A sweet young 1st grade girl was told that girls aren't allowed to like Star Wars by the boys at her school.
That is so wrong on so many levels. All four of my children love Star Wars. We are a proud Star Wars family... my two young boys would NEVER think to tell a girl that Star Wars is only for boys. They love it too much to not include everyone.
So to show our support for Katie all four kids wore Star Wars shirts to school today.
Only a week until... only 5 more days... only 4 more days... only two more days until...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1
This is going to be hard. I don't know if Child #3 is ready to see Deathly Hallows. Each of the movies has gotten darker and darker themed as they go, very much like the books. I'm not sure if he's ready to watch it. He is only six. Admittedly he is a strong six who isn't easily frightened or scared. Especially by movies. He is known to tell me "its not real, its just a movie". While I love that about him I also don't want to push it. But he wants to see it soooooo bad. He is sooo excited about it. More that Child #1 and Child #2 combined... and Child #2 wants to see Voldermort (his favorite) really bad.
Maybe I'll take Child #1, who isn't frightened by movies... she LOVED the orcs (eeew they are ucky!!) in Lord of the Rings and the "boneheads" (skeletons) in Pirates of the Caribbean when she was three, to see it first and I'll be able to decide if Child #2 and Child #3 would be able to handle it in the movie theatre or if we should wait until it is released on DVD. Easier to cover eyes when you know whats about to happen ahead of time.
Its been about a week since Child #3's birthday and he is already 60% completed on Lego Harry Potter. Yeah he's a junkie... and he's quick to pick up stuff. Seriously he's SIX!!
Think we might need to monitor how much time he gets to play... he'll have it completed in no time. LOL!
Monday, October 4, 2010
They moved C out of the PICU today. He's now up in regular room. They have removed almost all of the tubes & such... he still has the one in his head (because of the TBI and that a piece of his skull is currently "elsewhere") & his IV but everything else is out. WOOHOO!!
Friday night Child#1 when up to the PICU with Hubby. She sat and talked with him. He was happy to see her (and recognized her). I picked up a new book at Half Price Books for them to read together "_The Graveyard Book_" by Neil Gaiman. They both enjoyed it, he wanted her to come back and read some more.
Yesterday he was able to go outside with a walker for a little while. He was in total heaven. He hates being so cooped up inside and was feeling depressed about having to be stuck up in his PICU room and a bed. So having a little fresh air was really good for him.
Anyways, its AMAZING that 11 days after his accident he is already out of the PICU. They were saying at least 3+ week in PICU. Everyone is just so happy that he's progressing so well.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Its been a hectic and busy past week to say the least. I spent most of Friday & Saturday up at the PICU helping out. Sunday was Aidan's birthday we had his Harry Potter themed party, lots of fun stuff to get ready for that...
Can I just say that Hubby is reminded just how tough my "job" is since he got to spend the ENTIRE day Saturday with all four kids by his lonesome. He needs those little reminds occasionally. ;-)
C is doing really well. His ICP (inter-cranial pressure) has continued to stay down in an excellent range. He started to regain consciousness over the weekend. He was fighting the sedation which is so typical for children... don't they understand when we drug them to sleep we want them to sleep. :-) Mom & Dad were finally able to get some sleep Thursday night and have been able to rest each night which has been wonderful. The Ronald McDonald House is truly a blessing... though whose idea was it to put metal window frames with metal blinds to tap, tap, tap against them all time long!!! Roll of packing tape took care of that Friday morning. LOL!
Friday they hooked him up to an EEG machine. There was lots of lovely wonderful brain wave activity. Not too much but also in lots of different places. Child#1 went up Friday night with Hubby and she sat with C for a while, held his hand and talked to him. His brainwaves responded to her voice, in different areas than he responded to Mommy. Again totally awesome. We talked about it and she's wants to start going up and sitting with him often and reading to him. I explained to her that even once his head injury wasn't as big a concern as before he is still looking at a long recovery just from the fractures. Lots of time immobile so she really wants to read with him and then as time goes on they will be able to talk about the books (future book club!).
He "passed" his first neuro exam Saturday morning with flying colors. Could squeeze the correct hand and twitch the correct toes when asked even while sedated on fentanyl. The doc was very pleased figured at least a 93+% of recovery just from those results. They are trying to slowing wean him off the heavy meds so that they can start to address some of the other injuries. He is responding well.
The first couple of days were really hard because of the medication he was on causes a kind of amnesia. So every time he started to wake up he had no idea where he was and what was wrong... why are there tubes all over and one down his throat. Strong boy kept wanting to get out of bed and yank out the vent tube.
They have been able to reduce his respiration dependancy on the ventilator significantly over the weekend. We are hoping they will be able to remove it tomorrow.
