Feeling the Christmas... Spirit

Every time the radio plays the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Carol of the Bells" Sean-Peter turns into some kind of marionette puppet with strings and he has no choice but to jump around and do a form of "dance" that basically consists of kicking, twisting, and punching the air. He'll tell you he's fighting the bad guys. John calls it Kabuki theater.



Who knew Christmas music could be so... inspiring.

I wish it would inspire me. I am sooo unprepared for Christmas. I think it has to do with my serious intentions of making this Christmas as non-materialistic as possible: e.g. I'm not going to pile a mountain of presents under the tree. Which is sad, really. If not buying presents is why I'm not inspired, that is. Presents should not a Christmas make.

And they don't, but when you're inundated with commercialism every where you turn around and you're determined not to succumb I wonder if I've tilted the pendulum too far in the other direction.

Either that, or I'm just getting old.

The kids are getting a good, old-fashioned Christmas, by the way, with presents and stocking stuffers and everything, don't you worry. I'm not even claiming to be spending a whole lot less this year -- I'm just determined not to get so much stuff.

Wish me luck. I think I understand why my mom needed so much coffee on Christmas morning.

• Carol Of The Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

More Trans-Siberian Orchestra music on iLike

He's Still My Baby...

But he did turn five!

(Grandma's got so many grandsons, it's hard to keep track of them all...)

He was so excited to get mail from his Me-ma...

And Lassie from his other grandma... (Aww, remember Lassie? "Lassie, please come home!"?)

Of course there was cake.

And presents...

He was a tad-bit excited about the transformers. At least I convinced him he only needed to sleep with the smallest one...

This is How We Get Rid of Leaves and Drag Around Kids in O-hi-yo.

This time last year...

...he was obsessed with Thomas.

Now it's Pokemon.

Sigh. Why do they have to grow up?

Now, Where Were We?

I know, I know. Poor, neglected blog. You sweet thing. Now there, mommy's back now. You miss me?

Hmm, let's see, where to begin... Let's just summarize, shall we?

• We went trick-or-treating.
• We've taken turns being sick.
  
• Sean-Peter earned another trip to the ER (with a little help from his sister).
  
• I spent a lot of time finishing an assignment for my writing class.
• The rest of my writing time has been spent posting to my other blog.
  
• I've wasted a lot of time trying to transfer my other blog over to my own domain.
  
• When I started the process I didn't realize it involved writing code.
• I don't do code.
• I've tried.
• John's feverishly reading and writing a paper for his class.
• Oh, and Olivia lost a tooth. See?

• John's on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again, on-again.... Honestly, I lost track. Anybody recall where I left off with the latest on his deployment?
• Anyway, it's off-again. Officially.
• But there's another one that might be on.
  

Isn't this fun!

Sean-Peter's fine, by the way. Turns out there's a reason Bill Cosby always told us on that one commercial that we should never stick anything in our ears, other than our elbows. And then you couldn't help but sit there and try to stick your elbow in your ear. Remember that one?

Olivia was almost as traumatized as Sean-Peter. Almost.

"I was just trying to clean his ear!"

He's been in for a follow-up once, but needs to go in for another next week. His ear drum didn't rupture, according to the ER doc, but it did bleed a lot, and the second doc wants him back after the dried blood has had a chance to clear up a bit on its own, so's she can see in there all the way right-like.

Isn't this fun!

Otherwise we're all good. "We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"

(Name that movie.)

Hint: Use the Force.

I do hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Veterans Day! Kids are off of school here the next two days, so my "weekend" starts early...

Oh, and I'm going to Chicago on Sunday! Whoopee for me! A road trip. All. by. myself. What is that, anyway? Anybody have any books on tape to recommend? I'm going to visit an old, old friend -- we grew up together, for pete's sake. She never married and never had kids. She might as well live on another planet.

I might like it there...

Birthdays and Barking

John celebrated his birthday yesterday... Although mourned seemed to be the more appropriate description for much of the day, and not just because he's approaching the end of another decade... (Ahem)

It all started out innocuous enough. A guy from the phone company came out, a day earlier than expected. So that sounds good, right? He confirmed that our nerves wires are frayed and did what he could on the spot short of pulling them all out and starting over. Apparently, 40+ year-old wires aren't good. Especially with the jimmy-rigging that went on with the previous owners.

Right after he left we did a little jig, because our internet connection was faster than it had been since... Well, since forever.

Unfortunately, that was short-lived.

