Nekkis

So tonight the baby is doubled over coughing uncontrollably while she's trying to eat a snack before bedtime and my son says, "Yep, she's got the Whooping (as in pertussis)."

She completely stops coughing, turns and looks at him and says, "I am not poopy!"

Oh my goodness, we couldn't stop laughing.

This same brother just got his braces Wednesday morning. I asked the baby to look at him and tell me what was on his teeth. Her answer? Nekkis! (as in necklace)

I wonder if she got confused and thought braces were bracelets. And from there to necklace isn't a far jump. For what they're costing us, there ought to be a diamond solitaire in there somewhere! (and seriously, I am gonna tear myself away from here and start hanging out here).

When things get really quiet around here...

I know to go looking for her. She will be sound asleep some where; she just can't seem to make it all the way through the day. Sometimes she'll even announce, "I going to bed. I so tired mommy."


Yes! Blue skies today. I am saving these for when the next group of storms is due, because even though I enjoy the thick blankets of snowy white and the stillness they bring, it does my heart good to see some sunshine too. Enjoy!

Because a haircut and a shave can be

so exhausting....

I turned my inner hair stylist loose on Ty today, I even attempted it solo. Ty hates getting his haircut and it is a two person job for sure, but I couldn't take his 2 inch faux-hawk any longer and decided to just go for it. If you want to talk quantity, I'd say there there was at least 3 cups worth of curls on the floor when all was said and done.

And then I couldn't help myself, I just had to shave his mexi-stache, and then I noticed his peach fuzz Luke Perry sideburns and they had to go too. I am sure he was hoping for a lightening bolt to wrest the razor from my hands. He was a pretty good sport until the last 5 minutes when he let me know he was absolutely finished with me and my beauty school dreams.

And now, a little snow dog who does her best to ward off the snowstorms with her very scary bark. You know, "How dare the heavens pour out that white stuff in my yard!"

I'm kinda hoping somebody up there is listening to her. How about you, had enough yet?

I Going School

Now

Bye, bye see you.

Gimme kiss!

Attack of the lint

G is such a cutie, but recently she has developed a fear of anything small and fuzzy. I believe this stems from a recent close encounter with a real life, very large spider. Her sisters were very freaked out about it. The spider was relocated, no not outside - but to his mansion in the sky.

I didn't think anything of it until I was bathing her and she started screaming pie-er, pie-er. I had no idea what the racket and fuss were all about. Then I saw it, it was a speck of lint that resembled a friend of the 8-legged variety.

Suddenly, these fuzzy imposters were everywhere. She refuses to touch them and has become a shower girl since bathtime is too traumatic - all those floating sock fuzzies from between her toes sends her into an absolute panic. And then - Houston, we have another problem, because I am laughing so hard I cannot carry out my lint removal duties expeditiously.

Can you imagine what she'll think after reading Horton Hears a Who?

Right, showers it is.

Pampers Baby Dry diapers review

Recently, G has been test driving Pampers Baby Dry diapers and Pampers One-Ups! baby wipes.

First, a disclaimer: I have always had my babies use the Huggies Supreme Newborn diapers and as soon as they're out of those, I switch over to Luvs. I did this for all five kids. We are loyal Luvs diaper consumers. At the same time, I have always used Huggies wipes - always.

Overall Impression: Love the Pampers diapers, not so much the wipes. Read on to find out why.

One thing to know about G, she weaned herself from a bottle somewhere around 12-14 months of age. (Just in case you're thinking of reprimanding me, I had a Radioactive Iodine treatment that made our decision for us on the whole breast vs. bottle issue). G is one thirsty girl and drinks vast quantities of water every night just before bed. At least two cups worth, and lately she has been waking up soaked in her Luvs diapers.

We thought we'd give the Pampers Baby-Dry diapers a try to see if they're any better at keeping her dry. At first, I was disappointed because the legs were gappy when she got up from her nap, then I realized that all I needed to do was fasten the tapes tighter.

Things I like about Pampers diapers:
1) They smell like baby powder - I heart that!
2) Not once did she get a sore bum! I'm considering switching for that feature alone.
3) G loves that Elmo is on the back of every diaper (even though she has never seen Sesame Street)
4) They hold a whole lotta liquid
5) They mostly hold all the messy stuff in too (only a couple of teeny tiny leaks by the legs when she had a stomach bug)
6) They are so much thinner than any other diaper

Things that bugged me:
1) The tapes had a way of never feeling tight enough because of the flex feature
2) They hold so much liquid that by morning, it looked like she was dragging a weight between her legs.
3) They're $2 more than Luvs for the same amount of diapers, sigh...

