The Real Reason You Shouldn't Let Your Kids Watch TV

They become addicted.

And then, in that 5 minutes worth of commercials before the next show starts, you have to deal with this:

The worst part is that she knows we have "her" show on tivo so she brings the remote to me, screaming the whole time, trying to get me to turn it on. It is awful.

Hair Dos or Hair Don'ts--you decide

First up, Rachel. This is after we went to McDonald's for Hailey's birthday. The a/c was out in the play area and the kids (and adults) were dripping.

Next we have Matt. He loves when I do a mohawk (faux-hawk?) except for the gel. Maybe he prefers booger?

Students of the Month

Earlier this week Kade brought home a notice saying he was chosen as student of the month for his class. There was an assembly at the school on Friday and we were invited to attend. He was so excited.

Friday came and I packed Matt and Ray up and off we went to the school. The vice principal explained that this year the kids were focusing on Character Pillars. This month's pillar is trustworthiness. He went on about the program and then he started announcing the awards. He started with the 2nd grade classes and announced the first winner. Then came Hailey's class. It was Hailey! We had no idea and my camera wasn't ready (Not that it mattered. I was too far away to get a decent picture anyway). Finally, he got to the kindergarten classes and he announced Kade. Kade ran up to get his award with a huge grin on his face. It was a big day for both of them.

With their awards they each got a blue bracelet (blue is the color for trustworthiness), a ribbon, a gift certificate for a free kids meal to Red Robin, and a free ice cream in the school cafeteria. They were so excited.

Nathan and I decided to take them to Red Robin that night to acknowledge their good behavior. As we were getting ready to order Scott, Coleton and Ashlynn walked in. We had room at our table so we had them sit with us. Hailey and Kade had so much fun eating at a restaurant with their cousins.

(Interestingly, since they received their awards for trustworthiness both have been caught lying to me multiple times.)

Hailey's Birthday

Hailey turned 7 this year! When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday this was the list she came up with:

an MP3 player
a camera
a cell phone like dad's (a droid)
a laptop
littlest pet shops

She takes after her mother...expensive tastes.

We got her an MP3 player and some littlest pet shops. I think she was happy.

She got some more littlest pet shops and a book from her grandparents and some tinkerbell figures from her aunt.

Our weekend went like this (all chosen by Hailey):

Saturday we went to Old McDonalds (McDonalds for those of you not in our family) for lunch and then to Grandma and Grandpa Ericksons' house for dinner (spaghetti) and swimming. Grandma Erickson made Hailey a birthday cake.

Sunday we had Grandma and Grandpa Wilkins, Patrick and Joss (Kelli was in the hospital having just delivered Seth the day before), and Uncle Ben over for dinner. Hailey chose enchiladas, rice and beans with ice cream pizza for dessert.

She had a great birthday listening to her music and swimming. She even started jumping off the diving board without floaties. It was a big day!

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Kade also jumped off the diving board without floaties. Rachel started jumping off the diving board but she was wearing floaties. She is our little water baby. She LOVES swimming. Matthew climbed up on the diving board and then climbed back down and said, "It not my turn." Then he jumped back in to pool from the side.

First Day of School

Hailey and Kade started school yesterday.

Kade woke me up at 5:45am telling me he had to get ready for school and couldn't find his new clothes. I couldn't convince him to go back to bed for an hour so we got up and started to get ready for school. Needless to say, we were ready very early and 7:45 couldn't come fast enough.

Both kids went to their classes with no crying or clinging (we didn't expect any).

When we picked Kade up from school, Nathan asked how his first day was and he answered, "Good. I didn't even get sent to the principal's office!" Not sure how that bodes for the rest of the year.

Hailey likes her teacher and class so far. She wasn't very talkative about her day other than that it was good.

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When I was taking pictures in the morning Kade wouldn't give me a good smile. He kept posing all goofy for the pictures. I told him I'd post them on the blog so everyone could see how silly he was. Every single one of these is posed. It is not my poor picture taking abilities.

Rachel's PB&J

For some reason Rachel is not a bread fan. I can't figure her out. She definitely didn't inherit this trait from me. Anyway, I've always found it amusing how she eats her PB&J. Today, I finally took a picture to go along with it.

She pulls the bread pieces apart, licks the peanut butter and jam off the bread and then puts the bread back on her plate. Now, sometimes she will take a bite of the bread (as you can see in the picture), but she never takes more than one.

She won't eat garlic bread, breadsticks, pizza crust. No bread.

Sick and sicker

Last week Ray got a stomach bug of some sort. It has become the bug that just keeps giving.

Last night we were driving home from Nathan's parents' house and Matthew threw up. We were only a couple of miles from home, but it was miserable. For him and us.

At 12:40am he started throwing up just about every half hour to forty-five minutes. He was so tired and just wanted to sleep. As the night went on there was nothing left in his poor little stomach so he was just dry heaving.
I felt so bad for him.

Today he couldn't keep anything down. Nothing. In fact, just when I thought he might actually keep something down he would throw up.

And then...




Rachel threw up again. And her diarrhea came back with a vengeance. Truthfully, it was never really gone but it was getting there. I wish my camera had been handy when Nathan got home from work. Rachel would just lay down on the tile with her behind up in the air.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Our Day 7/15/10

I was getting ready to take Hailey to her dentist appointment. Rachel was in the bathroom with me. She started making an odd sound. It took me a couple of seconds before I realized what the sound was. She was getting ready to throw up. I picked her up trying not to put pressure on her belly and held her over the toilet. Turns out she was just dry heaving. (I say that like it is no big deal. Dry heaving is awful.) At that point I realized she felt a little warm so I took her temperature. 102.7. Brilliant! A sick kid on the same day I'm taking another to the dentist to be sedated for a tooth extraction that she has no clue about.

