Blog Guilt

I realize that I have been really slacking in getting my blog posts up in an *ahem* timely fashion. Sorry. I do have a lot of "blog guilt" about it. Thank heavens we are not Catholic, or I don't know how I'd deal with all the guilt! Lately, life has just seemed to get away from us a little easier than it should, more often than it should. Between household things breaking, holidays, birthdays, school trips, homework, on and on and on, I wake up Saturday and before I know it it's already Thursday...

So, yes, I know I am behind in my blog. Yes, I know I have vowed to post everyday, and to refine and post all of my back-drafts and form the notes into cohesive readable blog posts, but then things just slip away...

I am trying not to let my blog guilt get me down, and I will post as much as I can, as quickly as I can do it, and hopefully by mid-May be back on track with at least that day's post, and *maybe* a back post...As of now, I am two down for March, and then caught up through at least the first week of April, so, for my daddy who reads this every day, and the inquiring Boxells out there, we are alive, full of antics, and you ill be reading all about them soon.

Life is Still Good!

Smiles and Tears...

The last day of ShaSha's trips are always so bittersweet..we usually try to plan some kind of fun activity, and keep the day on an up note. This trip was a bit unusual though, in that it had been so long since she had been here, leaving three birthdays to celebrate, and her trip was 48 hours, instead of four days. The kids were having a huge blast with her but Jordan was really looking forward to his "birthday" time with her, which meant mini-golf at Congo River. Jordan hasn't played mini-golf in a long time and ShaSha is really good, so he was excited at the challenge.
We dropped off Jordan and ShaSha and headed over to Barnes and Noble with the girls so that Caity could get some books with her gift card from Aunt ReRe and Uncle Boomer. Caity picked out some books, and we headed back to pick them up. ShaSha had beaten Jordan (we don't allow Mercy wins around here), but he was still upbeat and already looking ahead to the next visit and a rematch...It was then out for a late lunch (CiCi's Pizza, of course), so that we could have a fun meal out with our special guest.
When we got home, ShaSha rested a bit and packed up. The kids all went different directions for this, but Caity and Lindsay then reassembled in the kitchen for cupcake baking time. The girls had a ton of fun baking with their ShaSha, and Caity now had special cupcakes to take to school tomorrow (a Hannah Montana guitar, of course!). We then got everyone into pajamas, and got ready to head out to the airport. This was a somber trip, probably more so than any other trip to the airport with ShaSha...After much tears, and future visit talks underway, ShaSha got safely on her plane, and headed home. "Mr. Glinchy" was also flying in at the same time, so we were able to give him a lift home. Having someone else in the car helped to halt the tears, and lull the kids to sleep (boring grown-up talk). It was a great visit and we can't wait for the next one! They love their ShaSha so so very much (even Squeak!)...

We love you Shasha and thank you for giving us your love!

Life is Good!

A date....

Today was mommy and Lindsay day. I used to take these type of days all the time with Jordan and Caity when they were in preschool. I would keep one of them home for the day, and we would head over to Disney and just play all day. Quality bonding time, the kids got some great memories (and I have, like, 12 photo albums!). Lindsay and I have only taken a few of these days over the last year or so, and since she loves to swim, I thought we should take a day, just the two of us, and head out to Aquatica to play. Lindsay was so so very excited.
We packed up all of our towels, got on sunscreen and headed out. We reached Aquatica early, and got a beach chair for our towels, and headed for the not-so-lazy river. Lindsay was so happy to just be able to float along, not worrying if we were ahead or behind Jordan and Caity, or if we missed our exit would they figure it out...Just the two of us. I will tell you, with a four year old, this is probably the best way to take in a water park. One on one. Especially when the kids outnumber you, it is sometimes the littlest one who winds up waiting or rushed, throughout the day. Lindsay and I spent the day just going where she wanted - kids' slides, lazy river, not-so-lazy river, wave pool, sand play.....We had some lunch, hit the wave pool again, and headed home to pick up the kids and get Caity and Morgan to acting class. Lindsay was tired, so she got a good nap in, and I got some more cleaning done and ready for ShaSha's arrival tomorrow.

Lindsay and I have already planned another "date", and hopefully we will be able to continue our dates throughout the end of the school year. She is really becoming this amazing, beautiful, intelligent, spunky, funny little angel. I am so so blessed to be able to stay home with her and enjoy these days...I don't know what I will do when August comes...However, until then, we will simply enjoy our "dates"!

