Last night my daughter came downstairs crying, saying she’d just thrown up. As my husband and I helped her get our of her clothes and into clean ones she told us about how she tried to get to the toilet but she didn’t get it all in. I have to say, at this point in the story I was fairly hopeful upstairs wasn’t that bad.
I was dead wrong. She had vomited in the bed (reddish something with red chunks), had vomited across the room into the bathroom to the toiled, had vomited more across the room towards the door and then finished by vomiting down the hall before she got to the stairs.
We cleaned up what we could chunk-wise and with some liberal use of water. Stripped and changed the bed and planned to use the carpet cleaner in the morning. My daughter, a fair novice at vomiting figured out how to use the trash can beside the bed with all speed. She would through up about once every half hour and one time got it on the bed again, necessitating another laundry load.
In the morning she came downstairs and curled into a ball with a blanked over her on our bedroom floor. She stayed there until late afternoon, hardly wanting to move. No fever or other symptoms so we don’t think it’s the flu going around. Hopefully she’ll be able to sleep tonight and she’s over the worst of it.
The Big Boy Update: My son was in the car going to school this morning, knowing his sister was at home sick. He said to me, “I’m worried about her.” He is a very sensitive little guy.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: With my daughter nauseated today, I suggested saltines and ginger ale. What did she want instead? Carrots and orange juice. Nothing helped really until she got over the worst of the symptoms.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
My Son’s Visit With Mimi
My mother took each of our children on a special outing this week. She took my daughter on Monday and my son on Tuesday. Here’s her account of the trip with my on Tuesday with my so as told in her words:
The Big Boy Mimi Visit Update:
We narrowly missed the rain at pickup time. But by 3:30 the heavy rain stopped and the sun came out. We talked briefly on the way to the Mall. Greyson seemed happy to just be with his thoughts.
He wanted Chick Fil A French fries and chocolate milk for his snack. He must have been hungry, because he wolfed the French fries down. We ate quietly during our snack and then he asked if he could ride on some of the rides. I told him that we had to go to the potty first I let him know that I had brought some quarters and he could ride until they ran out. He rode on the ice cream truck and the space module and said that was all he wanted to ride on. Then he wanted to go to the candy store. He looked for a while and settled on the strips of gummy candy. I told him we could not get much and he agreed. He picked out a little amount of two colors and we bagged them up. We sat down at a table and he had two pinches of the candy and showed no more interest.
We walked around a while, went up and down the escalators, and then Greyson said he wanted to go to the Lego store. We didn't know which way to go so we found a directory and began to follow the directions. I was not sure we were going in the right direction, so I stopped a FedEx man who said we were almost there. The man said he had bought a Bat Man Lego yesterday so he knew exactly where the store was. Greyson was amazed at that and talked about the Bat Man several times.
Greyson was so excited when he saw the store. He ran in and began to look at all the offerings. I told him we needed to stay around $20. The first item he said he wanted was $99.99 and we agreed that was way above $20. Then he found the one we finally bought. He really liked it, but I told him it was also too much. He kept looking, and looking, and finally said to me, "This is the only one I want." I told him that Gramps could help and wewould get that one for him. That seemed to ease his mind.
He proudly carried the Lego bag to the car and could not wait to get home to put it together. I told him that since Gramps and I had given him the Lego set we wanted to see it when he finished putting it together.
There had been a traffic accident and the drive home was unbelievably slow. To help the time pass, I talked about our trip to Jamestown to see Olivia, Rebecca and Dale. I also told him about my cataract surgery. He wondered if my doctor could help Reese see better. I thought that was so thoughtful of him to make that connection.
We talked about singing a song, but could not think of a good song. Then he asked me if I could make up a song, which I did. We finally arrived home.
He was a delight the whole time. His energy was boundless and he ran everywhere. I tried to keep up with him. If he got ahead of me, he would look back to make sure we were together.
I hope we can do this again.
We narrowly missed the rain at pickup time. But by 3:30 the heavy rain stopped and the sun came out. We talked briefly on the way to the Mall. Greyson seemed happy to just be with his thoughts.
