Hit Reset, Please!

I need a reset button. Or maybe just a quicker one. For my temper. For the last week Logan has had an attitude that rivals those girls on "My Super Sweet 16." (I SO love/hate that show. It makes me so angry but it is so hard to turn away!) He has been blatantly breaking rules, disobeying, telling us "NO" or "I don't want to" or "I will never do that!" Nearly everything has been a struggle with him.

Usually, I am the patient parent. I do have a temper, but when it comes to my kids I am really good at holding it in check. This last week has been testing me though.

And I think I am failing.

Every time he acts up, my "temper-meter" goes up a notch. And up a notch. And again. After a while: Boiling Point! I am not good enough or quick enough to come all the way back down to the starting point before he gets me riled up again. He needs to slow down and give me a chance to get back to the starting line again!

I have tried everything. Taking away privileges, time outs, even starting out on a good note by taking him to his favorite play place... by the time we got home, he was in trouble again. He was great while we were there, even left without a fight... but the car ride home he copped an attitude and told it to me like he was the King. Big trouble, Mister. I have tried time outs and calming down for myself, as well. But still, the next thing he does just gets me angry again. Grrrr...

Needless to say it has been a long week. I have been Shouting Mom. And Angry Mom. And Grouchy Mom. And Exhausted Mom. Here's hoping to a week where we get to see more of Happy Mom (and Happy Boy)!

Change of Plans!

So, I actually had it all planned out today. For once! I went to a fun and fabulous quilting bee with some of my amazing friends this afternoon, and I planned to share it all with you in a post here tonight. I even took photos! It was so much fun! Then, the plans changed. I ended up having to take Logan to the ER for a possible concussion. So a quick note about THAT fun experience, and then off to get some rest for me!

Larry and I have been attending this 4-week class series about Parenthood in a Biblical context. It has actually been very good, and I will be posting about it after our fourth and final week. During class there is childcare available for our kiddos, so we all go together, the kids play, it's all a good deal. When we went to pick up Logan tonight, his Childcare Provider (who also happens to be his preschool teacher) told us that when the kids were out on the playground, Logan walked straight into a girl who was on the swing and basically they bashed faces at a high velocity. Apparently Logan popped right back up and was fine, the girl split her lip and needed some ice. Logan seemed perfectly normal though. Then on the drive home he seemed SUPER tired and started complaining of a bad headache. I figured he just had a bump on the head. We pulled in to the driveway, and Logan all of a sudden starts throwing up in the backseat. Nasty! I jump back there, get him out of his booster, he gets sick the whole time as I am getting him out of the car. He finally seems ok for a few minutes so I bring him into the bathroom and have him get undressed while I go back and grab Coley out of the (now very stinky) car. Plop Coley in the playpen and back to Logan. Give him a super quick bath and realize: "Head injury...headache...vomiting... possible concussion!" Call Larry (who has gone to pick up a pizza for dinner and was supposed to meet us at home), he hightails it home to stay with Coley while I take Logan to the ER. Get him there, see the Doc, get him all checked out. His neurological tests are great, he's still tired, but hasn't vomited anymore so all seems ok. We get discharged with instructions to keep a close eye on him, follow up with our regular Doc, and a list of what to look out for. Thankfully, he seems much better and is expected to be just fine and back to normal very soon.

What I really wanted to mention about this whole experience, was how touched and wonderful it was to have the help and care of a few friends through tonight's adventure. When we arrived at the ER, we sat in the chairs to wait to be seen, and after just a couple of minutes a friend of mine (whom I had forgotten was an ER Nurse at this hospital) came out and motioned for us to come on back. Now, I'm not sure if she let us cut in front of other people, or if we would have gotten in that quickly anyway, but I think we may have been rushed through a little bit because of her. She brought us back, asked what happened, got Logan weighed and into a room, and introduced us to our Nurse. Even if we had gotten no special treatment at all, it was still so comforting to see a familiar face in that situation, and I am so thankful to her!

Then, as we were talking with the Doc, we got a visitor! A nurse brought back Jim to see us. Jim is the "teacher" or facilitator of the Parenthood class that we were in when Logan got hurt. Jim works at the Church where we take that class, and we also see him around there because Logan goes to preschool at that Church and we go to a Playgroup there as well. So Jim, although not a close friend, is definitely a familiar face to our family. So I was so surprised to see him come and visit us in the ER! Apparently, Larry had called the Childcare Provider to get the details of Logan's playground accident; she called Jim to let him know what happened, and Jim rushed over to the hospital to see if Logan was alright. He checked on me and Logan, made sure we knew that the Church would be there to help us in any way they could, and let us know that he and his family and the Church family would be praying for Logan. His care for our family truly touched me, and I am so grateful to him for that; it meant so much to me.

