Jonny's Toe Update

We have just returned from a fabulous trip to Utah, thanks to all who made it possible. I am still unpacking and will be sharing photos and kid memories in the next week. I just wanted to give a quick update on Jonny's toe for those who would like to know the resolution. Here's a a brief synopsis for those who were not present.
Last Friday we were at Lagoon (amusement park.) Jonny said that his little toe hurt, but I didn't see anything wrong with it. Sunday morning, Jonny said something to Gary about his "hurting toe." Gary checked it out and immediately saw that the bottom of his little toe was swollen purple/gray and the rest of the toe was bright red. I drove him to the urgent care/drop in clinic, and they drained the toe, took a culture, and gave a prescription. They also pointed out the infection was spreading up his foot and ankle (a visible red line.) The urgent care place called last night and said that it was a staph infection. The medicine is working fine. Jonny's toe and foot are looking much better and he should be fully recovered before long.

Entrepreneur

I thought Jimmy was playing video games on our computer when he called upstairs:
"Mom? What's our zipcode?"
I answered, not thinking too much about it. Then he called up:
"Mom? How do you spell our street?"
I froze. What was he up to?
"Jimmy what are you doing?" I called down
"I'm just signing up for Ebay."
"Why?"
"I'm trying to sell my yellow coat."

Yes, his heavy, nicest winter coat that he HATES and fought about wearing everyday last winter. That yellow coat.

Memory Game

I saw this on my friend Holly's site and thought this might be a fun opportunity to see who actually looks at this blog!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Thirsty Girl

Last week or the week before we journeyed up to Pennsylvania to see my brother, his wife and their new baby Elizabeth. We stayed overnight on this visit in a local hotel. My dad (grandpa-diddo I suppose you could call him) came along for this trip and stayed with us. He generously stayed with the kids in the room so Gary and I could have a late night swim (THANKS!). As I finished tucking the kids in bed, Amelia started sobbing uncontrollably. As I was looking forward to the late night swim, I was perhaps not as patient as I should have been.
"what's wrong?"
"I'm thirsty"
"What could you do about that?" I wanted her to realize she was not powerless in this situation. She could get a drink or ask for one. She just kept screaming. So I continued "you could maybe ask for a drink?"
"NO! THIS IS A HOTEL AND THERE'S ONLY COFFEE IN HOTELS!"

I gave her a cup of water. And then joined Gary for a late night swim. I tried the butterfly stroke which I have only ever seen on TV. I got water up my nose but it was loads of fun anyway.

And the new baby, Elizabeth? She's just the cutest little baby that I've seen in a while. Maybe one day I'll get the pictures off of the camera phone and prove it.

One weird apocalypse movie

The other day at dinner, Jimmy told us all about the new movie Wall-E. He has not seen it, but he knows all about it because of its kid-centric Web site.

According to Jimmy, this movie takes place in "the future." To clarify, he specified that Wall-E takes place:

1. Before the Second Coming

BUT

2. After everyone on Earth has died.

I got a good chuckle out of this. Although that sequence is incompatible, I am impressed that Jimmy saw fit to include the Second Coming when thinking about the temporal setting of an animated movie. He's a smart kid and knows the gospel very well, for a seven-year-old.

Ruth's Art Challenge

My niece Ruth got bored this summer and decided to come up with a weekly art challenge for herself to complete. She (or her mom) invited the rest of the family to j0in in. This week's challenge was to draw yourself in a mood. Here's what we came up with, working with paint.

Silly Amelia

This is Amelia, sticking out her tongue and waving her fists. Her eyes shift from blue to green so she calls them "mystery eyes."

Silly Jimmy
Although I caught the kids at different times to do their art work, they both chose "silly" as their mood. Here is Jimmy saying silly words.

Can you guess my mood?! This is a reproduction of a drawing I did last year. Amelia was in a foul mood and had just bitten me really hard. So I suggested we both draw pictures of how we were feeling at that moment, just to air things out. I drew something similar to this, although I think I had bulging eyes in the original. Notice the really big teeth because I hate getting bit. Amelia's was a wobbly circle with lines coming out in every direction. "this is me with a thousand tongues and every tongue is spitting at you" she explained. We then talked about how we can have self control. Even though I felt like a wild woman on the inside, I did not act that way. Even though she FELT like spitting at me, she did not.

Genius (updated 7/3 to include the link)

A few months ago, Jonny was sitting on my lap at church and manged to break off one of the decorative loops of my necklace. For Mother's Day, Gary and the kids gave me a pretty heart necklace. It now has teeth marks going through it. Simon only has 3 teeth but made good use of them all.
When I saw this ad online, I thought "Genius!" While I don't have any of this jewelry, and I don't know if it looks good in real life, I am in love with the idea.
http://www.smartmomjewelry.com/

Signs

We found a mysterious poster on the wall stating:
Help Wanted
Needed $2.75
will pay 27 cents
Contact Jimmy

When asked to explain, he said:
For $2.75 I will do anything you want. For $2.72 I can keep bad things from happening to you.

