Easter Weekend Fun

There's never a shortage of things to do when we go visit Grandma and Grandpa.

We visited Grandma's school,

went for a ride in Grandma's car,

dyed Easter eggs using cups with rice and food coloring,

 

made a monkey pile of cousins,

and went for a swim at the hotel Sarah and Stacy stay at.

It's not even Easter Sunday yet, and we've already had so much fun this weekend!
I love my family!

Fun with Grandpa

Sometimes the simplest things can provide so much entertainment...

Little Painters

Old Friends

Today we met Emma Fox at the park.  Emma was in Owen's class back when he was at

Pilgrim and now she goes to a different elementary school.  I've been meeting her mom for

coffee every Wednesday, but with it being the week of Spring Break,

our coffee date turned into a play date.  :)

Hat Man

Miles' love for accessories continues... 

Triton Troupers

I saw some advertisements for a local circus at Triton College and decided we should give it
a try.  It doesn't take much to impress our kids, and at the very least it would be entertaining.

I had no idea what to expect.  The lights went out, the ring master entered and then pure
craziness followed.  Every performer came out all at once giving a little taste of what was to
follow.  There were people flying on trapezes and other contraptions from the ceiling, people
walking on large balls rolling across the floor, others running around doing who knows what. 
Pure chaos.  

Little did I know that the Triton Troupers are a group of people, could be anyone really, that
get together and perform circus acts.  For the first act they brought out a trampoline and
mat.  People from the ages of 5 to probably 40, dressed in overalls and flannel shirts, ran
out, jumped on the trampoline and did either a straddle jump or flip onto the mat.  Yep, that
was it.  And when they would finish each jump they would address the audience with their
arms out like they just nailed the landing at the Olympics gymnastics finals.  It was pretty
hilarious, but I give them credit for having the guts to be out there.

To be fair, there were a few pretty impressive aerial routines.  Joe very seriously looked at
me and said, "Mom, see that girl with the stars on her?  That's the girl I'm going to marry!"
Clearly he was impressed.  

We made it to intermission half way through the show and the kids were done.  They were
tired of sitting and since it was getting late we were happy to go home.  All and all the show
was OK.  At the very least it was something different to do and we got a lot of fun snacks. :)

The Little Comedian

I couldn't help but laugh watching Miles crack up his older brothers.  What's funny is he says the same phrase over and over, but I have no idea what he says.  Clearly he (and his brothers) think it's hilarious.  :)

All I Want for Christmas...

...are my two front teeth!

Wedgits

 The boys received some Wedgits for Christmas.  They love building with them, but what

they love even more is having me take pictures of their creations.  There are literally dozens

of pictures on my phone.  They'll even grab the phone and take pictures on their own.

Park Selfies

Cleaning out the Attic

For years the back part of our basement has been a black hole of bins of clothes, extra toys,

blankets, pillows, my grandparent's china, the snowboard I bought on a whim and haven't

used once...basically everything that doesn't have a place in our living space.

It always drove me crazy and every time we had someone in our basement I would

apologize and ask them not to judge.  But we finally decided to do something about it.  We

enlisted Tim to help us cut a hole in our ceiling and install an attic ladder door (not sure if

there is a more specific name).  The next step was cleaning out all the old insulation that

had been there FOREVER and replace it with new stuff.  It was a dirty job, 

but Ryan was prepared.

They were such troopers.  They would come down sweaty and black with the soot that had

fallen through the roof onto the old insulation.  A few days and 20 or so industrial strength

garbage bags later, our attic was clean.  They laid the new insulation and Tim went to work

cutting and laying down plywood so we had a floor to store stuff on.  It is perfect!!  I can't

wait to clean out the basement and start organizing!!  Thanks for all the help Tim!!  

HSP

A few weeks ago I took Joe to urgent care because he said his leg really hurt him and he

wasn't putting pressure on it.  We had been at Katy's house and they were jumping on the

trampoline, so I thought he might have hurt it.  X-rays showed no fracture,

just soft tissue swelling.

The next day he developed a rash, mainly on the lower half of his body.  He also said he

didn't feel good at school that day and didn't want to have snack, which is unlike him.  I took

him into our pediatrician and based on the leg pain and what the rash looked like, she said

he most likely had HSP.  It's something she typically only sees once every year or two.

HSP is a blood disease that is normally self resolving within 4-6 weeks.  Basically there is

inflammation in the blood vessels which cause them to leak and therefore cause a rash,

bruising and swelling.  It also causes arthritic-like pain in the joints and can cause

stomach issues (upset stomach and even throwing up), because of inflammation in the GI

tract.  It is not contagious and there is really nothing you can do for it other than monitor

it and try to manage pain with Motrin.

The first couple of weeks were the worst.  I was giving him Motrin every 6 hours.  Even with

that he would be in so much pain as we neared the 6 hour mark.  He'd feel totally normal,

but then it was like he'd been hit by a truck and he just laid on the floor rolling around and

curling up in the fetal position.  It was awful to watch and not be able to to do anything.

There was one night that I almost took him to Lurie because he was laying on the kitchen

floor screaming out in pain and I couldn't help him.  I didn't know what to do.  I called the

doctor and was literally about to take him when he started calming down.  

Just to give you an idea of what the rash looked like, it was mostly red dots and a lot of

random bruising.  They would appear, then fade after a few days.

But then one night I was getting him ready for the bath and undressed him to find this...

You can imagine my shock.  I had never seen anything like this.  Thankfully it faded after a

few days just like the rest of them, but this endless cycle of new spots continued

for a few weeks.

Eventually the pain seemed to subside which made everything much more manageable.  It's

so hard having your child be in pain and not being able to do a thing.  I would lay in bed with

him at night when it was at its worst and he would just toss and turn because it hurt him so much.  I was so relieved to finally be past that section.

We went to the doctor for a few follow-ups to test his urine after our initial visit.  Another

thing it can affect is the kidneys, so they like to monitor it every few weeks.

Everything came back fine.  

I had never heard of HSP and hope I don't have to deal with it ever again.  I know there are

way worse things to deal with so I'm thankful this is something that resolved on its own,

but it was still a rough couple weeks that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Good riddance HSP!

Owen's First Pinch Pot

Today Owen came home with his very first piece of pottery from school.  It was a little

penguin pinch pot.  It is so cute and to be honest, I am thoroughly impressed.  Dare I say

it may be one of my favorite pieces of art from him thus far.  :)

Bloom n' Brew

Tonight was the benefit for Joe's preschool....The Bloom n' Brew.

  

Food, drinks, dancing, silent auction....what's not to love??  I won (or should I say bid the highest) on a fitness package, a garden play date at Joe's friend Henry's house, and a special lunch for Joe with his teachers.  Definitely money well spent!