Hives and stuff. . .

I got a call from Thomas' teacher called me the other day and said Thomas was scratching and had big whelps on his back. He does get that way sometimes when he has been on antibiotics but it has been several weeks since his last dose of those. I decided I would go to school and check him out. I asked if it would be ok if I gave him some benadryl. She said yes that would be fine. So off I went to school. When I checked in at the office his teacher brought him to me and sure enough he had a huge whelp down the center of his back. She said that earlier he had one across his side that looked like he had been popped with a switch. His teacher said he could not stop scratching.

I decided I should take him home and to the doctor. The PA saw him and most of the big whelps were gone due to the benadryl. There was a new one though on his leg. It was just starting to whelp up. The PA said it looked like an allergic reaction, maybe a food allergy. She wanted to give him a dose of steroid. She said she could either give it by mouth or by shot. I prefer a shot because it is once and done. The medicine by mouth is harder to get in him. Thomas of course did not want a shot. He cried and cried. I knew the shot would hurt for a little bit but, that medicine would taste bad everyday a couple of times a day.

We prayed about the shot and prayed that God would comfort him during the process. The nurse came in and said he was going to have to be really still so she could make sure that the medicine went in. So then she went for back up. Then two nurses came in and we laid Thomas face down on the table. They pulled his shorts down to get a good spot on his tush. Well, he had his fanny clinched so tight that both nurses busted out laughing and the one with the shot said, "and I was worried about finding his muscle." You could have bounced a quarter of his fanny it was so tight. We all laughed then. So I tried to talk to him to get him to relax so it would not hurt as bad. Once I talked to him he began to relax and they gave him the shot. We limped out of the doctors' office and went home.

He is fine now and we do not have to battle that icky medicine every day.

Crafts for Children's Church

I had Children's Church this past Sunday and as I racked my brain trying to come up with a good craft I resorted to my trusty computer and good old faithful Google. When in doubt or need google. I found several sites that had lots of different activities. The one I chose was a prayer jar or can. You use empty soup or bean cans and of course wash them out and you can take the labels off but you don't have to. I cut construction paper to fit the can and then I cut smaller pieces to write their prayers on and put them in their can.

I told them that they could write down what ever was bothering them or something they wanted to pray for and place it in their can. Several of the kids wrote down two and three things they were praying for. On the piece of construction paper they put around the can I let them draw pictures or whatever they wanted but they had to write in the top corner, "From Me to Jesus."
This way they knew that they were talking to Jesus about their problems and they were asking him for help.

As usual for my blog there is something funny to go along with this. As I was telling the kids what to do with what I had out in front of them, Thomas pipes up and says, "My Mom dug these cans out of the garbage you know." There is never a dull moment, not even in Church, with Thomas around. I of course told them I did not get them out of the garbage, in fact, Marks' Mom is the one that saved the cans for me and yes she washed them.

Check out this website for fun stuff for the kids to help them learn bible verses. http://www.mypocketscripture.com/

Baseball, Baseball, Baseball. . .

Well, yesterday was another day in the life of a field mom. Thomas had pictures and practice that turned out to be a scrimmage. Jack had a game at the same time. So Mark took Jack to his game on one field and I took Thomas for his on the other field. Mark called and gave me updates periodically. Mark called at one point and said, "They just put Jack in to pitch." What? Yes, they put Jack in to pitch his first game ever. Ok, so here I go running up the hill to see Jack pitch his first game ever. Of course they were losing by a lot but Jack did well he struck two kids out, which to me is wonderful. He only got to pitch half an inning but he did well. So I think they will let him pitch again. I only got to see him strike one kid out but Mark said he did strike out two. I was so proud, even though we lost I think it was a victory for Jack.

After that last strike out I ran back to Thomas and his scrimmage. I am sure that was a sight to see me running between the two fields. I am not in the best shape in the world and that proved it to all that were watching. HA HA!! That is the life of the field Mom. You have to run between the fields when you have two playing at the same time. I guess I will be doing that from now on. I would not have it any other way.

Here is to all the field Moms out there. You Rock!

We Survived. . .

We survived the EOG. Yeah!!! Jack did really well. He scored level 4 on both Math and Reading. I was sooooo happy. He was too. I still don't think he knows the ramifications of these test yet. I am just glad it is all over, till next year that is. I am so proud of him. We celebrated last night by going to dinner at his favorite Mexican restaurant.