It sounded like a mafia style proposition to me or maybe he was thinking along the lines of a personal super hero- Crismon Shedds! For a refresher on Crismon Shedds, see here http://kiddodiddo.blogspot.com/2006/11/want-to-know-when-jesus-will-come.html

Secret Friends

This is a little hard to follow, so if you can make sense of this tale, congratulations!

For family night last week, Jimmy had us draw names of family members to get "secret friends." Each person was to serve his or her secret friend for the week and on Saturday each would reveal his good deeds and tell who his secret friend was. It was a great idea. Unfortuately, someone in our family didn't quite get the concept.
Monday night, Jimmy found Amelia's shirt and a hair bow under his pillow. Tuesday, Jonny discovered a poopy diaper under Jimmy's pillow. He found it before Jimmy, thankfully. Jimmy caught Amelia and Jonny putting dirty pullups under my pillow. Thankfully I didn't find out until later.
Thursday, Gary and I found hard plastic blocks under our pillows.
Friday, Jimmy found a $20 bill under his pillow! Finally, his secret friend did something nice! However, I happened to know that his secret friend only had 18 cents. So the money had to be returned to it's rightful owner. (As it turned out, Amelia and Jonny had made a deal to pay eachother for doing chores. Monday, Amelia pays Jonny 2 cents to do her chore. Tuesday, he pays her 5 cents to do his chore. Not knowing anything about money- except that it's fun to spend- he gave her $20 to make his bed)

Lest you think we are all bad secret friends, here are some of the service highlights:
Amelia wrote (dictated) Jimmy a story about a boy and a bike
Jonny made Gary's bed (no, we're not like I love Lucy with the twin beds, he just wasn't MY secret friend)
Gary made a collage of Amelia's baby pictures for her
I cleaned Jonny's room. When he saw his room, he exclaimed- "Someone made my floor!"

A Thoughtful Little Boy

Jonny has had a few moments to show his "softer side" as of late.

I was watching Hazel, the daughter of a friend and half way through the visit I called out "DIAPER TIME!" and rounded up the 3 diaper wearers. While I worked on Simon, Jonny and Hazel sat nearby waiting for their turns. Jonny leaned over to Hazel and said "Do you take zebra or leopard?" (different animals for different sizes) then he leaned closer, wiggled his eyebrows knowingly and said "Zebra, I think." He's a bit on a diaper connoisseur.

Jimmy's friend Jason came over to play last week. He's pretty shy and when he came over he hid outside with his mom, crying. Jonny goes to nursery class at church. He knows exactly what to do with crying friends. He ran outside and said to Jason "it's okay buddy! we can play kick ball or wii sports or Mario. it's okay buddy!" Jimmy came out a minute later to see what the hold up was. Jimmy and Jason had a great time playing, even after the rough start. Throughout the visit, Jonny kept checking on Jason and offering words of support.

Last week, a friend of mine came over and we made jam together. She brought her 7 month old baby Abby over. She played on the floor while the kiddodiddos watched Lady and the Tramp. Part way through the show, Jonny went over to Abby and said (pointing to the baby gate) "That's the baby gate. We put it up so you don't roll down the stairs."

New martial art

The other day, Jimmy, Amy, and Jonny were roughhousing in the living room while Tracy and I were finishing dinner. There was some fake kicking and stuff. Imagine our surprise and laughter when Jimmy revealed what he was teaching the other kids:

"Deep karate from before the dawn of time!"

(You might recognize this as similar to a reference from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.)

Fun Facts

Jimmy told me an interesting fact today followed by a comment
fact: a baby is born every 8 seconds in the United States.
comment: I am glad that it takes our family almost a year to grow a baby. Can you imagine; kick kick (fetal movements) POP- here's a baby. kick kick POP here's a baby!

I guess his interpretation was that certain PEOPLE can have babies every 8 seconds!

Caterpillar Update

On Wednesday, I noticed that the cocoon was gone. Either it was eaten by a bird or a beautiful butterfly emerged and took it's cocoon remains with it. I didn't really know what to say to the kids, so I waited until they noticed it was gone and said "too bad we missed it." I suppose I could ask one of my resident spies to find out what really happened.

