Summer Break begins...

Well, it's a let down, for me personally, to begin summer break with the worst sinus infection I've ever had. I must say, I have had tons of them, and this one takes the cake. It really does take a lot to make me want to sit on the couch and do nothing - I'm generally task oriented, but today is just total BLUGH!

We had a doctors appointment at 9:40am, we also had an appointment at 10:10am for Jesse's gym program that we signed up for this summer. Go figure the doctors office didn't get us in until 10:20, even though I arrived as an eager beaver at 930! We missed Jesse's weekly activity and even though he didn't seem to care, I did :(. I have this mega plan for the summer, I don't want my working from home to impede on the "summer fun" that spring break brings, so I'm creating a schedule in order to hold myself accountable for my time. Tuesdays will be TaiKwon Do for Ezra, Wednesdays will be gym for Jesse (both boys get one 45 min per week fun activity for the summer) and Thursdays are library day for both boys. Mondays and Fridays will be for fun times at home, our local park, or one of our community pools that our hefty HOA fees pay for.

So today ended up being about doctors offices, medication and the grocery store. We did manage to get by Sonic at 3 for a half price slushie - my favorite flavor of slushie is half-price HA! I don't drive to fast food restaurants often, but we will totally take advantage of happy hour at Sonic this summer!!

Happy Day

Oh happy day for Ezra! He's officially a 5th grader! He received all of his EOG testing results, writing test, and report card - and he's officially DONE being a 4th grader! He's super excited about summer, and we have some fun things planned weekly for the boys individually and together too! Jesse and I surprised Ezra early at school, after lunch - Jesse went waltzing down the halls saying loudly 'Where's Eza? Where'd he go? Where's he at mommy?' 'Eza? Eza? Eza????' He doesn't say the R in Ezra's name. It's so sweet to hear him call for his brother. We picked him up early, the teachers received some end of the year thank you goodies and we headed out. Mrs. Miranda (Ezra's main teacher) is expecting her first baby in August, so we are eager to hear from her when he's born, she promised the class she'd be by to visit with the baby when school starts.

After getting home early, we played, hung out, talked and then celebrated with pizza. We rarely eat pizza, it's just not good for us in general, but it was a treat to Ezra and we enjoyed it. After pizza I told Ezra I needed him to run an 'errand' with me. He had no idea... we were traveling to his former TaeKwon-Do instructors building. He went there for 2 years during the time he was at the previous elementary school, they were his after school program and TKD class combined. He liked it then, and we had to stop after he was transferred to another school - it just didn't work out with the TKD class schedules. We decided to surprise him with 10 lessons this summer, and possibly continue it next school year! HE WAS SOOOOOO SURPRISED!!! He literally had a tear of joy in his eye as he walked in to see his former instructor - who honestly is one of the most kind hearted and patient role models Ezra could possibly have. He is near and dear to our family, and always will be. Ezra loved his class and can't wait to go back for more!! His instructor is now a 5th Degree black belt!! Ezra's so proud to be back in TKD!

We will begin TKD for Ezra for the entire summer on Tuesdays, and then Jesse's activity begins on Wednesday's. Each boy is going to have a special day of the week with their own 45 min activity; and then on Thursdays we'll do library time. Ezra will enjoy age/grade appropriate activities, and private reading times while Jesse does toddler laptime occasionally. Certain Thursdays they'll blend all age groups for group activities. One of the activities is Snakes Alive; I personally can't wait to see that!! There will be crafts, etc., and I'm so excited to have the local opportunity right around the corner to help fill days with fun activities for the boys! With the price of gas so high, we tried to be mindful in finding and agreeing to activities that are within 5 min of the house. Mondays and Fridays will be free days, we'll probably swim in our pool(s) in our neighborhood or play at the splash ground at one of the pools, the other day will just be there for errands, relaxing, or whatever we want to do around the house.

We're planning a trip to the beach this summer (thanks stimulus refund), it will be the first time we've gone since Jesse's birth. I'm excited. We're also planning to visit our family in Texas late summer, early fall. We hope to have a fun summer break!

update on the sick: Jesse is much better - and sleeping much more restful w/o coughing. My sinus infection has become the worst sinus infection in the history of my sinus's. I can't bend over without feeling like the pressure in my head will explode out of my eyes or ears. Hopefully prescription antibiotics will help. I haven't taken any antibiotics in almost 3 years! Time for the big guns!

countdown

2 more days until school's out. Ezra can't wait! Today they watched movies, cleaned out desks and cleaned up the classroom. He doesn't know it yet - but we've got a great surprise planned for summer for him!!! We told him he had a surprise on Tuesday, he's ITCHING to know what it is!!!
Update on sick people: Jesse is still coughing alot, and has lots of activity in his nose :) I'm still sick - haven't changed much since last week... may actually go to the doctor with this one. Sinus pressure is so bad it hurts to blow my nose.

weekend wrap-up

This weekend we took it easy; Jesse had round two of his cold and I'm at fault for it. I've been sick, and I've not went to the doctor... I guess that's what moms do - we hold the martyr title to a degree when it comes to pushing forward even when we feel bad! Well, I'm guilty. I've been working more then usual lately, and I'm sure that less sleep, and more work has added to my body's inability to fight off this yuck.