Routing Woes
John thought he'd piggy-back on our good fortune and work on getting the router to, um, route properly. Alas, in vain, since this was the umpteenth time he has worked on this problem, and always before we could go back to how the phone line was probably contributing to the problem. Now that the phone line has been fixed (as much as it can be for now) he is faced with the router being absolutely, undoubtedly, the worst router. Ever. He alternated between working on it, debating whether to call the Dell Indians at a mere $7 a minute... or stomping on the ground and smashing it to smithereens.

He opted for giving up instead, with plans to return the router to the depths of Hades from whence it came. Or to the BX, whichever you prefer.

Besides, he had a game to watch, with his favorite peeps.Alabama won!
No matter that they shouldn't have, based on how they played. John and some Tennessee fans at work placed a friendly bet on this game -- John should have some beer coming his way very soon... Happy Birthday!

And the kids showered him with homemade gifts, each in their own unique way.

Olivia went on a card-making frenzy...


If you look closely, you might wonder if she even wore herself out. ("Mom and Mommy"?)

The Times, They are a Changing

In what truly says more about this next generation than I could ever begin to articulate, Conner presented his dad with his own homemade "card", DSi style...



I mean, have you ever?

I think John was quite taken aback.



Imagine if the original Disney creators could see what everyday teenagers are able to do now...

Sean-Peter didn't really make anything for John, per se. But he presented his own creation, in his own, unique way.So much for the cake.It's a good thing he's so darn cute.

He's not into much mischief today, though...

Meet the latest cold victim. He's got it worse than Olivia did; he woke up this morning -- not early -- panicking with that tell-tale barking seal cough. He was my only kid who ever got croupy, but at the ripe old age of almost five four it's definitely more bark than bite. It took a while to convince him of that, though. It didn't help that he'd also lost his voice.

Here's a tiny sample of a barking seal cough. I didn't want to belabor the point by forcing it out of him, but you get the idea.

At least Olivia's doing much better...

Blackmail Photo #287

In his defense, he said, "I'm a butterfly!"

Little Eggy (and Mushroom Head)

Sean-Peter started back with his Occupational Therapy (OT) sessions after taking a break for the summer. He was doing so well last Spring, and the private company where he does his OT was going to be short-staffed in the summer, what with several therapists out on maternity leave and several others cutting back their hours while their kids were out of school.

It was really nice to have the break, if nothing else for the sake of a change -- not to mention the 20-minute drive each way for the one-hour weekly session. I really didn't know what to expect during the break after a full year of Sean-Peter going to OT. Would there be a change? Would we even notice a difference?

It was about mid-July that it occurred to me that it wasn't a coincidence that Sean-Peter's tolerance level was lower and his frustration level was higher. He was quicker to erupt and more quickly moved to tears for slights that otherwise might have been taken in stride. His speech sometimes stuttered and he articulated with much more effort. We were definitely missing OT.

The progress he has made in this year-plus since he has started therapy has not been lost on me; I am still amazed to think that I once thought I would be learning sign language, and instead the little guy "graduated" from speech therapy. Why, just one year ago Sean-Peter couldn't even sing. He cried in frustration when challenged to sing along to "Old McDonald's" ee-i-ee-i-oh...

And now, not only is he singing, he's making up his own lyrics...

"Little Eggy" by Sean-Peter (44 seconds long)

Little Eggy, Little Eggy....
If you want to hatch
Use your tail or teeth to break it open

"And, don't forget! Another one..."

Little Eggy, Little Eggy....
If you want to hatch
Use your tail or teeth to break it open

Little Eggy, Little Eggy, Little Eggy...

Yes, the little guy continues to amaze me.

Along with starting back to OT, we have also started up his Listening Therapy again at home. This requires a special set of (quite large) headphones that enable noise to filter in while he's wearing them for the 30 minutes of therapy each day that I remember to have him do it.

They're also what earned him the moniker, "Mushroom Head". (The hat helps to keep them on while he goes about his business.)

They say it comes in threes. I'd take that.

First we get an "extended vacation" because our car breaks down while we're in Kansas. No sooner are we back home in Ohio then Sean-Peter contracts e-coli from Lord knows where and lands himself in the hospital. Olivia starts throwing up, and I break my stupid toe. I should write a country song. Thank God we don't have a dog or a pickup truck. Although my mom did tell me we should get rid of our cat. (No surprise there.) (Hi mom!)

Poor, poor Sean-Peter. Have you ever known anyone who suffered from e-coli? It ain't pretty, especially when you don't yet know why your child appears to be expelling half his bowels. Poor, poor Peter. Don't he look pitiful?














