love note

found on the mirror yesterday morning

whirlwind days and a blogiversary winner!

Is it really only Wednesday? Monday was Lydia's 15 month check. She's doing great--23 1/2 pounds, 31 inches. Yabbering a lot with a few actual words thrown in and a few signs (eat and more: a girl after my own heart). She screamed bloody murder when I tried to change her diaper on the paper covered exam table. As I lifted her legs she did that huge back arching thing so that she ended up upside-down. That set the tone for the visit up until her immunization. For that she just stared, nonchalantly.

Tuesday netted a second trip to the emissions station. My van failed last time and $500 in repairs later, we've been given a waiver until next summer. Chuck E. Cheese was nice enough to fix lunch for us and after that we (Ben, Lydia and I) met up with my stepmother to go visit my grandmother (the one whose middle name Lydia sports as her own middle name). She doesn't remember us anymore, but seemed in good spirits and laughed as she rolled Ben's ball off of her knee to him for a little while.

From there it went downhill.

Lydia seemed to be having a reaction to her vaccine and was screaming every time I tried to set her down for a second (I'm guessing it's the vaccine), then as chopped a big onion for dinner (teriyaki noodles with shredded chicken--yum!), I heard Abie screaming outside. Distracted, I dropped chopped onion all over the kitchen and then saw Billiam bringing Abie in, blood covering his elbow. He had taken a spill while riding his bike. Once the bleeding was under control a nasty gash was revealed and I headed off to the er with him, pretty sure that stitches would be needed.


Four hours and 45 minutes later we were back home. They numbed it and cleaned most of the grit from the driveway but couldn't get the last bits. The pa said that going deeper would be "practically a surgical thing" so he scrubbed it some more, gobbed it up with bacitracin and bandaged it up, not wanting to suture it closed with the stuff still in there. Pacman on my cell phone and the camera phone were a godsend during the huge waits while there. Click here if you want to a yucky photo.

A quick call to update Bill and I found out that Lydia was just as happy as when I left. Jake, good sweet boy that he is, actually ended up getting her to fall asleep.

I fell asleep around midnight but at two Ben woke up crying that his tooth hurt. He had a tiny filling last year and I thought it must have fallen out. I gave him some motrin but my poor baby was crying and periodically shaking with pain for two hours before I could get him back to sleep. I felt just awful for him.

A trip to the dentist this morning revealed that he didn't lose the tiny filling...he has a cavity in a different molar that appeared just since his last cleaning 4 months ago. GAH!

After that we grabbed Jake and headed out to find him something suitable to wear to his senior banquet tomorrow night. Semi-formal.

This evening is an event at Hope and Clara's school that they are involved in.

Are you still there? I'm really not griping about all this...just reporting. Really, this was a long way of saying that if I owe you an email, it's coming. I've just been a bit swamped. Hang on...I do have one gripe. We have a low-yield well and we're out of water. Thank goodness it's supposed to rain tonight. Gripe over.

And now, the winner of the blogiversary contest! I copied all the names and numbered them. Off to the random number generator and the winner is....

Lindy!

Congratulations! I will get the Kureyon out to you this week, barring any more minor catastrophes.



Huge thanks to everyone who posted a link (and Nancy, for posting twice!). Please keep helping me to spread the word!

I heart April.

One reason: egg salad sandwiches with pepper. For some reason I forget about egg salad most of the year. Dyed eggs make that happily impossible.

Another reason: two of my girls are April babies. Clara (21st) and Hope (29th). At nearly twelve and nearly fourteen, they have forbidden me to post photos of them here without permission, but I think they won't mind this one.

Reasons are not necessarily in order of importance.

In other news, I have three rows left on my EZ Baby Surprise Jacket in Cider Moon's River. Well, first I have to go back a row and a half then knit the last three rows. Because it's important not to read the directions carefully, I kept increasing every other row on the last rows. So now I have to go back and knit them straight. And I actually see how the shape is going to work, finally. Without effort, even.

