What a difference...

Four years makes! 

Gus has been here FOUR years!

Gus was an easy baby. Today, I wouldn't call him easy. Lazy, maybe. But not easy.  Okay, lazy is a little extreme…lethargic. He is always up for some downtime. And when he doesn't get it, he's up for some tantrums.

Like yesterday, I took him to Costco and he was wearing his Luke Skywalker costume and holding a sword. (His light sabre had been confiscated.)

As we walked out he tapped me with the sword. I said, "If you tap me again, I'm going to take it away." And of course he did and of course I did. Cue the screaming. I said, "If you get in your seat and put your buckles on, I'll give it back." He didn't. I said, "Well now you are not getting it back but if you get in your seat you can at least have your shoo shoo." He did. But he still didn't understand why he wasn't getting his sword back so he screamed--I mean blood curdling, ear piercing screams--the whole way home. "I want it! I want it!" I told him, "If you continue to scream, I will throw your sword in the trash when we get home." He did and I did. Screaming continued.

And then a few minutes later he passed out.

Gus still loves his shoo shoo and wants to take it everywhere--even to the pool and the beach! Sometimes he brings it into a restaurant and then says, "But I don't want it to get dirty. Put it back in the car." Really? Cause you dragged it all over Target last week.

Since he has a summer birthday, I like to do outside parties involving water. This year I looked into renting an inflatable water slide but after some quick internet research, I realized it costs only a little more to buy one! So we could have one for a few hours or for THE REST OF OUR LIVES. No brainer, right?  So we bought the slide on Amazon and invited his little friends over. Well, a few days before, I saw rain in the forecast. I panicked and hired a Jedi to come to his party, thinking he could entertain the kids in the basement in lieu of the water slide.

But then, no rain which meant we had the water slide AND the Jedi! Woah, epic 4th birthday party for Gus. We really try not to raise spoiled brats but even after all that, Gus said, "What are we doing next?"

Here are some pics from his Summer-Star Wars-themed party:

Some kids were a little scared of the Jedi and even of Darth Vader (who was Frank!) but hopefully we didn't send them off with any life-long fears.

Gus is excited to be four--he feels like such a big boy. He is a great little swimmer and can ride his bike with training wheels. He dresses himself. He's also almost as big as his older brother. People think they are just a year apart!

Oh, and I almost forgot to say that Gus still loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches more than anything else. So we had his friends donate that at his birthday party and Gus and I took it to the North Fulton Community Charities food pantry.  They were actually all out of jelly so were happy to get so many jars from Gus. He got to see them put his jelly right into someone's basket!

Happy Birthday, Gus! We love you!! 

A Star Wars Summer

With the seventh episode of Star Wars set to hit theaters in only six+ months, we are in FULL STAR WARS MODE around here. It's all Star Wars, all the time. Gus is a major fan and he is not even four. In fact, we are having a Star Wars/Summer theme for his birthday party. I am re-using some of the things Leo had for his SIXTH Star Wars birthday. I tell ya, the fans get younger and younger.

We went to Target to buy some floats for the pool last week and they went bonkers over these Stormtrooper kick boards. And then of course we couldn't pass up the Star Wars t-shirts. Three funny things about these:

1. They are wearing the same size.

2. They begged to put them on at the store and I made them wait until we paid. Then they took off their existing shirts and changed right into these by the entrance of Target.

3. They wore them all weekend and Gus already got a hole in his. I was able to exchange the dirty, tag less, shirt with a hole in it for a new one! (The boys are lucky their mom is Target's #1 customer.)

When we bought this gear the cashier said, "Oh, Star Wars…Luke Skywalker, Dr. Spock…" (Um, isn't Spock from Star Trek and isn't Dr. Spock a parenting expert? I can totally think snide comments like this because I am becoming a Star Wars expert myself. But this wasn't always the case.) 

They are also crazy for these Star Wars graham crackers. Sometimes they even eat them!

Today I bought more Star Wars accessories for Gus' party. Cause let's be honest, I didn't really save that much from Leo's. Somewhere in a mansion overlooking an infinity pool, George Lucas is chuckling laughing with his servants at us.

