Yup's Up, Doc?

Today the boys picked the carrots they planted back in the spring.  One of my favorite things about carrots is that you can see the little green leaves but you have no idea what is going on under the ground until you pick them.  Considering how sad the rest of the garden was this year, I didn't expect much out of the carrots.  But I was pleasantly surprised . . . as were the boys.  The ones I didn't thin were tiny (as expected), but the ones that did get thinned were pretty decent sized.  I made all the boys (my brother Seth's boys, Devon and Corbin, were here as well)  take turns picking carrots in an attempt to be an equal opportunity mother.  As the bigger ones appeared, there were lots of exclamations of, "Whoa!  Look at that one!"  But Matthew lucked out and picked the biggest one of all.  He was almost overwhelmingly excited about his "huge carrot!"  He even tried to take a bite out of it before I could cut it into carrot sticks and then decided it was too hard to bite and nearly exploded while waiting for me to cut it so he could eat it.  And the very best part?  Out of five boys, not one complained about eating his vegetables at dinner time.

All This For Ten Bucks!

For family home evening today we went to pick out our Halloween pumpkins. We have been seeing signs for a pumpkin patch that is close to our house, so we decided to give it a try. And besides, choosing pumpkins from a patch is way more fun than selecting them at the Walmart. They had wheelbarrows available at the patch so you could cart your pumpkins in from the field and Nathan and Matthew thought the kid sized ones were the best. Of course, Matthew couldn't put any pumpkins in his because as soon as he did he discovered he isn't strong enough to keep it upright, but he had fun and Kev and I are there to carry pumpkins anyway, right?

Second perk to the pumpkin patch? Ten pumpkins for $10. None of them are really huge, but it's still a much better price than you can get at the Walmart.


The third perk was the free hay ride we got. The man who owns the patch drove us around the farm. It's not huge like Wheeler Farm, but the boys were suitable impressed by the barns, fields, sheds, and the goose. And I love that it was free!

Perk number four came in the form of a little corn maze. It was tiny and there is no possible way an adult with any brains could ever get lost in it, but it was perfect for my little first timers. And it was free. (Sound byte of the evening-- Daniel: "I don't know where we are." Nathan: "We're in a corn maze, Daniel!")

The boys were pleased with the pumpkins we scored and are already planning how to decorate them. And we had so much fun we are definitely planning to go back next year!

(I have no idea why Daniel was holding his pumpkins like this, but it made me laugh. At least they weren't melons.)

Macbeth Is Not A Comedy

At least it's not supposed to be.

Last night was opera night and the offering was "Macbeth" by Verdi. In addition to the strangely humorous findings that appeared in what is usually such a grisly story, I was wicked tired (Did you know that after your child gets injured the combination of leftover adrenaline and the overwhelming need to check on the aforementioned child fifty times in the night make sleep incredibly difficult to come by? I was up until after two reading a really stupid book. I usually only do that for really good books.) and sitting by Esther who has one of the smartest (and sassiest) mouths I've ever known. When the curtain rose on the three witches ("Double, double toil and trouble" and all that), there were thirty witches instead. I kid you not. It was like the ultimate in multiple personality disorder. And about five minutes in, one of the witches on the back row fell down the stairs on the back of the elevated set piece. We heard a big thunk and a couple of her fellow witches took a quick glance back. Esther and I were both trying really hard not to laugh which of course resulted in the unavoidable completely silent but hard to miss full body shaking.

Other humorous moments included the herd of stealthy (not!) assassins stomping their way around stage, the open throne (it didn't have a seat and although we found out later that it was so the ghost could suddenly appear, Esther and I were throwing around comments about the porcelain throne), and the fact that after Macbeth fell dead on the stage, he sat back up and sang some more. That is a pretty common opera occurrence. They always have to get their last two cents (or five cents, or $1.50) in before they can stay dead. But to its credit, the music was great and the singing was fabulous. And hey, I wasn't really in the mood for a drama anyway!

Strike!!

One of the fun things about being in year round school is that the rec centers in our area have lots of fun programs available during off track times. While they were off track in September, Daniel decided he wanted to try bowling. So he went to the bowling alley twice a week and learned how to bowl. His scores were better than mine have ever been (not hard when I average forty and Daniel had bumpers up, but still) and he had a really great time. On the last day of lessons, they had a contest and the winner from each lane got a trophy. Daniel was thrilled to death with his bowling pin!

