Balloon Animals!

A few weeks ago I went to a library story time. There was a lady doing balloon animals. She only was making the dog. (seen here in orange in the middle photo) I was entranced. I've always liked balloon animals. I watched her make dog after dog and decided I could do it. She happily let me try as there were way more kids than she could make for and appreciated help. And I could do it! I always assumed I'd not be able to. 

So I went online and ordered a bunch of Qualatex balloons and a pump and a simple instruction book. (Which was silly, don't get a book, go to youtube.) I tore through that 100 balloons in a few days. I can't stop making stuff. At the party where Stephen got sick I made probably 20 balloon dogs. Then I came home and started studying how to make more advanced animals. Like the penguin. How cute is he? The flower looks simple, but it is one of the hardest for me. The monkey and bunny are not too hard but I won't be able to memorize them for a bit. Swords are the most easy, I even taught Stephen and Ethan to make those. 

I'm hooked, I placed a second order for a few hundred more balloons yesterday. Love it! 

Where is this new hobby going? No where. I mean I'd love to make them for kids I know at parties and such, but no, I'm not planning on a balloon business. I just love making these critters and seeing the joy they give kiddos.

Last NIght *

*read the title in the tune of the Traveling Wilburys Song.

Yesterday was pretty cool. A friend of Ethan's from school (back when he went) had a birthday party. He made sure Ethan got an invite. So we went. It was super fun. I LOVED all the adults at this party. The kids played well, but I seriously loved these parents and grandparents. So it was a total blast.

After that party we stopped at home then headed to Savin's party. Savin is a good friend of ours who has the BEST parties. She has recently moved one county south of here, which is GARBAGE, but we were excited to go down there and see her.

Savin is Cambodian. Cambodian food is AWESOME. But there are a lot of peanuts. So Stephen usually can't eat much. There was a new dish last night, amazing steak on a stick. Stephen was getting hungry so he asked if he could eat that. I asked Savin. She didn't know, her dad was the cook on that one. We asked her mom and dad and they said it was safe. So he ate it. And it was AWESOME. So he ate two. Then looked up at me and I knew. I told Savin to double check for me. Yup. Peanut sauce. They thought we were asking about peppers.

So Stephen's face is swelling, his lips are swelling, he is crying and gasping. I calmly bust out the epi pen and give him a shot. Savin has a friend at the party who is a nurse. She gives him benydril and tells us to get to the ER.

At the ER: The epi was wearing off. His breathing was getting worse. Then they can't get a needle into him. They only have these thicker gauge needles. They discuss if it is worth running around looking for tiny needles or if they need to just force this huge thick one into his tiny vein. They decide to force it, they don't have time to look for tiny kid needles. Took FIVE times to get it in. Going back and forth on his poor arms. He is freaking out and asking for his Grammy.

So I decide to call Grammy. Because they are asking me to see what I can do to calm him and all. So I call my mom. And scare the crap out of her. I try to be gentle, "Mom, I'm in the ER with Stephen, he is going to be FINE, he can't talk (his throat is almost shut he just has to breathe) but he needs to hear from you. I need you to chat to him, I'll talk to you in a minute." And I hold them phone up to Stephen. He listens to my mom chatter about cool stuff like an upcoming visit and such. And it works. He settles down and they get the IV in. I get back on the phone with my mom and thank her. I update her. She tells me to call back in an hour or so. I promise to.

I look at the arm they finally got the IV in. FREAKING BLOOD EVERYWHERE. The guy apologizes, he is cleaning it all up, the IV is safely in. They also had given him more epi in his leg. So he's a wreck.

They give him all sorts of meds. His breathing sorts out within just a minute or so. They didn't have to put tubes in his throat. Which is good. They had already opened the pack and all. But it hurts and is scary so they don't WANT to do it.

He gets super tired. Stress and some of the meds. I ask, and they tell me he can sleep. Then we sit there for five hours. Because they want to make sure he is good.

Ethan waited the entire time in the waiting room. He refused to sleep or rest while his brother was back there. Calvin had fallen asleep early on. I was able to keep Brian updated.

And that's what I did yesterday.

Today everyone is fine. Actually right now Stephen is rambling to me about Mario Brothers game. So I rekon he's fine.

