Tess's First Haircut

I learned that my hair dresser gives kids haircuts for only $7.  For little boys that's far more than I'm willing to pay. (Mainly because I'm not willing to pay anything.)  But for little girls?  A bargain.

So on Tuesday (ear exploding day) I took Tess to get her first haircut.  I forgot to take my camera and Cole was playing with my phone and I didn't want to risk a meltdown from him by taking it away, so no actual pictures during the cut.

Tess was not sure what was going on, but she knew she didn't like it.  She pouted the ENTIRE TIME and had little crocodile tears in her eyes.  But to her credit, she never really cried or freaked out.  She was actually really well behaved!

It's next to impossible to get a picture of Tess holding still.  She is always on the move! And combing her hair?  Forget about it.  But here are a few shots that kinda show off her new 'do.

Oh my darlingness.  I simply love A-line bobs on little girls.  So cute!  

The only problem is that it makes her look so much older!  I guess she's not my baby anymore - she's my little girl.

My cutie-cute-cute little girl!

Third Grade Science Fair

At our elementary school all third graders participate in the science fair.  They have judges from Purdue come in and the kids present to them.  It's little odd how they do it - last week I got to go in and see Spencer present to his class.  But then Tuesday (ear exploding day) was the day that the judges actually came in.  I don't understand why they don't have the parents and judges at the same time. 

Anywho, Spencer was really into science fair.  He knew he really wanted to do something with growing plants.  (I suspect this desire came from watching the wheat grass I had been growing for Easter.)  So after a little research online Spencer decided he wanted to test how nitrogen fertilizer affects the growth of plants.  And, because we live in Indiana, he chose to grow corn.

I was proud of him for taking such an interest and such initiative in the project.  But not so excited that the project would be so long-term.  (I much prefer the one-time-do-it-in-an-evening projects!)

So during Spring Break we bought the things we needed and got to work.  First, we carefully measured the amount of soil in each cup.

Then we planted two seeds in each cup.

Then we waited.  And waited.  And finally the corn sprouted!  There were three groups: 1) the plants received no extra fertilizer, 2) the plants received the normal amount of fertilizer, and 3) the plants received 15 times the normal amount of fertilizer.   Every day we had to water and measure and observe the plants.  Every day.  You can imagine how much fun that was for me.  But Spencer lurved it, so I guess it was worth it.  (I'm a terrible mother...)

You can also imagine how the corn did.  The first two groups did fine, but the 15x fertilizer group was pretty unhappy.  Burnt to a crisp, really.  (This picture doesn't do it justice - you should see those poor plants now!)  (Yes, we still have them.  I'm not sure what to do with them; it's too early to put them in the garden, but they're getting too big for their pots!)

Spencer came home on Tuesday super excited - his project won second place in the science fair!

He even got a medal.  I know he doesn't look too excited here, but trust me, he was.

And how about that poster, huh?  I made Spencer do all the typing and showed him how to use Excel to make the graphs and such.  But I put it on the poster, mainly because Spencer HATES that sort of thing and because it would've looked terrible if I had left it to his devices.  (He's a put-squish-it-all-together-who-cares-what-it-looks-like kind of guy.  And I can't handle that.)  And do you like the title?  That was Lance's idea while we were brainstorming titles.

Good job, Spencer!  We're very proud of you!

Exploding Ear!

Yesterday was the busiest day of the week for me.

So of course that's the day my ear decides to explode.

I've been dealing with a pretty nasty cold for the past few days, but yesterday morning I woke up feeling a little bit better.  But around the time I got the boys off to school my left ear started to feel a little pressure. I ignored it, thinking my ears were just congested from the cold.

But then it started to hurt.  And hurt more.  And hurt more.

Enough that I decided, as I drove Tess to her first ever haircut (post on that later) that I had better go see a doctor.  Fortunately, my general practitioner is awesome and I was able to get an appointment an hour later.

By the time I got to his office - Tess and Cole in tow, of course - I was really starting to hurt.  As I sat in the exam room, waiting for Dr. Resheidat, I let Cole play with my phone as loudly as he wanted and Tess climb all over me and the exam table.  I just did not feel good and certainly didn't feel like fighting them to behave.

Dr. Resheidat took one look at my ear and exclaimed "That's the worst ear infection I have ever seen!"

This is not the first time I have heard a doctor make this exclamation.

It is, in fact, the THIRD time I have heard a doctor make this exclamation.

Good heavens. 
T
he first time was from an ancient doctor at the BYU medical center when I was a sophomore in college, and the second was from some middle-aged doctor at the urgent care center one early Thanksgiving morning several years ago.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I am really, extremely good at getting ear infections.  Seriously, so good.  The thing that I remember with each one is that they come on so fast and hard that there's nothing to be done about them.  And Lance wonders why I down decongestants like candy every time I get a sniffle.

