A Bit of a Round Up

We have excerise class twice a week at work and I had to keep track of how many people were in the classes one week.  The easiest way is a photo of how small the class was!  There were four of us on Thursday. The classes rotate around: Zumba, Cardi-kickboxing, Pound, and Pilates & Yoga.  I like it a lot.  

We picked up Ryder on the way home for a sleepover and they were playing Minecraft.  Gloria works until 8 PM now so I was alone watching the news.  I was Snapping to amuse myself and face swapped with my brother.  We fit really well together, which is odd, we don't look alike at all.  I sent it to him and all he said was ouch. 

Being close to Mardi Gras they had some fun filters too. 

And I was bored, texting my mom silly photos.  

Baylor and Ryder were watching a movie and Baylor fell asleep on the couch, as usual! Last time we had Ryder over he panicked and went home at 10:30.  We went to bed early and he made it through the night!!  

It was a nice day and they played outside for a bit. 

And I pretended I was excited to work in the garden!  I did get a bit further than this but had to stop when my parents showed up. 

But I did find the first mantis egg case.  Thankfully I saw it before the brush went over the creek bank!  

I made lunch for everyone and then we went downstairs to talk and watch TV, what else do we do at home?  My parents actually took turns napping! Right around the time they had to leave there was a tornado warning for Lancaster county.  We were watching the local news when Ryder's mom came to get him.  He does not like storms so she came before it got too bad.  Then Baylor saw the warnings on the TV and started to get upset about the tornado and would it come for us.  I held him tight and explained I was not worried, he did not need to worry.  If there was something to worry about, we, the three adults, would not be sitting on the couch just watching TV.  It passed within a half hour and the world was right again.  

Until Sunday morning when I told him he needed to work on his book report due on Friday.  I had put it off the weekend he was sick but apparently I should have had him work on it as he was in a much better mood last weekend.  He was off school for a total of eight days with the weekend and Monday holiday included and he never lost his mind, whined, complained, threw a fit the entire time.  This book report put him over the edge apparently because he lost it for two hours straight.  And I, sadly, did not handle it very well which may have lead to it taking longer to get over.  Eventually he came around and we did steps 1-3, took a break and finished steps 4-6 in the afternoon.  

He picked Star Wars Use the Force as his book.  He had to illustrate a scene on one side of the bag. 

Another side had illustration of the main characters. 

The back was a summery of the book,  He did a great job with figuring out what he need as the beginning, middle, and conclusion and wrote it all out by himself.

And the last side was a favorite scene which he chose when Luke fought Darth Vader in the tree. 

Inside he had to have five objects that represent something in the book. On Friday they had to give the book report in front of the class so he practiced a few times during the week. In the end he was very proud of his report bag.  

He, and all the class, got 100% on their first book reports. 

When Sickness Hits

Monday the school nurse called me in the afternoon that Baylor was complaining of a sore throat and she was monitoring his temperature which was high. 99.6 to 99.8 and she just wanted to let me know.  By the time I got home his temperature was 102.6.  He passed out on the couch around 6:30 under the red Valentine's lights.  He was a bit of a heat source all night and I had to keep him home Tuesday. And then Wednesday. And then Thursday.  Even the Tylenol bottle says to call the doctor if you have fever for more than three days.  

Gloria had off work Thursday so she stayed home with him and I went into work. I made an appointment at the Dr for 11:10 and the diagnosis was sinus infection and pneumonia.  Antibiotics for 10 days and an inhaler as needed.  Thursday was also the Valentine's party at school and I was on the Mom team.  So I went anyway. I was in charge of games and brought the candy heart stacking game and a Heart Relay. I wrote simple tasks on heart cut outs and they did a relay. There were no winners, they just kept cycling through until moving to the next task.  I also brought blank hearts and we had the kids write something they liked about Mrs Failla and gave her a Heart Attack.  She loved reading them as each child handed her their heart.  

They had made a Valentine's bag for Baylor and I brought it home for him.  While he was a bit sad to miss the party, he handled it really well. He handled everything all week really well.  If it were not for the fever I would have thought he had a minor cold.  He never complained about anything. I hope he stays that way and does not grow up to be the sick husband whining from the couch.  

