Friday, August 31, 2007

Crackers Anonymous

As the kids were eating their snack of dried cranberries and cheese crackers Isaiah asked for seconds on the crackers. He told me he loved the crackers so much and that he was "totally adapted'' to these cheese crackers.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Very Cool

I wish I would have taken a picture.

My boy is completely clear this morning. Very weird! He took a shower last night and was covered with a yucky looking red rash. It started out as little red dots, never blistered but spread all over and even made little red rings in some areas. I was actually starting to wonder if it maybe wasn't chicken pox?

Isaiah woke up this morning and I scanned him all over. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Very weird. I looked at Isaiah and said, "Where'd it go?". He gave a very nonchalant look and said, "God."

I guess so! Thank you, God, for healing up my boy!!!!!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Why??

Although I do my darndest to give my children natural, organic and homeopathic "stuff", I do subject them to vaccinations. Isaiah and Anna had their yearly "well-baby"/"well-kid" check-up on Friday. We found out that the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine Isaiah received was not enough. Children will now be expected to receive two varicella vaccinations. One at 12mos. and another at 4-6yrs. Oh Great!

I signed our lives away and allowed the nurse to quickly inoculate my boy. He's never had a bad reaction from any other shots so I figured we'd be good. Yesterday afternoon, however, I discovered red itchy spots on my boy.

We have chicken pox people. Yippee skippee. I figured this would be mild as my cousin's little girls each had a mild case less then one week after their first varicella shot. I called her up and got the lowdown on how the mild cases run their course. Supposedly this is a 2-3 day thing with maybe a mild fever, runny nose and cough. I can handle this. I can handle this. I can handle this. I even had my mom run over to see if it looks like chicken pox. She thought yes. I had them when I was 8 and don't really remember too much.

So far, his first areas of rashiness seem to fading with out really blistering. He has no fever, no cough, no runny nose. Isaiah is definitely his regular self. My anxiety is calming slowly even without meds. (I'm not kidding about that part) I think we should be good by this weekend and the first day of school on Tuesday for sure.

We are supposed to attend the Open House at school tomorrow evening where we meet Isaiah's teacher, check out the room, see the sights, etc. Is it possible to miss school before school even starts? Do I send a signed parental note to beg an excused absence? If so, you send those notes back on his first day back from an absence which would be the first day of school. Do children need excused absence notes on the first day of school? This all leads to so many questions. I think I'll wait to call the teacher until tomorrow afternoon. Maybe, just maybe he'll look cleared up. I couldn't get a clear answer on the whole, "Is he contagious?" question. Yes, I know he is until everything scabs over, but what if the marks/rash/blisters don't scab over and just disappear? Oh well. I'll make a decision tomorrow and just pray this clears up quickly.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Dear Kristi,

I apologize for my delay in posting. I received a sewing machine for my birthday last Monday and as a result have neglected my blog posting duties. Anna, last night, rescued me from a lack of ideas and I now present post #101.

Anna and I were again discussing the day's events at bedtime yesterday. Anna noticed that it was getting dark and stated as much:

Anna: It getting dark.
Mama: Yep. The sun's going down. It's nighttime so now we'll see the moon and stars. What do we see during the daytime?
Anna: Um.....let's see...
(she really says this, I'm not sure where she heard this phrase but it stuck)
Anna: We see Papa!
(not the answer I was looking for but a good one nonetheless)
Mama: Ahh..we do see Papa during the day. I love you Anna!
Anna: Mama, know what? I yuv you.

And this concludes installment 101. Although it's foggy today if you look hard you may just see our Papa today.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Crazy Animals

When I was little I loved those huge shredded wheat biscuits for breakfast. I loved them I tell you. I think I only enjoyed them because afterwards I'd gallop through the house all day and pretend to be a horse. Shredded Wheat, hay..... what's the difference?

Today for our morning snack Isaiah and Anna munched on Kix cereal. Anna wanted milk Isaiah wanted dry. Fine. I then look over to see Isaiah eating his dry Kix out of his bowl like a dog! What?! I just didn't even care because I overheard Isaiah tell Anna to pretend the cereal is the dog food at Opa's farm. Good grief. Whatever. Have fun.

