Vanilla Coke Zero.

If you like Vanilla coke, or Diet Coke, don't bother with the zero crap. I just poured 7/8 of a can down the drain. ugh. It might have something to do with the fact that I've avoided carbonated beverages like the plague recently in a quest to be healthier. I've been drinking ice cold water with a slice of lemon (mmmm!!! I could drink that forever!!!) and making my own "liberty tea" (made with herbs instead of black or green tea--that's what the colonists called it during the Revolutionary War era). It's satisfying to drink something made with my own garden. Sometimes I do put in some black tea or a blend of other stuff I have. .. it's fun. :) Lemon balm, lavender, chocolate peppermint, peppermint, mmmm!

I've recently discovered a new fruit that I enjoy. FIGS! Who would have thought? They're so sweet and just bursting with flavor. Grace really likes them, too. We grilled some at a party and added a dollop of homemade whipped cream with almond and cinnamon and it was heavenly!

Food is on the brain today. I can't figure out what to make for dinner. I finally got our table cleared off and organized the homeschool items so that we can eat AS A FAMILY. It will be nice. Hopefully Terry isn't too stressed when he comes home tonight. NASA/new administration=job uncertainty these days.

Here's an article Terry sent me that he thinks sums up quite neatly the current state of our space program:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/science/space/25nasa.html?_r=2

TV tonight.

I'm not really the TV type. I can take it or leave it. I'd much rather read a good book. Or even a not-so-good book, truth be told.

So I'm sitting on the couch, knitting a pair of socks, watching Terry flip back and forth between Star Wars the beginning, part 1.5, or something like that; and Ice Trucks (apparently these people drive trucks in Alaska over actual frozen water to get from point A to point B.) He is riveted.

My socks are coming along quite nicely.

Little Boys

AJ was dressed in his “Bibleman” costume, playing yesterday , while Grace and I finished up her schoolwork. Suddenly, I heard a terrible crash, a thunk, and then silence. I jumped up and ran to the living room, to find AJ on the floor, quietly whimpering. I asked where he hurt, and he told me his head. I picked him up and laid him on our futon. At that point, his eyes began to roll back in his head in a faint. It terrified me. I called his name and he refocused his eyes on me. I picked him back up and sat with him in my recliner. I began to wonder what to do. I decided that since he had almost lost consciousness, this warranted a call to 911. I explained the operator what had happened and they sent an ambulance with 5 EMT’s to our home.

Meanwhile, Grace had gone to the freezer and grabbed a pack of frozen boca burgers for me to apply to his head, which had a large bump on it. She put our dogs in the backyard and opened the door and waited for the EMT’s to arrive. I was relieved to have her home, helping.
The EMT’s did a brief exam and told me that dilated eyes were a late sign of concussion, when I commented that they didn’t seem dilated. They recommended taking AJ to the ER and running a CAT scan on him, which I agreed to. I hesitated over whether to go in the ambulance, or whether to drive myself. AJ was lying very still on my lap, and I decided to let the ambulance drive us. I didn’t feel that I had the presence of mind to drive carefully, and I was afraid that he would pass out in the van and I wouldn’t know what to do.

So the EMT’s let Gracie ride in the front seat with them. They had me get on the stretcher with AJ and they carried us out. Grace let the dogs back inside and grabbed my purse and AJ’s shoes while an EMT waited for her. I didn’t actually see her get into the ambulance and I was a bit worried about her, but I was assured that she was there.

Upon our arrival, the doctor had a neck brace/collar put on AJ because he said the back of his neck hurt a little bit. He did NOT like it. The doctor thought that AJ would be able to lie still for a CAT scan and wanted to give him a chance to do so rather than sedating him. They let me go with him into the radiology room and initially, he kicked and cried and screamed and of course, the machine could not get accurate pictures. The procedure was halted, we unstrapped him, and the radiology tech talked to him. AJ told her he didn’t like wearing the neck brace. She encouraged him to try again, with the incentive that if he could lie still, we could remove the neck brace much sooner than if we had to wait for him to fall asleep. He agreed to be still. And they got the pictures they needed, including the neck scan. They had him all bundled up with rolled up towels next to head to secure it in place. All I could see of him, once they covered him with the radiology aprons, was his little face. I flashed back to when he was a newborn—his face looked the exact same. He lay on the table, trying to stay still, clutching the Coca-Cola polar bear the EMT gave him in the ambulance, with silent tears streaming down his face. I have never felt so helpless in all my life.

