The boys had their final basketball games of the season yesterday. Maggie brought some friends to watch the games with her.
After basketball, the boys went to Jedi Training Camp.
They got to participate in a bunch of Star Wars themed activities and both had a great time.
They even got to make their own light up light sabers to keep. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.
Both boys had field trips this week to see the philharmonic perform. Luke’s was on Wednesday and Adam’s was Thursday. I snapped some pictures since they were dressed so nicely.
Luke likes to dress “fancy” as he calls it, well, fancy or in camouflage. That kid is all over the map.
Adam managed to combine the two and picked a camo belt for the day. He also struck this pose as soon as I said I wanted to take his picture (he’s got a lot of his Papa and Uncle Steve in him).
They both had a great time at the show.
Last Thursday, Maggie woke up with a rash all over her face and body. So I made an appointment for her to see a doctor right away to try and figure out what it was. She had been on amoxicillin for her ear infection and I was worried that she has a penicillin allergy, like Luke.
The provider we saw seemed really perplexed by the rash. She said it couldn’t be a penicillin allergy because Maggie wasn’t currently taking the amoxicillin (she’d been off of it for 4 or 5 days at this point). She ended up diagnosing Maggie with hand-foot-mouth disease, even though as she said, “It wasn’t presenting like HFM, they hadn’t seen any other cases of it recently, and it wasn’t really the right time of year for it.”
The provider sent us home with some literature to read and told us to keep her hydrated and away from other kids (since HFM is very contagious). So we cancelled our plans to travel to NY to meet Lydia (my sister’s adorable new baby). After I got home I started looking up HFM and was even more convinced that it was not what was causing Maggie’s rash. She didn’t have any spots in her mouth or on the soles of her feet. She did have two or three little bumps on the palm of one of her hands, but the rash didn’t look the same (HFM looks like tiny blisters).
The next morning the rash had spread even more. She seemed fine, other than being “itchy, itchy, itchy!” After talking to my mom and a nurse friend (whose kids have actually had HFM and it did not look like Maggie’s rash), I decided to take Maggie in to the ER at the local Children’s Hospital to be seen for a second opinion.
As soon as the doctor saw Maggie she said, “That’s not hand-foot-mouth, that looks like a drug allergy.” Yep. Right back to where we started, Maggie is allergic to penicillin. (Apparently you can have a reaction to penicillin up to a month after you’ve stopped taking it.)
Overall it was a very frustrating experience, but now we know for sure. It’s documented in Maggie’s records so next time she needs an antibiotic they won’t give her penicillin. It took another 5 days or so for the rash to completely clear up, but thankfully she’s feeling much better now.
Story time for her animal friends.
As I mentioned before, both boys are playing basketball this year. Dave is the head coach for Luke’s team and the assistant coach for Adam’s team. We got their photos back this week, so I thought I’d share them.
Poor Adam was just getting over the flu when his photos were taken and looks a little rough.
Sunday afternoon and evening was dedicated to valentine production. Dave and Adam made his hippo mailbox, then I worked with the boys to put their class valentines together. The hippo mailbox turned out fantastic. I found some examples online and the two of them really did a great job (hooray for cardboard boxes and duck tape!). Adam was thrilled with the final result – and rightfully so!
Adam decided to give his classmates friendship bracelets and erasers this year. We ordered the bracelets and some pencil top funny face erasers online. I already had the big pink erasers (thanks to last summer’s back to school sales).
Adam actually made valentines for his class and the room next door. The two classes mix a lot for lessons during the day and so he has a lot of friends in that room as well (only his class got the big pink erasers though – I didn’t have enough in my stash for 45 kids). I picked up some small ziploc bags at the store, created some tags for the tops, printed them out, and his valentine assembly line was ready to go.
Luke wanted to do the same valentines Adam did when his was in kindergarten. So he wiped out my supply of 25 cent boxes of crayons.
I cheated and printed Luke’s name directly on the labels I made. He wasn’t feeling 100% and I didn’t feel like fighting with him to get him to write his name over and over again. It was enough of struggle to get him to decorate the boxes with stickers. They turned out great though.
Adam also wanted to give valentines to all the teachers he sees. Thankfully I had just enough highlighters on hand (this is doing little to discourage my school supply hoarding tendencies). For the teachers he and Luke have in common (gym, music, art, etc.) I had him write both of their names.
