this is getting old

I have been sick since before the kids' Hoedown Festival on October 21st.  I went to the doctor on 10/25 and got antibiotic #1.  I was so convinced it was strep throat that I talked the doctor into giving me that antibiotic based on the look of my throat and the pain.  The in-office culture was actually negative.  It helped get rid of the really intense pain, but the coughing and everything I have been dealing with since has kept my throat hurting somewhat every day since then.  That medication was classic penicillin.

I finished the penicillin while we were on vacation yet continued to cough and have a sore throat so when we returned to NC, I waited a few days, but returned to the doctor.  Let me say, I rarely get sick anymore.  When I was teaching, I got sick a lot at first and then each time I changed centers, I would fall to the new germs for a season.  But, then, all those years of kid germs bestowed upon me a great immune system.  It has been a long time since I have been sick.  So, I am not enjoying this long whatever-it-is. 

Anyway, I was given antibiotic #2.  It was the generic of Omnicef.  I took that for 3 days and it ramped up my coughing to an insane level and I stopped taking it.  See, I am allergic to Cefzil.  Both of these drugs are in the same classification.  I diagnosed myself with a sensitivity to all cephalosporin drugs after this little 3 day experiment.

Do not think I blindly took this same-class-as-my-allergy drug.  I spoke to the pharmacist about it first.  He said many people have a specific Cefzil reaction and do not reaction to all drugs in this class.  He even said, "If you were going to react to the Omnicef, you would have had a reaction to the penicillin."   At that moment, I did not put it together.  But, after the 3 days of Omnicef and that reaction, I realized that some of my lung-hacking-up-cough on vacation could have been the same reaction to penicillin.  Hmmmm.....

So, still having a sore, hoarse throat and now having a definite sinus infection that is in my chest, too.... I headed back to the doctor yesterday.  I figured she would listen to my rantings about coughing and drug reaction and pee her pants laughing at me.  Nope.  She said it all made perfect sense and she thinks my diagnosis is correct.  I do in fact have a sensitivity to penicillin.  So, from here on out, I am to tell doctors I am allergic to cephalosporin and penicillin classifications of drugs.  She said they are both very common classes of drugs to have a reaction to and that there are plenty of other drugs that can be prescribed.

She gave me a 6 day steroid prescription to calm my lungs down at this point and also a 10 day course of Clarithromycin.  Let's hope this is a good one!

And she said if I do not feel 100% better in 2 weeks to come back again and they will do a chest x-ray. 

For now......  I'm ready to move on.  Being sick isn't all that fun and this has been like 6 weeks now.  This is getting old.

Can't post without a photo, right?  Here we are with Cinderella's Stepfamily.  They are a fun bunch to meet.  Carl and Gretchen want to make a scrapbook of our Disney photos, so for autographs we brought 8.5x11 pieces of scrapbook paper on clipboards and a big pack of crayons.  When we approached, Gretchen dumped the crayons.  Drizella bent down to help her pick them all up and got scolded by her mother, "Drizella - are you doing work?"  Then, Anastasia got impatient and started jumping up and down whining, "I want to color!  I want to color NOW!"  

show and tell

I hate it.  Remember this?   Somehow, we eventually managed to find a similar looking doggy at Michael's Craft Store... and convinced Gretchen he was playing hide-and-seek with us.  To this day, she believes that is how we got her Little White Woof back.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Well, every Thursday night, the homework is to bring in an item from home that begins with whatever letter they are studying that week.  They, of course, want to bring their favorite things to share with their friends.  I, of course, hate Thursday homework.  We get creative and bring in things like Spongebob Stickers to share with everyone on S week.  But, mostly, they bring in photos of whatever item they want.  Last week was C week.  Carl brought in a photo of himself in his "cap" and gown.  This week is P week and they are excited because 'picture' begins with the letter P.  So, it'll be a double P when they bring in pictures of Perry the Platypus and Peppa Pig.  Well, triple P, actually.  For C week, Gretchen brought in Candy Corn.  But, show and tell was not before snack, so she didn't get to eat it with snack.  She gobbled it up at home.

