Alarm Systems

One of the things that the girls like about visiting the Island is the freedom. I live in the middle of Burlington. While Burlington, Vermont is far from a large city. It is an urban area, and my section has a lot of traffic and shall we say interesting characters? So my kids are on a very short leash so to speak. They don't go anywhere without an adult to accompany them. On the island, especially in the winter, there are hardly any people around let alone cars. In addition, the kids have been going there since they were infants so the people who are there tend to recognize who they are pretty quickly and know where they belong. I always tell them they can wander around wherever they want, but they need to stay where they can see the house and out of the road. This gives them a pretty wide area as the yard and surrounding fields are quite large.

Even so I was amused to find that there are a few systems in place that I didn't know about should someone decide to ignore my rule. Meet Thelma and Louise.

These are my mother's geese. She got them last winter. The girls love these geese and spend a lot of time picking grasses outside the pen and feeding them. There is also the new thrill of collecting the eggs the geese lay. They are eager to head out with Grammie Eva in the morning to check and see if they have any eggs hidden in their house.

I learned that Thelma and Louise have another role to play as well, one of alarm system. The kids asked if I would take them exploring down through the woods behind Grammie's house. An area off limits unless accompanied by an adult. As we walked past the goose pen the geese watched us. When we got to the edge of the woods the sight of the kids wandering into the woods sent the geese into a mass hysteria of quacking. It was crazy how noisy it was. They were so upset to see the kids heading that far from the house. I was very reassured to know that their movements were being monitored so closely.

I got an additional layer of protection after we headed back to the house for a snack. Our explorations had led us through the woods and out to the beach. We got hungry, so we decided to head back for lunch and go back to the beach after. While we were inside eating, my mom took her dogs out for a run. Upon their return to the house Max...

picked up the kids scent heading in to the woods and tracked them all the way down to the beach (shown here leashed after I found the little bugger). We found him waiting for us there when we headed back out after lunch. So see if you get past the geese alarm the rescue dog will track you through the woods and down to the beach.

Stuck on an Island in Maine

The girls and I headed out for a trip to Maine on Sunday. It is a long drive between 7- 8 hours depending on the traffic and weather conditions. It use to take me a lot longer. I use to have to stop every few hours and change diapers or let them out to run around. It has gotten a lot better as the girls have gotten older. Usually a couple of quick bathroom stops and we can keep going. It helps that a few years a go I used my credit card points to buy a portable DVD player. My kids never watch TV at my house. So it is huge treat for them to watch movies while we travel. I also pack a lot of snacks and sandwiches. Alexa becomes an eating machine on road trips. She was eating her sandwich at 10:30 in the morning.

As you can see they aren't suffering too badly. Even the dog enjoys the ride. It helps that he can help clean the floor as we go too. Don't worry I snapped that picture while we were at a red light in Gardner, Maine.

Our trip to Maine was rather eventful as we were stranded for a couple of additional days. A huge storm hit the coast and pelted the island with rain. The winds were so strong that they cancelled the boats off for two days. The storm waves were amazing. We went down to check them out at high tide. It unfortunately was at night so I was not able to get any pictures. It made the trip quite a bit longer than I had anticipated, but the reason for a journey was to meet our newest family member...

Samuel. So we think it was worth it.

Chloe's Concert Video

Here is a quick snippet of Chloe's concert on Thursday night. It is short, but please note I was holding two cameras and had Alexa sitting on my lap. I got the entire thing on the other video camera to show all those unlucky people who come over... nothing like home movies!

The Gender Difference

I received a sneak peek of differences between the genders Thursday. It came in the middle of teaching a spelling lesson. It was one of those moments when you are teaching and you really wish there was another adult in the room to share the moment with you. My class and I were correcting the unit that they had just completed. One section was working on vocabulary and asked them to use the thesaurus in the back on the book to help them choose words that were more accurate and descriptive. There were eight sentences, and each sentence contained the word "smart" underlined. They were to choose another word from the box above the sentences to replace "smart" in each sentence. We were moving along very nicely until we came to this sentence: My friend Kate is very smart about people's inner feelings.

I called on a student and he responded, "Quick-witted."

I looked at him a little curiously and said, "No, that wouldn't really fit there."

I called on another student. She answered, "Insightful."

I responded that yes, that was the best choice for that sentence. Well, hands went up like crazy. It turns out that every single boy in that class chose quick-witted to replace smart when talking about someone's inner feelings. Every single girl chose insightful. I started to laugh. I said, "Guys it is someone's feelings. How can they be quick-witted about someone's feelings?" They looked at me like I was crazy.

Now I am not saying that this explains every difference that women and men might have in the art of communication, but it is pretty telling is it not?

Music Concert

Chloe's school had a music concert last night. It featured the preschool through grade 2 kids. She and her fellow first graders sang "Skinamarink", "Apples in the Attic", a medley of the "ABC song", "Twinkle Twinkle", and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (she was none to thrilled with this one and kept complaining that they had to sing baby songs), and finished with a song taught by their Spanish teacher, "Old MacDonald" (in Spanish, of course).

