Like most Thursday’s around here, today had some unexpected turns and surprises, but before I get to that I just want to say thank you to everyone who took time to comment, e-mail or message me after last weeks post. That was a tough post to hit “Publish” on because of how “real” it was. So thank you! You guys are all the best and I love you!
Well, to start off the morning, Conner had a fever and a cough so he stayed home from school today. His fever wasn’t very high, but he had been coughing yesterday too and he doesn’t do so well with making sure to cover his mouth so I thought I would do the world a favor and keep him home. I love having him home from school and he knows it. At lunch he said, “Mom, you just love having me home from school don’t you.” Me: “Yes, I love it!” Conner in a sort of happy, I know I am loved voice, “Yep, even though I’m sick and it means more work for you, you still love to have me home.” That boy makes me smile.
Most of my morning looked like this;
Trever (who threw up twice yesterday) sitting on my lap watching his favorite Wheels On The Bus show and Conner next to us on the couch watching Star Wars or reading a Mine-Craft book.
Before I knew it, it was time to pick up Charlotte and Alivia at preschool. It’s usually a very uneventful process but today I had a little mis-hap. Soooo…..there was a school bus parked in the little turn around thing in front of the school where all the parents park to run in and get the preschoolers, the bus was parked there today and it was parked in a way that made it impossible to get around because other cars were parked lining the opposite side of the turn about. (I really wish I would have taken a picture.) Since it was impossible to get around him I just parked behind him and figured I would back out after I grabbed the girls. I got the girls and got everyone loaded and buckled into the van and climbed in the drivers seat just as a little yellow car pulled up behind me, trapping me between it and the bus. I started the van and spent a good two minutes trying to figure out if I could clear the bus. I decided I couldn’t and started to jump out of the van to go talk to the bus driver to see if he could please pull forward a little.
There was just one little problem, the car was in drive and when I started jumping out the van started to drive forward. AHHHHH!
I was only about five feet away from the bus so as you can imagine I was frantically trying to get back in the drivers seat and slam my foot on the brake. I’m sure it was quite hilarious to all of the other onlooking parents but it was quite the terrifying rush. Somehow I managed to hit the brake just shy of two inches from hitting the bus. I put it in park and ran up to the window to ask the driver to please move, he couldn’t here me so I ran around to the door and tried again, he still couldn’t hear me so I walked all the way onto the bus and asked as nicely as I could if he could please pull forward, he gave me a dirty look, didn’t say yes or no…it was pretty awkward. I turned around and got off the bus. As soon as I stepped off he pulled forward. Thank you Sir, that wasn’t so hard now was it!
I am so so so grateful I got the van stopped before it hit the back of that bus, filling out an accident report with my three sidekicks would have been AWESOME! …not.
When we got home I got the urge to bake and since Sim was in charge of Thatcher’s basketball team’s pizza party tonight I decided to make things that we could take for dessert.
I made some Soft Batch Cream Cheese Cookie Bars and some Rocky Road Brownies. Both recipes will be coming on the blog soon. They were yummy!
After the baking it was lunch and nap time. During nap time I took some time to organize some boards on Pinterest and to try and figure out Board Booster, a pinning aid that is supposed to be amazing and helpful for bloggers. My Pinterest traffic has grown by 40% over the last two weeks so I am trying to go with that momentum and bring my A game to Pinterest. But there’s a problem, I kind of hate pinning…I know I am so 20th Century. Hoping Board Booster can help me out with that.
After nap time, Trever found my camera and it now has some pretty awesome smudge and finger marks on the lens, hoping my special cleaning cloth can take car of that. But look how cute and innocent he looks. Monkey see, Monkey do.
Trevie also “helped” with dishes….
Thatcher came home super motivated to get his homework done quick and plowed through it at record speed. Because I don’t have as much time to work with him on his speech anymore, one thing I have started doing with him is giving him a penny to get a gumball out of our gumball machine if he enunciates every sound correctly when he is reading me his daily reading book he brings home. Never under estimate the power of a gumball machine.
The gumball machine lives up really high on the top of the kitchen cupboard so mom and dad are the only people who are tall enough to reach it.
Shortly after homework, Dad got home and it was time to go to the party.
We had fun with Thatcher’s team and I got to know a couple of the moms better. I only got to go to two of Thatcher’s games this season because he and Conner often played at the same time and because Sim was Thatcher’s coach that meant I always took Conner. One of the moms and I exchanged info since Conner and her son who is the same age really hit it off. Yay!
All of the parents had great things to say about Sim as the coach and I believe it. He is the most patient, deliberate, person I know and he loves basketball so I have no doubt he did an amazing job, I just didn’t really get to see him in action because even when I was at the games I was wrestling a toddler and a three-nager.
We had pizza and the dessert treats I made for dinner. I really feel like I need a few hundred vegetables to round out what I’ve eaten today….
When we got home a friend from church came over to help Sim give Charlotte a special blessing. She is having eye surgery tomorrow. I am so excited she is finally getting it. As you can see her left eye crosses significantly, glasses help it a little and patching helps, but ever since she got bifocals she has started pushing her glasses up all the time and it is really hard to make sure she is consistently wearing them.
I am So excited for the surgery and hoping that if she still needs glasses for a little while we can go back to regular ones.
And the last unexpected little twist of my day came just before I sat down to type this out. I saw an e-mail come through from Thatchers teacher and was super sad when I read what it was about.
The boy has had the CRAZIEST, STINKIEST gas the last two or three weeks and we aren’t sure why. We have been giving him a probiotic and I thought it was getting better, but she wrote to say that she is worried about the social implications of his gas. Kids are starting to cover their noses and move away from him. She says Thatcher doesn’t seemed phased by it but she and his other teacher are worried. Ugh, I seriously don’t know what else to do. I’ve already talked to him about asking to go to the bathroom when he knows he is about to have gas. And seriously, it really is terrible you guys, I sometimes cover my nose (inconspicuously) and move away from him too. I genuinely feel bad for who ever is in the room when it happens, but I am worried because I know this is the kind of thing that can live with someone for years. “Remember in second grade that kids farts were so gross you could taste them…..” I was convinced the kid who threw up next to me in first grade had cooties well into high school. Poor Thatch, I’m telling you, if it’s not one thing with this guy, it’s another. I guess it’s time to start removing things from his diet, this should be fun and easy….not.
Keep it Real!
Maria
My youngest, Lawsen, had to have eye muscle surgery. He ended up having three all together (first when he was 6 months old, the next when he was 3, and the last was before he started kindergarten). I am SO grateful he had them. Sometimes when he is really tired, or sick, or has had too much screen time one of his eyes gets a little lazy, but other then that you would never know he ever had a problem. It has made a significant improvement in his life (plus it gives us all a reason not to have too much screen time). One thing that helped tremendously in his recovery, including staying on top of the pain meds, was Aunt Cori gave him a new lego set. He didn’t want to open his eyes the following day but that lego set was too enticing. It was the best thing for him and forced him to open and use his eyes. I hope the surgery went well. Hang in there, Maria!
I had no idea Lawsen had eye surgeries. I have noticed screen time makes a difference with Charlotte’s eye too. She did better then I expected, but coming out of the anesthesia was rough for her. She had a follow up appointment today and we don’t have to do the patch anymore, but she still needs her glasses for awhile. We have an appointment in a couple weeks to check things again and see if we can start weening her off the glasses. Fingers Crossed.
Thanks for the well wishes!