not quite wordless Wednesday

{horrible photo I snapped from my car}

I don't know if I could ever buy anything from this boutique, no matter HOW cute it was! Seriously.

man about town

Max finished his driver's ed. class (whew!) and has been driving quite a bit lately. He's got to get 40 hours of driving under his belt before he can get his license.

Last week he drove us to Salt Lake and back for a Mother's Day celebration with Marc's parents.

It was raining the whole time. Really raining. Put the windshield wipers as high as they can go raining.

I hate driving under those conditions. It makes me nervous.

He, on the other hand, was perfectly calm.

Did I mention this was his first time driving on the freeway?!

I was a tad bit nervous, but I did my best to hide it. Not so Eva: she asked if I would make sure that we were all safe.

seriously?

Want to know what's worse than being diagnosed with pneumonia?

Getting your period the same day. You know, just to top it off.

Yep.

uh-oh.

I made a huge parenting mistake.

Lucas was supposed to go to the dentist during school yesterday, so he didn't take a lunch. Then the dentist called and canceled, so I had to run his lunch over to him. Eva really didn't want to go with me.

I decided it would be okay for her to stay home while I dashed over to the school (a less than 10-minute round trip).

I instructed her not to open the door while I was gone.

When I returned home about five minutes later, she greeted me with, "I had to open the door, Mom!" What?!

Apparently, a neighbor knocked on the door and Jack was barking like crazy. She couldn't stand it, so she had to open the door. (Did I mention that the neighbor was a strapping young Polynesian man? Yeah.)

me: "Honey, I told you not to open the door!"

Eva: unusual silence.

I knew then that she was going to freak. out.

I scooped her up in my arms and she dissolved into a sobbing mess. She was terrified that I was going to be "so angry." (FYI: my kids have never even seen me so angry. Is that why the thought is so terrifying?) I assured her that I was not. Fearful, that's more like it, not that I would tell her that.

She sobbed for a good 20 minutes. She didn't want me to be angry. She wanted to turn back time and have that never happen. She didn't want anyone else to know what happened (oops). She would never be able to forget.

Good grief.

Sure enough, she woke up with a nightmare last night.

I assured her repeatedly that it was not her fault, and that I should never have left her alone. Sigh. I'm a terrible parent.

I won't be making that mistake again, no sirree.

six for Saturday

It's been a long week.

1. Someone once told me about the strategy of the Binky Fairy. The child relinquishes his/her binky, and the Binky Fairy brings them a special surprise in return. I was going crazy over Eva's tight-fisted hold on her binky, despite being 4 now, and so I mentioned the idea. I didn't have high hopes, but she latched onto it immediately and wanted to put her binky outside her door last Sunday night.

I was thrilled and scrambling to find the special surprise without being able to go shopping! I brought up a stack of books that used to belong to the boys, along with a DVD that I forgot to give her for Christmas. She was amazed and excited the next morning. She did wonderfully well for 2 nights, and then the trouble started.

She has been plagued with nighttime fears, crying hysterically and saying she is afraid someone will come in her room, an animal will crash through her window, or that she will die in the night. We have come up with all kinds of ideas to reassure her, including Jack the Guard Dog, the presence of a big strong Mom & Dad, and the fact that her room is way too girly and pretty for any bad guys to want to enter. The fears seem only to be intensifying, and now that Bella is sleeping in her room, she is becoming alternately frightened and irritated by Eva's histrionics. It's 10:00 and Eva only just now stopped crying, after nearly 2 hours. Serenity NOW!

(photo by Jill)

2. Lucas and Landon asked us if they could have a sleepover. While our policy is sleepovers only with cousins, we decided to have a summit about it. I approached Marc about it and he said, "I don't have a problem with it. They're practically family." I felt the same way. Ditto with Jill & Randy. Shortest summit ever!

They ended up sleeping here on Monday night, playing here most of Tuesday, and then going to Jill's and sleeping there on Tuesday for the ultimate switch. She brought them back here when she came for Creative Wednesday. They were together for a full 48 hours and were still disappointed when it was time to part ways. I totally understand that.

3. Somehow, I managed to not be crazy and cleaning like a madwoman on Wednesday, even though that was the day Jessie and her family arrived. I guess all of my work in the preceding couple of weeks paid off and I was blissfully calm. That is definitely a first, and most welcome indeed, as Jill came over for Creative Wednesday!

4. Max made some jazz cds for my grandma, who shares his musical tastes, and then he made her a darling card in Photoshop and sealed it with the sealing wax he got for his birthday. I love every bit of this.

5. I don't usually have good lunches, but Jessie and I had the most delicious lunch yesterday! We got the idea from Cooking Light: tuna mixed with light mayo and celery, layered with radish slices, avocado and sprouts on homemade wheat bread (miracle bread). Seriously scrumptious. Also cucumber spears and Rainier cherries. We were both in heaven.

Jessie told me how to use miracle bread to make hamburger buns, and we did that for dinner (basically you just shape it into buns and bake it for a shorter amount of time). So easy! So delicious! Marc said he doesn't know if he can go back to regular buns, and with bread this easy, he won't have to.

6. Marc found my keys! He was walking out to his car and he saw a little something silver glinting in the bushes. I was totally amazed, as I had pretty much given up hope of finding them (they have been lost since last Saturday). He is lobbying for this coup to definitively put an end to the use of the term "man-looker" in our house.

If I actually survive the next 24 hours, I'll be back to report on my visit with Jessie and her family so far...

is anyone even surprised?

Lucas was home sick last week from Tuesday - Thursday. The usual. Fever, sore throat, congestion. Max missed Thursday and Friday and a weekend campout for the same reason. He also had neck pain.

After going to school on Friday, a birthday party on Saturday, and church on Sunday, Lucas is home sick again. This time, vomiting.

Ahhhhhh. Suddenly, I'm wanting to get the house tested for mold again, and wanting to consult an immunologist. Somehow when the sickness abated, I turned my mind to other things.

Eva and I were able to escape for half an hour and run to the library.

Thank heaven for small mercies. Now if only she can stay healthy for her first birthday party ever on Wednesday!

nice timing

I had to go see my ENT today to get my nose cauterized. Isn't that just a lovely image? After having a total of 6.5 hours of nosebleeds over the past several days, including having blood come out of my EYE (a la Mya on Heroes), I had to go in. I was assured that none of this is out of the ordinary. Maybe not if you're an ENT, but for me, this is all pretty out of the ordinary! Especially the eye thing -- that was freaking me out.

Anyway.

He put silver nitrate in my nose to control the bleeding. And he accidentally got a stray amount of it on the outside of my nose. It's not attractive, but under normal circumstances, I wouldn't care all that much. But tomorrow I have to go get a new driver's license as mine expires on Saturday. Nothing like carrying around an i.d. photo for 10 years with a strange mark on your nostril! Never a dull moment.