Things I liked about the wipes:
1) They were soft
2) Neither she nor I broke out in a rash from using them
3) I think they'd make great baseboard cleaners

Things that bugged me about the wipes:
1) Too slippery. I like to fold my wipes in half and distance my fingers from the messy stuff. Huggies do that quite nicely and somehow get a bit of traction on a messy bum. These wipes fell short.
2) Any part that was sticking out in the plastic dispenser (even when the lid was closed) dried out, very annoying.
3) The scent. Too powerful and perfumey. Whatever happened to that good ol' fashioned baby powder smell? To be honest, Huggies has recently changed the scents of their wipes too and it's even worse than the Pampers' smell. It used to be that fragrance free smelled worse than the 'lightly scented,' I'm afraid that's not true anymore.

I think you'll be pleasantly suprised if you try the Baby-Dry diapers. No soggy bums in the morning or drenched clothes either. With the pampers wipes, however, you're on your own.
For other Talk About Tuesday posts, visit Lara at the Lazy Organizer

Leaf Wars

Willow leaves make great ammunition.

And they are perfect for making leaf angels (like snow angels, but with leaves). Or for burying your brother.

But mostly, they are awesome for leaf wars.

I've always wanted one of these...

A life-size troll doll, I mean
I'm so glad she humors me

Family starts with F, and that means FUN!

I don't think I inherited the "fun mom" gene. I know that some of my sisters did - but me? I only got the "read-aloud mom" gene. (edited to add: links at the bottom of the post)

It's not that I don't like to have fun, it just doesn't come naturally to me. I have to sit and really brainstorm for fun ideas, plan them, and then voila! FUN happens.

But! There is hope for people like me. If you are one of us, you will enjoy Shelley Wille's books. My aunt lent me her copy of Never A Dull Moment-

there are so many ideas in here that I'm going to try.

I love her "Kooky Cookie Night" - tons of ideas for family fun with the cheap cookies you can get at Wally World (i.e. stacking contest, bobbing for cookies, building with cookies & frosting, cookie golf, cookie burgers, and more). We may just have to take photos of all our fun and post them.

"Disgusting Derby" and "Messy Mania" both promise a twist on the word 'fun' - anyone with boys (& maybe even girls) ought to love these ideas with disturbing themes (hairiest legs contest - involves corn syrup and sprinkles; musical burp - think musical chairs with carbonation; vaseline/cotton relay; toilet plunger sundaes; worm search - think pudding, gummy worms, & no hands; chocolate marshmallow drop, and many, many others). I don't think you or I have the stomach for me to post any of these pictures.

The bubblegum party is another idea I know my kids will go for. I am so stocking up on Hubba Bubba and Bubble-licious!

Shelley's ideas are fun and easy to implement. Key items to keep on hand for the 29 different themes - pudding, marshmallows, balloons, shaving cream (cheap 69 cent brand).

I love how the greatest discoveries seem to be by accident. Try her books and see if you don't agree.

For more ideas for your family, check out Works for me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer or see my other tips:

Math is fun
Kids in the kitchen
Behavior incentives
Road trips w/kids
Longer lasting cut flowers
Job charts
Kids' snacks
Sensory garden
Traveling w/baby

Mountains.........a metaphor

Preparations have been made

the bags are packed

the route has been chosen

At this point, when my son realized that camp was just over the top of the first ridge in the center of the picture (which he nicknamed "The Colloseum")

he was overwhelmed
but, when it was his dad that nearly faltered when camp seemed unobtainable,
(this was his first hike after his Achilles' tendon rupture/repair 2 years ago and his legs were cramping up)
My son became the motivator,
telling his dad to just take 10 steps then rest
and it was his idea to run ahead, find the lake, and scout out a camp spot

their views along the way
Mine is a true blogger's hubby -
he dutifully snapped pictures of
the wildflowers

it's important to notice the beauty along the way
The view from the top
(haze from the wildfires)

Almost there

(this picture worried me a bit, but Mr. Triumph assured me that he was just a few feet from solid ground)

The Summit

not the end of the journey,

but where you glory in everything you've learned

for climbing the next mountain,

reaching the next summit

His Hairyness & Her Plinkyness

Ty's hair fell out again after his last chemo, but it is really coming in with a fury now. It's much thicker on top than it is on the sides.

