All about me

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I had a nice visit with the allergist today.  Bright and early.  Well, not bright because thanks to day light savings time and winter, it’s damn dark these days!  And rainy. Anyway, where was I?  Right, at the allergist.  Getting poked and prodded.

They tested me for 38 different things and I only got two reactions!  Cats and dust.  Exactly what I was expecting.  Seems I’ve outgrown the tree allergy though, which is good.  She said both are very common and the size of my reactions means it’s highly unlikely that allergies are the cause of my breathing issues.  (Holy moly, I was just looking for a post about my last surgery and came across this one about allergy testing two years ago. I’d completely forgotten about it!  I guess I wasn’t allergic to trees two years ago either. Totally forgot! Also, glad they did it on my arms this time!)

Yesterday I went back to visit the ENT surgeon who did my throat surgery two years ago. He did the same yucky scope again and said that there is definitely blockage.  Again!  In fact, he showed me the hole at the top of my trachea and said it should actually be 3-4 times larger than it is!  I said, “would that explain..” and he said, “Yes! The wheezing and the breathing and everything.”  The real question though is “why?”  Why does this keep happening?  After further discussion, the going theory is acid reflux.  I did a little research and it all does fit together.  So the next step is to make a plan for reflux meds and schedule surgery — again.

Halloween – party edition

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Many weeks ago Eve asked if we could have a Halloween party. After glossing over Halloween altogether last year (a fact she likes to remind me of ), I thought a Halloween party sounded like a great idea. Of course, I didn’t think to look at the calendar when I agreed to this crazy idea! Turns out it’s book fair week, parent conference week, Halloween and a Halloween party, “that time of the month” (TMI, sorry), AND I had to stop taking all allergy medications so I can go next week for testing. Whee! It’s a little crazy around these parts, but we’re having fun!

We had a great Halloween party tonight. Both kids dressed up and we had seven friends over, plus a few parents. I ordered pizza and helped Lex finish his costume between book fair sales this afternoon. We got home in time to move piles of stuff from the living room to the tucked away office and throw a table cloth on the table. Alan got home with pizza just as company was arriving.

Rita Skeeter, Luna Lovegood, a fairy witch, and an inch worm (not in costume), cracking open some butterbeer.

Eve reigns supreme!

Our first trick-or-treater was a little kid from down the street. All the big kids in my house rushed to open the door and hand out candy. :)

Our local OR nurse brought a brain for dinner. Yummy! Brain surgery is her specialty.

There are nine of them there. One is hiding in the back.

I forgot to get a picture of my two alone. I didn’t even get a good picture of either of their costumes.  Eve was Luna Lovegood, from Harry Potter, and Lex was a Minecraft phantom.  He put a lot of work into it, including light up eyes on the head.  It was cool!

Lex’s costume plan

This.

Back at home the candy trading floor opened for business!

We had a lot of candy!

We were home from trick-or-treating around 7:30 and everyone left before 8:30.  Now we are all exhausted!  We had a momentary scare when we couldn’t find the cat anywhere, but she eventually turned up hidden in a pile of Eve’s stuffies.  Jasmine is the best hider ever!

Off to bed now.  Tomorrow is another early morning and late evening for book fair!

 

What’s that sound?

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While laying in bed with Eve tonight I heard an odd sound. “What’s that sound?” I asked. “Bananagrams!” she replied. I laughed. She said, “Don’t judge! Sometimes I like to play Bananagrams with my stuffies.” I laughed harder. A bit later I heard another odd sound. “What’s that sound?” I asked. “Chickens!” she said. Chickens?! I laughed, then laughed even harder when I realized it was chickens! Minecraft chickens, coming from the family room where Alan was playing Minecraft. It’s good to end the evening on a laugh. 😂

TGIF

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Happy Friday! It’s been a busy week, with a busier one coming up!

This has been about 110% of my focus lately:

I had a teacher preview event this afternoon with goodies, a raffle, and a chance for teachers to shop and add items to their wish list. It was a hit! I had about twice the number of teachers come this year over last year and many more decided to use the wish list. I’m happy about that. :)

We got home, crashed in front of the TV for awhile (I may have had a small nap), and we’ve been doing about nothing for the rest of the evening. We have a winter weather advisory for the weekend, with wet, heavy snow predicted. Good thing we don’t have plans this weekend!! :)

I thought I had more things to say, but my mind is suddenly blank. I guess it’s time for bed! :)

The little things

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When I look at my children, especially around the holidays, I feel like their childhood is going by way too fast!  There are wonderful parts to their growing up, but it leaves me in a weird, somewhat lost position.  I try to notice the little things and appreciate the way they are growing into kind, capable human beings.

  • Lex took care of a bug all on his own the other day.  It was a little winged thing.  Eve shrieked (she’s dramatic), but Lex grabbed a tissue.  When he saw it, he decided to take it outside instead of squishing it.  He got a cup and a stiff paper and took care of the bug.  It took him two tries, but he didn’t stop, didn’t ask for help, and didn’t even think twice about doing the job.
  • Eve went to her first school dance.  I think she was a little nervous, but she wouldn’t admit it.  It was a Halloween dance and costumes got you a discount at the door, so she put her on her Luna Lovegood outfit.  We picked up a few of her friends along the way and they all had a great time.
  • Picking up her friends last night was the first time I’ve had passengers in the back seat of my car in a long time!  It surprised me to think about.  The kids can now stay home alone, so I rarely have both of them with me at the same time.  Usually I’m alone in the car or I have one kid with me in the front seat and the other kid home.  When we go out as a family we always take Alan’s car.  I’ve gone from giant carseats to a largely unused back seat. Weird.
  • Lex’s voice has dropped and Eve had acne and a developing body.
  • Eve is planning a Halloween party on her own (with my $$, of course) and carved a Jack-O-Lantern today, all on her own.
  • They are both basically the same height as me.  The other day Alan was convinced that Lex was taller than me and wanted us to stand back-to-back.  Lex took some convincing.  I don’t think he wants to be taller, or to acknowledge it anyway.  When I talk to them I’m looking straight ahead, and when they hug me we do the “dance” of arms, who goes over, who goes under.