He finally had his big MRI Tuesday night. Turns out their next door neighbors are friends with a woman who's parent donated the "Simmons" MRI machine that sits in the OR to help entice Dr. George (one of the best in his field) to Dell from Duke. That is the same machine (and Dr) that is putting C back together. The results of the MRI were super positive. There is some bruising on the frontal lobe from the impact of the brain moving inside the skull and some of the back where the basel skull fracture is which "might" cause some minor "personality" changes but he should return to himself over the next year. Meaning no signs of permanent brain damage!! Still some internal bruising on the lungs but that seems to be healing well. The pelvis/hip is gonna be the main concern and the neck. Once they can take the breathing tube out and he can tell us exactly where and how it hurts they will be able to do a lot more to correct it.
Wednesday morning at about 5am the Dad was woken up to a ton of alarms going off. He looked over that the bed and C had disconnected the breathing tube, pulled out a bunch of his IVs and was half way rolling out of the bed trying to make a break for it. He was ready to go. :-) Talk about total scare the bejeezus out of everyone. I was sitting with him later that afternoon and got a total full eye contact recognition from him which was awesome. He suddenly tried to sit up again (like usual, he wants out of the bed so badly) I was quick to his side to get him to lay down. I said "hey you" he looked up right at me and his eyes locked with mine (I saw the recognition) and I said "hey I know you and you know me too huh?" I got a HUGE grin. So he is definitely in there.
He has been improving in huge leaps and bounds. When he was first brought into Dell, they told us to not expect to really talk to him for several weeks. He is communicating with blinks, nods, shakes and shrugs since Sunday! He shrugged today!! His mom was holding his hand and he kept pulling it away. She asked if he wanted her to hold his hand. He shook his head no. She asked if she could put her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged. She told him since he didn't care she was gonna put her hand on his shoulder. He just shrugged again. CLASSIC 9 year old.
Yesterday was a good and rough day. They took his breathing tube out early that morning. He kept trying to get out of bed to hide in the bathroom to get away from "the man in the truck that was coming"... totally heartbreaking. He also had trouble recognizing his Dad who finally had to leave the C's room for a while so they could calm him down. Within a few minutes he was able tell them Dad's cell number and wanted them to call him now! It is totally common for recognition issues to happen with a TBI but it is still hard. It will continue to happen and then improve over time. He also ate some pudding which was great, no issues with his swallow reflex. He remembers that football is his favorite sport and knows who his coach is.
Today his Dad said he's back to the old C we all know and love. They also believe that the hip that was damaged is still weight bearing so that is a very positive thing. Small steps, small steps.
So he is doing awesome but still has a looooong road ahead.
Well, I think the Hogwarts Celebration Feast was a success. At least by all the happy kids after wards. We had a really big turn out. Somewhere around 16+ kids. Wow talk about a lot of kids.
Child #3 was beside himself. He had a lot of fun and had a great time. He made sure every child got to choose a wand of their very own.
I think he was quite pleased by his presents too. Lots of Legos and of course the Lego Harry Potter game for the Wii. One of my mama friends came with her sweet daughter and rocked the "bestest" present... a small electro-static plasma globe thingie and a wand with a light-up tip and makes a whooshing sound. Child #3 was practically giddy. He loves sciency kind of stuff like that and of course a wand... that makes sound!! Lots of "Stupdify" was being yelled upstairs.
Hogwarts-mania has officially hit our household. For years I've had different friends tell me I just had to read the Harry Potter books. I never did, they just didn't sound appealing to me. Maybe it was because I didn't have as much reading free time. I don't know I just never thought I would read the books.
So over the summer Hubby makes an unusual comment. Maybe he'll read the Harry Potter books. What?? This is the man that doesn't read fiction. Like ever anymore. I think I've seen him read 2 or 3 fiction books in the 17 years I've known him. It isn't like he doesn't read, he does. Lots and lots of history, military history, political and such. Just not a big fan of fiction. He read lots of SciFi when he was young but had pretty much given it up by the time we met.
So for him to suddenly without any prompting from me decide to read fiction? Mind blowing. Anyways, right around that time ABC Family channel was showing the Harry Potter movies over the weekend. We ended up watching most of them. The kids watched them with us. They really enjoyed them. So gradually I was sucked in and I bought the books for the kids. We recently started reading the books out loud before bedtime.
While Lego Star Wars is very popular on the Wii around here... Child #3 is seriously obsessed with wanting the Lego Harry Potter game for the Wii. Its almost all he has talked about for months. Needless to say I suggested that his birthday was coming up.