A Poetic Valentine's Day

We don't usually do much for Valentine's day, but this year we are. I ordered Brian a cool present that will come tomorrow. We have a babysitter tomorrow and mystery reservations that Brian made us. He also got me both cut flowers and potted ones. And I wrote him this poem:

Teal Poem

I wanted to express my love

With words that you’d hold dear

and reference your favorite teams

but I cannot I fear.

Not much rhymes with “teal”

except maybe heal

and not much rhymes with “mustache”

and I refuse to do those stupid puns

Not much rhymes with “jaguar”

Unless I promise you a new car

Which I can’t because we both know

We don’t do that crap.

Not much rhymes with “Jacksonville”

Oh I did pay the car insurance bill,

Because I’m romantic like that.

Go Falcons!

It is based on a poem that Stephen wrote me: 

Poem:

Dont read teal valintinsday

I love that your my mom

so kind and gineris

your so so so sweat

helpful and that is why

As you can see it's a work of genius  But Brian said at first he thought it was a "Teal Valentine" and was a little bummed it was not for him and football themed. So the above poem was written for Brian. Because all the best kid poetry is always for me. 

For Valentine's Day Ethan is refusing to eat the TINY lunch I made him. He was starving to death but now it has been 3 hours and he's still crying about how his mashed potatoes are touching his lasagna. Guess how lovey I feel about that. No, wait, stabby, I feel stabby about that. But I'm trying to just not care. Just sit there my sweet middle child and let your tears salt your food. 

Current Obsessions

Kids change their loves so much. At least, mine do. So every once in a while I like to note what my kids (And Brian and I for good measure) are currently in love with.

Calvin: Age 2;

•  Mickey Mouse, which is great as we plan to take them to Disney next month.
• Pirates especially Jake and the Never-land Pirates
•  puppies
• bugs
• spiders
• trains
• wolfs
• dinosaurs

Ethan: Age 6

•  "Baby toys" as he calls them, he loves to play with toddlers and their toys
•  Dinosaurs, especially the Imaginex line of dinosaurs. He wants ALL of them. He's pretty close too.
• Wild Krats show, this show has remained popular with him
• Phineas and Ferb (My personal favorite kid show)
• Eric Carle, He only owns one of his books, but at any time we have 5 or more out of the library
• Nurf Guns

Stephen: Age 7

• Science. Beekman's World, Nova Science Now, Science Friday, any science he can get his little hands on. 
• Phineas and Ferb
• His DS game system and other video games. 
• Pokemon
• Riding his new bike, after years of telling him bikes were cool he finally mastered it and now loves it. 

Erin: Age 34

• Zombies, Vampires and such
• Reading more than is probably healthy
• Octopuses
• Painting stuff like furniture and such, generally fixing up the house. 
• Several stupid shows I should not like, Dance Moms, Face Off, Project Runway and so on. 
• Working out. I won't say the dieting part is something I enjoy, but I'm doing that too. 

Brian: Age 34

• Sports. Watching them mostly, but playing basketball as well
• Autographs. Of sports people. He has some list of everyone he is trying to get. It's actually all very organized. He finds a great deal of joy in that.
• Outdoors, hiking, canoeing and such. The man loves that stuff.
• Secondary Market shows, such as Storage Wars and Auction Kings. 
• History

I think that's us for right now. Posts without pictures are lame, so here is Bootsie snuggling Stephen. We can't let this go on for more than a few minutes because Stephen is allergic, but it is so very cute.  (I just realized those are CANDY WRAPPERS in his BED. Totally NOT allowed.)

Sick and Perspective

Calvin took this photo of me. It makes me wonder if this is how he sees me. I don't know how I feel about that. 

So a few days ago Brian came home and took a shower and then put on TONS of clothes and got under blankets. Said he could not get warm. Then he was all hot. You know where this is going, mystery fever. But he felt better within two days.

Last night I felt sick. Sort of dizzy. So I go to bed, wake up. Stephen says he is sick. I say, "Ok go back to bed." and we do. Well Stephen may have felt bad, I won't go as far as to accuse him of lying, but he was FINE by the time we got rolling on our day. I, however, was not. Crazy hot, then crazy cold. Every joint I have hurt. Weird ones even. So I have all 3 kids running around being crazy, Brian working from home, so they need to be quiet and I feel like I'm going to die.