He wanted Chick Fil A French fries and chocolate milk for his snack. He must have been hungry, because he wolfed the French fries down. We ate quietly during our snack and then he asked if he could ride on some of the rides. I told him that we had to go to the potty first I let him know that I had brought some quarters and he could ride until they ran out. He rode on the ice cream truck and the space module and said that was all he wanted to ride on. Then he wanted to go to the candy store. He looked for a while and settled on the strips of gummy candy. I told him we could not get much and he agreed. He picked out a little amount of two colors and we bagged them up. We sat down at a table and he had two pinches of the candy and showed no more interest.
We walked around a while, went up and down the escalators, and then Greyson said he wanted to go to the Lego store. We didn't know which way to go so we found a directory and began to follow the directions. I was not sure we were going in the right direction, so I stopped a FedEx man who said we were almost there. The man said he had bought a Bat Man Lego yesterday so he knew exactly where the store was. Greyson was amazed at that and talked about the Bat Man several times.
Greyson was so excited when he saw the store. He ran in and began to look at all the offerings. I told him we needed to stay around $20. The first item he said he wanted was $99.99 and we agreed that was way above $20. Then he found the one we finally bought. He really liked it, but I told him it was also too much. He kept looking, and looking, and finally said to me, "This is the only one I want." I told him that Gramps could help and wewould get that one for him. That seemed to ease his mind.
He proudly carried the Lego bag to the car and could not wait to get home to put it together. I told him that since Gramps and I had given him the Lego set we wanted to see it when he finished putting it together.
There had been a traffic accident and the drive home was unbelievably slow. To help the time pass, I talked about our trip to Jamestown to see Olivia, Rebecca and Dale. I also told him about my cataract surgery. He wondered if my doctor could help Reese see better. I thought that was so thoughtful of him to make that connection.
We talked about singing a song, but could not think of a good song. Then he asked me if I could make up a song, which I did. We finally arrived home.
He was a delight the whole time. His energy was boundless and he ran everywhere. I tried to keep up with him. If he got ahead of me, he would look back to make sure we were together.
I hope we can do this again.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
My Daughter’s Visit With Mimi
My mother took each of our children on a special outing this week. She took my daughter on Monday and my son on Tuesday. Here’s her account of the trip with my daughter as told in her words:
The Tiny Girl Mimi Outing Experience:
I picked Reese up at 3:00 and she happily said “Mimi, Mimi” when she heard me call out her name from the front passenger window of the car. She informed her teacher that I did not have a car like her Mom and Dad had.
She talked all the way to the Mall. I told her I was excited about going to the Mall with her. She said she was excited too and that “we were going to spend some money!”
I asked her about school and her friends. She said that “one of my teachers is living in the Harden house”, and that “it needed some things done to it, but my Dad can do them.”
We parked behind the food court and when we went in the first thing she said was “can I go on the rides?” I said that would be good, and reminded her of the fun we had had in the past on the rides. I had brought along about $4.00 in quarters and we started on each of the rides. She rode all five of them and thoroughly enjoyed each one. We were the only people at the rides.
She said she was not hungry, but could she buy some candy. I thought that would be a special thing to do so I said OK. We went to the kiosk next to the rides and she began to go through the decision process to decide on which candy she would buy. She asked me to identify each kind as she picked them up and felt of them. She finally decided on some sour gummy bears. We made our way over to McDonalds to get a beverage to go with the gummy bears. I chose a Coke, and she chose chocolate milk. We sat at the tables, talked, ate a little candy and drank our beverages.
Then it was time to walk around the Mall and see what we could find to “spend our money” on. We went into a few stores and then she heard a sound from a kiosk in the center of the Mall. It was a little dog that made a barking sound while walking forward and backwards. She was mesmerized by the dog, and wanted to buy one right that minute. I suggested we look some more before she made up her mind to buy the dog. She was not happy with that, but finally agreed we would do some more shopping. We made our way to the Disney store and she examined almost everything there. but said to me “Can we go back outside now?” So we did and she headed immediately to the dog stand. She said this was what she wanted to buy. There were MANY dogs of all colors. She took her time and finally decided on a green dog. The base price was $10, and $12 with the batteries installed. We, of course, bought the whole package!
She was so happy. She held the dog, would stop and put it down and watch it walk, show it to people, and just seemed so pleased with her choice.
She wanted to go up and down on the escalators and we did that for a while. She was very proficient at getting on and off the escalators, and seemed to enjoy walking up and down while they were moving.