Anyway, yesterday, at 2:40, they hop into the van and exclaim, "Tomorrow we have to bring a teddy bear to school!"   ACK!  Flashbacks.  I am already picturing weeks and months of sobbing themselves to sleep when their bears go missing or get damaged.  Gretchen said, "Mrs Jordan said if we don't want to bring a special bear, we can bring an old one."  Oh Honey, don't you get it?  An older bear would simply be more special to us! 

So, once the kids went to bed, I pulled out some fleece.  It was about 8:30.  I grabbed yellow for Carl and wanted pink for Gretchen, but the pink wasn't big enough.  Brown would do.  I had to whip off a simple outline pattern.  By now, Lew was home from work and was cooking a pizza for us.  Monday Night Football was on and I had the sewing machine all spread out on the kitchen table.  We had to sit on the couch and eat our pizza.  He grabbed a beer, but I had made up a 1/2 batch of the Pioneer Woman's Pumpkin Smoothies for myself.  If you haven't tried the recipe... do it!!  Mmmm!!!  We haven't eaten on the couch in such a long time.  It was kind of nice. 

OK, ate dinner and back to the bears.  It took me 2.5 hours total - and that included the pizza and pumpkin smoothie break.   I drew the pattern, cut them out, stitched their faces, decided not to stitch names on them to save time, sewed them, stuffed them and sewed them closed. 

One less show and tell with the potential to have a beloved stuffed family member go missing at school.  Of course, they both absolutely loved their new bears... but if they lose them today, I can make another. 

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The tree is up!   And, I had two wonderful elves to help me decorate it!  So, check out this photo... I put ~8 ornaments on the tree at the very top.  Everything else, Carl & Gretchen did.  They were both very into hanging things.  They'd hang up what I sent them over with and then run back to me - pushing each other out of the way to be first in line to get something else.  Now, by the end of the evening, I noticed some branches had 3 ornaments on them... I did separate those after the kids went to bed.  I told them I was going to.  Only because you can't have 3 ornaments on one branch. 

We also have a 3' tree for their room to act as a nightlight.  They want to put the satiny colored balls on that one.  It has multicolored lights.  I also have a 3 foot one with white lights that I have never used.  I bought it for a bunch of my special ornaments.  I think this season I may clear off the piano and put this tree up there.  I think I can almost trust the kids not to take the ornaments off it.  Carl is the one I trust the least.  Not that he is destructive, but he likes pretty things and if he wants to carry an ornament around, no matter how many times I say, "Don't take those off the tree" he'll do it.   By now, I think I can trust the cats to not jump up on the piano and bother the tree.   I have a whole bunch of Dean Griff woodland animal ornaments as well as several of the ornaments that Dean designed with Christopher Radko and a few other just realistic animal ornaments.  I think I am going to fill my white light tree with those this year. 

I cannot put up my very favorite silver tree because the foolish cats try to eat it.  This house is the first one I have had since we got the cats that doesn't have an office with glass doors.  I used to be able to put up my glorious tree and light wheel and keep the door shut.  When we move again, I will be looking for a room with a glass door!! 

So, here is our kick off to the 2011 holiday season!  Now, gotta make a card....  I wonder if I can find a few photos to pull together for that????

on their birthday

They wanted to go for a bike ride in the morning.  Their party wasn't until 2pm, so we had plenty of time.

We got up and went out to breakfast to The Waffle House.  I did not grow up in the south, but to me, this diner style chain restaurant seems very southern.  Not just because you can get grits with your meal, either.  I don't know.  It isn't like a chain/diner kind of place you might find up north.  And, everyone knows, coffee served in a white porcelain mug is the best kind of coffee there is.  Add to that a little old lady waitress who calls you "Honey", waffles that taste like cake and grits with your meal... and you have my idea of a southern breakfast. 