In light of the recently Harry Potter obsession, Child #3 decided he wanted to do Harry Potter as the theme for his birthday this year. You would think since the newest movie in the series is coming out in Nov there would be lots of Harry Potter stuff in preparation. Hell no!! Nada! Zip! Zilch! Everywhere online was sold out (was from the previous movies) and nobody local had any party supply items for Harry Potter. Seriously! It is insane. Thankfully a friends who's son used Harry Potter for his theme over the summer still had a few things leftover that she let me have. Good thing I'm kind of "crafty" too.
Since I couldn't find invitations, I made some up and printed them on card stock. They came out pretty good... considering I had to replace the ink cartridges in the printer after trying to refill them and it still not working. Seriously. Those ink cartridges are a total pain in the ass. I sent the cards to school for Child #3 to pass out to all his classmates. I couldn't find any rubber bands so I improvised with some brown satin ribbon. Really came out awesome with the cream card stock and brown ink. Very dramatic.
For the party favors I made: Wands out of thin wooden dowels found at the craft store. Some painted white, some tan, some grey, some black, some brown. Then decorated with some sharpie marker to create some different designs. A Snitch made from a Styrofoam ball and felt wings for decoration. I came up with a "Honeydukes Candy" store theme. Typically I don't do candy for birthday parties (just cupcakes) but this time... lot and lots of sugar! Candied Pineapple pieces Lemon Drops Sour Gummy Worms Gummy Bugs, Caterpillars & Slugs (from Willie Wonka) Chocolate covered Spiders (actually pretzel pieces) Molded Chocolate Frogs Licorice Floss JellyBelly Jellybeans
Needless to say, lots and lots of sugar. Sorry other parents.
Cupcakes will be Chocolate with Chocolate Icing topped with Chocolate dipped ice cream cones to look like wizard hats. Also a batch of Yellow cake cupcakes with Chocolate Icing. "Since not everyone likes chocolate cake".
Drinks will be Fruit Juice punch, Ice water and Butterbeer. I found a recipe for Butterbeer online. It is basically Root Beer, Cream Soda with caramel syrup and whipped cream. Very very sweet.
Other decorations ideas I came up with: Hedwig (Child #3's owl from Build A Bear) The Sorting Hat (from Elope) Box set of the Harry Potter books in hardcover in a very cool spiffy cardboard box "trunk"
Sadly, I have run out of time to create "brick castle walls" out of large rolls of newsprint paper and paint. Creating bricks using sponges. Or make the felt peak style hats the students wore in the first two movies. Maybe next time. Somehow I don't see Harry Potter losing any interest around here any time soon. Especially from the boy who wanted a Mickey Mouse birthday two years in a row.
We are having it at one of the neighborhood shady parks with has a nice sized gazebo with a large picnic table under it. Lots of shading trees surrounding the fun playscapes. A very nice park to have a party at when the heat gets up there like it is known to do here in Austin.
Hubby's best friend's son C (age 9) was hit by a truck in front of their house this evening. He was life flighted to Dell Children's Hospital. He is "stable" in ICU where they have him in a sedated coma.
His skull is cracked, several vertebrae and his pelvis are broken. They have no idea what his prognosis is going to be.
He is the sweetest boy. We've always joked that he and Child#1 are going to be married. They are the best-est of friends when they get to be together.
Since hearing about it I've felt like I'm gonna throw up. Hubby just left to go the hospital.
It is that amazing day today. All FOUR children will be in school at the same time and at the same school... well for the next two years then Child #1 will shift to 6th grade at Middle School.
HOLY SNIKIES!!!!
How did I suddenly have four children in elementary school? How did this happen? Where did all the time go? Wasn't my oldest just starting school the other day? Heck wasn't my youngest just born a couple of months ago?
What?... that was over 4 years ago? GET OUT!!! No it wasn't. It wasn't. I deny that statement. Can't possibly be true... can it?
So I couldn't get to sleep last night, too many things running through my head. Not to mention that big ole pile of paperwork from Meet the Teachers night that I had to fill out. Talk about getting writers cramp... filling out school district info in QUADRUPLICATE.
Blargh!! My poor widdle hand was sore. Child #1 set her alarm apparently at 6 AM (WTF?!?) and she came in and woke The Hubby up around 6:25AM (5 minutes before my alarm went off) to let him know it was time to get ready for school. I got up and went into the boys room to wake up Child #2 and #3. The Hubby for some unknown reason decided to wake Child #4 up. Why? Neither of us has any clue. Her class doesn't start until 11:45 AM and she certainly didn't need to be getting up at 6:30 AM.
Everyone got dressed and was downstairs for breakfast. I made breakfast and packed lunches for everyone to take to school.
