Snackosaurus Rex

Okay, so I saw these little chicken nuggets in a blanket on some cooking website and thought we'd try them one afternoon.

After all, it's a craft project and what's not to like about chicken cordon blue in buttery crescent rolls? Healthy lunch criteria met.

So I got what I had on-hand: Crescent rolls (egg-free), ham, colby jack cheese (didn't have swiss), and chicken nuggets. I didn't have the tiny chicken fingers it called for, but I did have the huge Dino Nuggets so we went with it. This is why most of my recipes turn out a little off kilter. Chances are there is a REASON the recipe is written the way it is, but I always think I can make substitutions and it will be just fine.

Jack especially enjoyed getting to cut them out and arrange them all by himself. Because the dino nuggets were so HUGE, our little dino sleepover could only include three single sleepers and one set of married couple dino chaperones.

Fourteen minutes later... well ten minutes then check, just one more minute, check, okay give it one more minute...

It was time to draw on the faces. Luckily I had SONIC ketchup packets in the drawer to provide the small writing tip. They didn't look exactly the same because they were all facing sideways. This craft was getting more and more ghetto by the minute.

It still looked and smelled awesome. So, I served it and Jack was all excited. Jeff, on the other hand, doesn't even like to TRY the little craft food we make because he sees how much touching goes on during the prep stage. You can see how big these are... the co-sleepers took up Jack's whole plate.

Well, after a couple of bites he said, "Mommy, I am ready for my REAL lunch now." WHAT?!? After all that? I tried it, and the crescent rolls were kinda doughy and the nuggets a little on the cool side. Great.

So I didn't get an awesome lunch out of it, but I did manage to spend some quality time with my creative boy, made some funny memories, and even eeked out a silly blog post. In the end, I guess it was worth it.

Tooth of the Matter...

That second top tooth came in. BIG TIME.



He promptly fell off the bed and chipped it as soon as it came in.

Here he is hanging upside down... a favorite activity. This kiddo keeps me so busy. I was planning on writing more on this topic but (surprise, surprise) he woke up just as I started to type this. Never a dull moment!

A Big Prize, indeed.

Scobee just started a school-wide incentive program where Challenger Class Cash is earned for good behavior and spent on prizes in the Scobee Store.

Today we received a list of the prizes available, and were asked to have our kids write in their top three prize choices and return it tomorrow to expedite shopping.

I read the list of prizes to him and told him he had 15 points to spend and to write his top three choices on the lines, copying the spelling from the list. I wanted to see how he'd do on his own. He worked at the kitchen table for almost 15 minutes. I never imagined he'd hand it back to me like this (click on it to enlarge:)

Translation: "I am saving my money for the big prizes like Soaring Planes w/Shooter"

I couldn't wait to show it to Jeff. I am so proud of him. We try so hard to teach him delayed gratification in so many different areas of his life, but it's hard. It's encouraging to think that some of the lessons might actually be sticking.

It totally cracks me up that he just added a #4 and another line at the bottom. When it comes to thinking outside the box, this kid is like, "What box?"

Now Jeff and I can't wait to hear how he does when he shows up at the Scobee Store for the very first time with nothing in his hand but his little note. I just hope he is happy with his decision as he watches his classmates spend their cash and leave the Store with "little prizes."

Man, If only I could be a fly on the wall.

(A fly with a video camera, that is.)

Swept Away.

It was finally time to tame the sweet Blonde Baby mullet, so I took Davis Jarrell in to get his first haircut.

Jack Everett was so excited to show little Brother the ropes... After all, he was an old pro...

August 22, 2005 *************************************************** August 20, 2009

Back of hair, at home before heading out.

Playing at the same train set. And I do mean the EXACT SAME train set...

In the same car... only by the time the kiddo got in who actually NEEDS them, the straps were nowhere to be found.

The spray-down.

Jack was as still as a mouse, while Davis entertained everyone with his signature nose-scrunching facial expressions.

I still can't believe how different they look from one another!

Davis started to get silly near the end... Jack, still the perfect customer.

The Secret weapon? For both of them, this was their first exposure to cartoons... (as well as their first and last exposure to Barney.)

All done! My two handsome sons.

"So Mom, when can I get down from here and why are you all teary-eyed and seriously, how many pictures are you going to take?"

We let one of them hold his "My First Haircut" certificate and lock of hair.