We started out at the ER on base, where they tested him for everything under the sun and ruled out what they could. They then transferred him to Dayton Children's Hospital where they continued to run tests and I couldn't have been more impressed with the care. Seriously. If I'd had nurses in the hospital like that when I'd had my babies I never would have wanted to go home.


Sean-Peter went through so much. You know how it is when a child is so sick and pathetic and lethargic and weak and so, so pitiful?

He cried so pathetically when they put in the I.V. which, really, is so much more than a shot. (Have you ever had that tube stuck up your arm?) I soothed him and assured him that the worst was over. Then they taped a sack around his nut sack (ahem) so they could collect some urine to test and when they had to tear that off he screamed and wailed and I said I'm so sorry I was wrong because I was sure that was the worst.

The little guy got his first (and hopefully last) ambulance ride, with the nicest people ever, two confident, take-charge women who must be saints to spend their lives helping hurt and hurting children.

They transferred him from the base ER to Dayton Children's by ambulance "just in case" -- the little guy had been so dehydrated and of course they don't know me, his mom, from Eve, so why take chances?

While sitting back there in the ambulance with those lovely ladies, and a wane little boy so unlike the one I know, one of them attempted to spark some life out of him with some idle questions.

"So, you have an older brother and sister?"

"Uh, huh." So, sooo pathetic. You could barely hear him.

"Are they nice to you?"

Sean-Peter suddenly looks alert and starts shaking his head.

"My brother is mean to me and calls me stupid and a loser." Then he lifts his hand and makes the two-finger loser L sign.

Doh!

The woman laughs appropriately and I am a bit taken aback at the biggest display of life he has shown all day. She asks me how old his brother is and when I tell her 13, she rolls her eyes appreciatively. But still.

Oh, Conner. We have told him time and time again what a powerful role model he is to his younger brother and sister. They look up to him so much and everything he says affects the dynamic in their relationship. No matter that he thinks he's being funny or that he thinks they're annoying; they are not his peers and being the oldest bears a certain responsibility.

I wasn't surprised by Sean-Peter's response -- just by his animation -- but apparently Conner was. Surprised and hurt. I think it made quite the impression that his brother -- his sick, little brother, thought of him this way in his most vulnerable moment. What, you going to accuse a sick little four-year-old of making this stuff up?

Partly in redemption? But mostly because he really is a kind-hearted soul, Conner helped his sister make a card for their little brother.

"Jellyfishing isn't any fun without you, Peter."

"We love you, Peter.

Hey, Peter, can't wait to see you, it's really boring without you! I miss you and I hope you're feeling better!

You will get better."

I especially like the last part.

The country song didn't go into full effect until yesterday, though, when I managed to break my toe -- running to change out laundry? Answer the phone? I really can't recall. But it was sometime after Olivia threw up but before Public Health called with Sean-Peter's diagnosis: I vividly remember massaging my foot with a bag of frozen peas while attempting to process "your son has e-coli" and intelligently answer her formula questions.

Is anyone else sick?
Is your son in daycare?
When did you go to Kansas?

In all honesty, we'll probably never know exactly how or where Sean-Peter contracted the e-coli. He simply doesn't fit the standard profile (e.g., he won't touch hamburger) nor does he have any connections with any other cases. It is sobering to note that, at the same time Sean-Peter was in the hospital, at least two other small children were there for the same thing -- and they're still there. Public Health called again today with more questions, desperate to rule out any and all correlation between our son and the other cases, and a bit credulous that he was home and doing so well, as the other children are still suffering so much. We are very fortunate.

My broken toe notwithstanding. You all can feel sorry for me now.

And I apologize for this photo in advance, I just couldn't resist.**
Before the whole e-coli, Thang, I started uploading photos for a Trip to Kansas post. I will recommence on that shortly.

"7 Quick Takes Friday"

It's been so long since my last post, I thought I'd try participating in one of my favorite blogger's weekly carnivals, "7 Quick Take Fridays" to catch up:

-- 1 --

John got his leave approved for our trip next week. His boss actually approved it some time ago, after John sent the request along with this email...

"My wife has a family trip planned to Kansas for (insert dates). If there's anything you can do to get me out of it, I'd really appreciate it."

John said it was the fastest turnaround for leave approval he'd ever experienced. Of course, he told his boss he was just kidding...

-- 2 --

My sister Carmen visited us recently with her youngest son Ben, who's Conner's age (13). We fit in all kinds of fun things: King's Island; the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium; The Air Force Museum and its IMAX theater... We even got to Goodwill! I'm thinking of donating a bench there in my name when I die: they need a place where you can sit and take a breather while you're waiting for your second wind.

