What to do, what to do...

Lately the boys have been talking about a boy in their class.

They never seem to have anything good to say about this little boy.

I gather he is a little bit of trouble.

He may have some issues.

B took the phone out of my hand and broke it.

B took the pink towel away from me.

B took the camera I was using and put it in the paint so I couldn't use it anymore.

B knocked over my bucket, and Ryan's too.

B does crazy stuff.


Now, B seems like a sweet kid. He is on the younger end of the class, so some of his behavior may be that. Even though the boys complain about his actions, they still say good morning to him with enthusiasm. Their statements are all matter of fact, they never seem upset by it, but it is long in the past by the time I hear about it.

I struggle with how to approach this situation. I've considered asking the teachers what is going on. I've suggested that if what B is doing upsets them, they should avoid playing with him, however it seems that B seeks out trouble, and again, they don't seem overly upset.

My concerns are that I don't want this behavior rubbing off, and I don't want things to escalate.

I don't think this kid is a bully, he just doesn't know how to play appropriately. He is highly verbal, maybe I should just have Evan talk to him!

A scar is just a scar

So, today we had our post-op VCUG and renal ultrasound. We were supposed to have it a month after the surgery, but Children's is so backed up that we had to wait three months for this appointment. (this is relevant, I promise)

Ryan and Evan have been coughing since, well, like September, so did not even think about the ramifications of a cough, and administering laughing gas to my boy. Okay, I did, but I thought that I could clear his lungs enough with a little Albuterol, like I did last time. No problem.

Well, not so much. When the nurse listened to him she could barely hear air moving he was so congested. Yeah, I felt like a total negligent mom when she asked me if we had seen a doctor for this cold. No, we haven't. If I ran to the doctor every time one of these boys had a cough, they'd have to give me a job. I generally treat at home. I have my own stethoscope for goodness sakes, I know what junk in the lungs sound like. I KNOW what blue lips look like. Any---Way....

No Nitrous for Ryan.

My options, reschedule. (and wait another 3 months) or let him go through with the procedure with no sedation. Here's bad mom number two moment. Aw heck, let's just go for it. He'll be fine.

And he was. Totally.

There were tears, and he was scared, but he was wonderfully brave, and he still managed to laugh, joke and make me laugh during it all.

And then we had spicy noodles with chicken for lunch. And sticky rice with mango. And lots of hugs and reading.

Oh, yeah, and his reflux is gone, his surgery worked, and aside from another ultrasound in a year, we are free. Free of meds, free of Urology clinic, free of annual VCUG's (with or without nitrous)

WOOOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!

The funny papers

Me: I'm noting that in my brain
Evan: you cant note it in your brain because you don't have any paper
Ryan: or a pen

Scott: (after looking at a particularly high credit card bill, and totally joking) That's it, no Christmas presents for anyone this year.
Evan: (running in from the other room, hands on hips) WHAT!!!! NO CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!!!!!

Ryan: (Holding up his arm between his chair and the wall) I'm impeding Grandma.

A collection of stuff

So, this is just a collection of miscellany.

We go to the zoo often, but some days it strikes me just how lucky we are.





Seriously, how lucky can we be to see these amazing creatures any time we want. SO. COOL.


And, we can learn all about things like rattlesnakes, from a safe distance.


Apparently, we've also been paying attention to all of the things we talk about at the zoo and at home.



When asked, they told me that they were in their chrysalises.


This is one of the many outfits Ryan has picked out for himself. I love his unique sense of style!

This kid was sleeping so hard and looked so peaceful, I couldn't resist, and the flas

Ryan created this catcher's mask out of paper and flexible train tracks. Clever!


Evan decided that this Knight's costume looked more like catcher's gear. He was kind of right.


Ryan was really proud of his Stanford Football field. Note the S in the middle, and Hoover Tower in the bottom left corner.


Evan practiced making an S for his football field...

...and then made this drawing of Ben Roethlisberger. (that's a 7 on his chest.)

Ryan has been full of it in the last few days.

This morning Evan walked into our room with his guitar, Ryan said "Are you going to play us a little tune?"

Evan was whining a little bit, okay, a lot, and Ryan said to him "Why are you always so dramatic in the mornings?"

In the car the boys were hysterically laughing over some inappropriate potty talk, barely able to get the words out of his mouth Ryan says "My belly hurts from laughing so hard!!!!!"

Future Foodies of America or It's Time to Rethink the Children's Menu

My Mother in Law has been in town (more on that later) and today we had to take her to the airport so she could continue her tour of grand kids in Sacramento. We decided that a trip to Balboa Park on the airport would be a great way to end our week of fun. Our goal was the Reuben H. Fleet Museum, but as we pulled up there were three school buses unloading what looked like thousands of school kids. Much to my boys disappointment, I opted for the "let's just walk around the park and play" approach. (Note to self. Never go to Balboa Park on free Tuesdays, ever.)

We played, walked around and then decided to stop for lunch. At the Prado. Carol and I decided to split some appetizers, and the boys chose Macaroni and Cheese off the kids menu. The boys happily got started on the mac and cheese when it arrived and were eating well. UNTIL...

Our appetizers arrived. Apparently, my kids like

panko crusted jumbo lump crabcakes (Evan)

diced jicama-lime slaw, avocado-serrano chili puree, chipotle aioli

and

crispy calamari fries (Ryan)

tossed in a sweet & spicy korean soy bean chili sauce, napa cabbage slaw

much better than Mac and Cheese.

Carol and I basically shared one crab cake and about ten calamari fries, some garnish and the complementary flat bread.

I love my little foodies.

Twins!

I took this picture because it was so cute they snuggled in to read. But. Wow! The boys really look alike in this picture. Like Twins!

Halloween 2010

This year, the boys participated in their first ever Halloween Costume Parade at school. I use the word parade as loosely as possible, it was more like a bunch of confused kids dressed in costume walking around the courtyard a few times. It was really super cute. Ryan and Evan had fun, but as you can see in this picture, not everyone was as happy.



On Halloween, we went to our friend's house for our annual dinner, cupcake decorating and trick or treating extravaganza! I love these kids almost as much as my own. I've known them almost all of their lives, and I've watched them go from fragile little things to amazing, a-ma-zing, boys.
When we get together it is always chaos and whirlwind of little boy energy, and it is ALWAYS a joy.

To say these kids were extremely excited for Halloween is an understatement. There was spinning and dancing at dinner, there was a noise level to rival a playoff game at the Staples Center, and there was a frenetic energy that had the whole house vibrating.

I was calm however, I was holding the baby. (sigh, watch out Linds, I may just take her home one day)

We took this same picture last year, with much less success. The difference between 3 and 4 is amazing.

We also had more success in the actual trick or treat process. No one ran into strangers homes, or up their stairs, although I do think there were a few feet inside doorsteps, but that was just the crush to get at the candy bowls, and who can blame them. Seriously cute four four year old trick or treaters full of excitement and joy, made my heart swell at almost every door. About half way around the block Evan was done.

I found out it was because he really wanted to go back and eat his cupcake. The cupcake decorating went better than last year too. I was holding the baby, so I have pictures of that. But this year no one dumped the entire container of sprinkles on one cupcake and the other all over the floor. There were some really cute creations, and they tasted good too!


So good it almost knocked Evan's glasses off!


Ryan was decidedly against frosting. He just shoved candy corn and candy pumpkins into the cupcakes. What'cha gonna do?

I put two very tired boys straight to bed, and nary a peep was heard from either all night. We (Scott and I) are still recovering as I'm sure our lovely hosts are too.