Life is Good!

Catch-up!

So, I know that there are holes in my blog. Believe it or not, I do actually have notes for each day, all saved as drafts, that just need some more work or editing and then I can get them posted. With spring break, it has just been so hard to get a breather around here, not to mention Lindsay being sick (that blog post just debuted a few minutes ago, BTW). Not to mention, the Wii has diverted some of my attention (Get one mom-let's Scuba!)...I have managed to figure out that I am, after posting one tonight and the back-blog of last Thursday, about 7 days down. My plan is to make a diligent effort to be all caught up by Friday, and I have figured out how to have each post dated for the correct day, so you will just have to scroll back and read them...So, that way by Friday, all will be caught up, and then Sunday, I will post Friday, Saturday and Sunday's blogs, as Ginna, the great Sha-Sha will be here this weekend, and I plan to devote all our time to her, and the evenings to be spent with her and our good friend Captain Morgan, in an early birthday celebration for her...So catch-up...and check back daily for new and exciting updates - and even some new pics! You never know what will show up here...There may be a video coming..that is all I can say...

Today was pretty chill. Hannah was over for the day, and we picked up the kids from school and all went for slushies at Sonic (1/2 off every day from 2-4! Yeah, baby!). The kids played computer (thanks Papi for three computers, no lines, no waiting, no fighting!), watched some music videos with me, had dinner, did homework, went to bed..just an average day. FINALLY!

Life is Good!

Ahh.... but do they know what's IN the water?

After church this morning, Jordan and Caity were discussing the summer camp weekend that the church is hosting June 12-14. Caity excitedly told Jordan, our resident rock climber, that there was an inflatable rock wall in the lake! His reply was not one of great excitement, but a question. "Ahh..but do they know what's in the water?". Huh? Apparently Jordan had serious concerns about there being alligators or crocodiles. So at that point John started talking about this "Mad Series" fishing challenge that they had been watching earlier in the morning. It involved a surfer, a kayaker and people on a boat, all out fishing. At some point, a crocdile was spotted in the water. John asked Jordan "Jordan, what did the surfer do?" To which Jordan replied "He ran!" The entire van erupted with laughter as Jordan tried to figure out what was so funny. The he got it: the surfer wasn't able to run, he swam....Kids say the darndest things!

We were travelling in he van to Wal-Mart to pick up some baking supplies, as we were planning to have Celina over and bake Jalapeno Corn Cheese bread. I have made this before, and although I don't eat it - John loves it. I helped Celina and Caity mix all the ingredients and the bread was a baking. It was done shortly before we needed to pick up the kids from Awana, and we took half the loaf to Celena's mom, who just loved it. John even said it was the best bread so far...must have been the magic touch of the young chefs!

Home from Awana, baths, bed, reading...quiet night...8:30 pm. - Three sleeping children!

Life is Good!



bake bread...

A Day in the Park...and some cookies gone wrong

Note: When cooking with coconut - use REAL milk if called for in the recipe, do not substitute soy milk...but more on that later!

Today started off with a trip out to the Orlando Arts Festival at Lake Eola. I love art festivals. I got hooked on them when we lived in Sarasota and I worked at the Ringling. I like seeing local and regional artists, and being able to see such talent, most of which will never wind up being recognized because the have not subscribed to the modern tortured artist I must be so deeply traumatized to create brilliant art that no one knows what it means but me movement, but I digress. Anyhow, it is one of the larger ones in the area, with craft vendors, a kids area, and even some activities for the poodles (they sat this one out though).
Everyone had a good time, the kids rock climbed (once again, SpiderJordan rocked it out!), threw baseballs with the Tampa Bay Rays squad, made sand art, took some great photos out by the lake - and I got matching FSU aprons for ShaSha and I. Quite a successful day!

On the way home, we stopped at the front of the neighborhood and grabbed Celena for a playdate. The girls were being very good, and we decided to finally make some "mystical cookies" that we had been given as a gift, one of those jars where you dump them out, add liquids and bake. Seems simple enough, right? Wrong. We do not have regular milk in our house, as Jordan is allergic, so we stock soy. Which, usually, you can substitute without any issue. However, after our "mystical bars" came out of the oven, and a call to Blondie wondering why they were, shall we just say, um, interesting, she explained that since they had coconut in them, it was vital to cook with real milk. Period. Okay - cookies gone horribly, horribly wrong (quickly fixed by replacing with Strawberry slushies for them, Margarita Slushies for Celena's mom, John and I), and lesson learned - sometimes, there just really are no substitutes, and it's always five o'clock here!