On our way to Columbus we stopped at a rest area. Before anyone could stop him (or even notice what he was doing), Sean-Peter goes right up to the guy who was parking next to us and starts tapping him vigorously on his arm. When the older gentleman finally looked down and discovered the persistent little bugger, Sean-Peter exclaimed -- and these were his exact words -- "YOU GOT A GROOVY CAR!"And he does, doesn't he? He and another older friend were obviously out for a joy ride. After we all laughed the guy looked at Sean-Peter, "Well, if we had more time, young man, I'd take you out for a ride!" And I think he would have. Sean-Peter obviously made the guy's day.

*Sigh* What is it about boys and their toys?

-- 3 --

At one point during Carmen's visit, Sean-Peter asked her to get a basket down from the top of the bookshelves in the basement. When Carmen figured out that was where the gamecube games were kept, she told him he should probably go ask his mother. Sean-Peter replied, "But my mom tells me no electronics, so you have to get them down for me." Luckily, the little guy's still gotta work on his guile.

Later, Carmen came and found me because she had discovered this:She even said, "I've got a perfect blog post for you!"

When his aunt didn't yield to his request, apparently Sean-Peter decided to resort to other means.
I can't remember if Carmen found him before he actually got to the top, or if he started up and changed his mind. But to his credit he did say, "It's scary up there."

It's a wonder we've only been to the emergency room one time with that guy.

-- 4 --

Proof that John is not the only one with, um, a displaced sense of humor... Carmen left our house to go visit a good friend of hers who just moved to Columbus, and this is the inscription on the plaque she gave her as a housewarming gift:

Please God

If you can't make me thin ...
make my friends fat!!

Apparently, it's an inside joke.

-- 5 --

Conner flew to Kansas all by hisself a couple of days ago. Yes, he's flown a gazillion times in his lifetime. And yes, he's even flown alone before -- on an international flight, nonetheless. But that was three years ago, and we used the airline's unaccompanied minor service that time so they were liable for his whereabouts.

But he's 13 now, and perfectly capable of navigating a day of travel, connecting flight and all. (That, and now we have cell phones.) Here he is getting ready to go through security, all by his lonesome. Don't he look so small?Remember the days when you could see people off at the gate?

-- 6 --

We'll be joining Conner in Kansas next week when we go there to visit my family... And also to attend my high school's 20-year reunion. Yikes. Where have the years gone? I clearly remember thinking that people who attended their 20-year reunions were, well, if not old exactly, at least very seasoned. "I guess by now they've done about everything they set out to do." Ha! Joke's on me. I feel like I'm turning a corner and there's just as much going on over the next stretch as there was on the last one. Just not at as quick a pace, perhaps. Please, we can slow down now. I do feel old enough to have the patience to enjoy it now, I will say that. And that's a good thing.

-- 7 --

Last night when John was putting Olivia to bed, he told her he'd lie down with her a little bit because he needed a little nap that's the kind of father he is. John first went to use the bathroom, and when he walked back he caught Olivia holding his pillow under her booty. "What are you doing, farting in my pillow?" She just giggled maniacally and exclaimed, "You were going to smell it anyway!"

Spoken like a true six-year-old girl who only has brothers. She can so hold her own with the boys.

He was making me hot just looking at him.

So I finally cut his hair.Admit it. When you read the title, this little guy wasn't exactly the picture you had in mind, was he?
But speaking of hot daddy's, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, HONEY!

Don't expect this little I-just-need-one-more-thing Night Owl to get up and make you breakfast in bed anytime soon. Sleepy bum. (She comes by it honestly, eh?)
(But she's always good for a card.)

Summer has officially begun.

Now what?
Just kidding.

Now that Conner's back from his trip, it's been time to lay down some ground rules.

But first, we had some yard work to do. Spring may be a time of rebirth... But it's also a time to cut down what couldn't hack it through the winter.

Unfortunately, the little ones caught sight of John about to have a go at one of their beloved trees and had other ideas.

"No! No!" Sean-Peter came running. "Don't cut down our swoff tree!"

Your what?

Meanwhile, Olivia was wrapping herself around its dead trunk -- literally hugging the scrawny little thing.

That's my little future protester. Metaphorically planting herself in front of the bulldozer.

Because it is, indeed, their sloth tree.
Go ahead and get one last sloth swing, buddy, because it's still gotta go.
No matter how much thy sister doth protest. And stand there sternly with thy hands upon thy hips.