Here she is in the center of it all.

Note the rythmic clapping here to go along with the song...


All the kids came up together for the grand finale singing "We Shall Overcome." If you look closely you can see her in the center there.

It was really cute.

Ready for Summer...

We know that it is only February, but Alexa's new swimsuit came in the mail today. So we had to try it on. Chloe's was one I ordered at the end of last year on sale. I love L.L.Bean and Land's End. Two of the few places that I feel sell clothes and swim wear fit for little girls to wear. I have a large aversion to clothes with celebrities (mainly Hanna Montana) on them and anything written across the butt. So I am happy to pay a little more for things that I consider appropriate and tasteful.

Of course once Alexa tried hers on, Chloe had to get hers out too. They wanted to wear them in the bath but I drew the line at that. I mean I do enough laundry each week, no need to create more.

So... how long till summer?

Living Room Camping

When the winter just seems to be closing in on you. When you are getting a little stir crazy. When your mom has been running around all afternoon picking people up from school, shuttling them to doctor's appointments and girls scout meetings and swears if you all don't stop pestering her dinner is never going to get made and starvation really will set in. When all those things connect, then it is time to head out into the elements for a little time away from it all. Well, at least the living room. Be sure to grab the essentials:

Pack your favorite ladybug tent...

Grab some key utensils and food (please note that is a plastic knife- no children were allowed to play with sharp objects during this activity)...

Watch out for fierce and feisty animals...

Use caution as you never know what can pop out of no where and surprise you...

So always keep a sharp eye out and expect the unexpected...

and have fun exploring.

In and Out

It seems that Chloe just got to where the front teeth are back and here we are again. Not the every front ones obviously, but a close neighbor. It was the top left one that came out this morning.




I tried to get a very sweet picture of the missing tooth in question, but my subject's cooperation was limited. Too be fair she was in the middle of arguing with me about her math homework. Turns out my children don't believe I know anything. I know this is a matter of course when it comes to parents and children, but I did think it would be a bit longer before they thought I was a total idiot. She had a math problem that said ____ - 2=6. I suggested that she add two plus six and that way she would know what the starting number was. She thought this was the dumbest idea ever. "It is subtraction not adding, Mommy." (be sure to exhale a long sigh and put and edge of are-you-a-complete-idiot to your voice when you read that line).

Lexa isn't much better. She came home from preschool today and told me it was President's Day for Abraham Lincoln and then said, "See I am smarter than you. I bet you didn't know that." What is it with this? I'll admit that seven years of parenting has amounted to a lot of sleep deprivation which probably has impacted my cognitive performance but sheesh. I can still subtract, and I am fairly competent on US Presidents. Well, the really major ones any way. I mean some of the ones in the middle who knows who they are...they don't really count.

Valentines Day

I am usually not a fan of Valentine's Day. It is nothing personal. It isn't like I dislike romance or love or anything. On the contrary really, I tend to be a victim of my own optimism where that stuff is concerned. Always believing the best in someone only to find out that I completely misread the entire situation. It can make a girl cynical to say the least, but that isn't why I have such an aversion to the day. I will spare anyone the entire story as it digs a little too deep into things no one really needs to know. In any event I put aside my desire to shout, "Bah Humbug" at the entire day and headed out and about. I present to you my dates for this Valentine's Day.

The girls and I attended the Boogie Wonderland Family Dance Party at Higher Ground today. We had a great time. Alexa found two of her preschool friends to dance with (one of her teachers was the DJ) and Chloe was rather amazed with the spotlight and making shadow puppets.

I have been to a fair number of concerts at Higher Ground and I have to say it is pretty funny to see them serving juice boxes from the bar. The combination of the Sesame Street theme song being played with "I Love Rock and Roll" and "Mickey" were pretty entertaining. In the end we are all for dancing and being able to munch on macaroni and cheese when you get hungry.

I am thinking we boogied our way to an early bed time tonight!

Alexa's Writing

It is hard to be the younger sister. You watch your big sister do all of these cool things and you want to do them too. Alexa has been working so hard to learn to write. She is fascinated. She has a book that teaches children to write letters. She pulls the book of the shelf, sighs and says, "Time to do my homework." Mind you I have never told her she needs to do this... she just watches her sister complain about homework and wants to be able to complain too. She plugs away at it too. Stretching herself out on the floor and working away.

She gets so excited when she actually puts letters together and spells a word, because more often than not it doesn't really spell anything. "Mommy, what does atkfyd spell?" You hate to have to tell her that it isn't really as word. Tonight she was stretched out on the floor in the living room, and she told me she was working on a surprise for me. Here it is....

It says once there was a dog named Cabbie.

As you can see she was pretty proud of her writing.

Cavity Free and the New Me!