Saturday we took a family trip out to the airport overlook and had slushies and watched the airplanes. Both boys enjoy that and we usually try to go one time a month. It was really too humid outside to do much else, after dinner we had a family and neighbor water gun fight - and we were ALL soaked! After the water war was over, all of the kids used the rest of their water in their water guns to 'feed' our garden. HA. At least they're not wasteful!!

Jesse and I napped together on Sunday - he wanted to take his nap, and was in his bed coughing and squirming the entire time, so I just went up there to join him and see if elevating his head on my chest would help - and it did :) we slept for about 2 hours I suppose. I rarely nap, when I do I usually regret it because I never feel 'rested' afterward. It was nice to take a break from working during 'down time' in our house. That's usually when I work, clean, or read. But not this time - I was snoozing and needed it so bad! We had Richard and Ava over for dinner Sunday evening and the kids enjoyed a little time indoors hanging out!

unsetteling

It isn't odd for me to grab my cellphone and call my dad or my husband to see if they'll go to a local news website to find out what's holding me up in traffic lately. I drive from one end of the county to the other, literally. I generally take inner city roads to get there, as the highways are usually in worse shape for school commutes in the mornings. So I take Hwy 49 past UNCC to Harris Blvd to Sharon Amity to Independence to Idlewild to Providence and we're there. This is about 30-40 min one way, 4 times a day - depending on traffic. In the last 4 weeks, at least one time a week I will see a swarm of police helicopters along w/ news helicopters, followed by a rush of many passing police cars. I know this is the case in many major cities - but it's becoming almost a everyday thing during our commutes. This is just one more reason why we are looking into other options for our family, this includes location. The housing market stinks right now - but is it ever going to be wonderful? Maybe we should just put the house up for sale on our own, and little by little do minor fix ups and start looking elsewhere. We don't plan to look too far away, but outside of Meck. county for sure.

Here's what I ran into today, literally. I saw a helicopter hovering over/near Ezra's school area, and as I picked him up it was slowly moving toward Independence where we were headed, little did I know that it was a major arrest in progress. We were in VERY slow traffic, and when we finally were allowed to approach the intersection at Independence/Idlewild we saw the giant police van (like the one they use for SWAT or special situations), several news vans, police everywhere, and it was seriously right beside us, we could see everything. All the way down to all of the evidence they were gathering from the vehicle, they were putting it in brown paper bags for evidence. It's pretty sad this day and time what someone can be stabbed or robbed over - well, the word is really just 'pathetic'.

In the words of Hal David:

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

No, not just for some but for everyone.

Field Day

95 degrees for the day - humidity is high, it's dry and just gross! Ezra had a blast during field day; they had water stations for bottles of water whenever they needed them, lots of sprinklers to run through for cooling off, indoor and outdoor activities. There was even a dunking tank! Ezra had changed clothes by the time I arrived to pick him up. He had been soaked he said! They wrapped up the afternoon w/ some treats from the teachers, and a movie! I think outside of the 3 field trips he's been on, this was his favorite day of the school year!

on the homefront

Just a few quick notes:

1. I'm sick w/ a sinus infection... anyone know where I can find one of the below contraptions? HA! It hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been very fortunate with not getting sick in a very long time... I guess I'm due. Both boys are on the tail end of their colds, allergies, sinus.... problems - now it's my turn!



2. It's forecast to be 98 today, and 99 tomorrow... I think Friday should be somewhere near the temperature of hades also... outstanding heat for the southeast in early June! Heather, did you send Texas weather my way? Take it back :)


3. No poo marbles yet - hopefully this is the case for the rest of the day! I really don't think he swallowed one, but it still bothers me!


4. Ezra has field day tomorrow - in the grossest highest humidity possible! Even though he will be sweaty and gross - he's still excited!

That's it for now - back to the tissue, water, mucinex and advil.

passing the test

January of 05 proved to be a pretty tough test for Jonathon; he took a stress test, had a heart attack while taking it, and well - if you read my blog at all you know the story from there on 0ut... Jan. of 06 posts have some of the details.