There are spies among us

At the start of the school year, Jimmy started a spy club with his friends at school. He called it the TSSA- Top Secret Spy Agency. He had about 12 kids in his club and each had a special rank. Sometimes I found his spy lists of who spied on who for how long. Every day, he is sure to wear "spy clothes." Did you know that spies always wear pants and shirts that match? There are two other spy agencies at his school- VILE and ACME. The TSSA and ACME are partners (of sorts) and VILE is the bad agency. I think that lately, his spying has become a bit more serious. Last week, for his "Mom and Jimmy time" he wanted to make a spy flag. So we spent a few evenings painting a large scrap of fabric blue with a large red diamond on it. It has the letters GSA on it, because recently the TSSA has changed it's name to General Spy Agency. (Gary thinks it's to make it sound more important- everyone knows that 3 letter agencies are the real deal when it comes to spying) Jimmy intends to hang out his spy flag so that everyone will know to come to him for their spying needs.

Amy has shown little interest in spying until today- she invited me to join her new spy club. It's called "Find Out If It's True." Membership is free, but new members must wear a mask (me.) The purpose of FOIIT is to find out if her friend Zachary can really turn her into a tick and squish her. She spent a lot of time studying the Etch a Sketch for clues, but has not reached any conclusions.

My sister had a spy agency when we were little (LMTS- Leslie M. Trustworthy Spy) Any other spies out there? (Okay that's not really a question- I'd feel all freaked out if a REAL spy answered)

Do you want eyes with that?

I am happy to announce that yesterday I had LASIK vision correction surgery, and it was a success! No more glasses for me!

I have been seeing my optometrist, as well as doctors at TLC Laser Eye Center in Reston, for a couple of months. It took a while to find a time when I could be at home and avoid doing anything dirty or strenuous so I could heal properly.

Yesterday, the big day arrived. I scheduled the surgery for the afternoon, so that the lasers would warm up all day and be as hot as possible. (Imagine my disappointment when I found out that they are actually cool lasers.) When I arrived, I was taken to a room where they put about 13 eye drops in each eye. I was offered Valium, which I accepted to make me as dopey as possible. I then met the skilled ophthalmologist, ninja master, and chairman of the Jedi Council Dr. Edward Perraut. He explained the game plan and said I might feel some pressure but no pain during the procedure.

Before my procedure, I got to watch the guy before me get his. They put a live video of the eye they're working on on a monitor. The ticking of the laser could be heard from outside, where we were waiting, and I was a little nervous, but the Valium was working well, so I said what the hey and went in next.

I was prepped, dressed, and placed in the supine position. (For everyone but Angie, that's medical-speak for putting on a hat and lying on my back.) Dr. Perraut wasted no time, taping my left eye shut and clamping my right eye open with something that does not look unlike eyelash curlers. They're eyelid curlers, really. He then put about 22 more drops in the right eye. Next was the "pressure" to which he referred. He pressed a little cylinder down onto my eye, hard. I could feel my head being pressed against the headrest. I guess it didn't technically hurt, but it was quite uncomfortable, and the world went black for me.

Next they swiveled me under one of the lasers and hooked the laser machine up to the cylinder. Dr. Perraut counted down the 20 seconds it took to slice a thin layer off the front of my eye. After that, some of the pressure subsided, which was a relief, and I was swiveled out from under the laser. The doctor folded back the thin corneal flap and quickly swiveled me under laser #2, the actual LASIK laser. I could see again, but everything was blurrier than before ("what if the power goes out right now?," I should have thought, but I had had Valium.) What I could see was a flashing orange blur. I think it took 30 to 45 seconds per eye under the LASIK laser, and it didn't bother me at all. In fact, laser #2 was quite comfy compared to pressing my eye into my brain that had been done before. There was a loud ticking sound and a burning smell ("chemicals," they told me...burning flesh says I). No pain at all. During the ticking, I could actually see the orange light get crisper and clearer, not perfectly, but better by the second!

After the ticking was done, they swiveled me out and took off the cylinder, to my great relief. Dr. Perraut smoothed the flap into place, and cold liquid dripped from my eye down the side of my head. Tracy told me that was from a wet Q-tip they used to smooth out the flap. This eye was then taped shut (with the tape that had been on my left eye, maybe? That would have been resourceful).

This procedure was repeated for my left eye. I won't bore you with the details.

After the left eye, my right eye was untaped, and I was told to sit up. I went to the corner of the room where there was an eye checking machine, like the kind at your eye doctor. Dr. Perraut examined both eyes and pronounced the procedure a rollicking success. I bowed to him and was ushered to a recovery room, where I spent the first 45 seconds of my recovery. Then I was told to go home and start doing all kinds of eye drops.