Anyways, after the appointment we went over to Wal-Mart to pick up my prescription.  By this point I was MISERABLE.  I had two small children who were getting hungry and a throbbing ear.  I told them my name and asked if there were any way to rush my order?  The lady at the counter looked at me like I was crazy and said they would do it in the order they received it.

Thanks, lady.  Your compassion knows no bounds.

So I parked miserable self and hungry kiddos on the bench in front of the pharmacy, rummaging through my purse for some snacks.  No dice - I had forgotten to refill my snack canister after our last trip.  But, I did have my emergency stash of jelly beans, which I generally dole out one or two at a time for special emergencies.

This was a special emergency. 

I gave each child a handful, which they promptly devoured and then loudly demanded more.

As Tess crawled all over me and then bench and Cole sat in the cart, yelling at my phone because it wasn't doing what he wanted (yeah, I don't know either), I tried to fight off tears because I felt THAT BAD.  I was in pain and I was tired and frustrated and just wanted to GO HOME.

Well, I must have looked as miserable as I felt, because we only had to wait 10 minutes for my prescription.  Obviously, the pharmacist has a bit more mercy than the grouchy pharmacy cashier.

Somehow I was able to make it home.  Fortunately, the kiddos had lunchbox lunches waiting for them in the fridge, so I didn't have to deal with actually making lunch.  Once Tess had eaten and been put down for a nap, Cole and I went downstairs. I laid on the couch, wishing my ear would just fall off my head and be done with it, while Cole channel surfed and made a general nuisance of himself.

All of the many chores and errands that needed to be done?  Forgotten. 

Spencer and Josh eventually came home.  Somehow I was able to get all the kids clothed, shod, and into the car because Spencer's talent show audition was that day.  Of course.

I could tell that the antibiotics had started to kick in because my ear was making weird internal sounds and I was feeling nauseous.  Because antibiotics always make me nauseous.  Of course.

So we got to the music room where the auditions were being held.  There were these big, wide platform stairs to sit on.  But Cole, who had been cooped up inside for the past several days due to rain, took it upon himself to run up and down them like a banshee.  Tess followed suit. 

By the time Spencer got to play his piece I had kind of gotten everyone to settle down a little.  Cole was still running, but wasn't yelling.  Tess was dancing by herself in a corner.  And Josh was whining for a snack, but that was easy to ignore.

That's when my ear exploded. 

I've actually had ear drums rupture before, so I knew exactly what had happened.  Blood and goop slowly started running down my neck as I frantically looked for tissues in my bag.  I don't know what anyone else saw what was going on, but it was still mortifying. 

Spencer finished his piece, I finished cleaning myself up and stuffing tissues into my ear, and I somehow got all the kids out of the school and into the minivan.  I got home and promptly emailed Lance, begging him to save me.  Oh, and that he would be in charge of dinner and the kids that night.

Lance got home a bit later.  I was still in a lot of pain, which makes me think that the eardrum didn't perforate all the way.  But all sorts of goop kept coming out - I'm sure I was an attractive sight for Lance to come home to.

Lance took care of dinner and the kids while I laid in bed.  I couldn't sleep because I was hurting and too nauseous.  But finally, around the time the kids got into bed, my pain meds kicked in and/or my ear decided to behave itself, so I was finally able to get some rest.

I'm taking it really easy today, getting only the minimum done.  I still feel gross from the antibiotics and my ear is still draining goop.  But at least I'm not in pain anymore.

Hopefully my awesomeness at getting ear infections won't be used for several more years.

I Forgot How Reslient Kids Are

I had an oh-so-great mothering moment today.  I was at Sam's Club with Tess and Cole and we were eating lunch.  (Nothin' but high class eatin' in our family!)

I was already a bit frazzled because our trip had started and lasted a bit longer than expected and both kids were going NUTS by the time we were checking out.  Cole actually yelled at an old man who made a comment to him.

That boy is going to drive me to drink.

However, we had survived and bought our lunch and had finally gotten everything cut up and all the drinks and napkins and oh - what a process it is just to have a simple lunch out with two little kids!  Anywho, we were eating and just as I thought "I should probably hold Tess in my lap while we eat" she stood up on the bench and promptly slipped inbetween the bench and the table, her head making a resounding and solid *THWACK* on the way down.

In that half a second before I reacted I clearly remember thinking "Omigosh, she's knocked herself unconscious and I'm going to have to take her to the emergency room again." 

She hit the concrete floor and immediately she started WAILING.  I swooped her up and started checking her out, making sure there was no blood from her head or mouth or wherever.  There wasn't, so I tried to sooth her as best I could.

That's when I noticed a good 50 different people all staring at us.

Marvelous.