So after a tasty breakfast of toasted bagels, apple slices, oatmeal and fruit smoothies we loaded everyone up and headed up to the school. We parked on the backside and walked up. It was so weird it was about 7:30AM and there weren't very many cars around, the car line was empty and there just didn't seem to be hardly anyone around.
School starts at 7:40AM and it is usually a mad house of cars lined up to drop off kids. There weren't very many of the school safeties manning the dropoff spots either. It was just kind of weird.
Child #1 turned and went off down the main corridor through the big double doors to her new area of school. All the 4th and 5th grade classes are on the other side of the school with the gym and cafeteria between them and the rest of the school.
So off she went strolling down the hallway with her backpack slung on her shoulder... like a teenager heading off to High School or something.
Very very scary.
I'm not ready for her to grow up so fast.
We walked the boys to their classes. The halls still weren't very full, there were only 6 other kids in Child #3's class. It was like everyone forgot to come to school or something. Just very weird.
Child #2 almost walked into his old classroom (old habits) but then slide right into the groove of the morning routine... drop lunch box into the basket, remove papers from backpack, hang up the backpack on the hook... go sit down in at the table. He was even helping some of the other kids. Hopefully that will be something he can do though out the year, be a leader and help some of the other kids out.
Once the boys were in their classes we headed back to the house with Child #4. I went back to sleep for a while and Hubby and Child #4 hung out and enjoyed the quiet morning together for a while.
Then it was time for Child #4 to head to school. She was excited but also nervous. She was trying to hide the fact that she was a little nervous.
It was a mad house in the front hallway with all the parents milling around waiting to drop off their kids. They were so loud and noisy just milling all over the place.
One of the first things it said in the packet of papers we received on Meet the Teacher night was that the first day of school we were to take the kids back to the classroom then everyday after that we would meet her in the front hallway before class. NONE of the other parents were following the directions. So we just walked on in and went straight back to the classroom... the rest of them started to follow a few minutes later.
Child #4 was intently watching everything that was going on in the class.
Again, I think all the parents milling all over the place was making her nervous, I noticed quite a few of the other kids seems to feel the same way. Finally it was time to say our goodbyes and let the class get started.
We walked up to the front hallway, I wanted to wait to get a picture of the "Duck line" when they all heading over to the cafeteria in a few minutes. It took over 20+ minutes for the class to come out because I'd say at least 75% of the parents wouldn't leave the classroom. I get how hard it can be to leave your child but come on people, they tell you over and over again that it is better to do a quick goodbye instead of standing around getting in the way of the class getting started.
Finally the class was able to leave and head to the cafeteria for lunch. Of course I didn't get a very good picture of Child #4 walking in the duck line. But she seems to be perfectly happy and didn't seem to be upset about being there.
The Hubby and I decided to go and have lunch. It was nice. We had gyros which were quite tasty. Then because we were so full we went back to the house and took a nap. LOL! It was a totally funky day... rush rush to get the kids to school... slow quiet time... rush rush to get #4 to school... lunch... slow quiet time nap... go to pick up the kids and wait in a 20+ minute barely moving car line after the release time. Everyone was there to pick up their kids it seemed like. The car line went almost 1.5 blocks up the next street... it was totally insane. It is rarely more than a couple of cars past the entrance/exit into the school parking lot but it was down the block, around the corner and down the other block. INSANE!
Last night was the annual "Meet the Teachers" night at JVE. We went up to the school and got to see who was going to be academically molding our children's minds for the next year. We were able to show all the kids where their classrooms and desks were going to be. Also dropped off the various school supplies that I'm so glad to have out of the house before someone feels compelled to open and use some of them.
Child #1 will be entering 4th grade. We met her teacher last night. Apparently she was a floating substitute at JVE last year because she knew Child #3 (while he was in PreK) really well. Of course everyone who meets Child #3 remembers him... he isn't nicknamed Mr Personality for nothing. LOL! One of Child #1's best school friends is in her class, they were so happy to see each other they were practically attached at the hip all evening. They want to be in Girl Scouts together so it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of this friend this year. Thankfully she is a very sweet and genuine child.
Child #2 will be staying in 1st grade again this year. While it was a difficult decision I do honestly believe it was the right one. He needs that little bit of extra time to truly find his footing. He is excited to be in his class. He has Child #1's first grade teacher this year. I really liked Mrs. B when Child #1 had her. She worked with Child #2 last year when they would rotate the kids who were at the same levels between the 5 classes. So she knows his "tricks" for various things already. She can be very no-nonsense when it is needed so I'm hoping that will help to keep him focused and on track.