Each year after he has to take another stress test; yesterday was that day for him. They pushed him to the max with his test, and told him by phone today that his results were above average for having had his surgery and prior health concerns. He was also pushed harder then the average stress test in order to test his hearts endurance - and his heart said 'HA, TAKE THAT!'

It makes me so happy that he's another year healthy according to all of the tests! It also makes me feel grateful that he's had a 2nd chance at a healthy heart, and we're not taking any chances with our lifestyle, as a family we eat healthier and go on nightly walks together... Ezra understands that it benefits our health. As for Jesse, it's just what we do!

24-48 hours...

Why am I watching the clock? Because I went to the accounts office today, spent an hour w/ her taking care of some personal things; and while Jesse played with her toys and brought me this and that to look at - he somehow found marbles. You're already fast forwarding to the possibilities, right? Well - I didn't know that he had found marbles (Darlene didn't realize they were out of the box she keeps them in with the game), and was digging in my file sorter to get out some documents and within literally 30 seconds he found them, and tasted them. She's pretty sure that she only had 3, and the way I found out was within the few seconds of this transpiring, he coughed and acted as if he was choking and then spit one out. So - had he swallowed one, I'd assume he'd have reacted just like he did with just putting it in his mouth and gagging/spitting it out.

This goes to show that even though I pride myself in safety, staying home, and being 'here' for my kids - that vulnerability and dangers are always possible. I can't literally watch him 24/7. I should have done better at assessing the toys and doing a mental inventory.

What happened next? I felt stupid for not realizing she had marbles - yep, I cried and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I felt guilty for allowing my 2 year old to be in harms way when it's my job to assess the area that we're in when it's not home, where it's really policed for danger. Guilt makes me cry. I'm secure with that :) it makes me feel human.

Then... Darlene called her mom, who is a registered nurse in the ER; she told me to watch him for 24-48 hours with a mindful eye. She explained what to look for, and that most likely he did not swallow a marble if his reaction to having one in his mouth was to immediately gag and spit. She said if that made him gag, then trying to actually swallow one would have most likely resulted in choking. Darlene is 99.9% sure she had only 3 marbles; needless to say it still concerns me. Since then I've also called my ped, just to let them know of the worst case scenario and to find out what to do if I need to bring him in (i.e., make appt. or just show up?)... they told me the same things to look for as symptoms, etc. and also said that it sounded less likely that he swallowed it.

Life lesson for me was to pay better attention when we're in pubic - I take for granted that I prepare my home for our kids safety but I can't be so casual when it comes to somewhere else. I can't and won' t put my kids in a glass box, yet in this case I should have paid closer attention.

What am I doing now? Thanking my lucky stars that he didn't choke right then and there; and waiting 24-48 hours for any symptoms that I was told to look for... and I'm now officially on poop patrol. Fingers are crossed. I'm also officially not letting him watch My Fair Lady because then he'll want to practice talking w/ marbles ;)!

Sunny Sunday

It was warmer this weekend then it has been all spring, but we still spent it outside! Sunday morning Jesse and I went to pick up my work while Ezra and Jonathon stayed home relaxing. Since we drive to Salisbury to get my work on weekends we usually try to plan a stop by to see Jennifer and her crew. Brittany and Nicholas were snoozing, and so Jesse and Alexis hammed it up outside for some playtime with the playhouse and cars. We took time to stop and hang out with their goats for a few minutes, Jennifer fed them while Jesse tried to get them to play ball with him. HA! One thing is for sure, he knows what a goat is!! He kept saying 'hey goat' and 'bye goat'.

Above: Jesse playing ball with the goats... HA.
Below: Jesse and Alexis having a blast together.

Above: Alexis letting Jesse know how the car works...
Below: Alexis kissing Jesse goodbye. :)
In the playhouse together cooking up some fun.

While Jesse napped, I filled up his little toddler pool. Jonathon and Ezra went to see a movie, and I took advantage of an empty house (while Jesse was sleeping of course) and worked some! We grilled out and since it was so warm today Jesse got in his pool. Last year he would get in and out over and over, but this time once he got in, he didn't want to get out - he got mad at us when we made him!

Jesse swiped this cone from our sidewalk; it had been there for several days all alone with no purpose. We got tired of it looking junky so we let him put it in the garage, now it's become his most favorite toy. It's pretty versatile, if you put a ball on top its just the right height for toddler batting. In the pool it becomes a place to pour water that never seems to fill up! HA!

Ezra says "please stop taking pictures dad"

"ok, you give me no choice but to give you funny faces now"

"Cowboys and Pirates anyone?"

That's pretty much our day in a nutshell - we were lazy, Jesse cooled off in the pool, and we just hung out talking and goofing off most of the day.

I finally took time to update the 08 photo journal, May 08 and June 08 photos at http://familyof4faries.smugmug.com