He tried some of the new Gogurt Fizzix today - fruit punch. He did all right, but it was quite a new sensation for him.



Of course I tried it too, just a taste, as did all the kids. It's hard to explain. It's a tangy taste, but still sweet. Maybe it's even a little bit tingly, like it's getting fresh with your tastebuds.





You can never start your kids too young in their love of all things music.
She loves to play for us, pounding up and down the keyboard with great dramatic gestures and then, just as quickly, she will delicately finger the keys and sing softly to herself.

When she pauses to look at the book and find her place, it cracks me up.

Maybe this one will stick to the piano, if not there is always the potential for a career in acting. She can really pour on the drama.

We have been what you call Prolific

Ty's latest project from the Sensory Garden:



A picture of R's hair (as requested by Grandma Tree). This is the day after a haircut, believe it or not.


Lastly, here is a finished project that I can now cross off my list. I haven't a thing like it anywhere in my house - any suggestions for what to do with it? I think I like the back as well as the front. If you look closely, you can see quilting that my friend Wendy did.

Ty's Tuesday Music Picks

First, a little sun for the lovely New Zealand people.... from the Sensory Garden

Just a reminder, to watch these videos, you'll first want to scroll down (to the very bottom of the blog) and put my lovely music player on pause then come back up and click to play the vids.

Ty's hair has started falling out. Again. Rats! It may be time to get the lint roller out...

It really does work great to get the stubble off before it ends up in his ears, mouth, eyes, you name it. I just wonder what he thinks when he hears the tape - shhhwick and feels the tape - brrraaap rolling across his scalp.

We sure are gonna have some great conversations one day.

Back to the music vids, here's the second installment of OKGO. I think the reason they appeal to me so much is the dancing (and the guy in the white shoes somehow reminds me of my cousin). I think it's his panache and extreme lack of self consciousness, plus my 'cuz starred in his own friend's movie.

Now, do all my many other cousins know to whom I am referring? If you're reading this, I'm sure you know who you are (remember that whole 'fainting thing' in Grandma's basement? Ahhhh, we had some great times Rambo).
Next up is Life In One Day by Howard Jones
Ignore the poor video and sound, I really did know a guy in High School with hair like that and clothes like that. Hmmm...It must've been the 80s. Like, totally gag me with a spoon.

Some Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken salad. Yum - for grown ups!

If you've made it to the bottom here, let me share some more fun with pictures:

You're telling me we're outta 'hot'? (oatmeal)

Oh no!

Do you really think I'm gonna fall for that one again?

See, I knew we had some. Yum!

The Eyes have it

Ty is home and sleeping in his own bed again. He tried to throw-up for the first time today - on this chemo round. We are scheduled for a CT scan on July 13 to see how the tumor is responding (to me it looks smaller, I'll measure it tomorrow).


So yes - his eyebrows are growing back.

and maybe even his hair - just a little.

When we were at the hospital, his hair turned from blond to brownish...
strange, eh?

Here's another picture of Ty before chemo. I wish you could tell how great his hair was. I know some women who'd kill for hair like his, or at least pay the big bucks.

Please forgive the red-eyes (I promise to upgrade the camera, really I do)

Our first cuttings from the sensory garden. The lavendar is in full bloom and buzzing with honey-bees. I have another vase of cut lavendar and my kitchen is smelling wonderful!

It's so good to be home!

(Just as a plea for help, can anyone tell me how to resize my pics so they just fill the screen when you click on them - you know, rather than becoming ginormous? Thanks)

Traditions...it's the stuff memories are made of

Today, I've been a bit under the weather. The kind that keeps you to your bed and has you wanting to call in a Mommy sick day.

As I was laying in bed, it brought to mind the sick days of my childhood. Specifically those I had when I lived in the Philippines.

Things may have changed since the 70s, but television programming consisted of anime cartoons, japanese soap operas, and the occasional Grizzly Adams or Here's Boomer on Sundays. As a result, my sister and I spent much of our time playing outdoors or reading books. Our mom was very supportive of our reading addiction, and every time I was sick in bed it seemed I had a new Nancy Drew mystery to read.

