Trip to the ER...part 4

Sounds like the same tune we sang last spring…Sophie went to the ER twice…once in April for hitting her forehead on the Power Wheels Jeep windshield, and another in June for running in her room and jumping on her bed and knocking the corner of her forehead into the corner of the sidetable. Ouch! Makes me cringe just thinking about it…big, huge, open gash…Matt has taken them everytime. And so today was Niko’s turn…his second time, as well. When he was 3 years old, the old window in his bedroom came crashing down on his hand and we thought he had broken some fingers (which he didn’t)…but Matt took him to the ER. And today, Niko decided to jump off the swing, y’know…like we all used to do back in the day, except he landed face down on his forearm/elbow.

Oh, man…he came running to the back door crying, saying he fell on his arm. I didn’t understand why he was crying because there was no blood, no bruise, no swelling, no sign of anything! So we iced it, I asked him to wave to me and lift his elbow, which he did, so i thought he’d be fine once the initial shock wore off. He took a short nap and I asked him how his arm was and he said it was better. Although, I didn’t ask him to show me to move it again. So when Matt showed up from work this evening, he tried to move his arm and Niko screamed!!! Oh, man, I felt so bad for the little guy : (
It was off to the ER for Niko and daddy…and I got frequent text updates from the ER…we’re in the room and the doctor will see us in a few minutes…okay, we’re waiting to have x-rays taken because the doc thinks he broke a bone…then I got a call…”Yup, he broke the ulna and there’s still a little swelling so they can’t cast him today. He’ll get a splint and sling and then have to go back on Monday to get a cast”. My heart hurt for him…poor guy. And even hurt worse when Matt sent me these pics from the ER…

What a trooper! I couldn’t wait for him to get home. Daddy made a special trip to get Slurpees!! Every little boy who breaks his arm needs a Slurpee to make everything better. He also had me and the girls waiting for him when he arrived. Sophie was near tears just thinking about his broken arm. She said, “I don’t want Niko to have a broken arm!!” and Olivia said, “I feel bad for Niko”. They’re definitely sweet when they wanna be! When it matters, anyway, right?? : )
Well, daddy has already given him the talk on how if he plays this right, he’ll have 4 girls waiting on him for the next 6 to 8 weeks…I already had to put the kabosh on the 3rd Airheads candy of the night (AFTER bedtime!)….
Now he’s settled in bed watching Batman…oh boy…I have a feeling this kid isn’t gonna mind his cast so much after a few more days of this special treatment ; )

(cut away to a Band-Aid commercial....)

They grow up too fast...

So Niko and Sophie come in from the backyard..."Mommy! We have a great idea! Sophie and me wanna live in the swingset!" Oh geez, I think...I can't wait to hear this one. So Nikolas quickly gets to drawing his "plans"...I can hear them discussing the details..."We can put a couch in there!", "We'll have to cut your bunk bed in half because it won't fit", "No, no, we need to put a roof on it so we don't get cold!"...and here I'm thinking, "wow, they're really putting some thought into this!"

A few minutes later, Niko brings the plans to show me...

Niko: "Mommy, can you show this to daddy so he can build this for me?"
Me: "Why do you want to live in your swingset?"
Niko: "So we can live by ourselves!"
Sophie: "Yea! We want to live by ourselves!"
Me: "Well, if you want to live by yourselves you need to get jobs and figure out how you're going to pay for this."
Niko (not phased by what I just said): " Look! This is my room, this is my bed, the cable box, the tv and the stairs to go to Sophie's room." (typical boy stuff...had to make sure he had a cable box!"
Me: "How are you going to get a tv or a cable box?"
Sophie: "You're gonna get it! And when we run out of money, we can move back home!" (typical girl, right? lookin' for someone else to pick up the tab...)
Niko: "We're gonna get jobs mom. And Sophie's gonna live with me. And my girlfriend. And Sophie's boyfriend. Do you have a boyfriend, Sophie?"
Sophie: "ugh...(rolls her eyes)...yeeessss...."
Niko (thinking to himself): "Wait...do I even have a girlfriend?"

Well...he thought about that one for a few minutes...long enough for me to make and serve them some PB&J's...