Then I sat on one of the benches in the center while she ran around in circles, and up and down the middle. She enjoyed the freedom to just run and run. There were very few people there and so it was no problem for her to commandeer the space.
Finally she asked could we go to the rides again. I said yes, but we had to go to the potty first, which we did. We walked back to the food court, and she rode on two of the rides again. Then we agreed it was time to go home.
She was a delight. Not a problem at any time. I had at least four people tell me how pretty she was. She asked if we could do this again sometime.
When I talked to Greyson this afternoon about his turn to go to the Mall, he asked if Reese could go too. He thought it would be more fun if she were with us. Bill was there and we suggested that I go with Greyson by himself one time and the Mimi and Gramps would take Greyson and Reese to the Mall together. He liked that idea.
After this discussion, I relayed Greyson what Reese had said when I told her I was taking her to the Mall. (She asked, “What about Greyson?”) This seemed to please him. He had the sweetest look on his face when he heard this.
You have two wonderful children. Well mannered, well behaved, intelligent, considerate, and a delight to be with.
The Tiny Girl Mimi Outing Experience:
I picked Reese up at 3:00 and she happily said “Mimi, Mimi” when she heard me call out her name from the front passenger window of the car. She informed her teacher that I did not have a car like her Mom and Dad had.
She talked all the way to the Mall. I told her I was excited about going to the Mall with her. She said she was excited too and that “we were going to spend some money!”
I asked her about school and her friends. She said that “one of my teachers is living in the Harden house”, and that “it needed some things done to it, but my Dad can do them.”
We parked behind the food court and when we went in the first thing she said was “can I go on the rides?” I said that would be good, and reminded her of the fun we had had in the past on the rides. I had brought along about $4.00 in quarters and we started on each of the rides. She rode all five of them and thoroughly enjoyed each one. We were the only people at the rides.
She said she was not hungry, but could she buy some candy. I thought that would be a special thing to do so I said OK. We went to the kiosk next to the rides and she began to go through the decision process to decide on which candy she would buy. She asked me to identify each kind as she picked them up and felt of them. She finally decided on some sour gummy bears. We made our way over to McDonalds to get a beverage to go with the gummy bears. I chose a Coke, and she chose chocolate milk. We sat at the tables, talked, ate a little candy and drank our beverages.
Then it was time to walk around the Mall and see what we could find to “spend our money” on. We went into a few stores and then she heard a sound from a kiosk in the center of the Mall. It was a little dog that made a barking sound while walking forward and backwards. She was mesmerized by the dog, and wanted to buy one right that minute. I suggested we look some more before she made up her mind to buy the dog. She was not happy with that, but finally agreed we would do some more shopping. We made our way to the Disney store and she examined almost everything there. but said to me “Can we go back outside now?” So we did and she headed immediately to the dog stand. She said this was what she wanted to buy. There were MANY dogs of all colors. She took her time and finally decided on a green dog. The base price was $10, and $12 with the batteries installed. We, of course, bought the whole package!
She was so happy. She held the dog, would stop and put it down and watch it walk, show it to people, and just seemed so pleased with her choice.
She wanted to go up and down on the escalators and we did that for a while. She was very proficient at getting on and off the escalators, and seemed to enjoy walking up and down while they were moving.
Then I sat on one of the benches in the center while she ran around in circles, and up and down the middle. She enjoyed the freedom to just run and run. There were very few people there and so it was no problem for her to commandeer the space.
Finally she asked could we go to the rides again. I said yes, but we had to go to the potty first, which we did. We walked back to the food court, and she rode on two of the rides again. Then we agreed it was time to go home.
She was a delight. Not a problem at any time. I had at least four people tell me how pretty she was. She asked if we could do this again sometime.
When I talked to Greyson this afternoon about his turn to go to the Mall, he asked if Reese could go too. He thought it would be more fun if she were with us. Bill was there and we suggested that I go with Greyson by himself one time and the Mimi and Gramps would take Greyson and Reese to the Mall together. He liked that idea.
After this discussion, I relayed Greyson what Reese had said when I told her I was taking her to the Mall. (She asked, “What about Greyson?”) This seemed to please him. He had the sweetest look on his face when he heard this.