A New Beginning

I love fall! Can't tell you how excited I am that we're nearing September, October and November. I love this time of year. It's cool, no 90+ degrees, no 60+ dew points, just sweaters, jeans, apple picking, colorful leaves and walks in the woods. (sigh) It always reminds me of John Denver songs and the Grizzly Adams tv show. Must be a grew-up-during-the-1970s-type-thing?

Then there's the start of school. The wonderful smelling new pencils, markers, paper, notebooks, crayons and folders. So exciting. Meeting new teachers and learning new schedules.

I even enjoy fall cleaning. It seems so much more fun than spring cleaning. You're preparing your home to be snug as a bug for the looonnngg winter months.

The cooking is excellent. My favorite things to make are soups, stews, bread, apple pie and crock-pot stuff. The house is warm and smells so yummy and homey.

I know it's still the middle of August and we do still have warm/hot days in September but....I'm just sort of dreaming today.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Weekend Fun

We just got back from a fun weekend at Opa and Oma's farm. We wanted to sneak in a visit to Matthew's parent's home before the school year begins. The kids have a super fun time being outside, in the country all day long.

We get to feed the sheep and the horses and the donkey and dogs and the cats. EIEIO! Oma makes huge meals three times a day. It's like a little mini-vacation. Isaiah and I even get to fight over who's going to drive the 4wheeler. He turns into quite the confident little man on the farm.

One trip we made was to "the pines". It's a valley of pine trees Opa planted when Matthew was younger and now it's a mini-forest that Opa mows 4wheeler paths through just for fun. Isaiah puts on his ginormous dirt bike helmet, sits in front of me on the 4wheeler and off we go. I even let him control the throttle sometimes.....I keep my hand near the brake so I'm ready to slow the little lead-foot down. Oma asked if we'd get the mail on our trip. Cool! We drove down the road a mile to collect their mail and stopped at the pines on the way back. Ya know yer a redneck if ya git yer mail on a 4wheeler. Suh-weet! Lots of fun I tell ya! Besides getting the mail Isaiah and I rode by Arrowhead Alley. Arrowhead Alley is a cornfield we named earlier this summer because of all the arrowheads we found in the field. Opa and Oma live right on a major Indian war site. The Blackhawk Wars were fought right on their land and if the ground is just right you can really hit the jackpot for arrowheads. The adventures a boy and his mama can have are numerous.

Matthew and Anna had some 4wheeler trips as well. They rode over a creek to visit Opa's horses. Anna loves Eeyore, the donkey. Clever name, huh? Apparently Anna's so relaxed on the 4wheeler that she sits criss-cross-applesauce in front of Matthew and reclines with her arm up behind her head and just enjoys the ride.

It was a nice weekend and we really enjoyed the visit. Fun summer memories before the start of a new school year.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Rest Assured

We have a very important gate at our home. It is always in the hallway in one of two spots. It is either locking our littlest girl in or out of a specific room. It has proved to be very handy. Sometimes I leave the gate down on purpose due to laundry trekking or other various household chores that would be hindered with a gated hallway.

On the occasion that I do leave the gate down Anna will usually run full tilt to the opposite room and commence toddler activities. I'm able to discern her activities by the sounds she's making and know she's still safe even though Anna is unwatched. Sometimes, however, she is silent. I simply ask what she's doing and she can assure me she's fine. Here are some examples:

*silence*
Mama: Anna whachya doin'?
Anna: I fine. (said while digging through the fridge)

*silence*
Mama: Anna where are you?
Anna: I right here. (said while flipping through the printer for the computer)

*silence*
Mama: Anna??!!
Anna: I fine I just pwayin'. (said while starting to climb stairs)

*silence*
Mama: Anna where did you go?
Anna: silence
Mama: Anna?
Anna: silence
This is where I REALLY run fast to see what she's (not) doing.



ps I just noticed that I live in a gated community. Huh....imagine that!

