An Expensive Bag of Nuts

Monday, as I waited for a flight in the Palm Springs airport, I was starting to get a little hungry. So, I thought I'd grab a snack for the flight. I headed over to the closest kiosk and grabbed a tiny little pathetic looking sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap. Maybe I haven't been eating in airports enough lately, but I was stunned when the girl behind the counter told me it would be $9.50. WHAT?! I'd expect to pay that much for a Wolfgang Puck airport sandwich, but this one? No way! In protest, I put the sandwich back and went to the kiosk next door for a $4 bag of nuts. This is where all the fun begins!

Normally, I just choose plain nuts, but the trail mix with M&Ms suited me this day. So off I went to catch my flight with my bag of mixed nuts/M&Ms/raisins.

I didn't finish the bag on my flight, and came home with 1/2 a bag of trail mix in my purse. On Wednesday night Ethan discovered the bag and thought the M&Ms were Skittles, so he secretly snuck a snack from the bag. My dairy allergic kid quickly realized he'd just bit into chocolate and spit out the M&M. Still feeling the urge to snack, he next decided to be adventurous and try a cool curvy looking cashew. Within seconds he was complaining that it was so so "spicy" and his mouth was burning. Unfortunately he'd already swallowed the nut. His throat started to get scratchy and he started to get scared as he began having an anaphylactic reaction.

Thank goodness we live just a few blocks from the hospital. I whisked my coughing/wheezing little guy off to the ER as I called a neighbor to pick-up Isaac from baseball practice and called off my other responsibilities for Young Women's at church that night.

An hour later Ethan had an IV and was pumped full of Epinephrine, Benadryl and steroids and was breathing much better. Just when we thought we'd be going home soon, he started to break out in hives. What? I couldn't believe he could break out in hives with all the drugs that were pumping through his little veins. The rash got continually worse until the nurse had to give him another shot of Epinephrine.

The hives decided to be stubborn, and wouldn't clear up. So, the doctor admitted Ethan to the hospital for overnight observation. Since Brent was traveling for work, I called upon my wonderful neighbors who swooped in to take over Morgan and Isaac for the night.

By the time we got to the pediatric wing the rash was finally clearing and Ethan looked much better. Ethan loved sleeping in the hospital. Some of the highlights were the stuffed monkeys he was given, the cranes doing construction work right outside the window, fruit loops for breakfast, and the buttons to move the bed up and down. Truthfully, we had a pretty fun time together at the hospital...we didn't get much rest, but then again, isn't that a sign of a great slumber party?

As we were leaving the hospital at 11:00 the next morning Ethan said, "Mom, I liked sleeping at that place, I want to eat one of those nuts again sometime so we can sleep there again." Needless to say we had a little chat about that.

In the end, I think the sandwich would have been the more economical option. I initially saved $4.50 by going with the less expensive bag of nuts. I think that bag will end up costing more than another flight would have cost. Bummer!

Loved

The great thing about having a birthday and Mother's Day so close to one another is I get a whole week of love. This year's celebration started off with hand painted flower pots from the kids (project director Brent), the kids even picked their own flowers to fill the pots. Very cute.

The sweet Mother's Day letters are always the best for making one feel loved. Some of my favorite parts from the kid's letters were, Isaac: "I know my mom cares because she 'kisis' me to bed". Ah, he is a little guy who truly loves to be tucked, sung to, and kissed each night. He also noted, "My mom is smart because she 'nose' how to 'mace' 'benana' bread". Morgan made a diagram of things she thought made me a good mom, among other things were listed, "knows how to do a backflip, has good handwriting". I'm especially relishing, "knows when to give consequences, fun 2B around, and dresses well"...I assume it won't be long before she changes her mind on these few.

For my birthday the kids and Brent made a carrot cake with raisins on top, just like the cakes from my youth. They celebrated without me while I was in Palm Springs soaking up the sun with a few of my best girlfriends. Couldn't ask for a better week!

My Quirky Family

We all have quirks, I'll refrain from admitting mine, but here are a few I wanted to document about the rest of the family. Their quirks are ever changing, and my memory is ever worsening, so I have to get this all down before it's gone. Sadly Miss Morgan will be all grown up before too long and we'll laugh that she was at one time adverse to showers and grooming. I imagine it won't be long before we are begging her to spend less time in the shower and bathroom.

ETHAN:
MUST wear his undies backwards (he likes the "pocket" in back)
MUST eat with a kid-sized fork/spoon
MUST have his place at the table set with a specific blue checkered napkin as the placemat (make sure it isn't the identical looking napkin with fringe, or as he calls it, "feathers", or he'll reject it)
MUST sit on the end of the bar (WILL NOT sit in the middle seat)
MUST lay in his special spot on the couch (WILL kick out anyone else who dares to sit there when he's ready to lay down)
MUST have his bed pillow and couch pillow propped at just the right angle
FOND of Caillou (who sometimes makes visits to our house in his invisible/imaginary form)
FOND of Tickey Bear (who he's taken to school for show-and-tell all but one of his turns this year)
FOND of sleeping (he's so high energy during the day that he's worn out and easy to put to bed at night)
FOND of hanging with the big-kids in the neighborhood
FOND of showing off his 2-wheeler riding skills
FOND of death defying stunts (yet he's a scardy cat when it comes to dark rooms or slightly scary movies)
FOND of ignoring mom and doing his own thing
ADVERSE to cleaning (although he's reluctant he's actually a good helper once he stops complaining and gets to work)