They have invited him to be evaluated for the AIG program at school. I am not sure I want that. I have heard from others in different school districts that it is just more work and not any harder than if he was in a regular class. I am going to look in to this a little further before I jump. It is an honor just to be invited though.

All Jack could say was that he is getting to go to the fourth grade. He is just glad of that fact. He really does not know how well he really did. I had a lot of folks praying so I give this glory to the good Lord above. I know that he was with Jack through each and every part.

Thank you to those that prayed.

EOG......That's a dirty word you know.

Yes, it is EOG time, that stands for end-of-grade testing. This is the part of the year most kids dread. All parents dread it. This is the first year for Jack to experience the EOG drama. He has no worries over any test. He is laid back about tests it scares me. I was never a good test taker in school. I always got stomach aches and felt like I was going to toss my cookies. Jack is the exact opposite of me. He has no fear or concern. I have talked with several mothers that have kids that get so nervous and sick about taking the tests that they do toss their cookies. I don't want Jack that way but a little fear would make me feel better.

He has done well in school so far. He has been on the "A" honor roll and he did well on the pre EOG that they gave him at the beginning of the year. His last benchmark test score for math was not good at all. I got a note that said he was "at risk." This scared me. So I had a conference with his teacher. She explained he was rushing through his work and he would not review it before turning it in. She said he had made some silly mistakes. After looking at his work she was dead on. He had made some serious silly mistakes. All of this because he did not read the problem. So this has been our adventure for the last two weeks. We have been going over his math strategies. He has been taking practice tests trying to get him to slow down.

His teacher and I both told him he did not have to be the first one finished. He told me, "but mom if I don't finish first the teacher will think I am dumb." I told him that no one will remember who finished first but that grade will follow him forever. I begged him to go slow and read everything twice. I have asked everyone to pray for him too.

Pound Cake and Mothers' Day

I celebrated Mothers' Day with my Mom yesterday by fixing her lunch. My Sister and I planned the meal and then got everything together and had lunch at my Moms for the family. My job was to make a pound cake. We were going to have fresh strawberries and pound cake with real whip cream. Sometimes my cakes do not come out exactly the way they should, either I do not let them cook long enough or I did not add something just right. You know I always mess up recipes. But not this time. This was the most beautiful cake you have ever seen. Yes, I am going to brag. I have never had a cake come out like this before. I had originally planned to use it for a trifle recipe because I would just cut it up into small pieces and layer it with the strawberries and cream in my trifle bowl. But, my cake looked to pretty just to hack it up into little pieces. So I made an executive decision that we would just serve it like strawberry shortcake. I took pictures of it and I will post those too.

Everyone laughed at me for going on about my cake. But, you just do not know the drama that goes on waiting to see if the cake is all going to come out at the same time or come out in pieces. I was very excited that it actually did what it was supposed to do.

I got to spend some quality time with my Mom and Dad since I don't get to see them that often. It was really nice and I did not want to leave. We had a good time talking about the "old times." When my sister and I were younger. We talked about all this with my niece that is a junior in High School and picking her college she wants to attend. She wants to be a Pharmacist. I think she will do well. She is a smart girl. She wants to attend my old Alma Mater. I was telling her about some of my experiences while in school. It was fun to look back on those times. Ahh the memories.... in the corner of my mind.....

Happy Mothers' Day!!

Happy Mothers' Day! I hope all of you have a wonderful Mothers' Day. I got to celebrate Mothers' Day early. I got a new table and chairs for my patio. I also got a neat key chain made by Jack, and Thomas gave me a cute card that showed me getting breakfast in bed. I was a tongue depressor with yarn as hair and a napkin as my bedspread. It also came with a tea bag and a granola bar. I thought that was cute. Mark got me a Hummingbird feeder too. It is a ceramic dish that is hand painted with flowers. It is really pretty and you would not know it was a Hummingbird feeder to look at it. I also got to go out and eat a nice lunch with my family.
It was a very good Mothers' Day.

We have been fixing up our back yard since we have our new patio and deck. We add a little something new every few weeks. This week was my new table and chairs and my Hummingbird feeder. Mark is also fixing me another flower bed around the deck. I love being outside this time of year and playing in the dirt. I also love fresh flowers. So we have added some things to the yard that are beautiful and I can cut and bring inside.

