5.31.2010

Summer's Here!

We kicked off our Memorial Day weekend with a "Pool Opening" neighborhood cookout. To say the kids were excited about the pool opening would have been an understatement! I was fearful the water would be freezing and appointed Paul to be the designated parent in the water. After dinner he took Julia & Jacob to the kiddie pool and played with them in there for a while. Jacob loved it! He splashed and splashed and had the best time!

The cookout was a great start to the weekend. Over the next two days we spent a lot of time at the pool and had some great friends and family over to play in the pool with us. The older girls a especially are having fun swimming and playing with a lot of friends that they don't see too often. Julia is having fun too but she's a little more tentative in the water though gaining more confidence every day. And Jacob. Oh my. He's crazy at the pool. Almost scary crazy. No fear. Loves the water. Doesn't care about going under or getting his face wet. Can't take your eyes off him for a second. Which is a problem. Since Paul works. A lot.

I did brave a solo trip to the pool this afternoon with all 4 of them. Thankfully a lifeguard was on duty and there were several neighbors we know pretty well down there. And most thankfully, only a few friends were there so we didn't have to stay long. The older 2 girls are mostly fine but we've instituted a buddy rule where if they are in water that is too deep for them they have to be with a buddy. But in general it's just exhausting and stressful for me! I'm hoping it will get a little easier since I know we can't hide in the house all summer.

5.28.2010

Winding Down

It's so hard to believe that this school year is coming to a close. I'm a little sad but I'm really ready for a break. Between AWANA, Daisy scouts, dance and daily carpool runs I'm ready for a break from the car. And packing school lunches & snacks. And arguing about wearing flip flops to school (that's a no go in our house). And rushing breakfast so we can get out of the house on time.

Ideally our summer break will be filled with lazy mornings, pool time, lots of reading and a few activities sprinkled in. Realistically it will be busy with endless piles of bathing suits and beach towels to wash but...at least I won't have to pack a lunch and snack every day. And I won't have to sit in a carpool line every day. And I won't have to run kids all around town or try to entertain little kids while the girls dance.

So as this year continues to wind down..AWANA and preschool are done..a few more Daisy meetings, 1 more dance class then recitals I will look forward to any break I can get. And I'm sure the week after it starts I'll be counting down the days until school starts.

5.24.2010

400th Post!

I was trying to think of a clever name for this post and then I realized it's my 400th (!) post and thought that should just be the title. Other titles given consideration were: Dermabond: It's a Good Thing, How to Ruin a Playgroup and Thank Heavens for the Pediatric Urgent Care.

We arrived at our weekly playgroup a few minutes after 10. I'd just sat down on the couch and Jacob and Julia were playing with their friends. Five minutes later Jacob walked into the toy room and we hear a cry. I get up to check on him and notice there is a lot of blood on his forehead. I pick him up and run to the kitchen and my dear friends go get towels to wash his face off and a first aid kit. We cleaned him up and tried a butterfly bandage which he ripped off in about 3 seconds flat. The cut wasn't that big but it looked pretty deep and it was gaping so I decided to take him up to the Pediatric Express (a fabulous pediatric urgent care that just so happens to be about 5 minutes from my house. I think this might be one reason the Lord put us where He did). I got there and let me say it took longer for them to input us in the computer than it did for the dr. to look at him. Darn our insurance for changing every year...grrr. After what seemed like an eternity (but was likely about 5 minutes - but 5 minutes of Jacob running everywhere around the waiting area..clearly sidelined with his injury) we went back. The dr did see us pretty quickly and determined that yes the cut was deep but there was no major injury and that a little dermabond would do the trick. She said it should heal well and will be little, if any scarring. I was thrilled that no stitches were required and felt justified that I did the right thing by taking him there. Ten minutes later we were back at playgroup.

When I got back to Marta's house they had deduced that Jacob was standing on a toy and fell into the corner of the coffee table. Boys! He forgets he's only 20 months old! You know in 7 years of having girls we were so lucky to not have to go the ER/Urgent Care for injuries and in 6 months with Jacob we've been twice. I have a feeling we'll be regulars at the Pediatric Express.

5.17.2010

Summer Reading List

Well it's that time of year again. All my TV shows are winding down or done (bye Survivor All Stars - I'll miss you but, not you Russell...not even a little tiny bit) so it's time to make out my summer reading list. Several of my favorite authors have new books either out or coming soon. This excites me. A lot. Here's what I've got so far:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - I actually just finished this one. Great, great read. Loved it.
My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster - I can not wait to read this one. Love, love, love Jen Lancaster. I have it on hold at the library and check frequently to see where I'm at. I think I'm no in the 20's. Should be soon!! I'm certain to be laughing so hard I'm crying..yay!
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris - This is the newest Sookie Stackhouse aka Southern Vampire Mystery aka True Blood book.
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich - The newest Stefanie Plum comes out in mid June. I put it on reserve about 3 months ago and I was like 500th on the waiting list. I'm sure I'll get it this summer. Surely?
Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner - love this author. The book comes out in mid July.
Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin - Another one of my favorite authors.
Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - This is sequel to The Nanny Diaries which I liked a lot.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows - Have heard a lot of good things about this book.
Big Fish by Daniel Wallace - this is my book club pick for the month.

What are you reading or planning to read this summer?

5.12.2010

Dessert Night

It's a treat to get dessert after dinner at our house. Yesterday I made a cake and the kids were thrilled to get some after eating a good dinner. The most excited? Jacob.

I think he really like it. Yep...we went straight to the bath.

Cheap Labor

Will work for Silly Bandz:


5.06.2010

Mother's Day Tea

Today was our preschool's annual Mother's Day Tea. It's one of my favorite days of the year. They provide childcare for siblings so you really get a chance to spend some time with your preschooler. It's a really sweet time. We had muffins and strawberries to eat and the kids made a placemat for each mom. We also got a special gift. Then we got to go outside and play (omg..is it hot out there today!). Here are a few pictures from our morning..

5.05.2010

Strep Strikes Again

Strep has stricken our household again. The current tally is: Strep Victims: 3, Well ones : 3. Hoping and praying that count stays the same!

I came down with the dreaded illness last week. I thought I had strep so went to the doctor before I was feeling too bad and got on antibiotics. Monday Paul left for the week to go to the Boston area for work. We sat down to dinner and Julia said "my tummy hurts, I can't eat" which is very uncharacteristic of Julia. And it was food she likes. Needless to say I started to think something was up. She was running a fever by bedtime and was up several times in the night. I could tell her tonsils were swollen and I suspected she may have caught my sickness. Paul called Tuesday afternoon to tell me his throat was swollen and sore. He ended up at an urgent care in RI where he tested positive for strep. Meanwhile I was at the dr with Julia (and the rest of the brood) where her strep test was positive in about a second. Luckily we were able to get her antibiotics quickly and she got her first dose late yesterday afternoon. By bedtime I could tell she was starting to feel better.

Today she was back to her normal self - yay! Thank goodness antibiotics work so quickly in little ones! Meanwhile I've been lysoling and cleaning the house to try to get rid of these germs!