The boys said their valentines were a big hit with their teachers and friends, so I’d say we were successful. They had a blast at their class parties and reviewed all their loot as soon as they got home.
One little girl (Fiona) went all out with Adam’s valentine. She gave him a stuffed hippo and a Mickey Mouse heart full of candy (does she know him or what?). I’m trying not to embarrass him, but I think it’s pretty sweet. Adam named the hippo Fiona (both after his friend and also because that’s the name of the baby hippo that was just born at our zoo).
Happy Valentine’s Day from my little love bugs.
Edited to add: Adam finishes his class work very quickly and his teacher has told me that when he is done, she has him work with the kids that are struggling because he’s really good at helping them. I found out tonight that Fiona is one of the students he helps pretty frequently, which makes that valentine even sweeter to me.
Last week was a busy one for us. In case you’re curious, I’ll give you an overview of what it looked like.
So that’s what we’ve been up to. It makes me tired just thinking about it. Add into the mix that I started taking classes this semester (four of them, because I am apparently crazy) and we’ve got a lot going on here.
I haven’t mentioned the classes before, I know. Last summer my mom, sister, and I were talking about what sort of career would be good for me after the kiddos are all in school and one of them (I think it was my mom) suggested school librarian. I thought about it for a while an decided I really like the idea. I’ll get to work with students (but not have to deal with their parents) and I’ll have summers and holidays off with the kids (and not have to bring home tests or papers to grade). So I’ve started taking classes working on a masters degree in school librarianship.
I’m three weeks into the semester and it is a lot of work – A LOT. Thankfully I have the best support team ever. Dave doesn’t mind picking up my slack around here (wait until you see the Valentine’s Day mailbox he and Adam made) and my mom doesn’t mind when I call her three (or more) times a day for help or send her papers to proofread for me.
Whew. So yeah, that’s a lot. Kudos to you if you’ve read this far. Here are some weird pictures of Maggie and me that a friend took as a reward.
Oh, and the kids are all relatively healthy again – thankfully. Thank goodness for antibiotics.
The kids had a Home Depot workshop yesterday morning.
Adam built his almost entirely on his own. Dave had to help take a nail out that went in crooked, but other than that it was all Adam. I’m so proud of that him. He did better than one of his parents when it came to reading and following the directions (sorry Dave).
Maggie is getting pretty good with the hammer too. She only hit her thumb once, and didn’t hit me at all, so I call that a win.
We waited and did the painting after we got home. Maggie asked for pink paint, purple paint, and glitter. She ended up asking for more colors as she worked, but they all sort of blended into a pretty shade of glittery purple.
Luke used black, brown, red, yellow, green, blue, white, and glitter. It ended up a muddy gray, but he loved it.
(Yes, our tree is still up. The ornaments and Christmas decorations are all put away, but I love the lights on the tree, so we are in no hurry to put it away.)
Adam wanted stripes, so I helped make that happen with some painter’s tape.
Maggie asked me to take another picture and send it to grandma. Actually, with the way she pronounces her Rs, it was “glamma,” but I knew what she meant and was happy to oblige.
And here are their finished picture frame boxes.
I love how they turned out.
Today’s embarrassing parenting moment is brought to you by Luke.
Earlier, as we were waiting to be seated at a very crowded IHOP, he announced (loudly, because Luke doesn’t have volume control), “I wanted to pass the ball to Coen, but there were two black guys in my way. ”
Hopefully my response that, “Yes, the boys on the team with the black shirts were pretty good at basketball,” cleared up any confusion.
I just thought I’d share some pictures of Miss Margaret’s week so far. On Monday, after ballet, she helped me get dinner going in the crock pot.
Then it was dress up and dollhouse time. Side note: Our train table has been transformed into a dollhouse table.
She hasn’t wanted me to put her hair up lately, insisting she likes it better down. She will accessorize with a headband though.
Naps are hit or miss for Maggie. I generally try not to let her, because I’d rather she go to bed on time, but some days there’s no stopping her.
Adam got off of the bus yesterday and said he had a super loose tooth (he did, the adult tooth was actually halfway up behind it).
About twenty minutes after I’d tucked him in last night, he came back downstairs with the tooth in his hand. So we stuck it in his Tooth Fairy pillow and sent him back to bed.
And sure enough, the Tooth Fairy showed up. She brought Adam her standard tooth reimbursement – a one dollar bill folded in the shape of a heart and a new chapter book. Adam was thrilled and I’m sure we’ll be having more visits from her soon.