No Electricity

We made it through the storm WITH power, and we were SO pleased. Then at 11am, it was gone. The crockpot full of baked beans never finished cooking :( We snuggled on the couch under a comforter for several hours and read books. I put all the ice from our ice maker into two Rubbermaid totes, and tossed most of our fridge and freezer contents into them and put everything in the garage. That 'ice chest' is working nicely, and we shouldn't lose too much food. We decided to run to Dominos for a pizza for dinner. After eating that in the near dark, we decided to head to our friend, Vanessa's, house because THEY have a generator. We took the remainder of the pizza and camped out on their living room floor. It was fun! This morning, we went home for hot showers (at least that works!) then headed to Pete's office for a little recreation. The kids are currently coloring in the conference room, while I spend a little time on the internet. The power company called and said we should "make alternate plans" because power would be out for several more days...

More snow!!

After a layer of ice and a small layer of snow, we had 16 hours of freezing rain followed by 6 inches of snow! Thankfully, our power stayed on!!! We do have some MAJOR damage to our trees though. It's a good thing we had our trees trimmed this summer or it would have been a whole lot worse.


When I took these, I had no idea that we had 6 inches of snow ON TOP of however much ice (2 inches??)


You can see the trees bent over, and not doing so well.




Our littel sugar maple is doing well, but I think it's the only tree on our property that is!!


Out the side door... that pink thing is an Easter basket bucket that Hannah left out to collect snow...


Out the back door. The shrubs are practically laying on their sides, but I think they may perk back up when they thaw.


Our poor crab apple tree!! I had a feeling it wasn't going to fair well...


More crab apple damage. Our dogwood (not pictured) doesn't look great either, but it's smallish so hopefully will recover.


Our crab apple "fort". Too bad it isn't safe to play in!!

Teacher Hannah

Hannah's class has a few new students who started Montessori this month. Since Hannah is a kindergartener and works well with the younger students she often gets to help them.

Hannah is helping a younger student get his shoes on after using the balance beam. I'm not sure she was terribly thrilled with this duty.


This is a new work called the mystery bag. The shapes are put in one bag and you identify them by feel and try to find their match.


Hannah is giving a lesson on the brown stair to a new student.


The lesson continues...


Now she's giving a lesson on the pink tower. Hmm... I wonder if I can get a discount on her tuition since she's doing so much teaching.

Snow & Ice Day

This was from the other night, but I thought it was funny. Leah looks like she's preparing to go wading. I think she was trying to show me her knees for some reason.

Today, school was cancelled due to a nasty winter storm that blew through. I was hoping we'd get the 4-8 inches of SNOW they were predicting without any ice, but that's not what happend. Last night we had freezing rain for several hours, then sometime overnight we got a couple of inches of snow. The freezing rain started back up again around lunch time and is supposed to continue until late evening, then we are supposed to get a few more inches of snow on top of that. There is no way there will be school tomorrow either... Today, I read the book "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume to Hannah and we were both cracking up. It had been many, many years since I read it, but it was still very funny. Hannah's class just finished listening to "Super Fudge" (the sequal) last week and she was interested to hear the first book. We also checked out "Double Fudge" (the 3rd installment) from the library, and it may be on the schedule for tomorrow! I read that one a few years back , but I don't remember much about it.

My kids have just discovered knock-knock jokes! Here are their current favorites.
knock knock
who's there?
cows say
cows say who?
no silly, cows say MOO!!

knock knock
who's there?
interrupting cow
interrupt...
MOOOOO!!!!

knock knock
who's there?
banana
banana who?
knock knock
who's there?
banana
banana who?
knock knock
who's there?
orange
orange who?
orange you glad I didn't say banana?

All jokes are followed by side splitting squeals of laughter :)


Yesterday, Pete brought home some large pieces of paper, and today the kids colored on some of them.


Leah at work


Grrr... I shall fight you with my trusty marker!


This was before Elijah got mad that he colored too hard and made a hole in the paper...


Hannah starting her rainbow

Blue

My friend, Venita, sent Leah this Blue's Clues for Christmas, so here are a few pictures to share with her.

Leah is 18 months old (a couple of days ago!)

Leah had her 18 month shot-only and weigh-in visit to the doctor's office. The last time we saw the doctor he asked that when we came in for this shot that I ask the nurse to weigh her as well because she's been gaining weight V-E-R-Y slowly. Leah weighed a whopping 20.6 lbs, up from 19.75 lbs 3 months ago. She'd only gained a couple of ounces between 12 and 15 months, so this is a considerable jump for her. She's our tiniest kid so far!! I like to spread out the shots, so Leah only got one shot today. She got her first dose of the polio vaccine.