Child #3 got the Kinder teacher Mrs. C. I was so hoping he would get. She was the student teacher in Child #1's Kinder class then she hired fulltime and got her own class the next year. She knows his PreK teacher really well and understands his IQ level and will definitely keep him occupied and interested. Its wonderful to have a young excited teacher. Hopefully he will go into the TAG program next year.
Child #4 starts PreK this year. HOLY SNIKIES!! She is so excited and Mrs. W. can't wait to have her in the class. She was sad to see lose Child #3 (he is such a charmer) but was resilient because she was getting Child #4. I think all the parents in the classroom was a little bit intimidating for Child #4, she isn't usually around that many very loud adults in a small area. Once we were back out into the hall she was all smiles and bouncing along.
Looks like we have four strong teachers this year. Yeah!
The house really has been pretty quiet around here. The hooligans have been gone the past couple of weeks visit with their Grandma Mawmaw and family in Houston.
It is so very strange to have them gone for so long. I miss them. A lot! I know that Hubby has been missing them a lot too. I miss the snuggles and hugs.
But I've been trying to struggle through... by sleeping late without interruption, watching ANYthing on TV without concern for who might also see it, eating a cookie for breakfast without getting the hairy eyeball from someone under the age of 10 who wants one too... it has been torture. LOL!
But just so you don't think its been all fun and no work!
I planted a bunch of stuff in the backyard to kind of finish out the big raised bed on the left side of the yard. Still have the raised bed along the back fence line to plant with something... I'm think of transplanting some of the HUGE tall grasses that have tripled in size in the front garden bed along the street. They really have gotten HUGE. The left side yard is also still a mess, maybe I'll get to it this summer... or maybe not. I really want to plant Passion Vine along that fence because I think it will grow really well over there and be nice and fragrant. So I should probably wait until September to plant them after the heat.
I have also cleaned out and re-organized my workspace in the dayroom. You can now see my computer desk, though I've rarely seem to use my desktop much anymore I'm usually on my laptop in the living room. My sewing desk is also nice and cleared off of all the clutter junk that just gets dumped on it by everyone.
I got totally caught up on the laundry. It has now taken over a week to create enough laundry to really justify running two loads (1 clothes and 1 towels). It is mind blowing just how much laundry those hooligans create on a daily basis.
I have also been working on all three of the childrens bedrooms. I have cleaned out the shelves in Child#1 room, there are no longer books that she doesn't want on her shelves taking up space. I carted off a huge trash bag of torn up scraps of paper and cardboard. I moved a bunch of puzzles and games to the downstairs dayroom which created a ton of nice space for her chapter books and three shelves of space for a bunch of Lego that I had packed away that I set up for her to have. Castles and Dragons. I think she's gonna be pretty excited. I've also gotten the paint to repainted her dresser and the shelf ends. We've started prep work on painting her nightstand (to match the dresser). I've gotten some more drapes to put up in her room and to also make some pillow covers out of the fabric to match. She's is going to have as "grown up" a big girls room can be for a 10-year old.
I have also cleaned out the shelves in the boys' room. Re-organizing a bunch of the toys and such... especially eliminating any broken or no longer played with toys. I also created a special shelf for each boy that will be for only his personal things. Hubby and I finished striping what was left of the ugly wallpaper border (that Child#2 had torn most off) and prepped the wall with Kilz primer to cover the Sharpie that Child#3 felt compelled to use on the wall because he didn't like the green paint. I didn't like the green paint either but that wasn't how I really wanted to change it. We also started painting the walls the two new blue colors to cover up the dingy blue and fugly limey green that was on the walls. It is AMAZING how much better the walls look with the new colors. The new bunkbeds for the boys room were delivered but we haven't assembled them yet until we are done with all the painting. We need to finish up the second coat and put up the new border trim... once I figure out how to cut the roll of wallpaper in half... or something like that.
We are going to have to repaint the molding in the boys bedroom (and about half the house) because the previous "painters" and I use that term loosely did a horrible job when you really look at it. But that is gonna be for a later date, maybe in a couple of weeks.
And just so the little princess doesn't feel left out... I cleared out some of the junk that had accumulated in Child#4's bedroom. Various toys that didn't belong and re-organized the shelves to hold the stuff that does belong. I've also been working on the pit of a closet that is in her room between a bunch of clothes that Hubby has in there (from when the room was still his office) and the piles of outgrown clothes from various other children... it was pretty scary. I have a sketch print of Tinkerbell that I bought a few years ago that we were going to hang in the dayroom but never got around to it, so I'll frame it and put it up in her room. I also have a bunch of fairy & flower blossom prints to put up into her room in the place of all the Classic Pooh prints to create a more Tinkerbell-esque styled bedroom. I'm hoping she will really like it especially since she is ALL about Tinkerbell right now. I also have a mirror to hang on her closet door so she can see herself when she plays dress up. She loves to play dress up... I've almost finished up painting and decorating her treasure box so she'll have her own special box for her favorite little things.