She always fostered a love of reading in us, and when we moved back to America the reading tradition continued. We would gather and tuck ourselves into the corners of my parent's water bed and mom would read aloud to us from chapter books. She even read to us in the car on family road trips. I can't say that I ever remember a time when my mom didn't have a book on her nightstand or perhaps in her purse to read when she got the chance.

Even though there are plenty of diversions available and much more variety in tv programming, the tradition of read-alouds now continues in my own family.

In the summer we gather on the deck and the children snuggle into patio chairs, or we all lay on the tramp together - everyone rolling into the middle next to me, while I read to them by flashlight and they look out into the stars.

When the weather turns colder, they tuck themselves into the comfy corners of the family room sofas and draw, work at handiwork, or just wrap up in a blanket and listen.

Sometimes, just for fun, I pick a book just for them and read to each child alone in their room - cuddling up with the younger ones. I like to think I am passing on the "love of reading" torch to my children and hope that when they become parents, the tradition will continue in their own families.

I wrote this post as my entry for Scribbit's Write Away contest. If you'd like to enter, this month's theme is Traditions. (You have until midnight Saturday).

To sleep, perchance to dream...

Back when Ty was an infant, I refinished a cradle belonging to my Uncle D. I loved it, I painted it white, and kept it in my room. When he outgrew it, he slept in a crib we bought from my mom's neighbor. He had horrible reflux and we ended up sleeping him in a bouncy chair or his car seat (still, technically, in the crib though).

When we moved four hours away I began sleeping my babies in a playpen. My sister thinks it's cruel, but I remind her that in some countries people actually sleep on the FLOOR. At least she sleeps three inches higher than that and it's not like she's sleeping on dirt, or has flies landing all over her, or a distended belly. (veiled reference to my former third world country of residence or have they made it to Developing Nation status now?)

My reasoning for this was simply convenience. I traveled a lot to visit my mom or Mr. Triumph's mom and I wanted them to be able to sleep where ever we were. I mean, I wanted to be able to sleep where ever we were.

The playpen? Worked like a charm! For my first four, I used the same basic, boldy-colored square playpen. No bells, no whistles - just a playpen. And my kids were excellent sleepers, even on the road. Hah!

There is a seven year gap between our last two and the playpen had long ago found a new home at Grandma's house. We decided to give the crib *thing* a try for our last baby. Besides, they are so much more fun to decorate around.

I sewed a dust ruffle, crib sheets, and quilts. I was ready. I hung in there for about 6 months, and then I caved and bought a new playpen. The basic square pen is no longer available, but did you know they make them narrow enough to fit through doorways now and they have wheels on one side to aid in moving them? Suh-weet!

So now my sis thinks I'm a meanie to have my daughter sleep on nothing more than a padded piece of masonite (although I do pad it with a quilt or two), but my baby - she can sleep anywhere!

And that's a "Works for Me Wednesday" For other tips or to join in, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Au naturale.....Monday miracles

I sometimes wonder if my days and nights will always be filled with clean-ups of bodily fluids. Maybe most moms wonder this, tell me I'm not alone in my midnight laundry and bathing forays.

Ellie must be allergic to the new antibiotic she's on - she threw up last night. I bathed her at 2:30, changed her sheets, and tucked her back in bed.

The next adventure needs a little background: the oncologist believes that Ty's nausea is related to stomach acid production during the night. He's usually nauseous first thing in the morning. We tried hooking him up to a feeding pump during the night in an effort to keep something in his stomach. It didn't work. He threw up again this morning (entailing a major cleanup, sorry TMI). I guess we'll be starting him on Prevacid. Sigh......

After getting him situated, I checked on Ellie again. I happened to catch her mid-spew and ran her into the bathroom. She had been very tidy in her sickness and left deposits in different spots on the blankets - she had escaped any collateral damage. Thank goodness for small miracles!

I changed her sheets again and tucked her in hoping for a bit more sleep myself but I heard her talking in there. Wow! the smell in her room nearly knocked me over. I placed her on the changing table, took off her jammie bottoms and huh?

No diaper! No poop! I wiped her up, put on a fresh one and found her messy diaper in her bed. She had taken it off, put her pants back on, and was only slightly the worse-for-wear. Another small miracle! I wonder how many more small miracle and sets of sheets today will bring?

Things that make you go "Huh?"

Susie: Mom, are we an animal or a person for our second living?

Me: Huh?

Susie: You know, when we die and have our second living like Justin do we get to be a person or an animal? 'Cuz I'm just wondering.