In Which I Post a Thousand Photos and Video Clips

Mmm .... was that a break? I'm not sure. At least, I certainly don't feel like I've been on vacation, even if this blog has. Anyone miss me? Anyone? Anyone? (tap-tap) This thing on?

End-of-School

The kids' schools officially wrapped up this week last week, finally. Yes, in Ohio we go into June. The last week was full of all kinds of cuteness; just see if you don't just want to reach through the screen and gobble them up. This first video's about 2 minutes long: my favorite part is about a half a minute through when Sean-Peter finally spots me and waves like only a preschooler can. "He likes me! He really likes me!" (Name that movie.)

The second video is about 30 seconds long, and too "wonderful" for words. Sean-Peter's in red on the left.




The whole end-of-the-school thing kind of took away what whits I still had left about me, which isn't saying much. This was the first year I had three kids in three different schools, with three different schedules, and it proved almost more than I could keep together. It was like my allergies filled up my head and pushed out my with-it brain cells. And yes, I have been suffering: I love me some Ohio trees, but they definitely do not love me back.

Conner's last day of middle school was Thursday, so for some reason I just sort of had it in my head that the last day for Olivia and Peter was Thursday, too. If another mom had not mentioned that she'd gotten her kindergartner's schedule mixed up with her middle schooler's schedule (yay! I wasn't the only one) I honestly think my kids would have been standing outside waiting for their bus, me on the phone calling transportation like a dork wondering why they're not picking up the phone.

Actually, probably not. Olivia would almost certainly have straightened me out in time. "Um, mom? School is over?" (Thank you God for daughters.)

Anniversary

John and I celebrated our anniversary about a week before school let out. The night before (or was it the morning of?) John says to me, "So... what were you thinking we should do?" Kind of like, You haven't brought it up so I know you think I forgot, but I didn't. And I'm all like, I really wasn't trying to test you, honest! I'm just trying to keep my head above water, you know?

But we did take some time to go out, to Chili's for some Happy Hour margaritas. Because we're classy like that. Thank you God for sons old enough to babysit!And Happy 15 years to us (insert smiley face).

Meet Mr. Fluffy

I really can't neglect to mention some other excitement we've been having around here. Re: the newest additions to our family! Meet, "Mr. Fluffy".And his brother Darryl...
...and his other brother Darryl.

Yes, three chipmunks. (Although these could be three different photos of the same one. Who would know?) And those are just the ones we've kept. We've shooed out a fair number of the little guys that keep coming into our house, through the garage door the kids leave open as close as we can figure. Chipmunks are breeding like rabbits in our yard, I tell you what.

And the overflow finds its way into our home -- a couple by way of Huckster's mouth: he catches them and brings them by the back door. When we make him release them they scamper off, seemingly unharmed. Although one did succumb to internal injuries, apparently, a couple of days later.

I say apparently because it's not like we're taking them into the vet for checkups or anything. Having chipmunks for pets wasn't exactly something we set out to do, but it seems a better alternative to letting Huckster schlep them around in his mouth? We reckon we'll keep them until they're old enough to have some sense -- or big enough to get away. Because Huckster is just waiting ...Ornery little cuss.

Did you know chipmunks are omnivores? And they love craisins. They'll scamper out real quick-like for those.


Dancers

Olivia's dance recital coincided with the last week of school. Truly, if you had a daughter who loathed getting all dressed up and frilly (as I reportedly did as a child) you should just skip the whole dance experience altogether. Because the recital is all about dressing up and getting all frilly, makeup and all. It's the culmination of a year of hard work (for both the girls and the parents). And if I had a daughter who resisted the whole point, well... That would just be pointless.

And Olivia does love to dress up -- you might recall I once caught her sneaking makeup to school? Dressing up and wearing makeup? Well, it must feel like a slice of heaven to her. I swear, sometimes I just don't know how I got a daughter like her, this mother who doesn't own makeup less than three years old and habitually goes around in jeans and t-shirts and roots that need to be done. (Don't look too closely at the anniversary picture above, please.)

But got her I did, and oh is it fun.














Dramatic at times, yes, but oh so much fun. (The video's about 17 seconds long.)



















(After Olivia saw the above photo on the left, she wanted to take a "serious" one. The attempt on the right was the best she could muster.)

"So Long"

And now to finally bid you adieu (especially if you watched all the videos) (and if you did, thank you; you made my effort worthwhile), I will "Say So Long" and leave you with some more preschool cuteness. Just see if you don't wish you had one of your own. Be patient for a few seconds for it to start. (Sean-Peter's still in red on the left. Video's about a minute long.)