Harry Potter

Well, as you know, Harry Potter has been all the rage for years now. My son, jumped on the band wagon and decided to read the book. First he checked out the 3 book in the series. He started it, made a valiant effort and returned it. A couple of weeks later he decided to check out the 1st book. Which I thought was an excellent choice... you know, to begin at the beginning of the series. After 2+ weeks, he has finished all 309 pages in 17 chapters. He is very proud of himself. He had the added benefit of taking an AR test (Accelerated Reader) at school. The book was worth 12 points (that's huge in the world of a 2nd grader) and he got 9.6 points after completing the test. Wow! I'm proud of him. He chose a big project AND stuck with it!

BOND

Went to my first Ridgefield Citizen Meeting. I still can't believe I went. My neighbor asked me to go as they were discussing the new BOND for the May ballot. The BOND is to build the new high school in Ridgefield. The one, that if built, my children will go to. I completely support it... the taxes and all. It is essential, in my opinion. So now I have my blue "Committment to Excellence" posters to hang in my car and I'm ready to help with my first "campaign".

Poor Baby

Joey got off the bus yesterday and didn't look right. I asked him if he was okay and he replied... I have a headache. (Mommy hair raises... oh no! The last time he had a headache he was in a ton of pain.) As soon as we walk through the door I give him Tylenol. Now... everyone makes mistakes, but you should always check the dosage and ask your kids how much he weighs (My kids love to weigh themselves, so they always know.) Everyone is hungry... no one wants a snack, they just want gum. Okay, gum it is.

After a while I can't find Joey... finally locate him on the landing of the stairs, curled up in a ball. He refuses to move... he's fine right there. Joe comes home... um, why is Joey on the stairs. I explain. He tries to get him to move and decides to leave him there as well.

Being that I happened to have my act together on Monday morning, dinner was in the crockpot (Chicken, onions and Apples... very good). We sit down to eat without Joey. He's not moving off the stairs. Molly comes down and carefully walks over him. After dinner, I see Joey sitting on the couch with Stefan... do you want to eat? how do you feel? He gets up and goes back to the stairs... finally accepts a pillow for his head.

I head out for meeting... wish Joe luck and tell him Joey is on the stairs.

An hour and a half later, I return from the BOND meeting. I give Joey more Tylenol. (Again, always check the back.) He goes upstairs. I get him to eat a piece of bread with butter and drink some water. Then the screaming begins. Controlled at first, then full throttle. I get an ice pack. Doesn't work. Rub his back. Doesn't work. Finally, he settles down and Joe and I convince him to let the medicine put him to sleep. Joe and I settle in to watch some TV and Joey appears. I snuggle with him... he jumps up and starts running to the bathroom. OH NO! I go after him. No puke... but close. You know what I mean. What a big kid... both hand son the throne, poised and ready to let loose. Back to the couch... moans, tries to sleep... up running to the bathroom. Back to the couch. Joe says... maybe you should give him one more Tylenol. This is an extreme case. So I go to get one... I turn the box over to check the dosage... I should have been giving him 3 Tylenol all along... the kid has grown! Aaggh. What a bad mom. Maybe I could have prevented the severity of it. I'll never know. I give him the extra Tylenol. After 15 minutes, he's finally out on the couch. Joe and I hate watching our kids suffer. It is the worst thing for a parent.

A new favorite...

LOVE Hanes.com

Yes, the Michael Jordan / Jennifer Love-Hewitt underwear commercials... I placed an order a few months ago... loved what was sent and it was INEXPENSIVE! Which I love even more. I placed another order... just for me... how selfish... so needed! Check it out :)

I was told...

to open the "fridge" to see my surprise. That peeked my interest; especially since I was at school, closing out my classroom for the weekend, in a panic that I would be late to get Joey off the bus and I called dear hubby to see if he could get home quickly to get Joey. Before I could ask he said... when you get home look in the "fridge". (Then he said yes he could get to Joey, however, I ended up getting out of the building to get him myself.) I screeched into the garage and had to run in the house to check the "fridge" before I went to get Joey. This is what I found...I was so excited! I love our "pretend" date nights (as we call them) when we get takeout and sit at home and relax. (Let me clarify that it wasn't presented as see... that is the magic of pictures on the internet!) Joe was in a paper mill close to where we get our "pretend" date night take-out sushi... it didn't matter to me that it was a made up holiday... it could have been a normal Thursday... I was thrilled.