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Milestones

Isaiah was pondering life today, all 6.5years. He told me 4years old is the turning point in life. I was a bit taken aback at this news and asked why the turning point is 4. He said, "That's when you get to play with legos and lincoln logs".

Customer Service

After leaving Target yesterday Isaiah had a thought. Isaiah mentioned that Target was "kid-friendly". I asked what he meant by that and he said Target people were nice to kids.

Mama: What makes you say that?
Isaiah: You know our Target helper? She's always nice.

I, unaware we had a Target helper, asked for a second time what he meant by that.

Isaiah: The lady that checks us out.
Mama: Oh...which one?
Isaiah: The one we always see.
Mama: What color hair does she have?
Isaiah: I don't know either black or blond. Yeah, it's one of those two.

After many more questions regarding our "Target helper's" description I think I finally figured out who he was talking about. I don't think that she's any more friendly or helpful to us as she is to her other customers. I just think we are at Target so often that Isaiah has developed a one-sided friendship with the check-out lady. I'm thinking I should probably plan a bit better so I'm able to stop at Target less often. I'm afraid we may have to invite out "Target helper" over for Isaiah's birthday party otherwise.

Monday, August 6, 2007

I Was Just Wondering.......

Matthew and I have just started the process of making a decision. We are pondering the idea of buying land and building a home, putting up some out-buildings and having a little hobby farm. We are in the very early thinking stages. There are quite a few things that have to "line-up" correctly first. This will all take a while but I'm starting to get excited about the possibilities.

I've lived in Hudson all my life minus a few years here and there, basically I'm a Hudsonite. Matthew is from the very southern part of SW Wisconsin and has about as much background info. as I do. Not much. We are considering a couple of spots Glenwood City or Osceola. I like them both for different reasons and am starting to have a preference between the two. One is in St.Croix county and one is in Polk county. I'd like to think about the two county fairs as Isaiah (and Mama & Papa) is getting pretty excited about starting 4H this year. I've only been to St. Croix's fair but the Polk co. fairgrounds looked awfully impressive. I know nothing about the school districts either. I'll probably have to do some detective work in that area as well. Do any of you "out there" know about either community? Do you have any feelings about either school district or county fair? It would be so cool if anyone has an opinion. If you do have personal experience with either place let me know what you think of it. Thanks a bunch!

Friday, August 3, 2007

Misc.

First off, Isaiah was saddened by the bridge collapse. He didn't see too much but he did notice the school bus and wondered about the children. I explained to him what happened as best I could without too many details. He was glad the children on the bus were all okay. This led to conversation about what he wants to be when he grows up. He told me he wants to invent real web fluid (think spiderman) and will go to all the police officers and tell them how to use it. He wants everyone in the world to be mandated to have web fluid on them at all times so that if they do fall they can just shoot out the fluid and be safe.

Secondly, Michelle Duggar from Arkansas apparently had baby #17 yesterday. I thought I needed a break today because of VBS all week. This talented mama homeschools her children and I think they are a christian family. You could probably go to Discovery Health Channel's website and find out more info. You might be able to google the family as well. Man, I'm worn out just thinking about her job.

Third, Isaiah just asked me if when I was little I had vacuum cleaners. I told him I did. He was wondering if it looked like ours or if it was the old fashion kind. I have no idea what he means by that so I just appeased him by saying it was an old fashion kind.

All very random, I know. That's just what's floating around between my ears to day.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Can't Sleep

Don't know why but I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. I heard/read somewhere if you wake at night and can't fall back to sleep shortly do not toss and turn. I think you are supposed to get up and do something or read a book, etc. I decided to check out blogs I've never read before. I found a few quizzes and a blog rater (G, PG, PG-13, etc.) Feel free to take the quizzes now or save them for a sleepless night. Incidentally, Mama Tembo is G rated which I somehow was able to copy to the very bottom of my page. You'd have to scroll all the way down to click the image. I hope I've been up long enough now.... I'll attempt sleeping again .... very busy day tomorrow, today actually. Good night. Good day, whatever.

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