But my family rocks so it went like this: The older boys did a pile of Home School work in the morning, then did the dishes. (Healthy enough to drive me insane, healthy enough to do the dishes.) Then I made them lunch and put the baby down for a nap. The other two I have no idea what exactly they did, but they did it together, in their room and quietly. The baby didn't stay down, because turns out he has the hell fever too. So he gets in bed with me and watches Netflix on my Nook while I snooze. Because Calvin can't sleep when he's sick. I think he thinks he will quietly slip away in his sleep or something. Probably he just can't get comfy. He doesn't know about Tylenol PM yet.

Of course I was terribly crabby today. But I managed to shove a Stofers in the oven and everyone complimented my great "cooking". AND I did bedtime without yelling at anyone, so I'm like a super mom.

And that's my day. If Brian is any tell I'll be all better tomorrow. Which would rock because we are supposed to go for Sushi tomorrow and I'd like not to miss that.

In other news: I learned how to make a balloon dog the other day. It was super cool. So yesterday I ordered cool supplies to make balloon animals. I'm hoping to be the Balloon Animal Girl at church parties.
I also ordered Brian's Valentine's Day present. I got him the 3 Wolf Moon T Shirt on Amazon. Search that and read the reviews. Hilarious! Of course it was way over our "About $5" limit, but it is sooo funny.

Rules I wish we had

I believe I've mentioned I had 3 kids. So I'm like a total expert on running a household. IN My MInd.

Here are some rules I think I should have but do not:

1. Bedtime means lay in your bed quietly until you fall asleep. Period. This never EVER happens here. I'm the worst at bedtime in the world. EVER. It is actually where I fail most as a parent.

2. All food needs to be consumed at a table. I'm even down with some snacks or even meals at the coffee table in the living room as a treat. Right now my 2 year old is running all over the house with a banana. Will I get him to clean up the peels he has scattered? There really is no telling, but it hardly matters because the apple peels he left all over this morning are still in the living room so what's a few banana peels on top of that. I need a dog. To clean this crap up.

3. Boys clean bathrooms. Never in my life have I peed on the floor behind a toilet. Do they not realize that happens? I'm not just talking to the babies here. Men too, what happens in your mind that you see yourself get pee on the seat and think, "Hmm. I'll just leave that." I actually have two theories. A: When a boy starts pottying on their own moms and dads are so happy. We cheer and praise them. Even before good aim sets in. So in part of a kid/man's mind they are hearing their mom cheer for them just for ATTEMPTING to pee in the potty. B: one of the good parts of being a boy is not having to wipe when you pee. If they took a square of paper and wiped the toilet seat or floor would they just be wasting that special no toilet paper power? I don't know. But I clean bathrooms, so what is going on in the minds of these boys had better dang well NOT be, "Erin/Mommy will get that later." Because the idea of that makes me stabby.

4. Times for snacks. I thought schedules were stupid. But getting asked for snacks CONSTANTLY drives me freaking insane. And with 3 of them eating when their bodies tell them to it really is constant. I wish we had 3 meals and 2 snack times and no one expected to eat any other time. Not even running around bananas. (Had oldest kid pick up the peels by the way, 3 kids does have benefits)

5. One cup per person per day. There are 5 of us living here. I wash about 20 cups a day. I'm pretty sure they get a new cup each time they drink a sip of water. Because they want me to spend my whole day washing dishes and toilets.

6. On that note, no layering. No you cannot address the coldness outside by wearing 3 T shirts. You can wear one and a coat like a normal person. You can't wear two pairs of pants, you can wear one warm pair and have slightly cool legs. My children refuse to wear jeans, so they don't have the warmest pants, but that's not my fault is it? Also it's Florida. "Cold" here is like 65 degrees. Just buck up.

Well that's all I can think of right now. Here are some photos to make this post more fun. 

Calvin wanted his pic with "dirt".

Stephen cried for hours over a wasted $.75. Because he never gets anything and who knows when he would have three freaking quarters again. I almost killed him by the way. 

This bird is more photogenic than anyone in my family. Pretend it's me. 

Well maybe Ethan beats the bird. He's pretty stinking photogenic too. 

Brian meeting Mean Joe Green.