Its amazing how there is at least one box of stuff from each bedroom full of stuff that doesn't belong in there.
Sadly even with all this time, I haven't gotten it together well enough to organize a garage sale while the kids are gone. Its amazing how quickly the time has passed. There is also just sooo much stuff, I will be taking it slowly I think over the next month or so of sorting and pricing stuff for a garage sale.
Well, its hard to believe but the house is quiet because the four hooligans have just headed out to spend the next couple of weeks... yes WEEKS! with their grandmother Mawmaw and family in Houston. They are basically gone for the rest the month of July. They should be back the last weekend in July unless plans change.
They are going to the Zoo and down to the beach in Galveston for a weekend. Who knows what other fun and exciting things they will do! They always have a good time. I do miss the amazing museums in Houston... Childrens... Natural History... Fine Art...
Hubby and I are going to try to go out to dinner to some places we just can't do as a family either because it isn't as kid-friendly as we'd like or is too expensive for a family of 6. We might try to maybe see a movie or so. Of course Hubby has to go out of town for a week in there for work.
I already miss them and they've only been gone a few hours... its gonna be a long couple of weeks.
I've come to the conclusion that I'm an Oct to April camper... not a July to August summertime camper. At least not in Texas. Its just too damn hot during the summer here! BLECK!!
A friend's family and our family just spent the weekend camping and enjoying the beautiful state park of Pedernales Falls. Her three kids are the same age at Child #1 & Child #2 and they all have lots of fun together. The water was high (from the recent rains) and cool. The temperature was hot. Very hot. But it was the flies that were the worst. Swarms of them at a hint of food. Yuck. I'd forgotten about how nasty they were last year we camped here. The family that was with us last year had a screen tent that we set up over the picnic table area so we weren't bothered while we ate. This time Hubby and I ate dinner on Saturday night after the kids while walking around. The flies were just so horrific that we had to keep moving around or they would just... ick! Definitely putting a screened tent of the list of MUST HAVE for the next camping trip.
Definitely enjoyed sleeping on the air mattress over the thin mattress pad from last month. A bonus was having an electrical outlet to plug into... with an extension cord and the box fan that we brought. Having a "breeze" really does make a difference when its hot out, especially when you are trying to sleep.
The nice bathrooms and showers are also wonderful too. Its amazing how much better you feel even in the heat after having a nice cool shower to rinse the funk of the day off.
Most of Saturday was spent lazing around down on the river in the cool water. Everyone enjoyed the water and had fun.
No one was seriously burned this trip. A few spots of being "sun kissed". So I think we've gotten the kids into the habit of using sunscreen and keeping hats on their heads.
Some how we ended up not taking a SINGLE photograph. How did that happen?
Now I just need to sort through all the laundry and re-pack the camping gear for the "next" trip.
We are a Star Wars family. Hubby and I grew up on the original trilogy... I still remember seeing the first movie in the theatre. We have all the movies on DVD and the kids love the animated series The Clone Wars... they watch the DVR'd episodes over and over and over.
And over and over and over... you get the idea.
Out of all the kids I think Child #2 is truly the biggest Star Wars fan. He got a bunch of Star Wars Legos for Christmas last year and his birthday this year... I did lots of sniping auctions on eBay. His favorite book is the Star Wars Lego Visual Dictionary... I think he's got every page memorized. Anytime he is sitting reading, that is the book he's got with him.
Well, the Star Wars in Concert is coming to Austin next week. I really wanted to take him but tickets are $65 each... eek! So needless to say that isn't in the budget.
KLRU our local PBS station had a give away for two tickets to the show... and I just won a pair. Unbelievable! Talk about total luck.
So I mentioned it to Child #2 and that we only had two tickets. One would be for him and one would be for either Mommy or Daddy. He didn't have to make a decision right now about who would take him... he could think about it for a while. Without a moment's hesitation...
"Daddy!"
Okay so I'm chopped liver??
Seriously, who is it that finds Star Wars books for him? Who reads those books to him? Who searched and sniped for the specific Lego sets that he would want off of eBay? Who takes the time to carefully swipe under the furniture and pick up any rogue Legos laying around before vacuuming any room in the house? Who listens to him wax on and on about various characters? Okay so we both do that one... Who took the time to record as many of the Clone War episodes as possible? Who found out about this concert? Who tried to get tickets? Who won said tickets??
Yeah, that would be me... guess I'm not amazing enough to be that special parent. Sigh... its hard sometimes to not be jealous when they pick the other parent...
