The New Nap

Or Like Father, Like Son.

Ever since D weaned, I haven't figured out how to get him to go to sleep.  M has the magic touch though.  He just sits down at the computer, cranks up the tunes, and D falls right to sleep.  I'm not all that interested in listening to music.  Most of it I like, but I can't really listen to music and listen for child-related emergencies at the same time.  But never fear!  I found a solution!  Headphones!

Don't ya wanna just kiss that face?

D, wearing his "I Love Daddy" T-shirt, falls peacefully asleep listening to music, while I check my email and favorite blogs.  Today's afternoon nap is brought to you by Enya.  He also loves The Rolling Stones and Supertramp.  I once tried the Beatles, but he just wriggled out of my lap and ran away.

The Face Mystery

This morning, M went into the girls' room to turn off their nightlight.  He turned to look at F and was surprised to see her messy face.  He came out to me and told me F's face was worthy of a picture.  But it was too messy and how could she have gone to bed with such a mess on her face?  I told him that he was the one that brushed her teeth so he was the one that should have washed her face.  I was thinking there was food or toothpaste around her mouth and why is he making a big deal about the mess?  When F woke up, I saw what he meant:

I found a marker, with no lid, hidden amongst her blankets.  Someone was busy before she went to sleep last night!

An S and His Tonsils

We've always knows S has large tonsils.  When he was four or so, the pediatrician said he would eventually grow in to them.  And since he was never sick, there was no reason to worry.  So we didn't worry.  Last year, I took S to see the ENT, who said that yes, S has big tonsils, but he has plenty of breathing space and don't worry.  So we didn't worry.  After M spent two nights camping with S and listened to him snore and experience apnea all night long we decided it was time to worry.  Back to another ENT we went, who said the tonsils should come out.

Goodbye Large Tonsils!

Yesterday, S had his tonsils out.  He was such a trooper about the whole process.  All morning I was a nervous wreck, a fact I kept hidden.  They kept telling me that if S experiences bleeding after the surgery, I need to call 911 and get him to the ER right away.  But S was (and is) blissfully ignorant of what was going to happen.  All he knew was that his tonsils were too big and they needed to come out.

He was nervous about the IV

My favorite memories are: S insisting that they only trim the tonsils.  He actually needed his tonsils, so they couldn't completely cut them out.  The nurse tried to explain that he didn't need them, but I knew a quick, "Okay, they'll just shave a bit off," was all he needed.  We had rock, paper, scissor battles in the "emperor chair" while we waited for his meds to kick in.  I used my psychic mind power to influence S's decisions.  We tied five times in a row because I'm not physic enough to tell him what to pick and then do what beats that with my own hands.  The anesthesiologist told me S would start acting sleepy and goofy.  I thought to myself, "What else is new? How will I know the meds are kicking in?"  His "finger people" were having great adventures falling off the arm of the emperor chair when they checked on him-they thought the goofiness was happening; I knew nothing had changed.

Not feeling great today

When we got home, he was normal.  He went right back to playing Beyblades with IJ and was super-excited that I let him watch SpongeBob.  But by bedtime, his throat was hurting enough to make him cry.  I gave him his medicine and we camped out on the couches together with D.  (I had to monitor S in case of respiratory distress or hemorrhaging).  Today, he is very sleepy and not talking.  He tried to play Beyblades, but I sent him back to the couch.  His throat hurts, but he won't take his medicine.  My poor baby!

First Day...

...finally!  We are still missing quite a few books that were ordered two weeks ago and the arts and crafts supplies, but we survived. I planned to start school promptly at 9:00 this morning.

IJ works on his South America map

At 8:30, I thought to myself, "Why wait? I should get a head start so I don't freak out when I get an interruption."  *Sound of breaking glass*  "Mom? Did you hear that?  S broke a plate and its all over the floor and he's barefoot and standing on a chair!"  Corelle plates may be break-resistant, but when they break, they shatter!  I spent that 30 minutes running my hand over the kitchen floor and vacuuming invisible shards of glass out of my shoes.

E and S work on their maps.

At 9:00, we started school with a prayer, The Pledge, and a map of South America.  And non-stop screeching from The Baby is the Lesson. He wanted pencils.  He wanted school boxes.  He wanted to color on the Atlas.  He wanted up.  He wanted down. (I think he had a tummy ache- he's been asleep for 3 hours now)

D smells the flower.

My 3/4 preschooler had much better behavior.  Of course her school work was right up her alley.

F colors her Cinderella book.

We make it through history (Simon Bolivar), geography (South America),  PE (Simon Says and Smile Toss), read aloud (Moccasin Trail), math (IJ only), recess (picking blackberries and holding roosters), Lunch (mac n cheese), language arts (individual), and science (early inventions).  At 3:00, we have:

Abandoned School Table

Beyblades (S) and Horses (girls)

First night of Scouts, ready to go

Dinner on the stove, laundry on the line

And just when I think we are back to "normal," S gets his tonsils removed tomorrow.  And for the record, I wasn't kidding about D and F.  Enjoy this nine second slice of my morning:

Never-ending Summer

Pet Rabbit

I've been told not to mention we eat rabbit to those who own rabbits as pets.

F enjoys her rabbit leg, while Oreo watches

Are you going to tell me that you don't have chicken in your freezer?

E and Rodney

Dinner tonight was delicious- Thank you L and Big S!  As soon as we are "organized," we are going to raise rabbits too... after the cow and goats and new dog, of course.  (Did I hear someone laugh?)

Kindergarten

This is the third time I haven't had to send one of my precious children off to school on the yellow stinky school bus for their first day of Kindergarten. 

A Girl With Style

But instead of getting lots of work done like I did on IJ's first day or getting some work done like I did on S's first day we got no work done!  In fact, I have no memory of what I did on Wednesday, which was the first day of school for the locals.  My school books still haven't arrived, so we are experiencing extended summer vacation.

Although E started kindergarten early last year in our parent partnership program, she will have to remain in kindergarten until next year.  Unless I want to drive her to Bellingham and have her tested into 1st grade.  I consider this unnecessary.  She will be doing first grade math, first grade language arts, and hanging out with our history and science lessons as well (I'll expand on that in a few days)... what grade the school district has her listed as doesn't matter as long as she is learning at the appropriate level.

Now hurry up and get here, packages!