ISAAC:
SKEPTICAL of all food (even when we try to remind him that he's had it before and liked it)
ADVERSE to gel in his hair (but mom usually wins on this one)
ADVERSE to tucking in his shirt at church (but what 7-yr old isn't?)
ADVERSE to waking up in the morning (he can sleep and sleep if we let him--but thankfully he's good natured enough that he isn't too hard to wrestle out of bed)
FOND of building with Legos, experiments, riding bikes and scooters over his ramp
FOND of neatness and tidyness (he's great at organizing)
PROUD of his ability to read simple chapter books
PROUD of his bravery on big rides at Six Flags (he stuffed his shoes with extra layers last summer so he'd be tall enough to ride)

MORGAN:
ADVERSE to showering and grooming in general
FRUSTRATED by cavities or any tooth related issue
FOND of her turtle Kimmy, violin, soccer, gymnastics, her teacher, SCHOOL!
FOND of roller coasters
PROUD of out-lasting every boy in her class during the endurance/fitness test in gym class (she did more sit-ups, more push-ups, more sprints across the gym, and other such stuff...and she beat all the boys but one in the mile run)
PROUD of straight As on her report card

BRENT:
FOND of running, camping and roller coasters
FOND of cool wheels on cars (I don't have enough testosterone to understand this one)
ADVERSE to student loans and and the dentist
ADVERSE to many of my music choices
FOND of me...which makes him quirky :-)

Isaac's World

Brent found himself alone with Isaac this week and tried to engage him in a fatherly conversation about how things are going in his life. Their conversation went as follows:

Brent: "So Isaac, do you feel like you have any challenges in your life right now?"
Isaac: Thinks for a minute, "Yeah, time is a challenge".
Brent: "Really? How so? Do you feel like you don't have enough time to do everything you want to do?"
Isaac: "No, I just can't keep the big hand and the little hand straight, I forget which one is which".

I have a feeling this one will keep us laughing for years to come.

In other news, Isaac lost his two front teeth last week. He looks adoreable, but hates the attention from everyone who notices and comments. Uncle Matt came to visit from Arizona and the kids had a blast with him. I thought this photo was so cute of Isaac snuggled up to his favorite uncle (sorry to any other uncles who may read this...if you move closer you might be in the running--then again, Matt's a pretty tough act to follow).

Gymnast Morgan Doing Her Thing

I've promised it for weeks, finally, here it is...video from Morgan's best meet of the year (so far).

February, 15, 2009, St Louis, MO
9.325/2nd place Bars
9.200/2nd place Beam
8.750/6th place Floor
9.100/1st place (tied) Vault
36.375/2nd place All Around

The season is almost over, just the state meet is left on April 4th(the boys will be so relieved, gymnastics meets are long and boring for them). Instead of spending our Saturdays in a gym we'll move on to Saturdays at the soccer field and baseball field. Should be fun to get a little fresh air on the weekends. Hooray for Spring!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezW_qb5b3Yg

Motorcycle Grandma

I was cleaning up the office and came across this card I received from a woman at church a few months ago. She's an elderly Hungarian woman who speaks with a thick accent. She's stubborn and independent and loves to talk talk talk and eat eat eat. She reminds me so much of my Grandma Regan (she even looks a bit like her). She works as a sample lady at Sam's Club where she works with the owner of the motorcycle pictured below. She printed up about 50 of the pictures below and handed them out to everyone at church. She was so pleased with her hip motorcycle photo shoot she just had to share it with everyone (there were actually two poses included). Given the opportunity my Grandma Regan would have done the exact same thing.

What's up with us

Okay, okay. Thanks Angela for the friendly chide to update my blog. I suppose having Christmas music on my blog in February is a bit like still having Christmas wreaths on my front door. No offense to any of you who may be slow to take down your decor, but it is one of my pet peeves. Thank goodness Brent spearheads the Christmas decor removal for our family...sometimes a little earlier than I'd like (he's OCD when it comes to getting the "mess" put away). This year we felt a little bah-humbug when the neighborhod was still alight with shimmering Christmas lights but ours were already taken down and put away on December 28th. Brent was anxious to take them down on the 26th, but we comprimised that he'd have to wait through the weekend. Next year I think I'll insist that they stay up through New Years. However, I do see his point, you never know when the roof will freeze and sometimes that means the lights could be stuck on the house till February, and that would just drive him (and me) insane. So, I accomodate and even kind of appreciate his OCD in this department. I just have to set ground rules so it doesn't get too out of hand.

It is Gymnastics season, so we are filling our weekends sitting in bleachers for hours on end while the boys find a corner to play DS and Leapster with all the other gymnast's brothers. Miss Morgan is doing great as a Level 5 gymnast. She qualified for the state meet which is in April. This weekend we are heading to St Louis for a meet.

On our way to St Louis (about 6 hours from home), we are making a stop in Springfield to visit the Abraham Lincoln museum there--in honor of our other great Illinois president's birthday which just so happens to be today! What a romantic Valentines it will be at the Courtyard Marriot in St Louis with the kids in the bed next to us--I'll make sure to stop at Victoria's Secret before I pack-up the car :-).

I felt like I was living back in the lovely Bay Area this week while we enjoyed a few days of temps in the 60s!!!! It was as good as a vacation. The kids were riding bikes, we went running outside, it was heavenly. It's cold again now, but the dirty old snow is melted, the grass is finally visible again, and I feel like I can hunker down and survive a few more weeks of cold.

I joined Morgan's class on a field trip to the Forest Preserve on the warmest day this week. We were originally scheduled for a few weeks ago when it was so cold that school was cancelled. So, we really hit the jackpot when our new date just happened to have record breaking highs. It was a beautiful day to spend outdoor in nature...even if our task was to cut down buckthorn and hunt for scat (i.e. deer poop).

I'm off to pick-up Ethan from school...I'm sure I'll update again in a few months :-) ...or maybe sooner?

I love this little video clip of Brent and Isaac killing time at the end of a gymnastics meet...like father like son!