within an hour, our favorite surgeon ever (did I tell you he took the quarter out of Skyler's throat two years ago?) came out and updated us. Zack's tonsils and adenoids were definitely enlarged. He also told us that they look like meatballs, who knew? About 10 minutes later, one of the sweet little volunteers came to get us. Zack was in recovery, awake. He looked PISSED. He obviously didn't have much to say, and was sort of out of it, but he looked angry. Matt and I kept looking at each other and making the "uh oh" face. I think it was just the only face he could make.
Our little trooper, did so well, so quickly, that they moved him right over to the second phase of recovery. I slowly spooned in a grape slushy and we watched The Incredibles. We had to stay for at least two hours.

Zack didn't talk at all, but didn't seem too miserable. He really didn't like getting his IV out, but that was the worst of it. At the two hour mark, we got him dressed, got a popsicle for the road, and had him wheeled out to the car.

He was perky, but fell asleep right before we got home. Dude slept for a couple of hours and then was ready for movies and ice cream. In two days we've gone through two half gallons of ice cream and we're working on a third. He says it hurts but basically refuses to take his pain medication. He's not talking, but can. He does a lot of clapping and pointing at the freezer - MORE ICE CREAM PLEASE!
I'm so proud of Zack and happy to get rid of those super large tonsils!

edit: a little tonsil/adenoidectomy lesson (I went searching for pics)

Adenoids and tonsils are the same tissue. Another name for adenoids is: pharyngeal tonsils. The "tonsils" that most people refer to at the back of the throat are the palatine tonsils. SO - if one type is enlarged, odds are the other is as well.








Okay, back to your regularly scheduled blog...

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

What happens to your body when you die?

We have some pretty cool dinner time conversations in our house. Earlier this week we got on the subject of death. Skyler is greatly concerned that she'll miss her stuffed animals when she dies so we talk about this often. The conversation this evening turned to "what happens to your body when you die?". So I proceed to explain burying and cremation. They got the idea of burying as they had seen cemetaries before and seen a little bit on tv. Cremation was new.

Me: Sometimes people choose to be cremated when they die.
Zack: What's that?
Me: Well after you die, your body is burned and turned to ashes.
Zack: Does it hurt?
Me: Nope, you can't feel anything after you die.
Zack: What's ashes?
Me: Well, you know the grey flakey stuff you get when you burn a fire? That's ashes. And then some people have their ashes sprinkled somewhere that's important to them. Like maybe the ocean, or a forest, or ...
Zack: Or maybe Laser Quest?
Me: Yes I suppose if Laser Quest is important to you you could have your ashes sprinkled there.
Zack: Cool.

End of conversation. SO - if something were ever to happen to one of us, you may be attending a ceremony at the local Laser Quest if Zack has anything to say about it. A nice ceremony followed by a rousing game of laser tag!
If you hear a rumor about some fussy mom who actually put make-up on her four year old for her preschool pictures - don't be too mean, that was me.Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

You see, Skyler should live in a bubble. At the very least she needs one of those bubble helmets that astronauts wear. You all remember that she has had stitches on her forehead TWICE? She's four years old remember? Remember? Yesterday I get a phone call from the director of her preschool saying that another child had thrown a baby doll at Skyler and she has a good size scratch on her face. Oh really? Why am I not surprised? When I get there to pick her up there is a big sign in the front saying that school pictures are the next morning. GREAT! The scratch is about the size of a thumbnail and is under her left eye. She looks like she got in a fight. So, what's a mother to do? I put a little make-up on it. If I let her get every school picture done without any enhancements, it would be a slide show of injuries from year to year. That just isn't what I want to remember.

SO - when you get the forwarded email telling the shocks and horrors of Preschool Moms, don't bother snope-ing it. They're true!


She's got her own sense of style doesn't she?

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Dreaming...

I wish I could say I was dreaming of sugar plums but no, my dreams are filled with doctors visits and the trials and tribulations of getting prescriptions filled. We've had a hell of a month with sick kids. It's going past a month now as it all started on Columbus Day weekend. We're finally getting Zack better and he's scheduled for his tonsillectomy on Monday, and now Skyler has started coughing and coughing and coughing. Thankfully she isn't running a fever, but she coughed throughout the night. She was crying in her sleep so I put her in bed with me where she proceeded to moan, toss and turn, kick me, cry for me, push me away, and COUGH all without really being awake. Is it any wonder that last night I dreamed of doctors appointments that I was late for and for some reason a crazy experience at the pharmacist that kept me from getting the right prescription for hours and hours? Even my sleep is exhausting. Thank goodness MY Mommy is coming this weekend. I think I need someone to hold ME. Mom - how did you ever get through my childhood as sick as I was? Ambien take me away...

Monday, November 05, 2007

Soccer Moms, The Tooth Fairy, and parent teacher conferences...

Another soccer season is over, save the obligatory party at Chuck E. Cheese, my least favorite place on earth. The kids had a ton of fun and learned SO much. I can't get over the difference in their games in one year. Most of the team also participated in a six week clinic with the technical director of the league and learned even more there. As funny as it is, I'm thrilled to be a soccer mom!



Zack lost his top front tooth on Saturday. He was in agony. That thing was hanging in his mouth, he could twist it all the way around. He wouldn't let us touch it but he was in tears. He got so upset that he fell asleep snuggling with me in the afternoon. I just had to help him out a little. Once he was sawing logs with his mouth hanging open, I gave his tooth a little push and it popped right out, I didn't even have to tug. He didn't feel a thing, I had to wake him up. He was SO happy and now has a gaping hole in the front of his face. The Tooth Fairy left him a shark's tooth and a golden dollar.

Today was my our first parent teacher conference for First Grade. Zack is right on target and doing great. He hates to write, but loves to read and do math. His writing is okay, but could be a lot neater. I'll take the blame for that one, I had a lot of trouble in school with writing. His teacher isn't even concerned with him getting behind by missing next week. She's sure he'll catch right up!

That's Monday's latest and greatest!

Friday, November 02, 2007

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone got to have fun and lots of yummy candy!

Skyler had her Fall Festival at school on Tuesday. Daddy was in charge that morning so this is what she wore...


That's her Tinkerbell nightgown with wings, footless tights, socks, and dress shoes. There was also a green sweater with a zebra on it. She's channeling her Polish ancestors.

Wednesday was Halloween. We had plans to trick-or-treat at our friends' house. Skyler almost didn't get to go. Her teacher informed us that she had the worst day of behaviour, EVER, in the history of her 2 1/2 years at this school. Lovely.

Zack dressed up as a ninja. He was lucky that his costume was sort of like wearing pajamas. He was super comfy all night. Skyler decided against the Tinkerbell get up as it was sort of grungy from a day of play and settled on a pumpkin ballerina costume.

As usual, Zack wanted nothing to do with pictures next to his sister.


What's a pumpkin ballerina costume without green eye shadow and glitter?


I had to get creative to keep her warm, here's another version of her costume.

It was a delightfully quiet evening. We took the kids on a big loop of the neighborhood and headed back to sit in the driveway with a nice fire going. We forgot the marshmallows but had fun anyway. The kids got a couple pieces of candy then Matt and I got to pilfer from their buckets after they went to bed. I got all the KitKats and he got all the Twix's. MMMMMMM good!
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