Niko: "Oh yea, I do have a girlfriend. Her name is Gianna. Mommy, just don't worry about it. Can you give this to daddy so he can build it?"

Sure son...I'll get right on that...

(cut away to an e-harmony commercial...)

Shopping gals...

yes, they sure are...
we went to exchange some shirts I bought online and ended up holding our own fashion show in the girls' department.

These girls sure are funny. We had a great time laughing and dressing up in the back of the store!

(cut away to an Old Navy commercial...)

DO NOT ASSUME...

So, from following this blog, you know Madi's inability to part with her Spiderman cap. She left it at Lola's this past weekend as we had a wedding to attend and it seemed she was fine with it. But when Lolo came by yesterday, he brought it and I just left it on the stairs to see if she'd even notice. Ha...she immediately saw it and yelled "Bada Man!!" and put her cap back on like it was nothing. Well, back to the drawing board...and surely you can tell that it truly doesn't bother me that much...what bothered me was the "pink towelly, terry clothing thingy you hold your hair back with to wash your face at night" imposter that my mom felt was a good replacement! Oy!

And thank goodness...that has been retired to...THE TRASH!!
Anyway, you can imagine my initial "could it be?" thought when I found this upstairs...

I felt like a detective. It was like THE CLUE. I was getting so close to solving the mystery...until I pushed open the bedroom door and found this...

Now, you're thinking (and I'm definitely thinking) "What a beautiful ending to this ongoing comedy/romance/drama...she has made the difficult and heart-wrenching decision to party with her Spiderman noggin-protector and allow her umcombed, tattered, rarely seen hair to shine in the light and flow freely!!

ahuh...WELL THINK AGAIN!! IT ISN'T OVER, FOLKS!!

When the once loyal superhero cap wearing fan turned flowery headband glam girl appeared downstairs...this is how she appeared...

and in case you missed that...here's another shot...

And I'll take it...right...it's Friday afternoon and the weekend can only GET BETTER!! She's lucky she's so stinkin' cute!! I could gobble her up.
And fortunately, she's not the only victim of the space invading stretchy knit headbands and flowery clips...

Have you met our sweet Fiona?? I knew she'd be making an appearance, soon!

Ahh...the joys fo being the baby sister...

What a trooper!! Give this girl a meal!! and look...she's starting to hold her own bottle!! Way to go Finn!

and with that...we'll wish you a wonderful weekend!

(cut away to an Herbal Essence commercial...)

Communication barrier...

My Sophia can be described as a number of things: silly, fashionable, sensitive, creative...the list goes on...but mostly when I look at her, I see (past) the giant untamed curls, dimples and big brown eyes and feel the warmth of her enormous heart. She has been saying for what seems forever, or about less than half of her life, that she wants to be an animal doctor so she can take care of the hurt animals. She watches animal planet and discovery channel and is amazed by the wildlife and thinks it would just be dandy if we could have a jaguar as a pet. "Oooh!! They're soooo cute!" Of course, her father promises her everything when she turns seven. She asks, "Daddy, can I get a puppy?" His response, "When you turn seven, honey"...and she smiles and giggles and is happy with that answer. She'll ask, "Daddy, could I get a guinea pig and a hamster!?" Knowing how I am not a big fan of giant rodents or anything smaller than a dog, he responds, "Absolutely! I'll get you one of each for your 7th birthday!" So, when she came in from playing outside this afternoon, why would she think the answer would be any different? It wouldn't be, but mommy did not understand quite what she was asking...

She comes in from the backyard and says, "Mommy...could I have a donation?" My first reaction was "geez this kid is getting clever with asking for money".
I said, "a what?"
She repeats, "A donation, you know...a doggy with spots."
Then my heart starts to melt and I think, "Aww...she's watched one too many animal rescue shows and thinks instead of donating money to save an animal, she could just adopt one."
And I tell her, "What do you mean? Do you want to send your money to save a doggy?"
And she looks at me like I'm crazy...
"No. I want to bring the doggy home. I want a donation. Y'know...the one with black spots!!"

OH GOODNESS! A DALMATION!! Not a donation!!

(cut away to a bell-tone hearing aid commercial...)

Status updates on the kids...