I am deeply thankful for the help and care we were shown tonight in our little ER adventure; it really does amaze me how giving our community of friends is and how lucky my family is! And thank goodness that Logan is doing well! He is sleeping now, we'll have to wake him every few hours tonight to check on him, but he is expected to be back to normal in no time.  :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

For St. Patrick's Day we always make some form of corned beef and cabbage, and this year was no exception. We had a yummy slow cooked meal of corned beef, carrots, rutabaga, potatoes, and some cabbage on the side, with a spicy horseradish sauce. But the star of the meal was the Pot O' Gold! Yesterday at Preschool it was Food Prep Day, and they made this tasty treat. Logan loved it so much and was so excited that he was able to be the chef, that he wanted to make it for us at home. It consists of sliced bananas (the gold coins), topped with whipped cream (a cloud) and rainbow sprinkles (the rainbow, of course). So here it is for you, enjoy the Pot O' Gold, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And I just had to throw these two in, since they are so darn cute.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Baking Buddies

I think it's so important to have something to do with each child that is special, a certain thing that just the two of us do together. For Coley I have not figured out what that is yet, she is still a little young at 15 months. But for Logan, it is baking. We have always liked to bake together, but it really got serious the winter Coley arrived. My parents were coming to stay with us and help with Logan while Coley was born. He and I made some simple sugar cookies (we always make treats when someone comes to visit) and decorated them up for Christmas. Then while I was in the hospital having Coley, Logan and my parents made and decorated some more and brought them to us in the hospital when they first came to meet Coley. After that my Mom got him some cookie cutters, and from then on it has been our "thing." He now has 2 sets of cookie cutters, 2 apron/chef hat sets, and everyone in the family knows about his love of baking. We bake for Christmas, for birthdays, for teachers, for friends, for visitors, he is even going to bake some muffins for the quilting bee I am headed to this weekend with a group of my friends. He is getting better and better, and I am able to let him take over more of the responsibility. Sometimes we bake from scratch, more often from a box. But baking is definitely "our thing." And I love it.

Our first batch from December 2008; the first major decorating experience!

Such a proud little Baker! These are from December 2009.

Here is some of the bounty from our Christmas 2009 Baking Extravaganza! We made lots of goodies to give away to friends.

And these last two are from this month, making muffins for snacks. He's so serious about it, can you tell?

Proud of my Feature Child

Last week my son was the Feature Child at his preschool. Which would usually mean he (and I) create a poster about him, and he takes it to school on Tuesday to present it to the class. Then it is displayed for the rest of the week. Well, last Tuesday was the day Logan woke up with a nasty little stomach bug that kept him home from school. Poor kiddo! I told him that he wouldn't be able to go to school, and maybe we could do his Feature Child presentation at school on Thursday instead. His response, in a sad little voice, was "OK, but I can still show my poster around home today." Awww... Yes, Sweetpea you can show your poster here at home... to me and Coley.

Anyway, he was well enough to go back on Thursday, so we had a do-over day! He had requested that I stay at school with him all morning during his Feature Child day; not customary, but certainly fine by me and fine by his teachers, so off to school I went. It was so much fun! He did a great job showing his poster to the class, and it was really amazing to see him in that setting. I was really proud of him!

And then the party

We do not let our kids watch a lot of tv. Logan never saw tv until he was 2. Coley, not so much, but she is the 2nd child and we are a little more lax now... but that is for another day. Anyway... about 2 years ago when tv was still new to Logan, we let him watch the Summer Olympics. And, like any red-blooded American male, what was his favorite event? Of course: Women's Beach Volleyball. Even at the tender age of two, he knew where it was at. We tried to get him to watch the Men's Beach Volleyball, but he wasn't having it. We recorded the Gold Medal Match between USA and China and believe me, we watched this match daily for weeks and weeks. Logan became Misty May's biggest little fan. Everytime I wore a headband for months, he said I looked like Misty May (I wish). And every time he had something that even remotely resembled an American flag, he would run around waving it in the air, yelling, "I'm Misty May, I'm Misty May!"

But I digress. My point is, Logan fell in love with the Olympics. Fast forward 2 years, and it is time for the Winter Olympics. We KNOW he is going to love this. Not only the pomp and circumstance of the Olympics, but the Winter Olympics has skiing, snow boarding, ski jumps, twirls and jumps of ice skating... truly a little boy's dream. His birthday is the 10th, the games start the 12th, and his party is the 13th. Perfect timing. We plan an Olympic-themed 4th Birthday Party.

Start by making "Athlete Passes" for the invitations; each one had a kid's name on it and I strung them on ribbon to wear as lanyards. The backs had all the party details for the parents.

At the party each kid picked a sticker with a country's flag on it, so they would represent that country. I think Logan was Switzerland.

Then the games... a Hockey Shoot Out of course (we already had the mini goals and sticks, just had to tape down lines on the floor to shoot from). Ski Moguls were a fun suggestion from a friend who is an Elementary P.E. Teacher (hop along the floor from mat to mat, with a special place to do a "trick" like a spin move or a kick-jump). And the Ice Skating Course was a hit, too ("Skate" along the floor to stations where you jump 3 times in the air, do a spin jump, balance on one leg for 3 seconds, and do 2 spins). I had an Olympic Torch race planned, but it was wet out, and I didn't really want 9 4-year-olds running through my house, all at the same time.



And then the food; Logan chose it all and then I just gave everything Olympic-sounding names: Alpine Apple Dip, Fruit Bobsleds, Pizza Pucks, and Barrel Rolls (Pigs in a Blanket). Then we ordered an ice cream cake, decorated with Snow Boarders.



All-in-all, I think the party was a big hit. I know Logan had a great time, I think his friends all had fun, and I am down with anything that keeps the kids happy and tires them out at the same time!

Happy Birthday, Sweetpea!

Last week was Logan's 4th Birthday - Happy Birthday Sweetpea!! The actual day of his birthday we went to the Children's Museum, one of his fave hang outs. The kid was all over that place. Later that night we hit up Red Robin for some tasty dinner, but not before cupcakes and presents at home!