On about our crazy evening we went... kids dinner... piano lessons for Joey and Stefan (which they loved and have both already practiced this morning) and music class for Emmi. Finally, HOME! Time for sushi. Joe placed it on the crisp, white platter... I poured the Saki and we sit down with 3 children ready to sample. Wait... did I say 3 children... YES! They paraded on our pretend date... they all wanted to try it. Emmi tried Ginger... not a fan. Joey tried Wasabi and Ginger... not a fan. Stefan had California rolls dipped in the "stuff" (soy sauce) and ginger. He liked both and kept coming back for more. He even tried the eel... it was okay, not his favorite. I guess we won't be pulling one over on the kids any more. It's just a matter of time before they all like it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Those of you who know me well know that I am not a big Valentine's day celebrater. Sure, I get my kids some chocolate, I help them write their valentine cards for their friends, do a little something special for their teachers... but that's about it. Joe wished me a happy V-day and I just smirked and wished him the same. I don't know... not a fan.

I do, however, appreciate thoughtfulness... so I'm trying to work on that... all the time. The parents at school gave the teachers their first-ever luncheon. It was so nice and thoughtful. They appreciate us... here is what we were given...


that is one very large cupcake int he pot, a cd and chocolate. We are all very grateful!

Cough....

Joey's been coughing forever... or so it seems. Last night he had a horrible attack... panicked, couldn't breathe, etc. He finally feel asleep about 10:30pm. He went to school, but I decided I would take him in to see the Dr. when he returned. We headed out... it was finally our turn to check in and the fire alarm went off. My response... Is this a joke? Everyone had to exit the building (at least it wasn't raining). Back in side... we wait... finally see the Dr. and he checks Joey over... he looks at me and asks if Joey blows his nose. I chuckle as this is quite a point of contention between Joey and I. I tell the doctor "NO". He looks at Joey and says you either blow your nose or your mom needs to syringe it out. Joey looks puzzled... I explain to him what the syringe is... remember the blue thing I used to stick up Em's nose as a baby... He gets a worried look.
The doctor and I both told him several times... blow your nose or else the syringe. You see, he refused to blow... so everything runs down the back of his throat, his tonsils get irritated and thus the horrible coughing. Guess what Joey did? He asked for a tissue!

Maniac Monday

It's Monday again... it is cold in the house, coffee is brewing and all is still. There aren't many moments like this, so I treasure them.

Joey was up coughing again last night until after 10... I think a run to the doctor is now in order today. He coughs during the day, but not frequently and it is controlled. At night, he almost goes into a panic attack. He just got up, coughing lightly, but looks tired.

Stefan was out before his head hit the pillow. I don't know how he slept through Joey's coughing. They sang at church yesterday. They did well. We came home, ate lunch, played with Jeep and then I dropped them off at Karla's house to play. They loved it. I ran into Lake Oswego to pick up many boxes of donated picture frames for the preschool. One more thing to add to my garage. Actually, we are thrilled for the frames... they will make for some nice projects and they will go to the preschool for storage... as soon as I can find a spot.

Emmi couldn't sleep. Imagine that... she didn't want to. I let her get in my bed and she was out instantly. In her world it's "not fair" that they boys get to sleep in the same room and she is all by herself. This is her new ploy!

All in all, a good weekend. Swim lessons went well. We picked up a friends 3 kids to play Saturday afternoon. They just moved and needed some time to get organized. So, here I was with 6 kids ages 7 and under and 2 dogs... thank goodness it didn't rain. All of us took a walk with Jeep... I'm sure that I looked like a crazy person headed down the road!

So with Monday brings errands, appointments, teaching, parties this week (Valentine's Day is Thursday), etc. Oh, and just to prove my momminess... I baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies Sunday afternoon.

Up to it... again

Mr. V headed out of town this morning. His scent was still in the room when I got the bug... time to rearrange the furniture! Now, I happen to do this when he is out of town. I'll change some part of the house and he'll walk in to surprise. I painted our bedroom mocha, the laundry room pistachio (which he noticed right away :) ) and very frequently I move furniture. So, I was busy. Stefan vacuumed for me as I pushed and pulled. No paint this weekend.... that will be part of a bigger project later down the road. Love you honey!

We Wiiiiiiiii

The boys have the Wii bug! They love playing on our friends and now want one of their own. They are doing chores to earn money. They decided that if they work together that they would earn more money, faster. We'll see how long this lasts. For now, every 10 minutes I'm asked if there is another job they can do for me. I've never had such organized shoes!