Now, the funny thing is, Carl's favorite thing to order at The Waffle House is a cheeseburger.  He is very aware of time.  He knows that other fast food places do not begin cooking cheeseburgers until 11:00am.  "It's eleven O-O.  Can we go get some cheeseburgers?"  Well, at the Waffle House, we got him a cheeseburger with breakfast.  But, no one mentioned the time.  I am just waiting for him to inform me soon that he wants a breakfast cheeseburger and demand we go to the Waffle House.  Now, if you have had their yummy waffles, you realize, if he asks me just right... I'll say, "Sure - go get in the car!"

So, after breakfast we headed over to the bookstore to try and buy a book.  I was going to have them go up and pay for A.A. Milne's Now We Are Six.  Well, we didn't drive all the way to Barnes & Noble, we only went to Books a Million.  Apparently, stocking Now We Are Six is not in the Million.  It is on order.  Won't have the same impact as buying it on November 20th, but it will be fun nonetheless. 

When we came home, we went for a bike ride in the neighborhood.  Here are probably my favorite two photos of their birthday.  And they really have nothing to do with celebrating a birthday. 

A few more shots taken on the bike ride.  Yes, I know her helmet is crooked in the last shot.  I keep straightening it up and she ends up tilting it.  I think it is because under all those curls her head is still not round... just like the little bald baby girl's head used to be.  It's not as noticeable in the shot above, but normally, she has it tilted in real life. 

Trying to get a quick snap of the 6 shirts.  Well, it got silly....

We had lunch and headed to the party by 2:00.  I'll share a few more photos and stories of the party and opening gifts later that night with you in another post.  

Black Friday shoppers

We didn't get up early.  Well, Carl did, and he woke me up... but we didn't go out shopping.  If Lew had wanted a new phone badly enough, he would have gone out at midnight last night, but he didn't.  The only thing we ever want on Black Friday are $3 or $4 pajamas at Walmart.  So, we wait until the frenzy has subsided and we venture out mid morning.  We got several pairs today!  Awesome!!

Before the kids were born, we did the early morning Black Fridays a few times.  But, honestly, after the 2008 Walmart trampling death,  I haven't had the desire to go out in the wee hours of the morning to go shopping with the masses. Not because I am scared of being trampled, but, rather because it seemed to really put the whole shopping experience into perspective for me. 

Besides, it'll be better for the economy for us to buy our things not on sale.  Right?   And, we always get our jammies in the late morning. 

So, here we are this morning... all dressed for Black Friday... taken 11:10am.

Wanna see something funny???

Black Friday 2009, taken 11:41 am.....  what a difference 2 years makes

Happy Thanksgiving!

why everyone should have a twin

Because when you are struggling a little, it is always nice to have your best friend right there beside you, helping you to make all your wishes come true!

our last day with 5 year olds

We had a Slumber Party last night.  Carl & Lew slept in my Mom's room while Gretchen slept with me.  The night before, Carl slept in with me because his ears were still hurting and he cried whenever he laid down flat.  So, I set him up in my bed with my awesome "Husband" pillow.  The foam one Lew bought me 6 years ago when I could no longer sleep flat because I was pregnant with 2 babies.  I was able to get Carl all comfy and he slept semi upright - and slept without crying all night long. 

Anyway, they slept in well this morning.  The kids got up just about 8:00.  Me, too.  We wanted to go to their favorite play place one last time.  We went Friday afternoon, too.  See, you can only go there if you are 0-5.  So, once they turn 6, they will be too old.  But, shhhh....  the director told us we could keep coming!  They were so happy to see us - it had been a couple months since we last went.   Honestly, they are physically too big, but they love going there.  Mentally, they are not 6 when they go into this place.  They have their favorite toys and Gretchen loves the Art Room.  Well, Carl loves the water table in there, too.  Maybe we can go sometimes after school during the week when I know there won't be too many small kids for us to plow over. 

We went there the very first time back in April 2007.  My mother and I took them there when we very first moved here. I mean very first... the truck with our stuff had not arrived yet.  So, we had two 15 month old babies and no toys.  This place was the perfect solution!  And, they have loved going ever since.  I took a ton of photos, but haven't edited much.  Here are a couple from today... also the last day of wearing their #5 shirts.