It doesn't seem like four years ago that we had our FIRST first little boy haircut. It sounds so cliche to say that time flies, but it could not be more true. It's hard to imagine that this could be the last time we take one of our children in for a FIRST haircut. For now, it's even harder to imagine doing it all again.

In the meantime, I am intentional to soak up every minute, every memory, and every milestone as if it's the last. I got choked up as I watched the rest of his soft baby blonde locks get swept away into the dustpan.

I entered the salon with a baby, but left with a little boy.

It happens just like that.

Cabin Fever Musings...

A quick peek into flu week at our house:



Jack watches a movie wearing Cyclops 3-D glasses while Davis empties a container of wipies when I am not looking.



After a round of "Draw 5 Diplodocuses," Jack took a THREE-HOUR afternoon nap on the couch yesterday.

We have had plenty of time to practice reading at home this week. I wanted him to show Jeff his progress on a simple book he's never read. It's a rewarding but s-l-o-w painstaking process as you will see. More than half the battle is keeping the 5-yr-old boy sillies under control to get through the book. It's hard not to help him out or rush him along, as you will also see... that is, if you have the patience to make it to the end of this video. This little book focuses on the SHORT A sound. (And the excessive use of exclamation points, apparently.)

Rat at Bat.

Go Rat! Put on your cap!

Go to the Mat! Get ready to bat!

Tap, Tap, Tap your bat! Tap your bat on the mat!

Oh no, Rat! Do not be sad!

Oh no, Rat! Do not get mad!

You can do it! Yes, you can!

Hooray for Rat! You can bat!

It's very exciting to see him moving right along with his reading. A whole new world is opening up for him as he sounds out more and more words. It changes things for us too. We can't spell things to keep secrets anymore. Additionally, we can no longer lie about what's recorded on the TIVO, either. "Mom, you said there were NO MORE Crocodile Hunters for me to watch, but that says, "Huh-unn-tuh-errrr!!" Busted.

It's been a long six days at home and I have to admit, I have gone a little stir-crazy and am quite irritable by bedtime. Julie and I even contemplated allowing Alli and TJ over to have our own little "Swine Flu Party" Thursday since they are all four on Tamiflu, but we thought better of it. I am just glad the boys seem to be on the mend and haven't needed fever meds since lunchtime yesterday.

At the end of the day, it's all worth it when your son hands you an index card that says,

"Dear Mom, I lic all the thing you hav dun."

As he handed me this sweet little note, I was instantly reminded that I'm not really in that big of a rush for him to read and write perfectly. His Kinder phonetics are so darn cute.

I was also reminded that "like" is going to be on Monday's spelling test.

Veggie Burgers are officially off the menu.

I have tried Veggie Burgers before, but switched to a new flavor to shake things up a bit. Well, mission accomplished I guess. On Sept 14th, I put the cut-up squares on Davis' tray and placed a whole burger on Jack's plate and returned to the stove where I was finishing up the grown-up dinner. Jeff came in a few minutes later and said, "Have you seen Davis' face?!!" He took the tray away, told Jack to stop eating, and I grabbed the empty package from the trash. Sure enough: the new flavor contained eggs.

Here are some pics taken about five minutes after he ate 1/4th of the "burger." Still smiling, of course.

We immediately told Jack to stop eating it and watched his cheeks slowly turn a bit rashy. A few minutes later he said his stomach hurt really bad and he needed to lay down. We encouraged him to try to go potty, but he laid on the living room floor moaning and holding his tummy. I carried him to the restroom and he immediately had crazy diarrhea. He started to get a little scared and started crying.

We had the Epipen handy but while he complained that his throat was hurting, he did not seem to have trouble breathing. He asked if he could go to bed early and we put him down at about 7:40 pm. I called Ask-a-Nurse and she advised that we move him from his bed to the couch to monitor his breathing. She said that she does not usually want patients to sleep right after a reaction because they can slip into comas while they sleep... it's similar to how they don't want patients to fall asleep shortly after a concussion. I both HATE it and APPRECIATE it when nurses give me too much info about all the things that COULD happen to one of my children.

We monitored him for several hours and then went to bed, thankful that everything was okay. We gave both boys Benadryl right after it happened and Davis' face cleared up right away and Jack was back to normal by morning.

It was a scary reminder of how diligent we must be with reading labels, checking with restaurant chefs, and being prepared with Benadryl and the Epipen no matter where we are. This journey is certainly not over.