Magical May

Leo had an awesome birthday party with a magician who knows how to crack up 5-7 year olds. Everyone had a great time and bonus: I kept them all contained in our basement and backyard! That was on May 2nd, then on May 22nd, Leo had his last day of Kindergarten. 

For both events, he wore his favorite "Kindergarten is Awesome" t-shirt, of course! 

Leo's Been Here SEVEN Years!

Wow, it's hard to believe that Leo has been driving us crazy making us laugh for seven years. Here is what he had to say during an in-depth interview: 

1.   What is your favorite color? Red

2.   What is your favorite toy? My little brother

3.   What is your favorite fruit? Apples

4.   What is your favorite TV Show? Star Wars

5.   What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Quesadillas

6.   What is your favorite outfit? What I’m wearing now, track pants and a Darth Vader t-shirt

7.   What is your favorite game? Pirateopoly

8.   What is your favorite snack? Quaker bar

9.   What is your favorite animal? Lion of course

10.  What is your favorite song? I don’t have one

11.    What is your favorite book? Star Wars books

12.     Who is your best friend? John

13.      What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios

14.       What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play

15.        What is your favorite drink? Sprite  

16.         What is your favorite holiday? Halloween and Christmas

17.                What do you like to take to bed with you at night? I don’t have one  

18.    What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes

19.      What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Quesadillas

20.       What do you want to be when you grow up? A soldier

What a difference...

…seven years makes!

Contagious yet Energetic

It's a bad combination. My kids seem healthy but they are too contagious to go anywhere. Here is how this debacle started:

I lost my voice this weekend. I had no other symptoms though. But by Monday night I did. My throat hurt so bad it felt like it was totally closed up. I also felt really tired and just, you know, sick.

Also on Monday I noticed the kids had these bumps around their mouths. Gus' looked like a bug bite on his chin and Leo's looked like three tiny pimples above his lip. This looked suspicious to me and since I fancy myself a doctor, I diagnosed them with impetigo.

So Tuesday morning we all schlepped to the doctor. What an ordeal this was! I went to Walgreen's, my energetic entourage in tow, to see the doc in the box. I brought along a DVD player but forgot to charge it. So they amused themselves by taking flattering pictures of me during my exam:

 When the doc diagnosed me with strep I wasn't surprised (because I had already diagnosed myself with it) and relieved (because I knew I could get drugs to knock it out). Then we went to the pediatrician where the boys were diagnosed with impetigo (as if I didn't already know).

But the doc also tested them for strep, since I was positive. To my surprise, these perfectly healthy, insanely hyper boys tested positive too. When we were checking out and the boys were bouncing all over the "sick" side of the waiting room, I said to the lady in front of me. "They have strep throat. Can you believe it?" She could not. She could believe that I did because I sounded like a smoking frog.

So we all had strep throat. But I was the only one who felt crappy.

It really is the worst case scenario.

My sister-in-law Laura summed it up best: sick mom, working dad and contagious kids who feel fine.

So I couldn't send Leo to school. I couldn't send Gus' to a friend's house. And I couldn't rest because they wanted me at 100% capacity. I even resorted to begging, "Can you guys just please go easy on me? I am really sick!" But no, if they dropped something n the car, they would still scream until I could pull over to pick it up. They weren't letting anything slide.

And they were hungry! Sick kids aren't supposed to be hungry. So I had to make meals and dole out snacks and clean up after them.

I now truly understand the phrase, no rest for the weary.

The doc had told me they had to be out of school Tuesday AND Wednesday since they would have started the antibiotics about 11am and you have to wait 24 hours before sending them back to school. But when I called the doctor's office today to get a note for Leo's school, the nurse said he actually could have gone back today since he didn't have a fever.

What?! Now you tell me!

But the bumps on his face are in that stage where they look worse before they get better. So I'm afraid he may have been shunned if he went today. Also, he calls the bumps "warts," so I need to set him straight on that before he returns.

Gus' looks worse than it is because some of it is jelly. It's an occupational hazard.

I am perfectly happy (mostly) to keep a sick kid home and take care of him. But keeping a sick yet healthy kid home (especially when you are sick AND sick) is just cruel. And two of them? That's just a "sick" joke.