Fortunately, Tess only cried for a minute or two.  Apparently those plastic benches are aren't as hard as they seem.  So I gave a half-hearted "She's okay" and turned away from the majority of the crowd.

A nice employee gave her a little bag of ice, which Tess loved.  (To play with, no to put on her bump.)  Soon everything was back to normal - Tess even ate an ENTIRE Sam's Club hot dog, plus several big bites of my pizza. 

Now if you or I had had a fall like that, we'd be in the hospital for sure, or at least stuck on the couch, downing ibuprofen like it was going out of style.  But kids are super resilient and bouncy.  Thank goodness.

A Bit of This and That (Socks! I Talk About Socks!!)

So Cole came down with a spring cold last week and since then I have been washing my hands like crazy and disinfecting everything he touches because I really did not want to get that cold!  But then Tess came down with the cold and I knew all hope was lost.  And I was right. 

Last night it struck me HARD.  I could barely breath and barely stay awake while watching the latest episode of Dr. Who with Lance.  DR. WHO, people!!  That's how out of it I was feeling.

I'm doing okay today, but all three of us are just hanging around the house and taking it easy instead of running all of the errands I had planned.  Dang.

I was folding the laundry the other day and decided to take a picture of a fairly common sight.  Why yes, that is Tess with a basket on her head.  It's kinda her thing.  (Her thing also includes growling and then saying "I scare you?" 36 times in a row.  It's pretty darling.)

Okay, so a few months ago I just about had a meltdown over socks. Even though their drawers were FULL of socks, none of my four children seemed to be able to find matching socks. Socks would mysteriously go missing in the wash or get left outside or even in the car. And then the random socks that I found around the house would go in different spots that I would never remember and then they'd never make their way back to their match.  It was ridiculous.  So one day I finally went through every single sock drawer in the house and found all of the matching socks and threw out any that were missing.  It was very therapeutic.

Then I got this cheapo basket from the dollar store and designated it "Sock Purgatory".  I wanted to make a cute sign for it, but c'mon, ain't nobody got time for that.  The basket hangs on the porch door in our master bedroom.  (What, you don't have a door that leads to a porch from your bedroom?  That was one of my favorite features when we first bought the house.  But you know how much we use it?  Not at all, my friends.  Maybe if I actually did something with the porch... but that's a project for another... decade.)

Anyway, now when I fold laundry if there are any socks without a match they go into this basket.  Eventually, most of the socks find their way back to their partner and all is right with the world.  I know, it's not the most sophisticated or beautiful method, but it works for me.

You know what doesn't work for me?  Bad grammar and poor spelling.  As you probably know, I actually work for an editing website.  Which makes this mistake all the more embarrassing. 

Yes, that is the spine of my latest blog book.  And yes, that does say "ike Karen With an "M".  Where the heck did that L go?!  Why didn't I notice this before I ordered my book?!  Would anyone else have ever noticed this had I not pointed it out?!  The answer to all of these questions is a resounding "Who knows?!"  But it sure does bug me.  Oh well.  I guess even I can't achieve grammar perfection.  At least I got the cover right!

In case you're wondering, here's this year's dedicatory haiku.   Not my best work, but it gets the job done.

I sure love that man.  He's the bringer of my internet.

Minecraft

Minecraft has taken over our home.  Spencer and Josh eat, breath, and live it all the livelong day.  (This despite the fact they're only allowed to play computer on the weekend.)  It's almost funny how obsessed they are with it.  Almost.

I found the following conversation I had with Spencer today pretty humorous given all the Minecraft mania in our home.

Spencer: Mom, I have to write a funny haiku for school.  But I don't know what to write about.

Me: What about Tess?  She's pretty funny.

Spencer: Nah.

Me: Okay, how about Pikachu?  Or Phineas and Ferb?  They're pretty funny.

Spencer: Maaaybeee...

Me: I know!  How about Minecraft?!

Spencer (dead serious): Mom, there is nothing funny about Minecraft.

My mistake.

Spring Outfit

Tess got a few new spring outfits in her Easter basket. (Thanks, Grandpa ElRay and Grandma Susie!)  She has asked every day if she can wear them, but it wasn't until today that it was warm enough. I held out two choices for her and she immediately grabbed this one, hugging the shirt and crying out "Cute!  Cute!"  (I am not making this up.)

I decided to get a few pictures of her in the outfit before she reverted to her natural (i.e. dirty/disheveled/toddler) state.  She did not want to hold still.  I took the pictures and then took a quick shower.  Ten minutes later she had pulled out both sides of her hair, had half of a shoe on, and had some sort of mystery substance smeared across her face and shirt. Homeostasis restored.

I love the pouty pictures.  I can't remember why she was pouting, but does it really matter?  Tess is the queen of pouts.