I spent the night comforting one child and fixing their stuffy nose, only to have the other wake up needing me right after. Poor Trent, he ended up sleeping on the couch. I "slept" from 3am to 6am. Despite the fact that I slept for 3 hours, tryouts happened today. (funny thing about time and how it never stops) We did however decide that the birthday party will wait for next weekend. This morning we scrambled to cancel and reschedule. Taylor had a great practice with Trent yesterday, and got his new bat. Trevor asked to play a new game today, so I pulled out Taylor's old Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. I wasn't sure how it would go, but he is actually progressing through it. It is like an adventure game, where you collect items to progress. Taylor says he remembers it, and I know it helped him learn numbers and letters, so this is exciting. The tryouts were kind of long and Taylor's part in them was very sparse, so after seeing him bat, I had to leave with the babies. But, thanks to my mom, I got a full report and pictures. Taylor batted as well as any of the other boys, and was in good spirits despite some catching mishaps. He's a fast learner, so I am sure he'll feel more confident after a few practices. Now we wait to see what team he gets. I am sure he is hoping for the pirates, as there are no Werewolves.
Tonight, Trevor obtained the runny nose that has plagued Jewel the last two days. He is sleeping well now, thanks to some vapor rub, salt water nasal solution, and cuddling with mom and dad. It gave me an excuse to drive after dark, on friday, which hardly ever happens. That reminded me of how much I love Ludacris, it's something about word play I suppose. But, that isn't enough to make me wonder if breathing in those vapors could cause ...something... I don't know, some kind of bronchial thing or something later. I am almost refusing to look it up. Seriously, I don't have time for that. While at the pharmacy, I (for shits and giggles) read the ingredients (active and inactive) in some of the little medicines in the section around the vapor rub. I don't think I am qualified to select any of that stuff. But, knowing that the nasal spray makes them cry every time (and so wake up), I refused to read the ingredients on the rub and used it. I am not a robot and sleep is required. (he he that sounded like a robot in my head.) I'll look it up and make a more informed choice next time. But, several pharmacists have recommended it as an alternative to medicine over the years, (in person, not commercials :)) so that is reassuring. Many of them also had bad things to say about cough syrups and nasal decongestant medicines. So, he's breathing easy now and Jewel's nose is getting better. I can definitely tell that they hold on to cold symptoms for fewer days since we have stopped eating as much processed food. Jewel barely was exposed to that time in our lives. But, when Taylor and Morlynn were in school and we didn't eat as many whole grains and ate fewer veggies, there were several long colds a year. It did get less frequent when we started homeschooling, but it would go through the entire house for several weeks before. Now, it is usually only one or two of us at a time and for only a few days. What a relief! It makes life so much easier to not get interrupted and knocked out by colds several times a year. And, we have to buy and take less medicine. Pretty cool. Also cool, I told Taylor to hook up his computer and he did it without help. I don't think he has ever watched us do it. It is pretty easy, what with the color coding and caveman pictograms, but still cool he did it. It needs more RAM, but, thanks to Mimi, we were saved from buying a computer. And, my mother, also Mimi, gave us her super old computer for Trevor and Jewel to play on. I refuse to hook a keyboard to it, they are bad enough with the mouse. But, at least now they can play Reader Rabbit and Dora (and others) without me worrying and without interrupting Taylor's lesson. The only downside is the guilty feeling I get from having more computers in the house, if only I could find a way to self-power them. Like a bike or treadmill (he he). Here's a gem from dressup time earlier this week. And some videos of Jewel.
I knew it was coming, but I didn't know it would scare me so much! Taylor informed me (and then showed me) that he has hairs growing in his armpits. We're not old enough for this. At least he didn't yell, "I hate you" after he told me. Or, say,"Can I have a playboy mag.?" He did say, "I guess I'm becoming a man." Ha ha ha, 'becoming' is not quite the word I would use, but I suppose he is on the path in that direction. Hold on to yer hats, things are going to get a little hairy!
Almost every time I see my mother, I am rushing. I don't know why, but probably because I am trying to keep track of so many children. Today, she stopped by to pick up my niece who stayed with us for a few days. (Yippee) She often drops off newspaper articles that she thinks I will like or that I may need to read. We were talking about baseball equipment, missed appointments, the inauguration, lessons for school, and college money. All in rapid succession, between the "where did Jewel go, who is on the drums, and who let the do out?" She, at some point, handed me one page from one section of her paper, and another entire section. I'm sure she probably told me what she intended me to read, but like so many other times, I didn't really "listen". Often people have asked, "Where are your parents today?" and despite being sure they told me, I have no idea. So, here I sit with the paper sections thinking, "Did she mean to show me the story about the Center for Great Apes? I doubt she even knows that they are a cause I have been supporting for almost two years. Did she mean for me to see the geocaches website? No, that was something Trent and I were talking about. Ok, it must be books section on the back. There is definitely one book that will be added to the 'want to read' list. Aha, maybe it is the local Vagina Monologues performances. Wouldn't it be fun if I could get her to go with me." Well, I guess I'll just have to call and ask her. But, what about this other piece. Either she wants me to get the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series for Taylor to read, or she is giving me the parenting section for the advice column about the two year old who wakes up at 3 am. Probably the latter. But, still, there is growing talk about that book series. I wonder if she knew that everything in the paper would be so interesting. I still don't know why she gave me the paper, but it felt like 'Jackpot!' when I opened it. I know I have never felt that way about such a small section of a newspaper before. Generally, I can't find 4 articles in the entire paper of interest. Thanks mom!
I found one of his stat sheets from the rpg games Taylor invents. The babies must have hid it from him under the kitchen cabinet, in the stew pot. One section that describes the character he created (Stratora) says, "Blind in his right eye, Stratora often does not wear a shirt because he has many spiritual markings on his upper body, and prefers a staff." At the bottom it says, "Do not worry my troops, for I have seen the path to victory." He also recently told me that the hero of the story he is writing is the seventh son of a seventh son. Very clever.
I spent the night comforting one child and fixing their stuffy nose, only to have the other wake up needing me right after. Poor Trent, he ended up sleeping on the couch. I "slept" from 3am to 6am. Despite the fact that I slept for 3 hours, tryouts happened today. (funny thing about time and how it never stops) We did however decide that the birthday party will wait for next weekend. This morning we scrambled to cancel and reschedule. Taylor had a great practice with Trent yesterday, and got his new bat. Trevor asked to play a new game today, so I pulled out Taylor's old Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. I wasn't sure how it would go, but he is actually progressing through it. It is like an adventure game, where you collect items to progress. Taylor says he remembers it, and I know it helped him learn numbers and letters, so this is exciting. The tryouts were kind of long and Taylor's part in them was very sparse, so after seeing him bat, I had to leave with the babies. But, thanks to my mom, I got a full report and pictures. Taylor batted as well as any of the other boys, and was in good spirits despite some catching mishaps. He's a fast learner, so I am sure he'll feel more confident after a few practices. Now we wait to see what team he gets. I am sure he is hoping for the pirates, as there are no Werewolves.