After this, we did some shopping at Target to pick up a couple more Matchbox cars and goodie bags.  We're giving the party guests a Smencil (from Gretchen) and a Matchbox car (from Carl).  No pixie sticks or cheapy $1 store crapola.  No offense to you guys who fill goodie bags with those, but really... the car was $1.07 and the Smencil was $1.29.  Not much more than the $1 store crapola.  And, since the party is for 2 kids, I figured 2 little gifts was cool.  We'll see how it goes with the lack of pixie sticks.  It seems to be a law here that those are included in any goodie bag.  Next up, shopping and lunch at Costco.

Once home, they easily took a nap.  Carl didn't sleep much more than 1 hour.  I could hear him in there coughing - probably woke himself up.  Gretchen slept 3 hours!  Guess she is still catching up from her ear infections and vacation activity. 

I was super productive during nap time....  I baked cupcakes and made their #6 shirts.  I even had time to frost about 75% of the cupcakes before Gretchen woke up.  Before dinner today, I was all set for tomorrow. 

Wanna see how I make the # shirts?

Draw your number pattern.  Wash & dry all shirts and fabric to be sure they do any shrinking before you sew them.

Turn your pattern upside down and draw the outline onto the wrong side of the fabric.  Then, turn the shirt inside out and pin the number to the front of the shirt.  Be sure to center it.

Sew along your drawn line on the material.  (You bobbin thread will actually be what is going to be visible on the right side of the shirt.)

Snip along the stitched line to expose the fabric (reverse applique look).  Be very very very careful to only be cutting away the shirt layer and not the underneath printed fabric.  Those little white flecks are actually some of the fabric being pulled through by the needle during sewing. 

Ready to go!!  I let them pick their own fabric this year instead of coordinating it.  (I looked for monkey print because their party is at Monkey Joe's, but all the prints I found were either too big or too babyish.)  Carl picked the popcorn and immediately told me "I want a black shirt!"  Gretchen chose the fun party pattern, but left the shirt color choice up to me.  Hers is a Youth M (10/12) and his is a Youth L (doesn't have a number... guessing 14/16).

And here are my monkey cupcakes in honor of going to Monkey Joe's tomorrow....  (Nilla wafers, mini Nilla wafers, marshmallows cut in half for eyes and black frosting in a tube to decorate.)

I made Carl one with a pumpkin muffin since he doesn't like cake.  I wanted to bring ice cream for him, but Monkey Joe's won't allow you to bring in ice cream.  Bummer.  Don't worry - he'll get vanilla ice cream later in the day at home. 

We went out to dinner.  We tried to go to one of our favorite little diner places.  I will admit, it has been more than a couple months since we have been there.  Well, we arrived to find the place dark.  There was a note in the window from the owner saying they were closed and thanking everyone for their support over the years.  Bummer.  We ended up at Red Robin.  Typical Red Robin meal... wicked slow service and they screwed up Lew's burger.  So, they remade it... but all 3 of us were totally done eating before he got his correct order.  They took his off the bill, but still.... reminds us why we go to local diners, not the chain restaurants we have around here. 

Carl fell right to sleep - Mr 1 Hour Nap - while Miss 3 Hour Nap wanted to hang out and chat until almost 9:30!!! 

Tomorrow, I'll have party pictures!  Well, I doubt I will have time to share them tomorrow.  We are going to be busy busy busy!  I can try to get to them Monday while they are at school.  We have school Monday and Tuesday and then get 3 days off!    I am looking forward to the holiday.  I finished all of my Thanksgiving feast shopping Friday during the day so I don't have to face any crowds.  Or any panic when Walmart has no cranberries left!!

Tomorrow, I will have two SIX year olds!!!!

a few Disney photos

I am not organized with stories just yet.  I still have to make their #6 shirts for the party on Sunday as well as wrap a few gifts.  Today I am going in to school to take the class down to lunch.  Once a month, they have 2 parent volunteers eat with the kids to give the teachers a little break.  This is the third of the year so far, and I have worked each one.  I don't really mind, I like eating with the class, but today I am coughing a lot and feeling kind of tired.  I would kind of like to lay low, but the room mother emailed yesterday saying they still needed someone to take the shift. 

