Flu Shots

I'm taking all three boys in today for their flu shot. I've never taken them all in together. It's always been a different appointment for each. Not really sure how this is going to go, but I'm feeling a little anxious about it. History has shown that Nathan HATES shots. (Takes after Scott who ran out of the doctor's office as a child when the nurse came in with the needle). When Nathan was younger, he would scream. Last year he only cried, but was pissy about going and mad afterwards that I made him get one. This year he has been campaigning hard for the flu mist. Our doctor doesn't offer it. Thomas doesn't cry when he gets shots. Drew has the typical reaction: doesn't want to do it, cries for a moment, and then moves on. I wonder how they'll react when they are all in the room together. Stay tuned.


Update: OK, I will never do that again. D-R-A-M-A! Nathan started crying while we waited in the waiting room. Once in the exam room, I had Drew go first because he was a little clueless. He acted like any child who receives a shot- cried but got over it. Nathan was next and you would have thought we were going to pull his nails out one at a time. Yelling, crying, screaming. I'm sure the whole office could hear. Part of me felt bad for him because he was terrified, but the other part was a bit annoyed by his behavior. Thomas, who never cries during a shot, then started to cry because of Nathan. So, lesson learned. Next year, I'll make three separate appointments. So much for being efficient.

Happy Anniversary, Scott!

Today is our 14th Anniversary.
14 years of marriage + 6 years of dating = 20 years together!
We've been together over half of our lives. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Happy Anniversay, Scott. I would marry you all over again...but this time lets have dancing at our reception. I know, lets have a kickin' anniversary party sometime!

Happy Thanksgiving...

from Ocean Park. All grandparents were present. Thomas helped make a majority of the dinner and desserts. Nathan ate a majority of the dinner and desserts. Fun was had by all. I am thankful for so much.

Bye Bye Binky

This Binky was placed in the garbage can by Drew himself. You could have knocked me over with a feather with that one. The nipple part was split in half and barely attached. I know, we should have thrown it away ourselves, but he is hooked. He only has one more Binky left in his collection. He knows that when that one Binky is lost, gone, or defective, he will no longer have any Binkies, or when he turns 3, whichever comes first.

Husky Football

Well, it's another loosing season for the Husky football team. All five of us attended the final two home games of the season and Scott and I were pleasantly surprised with how well all three boys did. It was COLD for both games, but N, T, and D were troopers. It feels like we are coming out of the fog a bit and outings will only become easier for all five of us.

Here's a mosaic (I'm loving this format) of the Cal and WSU games:

Tough Thomas

Thomas always amazes us. We've been having some tests done to see if his moodiness is at all related to his diet. Upon the advice and experience of a friend, we went to a naturopath for a blood test. The test came back saying he has a sensitivity or an intolerance to eggs, diary, wheat, gluten, and citrus. Huh? How the heck are we going to handle that????? I went to PCC and Whole Foods the next day and spent way too much money on foods he could eat (and didn't really like). Upon the advice our our family doctor, we went to an allergist to see how sensitive he really is to these foods and if we do indeed need to change his diet. The doctor tested him for 11 things- which meant 11 pokes in his arm. He is so tough. No tears. No flinching. Nothing. He's amazing. The nurse says almost all children his age cry or act up. Well, the only thing he slightly reacted to was...dog dander! So, according to the allergist, we don't need to remove those things from his diet that the naturopath said we should. Ugh. Who should I listen to? On the dog dander note, we don't have to worry about Henry. We just need to vacuum more and keep Henry out of Thomas' room.

Mah Jong

A little history: multiple decades ago a group of women started playing Mah Jong together. According to Wikipedia, "Mahjong is a game for four players that originated in China. Mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of luck. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game. This group of women still continue to play the game and have formed a close and lasting friendship that goes well beyond the Mah Jong table. They have seen each other through all of life's ups and downs. One of these women is my mother-in-law, Pat. Another one of the women is, coincidentally, the mother of a woman I met 3 years ago through Thomas' co-op. She (her lovely name is Terriko) and I thought it would be a hoot to follow in our mother (or mother-in-law's) footsteps and form our own Mah Jong group. While you only need 4 to play the game, there are 7 of us total which works out well as one or more usually has a sick child, or late-working-husband etc. The 7 of us have children the same age and we meet during the weekdays for playgroup or weeknights for Mah Jong. We have been playing for about 2 years now, and while we haven't really improved that much (we still have yet to keep score- we all blame the wine) we all look forward to our Mah Jong nights. Without these women, I know my sanity would have been compromised greatly these past few years. They are funny, intelligent, supportive, honest, and special. I feel so lucky to have them in my life.

Here is a glimpse of our last gathering:



(Mosaic inspired by my cousin, Danielle. I think I'll be making a lot of these!)

VIRUS

Our computer has been very sick. It became a victim of the Trojan virus and has not been acting like itself. Constant false security windows and incessant pop-ups. I've attempted to fix it with security patches...but to no avail. I really know nothing about computers. So, I became very worried that the hacker in Argentina (there was a message about him/her) was accessing all of our info and passwords. I kept the computer off. That's where I've been. No posting for me. We came upon a new computer, so here I am again. This will do until we get that Mac- immune from all viruses!

Rebecca, what would Ray recommend?

I'll try to do a quick catch up of life the past few weeks.

Vicodin and Baking: Not a Good Combination

I became very sick last week with strep throat. What a yucky and painful ailment. Strep really knocked me on my booty, as did the pain pills, Vicodin, I was prescribed. BUT, life goes on and I had to fulfill my baking duty for providing dessert for Nathan's soccer team party. I love to bake. It is one of my favorite hobbies and something I've done a lot of. But because I was sick, Scott and I decided together to simplify the baking process by just making cookies and brownies from the box. How can I screw that up? Well, I did...or should I say Vicodin had a hand in it. While the brownies were cooking in the oven, I, for no reason other than being in a fog, simply turned the oven off. This was a huge mistake not caught until the timer went off and Scott took the gooey blob out of the oven. Then, to try and make it right, the conversation went like this:

Me: I'll just whip up a batch of my Snickerdoodles.

Scott: Are you sure? I'm sure we'll be fine without them.

Me: No, I can do it quickly.

I got to work making Snickerdoodles. I've made this recipe so many times, I practically know it by heart. But Vicodin doesn't play that way. My first batch of Snickerdoodles came out of the oven. They looked like hockey pucks. My second batch did too. What was going on? I read and reread the recipe. And ever so slowly, the fog lifted, the sun shined, and I realized I added baking powder, not baking soda. Ugh. I have my baking pride, so I whipped up a whole new mix of dough and made it all OK...and returned to bed in my drug-induced fog.

Snickerdoodle on the left: baking powder
Snicerdoodle on the right: baking soda

Happy Halloween!

Meet the Dark Side Brothers...

Introducing Draco Malfoy a.k.a. Harry Potter's rival and a member of Slytherin.
(Nathan grew his hair out for this costume. It is very long by his standards, but a must for the slicked-back Draco look.)




Also introducing Darth Vader from the Galactic Empire.
(This Darth Vader did not like to wear his mask, or carry his light saber. He also ran out of energy for trick-or-treating!)




And finally, The Bat, a menacing winged-mammal.
(This Bat really learned what it meant to trick-or-treat. He LOVED it! His mantra for the night after knocking on doors was "Trick-or-Treat!...Thank You!...Happy Halloween!...I go 'nother house!")

He is our sugar addict.