No, this is not my newest form of punishment for my children. He likes it in there. I made Emily stay right beside the box so that she could let him out if he showed any signs of panic or suffocation. (I'm sure I would have been suffering from both in about 0.2 seconds.) But no. The only problem he had with it was boredom. So Emily went and got him some crayons and a coloring book. Problem solved.
Conversation with a 2-year-old
Can I have a tuna sandwich?
You want a tuna sandwich?
No!
What do you want?
(No answer)
Do you want a peanut butter sandwich?
No! I want a peanut butter sandwich!
(Duh!)
Mom makes peanut butter sandwich and gives to child.
Child cries.
I don't want a sandwich!
Mom puts child in bed.
Child stays in bed for about 2 minutes.
Child comes out happy.
I want to eat my sandwich!
Child eats half of sandwich and falls asleep.
Why, yes it is! What's it doing there?
On Saturday we went to the Home and Garden Show. (With a little Natural Resource Fair and Commissioner's Art Show throw in.) Everyone found something fun to do.
...did a little climbing.
Well, we have officially experienced our first Pinewood Derby. (Or at least Ben's first. Jef is quite experienced in such things.) Ben painted and decorated his car all by himself. It didn't necessarily roll the fastest, but he did get the Most Creative award and had lots of fun. I was sure all that paint would have weighed a couple ounces all by itself.
I didn't realize they were supposed to be so heavy. There are about six fishing weights on the back, all those dimes, and more weights in the seat. And no, I can't tell you what number his car was. 1,853,990,247?
I bought myself an early Mother's Day present! I've always wanted a jogging stroller, and of course we would need a double one. (Although it is required to occasionally carry three or four kids at a time.) This one was advertised in our newspaper, and when I went to the house, I realized that I already knew the lady! My Emily is friends with her Emily! So I got an extra $10 off! Turns out it's true. It's know what you know, but who you know that counts!
We had a great little birthday party here last night for my mom and Emily. There was no cake at this party, however. We stuck candles in a pineapple for my mom and in a box of Neapolitan ice cream for Emily. Then we watched Naughty Marietta and took turns in Momma's new massage chair! A great time was had by all.
Emily got one of these clamp-on goose-neck lights for her birthday, and everyone who has seen it has said, "Hey! I need/want one of those!" So if you've spent years looking for the perfect gift, here it is!
Everyone wants one!
(This post was not sponsored by any lamp-making companies, but if they're giving out commissions, let me know!)
Poor Emily is back to a liquids-only diet for the next two days (see below), which wouldn't be so bad if her birthday wasn't one of those days. We had scheduled her friend party for today, so that tomorrow (her real birthday) would be free for celebrating with her grandma, who also has a birthday that day.
But the poor girl is completely exhausted. She spent the whole morning lying either in bed or on the couch. She wouldn't hear of rescheduling the party, though, so at 2:00 we went ahead with it.
Since she can't have any cake, I made three pans of Jello Jigglers. The kids cut them out with cookie cutters, and we put them on a pile on a plate and stuck candles in it. It was actually kind of cool.
The party was only one hour long, and very low-key, but by the time all the kids left, the poor girl was exhausted. She just laid her head down on top of her presents and fell asleep instantly.
So I guess I should tell you what's been going on around here. Yesterday Emily went with me to the grocery store. On our way out, there were some pineapple samples that looked way yummy. Emily had already passed her one week of nothing-but-mushy-stuff since her tonsils were removed, and so I thought nothing of her trying some. But then on the way to the car she started crying because her throat hurt. As I was putting the groceries away, I grabbed a quart of milk, thinking that the citrus was probably stinging her still-raw throat. She took a couple of swallows, but then spit out some blood. I grabbed a styrofoam bowl that happened to be sitting there so that she could spit into it. But then she started throwing up blood. Lots of blood. We happened to be only a couple of blocks from the hospital, and we headed there fast. The bleeding did eventually stop on its own, but if it hadn't, they would have taken her into surgery to re-cauterize her throat. We spent forever in the ER, waiting to make sure she was really done bleeding, and were very glad when we finally got to leave.
However, when we got out to the car, I realized that in all the chaos, the quart of milk had been forgotten. And there it was, laying empty on my seat.
Well, here's the front page of the paper this week, and it turns out that the biggest news around here is Jef rolling past the Reaper office!
Jef Anderson travels along 100 West in Richfield on an all-terrain barrel Friday afternoon. The contraption, one of two built by Stacy Whitmore, is designed to operate on both land and water. Whitmore said that he and Anderson, both Richfield residents, were using the vehicles as part of an exercise class for students of Spirit Dance boarding school. "It's really good exercise," Whitmore said. "You walk backward to go forward, and you pull left to go right." Crafted primarily of a metal barrel, plywood, 2x4s, galvanized pipe, plumber's tape and parts from a child's bicycle, Whitmore said that the key to success is the axle. "Then you have something to mount the frame on," Whitmore said.
Emily had her tonsils removed this morning. She was pretty excited going into it because the doctor made her promise to eat at least eight popsicles a day. That's why she still looks pretty cheerful in this picture. But by the time she was done she wasn't so cheerful anymore. Right now she is very pale and sleeping lots. But the surgery went well. They use some kind of cold laser so there's not supposed to be any bleeding and less charring. (The Dr. actually used that word - charring. Not good policy when dealing with mothers, if you ask me.) Her tonsils were huge, and I'm glad it's done. Now I just have to make sure I keep up a constant supply of Jell-o and popsicles!