You have two wonderful children. Well mannered, well behaved, intelligent, considerate, and a delight to be with.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Planning Commission
We, along with the adjacent neighborhood, our children’s school and other families from the school attended the city planning commission meeting today. We own a property two lots down from our children’s school and the property between ours and the school had filed for R-4 to R-10 rezoning.
There are lots of details in why this would be beneficial for their property, why it makes no sense to some of us looking at it and why it might be highly attractive to a developer looking to acquire the parcel of land. Regardless of your personal opinion, today was the day to make a stance, state your support or opposition to the rezoning request and see what the planning commission would recommend to the city council.
We had, as an entire neighborhood, school and adjacent property, five minutes to rebut. We made it in time. The council voted to suggest all parties work together to come to an agreement on conditions that would make rezoning tenable to all parties. For today, this was a good vote for us.
The Big Boy Update: My son was eating his snack this afternoon and loudly complained, “when are we going to get a new dog?” My husband and I were worried he was sad because he missed our old dog, Lucy. He cleared the air shortly by following up with, “cause then we don’t have to sweep the crumbs up.”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter found the mud today. All of it. And most of what she found got on her feet, hands and clothes. But she listened to us, waited on the front porch for a bucket, soap and cloth and then got naked before coming in. I’d say that was the end of the story, but she went back out a second time, got muddy again and needed to lather, rinse and repeat at the front door before getting ready for bed. But she had fun…oh so much fun.
There are lots of details in why this would be beneficial for their property, why it makes no sense to some of us looking at it and why it might be highly attractive to a developer looking to acquire the parcel of land. Regardless of your personal opinion, today was the day to make a stance, state your support or opposition to the rezoning request and see what the planning commission would recommend to the city council.
We had, as an entire neighborhood, school and adjacent property, five minutes to rebut. We made it in time. The council voted to suggest all parties work together to come to an agreement on conditions that would make rezoning tenable to all parties. For today, this was a good vote for us.
The Big Boy Update: My son was eating his snack this afternoon and loudly complained, “when are we going to get a new dog?” My husband and I were worried he was sad because he missed our old dog, Lucy. He cleared the air shortly by following up with, “cause then we don’t have to sweep the crumbs up.”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter found the mud today. All of it. And most of what she found got on her feet, hands and clothes. But she listened to us, waited on the front porch for a bucket, soap and cloth and then got naked before coming in. I’d say that was the end of the story, but she went back out a second time, got muddy again and needed to lather, rinse and repeat at the front door before getting ready for bed. But she had fun…oh so much fun.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Anchovy Pizza
It’s that time of year again, or at least I think it’s yearly, or infrequently or basically whenever the whim strikes me—it’s anchovy pizza time. I don’t crave it much, and before you got and even think the pregnant word, I’ve been an anchovy pizza lover since I was in elementary school.
My husband and I did our usual four o’clock “what are we doing for dinner?” conversation and ended up on pizza. Yesterday I’d randomly thought about anchovy pizza so today I asked if he could get a quarter of the pizza with anchovies. He didn’t know; he said he’d try.
Forty minutes later we had one quarter anchovy and the rest not-anchovy pizza. My husband gave me the look that said, “those tiny fish are smelling up the entire house and ruining my pizza experience”, but he didn’t actually say anything. I don’t think my children even noticed the smell. It was the best dinner I had all day.
The Big Boy Update: My son has been discharged from his occupational therapist for handwriting. He’s back on track and doing well and his teacher agreed he was ready to be done with the extra sessions.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter went to the mall with my mother today. They had a good time and she brought home a little mechanical dog that walks forward and barks. The dog is green, her favorite color.
My husband and I did our usual four o’clock “what are we doing for dinner?” conversation and ended up on pizza. Yesterday I’d randomly thought about anchovy pizza so today I asked if he could get a quarter of the pizza with anchovies. He didn’t know; he said he’d try.
Forty minutes later we had one quarter anchovy and the rest not-anchovy pizza. My husband gave me the look that said, “those tiny fish are smelling up the entire house and ruining my pizza experience”, but he didn’t actually say anything. I don’t think my children even noticed the smell. It was the best dinner I had all day.
The Big Boy Update: My son has been discharged from his occupational therapist for handwriting. He’s back on track and doing well and his teacher agreed he was ready to be done with the extra sessions.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter went to the mall with my mother today. They had a good time and she brought home a little mechanical dog that walks forward and barks. The dog is green, her favorite color.