I finished getting ready just in time to hear the doorbell. Nathan's parents are here to watch the kids. I told them about Ray, gave her some Tylenol and left with Hailey.

Hailey and I got to the dentist's office and checked her in. We were taken to a small room with a bed, chair, tv and dvd/vcr. She was given her "drink" and we started watching "Peter Pan." Hailey was gone right as the kids take off to Never Land. The dentist came in and got her and I went to the waiting room. About an hour or so later they told me she was done. I went to get her and she was so out of it. She slept through the whole thing: extraction, 2 cavities filled, cleaning and fluoride. With the help of one of the hygienists I got Hailey to the van and into her car seat. She slept the whole way home. We got home and I helped her in the house and onto the couch where she promptly fell asleep again.

Nathan's parents left for an appointment they had and I checked Rachel's temp again. 104.5. I gave her some more Tylenol and noticed her breathing was off. She was taking three quick breaths and then holding it for a couple of seconds. Then three quick breaths and holding it. Her heart was racing and she was grunting a little. I called the pediatrician to see if I could get Rachel in asap. They told me to take her to the ER.

Slight panic ensued.

I was going to take the three oldest kids to my parents' house so my mom could watch them and they could stay for pizza night. I didn't figure Hailey would be too much trouble. As I was loading everyone in the van Ray started making that noise again. This time no dry heaves. She threw up. Luckily, I hadn't put her in her seat yet and I was able to face her away from me. Even still, the splatter got my shoes. But, her breathing was now normal. So, I called the doctor and they said not to go to the ER (saved me a $100 co-pay), but to still come to the office and could I be there by 1:00? Sure no problem, I said, not realizing it was 12:50 and the peds office is at least 20 minutes away.

I thought I'd call my mom and ask if she'd come to the peds office and switch me cars and take the older kids to her house. Nevermind that that would leave me without a car seat for Ray. It didn't even cross my mind. I called and she wasn't home and I didn't think to tell my dad to pass along the info that we wouldn't be coming over. I left for the doctor and thought I'd be smart and avoid the construction on Grand. I turned onto another street and ran straight into...worse construction.

We got to the doctor's office at 1:22 and I apologized for being so late. The front desk lady said, "You're not late. Your appointment isn't until 1:30." Plus, Rachel had a credit on her account so I didn't have a copay either. Yay. Small blessings, right?  I forgot to mention that I was carrying Rachel in one arm and holding Hailey up with my other arm. We were definitely a sight to behold.

Rachel's ears were clear, her lungs were clear and her breathing was normal. Her fever was down a little and she was acting much more lively. Hailey, on the other hand, was passed out on the bench in the exam room. The diagnosis for Ray was either the beginning of a stomach bug which could mean more throwing up and diarrhea (yay!) or a UTI. To diagnose a UTI, though, they would have to catheterize her and per the doctor "it is kind of invasive" (no kidding). We decided to watch it and see what happens. We made our way out to the van and made our way home.

Hailey finally woke up at 4:15pm and was mad because we didn't put her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy. I explained that it was still the same day and she hadn't gone to bed yet.  She woke me up at 12:30am to tell me that the Tooth Fairy had come and had brought her a Littlest Pet Shop and $1.00. She is fine today and has no pain. I only gave her one dose of Motrin yesterday and that was preventative. She did great.

Ray's temp got up to 104.7, but she managed to sleep through the night. She was up by 6am and her temp was 101.0. She is still pretty whiny and clingy and as an added bonus, she has diarrhea.

Here's some love from Kade. He was actually trying to give me a dirty look, but I told him it looks like he is trying to kiss the camera.

Easy-As-Bing-Cherry Pie

My mother-in-law got me a great deal on California cherries, but I wasn't sure what I should do with them. I did a little search on the internet and found this recipe. It seemed pretty easy and I love cherry pie so I decided to give it a try. We haven't tried it yet, but if it tastes half as good as it looks it is a success.

Easy-As-Bing-Cherry Pie
California Cherry Advisory Board

1 refrigerated pie crust (I made my own)

5 c. cherries, pitted
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. tapioca flour (I found this at Sprouts. It is not the same thing as tapioca pearls.)

1/2 c. oats
1/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400.
Combine cherries, one cup sugar and tapioca flour in a bowl and pour into pie crust.
In a separate bowl, combine oats 1/4 cup sugar, flour, butter cinnamon and salt. Pour over crust.
Bake pie at 400 for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 325 and continue baking for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

This is the pie crust I used. I love this recipe.

Easy Pastry Dough
Bon Appetit

2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. chilled unsalted butter, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 tbsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. frozen shortening, cut in large pieces
1 large egg
3 tbsp. ice cold water

Blend flour, butter, sugar and salt in food processor for about 10 seconds. Add shortening; process just until very coarse meal forms. Beat egg with 2 tablespoons water; add to food processor. Blend until large moist clumps form, adding more water if dry. Gather dough into a ball; divide in half. Flatten each piece into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill at least one hour.

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So, I gave a bag and a half of cherries away, dehydrated 5 trays of cherries and made these two pies. I still have about 3 bags of cherries left. I think I'm going to freeze them...or maybe I'll make more pie.


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UPDATE:  So, I tried my pie. It tasted okay. It's not the best pie I've ever had, but not the worst, either. It is really sweet. Also, it didn't set and was REALLY runny. I drained at least 1/2 cup of juice from it. If I were to make it again (although I don't think I would) I'd use less sugar--maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup less--and more tapioca flour--maybe a full tbsp more. The crust is really good, though. :) 

Cherries!

Rachel's newest favorite fruit!