A nice day at the park, some cookies gone awry, but, especially winding down at the end of the day with the help of a margarita slushie,

Life is Good!

What color is sad?

Dehydration. The worst part of the "throwy-uppies" in my house. With the girls, they have this strange issue with re-hydration. They dehydrate so quickly, that they just can't rehydrate quick enough. If you can follow where this is going, this road always leads us to the hospital for an IV. Definitely not the way to spend any afternoon, evening, morning, or any part of any day. It was how we spent the day before New Year's (Lindsay) and the day after New Year's (Caity and I)....Caity has had to have an IV 3 times now, so she is a bit better about it now. Lindsay's 1st one was this past December, and she was really, really sick, and too exhausted to fuss too much...However, for this time, no one, and I mean no one, was to be so lucky.

Lindsay had been up since 6:30 a.m. with the "throwy-uppies", and by noon we were up to episode #8, so that meant a trek off to the hospital. Super. The hospital about 2 miles away, no traffic lights, so we made it there pretty quick, but still had to pull over in the parking lot for episode #9. Jordan, Caity and I head in and get Lindsay checked in. About 30 min. later they take her back to a room in the ER. Thankfully, an actual room this time, not a curtain area, and this room has a TV. Praise God. Jordan and Caity settle in watching Disney Channel while Lindsay just lays in the bed, so weak, and so small. The nurse practitioner comes in and checks her out, takes her temperature in a very uncomfortable place (she is so tired and weak that she actually sleeps through this!), and orders blood work and an IV. OK. Been down this path. WRONG.

It is at this point that things start to go awry. The first two nurses they send in to do the IV get set up and start talking about this new version of the butterfly needle that they are now using on children, and how much better it is...OK, I am thinking, better...WRONG. As they are prepping her hand (she is still sleeping), the nurse about to poke a hole in my child's vein says that this is the first time she is using this needle. WHAT?????? I am about to come unglued, pull what my mother is well known for, "an animal act", when at that moment, she sticks Lindsay who wakes up screaming at the top of her lungs, and she has lungs. Lots of lungs. Lots. At this point, I am holding her head and torso, one nurse is holding her arm, and Jordan now has to be called over to hold her feet, as she is kicking the woman giving her the IV in the head! After some futile attempts, the nurse is unable to get a vein. Round 2 begins. The other nurse attempts to give her the IV in her arm, but states that the veins are deep, which I caution her about, as it runs in our family, and could she please just use the other hand and get it right? She tells me that hands are more painful, and she would rather go in the arm. Above Lindsay's screams of "Leave me alone" and "Get out of my room" I explain that she better get a vein. Period. More poking, no vein. Two holes, no IV, and they are banished. I instructed them to get someone who could actually put an IV in.

Now, Lindsay is in very good command of her words today. She has some new phrases coming from her, and about to come from her that I have never heard from her, and am amazed she puled out. Her first was "What color is sad?" (her friend Hannah assigns a color to her day in the morning - watch out if she is having a rainbow day! and Lindsay has taken to doing the same thing. Gray is now the color for sad days) Some others were heartbreaking, "Mommy, please tell him to go" "Mommy please make them stop", and some were almost comical, given the circumstance. I tell you this: if I ever doubted that Lindsay was a fighter, and could take someone out, I no longer have any doubts.