Niko has a finely tuned understanding of the way the world works...it's funny to see it through his eyes. Yesterday we were at Colonial Cafe for lunch. There was a poster on the wall of 3 kids...one little girl sitting on a front stoop giving the boy sitting next to her a kiss...and then a little girl standing to the side giving a mean look...
Niko says, "I think that girl loved him first!!"
He's so right...hope he remembers that when he's older and during his own dating days ; )

Sophie LOVES LOVES LOVES animals (and Justin Bieber)...this weekend it was, "can we get a dog, a frog and a puma?" she has been saying for the past couple of years that she wants to be an animal doctor when she grows up. She saw a commercial on tv and saw a venus fly trap catching a bug...she said, "whoa! did you see that! if you put your hand near there, it will eat your finger!!" then she asks, "can we get one!?"
she's crazy, that kid...

Olivia starred in a wedding this past weekend as the lovely flower girl...what a diva she was...

she currently loves lip gloss and justin bieber (beaver)....

Madi is sweet as can be and made it to the wedding WITHOUT the spiderman hat!! She LOVES baby Fiona and snuggles with her every chance she gets. She can't take a nap without her Spiderman hat, blanky and puzzle. Odd, I know...
She also loves Justin Bieber...she sings along..."Bebe, bebe, bebe, oooohhh!! Bebe, Bebe, bebe, Ooohh!!!" It's so cute!

and Fi...well...she spent the day with the lovely neighbors while we were at the wedding. Had a great time, I'm sure! She's cooing and talkin' and squeals with delight everytime Olivia sings "If you're happy and you know it shout Hooray!"And if she could talk...would probably say she loves Justin Bieber...

oh...can't wait to take these little girls to a teeny bop concert...in like, 10 years...

(cut away to a Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Music Awards commercial....)

justin bieber's # 1 fans!!...

yup...drove around to run errands and had Justin Bieber on repeat...over...and over...and over...at the request of my 5 year old. Justin sings "and I'm gone..." at the end of his song and each time Olivia says, "he says he's gone" and sophie asks to play it again and I laugh and laugh hysterically. Livi...such a smarty pants. She makes me laugh...but also makes me scream at times! Ahh...the joys of being a parent to a bull headed 3 year old. She's either "ON" (happy and lovey and laughing) or "OFF" (mean, angry and pouting). There's no in between with her. But it's good you always know what you're getting.
Sorry to get off on a Livi-tangent...
Ok...back to Justin Bieber's # 1 fans...I had to drive 20 minutes to pick up a dress for the wedding this weekend. all the kiddos in the back of the car, Niko is singing along...tells me he wants to be a singer when he grows up.
But even after listening to it over...(and over)...the girls can't jump out of the car fast enough when we get home to ask to watch the video on the laptop...

EVEN the Mad One is singing along to JB...
She says, "Bebe, bebe, bebe...OOOHHHH! Bebe, Bebe, bebe...OOOHHHH! Bebe, bebe, bebe, ooohh!!"...so cute...
I'm not cool enough to know how to upload video or else you'd be able to hear Madi sing for yourself...so you'll just need to enjoy these pics for now.

well, I see myself taking these kids to a teen hearthrob concert one of these days...just not appropriate for a 6, 5, 3 and 2 year old...right??

(cut away to an MTV commercial...)

Seriously? I'm supposed to be thanking God that it's Friday...

but I'm not quite sure I'll get that Thank you note out in time...

You know it's Friday when your 2 year old decides to de-pants herself and is running around the house singing with only a spiderman hat and purple striped knee hi socks...awesome. (If only I could post a picture of that...but we won't go there). And your 6 year old asks permission to marry a girl (stacy, I'll email you later) which leads to your 3 year old announcing that she's going to marry the older boy next door (Steven & Wendy...watch out)...oh...and that leaves time for your dryer to eat your husband's soccer coach tee and your 5 year old to climb up on the kitchen counter only to slip and bang the side of her face on the counter...of course, she bounces up like a bouncy ball and with a half pullled together look says, "I'm OK!!"

yup, it's Friday, folks!
it's not even lunch time...
BRRRRRIIIING IT!! (hope it's already been brought and the rest of my day can run smoothly!)...

