Afternoon Skate

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to take the boys ice skating for the first time.  We met some friends there and used a deal we bought through LivingSocial.com.

At first I was super nervous about how it was going to go. I mean, I can barely stand on skates, let alone assist two boys.   So I was very thankful for these assisting stands they could use to help them skate.

And as expected, there were a lot of falls at first (none by me, though!). 

But they caught on and by the end of the first hour, they were making their rounds, assisting stand free.

These best part of the afternoon, however, just might have been watching the zamboni at the very end and drinking hot chocolate on the ride home.

 

(referral link used)

He dressed Himself.

Last Sunday morning, I laid out the boys clothes and in the mad fury that is our Sunday mornings, I ordered the boys to quickly get dressed.   We head out the door, arrive at church, send the kids off to class and enjoy our service. 

Afterward we chat with friends, pick up the boys, grab a cookie and then…. only then…do we realized how AJ has been wearing his pants all morning.

 

My First Cheesecake

My dear cousin recently made a cheesecake recipe that was simply wonderful!  When she gave me an extra springform pan that she had and the recipe, I knew I had to give it a go. 

So last weekend, I made my first ever cheesecake…. Turtle Cheesecake!   (Oh my Word, it’s wonderful!)

It’s a graham cracker crust, topped with caramel and pecans, topped with cheesecake & chocolate chips.

This is one of those desserts where a teeny slice is all you need.  Pair with some hazelnut coffee and it’s bliss!

How to Celebrate a 7 Year Old Birthday | Part II

We continued to celebrate Andrew’s birthday a few days later with a birthday party at the Courthouse Athletic Center.  He had it after school the following Friday.  And really think it was an ideal place for a bunch of 7 year old boys to party.

The boys showed up and just shot around for a while, while Marc and I met with parents, took down phone numbers, and chatted.

Some of the boys even formed teams and got a game going on their own.  After a while, Marc stepped in and had the kids play “Spider in the Web” and “Crazy Ball” relay races.  He also had an obstacle course set up for them, but they were more interested in just getting back to their game of basketball…. so we let them.  Easier for us.

We eventually coaxed them off the floor, enticing them with pizza and cake.

I think all the boys had a great time and Andrew LOVED having a birthday party.  I loved that it was a super easy and inexpensive way to entertain 11 boys.  And the bonus was that I now have a better feeling of who these boys are that my kid is playing with and knowing their parents just a little better, too.

    

Urgent Care on speed Dial

I wrote this post several weeks ago and just realized as I was posting Andrew’s recent Urgent Care trip, that I never published it.  Better late than never, right?

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AJ picked up a slight cough last week on Thursday (2.24.11).  I noticed in the morning before I left for work, but didn’t think much of it. However, by that evening, it had turned into a deep, dry consistent cough.

Unfortunately, bad cough = no sleep…. for him or parents.  Actually, Marc stepped up and was up with him most of the night.  They “slept” on the couch, trying to keep AJ as upright as possible.

He was running a fever on Friday so we did not send him to school. He stayed up in our room watching movies so he wouldn’t infect all the other boys.  Friday night = more coughing, high fevers and another rough night.  We were administering a constant cocktails of cough syrup and fever/pain meds.

Things started looking up on Saturday (2.26.11).  The coughing, while not gone, went down considerably,  the fever lowered and even disappeared for a while, and even though he still had no appetite, his personality came back a little.  His only main complaint was that his throat hurt, which we thought was completely understandable since he had been consistently coughing for the last 24 hours.

Then he napped and we could hardly wake him up.  When we did he was inconsolably crying his throat hurt. (at this point, over the course of the last couple days, the boy had been living on popsicles).  Because of some recent possible exposure and the fever, we thought “strep” and decided to take him to our local Urgent Care Center.

However when we got there, his fever was 103 (with fever meds being him for a good hour) and his oxygen was way low. (I got a nice little education blood oxygen levels).  So they set him up with a breathing treatment and ordered chest x-rays to confirm what they suspected… pneumonia. 

I’ll say it again… Praise God for the iPhone and Angry Birds to keep boys occupied and distracted during long waits.

Then they also found an ear infection for good measure.  But surprisingly, no strep.

So AJ got a dose of steroids right there at Urgent Care and we left with a prescription for a strong antibiotic (no free amoxicillin for pneumonia) and more steroids.  And within another 24 hours our happy boy was back. (ok, I know the picture on the left is an angry face, but he was doing it on purpose to be silly).

Another side thing I learned… a dose of steroids is the equivalent of give a child a family size bag of Skittles in one sitting. With 15 minutes, after each dose, that boy would be  bouncing off the walls like a crazy man! 

 

Four stitches later, the scoreboard reads = Tree 1, Andrew 0

Yesterday,  I worked in the office, we were supposed to have company over that evening, and I forgot my cell phone.  So I get an IM at 5pm from Marc, just as I was wrapping things up at work, saying “Come home now, Andrew needs stitches”.

I immediately call home to verify and sure enough, Marc was heading to Urgent Care.  I told him I would meet him there.

Apparently, Andrew, AJ and their neighbor buddy were playing baseball in the front yard.  It was Andrew’s turn with the glove and he went running full speed to the “outfield”.  However, while he’s running, he is also talking to our neighbor and not seeing that he’s heading straight for our tree. 

So we get to Urgent Care again… the second time in a month.  (And I just realized I wrote a whole post about our visit a couple weeks ago and never published it…. hmmm… keep an eye out for it, it will be coming soon). 

We arrived and are waiting in the chilly lobby.  Because Andrew is only in shorts and a t-shirt and is holding ice against his head, he is noticeably shivering.  He’s given a couple warm blankets before being taken to triage for basics like temperature, oxygen levels, etc..  They clean and cover the gash for us, assure us that he does need stitches, they don’t think he has a concussion (something that didn’t even cross my mind) and shoo us back to the waiting room.  We’re told we’re ninth in line and to expect a wait.