Leah is amazingly smart! Pete and I think she's smarter than the other two, and if you've met either of them, you know that's pretty impressive.

Leah is teething her canines right now, and all 4 of them are just below the surface... and are making her miserable! Her molars just finished coming in so that's been a bit rough. Thankfully, we should be done with teething for a few months at least, then we have to get through those 2 year molars :(

Snow!

We had our first snow of the season, and the kids were out of school for MLK day, so they played outside for a bit. Hannah LOVES the snow, Elijah doesn't. Leah would probably like it better if she had boots that actually FIT her instead of 2-3 sizes too big.


Hannah making a snow angel.


Elijah's attempt at a snow angel.


Leah was stuck here until I walked her around.


Elijah was unimpressed that his mittens were "dirty" with snow.


Hannah attempting to make a snowman... We've lived here for 3 1/2 years and only had enough snow for a snowman one time! I don't think we get any more snow than Oklahoma does...


Hannah's snow angel.

It's Official!

I've known since last Wednesday, but wasn't suposed to say anything until we got the official letter. Hannah was accepted into Montessori elementary!!!! Yay!!!! None of the kids that I expected (politically) to be in first grade are among the seven who were chosen.

I can't wait to tell Hannah this afternoon! Though, I have a feeling that Pete and I are more excited than she will be. She's kind of afraid of the elementary classroom right now... those towering 3rd graders really intimidate her! I expect that she won't really realize what a great opportunity this is until she is much older, or has at least been in a traditional (boring, lol) classroom.

Update on Elijah

He is doing much, MUCH better! Yesterday was nightmarish with all the whining that was going on. Elijah stayed home from school and went to playgroup with Leah and me... he whined and complained the whole time. Right before dinner he was just being awful, and I made him take some Tylenol. By the time dinner was over he was his normal, chipper self and he and Hannah ran around the house being crazy until bedtime. This morning, he woke up HAPPY! I gave him some Tylenol and took him to school. I called the school at 10:30 to see how he was doing. He was fine, but he'd requested that I come pick him up early. So, I did. Tomorrow, we'll try for a full half day. He does seem pretty tired this afternoon, and I expect he'll fall asleep when we pick Hannah up from school. I'm glad he seems to finally be over the hump!

Tonsilectomy, day 6

Elijah is doing so much better! I took him to school today and told his teacher to call me if he got too tired or grumpy. I got that call about two hours later, lol. However, he only took a couple of doses of Tylenol, and has been pretty happy. Right before bed he started to lose it, but that's not too uncommon for him anyway. He takes his last dose of antibiotic tomorrow, and I'll be glad to be done with that!

Tonsilectomy, day 5

Today was much, MUCH better than I expected. Some of that probably has to do with the fact that I left Elijah home with Pete when I took the girls to church. I had an almost 4 hour break from the whining, which was nice :) Pete and Elijah sat on the couch and played the Wii for most of that time... Elijah is taking the Tylenol chewables much better now, and tonight even admitted to liking them. He also doesn't need them quite as often, which is nice. I think tomorrow I'll try to go 6 hours between doses. Oh how I wish he could take ibuprofen! It works so much better and lasts hours longer than Tylenol... but it's not good after surgery (or before) because it can cause bleeding. It's not a blood thinner like aspirin, but I believe it's a vasodilator... it's been a while since I studied all that! Hopefully, he won't wake up at 5am like he did this morning. That was a killer! Leah woke up as well because I wasn't there in bed next to her to keep her warm. Anyway, day 5 was a breeze :) He's not supposed to go back to school until Wednesday, but *maybe* I'll send him tomorrow. Pete thinks he needs a couple more days relaxing, and he's probably right... Mentally, he's ready to get back to school!!!

