Happy Easter!

 
Hope everyone had a great Easter. Our's was so springy-like with all the snow! Yep, snow. But snow is pretty exciting to some of those that live here (namely the two that are pictured here and note that they are indoors because did I mention that it snowed?).

pink isn't always the best

Yesterday, the last day before Spring Break, the day of the Easter party and parade at school, Grace woke up with something pink - Pink Eye. AHHH Nooooooooooooo! She never had it before, so to be honest I wasn't sure if that's what she had. But with several consulations with Drs. Mom and others (the surgeon nonetheless was actually in surgery, so he wasn't helpful to the situation at the time) we decided to go to the pediatrition and have her checked out. Grace and Jimmy did the Yeti Stomp in the sick kids waiting room (generally the kids in that room are pretty lethargic) and bounded off to the exam room. Grace expained her blight to the Nurse Practitioner and pretty much indicated that particular day would not be a good day to have pink eye because she had other things to do. The NP took a deep breath and said that she was sorry, but Grace did have "A Pink Eye" (which is what Grace has been saying since then - I have a pink eye! Oh dear). Gracie welled up with tears and just cried and cried. It was so sad. The NP almost cried. There came a glimmer of hope when we learned if we started the eye drops asap, there would be a chance we could join our friends today for a picnic and the promise of acquiring a new movie - The AristoCats. But it was just a glimmer. Life got a little better when all her friends were in school and she was outside riding her bike and blowing bubbles. And then when Daddy came home from work at 4:00 (yeah, can you believe it?!), things were great. She also took great delight in checking on "The Madness" with me and updating our brackets.

But this is my favorite line of the day: She said, "I don't want a pink eye!" and I said "But pink is a such a great color" and she said, "Not in your eye!!" Yeah, she's right.

beware the ides of march

Poor Jimmy. We, his bad, naughty parents, decided it was high time he not have a bottle anymore. He had been in the habit of drinking himself to sleep (water) and then wetting himself awake. It was beginning to be a very out of control cycle; and tired of middle-of-the-night sheet and pj changing, we decided to go cold turkey and withhold his beloved "B.B.Bah". Sadly this happened when he had "hot spots" or little red blisters on his feet from his brace (however, to our credit we thought we had that situation fixed) and a double ear infection (which of course we did not know until later on). Now, several days (and nights later) I am happy to report we are now sleeping - all four of us - through the night and are certainly hopeful this will continue (although I guess seeing our history of the last two years, I shouldn't bet on it).

But what I will bet on is my NCAA brackets. Nate and I have been doing the bracket thing for the last ten years ago, and according to my calcuations I have won all but once (which happened to be last year). The bet - winner gets to pick the restaurant for dinner. Not a big bet to most, I realize, but then you must know I am not that kind of woman. Grace keeps asking Nate, "Daddy, when will all of this Madness start?" and Nate (who says he saves all his TV time for March, happily replies "very, very soon." My strategy for picking the winners - base it all on colors and geography of the teams and if it comes down to it, their mascot. I stay as far away from basketball during the regular season so I won't be too influenced by what the ESPNers have to say. Last year I learned a bit too much, and now you know my downfall.

Grace wanted to know what St. Patrick's Day was all about, and instead of bogging her down with details I told her it was a day we celebrated our Irish heritage. She then said, "You mean, were some Irishes?" On Sunday we celebrated my Irish-American-Chicagoan heritage and invited our neighbors over for corned beef and cabbage. They were an important part to our feast, as they contributed to Guinness (yes, you got it a fine Irish Stout). This is what I cooked our brisket in this year and I have to say it was incredibly good. It also allowed me to say the following to my mom as she was about to hang up her cell phone and head into church, "Enjoy church, Mom, I'm just going to pop open a Guinness over here."

menu items

So for those of you who have been devoted readers, you may have been wondering what awful thing has happened to us in the last 10 days that has prevented me from blogging. I am happy to report, that absolutely nothing which is noteworthy has occurred! The children have been relatively well-mannered, Nate has been home more than he was in the last quarter of last year, and I've been able to go out and have some fun!

In other (non) news, we've been getting some menu input from Grace. Saturday she requested we eat "hot dogs and rutabagas." Can anyone say, MMMMMMMMMMM? So of course we somehow managed to eat salmon, spinach and rice (don't worry, we shared some cheesecake for dessert to outdo our diet-plate-like dinner, and as a side I would like to point out that one should not be tempted to order one of those giant slabs of carrot cake from the Cheesecake Factory - it is tasteless and bland and eating shredded carrots on top of cardboard smothered in straight-up Crisco would taste just about the same and be much more economical). However, the kids enjoyed the salmon and Jimmy kept asking for "Moe Haught Dowg". Apparently he was convinced the salmon was a hot dog. Well eat up my friend, eat up.

Behold the Power of the Pants

 

turnips and naptime

For some reason Grace decided it was high time she try eating a turnip. This decision came to her in the produce department at the grocery store. She happily picked one out, proudly gave it to the checker, and then asked for her very own bag so she could carry it to the car. So the pressure is on - how do you cook a turnip so a 6 year old kid likes it (for the record, this grown-up doesn't like turnips and I don't think the other grow-up in the house cares for them either!). Any and all suggestions are welcome. I did find one from Paula Deen and if you are interested yourself in turnips, click here to give her recipe a try.

Jimmy and Gracie are both supposed to be taking a nap right now. Jimmy generally does this daily, but today decided to interrupt his nap with a lot of poop. Now, I don't like poop, and I certainly don't care for it during naptime! Grace earned her right to a nap by acting like a two-year old when it was time for us to leave the Kid Area at the community center (this is a fabulous place that has a great gym, pool, and library and they let you leave your kids in a fun, well-supervised area for up to two hours at a time). She has graciously accepted her fate and has only gotten up twice (so far).

Nate is taking a Super Big Exam today. It is a yearly exam and is a pretty big deal. The great thing is that after this one, there is only one more - next March. Ever since college (and rumor has it in high school, but I don't know if the practice was set then) he wears Testing Pants. These pants (I hope to get a picture posted of these soon but in the mean time please enjoy a picture of Grace sleeping in the car taken two years ago in honor of Nap Time) were fashioned after Zubaz pants. These pants have been worn during every final, board exam, shelf exam, inservice exam, etc. in the last 13 years. And seeing that Nate has finished college, medical school, and most of his surgical residency during that time - that is a lot of tests. There is some sort of mystical power in the pants. Yes, the pants are tattered, have some paint splatters (before the power of the pants was known, they were worn while painting Benjy Grover's parents' house Navajo White), and are terribly faded. But the power remains. I guess we'll have to figure out how he can have them on when his Oral Boards come around in a few years. So today he is wearing comfy sneakers, cushy socks, testing pants, a bright blue Superman shirt, with an ancient BYU sweatshirt. Certainly by now his hair is askew and he is totally unshaven. (Paints a nice picture of a Medical Genius, don't you think?)