I think I will wait on sewing up the seams until I can make bets with each and every family member on whether they can shape it into a sweater. Hey, I have to earn money for more stash somehow and I'm short five dollars today because the baby made off with my cell phone and I had to offer up a reward. The phone was turned on when it dropped out of my pocket but apparently Lydia now knows how to turn it off. Just the skill I need her to have. :-O So that upped the reward.

It was under the fish tank stand, by the way. And now Ben is trying to think of what he can buy with five dollars. I'm just glad to have my phone back.

Oh, and did I mention that the whole thing took just one skein? I'm getting close, but I will be really surprised if I run out before finishing. There seems to be just enough.

Congratulations, Emma! You win...

...more blood work.

Emma sported another high fever on Wednesday into Thursday. So, of the last five weeks, including this week, she has had only one week of wellness. Three with high fevers and one with the knee thing. In between her energy level is lower than usual.

So we're trying to figure out if she has just had a run of very bad luck, catching viruses left and right, or if they're somehow connected. They're running the same tests as before, to compare, as well as a few others. We went to a different lab and it was the polar opposite of our experience before. They took us back before the front desk person had finished copying our insurance card and we were out of there lickety-split. No blood trails left behind.

We finally found an orthodontist in the area that seems super nice and doens't require half up front. That's always a good thing. So now we can get started on Hope's second round of braces (the first round was for an underbite in third grade). I wonder if they give a family discount, as Clara and Emma seem like they're going to be needing them, too.

mostly about Hope,

but please don't mention that to her because I'm not supposed to talk about her here. She's thirteen.

Hope's hat is finally finished. I love it and, more importantly, she loves it. How great is it when you give someone something you've knit for them and they can't stop grinning, they love it so much? The pattern is Braid and Bobble Hat by Fiber Trends (thank you, Lindy!) and the yarn (merino/alpaca) was custom dyed by ChewySpaghetti (click to see her etsy shop and drool). Just gorgeous and super soft. Thank you, Khris!

Oh, and to answer your question from the other day, Nicki, yes, she needs glasses. She's Not Happy about it and could not find any frames that she didn't despise with every fiber of her being liked. We need to find 100% invisible frames. Not rimless. Invisible. She only needs them for distance and right now is sitting at or near the front in all of her classes, so there is no pressure to rush it. I think she needs some more time to digest the idea.

Here is a pic of Billiam's hat. See? Don't you love that decrease, too? Thank you, Fig and Plum.

And the green bit at the bottom. Yeah, I know how to do it without getting the little bumps of color. I forgot to do it.

Today I have the Herculean task of convincing Ben to shed his pajamas in favor of actual clothing. The kind people wear when they venture out of the house into the great big world. The boy would live in his pj's if I let him. Most days I do.

after all that,

Emma woke up in tears with a sore throat. One baby hat, wrapped and tagged, handed off to her little brother to give to her beloved teacher. This is her teacher's last day of school before her maternity leave so Emma won't get to see her again until she brings the baby in to meet the kids. At least she won't be giving Mrs. G. a hat and a virus for Christmas.

Hope and Clara were busy cooking and baking last night for their teachers. After a burned first batch, Clara made perfect little chocolate chip cookies and lined them all up in a roll like this:

Hope went for homemade marshmallows, from Martha's recipe. They were surprisingly easy and pretty darn tasty.

They each chose their favorite teachers (and the bus driver) to give gifts (they have seven teachers, each). I don't think Jake ever did teacher gifts once he got to middle school.

Abie's teacher got truffles from these nice folks, as did the bus driver. They were simply but beautifully packaged and I will be checking back next year to buy more.

How about you? Do your kids give gifts to their teacher(s) at the holidays? What kinds of things do they give?

hopefully...

We got a letter in the mail today from Hope's school. She flunked the vision screening that they give all 8th graders. When I told her this afternoon she was upset at first but then quickly came around.

Well, I hate glasses, so if I need them I want to get contacts and I want my eyes to be purple. Is that ok?

I told her it was and she skipped off. I think she knows I was kidding. Hopefully she was, too.

"we've found a good one. Jake, bring me the rifle."

~Billiam, when we finally decided which tree to bring home.