Well, we were talking about going camping with the kids before the weather turned really hot... yeah like it isn't already hot here... but we are talking the scorching oppressive heat that is a Texas summer day. So going to Pedernales Falls State park was gonna be the choice of camping location when I heard the morning guys on the radio talking about camping on the beach at Port Aransas. Hmm camping on the beach, the kids would sooo love that. I remember camping on Pismo Beach CA when I was a child, it was awesome and an experience I wish my kids could have. Soooo in light of recent events in the Gulf with the British Petroleum oil drilling platform exploding and continuing to pump millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico maybe its a good idea to hit the beach sooner rather than later when the oil sludge starts washing up on the sand. I've never been to Port A before so it would be an adventure for me too.
All week the weather forecast kept saying scattered thunderstorms for the weekend. Great camping in the rain isn't fun and at the beach really isn't fun. So we kept watching and hoping that it wouldn't rain. Game plan was to load up and leave Friday morning-ish and stay until Sunday afternoon. Its a four hour drive from Austin. Friday the day went out every direction but how we planned. So we thought we'll leave late afternoon and get there Friday night setup camp and go to bed. As the day progressed we decided we'll sleep at home and get up really early (by 5 am) and head out to get to the beach by mid morning. Yeah that worked... 5 am and its a massive storm outside, thunder, lightning and a gully wash of rain. Good thing we threw a tarp over everything loaded on the roof rack of the truck or it would have been a really unpleasant experience with a wet tent. Needless to say both Hubby and I rolled over and went back to sleep until the storm was over a few hours later. A friend of Hubby's was also at Port A with his family (staying in a condo) and he texted message that it was storming really bad there right about the time we had been planning on arriving to the beach. Sooo because of the Hunter Family tradition of getting a late start on a trip totally worked in our favor. If we'd gotten down to Port A on Friday we'd have been in the rainstorm in a tent with 4 freaked out kids aka we'd have been sitting in the Land Cruiser watching everything get soaked. Or if we had gotten up at 5am and headed out we would have been in the middle of that storm... don't know if the kids would ever want to go camping with us again... don't know if I'd ever want to go camping again. LOL!
So we finally got on the road and heading to Port A late Saturday morning. We did a leisure drive down and stopped at a local Farmer's Market on the way and picked up some peaches and a watermelon.
Hubby decided that he wanted to camp as far away from other people as possible... so instead of camping at Mustang Island State Park where there are shelters and electrical plugins and BATHROOMS... he decides we need to truly camp further down the coast at Padre Island National Seashore... about 4 miles down the beach away from any civilization. seriously?!?! So we didn't even get to have one of those semi-sheltered picnic tables. We were on the empty beach. Yeah got to teach the kids how to make a "cat hole" because there weren't any bathroom facilities.
It was early evening once we picked a spot. The kids went down to play "near" the water on the beach while Hubby and I unloaded and set up the tents. At one point I looked up and with the sun low in the sky and looking over the seaweed dune line between us and the kids I could see them jumping and hopping along the sand all carefree and joyous. It was that perfect Kodak home movie moment... of course the camera was in the truck at the time and the kids all wanted to pose once Hubby got the camera and tried to catch them unaware.
It was beautiful to see though.
After we got the tent set up and a fire going we enjoyed hot dogs and then later of course s'mores. I think that is really the reason the kids love to camp. LOL!
Kids also got to chase a little sand crab around for a few minutes. Especially once it vacated the tent.
Kids went to bed while Hubby and I enjoyed the evening and the stars. We even got to see a little sand mouse scurry around in the darkness.
Sleep wasn't the greatest because we couldn't use the air mattress, the pump that uses the car plug didn't get packed... so it was sleeping on a thin pad... not that great, I'm an air mattress camper now.
A good time was had by all though we made a few discoveries on items to always take with us camping... a good sun cover being one of them.
Everyone got burnt except for Child #2 who kept reapplying sunscreen every couple of minutes... he had a distinct bluish cast from the Avon "disappearing blue" sunscreen. Guess he learned from last year's camping trip to Pedernales Falls where he got blistered on his back & arms. Very bad mommy for not noticing that he'd taken his rash top off and was out of the water/shade most of the time!! Boy doesn't take his rash top off now.
Hubby and Child #1 got it the worst on their backs... definitely two crispy critters.
Monday, May 10, 2010
So I'm about to cook some mushrooms and I reach into the butter box in the fridge and...
This is what I find. It was whole last night when I cooked dinner.
Child #4 also known as the three year old butter junkie strikes again.