I finally uploaded the Snapchat photos from the Aunt's Meeting on Saturday.  It was so much fun playing with the girls and my dad!  

Nice family portrait.  

 I love you Mom!  

And Aunt Joan

Cousin DiAnn

Aunt Lynda 

Of course, Aunt Betty 

Cousin Heather 

Lynda definitely has a family resemblance. 

Lynda almost choked on her tongue!  We all had a good laugh.  

Friday at 10, Baylor had an eye appointment.  I am thankful for my job that lets me work from home and have the time for appointments without taking vacation.  They did the standard eye tests on him but the refraction was the worst. Apparently he cannot hold his head and body still, at all.  He just wiggled, fidgeted. I sat in the chair holding his butt and head still and she could still not get a reading.  

Those eyes!!  

He had a handkerchief to cover his mouth when he coughed but it also made for some fun in the waiting room.  

The verdict is his eyes are still growing and the vision issues he is having will likely resolve in a few years as his eyes grow.  We can get him glasses if he wants them but other than that, he is fine.  He was fine to climb the dirt bank as well even thought he sun was killing his eyes. 

Saturday morning we had already offered to watch Landon so Joey could work some OT.  The boys were good about not horsing around until we went to the movies and played games on the carpet pattern.  That was enough to stir up Baylor's cough and being sick a bit.  Yuck!  But we after we cleaned up we enjoyed the Lego Batman movie together.  We dropped Landon off at his house on the way home and spent the rest of the weekend together. 

Taking selfies, playing video games, puttering around together.  The weather was amazing for February but I did not want to go outside too much because he could not play. We did make it out for about 15 minutes to get some fresh air while picked up branches and sticks.  He started coughing so we did not stay out too long but it was nice to be outside. 

He still cannot make it past 6:30 but he needs his rest and he wakes up super early.  

My early Spring flowers are blooming and I love when they pop up!!  

Out at 7:00 tonight, by the green St Patrick's day lights.  

Monday both of us were off but I did need to work in the morning.  When I was at school last week I had asked for his spelling words and if there was any homework.  She sent two math pages and the words.  I wanted him to write his ten sentences first thing in the morning so it was done and I texted Joey Baylor's sentence writing face.  We worked together, as we always do, and finished them. 

For lunch he asked for chicken fries and smiley fries.  I love this guys sun burnt face.  We spent the day working together to get all the achievements in a Lego Stars Wars game and we both enjoyed playing together!  It was a nice week with him and he really was amazing the whole week. 

Tuesday he went back to school and I went back to work.  Life goes on!  

Just A Few Things While We Wait for Spring

February is nearly as quiet as January and I am enjoying the down time.  Things will start to pick up soon but I am not rushing into thinking about that!!  I randomly have Baylor stand against the closet door frame to measure him and I was shocked to see how much he grew since September!! 

Thursday we woke up to the first phone call from the school district cancelling school due to snow.  Great for Baylor of course but I still have to work.  Thankfully my desk can also be the dining table so we did not have to leave the house.  I made french toast for breakfast with all the eggs, bread and milk we have to stock up on when we get snow!  

Gloria still had to work so after breakfast Baylor and I went out to clean off the cars and work on the driveway.  Baylor came out to help me mainly because he has been waiting for snow all winter and could not wait to see if it was snowball snow, it was, and to play in it, he did.  He did help as well between playing and snowballing.  He did try to build a snowman but the snow was not holding together enough for that.  

He made several snow angels. 

And threw lots of snow balls at me.  

There was about three to four inches of snow and it was very pretty.  

And he was in his winter element.  Water, in various forms, makes him very happy.  

The snow actually stopped around 8 and we had everything cleared off by then.  

We were having a snowball fight when Baylor went under the asparagus fronds and thought it was a good place to hide.  Sadly, it made him an easy target 

Yesterday was in the mid 50's and I knew we were getting snow so I had Baylor take a PA weather photo while he was in his undershirt.  

Around my lunch time I took a break and walked Baylor and the girls down to the fire hall to go sledding.  Sadly Baylor's new sled did not work in this snow and he and Vanessa walked back to the house to get his old one which worked great.  

