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Friday, January 30, 2009

This Week In Review

This was a pretty good week! I threatened the girls with losing horse lessons for 2 weeks if they didn't shape up, and amazingly, we got a lot of school done. My goal is to have school be a drama-free zone. [Insert hysterical laughter]

We started subtraction in math this week, after much deliberation about moving on before addition facts were mastered. We're still working on the facts, but they understand how to add, and it's just time to move on. Both girls told me they think subtraction is way more fun than addition. I'm confounded by this, but hey, if they think math is fun, I'm all for it!

We've also been working on our alphabet books for the girls' class with Mrs. Crane. They were due last week, but I didn't realize that in addition to their rhymes and pictures, they were also supposed to write a paragraph of information using the research they did on their animals. I helped them work on writing them. Actually, I wrote the paragraphs, and then decided that it would probably be pretty obvious that they didn't do them on their own - heh - so now we're working on them again. Abbie and I got her American Avocet paragraph done - probably a little more mom-like than it should be, but we got everything in there she wanted to say. Tomorrow we will do her Indigo Bunting paragraph, and Emma will finish hers so we can get them typed and they can draw their pictures.

We did some fun physics experiments with air this week. Next week I need to remember to have them draw some stuff for their science notebooks.

The Snort is feeling much better this week, thankfully. He's still working on cutting molars on top of having a cold (2 down, 2 to go) so we still have copious amounts of snot flowing around here, but no more fevers or scary breathing. He still wheezes, but my understanding of this RSV thing is that he could potentially wheeze for up to 6 weeks. Have nebulizer, will force him to sit and take breathing treatments.

I finished my first toe-up sock this week - that felt like a major accomplishment! Sadly, when I bound it off, it was too tight to get onto my foot. My very good friend and fellow sock knitter, Melissa, told me of a niftier and stretchier cast-off, so I undid mine. However, when I read the instructions, they are written for a K1 P1 rib, rather than a K2 P1 rib like I had knitted. I have not one clue how to adjust the technique to suit the rib I knitted, so I took it out and am in the process of knitting the K1 P1 rib so I can do the tubular bind off.

And, last but not least, I got a new cell phone! It is very cool, and very purple. I downloaded "Drift Away" by Dobie Gray to be my ring tone. Todd is working on getting the rocked out version of "Hedwig's Theme" for me - it's on the phone but we can't figure out how to make it a ring tone yet. I had a lot of fun playing with my new phone today, and the Snort even managed to make a call with it.

That's about it for us! I hope to get pictures of our snow days up soon. I am such a slacker blogger...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

All The Pretty Little (Imaginary) Horses

This afternoon, the girls were out playing with our neighbors, having a grand time, I thought. At one point, Abbie came stomping up the stairs, obviously not pleased with the way things were going. I asked her what was wrong, and she informed me that she was being TORTURED outside. When I asked her what was going on, she told me that Emma had been yanking on her shirt and yelling at her, because they were playing something Emma didn't want to play. I opened up a window and asked Emma what was going on. Here is a record of our conversation.

Me: Em, why were you yelling at your sister?

Emma: I told her she can't ride any of my imaginary horses!

Me: Are you really telling me that you were hitting your sister because she was pretending to ride your imaginary horses?

Emma: I love horses! What's your point?

Me: Do you know how silly it sounds when you tell me you're upset with your sister for riding your imaginary horses?

Emma: SHE CAN'T RIDE THEM!

Me: If you can't play nicely with your sister, Sydney can go home and you can come in and take a nap. Do you understand me?

Emma: Sulky look, nods.

Me: You will say, "Yes, Mom, I will be nice to my sister."

Emma: (grudgingly) Yes, Mom I will be nice to my sister.

Me: (Still wondering if I am actually having this conversation)OK then.

After I finished this interesting discussion with Emma, I told Abbie that she should stop trying to ride Emma's imaginary horses. I suggested that she make up her own horses to ride, since we both knew she was doing it to push her sister's buttons. She grinned at me and went back outside. That was the last I heard on the issue.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Trip to the ER

Poor Snort has had a tough couple of weeks. Two weeks ago yesterday, we were at the doctor because he had a cold, and was wheezing with retractions. They loaned us a nebulizer, and we got some Albuterol, and he was better in a couple of days.