I thought we had this one covered.
****
My favorite Sus-ism from a couple years back-

Susie: Mom, when we die, it's like our last big fieldtrip.

She said this to me after her first fieldtrip on a school bus to Pumpkinland. She is my deep thinker, my philosophical child. Everybody should have at least one. She helps keep me centered.

The fun never stops...

Ellie's foray into fever-dom has not been short-lived. She hung out at 105.6 for an hour after taking Tylenol and then only came down to 104.8. So it was off to the Emergency Room with her on Sunday night. I felt rather foolish as she was jabbering away and didn't look sick in the least. I wanted to leave, but they wanted to give her a thorough once-over first. Her fever finally came down to 102.5 after a HUGE dose of ibuprofen and tylenol.

I guess I wasn't thinking straight when I let her eat the sucker they gave her. Major sugar rush! We came home and she was just hitting her stride. (hmmm, could I fit anymore cliches in here?) It was about 3am when I finally crawled between the covers. And then, ding! up and at 'em at 7 am. She promptly drank a full cup of water and then spewed the entire thing (plus some bonus material) on my jammies. You'd think I'd cave and get showered & dressed then, wouldn't you? But you'd be wrong.

I was still holding out for a bit of shut-eye when Ellie went down for her nap so I changed into new jammies and redosed her with the grape and orange fever stuff. No nap. She didn't go back down until noon. I thought I'd sneak off and read the back of my eyelids, but two of the other kidlets needed to have deep conversations. They kinda think you're not listening if your eyes are closed and you only nod and say uh-huh at appropriate intervals. What could I do?

I listened, with my eyes mostly open. Well, at least one eye was - the one they could see. The other eye wouldn't cooperate and buried itself in the recesses of my memory-foam pillow. (I love that thing! That so-heavy-you-could-really-do-some-damage-in-a-pillow-fight thing!) Before I knew it, time was up and I dragged myself to the shower.

She woke up from her nap with 105.4. Craziness, she has the viral equivalent of a cockroach - impossible to kill without stomping it. She is still mostly pleasant through all of this.

Tyler has also decided to join in on the spewing action. Only his is much more easily contained. We pulled the access needle for his port because he's no longer needing IV anti-nausea drugs. This morning, he had his first honest-to-goodness shower since December. We have been giving him sponge baths in bed since about the second chemo round. He was getting so motion-sick from just sitting up that we decided it wasn't worth it to put him through all of that.

I think he got sick out of force of habit when we took him downstairs to wash up. He yelled and complained the whole time until we shut the water off. It's sad, because he used to enjoy the warm water and the songs Moana sings to him. He will get used to it again, and pretty soon showers will be fun once more. Bathroom acoustics are the greatest! Especially for letting your mom and aunt really have it.

I am really messing up my SMARTness Habit this week, but I am secretly working on a plan B habit to make up for it. Stay tuned. Because my life is all about Plan B.

A bit optimistic...

wasn't I? About sleeping earlier. Here it is 3 am, and I've yet to go to bed. Ellie came down with a fever of 105 after her nap.

We thought her strep infection was back so Mr. Triumph took her in to the doctor. The test came back negative for strep and the doctor concluded she must have a virus. He told us to keep her hydrated and to call him if we couldn't keep her fever down with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. At 11 pm her fever came back, we gave her Tylenol and an hour later it was still 105. We gave her Ibuprofen an hour early (the doc said to) and her fever finally broke at 2 am.

Ty, on the other hand, is feeling great. He has laughed so much today. It does my heart good to hear him being his happy self again.

I just can't seem to wind down. I'm afraid I'm not off to a very good start for my habit this week. I wonder if it's too late to change it.

n between fevers, we organized - alot! Mr. Triumph hit the garage and I worked on Susie's closet, Ellie's toys, the kitchen odds 'n' ends drawer, Ty's school supplies, our schooling supplies, the game closet, and did a bit of laundry thrown in for good measure. This may not sound like much, but we were able to dejunk and organize more than I thought was possible for an afternoon.

I'm so glad no one dropped by because our house looked like a tornado had hit the Great room. It's not so bad now, but Monday it will all start again as we organize all the paperwork that's been trying to pile up around here.

The kids swam until they were wrinkled little prunes - twice! My sister and her family came over for a swim just as they were getting out and preparing for bed - the girls wanted to go in for a third swim. Next, they'll be sprouting fins and growing gills! They had to settle for a bath instead.