But, here are a few photos from our first day in Magic Kingdom.  This was Sunday morning, Nov 6.  We got into the park an hour before it opened.  So, the only other people there were others who had booked an early breakfast time like we did.  You get to take some pictures without others in the background, but the trade off is that every one looks tired.  We even had the extra hour of sleep the night before from daylight savings time. 

The Disney photographer who took that first family photo for us told me I really needed to use my flash on darker days.  He even said the on-camera flash would be a good addition.  Going against my better judgement, I tried it.  I ended up trying it a few times throughout the week and because you cannot trust that little display screen on the back to be showing you exactly what you truly shot... I managed to ruin several nice photos by taking his advice.  So, the moral there is... trust your own knowledge.  Oh well.  I got dozens of great shots of the trip!  And, I spent a lot of time not taking pictures, too.  That is even more important.

We had breakfast at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. 

During the meal, they have little parades with all the kids and Carl & Gretchen got a chance to dance with Piglet before they started parading.  They loved it! 

 When the characters approach your table, it is pure excitement! 

 Look at the joy on Carl's face!!

It is not just the little kids who get caught up in the excitement.  The big kids love it, too!!

Happy Friday, Everyone!  Welcome to the weekend!! 

"Oh, he's the adventurous one" ... "Oh, she's the pensive one" ...

People want to classify twins.  They feel some need to assign them roles or titles because otherwise, I guess you wouldn't be able to tell them apart.  So, they guess away and interpret their actions and personalities to fit into different roles.  I think people want them to be opposites.  This isn't always parents without twins.  Although it usually is, sometimes, us twin moms do talk amongst ourselves about how one has strengths that the other one doesn't and how they compliment each other very well.  Sometimes, those strengths do upset the other one, though.  Gretchen gets so mad at Carl when she is reading and comes to a word she doesn't know.  She will ask me, "Mom, what does "t-i-m-e" spell?"  and Carl immediately yells out, "Time!"  Ooo - that bugs her!

But, in general Carl & Gretchen are more alike that they are different.  One past difference is that when they were about a year old, Carl tested out walking by stumbling around like a drunk Frankenstein until he mastered it.  Gretchen sat back watching this for an extra 3 months before she walked.  She wasn't going to mess around until she knew she could do it right.  That part of her personality has held.  She gets rather upset if she isn't good at something on the first try.  Having a 5 yr old perfectionist is not a lot of fun. 

Last year, we vacationed in Disney World and the kids got their first real taste of roller coasters.  Carl was tall enough to ride more of them than Gretchen.  While he tried 4 different ones, he really didn't want to repeat them.  Gretchen could only ride 2 due to her height, but she really loved one called Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Carl and I rode it once.  Lew and Gretchen rode it 9 times over the course of our visit.  She loved it!  So, she was the 'roller coaster with Dad' one and he was the 'stay with Mom' one. 

Well, just like in other areas of life, they didn't stay in those roles.  As a matter of fact, they have now completely flipped on roller coaster opinions.

We just returned from our second trip to Walt Disney World in Florida.  We were there from Sat November 5th to Sat November 12th.  My mom came along, too! We had what may have been the fastest week in history.  It's the happiest place on earth.

So, yes, Gretchen and I rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster one time with Carl & Lew.  Then, she said she didn't want to ride again.  Actually, Carl cried in line that he didn't want to go. We forced him to ride it.  Even after the first trip, he said it was fun but didn't want to go again.  "Why not, Buddy?"  Turns out, it was too loud.  No problem... we brought ear plugs along.  I knew there would be shows and rides and maybe fireworks that he was not going to want to participate in simply because of noise sensitivity.  So, he agreed to ride a second time with ear plugs.  They worked like a charm!!! 

Here's a shot of all 4 of us riding the roller coaster.  I only rode once - so this was the only chance to see me on a roller coaster.  I'm waving and wearing a white shirt and sitting with Gretchen.  Lew is in the seat ahead of us wearing dark blue and Carl is wearing a red tee shirt.  If you look closely, you can see Carl sticking his fingers in his ears this time.  The next ride, he wore the ear plugs.  Ahh!