Tonsilectomy, day 4

There WERE good parts of today, but the bad parts were pretty bad. Elijah's screaming refusal to take Tylenol at 6:30 were enough to wake Pete up, and that's really saying something. He no longer likes the Pediasure, and he just wants to eat real food. After the Tylenol kicked in he decided he'd try to eat a piece of cold, cheese pizza. He ate 3/4 of a slice, and I was pretty impressed. Who needs Pediasure if you can eat pizza??? At 10:15 (15 min before he needed to take more Tylenol) I came up with a brilliant plan to go buy some chewable Tylenol. If the kid can eat pizza he can chew a chewable pill!! Trying to get him into the car as his pain reliever was wearing off was not my smartest idea. He didn't want help with his jacket, but he couldn't get it on, so I helped him. SCREAMING. I took his jacket off and told him to do it himself. MORE SCREAMING. Then I start yelling. Hannah tried to help him get his jacket on, but she was having trouble. I end up putting his jacket on him and everyone out to the van and stuffed into their car seats. We drove the 1/2 mile to Walgreens and started the search for children's Tylenol. They have hidden the stuff. It's not in the 'pain relief' section, it's in it's own display right in front of the pharmacy. I was hoping to have some flavor options, but bubble gum was all they had (he hates grape, and apparently hates the 'very strawberry' that the liquid comes in). When I picked up the box, Elijah started panicking... not what I wanted to happen in Walgreens. When we got home, I insisted that he take the chewable Tylenol, and he doesn't like it, but he does take them. At least there wasn't any screaming that time. So, the chewables were a fine idea. Later, when it was time for the next dose, he'd just woken from a nap, but he did okay. At dinner he ate mac & cheese which was pretty exciting for him (poor kid). The pre-bed Tylenol didn't go so well because he was distracted by Pete playing the Wii and he dropped a pill and it rolled under the couch. I yelled, he cried, then he was in pain and couldn't calm down enough to take the darn things. It was a rough day, and I wasn't feeling very good (and certainly had zero patience). He did go to bed without a fuss, though he's in MY bed. Tomorrow is the dreaded day 5. I don't think there is any chance I will be taking him to church, he can just stay home with Pete! Of course, then Hannah says, "I want to stay home too..." She's just afraid they'll play the Wii without her. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Hannah Back at School

Hannah and Daniela build a tower using the blocks from the pink tower and the brown stair.


Hannah and Daniela get some help from Walker's height.


Oops! Down it falls...


Hannah and Daniela pose with another creation.


Hannah works on the map of the US.

Tonsilectomy, day 3

Poor Elijah! Each day has been worse than the last. The ENT told me that day 5 after surgery is the worst, so it looks like we have a couple more days of this. Elijah woke up screaming at 3am, and it was not easy getting him to take some Tylenol. I rocked him back to sleep. At 7am, he took his medicine better, but he REALLY doesn't like the Tylenol. It's 'very strawberry' flavored, and it smells really good. I've been mixing it with a little vanilla Pediasure so he will actually drink it. He's even complaining about THAT now. He takes the pink amoxicillin just fine, but the Tylenol is a continual struggle.
Elijah spent much of the morning playing computer games and watching a little TV. He's eating less and less each day. Today he drank 1/2 a Pediasure, 1/2 cup of applesauce, 1/4 cup (maybe) of yogurt, and a couple of scoops of ice cream. Yesterday he managed to eat a peanut butter sandwich for lunch!
Pete came home early in the afternoon and played the Wii with Elijah, and they enjoyed that. By evening Elijah was feeling pretty poorly. He had a screaming fit about the Tylenol... which can't feel good. But he went to bed easily. I hope he feels better SOON!

Hannah's Has a Loose Tooth!

This morning Hannah told me that one of her teeth hurt. Upon inspection, I pronounced it was loose. I don't expect it to come out for a couple of weeks though, she doesn't strike me as a tooth wiggler!

Tonsilectomy, day 2

I'm now pretty sure that the reason that Elijah ran around like a crazy man all day yesterday had to do with his pain medication. He was taking Lortab every 4 hours, and it certainly was helping alleviate his pain! Last night when it wore off at 1:30am, he was asleep so I didn't give him anymore. He slept MUCH better after it wore off. He would cry out after a cough, but he did that while medicated. He had a little bleeding last night, and I'm thinking that all the activity probably caused it. We could NOT get him to stop talking or moving in the evening. I sent Pete to Walgreens at 5am for children's Tylenol so we could stop using the Lortab... It all seems to finally be catching up with the little guy. He couldn't eat his yogurt this morning, but he was able to take his medicine and drink some Pediasure. After the Tylenol kicked in he ate a little applesauce as well. He is, however, dancing around the living room right now...

Elijah's Tonsilectomy

I tried to take a picture of Elijah's tonsils last night before they were no more, and it was a lot trickier than I expected. This is the best shot I got. If you know what tonsils look like, you'll be able to spot them easily. Otherwise, they are the pink, fleshy things at the back of his mouth.