Round 3. Two male RNs come in. They assess the vein situation, using a light under her palm to make the veins in her hands show, remark about how the nurses botched the job (DUH! If they didn't these two wouldn't be in here!), and figure they can get the vein in her other hand. It is at this moment, as they are prepping her, and she is screaming, kicking, bundled in a bedsheet like a burrito with one arm out, with five people, including me, holding her down, that several thins occur. 1. I now realize how bad it sucked for my parents when I didn't want to have my blood "tooken" before my hand surgeries, and why the hospital staff gave me a pass on the second go round. 2. My heart is breaking. 3. Jordan and Caity are huddled in a corner, and then race to sit outside the door. 4. "Mr. Glinchy" arrives. "Mr. Glinchy" was bringing us lunch, as the kids, nor I, had eaten and it was 2 p.m. He and his two boys had just gotten home from vacation that morning, John had picked them up at the airport at 11. This did not stop the amazing "Glinchys". He arrived with McDonalds, and even asked what sauce we had wanted for the nuggets. Upon his arrival though, he heard Lindsay's screams, and decided that Jordan and Caity should maybe go home with him, which they were overjoyed with. I think I thanked him, I think I said OK, but it is a blur. I just remember relief that at least now I could focus only on Lindsay. 5. Back to the screaming. Round 3 was unsuccessful, as was Round 4. Two hands, two arms, and one final shot at a different vein. Round 5, you're out. The head RN, who has worked in a pediatric ER decides enough was enough (even if he didn't, trust me, we were through), and goes out to speak with the Dr. A new plan is decided: "early refeeding". 1 ML of Powerade every minute or so. WHAT?? This could not have been tried 5 holes ago???? Whatever. At this point, just get on with it. Lindsay is waaayyy more amicable to this plan, and it works. john arrives a half hour in, and Lindsay is very, very relieved to be with her mommy and daddy, as now she can just have her drink, watch Disney, and scream every time anyone in scrubs even looks at her (and since the blanket warmer for the ER was in this room, it was every 5 minutes or so that a nurse was in or out)...

After a long, looonnngg afternoon, it is now 5:30ish and the doctor comes in and, although Lindsay promptly hides under the covers, she is coaxed out when we explain that the people is white coats do NOT carry needles with them. He checks her over, finds that she is holding down powerade long enough to go home. I have never seen a child move so quick. She popped up, straight out of bed, down off the bed, scooted over to the counter, grabbed the powerade, put the top on, grabbed her crocs and was already halfway out the door! Talk about a quick recovery (or at least the appearance of one, anything to get out the door)! We make our way out of the hospital, to the car, and home. John leaves to pick up Jordan and Caity from "Mr. Glinchy" (once again, the "Glinchy's" have saved the day!), and Lindsay settles in on the couch, eagerly awaiting the heating of Grami's AMAZING "feel better soup" (Note to Grami: we are down to our last quart, need replenishment, please:).

Jordan and Caity come in, and bring a present for Lindsay with them. Somehow, in all of his wonderfulness this afternoon, "Mr. Glinchy" not only got lunch for all of us, but took the kids to Wal-Mart, got them snacks and picked out a My Little Pony, hospital edition, for Lindsay. Can I just say how blessed we are? What a horrible day it started out to be, and yet, this Gray day, has turned from Gray to almost blue, peaceful...with us just feeling overwhelmed with all the blessings we are surrounded with - a feeling much better precious girl, two terrific siblings for her, who are so empathetic, and friends who always step-up and help out, even on days when it would be so easy to say no.

Life is Good, really!

A Not So Lazy River....

Today was the big day: our trip to Aquatica (the new Sea World water park). John was off of work, taking a much deserved and needed vacation day. We went with Sheree, my best friend from college (who, by the way, if she did not have a jerk of a fiancee' at the time, would mean that we never would have road tripped to New Orleans, I never would have met John, so - thanks, Sheree, for picking Matt! LOL!), came down with her two kids, fiancee and his son. We got there early and headed out..What a blast we had!
Aquatica was great! Sea World did an awesome job..Two wave pools (one with big waves, one with more gentle waves) and TWO lazy rivers! Now, lazy rivers are my family's favorite water park attraction, so this rocked for us..the lazy, lazy river had a great place to view fish underwater, along with a viewing of the Comerson's dolphins, and the people shooting down the water slide through the dolphin tank - during one of our trips, John, Caity, Lindsay and I saw Jordan and all of Sheree's family go shooting down the tubes - waaayyy cool!
However, The Roa Rapids (the oh-not-so lazy river) rocked! Basically, you put on a life vest (or if you are brave, float) and travel through a lazy-river style ride, but it has the speed of class 1, and sometimes 2, white water rapids...we all had a blast, and a workout!!! This was no easy day on the river! You had to swim, steer, and for us, keep up with three/six kids!
Our day was a ton of fun - Lindsay is a water baby, beach bum to the hilt. She hit her first water park at 9 months, and has never turned back. By far, though, this was the best time she has ever had - she was even asking to be dunked under waves at the wave pool...We took some great pics with our underwater camera, but we have to get the film developed, so it may be a bit before you see them, but they'll be here...
So, this blog entry may not be so witty, or full of humor, but I am sun exhausted, not-so-pasty white anymore (I actually have a bit of a tan! YAY!), and just enjoying the downtime from our happy day - a day that finally rang of "Spring Break" for the family, but it is here and published no less. We can hardly wait for our next trip down the not so lazy river...until then, though, we are going to visit Sheree's family on Saturday at her dad's house on the river, so stay tuned in for a water-skiing atempt update (Caity is determined!), and pray for no broken bones!