This morning when I woke up, it was like a miracle. Clear vision, without glasses or contacts! That's what Tiger Woods says on the radio (his surgeon is the other surgeon at TLC Reston but is not a ninja master), and it's true. My eyes feel great, and my kids have been gracious enough not to enjoy a snack of Gummi Corneas so far, so overall everything is good.

Since this is a kiddodiddo blog, I will mention that the kids' reaction has been slim to none. Jimmy's reaction was something like, "Wow! Can I play Toontown now?"

If you can save your pennies, I highly recommend LASIK, especially with Dr. Perraut.

Time to go do more eyedrops.

Caterpillars

Jimmy and Amelia have a sibling rivalry issue. Or maybe it's a maturity issue. Let's just say they don't get along well ALL the time. Lately, they have been making efforts to patch things up. Jimmy brought the first peace offering last week. He came home from school with a wriggling caterpillar that he caught just for her. She squealed with delight and named it Chip. I gave her a tupperware and told her to find some leaves for it. She carried it around and left it here and there. I found it on the kitchen counters a lot. So I encouraged her to keep it outside on the balcony. After 2 days of being Amelia's pet, Chip escaped. I have to admit I was very proud he was healthy enough to get away!
This week, she caught 2 caterpillars of her own,Chip (JR) and Dandelion. She and Jonny had great fun letting them crawl up and down their arms, etc. They gathered leaves and stuck them in a tupperware (no lid) on the balcony. I kind of forgot about them until Thursday, when I went on the balcony for the recycling box. I saw something white and fuzzy in the tupperware container. I thought "gee, it died and got moldy. how gross- and it's in my tupperware!" Then I remembered that they were CATERPILLARS and they make COCOONS! So now we are anxiously waiting for the cocoon (the new Chip escaped) to open and see the beautiful butterfly (or moth) that is inside.

Minor Squabble

Jimmy and Amy were having a fight over something or other. Jimmy shouted out "You just think you're the boss. You just want to tell everyone what to do!"
Amelia started to reply, but Jonny cut her off "I'M the boss! I tell you what to do!" Well, I guess that settles it!

Quizes

So I got sucked in to a couple of online personality quiz things. I saw them on friends blogs and thought I'd give them a go. .

Take the Quiz here!

I haven't read the book Sense and Sensibility, so I don't know if it's good or bad that I am Elinor Dashwood. I read her description- she sounds "white" to me.

Speaking of white, that's what color my personality is! I took this quiz in a much longer paper format with friends in high school, and again with roommates, and now, thanks to Tracie, I have taken it again- yep, I'm still white.
Here are some links- give them a try and let me know who or what you are! (really, I'm curious!)
http://www.thecolorcode.com/
http://www.strangegirl.com/emma/quiz.php

After I did the quizes, I thought "I wonder what Gary is?" and then I thought "I mean the color quiz- I don't want to know what kind of heroine he is!" Maybe I could find a hero quiz for the men.


(for those of you who are curious, here's what it says about "white")
WHITES are motivated by PEACE. They seek independence and require kindness. They resist confrontation at all costs. To them, feeling good is more important than being good. They are typically quiet by nature, process things very deeply and objectively with great clarity. Of all the colors, WHITES are the best listeners. They respect people who are direct but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle. WHITES need their "alone time" and refuse to be controlled by others. WHITES want to do things their own way and in their own time. They ask little of others and resent others demanding much of them. WHITES are much stronger than people think, but are not often seen for their strength because they don't easily reveal their feelings. WHITES are even-tempered, diplomatic, and the voice of reason; but can also be indecisive, unexpressive, and silently stubborn. When others interact with you, as a WHITE you respond to them best if they are kind, accepting and supporting of your individuality, and if they look for non-verbal clues to understand your feelings.

Jimmy's New Hobby

Last night, Jimmy cut the head off of his stick pony. He then decorated the stick and passed out handmade tickets to his bow staff combat class. He took AMY (remember she's not Millie anymore) and Jonathan outside to help them find sticks and attend his class. (Ninja Turtles have been a recent favorite, and I think he's been studying the moves) He showed them his techniques and they played around for awhile before bed.
Today it was my turn. After school, he found me a stick in the woods (flimsy, not like his stick pony one) and showed me how to grab and spin it. So we had a tournament. As we swung and fought with our bow staffs, mine kept breaking off. Sticks and particles were flying everywhere. When my 3 foot "bow staff" had been reduced to 15 inches, I called it good.
Tonight, I'll be carving my own bow staff- I found myself a REAL stick.

Prayer Time!

A few days ago, Jonny was saying the bedtime prayer for our family and he got stuck (he tried to close it up after "thank you for the food.") "thank you for President Hinckley" I prompted. He burst out laughing. "NOT President Hinckley! President Monson!" I was surprised that my 2 year old caught my mistake.