I originally thought it was Child #3 who was gnawing on the butter lately because the previous one I found was a stick that had been unwrapped, gnawed on and then *perfectly* re-wrapped and put back into the butter box. Very very sneaky.
What happens when a boy is so happy to have a peeled Easter egg? He doesn't see the pillow that was on the floor when he rushed around the couch and he trips...
Hitting the coffee table with his face.
Knocking out four of the baby teeth across the top of his mouth.
And biting his bottom lip almost all the way through.
Causing his older sister Child #1 to yell OMG!! when she sees all the blood pouring out of his mouth which in turn scares Child #2 causing him to cry more. Which causes his mouth to open wider and Child #1 then sees missing teeth and yells OMG again... which really scares the crap out of Child #2. Which makes him cry even more causing blood to flow all over his chin.
So I grab a towel, ice pack and load everyone up for a trip to the ER.
Apparently there was something in the air today... four other children had facial lacerations from falls within the two hours we got there. That was the longest wait we'd ever had at Seton NW. A doctor came right out and did a quick check to see the extent of his injury (he was okay) while I was at the front desk and then it was about 15 minutes before we went through triage and then it was another 40 minutes before we saw the ER doc. Thankfully Hubby met us at the ER and he took the other three kids home while I stayed with Child #2.
Child #2 even fell asleep in my arms while we were waiting.
No stitches were needed for his lip and we did a quick x-ray to see if he swallowed either of the two teeth we couldn't account for. X-ray was clear and they sent us home with some pain meds.
Thankfully they were baby teeth and were going to come out soon but definitely not the way you want them to come out.
Coffee table always wins.
That particular coffee table has now won against Child #2's mouth and Child#3's head which accounted for 4 staples when he was about 20 months old. Not to mention the plethora of bumps to various noggins over the years... and various bruises to my own shins.
Yep, coffee table always wins.
Sadly he didn't get to enjoy his boiled egg either. Doubt he'll want to eat one for a while.
She may be the "Pretty Princess" if you ask her what her name is but yeah she likes to rock out just like everyone else. She is pounding her hands in the air, tongue stuck out and head pumping up and down to the Foo Fighters.
No Barney music is allowing in our house or cars. We listen to regular music. I also love to see all the heads bob along with Green Day. LOL!
So we needed to walk to pick up Child #1 & Child #2 from school because Hubby took my Discovery to work today. As we are walking along, Child #3 just reached out and took Child #4's hand. No prompting from me but just because he loves his little sister.
Child #1 was required to do a Science Fair Project this year as a third grader. I don't think I did my first Science Fair Project until I was in seventh grade. Well Child #2 wanted to do one too. He isn't required to as a first grader it is optional.
So after much thought Child #1 decided to do hers on Volcanos and Child #2 decided to do his on the Saturn V rocket.
Definitely need to start the project much sooner than the week before. Yep, Hubby and I were up late the last night making sure every thing was finished and dried.
Child #1 received a 1st place blue ribbon.
So did Child #2. He was so proud of his rocket. He did most of the actual painting, I just did a little bit of the clean up and put the stickers on straight for him.
I really like how they award the ribbons. There isn't a single 1st, 2nd or 3rd place ribbon for each grade, it is figured off total points like a grade. So each child is only completely against himself really.
Child #2 and I had a little date night. Originally Hubby was going to take Child #1 to see Avatar at the IMAX theatre but he forgot that she had piano on Tuesday after school until after he'd bought the tickets.
So Child #2 and I get to go instead. He was sooooo excited. While we waited until we could get in line to go into the theatre we checked out the museum. The IMAX is inside the Bob Bullock Texas History museum. Its a very cool place. We also picked up a Texas Rangers Deputy star for him...
Afterward the movie, which was AMAZING, we went out to dinner, his choice... some place that has shrimp. The boy does love his shrimp. So we went to Red Lobster. Not exactly my first choice but its what was open near us. Food was okay but he was happy and that's all that mattered.
It was "May the Force Be With Katie" Day.
It is that amazing day today. All FOUR children will be in school at the same time and at the same school... well for the next two years then Child #1 will shift to 6th grade at Middle School.
So off she went strolling down the hallway with her backpack slung on her shoulder... like a teenager heading off to High School or something.
Then it was time for Child #4 to head to school. She was excited but also nervous. She was trying to hide the fact that she was a little nervous.
It was a mad house in the front hallway with all the parents milling around waiting to drop off their kids. They were so loud and noisy just milling all over the place.
What happens when a boy is so happy to have a peeled Easter egg? He doesn't see the pillow that was on the floor when he rushed around the couch and he trips...
. He was so proud of his rocket. He did most of the actual painting, I just did a little bit of the clean up and put the stickers on straight for him.