Terry was working, of course, and it took him about an hour to meet us at the hospital. Before he arrived, they did the CAT scan and one of the technicians waited with Grace in the hallway. She even gave Grace yogurt! (With my permission, of course) When we got back to our room, Terry was waiting. I was relieved to see him. I'd had to use the facilities for about an hour but couldn't figure out how to finagle a trip to the ladies' room without leaving the children alone, or bringing them with (and I hated to move AJ until we had the CAT scan results in). It was so good to have someone else to help make decisions and sign papers and to talk with. We even found "The Simpsons" on television, and my family enjoyed watching that while we waited.

Fortunately, the CAT scan showed no bleeding in his head. We were sent home with instructions to check on him every couple of hours through the night. As we were waiting for the discharge paperwork, we saw a mom, dad, and little boy with a bandage on his chin walk past our room. We nodded knowingly at them, and the mom nodded back at us as we exchanged, “Mother of Little Boys” glances. Upon our exit from the inner bowels of the hospital to the Emergency Room waiting room, people waiting for treatment began to smile at us. You see, AJ did not have pants on under his Bibleman costume, so he had to go home with either just his T-shirt and underpants and Crocs, or wearing his costume. We opted for the costume. I doubt anyone wondered which member of our family had been treated. I think the costume gave it all away.

It turns out that AJ placed one of our child-sized chairs on top of our child-sized table in an attempt to turn off the fan (which hangs from a high vaulted ceiling and he would have not been able to reach, regardless). He has agreed not to climb anymore inside the house, which is completely covered in tile flooring.

At his 4am check this morning (I just tiptoed in to make sure he was breathing,) AJ stirred and whined, “Don’t open the door, Mommy!” I quickly shut it and let him go back to sleep.
AJ went to preschool with a great story about riding in an ambulance and the bump on his noggin to show for it. He’s still getting a bit of Motrin today to manage the swelling and pain, but we’re so glad he’s okay. We’re treating the family to a dinner at Ryan’s Village Pizza and Pub in Cocoa Village tonight, and finishing our evening off with some playtime in the playground as a reward for Grace and all her help. And for her finally going to bed nicely. And just to spend time as a family.

Terry

Terry continues to improve. His platelet count is back to normal, but he has experienced constant, nagging pain in his arm. He consulted his dr and she discovered blood clots in his arm. He had an ultrasound to determine whether they are superficial or deep vein. If they are deep vein clots, he will need to consult a hematologist to de-clot his blood but not mess up his platelet count. Or something like that. We're praying it's just superficial and heating pads will suffice.

Sadly, the caterpillars disappeared today. We were down to 11 this morning, 4 by the afternoon. I covered the 4 that were left with a mesh laundry basket. Somehow the laundry basket flew off and the caterpillars are nowhere in sight. We hope to see some swallowtails soon and know that they were "ours" for a day. Perhaps the wasps can't find them either.

Magic Treehouse Books

Grace loves them. And they're based loosely around historical times/places, so that helps a lot. She selected some from the library, and lo and behold, it is based around Colonial Plymouth. She's reading right now before bed, and she keeps coming out to read to me a paragraph describing the village, the homes, or the people. She's beaming at me, saying, "We were right! They DID bring seeds from England! They had log houses with steep thatched roofs! We really DID know these things!!"

It's so funny that she's processing this in such a delighted way.

AJ is singing in his room right now. He goes to bed so easily. It's hard to believe that a year ago, I was at my wit's end putting him down. He'd get up repeatedly, and I'd spend hours getting him to fall asleep. I finally held him in a hug for 10 minutes straight. He is not very cuddly and does NOT like hugs and kisses. That did it. I told him if he got up, I would lay with him and hug him. He's stayed in bed ever since, even when we're in an unfamiliar environment. Anything to avoid the hug!

He's enjoying preschool so far. His teacher is kind, and the class is small enough to not overwhelm him. Each parent packs their child's own snack, and I Like that. I hated sharing snack for the class 3 times a year, knowing that most parents sent junk like rice krispie treats and cupcakes and whatever overprocessed, high sugar, low nutrition food they found cheap and convenient. It made AJ's behavior completely erratic. So he has a new red Cars lunchbox, and I pack Honest Kids Juice pouch (lower sugar, 1/2 the calories of other brands, and this only because they've requested juice boxes only and not thermoses or juice bottles), a slice of cheese, crackers, nuts, dried fruit or fresh fruit. I think it makes a difference. I have seen improvement in his fine motor skills over the summer and am glad to see that he is doing well pre-writing at preschool. He's doing GREAT circles! Usually in purple.