Starting off Monday morning by taking the kids to the dentist is not my favorite activity. For starters Chloe has been know to be a screamer which, I tell you, gets down right humiliating. Alexa on the other hand loves the dentist. She was so excited yesterday when I told her we were going. "Oh I just love it there! It is so much fun." The exact opposite of her sister you slumped in the chair and frowned.

Turns out it all just needed a little perspective for Chloe. I told her it could not possibly be as be as bad as the entire hospital visit and the IV. And for one of the few times in her life... she actually agreed with me. She got through the whole thing x-rays, cleaning, fluoride treatment with hardly a complaint. I tell you I have never been more proud. She was her happy bubbly chatty self. I think the hygienist was shocked too. We left with this (the title just kills me!)...

and a whole new stock of stickers, rubber snakes, and plastic rings from the prize box. I am also thrilled that they are both free of any cavities.

On a different note. I picked Alexa up from daycare and she presented me with this.

Is that not the cutest thing? They made them today. The best part? She says it is me! See the eyelashes? Apparently she decided to make the love bug look like mommy so it needed eyelashes. I am so honored. I think I look rather spiffy as a bug.

She's Better

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here she is...

Check out that smile. Heck, check out that mess that is her bedroom. Miss Chloe is feeling much better. Full of her usual smiles, creativity, and yeah the attitude is still there too.

And the grooving Alexa is still her smiley self.

Hospital Trip

I started to write this the other night, but I was just too exhausted. In the end it probably would have helped me as I was so wound from the entire experience I think I might have gotten two hours of actual sleep before I had to get up and get ready for work. On Tuesday I kept Chloe home from school as she was not feeling well and had begun antibiotics for another bladder infection. As the day progressed I became concerned about the amount of abdominal pain she was in. She couldn't stand up straight. I had to help her out of bed just to get the bathroom. I called the pediatrician and they agreed that she should come in. She was in such pain she started to cry about the idea of have to put clothes on that would be around her waist. I let her go in her footy PJ's.

She was checked over by her doctor who was concerned about the amount of discomfort she was in as well. She gave me some things to do for her when we got home and told me she would call later in the day to see if she was better. When we got home I followed the doctor's directions, but the pain did not get any better for Chloe. When the nurse called for the update she said Doctor Wing wanted us to go to the ER. She wanted them to do an ultrasound to rule out a problem with her appendix or an infection in her kidneys. She was calling ahead to let them know we were coming.

It was about 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. I packed a quick lunch box for Alexa (dinner) and dressed Chloe with a coat and boots over her PJ's. We arrived at the ER before 5 as I live very close to the hospital. When we got there I was actually feeling like things might move rather quickly. The front desk knew about us coming. They got us right in to register with the nurse (blood pressure, temperature, etc.) This, however, was where things came to a screeching halt. I have not weighed in on the recent Health Care Bill debate, but let me state here we have bigger problems with health care than just insurance. When a 7 year old child, in pain, has to lie on a stretcher in the hallway for two hours just to get a room and the another hour to even see a doctor. There are problems. It took another hour to get the ultrasound performed and another for the IV and blood work the doctor ordered to be done. But by far the most frustrating experience came with the hour plus Chloe laid there with the IV bag empty. The doctor said we could go, that it still appeared to be the bladder and we should continue on the antibiotics we were on, but I could not get a nurse to come in and remove the IV and discharge us. It was 10:30 at night. I went to the desk four different times to ask for someone to come take it out and let me take her home. It was close to 11 before I finally planted myself at the nurse's station and used the teacher voice saying, "She is 7. She is exhausted. I don't care who is covering for whom. Someone needs to come take that IV out and let me take her home. She is crying. She just wants to go to bed." It was by far one of the most exhausting experiences I have had as a parent.

Where was Alexa in all this? I was eventually able to reach their dad, and he arrived at about 7. At 8 when we had finally seen the doctor and he told us it would be about two more hours for all the tests to be completed. I handed JP my house key and had him take Alexa home and put her to bed. There was no need to keep her hanging out there too. Sometimes you have to put your personal differences aside because your kid's needs come first. Plus somehow after staring at your child on a hospital bed you feel so cooperative. So much so that when I touched base via phone after the ultrasound was completed he offered to fix anything in my house that needed it while he was there. I politely declined. Trust me if there is one thing I remember vividly it is that he never actually fixes things. No need to get that warm and fuzzy.

I am happy to report that on Thursday Chloe returned to school. We have decided on a preventative medication that she will take for the next few months, at least, to see if we can keep her healthy. I am so appreciative of all the positive messages from family and friends over the last few days. I am especially grateful to my sisters for sending me supportive text messages in the hospital (especially Cherie who was heading in to the hospital herself next morning to give birth!). It helps to know there are people out there thinking about you and that you aren't alone. So thanks to all of you who care enough about the three of us to read all of this. My thoughts go to all of you who must deal with the health care system as your child's advocate on a regular basis. There just has to be a simpler more humane way. No child should have to go through that.