Tree Hunter Man. I told you I would post it.

(Now you can all watch as I get my ass kicked for posting this)

This tree was actually our second choice. The best, most perfect tree that we found first became The Poop Tree after Billiam and Hope skidded through some...well, poop that was next to it. Don't tell Hope I told you that. She would shriek at me in that voice that thirteen year old girls use when you've ruined their life. Again.

I don't even think she actually got any on her shoes. But the thought of it sent her whole world askew and when she thought we might actually still be considering getting The Poop Tree she ran up the hill, horrified. Mind you, there was no poop on the tree. It was next to the tree. That was enough to ruin the whole tree. Just ask Hope.

There was much discussion about how likely The Poop Tree was to fall into the poop once it was felled. Favorable angles were considered. In the end, this family's fear of the poop won out and we set off to find the second best tree.

Hope, lugging the sack of potatoes that is Lydia

The sack of potatoes smiles

My Abie

Ben, in the lemon hat that wouldn't die. Cheap cotton, circa 1990 something

Clara, ever happy with her camera-toting mama

Emma

Bluey, among the blue spruces

Ben had the most fun, hands-down.

A barbed wire fence! QUICK! Strike a punky pose.

Hope, hiding from us as we considered getting The Poop Tree

Cutting down Second Choice Tree

Billiam's view of his audience as he cuts down Second Choice Tree

For some reason this year the blue spruce prices came down while the other tree prices went up so that in the end there was just a few dollars difference. So instead of waving at the blue spruces as we drive on to the cheaper ones, our sunroom is now filled with blue sprucely goodness. The ornaments still haven't gone up, but maybe tonight.

aargh! (in a good way)

Just a peek. This will be relegated to drafts later today to keep someone from seeing it.

I was able to block it out enough that I think it will be fine. I'm fairly certain that his noggin isn't bigger than mine and I can get it on. Honestly, I would prefer that it be a bit bigger, but it works. Now I just need to do the lining and it's all set.

I'm right on track with that other hat, too.

Today I will start (and maybe finish) the fingerless mitts for a shorter person. Those are going to be quick and fun. You'll see why when I take a pic.

Meanwhile, Clara came home from school yesterday and burst into tears. She (and I) had completely forgotten about her school's audition for Stomp the day before. Her theater teacher spotted her in the hall in the morning and asked her why she hadn't shown up. Poor thing. I felt like the World's Worst Mom for not remembering but I made it clear to the kids this year that if they are responsible for writing their own commitments on the calendar. Even so...

Oh, and my worrying about the Jake's teacher recommendation letter(s) arriving on time was for naught. Jake told me yesterday that one of the teachers told him on Monday that she had mailed the letter. Thanks for sharing, Jake. So as long as the counselor got his stuff in, it's taken care of. Now, if the college would only use the weighted gpa for honors and ap courses. Bah.

yeah, but it didn't work all that well for me.

Happy, confident students do worse in math

WASHINGTON -- Kids who are turned off by math often say they don't enjoy it, they aren't good at it and they see little point in it. Who knew that could be a formula for success?

The nations with the best scores have the least happy, least confident math students, says a study by the Brookings Institution's Brown Center on Education Policy. read more here

Hope pointed me to this story, having heard it on the news this morning as she was getting ready for school.

So what can a loving mother do? I took a deep breath, told her she was grounded, that she shouldn't expect any candy on Halloween and that I never did like her all that much, anyway. Then I kissed her and told her to do well on her math quiz today.

Emma has yet to go to school this week. Sunday night her cheeks looked very flushed. She had just put on some of her makeup so I was thinking that was it. We washed it off but it kept getting worse. By Monday morning I was thinking fifths disease, but as the day wore on it was looking more and more like an allergic reaction.

Monday night Hope started getting some red areas, too, but nothing like Emma.

Tuesday brought a trip to the doctor who confirmed that they were having an allergic reaction to something, probably from their walk in the woods over the weekend. Prednisone and Atarax for two, please.