Then, Wednesday, the snot production went up exponentially - not much like a tiny boy getting over a cold at all - and his eyes had green goo in them. Back to the doctor we went, because he'd been waking up at night too. They didn't find anything wrong. Yesterday, though, there was more wheezing and retractions, and lo and behold, the doctor found an ear infection, too. This time we got to purchase a nebulizer. Thank you, God, for good insurance! And, the doctor said we get to come back next week and talk about an asthma plan. She said people who wheeze when they get colds are called asthmatics. To quote one of my very favorite children's books, "This did not make his mother happy at all." I don't want my boy to have asthma.

But, I digress. That evening, I'd laid him down to sleep for a while. He woke up around 9 pm with a 104.7F degree fever, breathing very quickly and his poor little heart was beating like a drum. He woke up crying, "All done, all done!" It just broke my heart. A breathing treatment and ibuprofen didn't improve the situation, so after a couple of calls to the after-hours nurse line I took him to the pediatric ER.

Naturally, when we got out into the cold air, he perked right up and chattered all the way to the hospital. He was still having pretty good retractions when we got there, though, so we got in to see a doctor pretty quickly. They gave him acetaminophen, oral steroids, and another breathing treatment. Withing minutes, he was jumping on the bed and using the raised head as a slide, saying "Whee!" On the other hand, I could barely keep my eyes open. I was glad to see him feeling better, though.

The ER doctor diagnosed him officially with RSV. We were there for quite a while, because even though he looked and acted better, his blood oxygen levels just wouldn't come back up. Finally, the nurse put the little monitor thingy on his other toe, and the levels came right up so they released us. He was much better today, no more scary fevers. Phew!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden Tour - Greensboro, NC, January 17, 2009o

Todd and I went to see the Eagles in concert last night. The show was FABULOUS. I have to say that I was struck by how old all the guys looked - they are all 60 or 61 (I looked it up). I asked Todd if he could picture our dads up there rockin' out, and we both giggled at the mental picture. It made no difference to the performance, though.

The band came on stage wearing dark suits and ties. It was not what I would consider typical concert attire, but they did look sharp and it was perhaps appropriate for men in their 60's. After the break, they did remove their jackets.

Here is the playlist. I had to Google it, because I didn't have anything to write on. Here is the link to a pretty good blog review of the show I found (aside from some spelling errors and the fact that Don Henley announced the break, not Glen Frey).

1. “How Long”
2. “Busy Being Fabulous”
3. “I Don’t Want to Hear Anymore”
4. “Guilty of the Crime”
5. “Hotel California”
6. “Peaceful Easy Feeling”
7. “I Can’t Tell You Why”
8. “Witchy Woman”
9. “Lyin’ Eyes”
10. “Boys of Summer”
11. “In the City”
12. “The Long Run”

Intermission

13. “No More Walks in the Woods”
14. “Waiting in the Weeds”
15. “No More Cloudy Days”
16. “Love Will Keep Us Alive”
17. “Take It to the Limit”
18. “Long Road out of Eden”
19. “Somebody”
20. “Walk Away”
21. “One of These Nights”
22. “Life’s Been Good”
23. “Dirty Laundry”
24. “Funk #49”
25. “Heartache Tonight”
26. “Life in the Fast Lane”
27. “Rocky Mountain Way”
28. “All She Wants To Do Is Dance”

Encore
29. “Take It Easy”
30. “Desperado”

What a show! It was 3 hours long, and we still felt as if they'd just gotten started when they were done. I missed hearing "Wasted Time," "Best of My Love," and Don Henley's "Heart of the Matter." Todd and I also thought it was interesting that Glen Frey didn't do any of his solo stuff. In the past, we've heard "Smuggler's Blues" and "You Belong to the City."

The Eagles are known, I believe, for their amazing harmonies. They didn't disappoint last night, particularly with their acoustic set - they sang five songs beautifully, as only they can: “No More Walks in the Woods,” “Waiting in the Weeds,” “No More Cloudy Days,” “Love Will Keep Us Alive,” and “Take It to the Limit.” Interestingly, Glen Frey sang "Take It to the Limit," so they had to change the key for him. How do I know this? I really like to sing along to that song, and I had a hard time - the key wasn't low enough for me to take it up an octave, and it was too low for me to sing comfortably along with them.

For some reason, we don't yet own the album for this tour, "Long Road Out Of Eden." According to our program, it's the first album they've released with new content in 28 years. Doesn't sound like a big deal, perhaps, but I really like to be able to sing along and there were several songs I didn't know due to this oversight. Todd ordered the album today and I will be learning the lyrics shortly. (This is important so I can sing along when we see them next time - you know, when they're all about 70. Heh.)