The list goes on.  What happened to these adorable little things?

We used to take walks together, splash in puddles, do craft projects, go everywhere together, read stories, snuggle, make presents for teachers and cookies for classmates, and smile for photos.  We were like the three amigos.  Now it’s like four adults living in one house together.  Not exactly, of course, because they ARE still kids, but they are so independent and self-sufficient and into their own activities.  Eve will spend hours up in her room, sewing or crafting.  Lex will spend hours on Minecraft, then want to talk about it when he turns the computer off. He’s rocking his drums these days.  I can’t wait to see him perform with the jazz band.  She likes to draw and bake. She’s got the holiday enthusiasm that I so adore, but always wants to do things on her own schedule.  She decorated for Halloween this year, all on her own, at 5am on a Saturday morning!

I think the point of this post is that I have amazing children who are all too quickly outgrowing their childhood.  I feel more like an observer and less like one of the team these days.  I guess I need to get my own hobbies now. :/

Or maybe I’ll just lose myself in the blog for awhile, and drag you along too. :)

 
July, 2009

Baby faces.

CHaD Hike

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Rosy and I did the CHaD hike today with the kids.  Alan ran the 5K.  It was a beautiful day for it!  The weather is perfect, not too hot and not too cold.  The hike is a whole new route this year that took us over hills and along rivers.  It was beautiful.  Best of all, the kids were willing participants the whole way!  Yay!

One year!

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Hard to believe, but it’s been one whole year since we bought our house!  Yay!  We celebrated by having a dinner party with our neighbors.  It was fun to get to know them a little better.  I still love our house and every day I’m thankful for this amazing place.  Here’s to many, many more years in this great house!

The weather all day was really weird, but at one point we got a big sun shower that make a triple rainbow!

Pictures never do rainbows justice. The bottom rainbow was a double, then there was another on top. All arching beautifully over the dumpster!

Mystery Skype

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I’m super proud of the Mystery Skype I arranged with my 5th graders.  We Skyped with a 6th grade class in MA, and both classes had to ask yes/no questions to figure out where the other class was located.  It was so fun.  The kids enjoyed it and the classroom teachers both thought it was a great activity and are interested in doing it again.  Yay!

If you’d like to know more, I posted about it on my library blog.

Local tourists

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Our buddy Mark came to visit this weekend, so we took him and his daughter around to the touristy spots, like Quechee Gorge, the newly renovated town hall, and the Center for Cartoon Studies.  You know, the usual places.  :)

I realized I haven’t been to the gorge in several years!  I don’t think anyway.  Maybe I have and just forgot.  Lex reminded me that he went with school last year and it was just as boring then as it was now.  Ahh, fond memories.  Reminds me of how thrilled I was all the times my mom dragged me and my siblings down there and back.  :)

We had a nice visit.  Little V said she DEFINITELY wants to come back again!

Hogwarts Homecoming

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To the person who clipped the ad for Hogwarts Homecoming and gave it to Eve at school… thank you.  I’ll confess, however, that “thank you” wasn’t my first thought when she brought it home, beaming from ear to ear about the event and the fact that someone had thought of her and clipped the ad and mysteriously given it to her.  I had also seen the ad in the paper and NOT mentioned it to her.  Intentionally.   It sounded like a lame “church basement” sort of event.  No offense to church basement events, but I didn’t think it would entertain my child for long enough to be worth the drive.

Boy was I wrong!  The event took place across the whole village green, including multiple buildings.  They had a chance to meet the snakes of Hogwarts, learn about owls, get a wand, make potions, visit Honeydukes, do a scavenger hunt, and more.  I was amazed at how many grownups were there!  Everyone was encouraged to wear costumes, and the volunteers looked great!  I was impressed by the amount of thought was put in to the event and the attention to detail.  It was a lot of fun!  Eve and I were exhausted by the end!

Here are a few pictures.  I put lots more in a Google album: Hogwarts Homecoming

No vacancy.

Every building on the green had a copy of the Daily Prophet on the front step.

At Olivander’s, getting a wand.

Honeydukes! Yummy treats.

Divination with Professor Trelawney.

Honeydukes (again) for butterbeer. They were the first time we went through. Can you tell she’s wearing down? Can you read the posters on the back wall?

They even put thought into the decorations in the bathroom!

We passed Farm-Way on the way home!  I’ve always seen the ads and heard the rave reviews, so we decided to stop and check it out.  It’s a big store that has lots of stuff.  Including chairs for sitting in.  We were tired.

We tried out lots of chairs at Farm-Way!

Eve dozed the whole way home!

What an unexpectedly fun day!  So thank you, again, to the mysterious stranger who cut out that ad and gave it to Eve.  I take back all the negative thoughts I had about you initially. :)  We plan to go back again next year, with friends!