Monday, July 27, 2009

Muchas Pulgas, part deux

"Summertiiiiiiime, and the livin' ain't easaaaaay,

fleas are jumpin', and the weeds are hiiiiiigh

Oh, you're dad's not rich, but your Mom is good loookin'

So, hush little baby, doono't yoooou cryyyyyy""


Pretty much the story of our life here in Goodnight Mom land. Maybe you all remember last year we had a flea infestation in our home. Well, here we are, again. Round 2 of the fleas.


For those new to us, this is a strange occurance as we have no pets. No pets at all. Not a one. So, when I ask them what is happening and why we seem to be a haven for bugs, he said that it is because we have wild animals running through our yard. I'm not sure that is the case.


So, we had someone come out last Friday and spray the house. Apparently, there is one stage of a flea's life that is not affected by this spray and we have to wait for them to all die.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

King Tut!

We got some great news with Eva today! Her cathecolemines were the lowest they have been EVER since we started this process! WAHOO!!!

That is such wonderful news! We are doing an MRI next month and we'll have more to report then!

As for Eva, I'm attaching a little video of Eva's antics tonight. Her "monster" impression reduces me to hysterical laughter each and every time. As for the other part, well, maybe we spent too much time at the museum and on You Tube this past year. My kids love them some Steve Martin!

Yeah us!


Thursday, July 16, 2009

Odds and Ends

Well, it has certainly been a while for me since I have written. Lazy summer nights, combined with a bout of strep throat. Just exhausted. This will be a bit of a hodge podge of confessions and updates.
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We're all here enjoying all the heat and fun that summer in Texas brings. More heat than fun, but hey, it's all good.

Here are some shots my niece took of the kids on the slip and slide in the front yard. God bless whoever invented that thing.





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Well, for July 4, Jon and I ended up going to Napa Valley to visit some friends, again this year. Our wonderful friends, The Stulls, were so kind to host us, yet again. We had a relaxing three days filled with friends and wine. I won't go into the drama of non-revving (airplane employee-speak) on a holiday weekend. I'll just focus on our time there and say it was perfect. AND I got yet another break from the Dallas heat! Wahoo!

Two shots from the trip. One of my hot husband at our friend's house and one of the two of us.



I'd like to send a special thank you to Jon's parents for agreeing to keep the kids! THANK YOU!
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We got back from our vacation and our niece Limor came in to town. Limor lives in Israel and we don't see her very often. As a matter of fact, it had been nearly 2 years since I had laid eyes on that girl. Way too long! We had such a nice time with her!!

My two gorgeous gals!


Jack and Limor decide to bake a cake!

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Whenever Limor comes to town, we watch High School Musicals. It is our thing. I can now officially say that I have seen all three. The Trilogy, if you will. Admittedly, no one loves a good musical more than I and I'm especially a sucker for a good high school story.

My review? Of the three, I have to say that the first one is the best, followed by the second and the third. There were some good songs, though, but none as catchy as "We're All in this Together".
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By the way, I have used that song TWICE this week at work as an example of how a group of folks can work together.
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Speaking of work, I'm playing on the office softball team. We have an intra-Y employee tournament next Saturday. I'm the coach/organizer of the team from the Association Office. This is hilarious on so many levels.

My first practice, I grabbed Jon's lefty glove on the way out the door. So, I had to attempt to catch the ball with the wrong hand. I did great until I tried to catch a screamer hit by one of our guys and I ended up catching it with my wrist. It immediately swelled up and turned purple. REALLY purple.
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When I told my father what I was doing, he told me that at my age, the only thing I should be running on the softball field is the concession stand.
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I played regularly on a work softball team when I lived in Atlanta in my 20's. To say I was terrible does not even come close. But, they needed a girl and I would show up and play catcher. Yeah, a 5'11" catcher. I could actually catch the ball and that was the place that I did the least amount of damage to the team.

Anyway, it was the final game of season 2. My dad happened to be in town and came to support me. I got up to the plate and hit a double! My team went wild, screaming with excitement!!! My father was there and said, that he was very proud of me but did not understand the excessive celebrating done by my teammates.

What he did not realize was that was the first time in two seasons that I had been on base.
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The other night, I stayed up for hours and hours watching Square Pegs on Hulu.com. (see confession above about high school stories) I just love that Sarah Jessica Parker in her awkward younger years. Gosh, that was a great show.
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As for the kids this summer, well, it's just been a bit challenging, to be honest. Not having them in school, they are just running wild and Jon and I are struggling to keep them in line. They are having a great summer, though. They are both at camps and are having a blast.

A quick update on each:

Eva is getting so big and so articulate (for better or for worse). For better in that we can understand much more of what she is saying. For worse, her opinions about EVERYTHING are getting stronger. Jack never cared which bowl he was given or what clothes he wore to bed. He as just happy to get anything. Eva, not so much. She wants the pink spoon and the blue cup and the Sponge Bob pj's. Such a difference!

Her spanish is also getting better and she is starting to distinguish between the two languages in which person speaks which language. Jack picked this up MUCH earlier than she but it is great she is coming around. She still does not speak in spanish as much as I would hope. If you talk to her in spanish, though, she'll answer you correctly. Just in english. Soon, I hope!

The best thing I can say about Eva is how she greets you when you enter the door. When I turn down my street, my smile just widens because I know what is coming. I see that little girl open the door and come running out and JUMPS in my arms...MOMMY'S HOME!!! Man, it is awesome. The cool thing is that you don't have to be gone all day to get that reception. I went to the store to return a movie the other day. I returned about 7 minutes later to the same greeting. Sometimes, it makes me want to just go drive around the block just so I can come home.
As for Jack, he's spent the summer on many projects. We're having our house painted so he likes to assist the folks doing that. Jack is a helper. He wants to help with everything from cooking to cleaning to baking to packing for a trip. Jack is my little helper.

This summer, he has focused on his reading every single night and is starting level 2 reading books at age 5. I'm right proud of him. He needs some work on his motor skills with his writing, as that is about an age 3 or so but he'll get there!
He is also suddenly interested in building things with recycled materials. The other day, he told me that I could not throw away the old cereal box because he was going to build a puppet theatre with it. Ok, Jack! Looking very forward to seeing that! It's good, though. He is far more conscientious about the environment than I was at 5 or 25, for that matter.
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Took Eva to both the pediatrician and the oncologist this week. I am happy to report she is perfectly proportioned in height, weight and head size. 50-75%. Good job, Nubbin!

We'll have the results of the catecholomines in a week or so. Then, an MRI in August.

That's about it for us. I'll end with a shot that I took a month or so ago. We were on our way to a Cancer Survivor's picnic. Eva did this entirely on her own and turned to look at me just as I snapped this shot. It is one of my favorites of the kids.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

When You're Tired, You Take a Napa--Part Deux

Well, after much discussion, we decided to take a trip to Napa for July 4th, again this year. Our dear friends, The Stulls had invited us to their home for a party. We had such a great time last year, we could not pass it up!


So, off we went.


We had an absolute blast. We got to spend time with our friends, Hannah and Neil, and of course, the Stull family