Tick time in the South. . .

Thomas' class went on a field trip today to a local produce farm. He was so excited he got to go on a hay ride and pick strawberries and he brought home a green bean to plant. He had a lot of fun. He also got to see some cows, horses, and peacocks. Only Thomas did not pronounce them that way. He called them "cocktails," I was not sure exactly where they had been after that comment.

They evidently had a really good time. He was so tired when he got home all he wanted to do was lay down and that is just not my Thomas. Jack was busy studying for the EOG in the kitchen so I made Thomas go to my room to lay on the bed. Not long after that he started screaming and he had hit his head on the wall. I went running down the hall to check on him and he was hysterical of course. He would not be my child if he were not. I started rubbing his head and checking to see if he was going to get a goose egg and found another little surprise. Yes, a tick. Ok, I will be honest, I panicked. I lost my head and was not sure what to do to get it off without injury or spreading any disease. So I ran to my trusty computer and googled ticks. I found several sites on identification but not many on how to remove one. I decided I would try alcohol, and no not a cocktail, but rubbing alcohol. I saturated a cotton ball and placed it over the tick still attached to Thomas' head. I found my tweezers and pulled, without squeezing the little body and put the tick on another cotton ball soaked with alcohol and put it in a zip loc baggie.

I returned to my trusty computer to google ticks again to find out which one we had. After looking at all the pictures I think it is an American Dog Tick. Yep, this is the one that carries good old Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I don't think it was on him long enough to cause any trouble but I will be watching out for it.

So be sure you check your kids for ticks everyday. Especially if they have been in and around the woods. It is that time of year.

Sibling Rivalry. . .

Ok, so recently I have noticed something that bothers me about my kids. Jack is being very dominating of Thomas. There is a lot of pushing and shoving and talking down to. I don't like that behavior and I have not seen it before. Yes, they fight and that I can deal with that is just brothers. This new thing though seems like more. I would love to know your thoughts on this so please feel free to comment or email me. pamperedpage@bellsouth.net

Twice this past week Jack has elbowed Thomas to get in front of him for something. The first time he elbowed Thomas, Thomas fell into the corner of the wall and hurt his back. Now I do not tolerate this kind of behavior. Jack was very apologetic after it happened and he told Thomas he was sorry. The next time Thomas was looking at a toy that Jack was playing with and Jack elbowed him back on to the floor. It is sort of an offensive basketball move.

They rode the bus to school this morning so I took them to the bus stop. Jack decided he would jump out and wait on a friend. Thomas also got out. As soon as Thomas was out of the truck Jack jumped back in and said no, I will wait in here and shut the door. Leaving Thomas still outside the truck.

I am used to the normal brother fighting stuff but this seems different. I cannot put my finger on it. Any insight would be helpful.

I have added a new gadget to the blog. You can enter your childs' height, weight, and age and it will calculate what percentile your child is in and also give you an estimate of what your childs' height and weight will be when they turn 20 years old. I do not know how accurate this is but it is kinda cool.

When is my day off? Caution: complaining ahead

My husband is taking today off to do some things around the house. He works very hard and he does deserve the day off. But, when do I get my day off? I work very hard too. On his day off he does not have to do anything associated with his business. My business; wife, mother, maid, ect. . . surrounds me and I am never away from it. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and my husband but this week has been a hum dinger. I could really use a break from it all. Don't we all have days or weeks where we would like to be someone else for a change. Not anyone in particular just not yourself. I would sometimes like to be a hermit on the beach. I love the beach and to be there when no one is around would be great.

I really do love my family but, there are days that I get no privacy, not even in the bathroom. There is always some problem or issue that cannot wait for five minutes for me to pee in peace. Sorry to be graphic. I get up early some mornings just to hear the peace and quiet of my sleeping house. It is so nice. It does not last very long though. The upstairs begins to buzz; wait on me, don't leave me up here by myself, stop following me. Then it spills to the kitchen; that's my seat, that's my milk, don't mess with my stuff. It is a constant battle between the brothers. So again I ask; When is my day off? If I asked my husband he would say, "Take a few hours on Saturday and get your toes done." Yes, that is sweet and he does care but two hours does not equal a day. I know I am asking to much and probably whining to much too. But, it's my blog and I will whine if I want to. No one else will listen to me.