Soccer Mom

Nathan has been playing soccer this summer and fall and after a couple of months, he is starting to get the hang of things. He is a lot less aggressive than some of the other kids, which means he prefers defensive positions. But he'll stand back, guard the box, and be ready to stop the ball when it comes his way. Here he is doing his stuff (look closely and you'll see that he has a tendency to stick his tongue out when he is concentrating).




On of the fun things about doing rec sports is that every kid gets a trophy at the end. As always, Nathan felt like a winner!

Two Out Of Three

This afternoon I picked Daniel and Nathan up at school so we could get Nathan to his appointment with the eye doctor. He was very excited about this appointment because he knew that if everything was going well, he would only have to wear his patch for one hour each day. We had plenty of time and arrived about ten minutes before his appointment. We walked into the building and Matthew took off running to see the fountain in the foyer because, let's face it, who doesn't love a fountain? This particular fountain is surrounded by a glass wall that is about waist high and is anchored into the floor with (for lack of a more appropriate word) a little metal curb with a rounded edge. Unfortunately, Matthew tripped and the force of his running and his full body weight was transferred to his head smacking into the metal curb. I was right behind him and picked him up just as he started crying. Now I can do blood and I can do cuts, all with a minimal amount of panicking. But when I rolled him over he hadn't started to bleed yet and what I saw was a gash and a dent in his head and bone. A dent in his head and bone! And I freaked out a little bit. To my credit, I don't know a mom alive that wouldn't have a bit of a panic attack upon seeing her child's skull minus its nice flesh covering. Luckily for me, all the folks at the doctor's office kept their cool, slapped some gauze and medical tape on Matthew, and sent us to the emergency room. As we headed back to the car, Nathan started crying but I don't know if it was because Matthew was hurt, I was freaking out, or because he didn't get to have his appointment with the eye doctor. Poor kid.

When we arrived, me carrying a bleeding toddler, I was told that the other boys weren't allowed in because of flu precautions. I assumed they meant into the examining and treatment rooms and told them my husband was on the way. Half an hour later, Kev arrived just in time for them to take Matthew and I into the back. Poor Matthew was pretty much freaking out. He was bleeding, hurt, scared and sans blankie. Even still, he managed to charm everyone into giving him stickers, crayons, more stickers, crackers, etc. He was a real trooper. Later on, Kev came back and told me that as soon as Matthew was taken back, he and the boys were kicked out . . . as in outside. Apparently, when I was told that the older boys weren't allowed in, they meant anywhere in the building. The only reason they let them in when I arrived was because I was the only adult with them. So I know the swine flu is super contagious and all that, but seriously! Have a bit of compassion for the families of the injured! And none of us are even sick! Anyway, back to the story. So Kev took the big boys home while Matthew got stitched up. The doctor called the dent "dimpling" and told us you usually see that with an injury that is associated with great force. Ummm, yeah. Twenty-eight pounds of toddler running at the speed of light. That's force for you. Anyway, he said as Matthew grows it should become less noticeable. It will be interesting to see just how noticeable it is when he heals up. Ten stitches later (two underneath and eight on the top), he was good and ready to get out of there and nearly flew out the door.

This evening Kev commented that he was surprised that there isn't more of a welt on Matthew's head. My opinion? I think the effects of the swelling are canceled out by the dent in his head.

So yep. That's two out of three boys that have had stitches on their foreheads. At least Daniel's weren't right between his eyes. And hopefully Nathan won't feel left out and have an undeniable to need to join the club anytime soon.

Trypanophobia Free

Today was Matthew's yearly blood draw to do his allergy testing and as usual, he charmed everyone and then amazed the nurses with his willingness to cooperate. He didn't cry, scream, or fight. He whimpered once when the needle went in and that was it. He did so great that he got a treat afterward. I guess it is a good thing he doesn't freak out over such things because he is likely to have a lot of it to deal with in his lifetime.

The (Bottled) Fruits Of Our Labors

Kev remembers many, many October conference weekends as a child (and a teenager, and as an adult) spent making applesauce. This weekend we upheld the family name and made our sauce. It was a family activity and the boys were all so anxious to help crank the strainer that Kev had to devise a rotating system so that everyone had an equal amount of cranking time. I think the applesauce tasted sweeter than usual to them because they made it.