This is the first time I have actually taken him sledding and while the hill was not amazing, it was good enough for all of them to enjoy for about an hour.  

By now the sloppy snow was freezing into hard ice and while throwing them at me sounded like a good idea while they were down there plotting, it really hurt once they started throwing.  

On the way home they stopped to load up their sleds because apparently we did not have enough snow at the house.  

Baylor was apparently near death but revived himself to make it home for a warm lunch. 

Selfie with the kids.  We are very lucky to have wonderful neighbors and glad we get to spend time with each other!  

Facebook memory from 2009, this kid has always loved the snow.  

Friday after picking up Baylor we headed to my parents for a fun filled weekend.  Starting with me going to the Green Dragon!  It was 30 degrees and pretty empty but I got the few things I needed from the spice stand, a bag of roasted peanuts for Buddy, and some strawberries for Baylor and headed home. 

Mom still had the pack and play up from when my brother was here and Baylor thought he would try it out.  Just fits, as long as he does not move!  

Saturday morning was the Aunt's Meeting and when Heather arrived she told us that Brigid had fallen into the back of a chair the night before and at least three teeth were now loose.  While I hate loose teeth, I could tell she was feeling upset about it so I made sure I was her safe place.  Heather was even more squeamish about the teeth than I was.  One was sideways and the teeth on either side were definitely wiggling. 

Connor's birthday was February 1st so I made him a chocolate cake with blue frosting, as requested.  I had sent him a card that said the cupcake ninja would strike at any time so I used my giant cupcake cake pan.  He was surprised and excited for cake.  

Brigid came up and said she thought her tooth was ready to come out and DiAnn was willing to try.  It was still pretty tight in there and DiAnn did not want to yank it until Brigid was ready. DiAnn and I are a lot alike, no surprising kids when pulling their teeth!  Brigid did come up later and ask for her to try again and I held her tight on my lap to help her get through it.  I heard the tooth crack out and right after DiAnn pulled it out Brigid turned around and cried in my arms.  She would not even look at her mom for several minutes.  I am sure it hurt but thankfully there was no blood. After the shock wore off she lifted up her head for us to look at her toothless grin.  I found the ice cream stash Mom was withholding from us to help her feel better and I promised I would make her a pink tooth monster by the next time I saw her.  I don't think she will have the  teeth on either side for too long, they are super wiggly like the roots were cracked when she hit the chair.  

After everyone left, Mom and I went to the grocery store and when we got home we made dinner and shared some wine while we ate.  She only had enough for two jelly jars glasses and it was almost as sweet as grape juice as well!  

After dinner we play a few games of Sorry.  It is a game Baylor really enjoys and we all like playing with him.  

After the last game we went out to the living room to watch a movie.  Baylor did not last long and was out before 7:30.  Mom and I watched about an hour of what we wanted to watch and we went to bed.  

Around 11 Sunday morning I headed to the Reading Pagoda  to meet up with Janice.  We meet in German class our first semester at Millersville and we have not seen each other in nearly five years.  She is off FB so we actually had a lot to talk about!!  I picked the Pagoda as a place to meet up and we ended up talking for two hours just stopping on different floors of the pagoda.  While we were up there several people came up including a mom with a pre-teen and an infant. I helped them take photos as a family, I gave the girl a quarter to use the binoculars and then I became the crazy lady who offered to hold your sweet baby while you helped your daughter!  The baby was only three months old and just a sweetie.  The mom ended up taking a picture of me, the crazy lady who held her baby.  Just a mom helping another mom really but it was fun holding the tiny baby!  

We started to get hungry and headed down to find a place to eat.  

We found a diner in the west side of Reading and talked for another three and a half hours.  I tipped the waitress almost as much as our bill because we sat at her table for so long!  But it was great to see Janice and Baylor had a good day with his grandparents. They went out to lunch as well, watched movies and were playing Sorry when I got home.  Baylor was pretty tired and fell asleep in the car on the way home.  I am enjoying these meet ups with my friends!! And I think I want to bring Baylor to see the Pagoda sometime as well.