Life is Good!

Chillin.....

Today the house was abuzz with excitement..Caity had a playdate with Morgan to go to Monkey Joe's. Caity has been looking forward to this play date for weeks, and it is finally here..Monkey Joe's is this place up at Festival Bay that has huge bounce houses, moonwalks, bouncy slides and obstacle courses to play on, all inside, all air-conditioned..$7.95 and bounce all you like. Morgan has been there several times, and we went for the first time on Lindsay's Birthday, and the kids all had a blast, so Caity was excited to go back. This left Jordan and Lindsay home with mommy, which was eventually OK, as we planned out our trip to Aquatica the next day...
The kids have been waiting for almost 2 years for Aquatica to open. It has been in soft opening for a month, and the grand opening is Friday, but we are excited to get to go Thursday with Sheree and her family, and avoid some of the grand opening chaos. So we spent some time looking at the website, oohing and aahing over the kids' areas, and getting ready for the day. It has been almost 5 months since the swim stuff has been utilized (other than goggles and swimsuits anyhow), so I needed to pack up the bag for the day, corral all the goggles, take out the dive toys, find the towels, etc. etc. etc. As you can imagine, Jordan and Lindsay soon faded away, Jordan to lay on his computer, Lindsay to play on hers, and I managed to get the bag packed, find everything (only to discover the kids all need new water shoes, and there is no film for the underwater camera!), and get some laundry done in the process..Of course we also managed to have lunch, play some Wii, and just chill. This spring break is actually less painless than I previously believed it would be...
Caity finally came home at dinner time, all worn out from bouncing....dinner time, bath time, bed time, and an early morning lurking ahead. John is taking vacation time tomorrow to go with us, and the kids are psyched all the way around, they all went to bed, even Lindsay, without complaint, by eight! Now, John and I will get some time to unwind and get to bed early...

Life is Good!

Caity went to Monkey Joe's...

Wii Play

Big day around here: Caity's BFFL (best friend for life) Morgan was coming over for a playdate...actually a Wii-date. Morgan has been promised a Wii if she does some school work, and she was eager to try it out..She and Caity had a Wii-fest, and Jordan went down the street to play with Jack...even Lindsay was Wii-bowling! A day of play...exactly how spring break should be!

I will say that I am amazed at this: whenever the kids have friends over, it seems that there is actually less fighting. The friend, no matter whose it is, seems to be some kind of magic buffer that has my kids on their best behavior. So, I jump on the chance for playdates. We are blessed that our kids are very discerning on their choices of friends, and have picked great ones. Morgan, Jack, Hannah, Celena, Noah...could not ask for a better circle of friends.

Morgan is always great to have over, and she and Caity just have a blast. They are two peas in a pod, and they always include Lindsay, which is terrific. Morgan has also had some adventures at our house - Morgan got her ears pierced with us at Christmastime (with her parents permission and encouragement, plus Caity's peer pressure), has had her platinum blonde hair streaked pink for a Hannah Montana party at IKEA (it washed out easily!), and adopted Caity's hamster Fluffy. So now every time she comes to play, I jokingly promise her dad, who is great, that I will not punch any more holes in his daughter, color her hair pink, or send home any pets. He replies back that pink is OK, just no piercings or pets! We capped off the girls' playdate with dinner at CiCi's pizza. Jordan had a great time at Jack's, and ate his body weight in pizza (they always, always lose money on him, and, seriously,I don't know where that little kid puts it!). He even had salad! Green points racking up!

Simply a fun day of Spring Break...a great day for the kids, which is what it's all really about - memories of a happy childhood to carry with them throughout life...

Life is Good!