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Planning Commission
I’ve been writing emails to the planning commission members tonight. This is not something I’m good at doing, but there is a property adjacent to our rental house that is requesting rezoning and we’re not certain we can support the application. I was writing that, along with more details, to the planning commission members tonight.
On Tuesday we go to the planning commission meeting and will see what decision they make. Tonight, I’m going to bed to sleep on it.
The Big Boy Update: My son sometimes will say, “i need some privacy” when he gets dressed. It’s not often, mostly when it occurs to him. Tonight he went behind the bed to get his pajamas on.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter has started to be interested in cleaning her glasses. She has a spray bottle and a special cleaner cloth she uses. She’s getting fairly good at cleaning the glasses now, initially she needed extra help.
On Tuesday we go to the planning commission meeting and will see what decision they make. Tonight, I’m going to bed to sleep on it.
The Big Boy Update: My son sometimes will say, “i need some privacy” when he gets dressed. It’s not often, mostly when it occurs to him. Tonight he went behind the bed to get his pajamas on.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter has started to be interested in cleaning her glasses. She has a spray bottle and a special cleaner cloth she uses. She’s getting fairly good at cleaning the glasses now, initially she needed extra help.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
The Thousand Dollar Meal
My husband had a new recipe he wanted to try for dinner. He went to the store to get ingredients we didn’t have as well as the myriad other things which had piled up on the shopping list. When my daughter heard there was to be cooking she pulled her stool from around the corner and did some helping. The amount of helping is always a mystery to me because mostly I’m elsewhere if the children are busy with my husband, accomplishing things more easily done unencumbered by youthful minds.
The meal was good, great in fact because there was an excessive amount of ginger involved in the dish—a single ingredient that will rock ratings through the roof if I’m one of the judges. My son and daughter also seemed to be liking the meal with my son stopping to ask why dad was a chef?
My husband explained how chefs worked for pay and made other people dinner while he just cooked for our family. We got into what it meant to pay for the meal and how much a meal would cost. My husband said, “you could pay me two of those pompoms you’ve earned to pay for the meal.” My son wasn’t so sure about that, saying he had worked hard for those pompoms.
He thought about it a little longer though as he had a few more bites and said, “I would pay you a thousand dollars for this meal.” My husband asked him if he was sure, saying that was a very generous amount, especially after the pompom rejection. My son agreed that yes, a thousand dollars would be fine for payment. My husband said he’d better save this recipe so he could make it again.
The Big Boy Update: My son had a fireman visit his class on Thursday. We knew it had happened but we didn’t hear anything about it until today. He started by asking us if we had a fire extinguisher in the house, then smoke detectors and what about sprinklers? He then told us about his classmate’s uncle who came to tell them about being a fireman.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My son and husband were discussing how much you might leave for tip when eating out at a restaurant and why you would leave a tip for the waitperson. My daughter listened and then said, “I never knew math was real.”
The meal was good, great in fact because there was an excessive amount of ginger involved in the dish—a single ingredient that will rock ratings through the roof if I’m one of the judges. My son and daughter also seemed to be liking the meal with my son stopping to ask why dad was a chef?
My husband explained how chefs worked for pay and made other people dinner while he just cooked for our family. We got into what it meant to pay for the meal and how much a meal would cost. My husband said, “you could pay me two of those pompoms you’ve earned to pay for the meal.” My son wasn’t so sure about that, saying he had worked hard for those pompoms.
He thought about it a little longer though as he had a few more bites and said, “I would pay you a thousand dollars for this meal.” My husband asked him if he was sure, saying that was a very generous amount, especially after the pompom rejection. My son agreed that yes, a thousand dollars would be fine for payment. My husband said he’d better save this recipe so he could make it again.
The Big Boy Update: My son had a fireman visit his class on Thursday. We knew it had happened but we didn’t hear anything about it until today. He started by asking us if we had a fire extinguisher in the house, then smoke detectors and what about sprinklers? He then told us about his classmate’s uncle who came to tell them about being a fireman.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My son and husband were discussing how much you might leave for tip when eating out at a restaurant and why you would leave a tip for the waitperson. My daughter listened and then said, “I never knew math was real.”
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