Symetrical Pancakes and waterboarding

Why is it when you're (at least me) not sure what to make for dinner, breakfast is best?? We had lots of choices and none of them appealing to the masses when "ding" the light bulb goes off...."How about pancakes?" The Roar is deafening and everyone suddenly is excited about eating!!! Why does the prospect of all the dishes etc not seem so bad as it does on a lazy Saturday or Sunday??? Hmmmm.....any theories???

Mary has been battling her sinuses since Sunday of this week. She has been on antibiotics (for an infected bug bite on the bottom of her foot...another story I think) and in checking with her pediatrician, she can use the same one for her sinuses. She woke up this morning with a "frog" in her throat and while it's totally cute and in no way detracts from her talking, I knew the antibiotics aren't working so well. Using previous bouts of sinusitis as my cue....I knew what must be done......WATER TORTURE!!! When I first tried this (about a year ago) she was quite agreeable and it worked wonders....using a sinus rinse. I put her on the edge of the sink and have her tip her head and squirt a solution (in a specially designed bottle) up her nose....you'd be amazed at the crud that comes out. However, the 2 times (tonite included) since she really has screamed and fought. As you could imagine, when you throw your head back in protest, the solution will not run right out your other nostril as planned. Instead you'll choke and gag....hence the deterrent. Well, when she got this last infection, I tried to rinse her out right away...but alas, she knew and well, I thought we'd give the antibiotics a few days. At dinner, we were talking about rinsing her nose since it was yucky and nasty. She seemed fed up with it as much as I so I convinced her to let me 'help' her squeeze the bottle. My thought is if she was willing to be in control...she wouldn't mind as much. I worked for about 2 squeezes then she decided to squeeze before it was lined up with her nostril and discovered how fun it was to squeeze the bottle and play. Not so amusing. So then Dad being the everloving help, held her arms and head (as best as he could) while I proceeded to drown her. (and thanks to Dad for the 'Water boarding' comment) We all were amazed though at the amount of green gook that came out of her nose. And don't worry, She's happily playing in the bath as we speak!!

Kid Funnies...

Mary is trying to open the bottle of gummy-vitamins and she can't ....we're trying to tell her that they're locked and she won't be able to open them.....Houghton says "don't worry Mary, I'll get it!" Paul & I look at each other and Laugh...then say when the kids can actually work those things they should know better right??!!! (Houghton does and we supervise medicine taking!)

Then as they are getting ready to brush teeth....they are squawking (sp?) at each other when Paul steps in an asks "what's the trouble here?" Mary proceeds to answer "ME" and that made us chuckle as she is usually the cause of all the screaming!!

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of 3rd Grade!!

He had a good day (no real homework yet!) I got to walk him to his new class and say 'Hi' to his teacher. The only thing is he was bummed he didn't get to have pizza in the cafeteria since we had no lunch menu yet....he didn't want to take a chance so he brought lunch.

A New addiction...

Well, I have to say it all started at Costco. While shopping for our summer road trip, I spotted this bag that whispered to me...."take me home" and who am I to deny? So, I put the extremely large bag of Tootsie roll midgees in my cart and brought them home with me. I thought "how can you go wrong with a fat free chocolate treat?" Well, I have single-handedly (minus maybe a handful I shared with the kids) finished the Gigantic bag of midgees. An addiction? I say 'yes'. Only because I am now sitting here wondering how I am going to get more.....That for sure makes it a problem. I cannot think of anything else that really satisfies my chocolate craving though...without a whole lot more calories. I have not calculated the calories for the entire bag which I probably do not want to know. I have already begun my strategy for weaning....just buy a smaller bag....so we'll see. Wish me luck!!

P.S. Isn't acknowledging you have a problem the first step to recovery??

Houghton

This is Houghton in Rocky Point (ca. 2002)

Houghton, Mary & Uncle Jon
(Aug 3, 2008)



It's hard to believe my Houghton is now 8...that's right E-I-G-H-T!!!




He is a wonderful part of our family. As we were leaving this morning, he said "can you believe you have an 8 year-old?" (with a smile on his face none-the-less)

It is truly amazing to see how much he has grown. I was looking at the pictures we have hung in the hallway of when he was about 2 and he doesn't even look the same.


Happy...he's always happy
Outgoing...ready to make a new friend
Unique...just like his name
Gifted...not just in school
Hard working...he's very focused
Terrific...one great kid...I'm glad he's ours!
Outstanding...need I say more!?
Nice...and he's truly sincere

Where o' where has the time gone??

Just a small note, No I have not disappeared....though the though has occurred. We have been busy trying to fit everything in before school starts next week. This weekend is Houghton's last swim meet for the summer he'll have 3 weeks off before the fall season starts. ( I have no idea what I will do with all of his energy...he's going to be bouncing off the walls!!)

I am very proud of myself. I sat out in the heat (under the canopy..in my new chair!) and made sure I drank enough fluids. I actually came home this afternoon and did not feel the beginnings of heat exhaustion!!! I know that could be really bad but I made sure to stay hydrated...the bad part of it all is that I don't like to drink water....so I improvised and used the crystal light to go packs with water and drank gatorade.

Houghton did really well and dropped time in the 3 events he swam....he continually amazes me with how much he improves!

We're off to church now (since we'll be at the meet tomorrow) more to come.......