One of the most fun parts of any Eagles concert is Joe Walsh. When he came up to sing "Life's Been Good," he said to the crowd, "This is the song your parents played all the time when you were growing up. It's why you're a little bit odd. Wanna hear it again?" The whole crowd laughed. He likes to make up new lyrics, too, and this time he sang, "I have a limo, ride in the back; My rubber duck, it doesn't go quack!" Good ol' Joe.

I did have a new experience for me at this concert. It was the first time I saw a crowd of people whip out their cell phones rather than their lighters for a song - I think it was "Desperado." I have heard of this phenomenon, but had not experienced it previously.

I took some pictures with my cell phone, and Todd's, and I'm working on getting them off to see how they look. I hope to post a couple. I know I got a pretty good shot of the "Hotel California" stage background, and I think some pretty good ones with Todd's phone. His phone has zoom, but I did not know that until he gave it to me for the second half of the concert. My phone does not, so my pictures are a bit questionable. We shall see.

Finally, I would like to make a suggestion to those folks sitting behind us last night. If you're thinking about coming to another rock concert expecting to sit down through the entire thing, you should consider staying home and renting the DVD when it comes out. At the very least, try to get tickets in the "old fart" section, because that's where you should sit. My mom assured me today that if she and my dad had not had me to educate them about rock concerts, they would not have known that people like to stand up, dance and sing and that expecting the audience to sit through everything is just silly. You have been duly informed.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Update!

Wow, it's been a long time since I blogged about anything! Audrey made my beautiful new blog, and everything, and I've been ignoring it. I need to finish posts about Emma's ballet performance, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, among other things, but I haven't organized the photos yet. I will just post a quick note about what's going on this very week.

Last Sunday after church, our van decided to die in the BJ's parking lot. We were just turning into a row of parking spaces when the van seemed to go spontaneously into neutral. Todd had to get out and push it into a parking spot - or, at least as close as we could get to one. Nothing we did made any difference - it would not go into 2nd, or 1st, or reverse. We tried turning it off and on several times. After many phone calls to see who might be available to rescue us, my Tonna came and took me home to get the Mountaineer, while Todd waited with the kids and the BJ's haul for the tow truck. Once they came and took the van, he walked over to Moe's Southwest Grill, where I met him for lunch. Come to find out, the transmission pump shaft failed. After a week at the Ford dealership and much discussion about whether we wanted a different car altogether, Ariel Mermaid (our 2003 Ford Winstar) is safely back in the driveway. Emma is relieved, because she was traumatized at the thought of getting a different car.

The girls had 3 days of a creative writing class this week, under the expert tutelage of Mrs. Carol Crane, who taught their previous class. They enjoyed it very much, and are excited to work on the A is for Animal book the class will be writing together. They have to decide which animals they want to use for their letters (Abbie has A and B; Emma has O, P and Q) and research them over the next week when the class doesn't meet. When they get back together, they're going to put together their book with rhymes for each animal, including illustrations. I think it will be a wonderful project.

Isaac has contracted some kind of nasty virus. We were at the doctor's office twice yesterday. He has had fevers, and sounds wheezy, and has generally been cranky and not at all like his sweet little self. At our first appointment, the doctor checked his blood oxygen level, and it was fine. He told me to watch for retractions, which would indicate he was having trouble breathing, and sent us home. Not too much later, I noticed said retractions, and when I called the office, the nurse told me to bring him right in. His blood oxygen level was still pretty good, but they gave him a nebulizer treatment, and sent us home with the nebulizer and a prescription for albuterol. The breathing treatments have really helped the wheezing, which makes me feel a whole lot better. He seems to be better today, with much less feverishness and slightly better spirits. He did throw up twice this morning, thanks to copious amounts of snot and a sensitive gag reflex, but overall, I think he's on the mend.

I am working on my very first sock knitted from the toe up. I am using the Widdershins pattern from Knitty, without the cables for at least the first sock. I may try the cables on the second one. I had a heckito of a time getting the first sock started, and after a snafu with the cables, I decided to just figure out the toe-up sock thing and not get fancy this time. I'm still looking for the perfect patterns for my Harry Potter sock yarn, my very favorite Christmas gift from Grammy and Papa! Many of the patterns I like are knit toe-up, and it is a good way to make sure you knit a sock that works with how much yarn you have. I have, however, found some top down patterns that I like as well, and given how much angst as this toe-up sock has caused, I may stick with top down. We will see.

That's about all the scintillating news from our house this week! Hope you're all doing well! I will try to get some new pictures up - I have some great ones of the Snort and noodles.