**Update...
I broke down and called my cleaning lady to come clean my house and my dear friend, Janice, called me up out of the blue saying she was in my neighborhood and she swung by for a visit (and got to witness the hot mess that was happening around here)...and helped fold laundry, hold the baby and give me a little adult conversation to get my Friday back on track.

guess I'll get that note out after all!!

(cut away to a Calgon commercial...)

Spilled Milk...

We don't cry over it...right? Well, not in this house...until your momma catches you trying to lap it up from the floor like a puppy!!



So the story goes...(and it's not even lunchtime, yet)...

I'm standing at my lap-top checking email wondering if I should blog about the fact that Sophie just ran around me saying, "momma, momma, NEVER make a paper donkey. They'll stare at you or follow you around all day!" (Is it wrong that for a second, I looked around the kitchen for a paper donkey that might be skidaddling around my kitchen??

Well, just as I'm looking for that donkey, I realize that my 2 year old has spilled milk on the floor and is in the process of getting down onto the floor on her hands and knees and about to put her face in the milk.

So, of course, my super quick MacGyver-like instinct is to scream! I mean, what mother doesn't scream before she takes action? Well, Madi looks at me and again, just like MacGyver would react, I reach for my camera to snap a quick shot. She is apparently a bit camera shy and doesn't want this posted all over the web for the world to see, so she gets up and I miss a one-of-a-kind candid and got this pic instead.

Oh well...

(cut away to a Swiffer-Wet Jet commercial)...

LOVE...and macaroni salad...

So I'm feeding the kids lunch...which consists of leftovers from Easter...ham, orzo and some macaroni salad. The following conversation happens in the 4 quaint walls of my kitchen (actually two walls and 2 half walls).

Niko: "May I have more meat, please?"
Me: "Yes, eat your other food, too."
Niko: "Well, I tried the macaroni but I didn't like it."
Me: "You didn't!? Oh, but Lolo made it."
Niko: "Oh, maybe he just didn't put enough Love in it."
Me: "But Lolo always cooks with love. that's why his food tastes so good."
Niko: "But maybe he doesn't know the kind of love that I like. I like the love that comes from inside (he starts rubbing his chest)...the kind that's in his blood vessels that comes from his arteries."
Me: Staring at the wall in disbelief because I'm wondering what the heck my 6 year old just said to me and where he would come up with that!!??

So I just gave him more ham...

(cut away to an Oscar Mayer Bologna commercial...)

Welcome to my blog...

This is my blog...for me...written by my kids. I've always sent out random emails to family and friends with things that my kids have said or done. I could probably put a small book together but I wasn't smart enough to keep all these sayings in one place. So now, I'm finally taking the advice of everyone and jotting things down. Often, I feel like I'm in a Seinfeld episode with little people...often practicing my "duh" look for the cameras to cut away to a commercial. So in the meantime, while I'm filing these stories away for when my kids have their own kids...you can read and follow along and enjoy a quick laugh or hoot and holler!

You'll quickly learn about the characters in this blog...but I'll give you a quick rundown...
Meet Niko:
6 years old; wants to be a Jedi or Ninja or UFC fighter...just depends on what day it is. He's sweet as can be, still cuddles with me, tells me I'm beautiful, notices that I got my hair or nails done...kind of like a mini version of my husband. So I'm lucky that way.


Meet Sophie:
5 years old; can't take her anywhere without some stranger stopping us to say how her hair is so beautiful and she's so pretty. she used to give me the "roll the eyes, drop her jaw, and slow blink" as if to say "thanks, you're not the first"...but I've gotten her to say "thank you" and flash an academy award winning smile. Would like to be an animal doctor when she grows up...currently takes on roll as Momma Hen.



Meet Olivia:
3 years old...going on teen-age Hollywood diva. She's funny, goofy, a bit mean or a lot mean (depending on the day). She LOVES her baby sister, Loves to be a big helper, and in a split second, can be found screaming with uncontrollable anger at her older sister or brother. Huge fan of Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber (or Justin Beaver, as she would say it.)



Meet Madeline:

2 Years old...Loves Play-doh, lip gloss and wears her Spider-Man hat EVERYWHERE!



You'll meet Fiona at a later date...she's 4 months old and doesn't have much to say but I'm quite confident she'll be a major character in the upcoming months.