Carl was now "the roller coaster loving one"!!!!  He and Lew rode it......  drum roll.......   19 times!!!! Yes, nineteen.  And, they could have kept going, but when Lew said, "Wanna go for 20?"  Carl said no, he was happy with 19.  That worked out well since Gretchen, Mom and I were getting bored waiting for them that morning.  But, there was literally no line, they just kept going back on it.  And Gretchen is now apparently, the "timid when it comes to roller coasters" one.

This was the last day there.  You can see why they were able to ride 6 times in a row.  They did have to get out and run through the line again.  Not sure why they couldn't just stay on the empty trains.  There was a couple in front of them here that you cannot see and one couple in the very last seat of the last car - I cropped that out.  And notice - by this point, Carl was a pro... he is holding his arms over his head!!  How cute is this kid?????

So, be looking for more Disney photos to follow.  I'm up to my mouse ears in editing.  Plus, I am now on my second round of antibiotics for a cough, sore throat, sinus & chest infection.  It has been a whole month now and I cannot get rid of it.  I hacked my way through Disney all week.  Even sick, it is still the happiest place on earth!  So, as I find the energy this week - amidst the birthday party planning and craft projects - I will try to get more vacation pictures up.  I won't make them all extra large like I did here, but for roller coaster pictures, I wanted you to be able to see the faces better.

5 days left of being 5

...and in honor of this momentous occasion... we're havin' ribs.  (If you get that reference you've earned a high five from Lew & me.  And, you are a total geek.  Embrace it.)

But, for all of you with real lives,   I'll just get to the good stuff.  Although, ribs sound like good stuff, we aren't havin' them.  Instead, I thought I'd interview two 5 year olds.  Oh look!  There happen to be two of them right here...


What is your favorite thing about being 5 years old?
Gretchen:  I love it!  Wait! Wait!... and...  because I like doing all the fun stuff.

Carl: You can do anything you want.  Like if I do the playground at the Hoe Down.


What are 5 of your favorite foods?
Gretchen:
1. cupcakes
2. just regular cake
3. cheese pizza
4. popcorn
5. chocolate ice cream  
(disclaimer... she doesn't get to eat all her favorites a lot.  Bummer for her.  Little junk food junkie.)

Carl:
1. chicken nuggets
2. popcorn chicken      (I can't believe regular popcorn didn't make his list!)
3. cheeseburger
4. crackers
5. fruit snacks


Tell me some fun things you do in kindergarten:
Gretchen:  Play outside at break.  I play with Rebecca outside and I play with Nadia in centers. 

Carl: Play in centers.  "What's your favorite center?" Computer center.  "Anything else?" Go to reading group.  Read a book in my reading times and all the times I read that book. 


What do you have to do that you wish you didn't?
Gretchen:  Eat macaroni and cheese.  That's what I don't want to eat but I have to.  (We made her take 1 bite last night.  When they were toddlers, they couldn't eat it fast enough.  Now, it is the pasta equivalent of poison.) 

Carl:  Not pick a center I want.  The things I want to do is pick any center I want.  (sometimes other kids are in the the centers he wants and he can't go there.)  "Anything at home?" Pose for a picture.



Thanksgiving is close to your birthday.  What is something you are thankful for?
Gretchen:  The whole world.  Nature.  Parents.  (phew, Lew got included with one kid) Flowers. and last of all... birds.  That's it. 

Carl: You.  "Anything else?" No, that's just my first thing.     (Be jealous, People!!!  He is only thankful for me!!)



What special dessert do you want on your birthday?
Gretchen:  mmmmmm.....  monkey cupcakes! 

Carl:  Ice cream!!  (bummer, the party place we booked doesn't allow ice cream brought in.  I will be making him one pumpkin muffin and the other kids will have the monkey cupcakes.  He'll get his ice cream later at home!)


Now, 5 photos from today...

**I looked down and it was 5:05 so I hit "publish" quickly and then came back to re-edit just to get the 5s in the time, too.  **