While waiting for the bus this morning, we were trying to figure out what Hope and Emma did this weekend that the other kids didn't. They all went into the woods. The only thing I could come up with was that they went over to play with the neighbor girl Saturday evening. We ran down the list of pets they have, what they ate...then Hope remembered. They were pulling leaves off a vine growing in the backyard. Something with berries. Bingo. I'll be going over later to take a look at the vine. I don't think it's poison ivy because the girls aren't blistery.

Hope was well enough to go to school today. Emma is still swollen, red and sandpapery. She doesn't feel great but could probably go back to school tomorrow, except....

At what point do you allow a child to stay home because of their appearance? Her face is swollen like Jerry Lewis in his sick photos. Her skin is rough and scratchy. She is shy and self-conscious on a good day. But now she is missing her third day. What would you do?

thirteen.

Thirteen years ago today, my baby Hope was born. When Jake was born with dark hair and dark eyes, I expected that all of our children would follow suit. Then along came Hope. Born with light brown hair but the same slate grey eyes that all of my children have, I thought, ok. Lighter brown hair. But those early wisps gave way to a shiny, nearly bald head that eventually sprouted silky blonde straight-as-a-stick hair. And the slate grey eyes turned into the loveliest grey-green-blue I could ever imagine, changing this way and that. Hope couldn't be more pleased that Lydia seems to have gotten her eyes.

Thirteen is such a time of change. The cusp between those kid years and the real teenage years to come. Already 5'4," Hope is all legs and emotions. She swings between this lovey, happy-go-lucky girl and someone who feels we are all plotting against her. She pleads her case for having a room of her own, but will happily squeeze in with two sisters to share a twin bunk and can't stand to sleep in the girls' room if at least one of the other two isn't there.

Hope holds herself to high standards when it comes to school. She's really bright and when she does less than nearly perfect, she is disappointed and strives to do better. This drive of hers both impresses and worries me. I love that she thinks so highly of her ability that she knows she can do better (and she does, once she decides to). But I don't want her to think that perfection is expected or required. Jake and Hope are both really smart kids (lest they feel slighted, the others are too, but they're not part of this story). But Jake is of the Good Enough is Good Enough variety (God help me, that's the student I was and I regret it), so it's fascinating to see Hope set academic goals and achieve them. We received a letter from the school in May inviting us to see her receive an award in June. She received a "top achiever" award for 4 of her 7 classes, meaning she had a 96% or higher. Nevermind straight A's...these were all high A's. She was also one of five in her grade to receive a Character Counts award, but that's just me bragging. Sorry. She's a braggalicious girl.

Teetering on the edge of childhood and not quite ready to step off, for her birthday she asked for an ipod and a doll. We compromised with a shiny new bike and a trip to the Bobbi Brown makeup counter for a lesson in artfully applying small amounts of makeup (a barely there tinted moisturizer and a gorgeous slab of shimmery pink blush). She was very pleased and used the makeup for about a week then decided to save it for later. She rides the bike all the time. I am pleased.

So Happy Birthday, Hopie Girl. One of my writers, one of my artists. My voracious reader that I can't buy a book for because nine times out of ten 99 times out of a hundred, it's a book you've already read. Twice. You have always been a shining beam in my life and I love you to death. Please feel free to stay a kid for quite a bit longer. But know that I've had a glimpse of the woman you will become and it makes me proud.

Spring concerts...

Last night was Jake's spring concert and the night before was Hope's. Man. It amazes me just how good these kids are! I swear, when I was in school, you could hear mistakes being made, some musicians not exactly keeping up with the others...not these kids!

A funny thing...Jake's director was talking about how, at the county festival the symphonic band lost a point for "appearance of band." Now, this is because our kids don't have performance uniforms. They all wear black pants/skirts and white tops, but a set uniform really makes a difference. Anyway, he didn't explain that part. He just said that they had lost a point on it and then dramatically looked at the kids behind him on the stage and said, "So....if you could start having better looking kids..." Gotta love Chuck.

There is still time to buy a Mustang Convertible raffle ticket! Hurry, hurry! Drop me an email at emmatoolie@gmail.com or get details at www.jaguarmusic.org.