Grace has had a very difficult time going to bed for the past 2 weeks. I'm weary to my very spirit of dealing with her inability to fall asleep, unwillingness to attempt to fall asleep, and irritable, grouchy behavior the following day.

I noticed that in colonial times, and even with some families today, children ar given large amounts of chores. Some people subscribe to the "delayed schooling" theory, which basically suggests that until children are mature enough to learn and WANT to learn, they should be given chores and work around the home to develop a sense of responsibility and work ethic.

I've decided to apply some of that theory. Grace was up very late last night, throwing temper tantrums and refusing to go to bed. We couldn't contain her in her room and saw that this behavior is escalating. Today, I laid down the new law. No television. At all. Not even during breakfast. I started her on her school work immediately, and when she complained of feeling tired, I gave her the choice of completing her school work or taking a nap. She completed her schoolwork with no more complaints. I assigned her extra chores, which included folding 3 loads of laundry. I insisted she pick up her room and she did, with no complaint.

She had a melt down after a playdate today and I was worried that I would encounter resistance at bedtime, especially with Terry working 2nd shift this week. I am relieved to say that she went to bed nicely, without getting up even once. I suspect extra chores are working. That, and giving her a pizza night to look forward to on Friday if she can keep up her hard work and a good attitude and going to bed peacefully.

My Garden Surprise

I made a really fun mug at the Get Fired Up pottery place with Grace a few weeks ago. I got my children to bed on time tonight, and decided to make some herbal tea using herbs from my garden. I went out with my pink clippers, barefoot in the wet grass, to snip some lemon balm, peppermint, chocolate mint, lavendar and stevia. I froze, mid-step, when I discovered bugs all over my fennel. I was horrified, and then fascinated. My beautiful fennel, feathery and copper colored, was gone. In its place were 14 caterpillars.

I did some research and learned they are tiger swallowtail catterpillars. I decided to leave the fennel and show the kids in the morning. I'm hoping my garden will survive until then, as it was twilight and the light was quickly fading. I think I should probably transplant the fennel to a separate location/pot in the morning. We've purposefully neglected science this month in the interest of barelling through our Colonial Plymouth studies. Look what landed in our laps!

My tea must have steeped by now. My bath, book and steaming cup of tea await.

Welcome to my new location! If you've made it this far, congratulations on finding me!

Loose Tooth!

Gracie says her tooth is loose!!!! We're so excited!

Coming up

We're heading out to the Liberty Bell Memorial Museum today. I hope it is fun, as well as educational. We began formal schooling last week and did well. Yesterday, however, did NOT go well.

SOMEONE who shall remain nameless allowed my daughter to stay up 2 hours past her normal bedtime Sunday night. I warned that it would not go well. And I was right. All day yesterday, said daughter whined and cried and acted extremely irritable. We did not accomplish any school work and FINALLY the child took a nap 30 minutes before a playdate. I woke her in time for the playdate because I'd spent all day trying to get her to catch up on rest and that was the stipulation. Plus I wanted her to go to bed back on schedule.

So she's reading about Plymouth history and quite pleasant this morning. Yeah!

On a side note, we will be traveling to Boston Friday, September 4 and returning home Saturday, September 12. (I think the dates are right--the days are correct for sure!) We look forward to seeing our family and taking the kids to a living history museum-- Plimouth Plantation. Grace has been working very hard on a 8-unit "History Pocket" of Plymouth and Colonial life. We plan to visit a replica of the Mayflower and the unassuming "Plymouth Rock", as well! This will be a wonderful reward for her hard work. AJ, too, will enjoy chasing the chickens at the very least!! (We covered Columbus' discovery of the New World, and Ponce De Leon's discovery of America last year when we visited St. Augustine).

AJ started preschool yesterday. He was very excited about his teacher and his new friends and his new lunch box AND his new underpants! Then he walked into the classroom, completely overwhelmed by all the excitement, and fell to the floor sobbing. Apparently he recovered at snacktime. We will arrive earlier than most tomorrow to transition him a bit easier.