At this point we obviously cancelled plans with our company and it’s dinner time. Andrew is actually acting fine, so Marc and AJ head out and grab us food and we had a family picnic, complete with Subway, POP! and cookies in the waiting room.

Praise God for the iPhone and Angry Birds to keep boys occupied and distracted during long waits.

Once taken back to our room, the doctor checked the eye, administered topical anesthetic, and order x-rays since eye bones are more fragile than other bones (that’s my non-medical paraphrasing).   Thankfully, the x-rays came back fine…. and were super fun to look at!

The hardest part was the anesthetic shots, before the actual stitches, directly into the gash.  A.W.F.U.L!    I never wanted to make someone stop doing something so badly and I’m thankful Marc was holding/restraining Andrew’s hands and not me.    Anyway, once that was done, the stitches themselves were a breeze.  All four of them.

Today’s he doing just fine…. just getting plenty teased to watch were he’s going.  The eye keeps getting darker and I expect a full black eye tomorrow or Monday.  He gets the stitches removed in 4-5 days. 

Now only if he had a better story to go along with those stitches than “I ran into a tree”.

(I have a pre-stitches picture, but I’ll save you from that one…. the post-stitches is bad enough).

How to Celebrate a 7 year old Birthday | Part I

So, one week ago today, Andrew turned 7.  Of course, we had to celebrate as much as possible since you don’t turn seven everyday.

It started out with Dad and him leaving early to stop for donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast before school.  Nothing like sending an already amped up kid to school loaded with sugar.

He was able to celebrate at school during snack time by bringing mini Oreo packs for all his classmates.  They sang to him and he got a birthday sticker and pencil from his teacher.

Meanwhile, like all good mothers, I am running around like crazy buying his birthday presents…y’know… the day of his birthday.  Great planning on my part.

However, I got my running done in time to pick up his favorite lunch, Subway, and meet him at school.

While he finished the rest of the school day, Marc was busy working our basement.  He bought a used backboard/rim off Craigslist and installed it on our basement wall.  Andrew was sent downstairs the minute he got home to check it out. He LOVES it!  We find him down there first thing in the morning and last thing before bed at night.

We then had our little party for him complete with cake and a few more gifts…. a box of basketball cards, the game SET (he was SUPER excited about) and a new pair of shoes. 

We had basketball birthday cake and he received birthday calls from the Grandmas.

Finally, we had AWANA that night.  Where he got to bring M&M’s for his friends and celebrate once again.

 

      

But his final gift was coming the following Friday…. a birthday party for all the first grade boys in his class at the Courthouse Athletic Center.  Not a shabby way to celebrate, if you ask me.

My Seven Year Old

Andrew, yesterday you turned 7. And something about 7 screams BIG KID!  Even though you are very tall, six years old still made me think I had a little boy.  But seven is different.  School full time, friends you talk to on the phone, obsessed with Mario and basketball.  The only thing tying you to a small child is that I have to cut up some of your food since you are missing your front teeth.

You love school and have a lot of friends.  You favorite, of course, is still gym and recess.  Although we are finding that you enjoy math and are doing well at reading.  I know I shouldn’t be, I everyday I am still surprised when I hear you reading.  No more spelling around you to keep a secret.

You are helpful and polite.  Very helpful and polite.  And I pray this stage never ever ever ever ends.  It was something your teachers also pointed out to us at conferences and to me, that's way more important that how high you are on your math facts or what reading group you are in.

Yet, you are still all boy and can get rowdy, ornery, loud, and carried away at times.  You currently have a Nerf basketball hoop hanging up that you are practically obsessed with. You are constantly shooting hoops…. all.the.time.  Even when someone is standing at the door.  Even when we’ve asked you to come to the dinner table Even when it’s time for bed… you try to convince us you’ll come as soon as you make your last shot.

You can eat! I’m nervous about what you are going to be like as a teenager since you frequently out eat me already.  Tacos and pizza don’t stand a chance.  And your favorite food right now is a Subway roasted chicken sandwich with bacon, American cheese, parmesan and oregano.  I’ve seen you put away the full foot long before.

Bedtime can be a little rough for you right now as you have a vivid imagination that can work it’s way into scary thoughts/dreams when the lights go out.  You currently need both myself and daddy to come in and pray with you each night before bed asking God to give you good, thankful things to think about and not bad dreams.

You are great at memorizing Bible verses.  This year you added the 23rd Psalms, John 1:1-3, and all 66 books of the Bible to your memory with your weekly AWANA verses. And by you learning them, you are helping your brother learn them, too.

And AJ adores you.  Yes, he picks on your quite a bit, too, but that’s because he thinks are your awesome (and he’s a “little brother”… enough said). You guys are great friends most of the time and competitive rivals the others. You do a great job of helping him when he needs it or sharing your ‘big boy’ things.

Andrew, we are so thankful that God placed you in our family 7 years ago and that you’ve grown to be a strong, healthy, kind boy.

Warmest Spot in the House

AJ recently found the warmest spot in the house in the morning… the register under the kitchen sink.  It’s not unusual to find him wrapped up in the blanket standing right there in front of the sink while he tries to slowly wake up.  However, this particular morning, I came back downstairs to find him like this.

Another One Bythe the Dutht.

The other tooth is gone and I’m back to cutting up his food again like when he was a toddler.

How we Learned the Bible Books

I need to thank AWANA for assigning Andrew to learn the books of the Bible.  If it weren’t for them, I probably would not have made the effort to teach it them to the boys.  I also need to give credit to the video below for helping me teach Andrew and AJ the books of the Bible. It made a daunting task easier, quicker, and lot of fun!