We were scheduled to arrive at the surgery center at 6am, so I woke Elijah up about 20 minutes before that time. I just put on his shoes and coat on with his pajamas and went. Lo and behold it had SNOWED! The temp must have been above freezing because the streets were wet, but there was snow on the grass. We live about a mile from the surgery center, so we got there quite quickly. I got him checked in and we waited in the pre-op area for a while. He had to change into a hospital gown that had tigers on it. It was so big on him it practically dragged on the ground. We had to wait a bit for all the doctors to arrive since Elijah was one of the first surgeries of the day. He charmed all the nurses with his good behavior and obvious smarts. He was given a coloring book and we worked on a word search together (he loves those!). Once again the nurses were impressed :) Around 7:10 the ENT arrived and Elijah was taken back to the O.R. After about 10 minutes of waiting, a nurse came out and told me how well he had done with the anesthesia. They had him put the mask on his stuffed puppy first, then he held it on his own face and went to sleep. The surgery only lasted about 20 minutes, and then I met with the doctor. He said the surgery went really well and that Elijah's tonsils were only attached with a very narrow band of tissue. Because of that, he'll have an easier recovery, smaller scabs, and less scar tissue. His adenoids were of moderate size (unlike his LARGE tonsils), and they came out easily too. After Elijah was in recovery for about 5 minutes, he woke up just enough to say "I want my Mommy!", so they came and got me even though he was still pretty out of it. I held him, he drank a little apple juice, and he fell asleep. After 90 minutes of sleeping, the nurse came in and said he needed to eat something and take some pain medicine before he could leave. I whispered, "Elijah, do you want some pudding?" His eyes opened and he was suddenly AWAKE. He ate 1/2 a cup of pudding, drank a lot more juice, and eventually gagged down the yucky, liquid medicine. When it became apparent that he was going to tolerate the medicine (15 min or so), the nurse took out his IV and he got dressed. At that point, he said, "that was really fun!" He walked to the car, and all the nurses said, "Bye Elijah!!" When we got outside I had to tell him NOT to run or jump... He's supposed to stay sedintary for a WEEK and no running, jumping, etc for TWO WEEKS. Right.

I was going to take a picture to show how chipper he looks, but he wanted to look pitiful for the camera :)

2008 A Year in Reflection

Everyone seems to be doing these, so I'll add mine to the mix.
January 2008
December 2008
In 2008 Hannah did the following: had her first stomach virus (really!), started reading, had allergy testing (twice!), slept through a 5.4 earthquake, danced and sang in the school play "Baby Want Out!", grew hair long enough to braid and style, had her first not-so-glowing progress report from preschool, went to summer school and took swim lessons, met her great-grandparents, grew to be 44 inches tall and 44 lbs, started kindergarten, started enjoying the "harder" academic works at school, lived without electricity for 40 hours after Hurricane Ike blew through, learned to knit on a loom, learned to do needlepoint, grew her own pumpkins for Halloween, turned SIX years old and had a birthday bash at Chuck E Cheese, had TWO allergic reactions to beeswax lip balm and two bouts of impetigo, got a fantastic, glowing, AMAZING progress report from her kindergarten teacher, started writing stories, quit taking gymnastics, started art lessons, and was generally the world's best big sister (to Leah anyway!).



January 2008
December 2008
In 2008 Elijah did the following: earned the name Mr. Grumpy Pants, was sick too many times to count, had a non-family member babysitter for the first time, slept through an earthquake, said many funny "Elijah-isms", learned to use the potty!, had a "no-hair cut", entertained us with his silliness, amazed us with his intelligence, turned THREE years old and had a John Deere party, learned to drive his own little John Deere tractor, met his great-grandparents for the first time, got to ride on some REAL, antique John Deere tractors at the fair, started Montessori preschool, grew to be 36 inches tall and 30 lbs, started taking gymnastics, quit taking gymnastics (for now), learned to cut with scissors, went on his first field trip and bus ride, learned to dress himself, sat on Santa's lap for the first time, and was as amazingly sweet big brother (not nearly as sweet little brother!)



January 2008
December 2008
In 2008 Leah did the following: Learned to sit, started eating solid food (kind of), grew 12 teeth, learned to crawl, learned to talk (at least 100 words and even putting words together), grew a LOT of hair, became just as silly as her brother, earned the name "Destructo-baby", learned to stand, turned ONE year old, went swimming for the first time, learned to climb and descend the stairs, learned to walk, was sick more times than I can count including stomach viruses, an ear infection, and roseola, grew to be 30 inches tall and 20 lbs, and was the best little sister EVER!

We Are HOME!!

I wanted to put up a bunch of pictures while we were gone, but the internet connection was painfully slow most of the time, so I didn't. Hopefully, I will get caught up soon, but it won't be tonight!

We made it home in record time, only 11 1/2 hours!! The kids were amazingly well behaved and that allowed us to drive more and stop less. Leah wasn't exactly happy about being in her carseat, but she managed to survive without an all out meltdown.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day since I will be taking Elijah to get his blood drawn for the lab work that needs to be done before his tonsilectomy on Wednesday... Poor guy, he doesn't know what he's in for. He's very excited about the special chocolate milk (Pediasure) we'll be buying for him to drink after the surgery. I suppose I better stock up on ice cream too :)